Chapter 91

On Thursday, Shen Lihuan received a call from Gu Qinglan—her uncle was bringing his girlfriend home, and as his niece, she definitely couldn’t miss it.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I promise I’ll be back on time. It’s just that Changqing has to work these next couple of days, so she probably won’t be able to come. But that’s fine. Once Auntie officially joins the family, they’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

Gu Qinglan didn’t mind and gave a few instructions before hanging up.

Shen Lihuan didn’t know what her new aunt might like, so she gave her uncle a call. His reply: “She’ll like anything you give her.”

She rolled her eyes at the ceiling, picked up her wallet, and headed out to buy a gift.

Women generally love jewelry, so Shen Lihuan went to a well-known jewelry store and picked out a ruby set. Her new aunt had fair skin—red jewelry would really flatter her complexion.

Guan Kening’s first visit to her boyfriend’s family went smoothly. The eldest sister was warm and down-to-earth, the brother-in-law didn’t talk much but was kind, and the niece was quiet but easy to get along with. She even gave her a set of ruby jewelry, saying it was a welcome gift prepared together with her boyfriend.

At first, Guan Kening didn’t dare accept it—it was too expensive. It wasn’t until Gu Tingyu persuaded her that she finally smiled and accepted it graciously.

Shen Lihuan had a good impression of her. She understood how the world worked but wasn’t jaded, cheerful and easy to talk to—perfectly complementing her not-so-talkative uncle.

Three months later, Shen Lihuan’s baby brother was born—named Shen Wenyu, nicknamed Youyou. He was born on January 27.

That same March, after half a year of dating, Gu Tingyu and Guan Kening got married.

Spring came and went, summer turned to winter, and time flew by like a stream. In the blink of an eye, it was time for university to start.

After surviving the hellish gauntlet that was senior year and making it through the grueling college entrance exam, Shen Lihuan and You Changqing both earned the honor of becoming freshmen at Imperial Capital University. You Changqing got into the finance department, and Shen Lihuan into clinical medicine—both programs with sky-high admission scores.

The You and Shen families were both thrilled and threw a grand banquet to celebrate, giving them generous gifts. You Changqing’s wallet was once again flush with cash.

First-year students at Imperial Capital University were required to live on campus, so Shen Lihuan and You Changqing had to move into the dorms, putting off their plan to live off-campus for another year. Still, planning for her future happiness, Shen Lihuan had already bought an apartment near the university town. The renovations could take their time, and she could slowly furnish it.

The university had three campuses. Both the School of Finance and the School of Medicine were located at the Xihe campus—the main campus—covering the most land and hosting more than twenty departments.

The finance and clinical medicine dorms weren’t close to each other, so the families split up. Shen Jiashu and Gu Qinglan went with Shen Lihuan, while You Zongzheng and Yang Yingzhi accompanied You Changqing.

It’s worth noting: since baby Youyou was still so young, Shen Lihuan couldn’t bear to let her precious little brother get sunburned. So Gu Tingyu, who had originally planned to send his niece to school, ended up staying home to take care of Youyou. Gu Qinglan wasn’t confident in her clumsy brother’s babysitting skills, so Guan Kening also stayed home to keep an eye on both him and Youyou.

Gu Tingyu was clumsily holding Youyou while babbling in some alien language. Guan Kening looked at them with a smile. Thinking back over the past year, it all still felt a bit like a dream.

Her memory still lingered on the day she first visited her boyfriend’s home. Yet in the blink of an eye, they’d already been married for half a year. That piece of “monk’s meat” that so many others had their eyes on had actually ended up on her plate. When they got married, even her relatives and friends couldn’t believe it. They couldn’t figure out what charm she had that made Gu Tingyu—an eternal bachelor—willing to settle down.

She herself had felt a bit uneasy about it. Outwardly, she showed nothing, but she had quietly taken those unkind whispers to heart. She hadn’t expected Lihuan to see right through her. To this day, she still remembered Lihuan’s expression and what she said:

“It’s your life—you’re the one living it, not anyone else. No matter what they say, it won’t affect your life one bit, unless you’re dumb enough to let it. They can envy, resent, and gossip all they want, but you’re still the one marrying into the Gu family. You’re not even in the same league as them, so why stoop to their level? What could they possibly do to you? They probably wouldn’t even get the chance to see you, let alone hurt you.”

She had thought—yeah, exactly. She was already married to Tingyu. What could anyone else do? If he were the cheating type, he’d have had flings ages ago—there’d be no need to wait until after marriage to start messing around.

She was just scaring herself. Those people were jealous because she married well. They couldn’t stand to see her happy, so they talked behind her back. If they really had the guts, they’d say it to her face—but they didn’t. They wouldn’t even have the chance to.

Having let go of her inner worries, Guan Kening and Gu Tingyu grew even more loving. Outsiders all said that President Gu was a doting husband, and Guan Kening must have had ancestors blessing her to marry such a perfect man. She only smiled faintly at those remarks. She didn’t need anyone else to judge whether she had good fortune or not. And even if someone did dare come say such things to her face, she doubted they’d have the guts.

After all, her man was a domineering CEO—and as the CEO’s beloved wife, wasn’t it perfectly normal for her to act a little spoiled?

Meanwhile, the Shen and You families split up at the campus gate and headed to their respective department booths to register.

There was already a line at the medical school’s booth. Shen Lihuan did a quick count—there were probably about ten people ahead of her.

She turned to her parents and said, “There are still quite a few people in line, and it’s so hot. Why don’t you go rest under that tree over there?”

She pointed to a banyan tree a few meters away.

Gu Qinglan, fanning herself with a paper fan, was very touched by her daughter’s thoughtfulness. She glanced at the line and accepted her daughter’s suggestion.

