Chapter 2: A Refined Scoundrel

America.

Shi Zhiyu looked at his phone, the corners of his brows tinged with a smile.

Song Yan, who was sitting beside him, noticed that he seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today and couldn’t help leaning over.

“Zhiyu, you’re in a great mood today.”

“Did you win the lottery or something?”

Shi Zhiyu put down his phone and slipped one hand into his pocket.

“Something even better than winning the lottery.”

Hearing that, Song Yan became even more curious.

“Oh?”

“What could possibly make you this happy?”

Shi Zhiyu grinned proudly.

“I found my wife.”

Song Yan nearly fell off his chair.

His face was full of disbelief.

“Wife?”

“You found a wife?”

“When did that happen?”

“I’m with you every day.”

“How could I not know you found a wife?”

“Don’t tell me you’re talking about one of those online relationships that are so popular nowadays?”

“Zhiyu, that’s a bad idea.”

“You’re the crown prince of the Shi family.”

“You could have as many women as you want.”

“You can’t seriously be dating online.”

Shi Zhiyu shot him a look that practically said, Do I look that stupid to you?

“My mom introduced her.”

“And she’s my childhood fiancée.”

Song Yan was even more confused.

“Childhood fiancée?”

“Since when?”

“How come I’ve never heard about this?”

Picking up his books, Shi Zhiyu stood and headed for the classroom door.

“There are plenty of things you don’t know.”

Song Yan hurried after him with his own books.

“What if she’s a scammer?”

“I’m telling you, there are tons of scammers these days.”

Jiang University.

The first thing Tang Shu did after waking up was send Shi Zhiyu a message.

[Good morning!]

Then she rolled over and went right back to sleep.

When she woke up again, it was already nine o’clock.

After washing up, she tossed her phone into her bag and headed to class with Shi Manman.

Shi Manman was carrying a loaf of bread and handed it to Tang Shu.

“I knew you skipped breakfast.”

“Here.”

“At least fill your stomach a little.”

“We’ll go to the cafeteria for a giant chicken drumstick at lunch.”

Tang Shu accepted the bread.

“Thanks, Manman.”

“Manman, how would I survive without you?”

Shi Manman immediately wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Then marry me.”

“I’ll support you for the rest of your life.”

Tang Shu nodded seriously.

“Okay.”

“The young miss can keep me.”

Yang Xi and Xu Jiayu looked at the two of them with amusement in their eyes.

Yang Xi said,

“If I didn’t know Manman had a boyfriend, I’d honestly think you two were dating.”

Xu Jiayu nodded in agreement.

“ShuShu, if Manman’s boyfriend saw this, he’d probably become your public enemy again.”

Shi Manman released Tang Shu and linked arms with her instead.

“As if he’d dare.”

“If he gets jealous over nonsense, I’ll just replace him.”

“There are plenty of men in the world.”

“But there’s only one adorable ShuShu.”

Tang Shu munched on her bread, her face full of smiles.

Among the four of them, she was the shortest.

Only one meter sixty-five.

Yang Xi was the tallest at one meter seventy-five.

With her androgynous style, everyone had mistaken her for a boy when school first started.

It had caused quite the misunderstanding.

As for Shi Manman, she was one meter seventy.

With high heels on, she towered over Tang Shu by nearly a head.

That was why she loved teasing her.

In Shi Manman’s eyes, Tang Shu was tiny.

Like a cute little potato from the south.

Even her voice was soft and sweet.

Shi Manman had liked her from the very first meeting.

The group arrived at the classroom.

Tang Shu opened her bag and took out her textbook and phone.

Only then did she notice a WeChat notification.

Unlocking her phone, she opened the app.

[Yu: Mm.]

There was only one word.

So cold.

So distant.

Tang Shu couldn’t help wondering what kind of girl could actually catch the young master’s eye.

He seemed incredibly difficult to flirt with.

The road ahead was long and arduous…

For the next half month,

Tang Shu never missed a day.

Every morning, noon, and night, she sent greetings.

She also shared little snippets of her daily life.

Then, once those two weeks passed…

She suddenly stopped.

No morning messages.

