Chapter 19

Ruan Xinyi thought carefully. That Mercedes-Benz seemed to have been following her ever since she made a U-turn earlier.

Through the side mirror, she had only caught a glimpse of a delicate, fair chin, with full, rosy lips curved in a graceful arc. Clearly, the driver was a woman—and likely a beautiful one at that.

As traffic inched forward, the Mercedes-Benz maintained a steady distance, neither too close nor too far.

The setting sun cast slanted rays of light, its dazzling glow hitting the windshield directly ahead.

Ruan Xinyi reached up to pull down the sun visor and casually glanced at the rearview mirror. The sunlight reflected off the other car’s windshield, creating a halo effect that blurred its details and made it appear somewhat surreal.

Perhaps bothered by the gaze, Ruan Xinyi noticed the woman in the Mercedes-Benz lift her right hand slightly. The cuff of her shirt slid back a little with the motion, revealing part of her wrist, which gleamed dazzlingly white in the orange glow of the sunset. Then, the woman pulled down her sun visor, perfectly blocking the elegant chin that had been visible in the rearview mirror.

Ruan Xinyi tapped her cheek thoughtfully, her tongue curling slightly as she continued chewing the now flavorless gum.

Was it just her imagination? She couldn’t shake the feeling that the flawless jawline she had glimpsed earlier seemed oddly familiar. And that Mercedes-Benz, too—it felt like she had seen it somewhere before.

It wasn’t until the Mercedes-Benz followed her into the residential complex that Ruan Xinyi realized where she had seen it.

That morning, as she left her house, she had spotted it parked in the space across from hers.

And that parking space, if she remembered correctly, belonged to her neighbor…

Speaking of that neighbor, Ruan Xinyi couldn’t help but recall the message Jiang Yun had sent her earlier that morning, describing someone as unbelievably attractive.

Ruan Xinyi shook her head with a dismissive laugh. No matter how stunning this neighbor might be, she had zero interest.

As she approached her parking spot, Ruan Xinyi slowed down. Checking her rearview mirror, she saw the Mercedes-Benz come to a stop a short distance behind her, leaving her enough space to park.

Ruan Xinyi turned the steering wheel and smoothly parked her car. Once she had settled into her spot, the Mercedes-Benz rolled forward and carefully backed into its own space.

She didn’t pay much attention to the mysterious neighbor she had yet to meet. After turning off the engine, she unbuckled her seatbelt, stepped out of her car, and walked to the passenger side. She retrieved a bouquet of lisianthus flowers, a potted Tami flower, and a bulb of red spider lilies that the flower shop owner had gifted her.

Locking her car, Ruan Xinyi headed for her building. As she passed the Mercedes-Benz, she almost instinctively turned to glance back.

The neighbor sat steadily in the driver's seat, the sunshade pulled down. It was unclear what they were doing, and after a long time, they still hadn’t gotten out of the car.

Ruan Xinyi withdrew her gaze without lingering and quickly entered the apartment building.

---

When Wen Xihan saw Ruan Xinyi step out of the Phaeton, she was completely stunned.

Both she and Qi Jingning had assumed the owner of the Phaeton was a middle-aged, overweight man, but at that moment, all their previous assumptions about the neighbor were completely overturned, to the point of being utterly ridiculous.

In fact, it could be said that when Wen Xihan saw Ruan Xinyi step out of the car, she was in no way prepared for this revelation.

The soft-spoken girl was her neighbor...

This apartment was one Wen Xihan had casually checked out online a week before returning to A City, viewing several pictures. After visiting the property with Qi Jingning, she decided to purchase the elegantly decorated apartment.

When paying the deposit, the agent had casually mentioned, “The one next door was bought outright a few days ago.”

At the time, Wen Xihan had only half-listened and didn’t give it much thought.

Before the property transfer was finalized, she didn’t want to bother Qi Jingning and had been staying in a hotel.

That morning, she had been in a rush to leave—partly to meet the agent and partly because she wasn’t sure how to face her one-night stand.

As for why she left a service fee, it was simply because Wen Xihan had seen it on TV—fleeting romances end with money, and this was supposed to prevent any future trouble.

She thought her one-night stand would understand.

The day after the property handover, when seeing workers move furniture next door, Qi Jingning had commented on how extravagant the neighbor seemed.

However, when they saw the Phaeton in the parking spot, Qi Jingning’s perception of the unseen neighbor changed, which also influenced Wen Xihan, at least a little.

But Wen Xihan never imagined that the Phaeton belonged to Ruan Xinyi, and that Ruan Xinyi was her neighbor…

This feeling was even more complicated than when she discovered her assistant was her little niece, who was also her one-night stand.

Wen Xihan didn’t turn off the car engine. She watched as Ruan Xinyi got out, then walked around to the passenger side to take out a bouquet of flowers and a potted plant.

Quiet and composed, Ruan Xinyi was quite deceiving, and at that moment, Wen Xihan had the strange illusion of seeing traces of the past in her.

That fake seriousness, still pretending to be a little adult in front of her, only to lose composure after ten seconds—the soft-spoken girl.

Ruan Xinyi actually didn’t resemble Ruan Su much, except for their eyes, which were almost identical.

