“Why?” Their son wanted to be with Su Ci without a proper title or acknowledgment?

“My time isn’t long. I don’t intend to make our relationship public, and her parents wouldn’t approve anyway.” Lu Zhe lowered his eyelids, hiding the emotion in his eyes.

Wen Ya was the least able to bear hearing her son say such things. Her eyes burned and grew sore. “Mom will have people do everything they can to treat you. You like Su Ci, Mom will support you. But Zai Zai, don’t say things like your life won’t be long. It hurts Mom to hear that.”

Her son had been smart and obedient since he was little, and in the blink of an eye, he had grown up. She hadn’t even had the chance to make up to him properly. She prayed to the heavens — let her son be healthy, free of pain, and live a long life.

Lu Zhe answered quietly.

Beside them, Lu Chen fell silent, a deep sorrow flashing in his peach blossom eyes.

The Lu family was powerful, but in the face of life and death, they were still helpless.

Summer weather changed quickly. After the banquet ended, heavy rain began to pour from the sky.

The late-night rain carried a chill as it fell everywhere, leaving only the sound of rushing water in the surroundings.

The security guard looked at the man who had stepped out of the car, his footsteps unsteady as he stood before the iron gate. The guard quickly approached to check the situation.

“I want to see Cici. Tell her to come out and see me.” He Ermeng’s handsome face was filled with drunkenness.

“Second Young Master, let’s go back. Miss Su is already asleep. We shouldn’t disturb her rest.” The driver held an umbrella, attempting to pull He Ermeng away.

“Get lost. I’m waiting for Cici to come out and see me.” He Ermeng, reeking of alcohol, shoved the driver away.

Only then did the security guard realize that the man outside was the young master of the He family. With the rain pouring so heavily — if the He family’s young master fell ill from being drenched, the He family’s pursuit of responsibility would be troublesome.

The driver stepped forward and said to the security guard, “Our young master drank too much, but he insists on seeing Miss Su. Could you please help relay the message? Otherwise, if he can’t see Miss Su, he won’t be willing to leave.”

The rain grew heavier and heavier. The security guard frowned. “I’ll have someone pass the message along, but whether the young lady is willing to come out is not up to us.”

“Of course. Thank you for the trouble.” The driver held the umbrella over He Ermeng’s head, but He Ermeng’s clothes were already soaked through.

Su Ci was awakened by the knocking on her door.

She stood behind the door, eyes half-closed. “What is it?”

The servant, flustered and a little cautious, relayed the message. “Miss, Second Young Master He is standing outside the gates in the rain. He’s waiting to see you.”

“What time is it now?” Su Ci’s voice carried heavy drowsiness, soft and a little languid.

The servant answered, “Two thirty in the morning.”

Su Ci couldn’t help yawning. She opened her eyes; within her watery, hazy gaze, a chill flickered. “It’s already the middle of the night. He’s not sleeping, but I want to sleep. What kind of madness is this?”

“The security said Second Young Master He is drunk.” The servant tensed and hurriedly added.

“So he’s drunk and acting crazy.” Su Ci was speechless. “Go tell He Ermeng I’m not going out to see him.”

She’d have to be insane to go out in this kind of rain.

“The security said Second Young Master He refuses to leave unless he sees you. If he keeps standing in the rain, then…” The servant thought the He family’s second young master was truly devoted to her young lady. Miss might waver because of this.

Su Ci frowned. “If he loves standing in the rain, let him. This isn’t some idol drama. Even if he gets sick or dies from it, I still won’t like him. If he still won’t leave, call his older brother and have them drag him away. Don’t disturb my sleep.”

“Miss…” Hearing Su Ci’s cold words, the servant was a little stunned.

“Go. Why are you standing there?” Su Ci had been sleeping soundly and was suddenly woken up, so her tone was far from gentle. “Repeat my words to He Ermeng exactly. Don’t bother me again.”

“Yes, Miss.” The servant didn’t dare hesitate and hurried off.

The bean-sized raindrops fell hard against the body, stinging the skin.

Holding an umbrella, the servant repeated Su Ci’s words word for word to He Ermeng.

“Cici really said that?” Rain covered He Ermeng’s face entirely, and even his reddened eyes were blurred by it. “In her eyes, I must be a joke, right?”

The servant didn’t dare make a sound.

At this moment, a car stopped in front of the Su residence.

