Young Master Is Being Jealous Again!
Chapter 488: Qin Xiaowu, Covered in Wounds, Crawls out of the Mud

Chapter 488: Chapter 488: Qin Xiaowu, Covered in Wounds, Crawls out of the Mud

Old Master Jiang shook his head lightly, feeling a mixture of shock and confidence. He was taken aback by Qin Ruan’s circumstances, yet he was growing more reassured about surviving under the wing of the Huo Family.

Qin Ruan was someone who knew how to reciprocate kindness, and judging by the way she treated Lin Hao, she was not someone to forget her benefactors.

As long as he was behaved and minded his own business in West City, his future would be worry-free.

...

As Lin Hao drove away from West City, Qin Ruan suddenly shouted for him to stop as they passed a certain street.

"Guilan Fang is just up ahead, I want to eat Black Beef Tongue Pancake," she said.

Lin Hao stopped the car and, looking back, jokingly replied: "You’ve tasted all sorts of delicacies by now, why do you still fancy this?"

Qin Ruan stared at the outside street from the car window, the corners of her lips lifting into a smile, "Nostalgia, I guess."

It wasn’t that she was particularly fond of Black Beef Tongue Pancakes, or that she couldn’t survive without them and felt uncomfortable if she didn’t eat them for one day.

It was just that, as a child, she often went hungry. The one time she’d gotten to eat a Beef Tongue Pancake, it was as though she was tasting a delicacy.

To the Qin Ruan who had never experienced fine food before, the taste of it was something she could remember for a lifetime, it was unforgettable.

To put it more accurately, it was unforgettable across two lifetimes.

"Alright, you sit, I’ll get off and buy it for you."

Lin Hao stepped out of the car to head towards Guilan Fang.

Shortly after he left, Qin Ruan’s phone rang.

She took out her phone and glanced at it. It was an unmarked number.

Qin Ruan picked up the call, holding the phone to her ear

"Xiaowu, where are you?"

Su Wang’s voice, composed and powerful, was broadcast through the phone and into Qin Ruan’s ear.

Leaning back into the seat, she casually replied, "Almost out of West City."

On the other end, there was silence.

It was a bit noisy on his end; Qin Ruan seemed to hear Josh’s crying and Li Zilan’s angry yelling.

The noise gradually died down, Su Wang must have found a quieter place.

"We didn’t expect you to come back after such a long time without contact,"

Su Wang’s voice had a complex, indiscernible tone after a long silence.

Qin Ruan gazed at the dilapidated streets of West City, her tone indifferent, "I’ve lived here for eighteen years, of course I have to come back to visit."

There was a bit of heaviness in Su Wang’s voice, "You are not like us, being able to leave West City is a fortune, and a relief. There are countless people who want to free themselves from the squalor of West City, but never have the opportunity.

There’s nothing here for you to remember, you don’t need to reminisce about it. Just live your life well outside."

Qin Ruan laughed softly, "I can’t erase the traces of living in West City for 18 years. Brother Wang, you, Ranzi and Zilan can also step out and see for yourselves, the outside world is quite interesting."

Su Wang gave a bitter laugh, filled with self-mockery, "Xiaowu, we are not like you. We are stuck here for life."

Qin Ruan turned her gaze back from the window, her expression calm, almost cold.

With a deep and steady voice, she said to Su Wang, "As long as you take the first step, you have a chance to get out."

Those who stay in West City for too long will inevitably become frogs at the bottom of the well.

How will they know how wonderful the outside world is if they don’t come out and see it for themselves?

"It’s different, we are completely off the track from the outside world, we are already accustomed to the rules of survival in West City."

Su Wang’s bitter smile carried a hint of helplessness.

Upon hearing his words, Qin Ruan no longer tried to persuade him.

Su Wang was right. There was a set of survival rules inherent to life in West City.

Once they left West City, they would be like ignorant children bumping against walls, consumed by the fear of all the unfamiliarity of the outside world.

In her past life, she was wary and vigilant, still, she fell into the trap of multiple schemes.

Eventually, she lost her life, lost her loved ones, and died with unresolved resentment.