There’s a saying: “You can tell a person’s future by how they were as a child.” When Ruan Xinyi was around two years old, Ruan Laofu (Wen Xihan’s mother) had once said, “This child has much better character than Ruan Su, though in some aspects, she’s a complete replica of Ruan Su. But one thing is better than Ruan Su—she’s sweet-talking and knows how to make people happy. I just don’t know if she’ll grow up to be too smooth-talking.”

It turns out Ruan Laofu was right. When Ruan Xinyi kept her smile and quiet demeanor, her presence was strikingly similar to Ruan Su’s. The difference was that Ruan Xinyi was still young, and though she habitually smiled at others, some things felt awkward.

And now, the little girl no longer had to pretend to be an adult in front of her…

Because she had already grown up.

When Ruan Xinyi passed by the car with the bouquet, Wen Xihan lowered her head and took out her phone, repeatedly turning the screen on and off.

Ruan Xinyi glanced back, and Wen Xihan knew she was being watched.

But she didn’t want Ruan Xinyi to know it was her in the car, so she kept her head down and pretended to be looking at her phone, trying to ignore that gaze.

Only after Ruan Xinyi entered the building did Wen Xihan put down her phone and look in the direction where she had disappeared, feeling a headache.

---

The first thing Ruan Xinyi did when she entered her apartment was place the newly bought Tumulus flower pot on the balcony, carefully adding the special soil from the flower shop, and planted the red spider lily bulbs.

She added some fertilizer to the soil, grabbed the watering can, and watered both pots.

Returning to the living room, Ruan Xinyi placed the Eustoma flowers in a vase, choosing the best angle to put them on the dining table.

After finishing this, Ruan Xinyi went to change into light-colored home clothes and leisurely entered the kitchen to consider what to make for dinner.

The fridge was well-stocked with ingredients, both meat and vegetables, so Ruan Xinyi decided to take out a piece of ribs from the freezer to thaw, cleaned a clay pot for soup, and simmered a pot of yam and rib soup on low heat.

While the soup was simmering, Ruan Xinyi took a shower, dried her hair, and came back to the kitchen to find the delicious aroma of the soup filling the air.

She stirred the pot with a spoon, added the last ingredient, and let it simmer for another half hour.

When the seasoning was just right, Ruan Xinyi turned off the heat, put on a dark denim jacket, and prepared to take the trash downstairs.

Earlier that morning, Jiang Yun and Cheng Yue had helped her take out the garbage, but now she only had a small bag of trash from the bathroom and the kitchen.

Since she had nothing else to do, Ruan Xinyi walked slowly. After throwing the trash into the bin, she strolled back up.

By the time she arrived, the elevator doors were about to close. She was preparing to wait for the next one when a woman inside pressed the button, causing the doors to open quickly.

“Thank you.”

Ruan Xinyi was momentarily taken aback, thanked the woman, and walked in.

The woman didn’t respond, and the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

Ruan Xinyi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, raised an eyebrow as she checked the floor, then glanced at Wen Xihan, who was standing silently, lips pressed tight, her face unreadable.

Wen Xihan, holding a heavy bag full of groceries, was aware that Ruan Xinyi was watching her. The intense, obvious gaze made her feel very uncomfortable.

At that moment, the elevator contained only the two of them. Wen Xihan couldn’t help but regret her earlier decision to interfere. It would have been better to just let the elevator close on its own. Had she done that, they wouldn’t be in such an awkward situation now...

Moreover, considering Ruan Xinyi’s cleverness, she must have figured everything out once she saw the floor.

"Hey, what a coincidence~" Ruan Xinyi said with a smile.

It was unclear whether she meant the coincidence of running into each other in the elevator again or the fact that they were neighbors. Or perhaps it was both.

"..." Wen Xihan stared expressionlessly at the floor numbers changing on the elevator display, her lips pressed tightly together in a straight line. "Not a coincidence," she said flatly. It really wasn’t a coincidence at all.

Ruan Xinyi chuckled and glanced at the shopping bag in Wen Xihan’s hand. "No wonder my roommate said this morning that my neighbor is even more beautiful than a celebrity. I didn’t believe her at the time, but now that I’ve met you, I believe it."

It seemed her mother’s concern about Ruan Xinyi growing up to be a smooth talker wasn’t unfounded.

A vein throbbed in Wen Xihan’s temple, but she didn’t respond.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but rather that she didn’t know how to.

Ruan Xinyi changed the subject, smiling as she smoothly shifted the conversation. "Have you eaten yet?"

Most of the items in the shopping bag were food, along with various candies and a few everyday essentials, but there were no ingredients for cooking.

Ruan Xinyi guessed that Wen Xihan probably didn’t cook.

Wen Xihan countered with a question, "Have you eaten?"

“Ding—” The elevator reached the desired floor.

Realizing what she had just said, a flash of embarrassment crossed Wen Xihan’s face. Before Ruan Xinyi could answer, she quickly stepped out of the elevator, her movements swift as though she were being chased by a ghost. She swiped her fingerprint and closed the door in one smooth motion.

If you ignore the fact that she almost walked out awkwardly, her left and right feet almost stepping at the same time.

Ruan Xinyi: “???”

“…”

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