Shen Jiashu didn’t want his wife to suffer under the scorching sun either, so he took her to the shade and then returned to the line to wait with their daughter.

A bodyguard helped carry her luggage, so aside from holding her admission notice and a few other documents, Shen Lihuan didn’t have much in her hands. Since her father didn’t want to go sit in the shade, the two of them chatted idly instead.

About ten minutes later, Shen Lihuan successfully received her freshman orientation booklet and, under the guidance of a warm and outgoing upperclassman, found her dorm.

People who get into Imperial University aren’t fools. It was clear at a glance that Shen Lihuan’s family wasn’t ordinary. That air of nobility and the calm confidence in their words and demeanor wasn’t something that came from just any household. And besides, how many people in the whole imperial capital were both surnamed Shen and named Shen Lihuan?

So this senior was very enthusiastic toward Shen Lihuan’s family—but not overly so. Instead, her friendliness came across as natural.

Of course, her little tricks didn’t amount to much in front of the Shen family. They responded with polite indifference—neither cold nor close.

The senior also understood that trying to make someone like you on a first meeting was a pipe dream. So she kept up her friendly demeanor, only talked about school-related matters, and left tactfully once everything had been explained.

The dorm was a single room. Shen Lihuan didn’t like living with others. She had too many secrets, making it unsuitable to share space with strangers, so she had applied for a private room.

A single room meant fewer people and more space, but it also came with higher fees compared to double, quad, or six-person dorms. Shen Lihuan didn’t care about that.

If she shared a room, what would Changqing do?

Ahem, alright—it was more like, what would she do? If she told Changqing to sleep alone at night, all by herself, how could she possibly sleep?

If there were others around, she couldn’t very well bring her girlfriend over to stay. So a single room really was the best choice.

The dorm had already been cleaned. The floor was spotless, and the walls were a pristine white. Though it was called a “single room,” it was more like a luxurious single suite.

Right after entering, there was a small living room. Against the right-hand wall was a yellow solid-wood bookshelf, currently empty and awaiting its owner to fill it with books. Below the bookshelf was a desk and computer station.

On the left side of the living room was a reddish-brown shoe cabinet. About two meters past it stood a smart water dispenser.

At the end of the living room was the bathroom and balcony. The balcony had a front-loading washing machine, and a few wires stretched under the ceiling for hanging clothes.

The bedroom was to the left of the living room. Upon entering, one would see a large bed placed against the right-hand wall, directly facing the window. Behind the bed stood a white solid-wood wardrobe. To the left of that, in front of the window, was a soft green fabric sofa. Along the left wall of the sofa was a vanity, and diagonally above it sat the air conditioner.

Gu Qinglan and Shen Jiashu nodded in satisfaction and began helping their daughter make the bed. Shen Lihuan carried a bucket into the bathroom, filled with shampoo, body wash, and other toiletries.

The bathroom was about six or seven square meters. The floor and walls were spotless. On the left side stood a 1.7-meter-long bathtub, and several hooks were nailed to the wall.

She arranged the toiletries on the vanity and hung up the towel, then washed her hands and came out.

When she returned to the bedroom, Gu Qinglan was praising the dorm conditions. “No wonder Imperial is the best university in the Green Nation. This single room isn’t much different from a luxury suite.”

Shen Jiashu took out a tissue to wipe the sweat from her forehead and said with a smile, “Only with conditions this good can Lihuan be comfortable.”

Gu Qinglan nodded in agreement. “Lihuan never stayed in the dorms during high school, so she has no experience living with roommates. College dorms aren’t like high school ones—they’re full of mind games, schemes, like a miniature society. It’s better my daughter lives alone in peace.”

Sure, living alone might make it harder to fit in, but Lihuan didn’t come to school to play social politics. Friends were great if they were genuine, but it didn’t matter if she didn’t make any. It was about quality, not quantity. She never expected her daughter to be the type to get along with everyone—there was no need for that.

“Thanks, Mom and Dad, for thinking of everything for me. I’ll open a bottle of water for you to quench your thirst.”

Shen Lihuan grabbed two fancy bottles of water, opened the caps, and handed them over warmly.

Gu Qinglan took the bottle with a fond, helpless smile. “You little rascal.”

Shen Jiashu took a few sips, looked at the bare window, and said, “We should put up curtains. This light is too harsh.”

“Didn’t we bring some?” Gu Qinglan replied. “Let Luo Yi help put them up.”

Hearing that, Luo Yi quickly found the curtains and installed them. As soon as they were drawn, the room dimmed a bit, and the harsh light faded. Shen Jiashu nodded, satisfied.

Once everything was set, Shen Jiashu and Gu Qinglan prepared to leave. A fledgling bird eventually had to leave its parents’ embrace and learn to live independently. No matter how reluctant they were to part with their daughter, they had to let go.

After they left, Shen Lihuan took out her phone and messaged You Changqing, “Changqing, I’m all settled. What about you?”

You Changqing replied quickly, “Not yet. I was halfway through arranging things when I ran into a ‘little princess’ who insisted I switch dorms with her. Her family even tried to throw money at me. It’s a whole scene right now.”

“??? How did someone that dumb get into Imperial? Don’t they know that most finance majors are from filthy rich families? Who’d be desperate for that little bit of cash?”

Shen Lihuan knew Changqing wouldn’t be bullied, but she was still irritated. “Which building are you in? I’ll come find you.”

“I’m in Building 6, Room 507, 5th floor.”

“Alright, wait for me.”

Shen Lihuan grabbed her bag and dorm key and headed out. Her own dorm was in Building 10, which, in her opinion, was quite far from Building 6. So she quickened her pace—she was on her way to rescue her Changqing. She couldn’t even bring herself to bully Changqing, yet some random nobody dared to wave money at her? Truly, some people didn’t know the meaning of fear.