Qin Ruan stayed silent for a long time, prompting a deep sigh from Su Wang.

"Xiaowu, we all want you to be well, and hope you can stop having any involvement with West City. You have crawled out of the quagmire with wounds all over your body. However painful and hard it was, none of that will belong to you again."

"You are the only one among the four of us who has crawled out. Don’t ever go back."

Su Wang, Shen Ran, and Li Zilan have no idea of Qin Ruan’s current status.

They simply knew that she had barely left West City and should cut off all ties with it.

Qin Ruan pursed her lips. Her voice was soft with a hint of comfort: "I am fine, eating well, living well, and my life is good, you don’t have to worry about me."

"If that’s the case, you need to take good care of yourself. If you have been wronged or bullied by someone, tell me. We may not have a lot, but we do have plenty of brothers. We will definitely help you retaliate!"

Despite Su Wang’s swaggering words, upon hearing this, Qin Ruan’s heart swelled up, and her eyes turned moist.

"Alright!"

Qin Ruan responded while nodding vigorously.

Even though she knew Su Wang couldn’t see her, she couldn’t stop herself from nodding.

In her previous life, she never contacted Su Wang and the rest till her death.

But that doesn’t mean that their deep bond forged through life and death would be obliterated.

As soon as Qin Ruan hung up, Lin Hao entered the car with a beef tongue pastry in his hand.

With a beaming smile on his face, he handed it to Qin Ruan: "Try it. The old aunt saved the last portion for me."

Qin Ruan reached out and accepted the familiar snack.

Meeting familiar friends and holding the pastry she once loved most, no one knew the complexity within Qin Ruan’s heart.

She broke off a piece and put it in her mouth, it was the same familiar taste.

To date, Qin Ruan still remembers thinking that the beef tongue pastry was made from real beef tongue when she first heard of it.

Actually, it’s a special pastry from Capital City that looks a lot like a beef tongue.

The beef tongue pastry’s savory and umami flavor was rich, unlike the typical sweet pastries, making one unable to stop eating after taking a bite.

Qin Ruan quickly finished eating the entire beef tongue pastry.

Lin Hao, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, handed Qin Ruan a bottle of water.

"Have some water, this pastry is quite dry."

Qin Ruan nodded, accepted the water.

She took a few sips, then stored the remaining beef tongue pastry.

Lin Hao started the car and asked Qin Ruan, "Shall we go to Yejue?"

Qin Ruan nodded: "Let’s go to Yejue first, pick up those people, and then go to Zhenpin Pavilion together."

The luxury car slowly drove away, still attracting many onlookers along the way.

After leaving West City for a while, Qin Ruan suddenly spoke: "Brother Hao, what did it feel like when you left West City back then?"

This question inevitably caused Lin Hao to reveal a strange look on his face.

Qin Ruan had her eyes on him the whole time, noticing his ill-looking complexion.

Furrowing her brows, she asked: "What’s wrong?"

Lin Hao gave a bitter smile: "After I left West City, I caused quite a few embarrassing incidents in the Su Family."

A feeling of unease appeared in Qin Ruan’s heart; she had a bad premonition.

While Lin Hao was driving the car smoothly, he said calmly: "After Su Jingshu brought me back to the Su Family, she left me to the others and initially ignored me."

"At that time, I was glad that she didn’t care about me. I had hoped she would forget about me, but that changed when I almost lost my life."

"Someone tried to kill you?" Qin Ruan asked seriously.

Lin Hao shook his head: "My existence in the Su Family back then meant that someone could not get promoted, that I was in their way, so they almost had me killed."

"In West City, everyone would call me Brother when they saw me, even if they didn’t like me, they would have to respect me out of respect for Master Six.

"It wasn’t until I entered the Su Family that I realized how cruel human nature could be. Not everyone we met in West City was a nice person."

"The people in Su Family taught me how to devise cunning plans, how to kill without a trace. I suffered quite a bit at the Su Family, even coming close to death."

"Come to think of it, I really have to thank Su Jingshu. Without her cryptic protection, I would have died in the Su Family countless times, considering how I used to act in West City."

By the end, Lin Hao’s voice was buried in his self-mockery.