Big Brother He stepped out with an umbrella. Seeing his brother slumped against the gate, being drenched in the rain, he walked forward. “A’Meng, let’s go home.”

He Ermeng lifted his drunken, dazed eyes toward his brother — and then burst into aggrieved sobs.

He admitted that when he first saw Su Ci, he had indeed been moved by her beauty. But looking good was her advantage, who said liking someone couldn’t begin with liking their face?

Gradually, he began to like not just her face, but all of her.

Even when she fiercely scolded him for being annoying and told him to get lost, he liked her.

Sitting in the car, his soaked clothes clinging to his body, the temperature in the rainy night was a bit cold. Yet he seemed unable to feel the chill. The wildness and arrogance in his brows had faded; the whole person looked lost and desolate.

His chest felt hollow.

Big Brother He told the driver to turn on the heater. He glanced at his shattered, hollow-eyed younger brother but didn’t say much.

He’d gotten too many things effortlessly since childhood. It was time he learned that not everything in this world goes the way you want.

His little brother needed to grow up.

– – – ˗ˋˏ♡ˎˊ˗ – – –

Su Ci had no idea that after He Ermeng left in the rain that night, he had a relentless high fever and was sick for more than a week before recovering — and the once arrogant, unruly boy seemed to have become a different person.

As for how He Ermeng was doing, Su Ci didn’t care at all. Her and Lu Zhe’s college entrance exam scores were out.

The moment Su Father learned his daughter’s results, the very first person he called was Lu Chen. “The gaokao scores came out today. My daughter is this year’s top scorer.”

When Su Father showed off in front of Lu Chen, he never bothered sugarcoating it.

In the past, when Lu Chen’s son was missing, every time he heard Su Father brag about his daughter, he would fall silent, stabbed right in the heart. But now things were different.

Leaning back in his office chair, Lu Chen raised a brow and said smugly to Su Father on the phone, “Oh? What a coincidence — my son is also the top scorer.”

Times had changed. Not only could Su Shengguo boast about his daughter, Lu Chen could now brag about his son too.

“I’m planning to throw a proper celebration for my son.” Lu Chen spun his chair with satisfaction. “By the way, which university is your daughter applying to?”

From his previous investigation, Su Father recalled that Lu Zhe’s grades had always been outstanding. Tsk, that sly fox Lu Chen really lucked out.

“What? Are you asking me for advice?”

Lu Chen’s smile was even more fox-like. “Yes, yes, I haven’t been a father for very long, you know. Now that my son’s applying to universities, of course I need to choose carefully.”

Lowering his posture for the sake of gathering intel for his son, he continued, “Go on, tell me which university your daughter is applying to. Whatever you picked can’t be wrong. I’ll use it as reference.”

Su Father didn’t notice the scheme behind Lu Chen’s question. In a good mood, he answered readily, “My daughter applied to B University.”

“B University is great. Close to home, very convenient.” Lu Chen’s peach blossom eyes were filled with cunning amusement.

After hanging up, he immediately called his wife to take credit. “Yaya, I found out Su Ci applied to B University. Let our son pick B University too…”

Su Ci had long agreed with Lu Zhe to choose the same university. When she saw their results, she wasn’t surprised at all. What did surprise her was that she kept receiving massive transfers from her parents and older brother as “rewards.”

She realized her family loved giving her money at the drop of a hat.

Even Little Tiancai and Little Su Ning took out their secret stash money, happily stuffing a red banknote into her hand while praising her, “Big sister is amazing! Here’s your reward!”

The two little radish heads were unbearably cute.

Her older brother, Su Zhiyuan, had only one month of life left. All Su Ci could do was wait. And during this period, the second recording for the food show arrived.

Everyone in the crew thought that after last time — when Su Ci got scolded into the hot search — she wouldn’t be in a good mood. But when the girl arrived, cheeks rosy and black eyes bright, they realized they had overestimated the situation. Clearly, Su Ci didn’t care about online noise at all.

Inside the guest lounge.

When Guan Jing saw Su Ci enter, she took out a thermos from her bag and walked toward her.

Her delicate and refined face carried a warm, concerned smile. “Su Ci, the weather’s been a bit hot and dry lately. I made snow-pear and white-fungus sweet soup at home. I brought some for you. Do you want to drink it?”

Seeing the enthusiastic expression on her face, Su Ci directly refused. “No, I don’t need it.”

