Spoiled Sparrow

Ruan Qing has been staying at Lin Yun'en's house for the past two days.

The chat window on my phone, now empty of all messages, had sunk to the bottom.

When Ruan Qing returned to their home, the two pairs of slippers neatly arranged in the entryway remained untouched, and the magazine she hadn't finished reading before leaving was still on the coffee table.

She changed into soft slippers, walked slowly to the bathroom, dried her hair, picked up her laptop from the bedroom, and went to Fu Chen's study.

She gently placed the computer on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

The white gauze curtains by the window swayed gently in the breeze, and the warm winter sun shone on her fair skin, like a blooming white rose, captivating the heart.

In a suite on the other side of the city, Fu Chen rubbed his fingertips against a fountain pen, his eyes fixed on the figure on the surveillance camera.

A pile of unfinished collaboration proposals lay in front of the computer.

He rubbed his temples in frustration. This woman hadn't sent him a single message. Wasn't she even a little curious that he hadn't been home for three days?

Fu Chen immediately dialed her number, but she didn't answer it for a long time after the phone kept ringing on the monitor.

"Hello, who is this?"

The familiar voice came, and the pride that had been secretly competing with him instantly crumbled.

Fu Chen ignored the barbed tone on the other end of the phone and said to himself, "I'm on a business trip."

"Okay, I understand."

......

His proud pride wouldn't allow him to lower himself any further, so he decisively hung up the phone.

Furious, she looked down and saw the person in the surveillance footage stand up, walk under the camera, and make a face at the monitor.

...It's so funny it makes you laugh.

Ruan Qing finished her first draft, put on her beautiful clothes, and prepared to go out for dinner.

She wandered aimlessly along the street. It was the weekend, and the bustling street was very lively.

The alley around the corner is a narrow lane surrounded by old residential buildings, just wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

As she walked, she got lost in the maze of alleys. The same streets stretched out before her, making her a little nervous.

She immediately took out her phone for navigation and subconsciously looked back.

The sounds of the crowd outside faded into the distance, and she felt a chill run down her spine, as if a pair of eyes were watching her.

Countless turns and moments later, a tall, dark figure suddenly burst into her line of sight. She stopped abruptly, but still crashed straight into it.

She was so frightened that she staggered a couple of steps and almost lost her balance.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

The man held her hand, and after she stood up and looked at him clearly, she realized that the person in front of her was somewhat familiar.

Before she could speak, the man's gentle voice came from above: "Elevator."

Oh, I remember now.

She forgot her name, but I think her surname was He.

Ruan Qing tentatively asked, "President He?"

He Xunnan smiled and said, "Miss Ruan, I don't think we have a business relationship. You can call me He Xunnan."

Ruan Qing slowly turned to the side, avoiding looking up at him continuously: "Okay, He Xunnan, just call me Ruan Qing."

It got dark so quickly; the sky was so bright just a moment ago, but now the sun is nowhere to be seen.

Ruan Qing just wanted to leave this alley that made her uncomfortable as soon as possible, but He Xun Nan's nearly 1.9-meter height completely blocked the only exit.

Just as she was about to speak, a clear male voice came from behind her in the distance: "Brother Nan, we've caught this little brat!"

Turning around at the sound, I saw a man dressed in all black, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, being dragged behind me by the collar.

When they got closer, they saw that the person's face was bruised and swollen, and he was howling on the ground, grimacing.

Ruan Qing covered her mouth, suppressing a scream of lingering fear.

She looked up and met He Xun Nan's unfathomable eyes, and felt inexplicably afraid.

He Xunan patted her shoulder to comfort her: "This is the person who's been following you, Miss Ruan. I just happened to see them on the way and followed them."

Ruan Qing followed He Xun Nan out of the intricate alley and looked at the people coming and going around her. She finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks."

The man who was beaten so badly he couldn't get up had already been taken to the police station by He Xunnan's henchmen.

Ruan Qing's heart sank; it turned out someone really was following her.

No matter how we asked, the man wouldn't say who had sent him to follow us, so we could only leave it to Uncle Hat.

Ruan Qing: "Thank you just now, otherwise I don't know what would have happened."

"How should I thank you?" He Xunnan asked seriously, not joking.

Ruan Qing's mind went blank for a moment; she hadn't expected him to do this.

While hesitating, He Xunnan offered a way out: "Miss Ruan, why don't you invite me to dinner?"

"OK."

Ruan Qing pointed to a mutton hot pot restaurant next door: "Mr. He, would you like to eat at a small restaurant like this?"

"Okay," he nodded. "This will do."

He had barely finished speaking when he entered the store before her.

There's a sense of urgency that you might miss this opportunity if you don't take it again.

The two entered the store one after the other. Their tall figures and stunning looks attracted the attention of the college students around them.

After much pleading, Ruan Qing finally persuaded the owner to change to a private room.

The owner muttered, "Little sister, look, there are only two of you. You're taking up the whole round table, making it hard for me to do business."

It's understandable that the boss was unhappy, given that it was lunchtime and he relied on the business to support his family.

Ruan Qing smiled and said, "I'll pack another five pounds to take with me later."

"Alright, alright, come and patronize my business often from now on."

She only sat down after she had appeased the boss.

He Xunnan exuded an air of nobility, and his every move revealed his upbringing and refinement.

Through He Xunnan, Ruan Qing seemed to see Fu Chen's image, except that he would never accompany her to eat in places like this, because he found it too noisy.

After being rejected a few times, she stopped trying to embarrass herself.

Neither of them spoke during the meal, until He Xunnan spoke first after the meal:

"Ms. Ruan, our company is currently developing AI facial recognition synthesis technology. If possible, we would like to invite you to conduct a test on our product."

"Me?" Ruan Qing pointed to her face.

He Xunan: "Don't worry, we won't use your face to do anything illegal or criminal."

This is a public welfare project that uses bone capture, AI algorithms, and models to simulate a person's dynamic aging trajectory from childhood to adulthood and then to old age.

If developed properly, it has a very good chance of helping children who were abducted many years ago to find their families.

Since it was a charity project, Ruan Qing readily agreed: "Sure, we can do it tomorrow."

Unexpectedly, He Xunnan was doing something so meaningful, and Ruan Qing suddenly felt admiration for him.

As I stepped out of the store, I was surprised to find a large crowd of onlookers, densely packed around the entrance.

Just as Ruan Qing was about to push through the crowd, a disheveled man rushed straight towards her without the slightest hesitation, raising his hand to slap Ruan Qing across the face.

In the instant of takeoff and landing, Ruan Qing reacted extremely quickly.

He suddenly raised his arm, firmly grasped the hand that was swinging towards her, and forcefully stopped it in mid-air.

Seeing that she hadn't hit her, the woman tried to kick her, but He Xunnan kicked her away the moment she raised her leg, sending her sprawling to the ground.

The groans of pain attracted onlookers, many of whom turned on their phone cameras.

The woman sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum was none other than Su Jiaojiao, the biological daughter of her adoptive parents.

Su Jiaojiao's face was flushed, her expression was somewhat abnormal, and she reeked of alcohol.

She pointed at Ruan Qing and cursed, "You bitch, why do you get to live so well? You don't deserve it!"

You just love finding older men to keep you, don't you? You're so young and you're already a mistress to a boss, what's so great about that!

What, now you look down on Feng Xiao and have climbed up to someone else?