"???"

Ruan Tang was completely bewildered.

Before she could interrogate him, Xu Lai said slowly, "I'm carrying my whole world on my back. Do you think it's heavy?"

The sweet words caught her completely off guard.

Ruan Tang's lips curved into a smile. "Nonsense. Am I the only one in your world?"

"Would you allow other women to move in?" Xu Lai turned to look at the pretty face so close to his, asking in feigned surprise, "That wouldn't be very appropriate, would it?"

"..."

Ruan Tang pinched Xu Lai hard, annoyed. "You're just asking for a beating, aren't you!"

Yiyi is part of our world too! If your precious little Xiao Mian'ao heard that, wouldn't she start bawling?

Xu Lai yelped with exaggeration, "HISSS... that hurts."

The two of them bantered flirtatiously, completely ignoring the varied expressions of the passersby. Xu Lai didn't care. Ruan Tang did, but since the crowd of strangers didn't know her, she simply buried her face in Xu Lai's shoulder and whispered, "Walk slower."

But no matter how slowly they walked, they were bound to cover the short distance of a few hundred meters.

As if influenced by Ruan Tang's mood, Xu Lai said, "Close your eyes."

Ruan Tang complied without the slightest hesitation.

Gradually, she heard the sound of waves lapping at the shore and smelled the familiar briny scent of the sea.

Ruan Tang opened her eyes and saw a golden beach and the azure ocean. Her expression went blank.

How did we suddenly get to the seaside? The city center was at least thirty kilometers away from the nearest coast!

"From here, it's exactly ten kilometers to our home. Is this slow enough for you?" Xu Lai smiled.

"Mm," Ruan Tang responded, then added in a small voice, "Xu Lai, you're... not an ordinary person, are you?"

Xu Lai's steps faltered for a moment before he resumed his normal pace. His silence was a tacit admission.

"Then... are you human?"

Xu Lai was speechless.

"I'm afraid you're a ghost who might suddenly disappear one day," Ruan Tang's voice was gentle and soft, as faint as the buzz of a mosquito. "Leaving me all alone again. It didn't matter when I didn't have you, but now..."

As she spoke, she instinctively hugged Xu Lai tighter, her tone and actions evoking deep tenderness.

I've gotten used to having you around. If you weren't here... the rest of my life would be so dreadfully dull. If Yiyi asked for her daddy again, where would I ever find another you for our daughter?

"I will never leave you or Yiyi. I swear it," Xu Lai said with conviction, hoisting Ruan Tang's soft body a little higher on his back.

"I believe you," Ruan Tang whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.

They walked on in silence. Xu Lai carried Ruan Tang on his back, walking slowly as if they could continue on to the ends of the earth.

Up ahead, there was a small wooden cabin. It used to be a school bus stop for an elementary school but was later abandoned. Since homeless people sometimes stayed there, the authorities never tore it down, leaving it as a shelter from the elements for those without a home.

In front of the cabin, a one-sided beating was taking place.

A man with shattered, gold-rimmed glasses was shielding his head with his hands as two ragged, middle-aged vagrants beat him relentlessly, cursing all the while.

"Damn punk! You dare try to take our spot and steal our food? Believe it or not, I'll beat you to death!"

"Mmph... mmph..."

The man on the ground, his face smeared with dirt, grunted in pain. He clutched a stolen loaf of bread to his chest, unwilling to let it go. After the beating, however, the bread was snatched from him. The two vagrants, tired from their efforts, had a sadistic idea. They stomped on the bread that was rightfully theirs, crushing it underfoot.

"You want to eat it? Go on, eat it!" one of the disheveled vagrants sneered.

The bread was long expired and now bore a filthy footprint. Yet the man in glasses didn't hesitate. He grabbed the bread and began to devour it, ignoring the dirt and grime as if it were the finest delicacy.

"Pah! Despicable."

The two vagrants threw their arms over each other's shoulders and walked away, laughing boisterously. The man with the glasses continued to wolf down the bread, choking several times in his haste.

TAP... TAP.

He heard footsteps stop in front of him. Still on the ground, the man looked up and saw that the shoes did not belong to the vagrants. Confused, he lifted his head.

The moment he saw who it was, his expression turned ugly, filled with a mixture of terror and undisguised resentment.

"Xu Lai, he's so pitiful. Do you have any spare change?" Ruan Tang, resting on Xu Lai's back, felt a surge of compassion, not recognizing the face that should have been so familiar.

"I do."

Xu Lai took two coins from his wallet and tossed them onto the ground with a crisp clink.

Then, still carrying Ruan Tang, he continued toward Haitang Court, the two of them occasionally murmuring sweet nothings that would make one's heart race.

Only when their retreating figures had blurred into the distance did the man finally avert his crestfallen gaze. He scrambled to pick up the two coins, carefully tucking them into his shoe.

"Xu Lai, Ruan Tang... How dare you pity me? Everything that has happened to me is your fault! It's all because of you!" the man roared, his voice raw with anguish.

He was...

None other than Ruan Jin!

He was once the designated heir of the Ruan Family. But after being swindled out of tens of millions by Dongfang Xun and pressured by the bank to repay the three hundred million invested with the Wan Family of East Sea City, his life unraveled. One misfortune after another plunged the Ruan Family into an endless abyss.

The Ruan Family's assets had been frozen. Since the company was owned by Ruan Jin and his father, Ruan Jinshan, they both became blacklisted debtors, their spending severely restricted. What's more, when he turned to his old friends for a loan to tide them over, not a single one dared to help.

Those friends didn't know about Xu Lai, but they knew the Ruan Family's fall was due to offending the Wan Family of East Sea City. Who would be foolish enough to cross the wealthiest family in Jiangnan? That would just be asking for trouble.

It's easy to add flowers to a brocade but difficult to send charcoal in a snowstorm.

Old Master Ruan had a mental breakdown and was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital. Song Ru, ever conscious of her reputation, couldn't bear returning to her maiden family and letting her fawning relatives laugh at her. She would rather sleep under a bridge in East Sea City. Unable to find work and having completely given up, Ruan Jin chose to abandon himself and wander the streets.

The Ruan Jin family of three was still reeling from the psychological shock of that day when they saw Wan Yuanshan, the Patriarch of the Wan Family, Niu Guihua, the Matriarch of the Niu Family, and others bow deeply to Xu Lai.

Now, faced with this charity—a mere two coins—what little pride Ruan Jin had left pieced itself back together. He continued to curse, "You damned couple! You have so much money, and you only give me two coins? You can go to hell...!"

He spewed a torrent of foul curses. At the same time, his heart was filled with endless remorse.

He regretted not clinging to a powerful figure like Xu Lai that day. The trajectory of the Ruan Family... might it have been different?

Regrets? The Ruan Qingshan family was certainly full of them, but it was useless now. A person makes countless choices in life, leading to countless outcomes. But whether the results are good or bad, one must bear them.

There are no do-overs in life, nor is there a magic pill for regret.

Therefore, Xu Lai felt no pity. He smiled at Ruan Tang and said, "Honey, what do you want for dinner tonight? I'll make you a feast."

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