Still smiling, Guan Jing set down the thermos and continued asking, “When we record later, can I sit next to you?”

“Why?” Last time, Guan Jing wasn’t this attentive at all.

Guan Jing explained, “Sitting next to Nan Yi gives me too much pressure.”

Su Ci did not agree. Her voice was cold. “Guest seating is arranged by the director.”

Guan Jing felt embarrassed. When Xie Yumin finished her makeup and came in, she quietly whispered to her, “This Su family young miss is so proud. I tried talking to her earlier, even wanted to give her some of the sweet soup I made, and she completely ignored me.”

Although Xie Yumin hadn’t interacted much with Su Ci, she felt that while Su Ci had the pride of a wealthy young lady, she never acted arrogant for the sake of it. “Maybe she’s just not familiar with you.”

Guan Jing bit her lip and didn’t say more.

Soon, a staff member came to notify them that all the guests had arrived and filming could begin.

Qin Shiyan had already finished her makeup in another lounge.

As soon as they walked into the recording room, several guests smelled a foul stench in the air and instinctively gagged.

“It stinks so much.” Guan Jing covered her nose and couldn’t help blurting out.

Qin Shiyan walked in just after. Smelling the odor in the air, she frowned deeply and said in a displeased tone, “What is that smell?” She gagged once, then couldn’t help retching a few more times.

Was it really this smelly?

Behind her, Xie Yumin was doing alright — she only sniffed lightly. Beside her, Nan Yi took a deep breath. “I think it smells great.” He strode forward.

At the very back, Su Ci’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. For some reason, she felt that this program team was full of bad taste.

She said nothing and walked to her seat.

None of the guests knew that the live broadcast had already started from the moment they stepped inside. All their reactions had already been aired to the viewers.

“Hahahaha did someone fart at the filming site? The guests are about to pass out.”

“This is hilarious. Qin Shiyan looks like she’s about to puke from the smell.”

“Hug my little Yan Yan. Why does the recording room stink? Did the director fart?”

“Blind guess: someone ate durian indoors just now.”

“Am I the only one who noticed that even when Su Ci frowns, she looks beautiful? What kind of fairy is this?”

“Plastic surgery monster, get lost. My Shiyan is the real fairy.”

“Did the program team prepare something super stinky?”

The viewers were all curious. Watching the guests nearly faint from the smell had them laughing nonstop.

Then, as the camera followed the guests, it moved to the long dining table. Only then did the audience see that the table was already filled with food.

The director sat at the head of the table, smiling as he spoke. “Today we’ve prepared some special dishes for you. People who like them really like them. People who don’t… will find them very difficult to eat.”

Smiling, the director signaled for the staff to lift the covers from the dishes. One by one, the plates were revealed, and the smell instantly intensified.

The director introduced, “Today we’ll try some specialty dishes: stinky tofu, luosifen, fermented winter melon, pork intestines, stinky mandarin fish… and of course, the king of fruits — durian.”

“Hahahahaha I already see the guests losing the will to live.”

“To be fair, even though they smell horrible, they taste amazing.”

“Little Yan Yan is covering her mouth like she’s about to vomit. What do we do? I feel so bad for her.”

“Can you not make our Little Yan eat this? She’s a pampered young lady, of course she’s not used to this kind of food.”

“The production team is too cruel. I saw Little Yan tearing up from the smell. I hate this show.”

“Eat it or don’t. The other guests can eat it, is Qin Shiyan too noble to eat? Last time when Su Ci wouldn’t eat rabbit meat, your braindead fans chased her and cursed her out for being ‘pretentious.’ Don’t be such hypocrites.”

“Are you a fan of that plastic-surgery monster Su Ci? You don’t even know Qin Shiyan’s background, do you? She was raised pampered in the Su family since she was young. She’s never eaten snacks like these.”

“Exactly, Little Yan has never eaten this kind of food. Everyone knows people who’ve never tried them before think stinky tofu and luosifen smell awful and hard to accept. Why compare her with other guests?”

“Don’t compare Su Ci to Little Yan, okay? She even copied the little tear mole under my Yan Yan’s eye. It’s disgusting.”

Su Ci had no idea she was being dragged into it again for no reason.

She picked up a piece of stinky tofu, examined it — it was dark, smelly. She frowned and hesitated before taking a small bite.