No noon messages.

No evening messages either.

America, Kellas Apartments.

The first thing Shi Zhiyu did after waking up was reach for his phone.

He opened WeChat.

No messages.

The person who usually messaged him constantly had disappeared.

Since last night, there hadn’t been the usual good morning text.

At first, he assumed she had forgotten.

But how could there be no good night message either?

He had replied to every single message she sent.

Getting out of bed, he felt inexplicably irritated.

His mood was terrible.

At M University.

Song Yan noticed the unusually low pressure surrounding Shi Zhiyu.

“Zhiyu, what’s wrong?”

“Who upset you?”

Shi Zhiyu tapped his phone screen without saying a word.

A mischievous grin appeared on Song Yan’s face.

“Don’t tell me your online girlfriend dumped you?”

Shi Zhiyu shot him a cold glance.

Song Yan immediately shrank back.

Holy crap.

Did he actually guess right?

Thinking back to the baby girl’s photo he had once seen in Shi Zhiyu’s wallet…

Could it really be that little girl?

Meanwhile, Tang Shu was sleeping soundly.

In her dream, countless piles of money were waving at her.

Then a fierce-looking little boy appeared.

He looked at her with obvious disgust.

And then…

He set all the money on fire.

Her money…

When Tang Shu woke up, tears were clinging to the corners of her eyes.

Her money…

She opened her phone.

The chat window with Shi Zhiyu still showed no new messages.

Could it be that this tactic didn’t work on him?

Then again, he was the young master of the Shi family.

What kind of woman hadn’t he seen before?

She decided to wait another two days.

If there was still no response by then, she would need a new strategy.

Opening Moments, she looked around to see if anything interesting had happened.

The next second, she nearly choked.

Shi Zhiyu had posted on Moments.

He had posted before, but usually it was just business-related links.

This time…

It was a photograph.

A photograph showing both his face and his figure.

Tang Shu instinctively tapped the image and enlarged it.

Under a brilliant blue sky, he stood tall.

His body proportions were impeccable.

His face was expressionless.

Cold.

Indifferent.

The pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose gave him the appearance of a refined scoundrel.

It was also the first time Tang Shu had ever seen an adult photo of Shi Zhiyu.

Aunt Qiao had only shown her childhood photos of the two of them together.

She had never provided any recent pictures.

Aunt Qiao had complained,

“That little brat hasn’t come home in years.”

“I don’t even know what he looks like anymore.”

“He won’t let anyone take photos of him.”

Tang Shu never expected Shi Zhiyu to post a picture himself.

Subconsciously, she swallowed.

Her comic’s male protagonist finally had a character model.

That face.

That physique.

Absolutely authoritative.

She was just about to exit when her finger slipped.

She accidentally liked the post.

Quickly, she removed the like.

Then she noticed the comments below.

[Aunt Qiao: Well, well. The little brat actually knows how to post selfies now. Who are you trying to impress?]

[Yu: The school needed promotional photos.]

[Aunt Qiao: Sure, sure. You little rascal. You’re fooling nobody.]

Tang Shu couldn’t help laughing.

Aunt Qiao was genuinely entertaining.

Still, Shi Zhiyu really was unfilial.

How could he not return home to visit the parents who raised him?

Then she noticed another comment.

[Shi Zhiyu: That’s unfair. I go back every year.]

Just then, her phone vibrated.

She exited Moments.

A red notification dot appeared in WeChat.

[Yu: Am I not handsome enough?]

[ShuShu Has Candy: Huh?]

[Yu: Then why did you remove your like?]

Tang Shu covered her face.

She couldn’t exactly tell him it was an accident.

Or that she had gotten distracted staring at his photo.

Or that she had already started imagining him as the male lead of her next comic.

[ShuShu Has Candy: I didn’t.]

[Brother is so handsome. How could I possibly remove my like?]

[Brother’s physique alone deserves a huge thumbs-up.]

[Let me go admire it again.]

Tang Shu was extremely satisfied with her answer.

It was practically perfect.

She immediately went back to Moments and liked Shi Zhiyu’s photo again.

Then she returned to the chat window.