novellhall Chapter 47 Zhang Ruonan: I have a strong sense of family.
Chapter 47 Zhang Ruonan: I have a strong sense of family.
Time jumped again, and a week later.
Hangzhou High-Speed Railway Station.
Wang Zian emerged from the high-speed rail station exit with his schoolbag on his back.
It was already very hot in Hangzhou at the end of May.
The sun shone brightly on the marble floor of the station exit, and the air was filled with the warm, humid breeze typical of the South, mixed with taxi exhaust and the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms drifting from afar.
He took off his coat and draped it over his arm, stood outside the exit, took out his phone, and showed the message Zhang Ruonan had sent him.
A photo of her standing next to a new blue car, along with a note that reads, "Call me when you arrive, don't wander off."
He smiled slightly and dialed her number.
The receiver was picked up after only one ring of the waiting tone.
"Hey! Prince An, don't worry, I'm on my way!"
Zhang Ruonan's voice burst out from the receiver, speaking rapidly and bluntly, as if she were giving some kind of instruction.
In the background, you can faintly hear the car navigation system reporting traffic conditions, saying, "Find a place to wait for me. I remember there's a Mixue Ice Cream shop near the high-speed rail station!"
"Zhang Ruonan, can't you be a little more punctual?!" Wang Zian switched his backpack to the other shoulder and complained casually.
"It's good enough that you came to pick me up. I still have to go to school and work!" Zhang Ruonan retorted without any politeness.
She pronounced the last three words clearly and crisply, with a sharpness that Wang Zian was already familiar with, a sharpness that didn't quite sound like that of a southern girl.
"Alright, I'm hanging up!"
Wang Zian couldn't help but smile as he listened to the busy tone on the phone.
Zhang Ruonan, a true southern girl.
I don't know why, but she never speaks with the gentleness typical of girls from the South.
I never beat around the bush with him, never treat him politely. After we got to know each other, every time we talked on the phone, it felt like we were arguing.
He turned and went into the nearby Michelin Ice Cream shop, buying each of them a drink.
He turned and went into the Mixue Ice Cream shop next door, buying himself and her a glass of lemonade each.
The weather in Hangzhou in May is so humid it's like a steamer. After standing for just a short while, my back was already covered in a thin layer of sweat.
Outside the station exit, there are tall buildings with glass curtain walls and neat artificial green belts everywhere. They are beautiful, but I always feel that something is missing.
Not long after, his phone rang again.
Then came Zhang Ruonan's urgent and crisp urging: "Hey! Hurry up and get out, parking isn't allowed here!"
"If I get a ticket later, you'll be sorry!"
Hearing Zhang Ruonan's half-threatening words, Wang Zian repeatedly replied, "Okay."
"Blue BMW, license plate number XXXX"
As soon as Wang Zian came out, he spotted the blue BMW parked in the temporary parking area by the roadside.
However, what you see first are the people standing in front of the car.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruonan wasn't really that rude.
She got out of the car, holding the phone in one hand and resting the other on the car door, standing on tiptoe and looking around.
Today she wore brown denim overalls over a loose white shirt and red Warrior sneakers.
Her long hair was styled into a low ponytail and rested on her shoulder.
This outfit wasn't elaborate, but it was clean and neat, and from behind, it exuded a natural charm.
She was looking left and right, tiptoeing and then falling back down, her ponytail swaying from side to side, completely unaware that Wang Zian had already walked over from the side.
Moving a little closer, Wang Zi'an shouted at her, "Zhang Ruonan~!"
Zhang Ruonan was craning her neck to look in another direction when he was startled by his shout. She shrank back, her neck twitching like a frightened quail, and her shoulders trembled.
She turned around quickly, her ponytail slicing in the air.
The moment she saw it was Wang Zi'an, her eyebrows shot up, her lips pressed into a line, and she pointed her index finger straight at his face.
"Prince An, you~~"
She made a fierce expression, but before she could finish speaking, she suddenly saw him standing in the sunlight, looking at her with a big smile, clearly knowing how annoying her shout was.
Her index finger was still raised, but the anger on her face quickly dissipated in the curve of her lips.
"You're such an idiot!"
She lowered her hand and gestured with her chin toward the passenger seat.
"Get in the car quickly; I won't let you off the hook if you get a parking ticket."
Seeing Zhang Ruonan's fierce but cowardly appearance, Wang Zian had no choice but to quickly open the car door and get in.
The blue BMW nimbly left the high-speed rail station.
The car was very clean, with the seats covered by the standard dust covers for new cars. A string of lucky charms hung on the rearview mirror, and a small ceramic lucky cat sat on the center console, gently shaking its head as the car bumped along.
Zhang Ruonan's impression of Wang Zi'an is very similar: a money-grubber!
Zhang Ruonan gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, her large, bright eyes fixed on the road ahead, her lips pursed, and her back several centimeters off the seat back.
Judging from her unfamiliar manner, she must have been quite flustered on her way here.
When did you buy this car?
"I just bought it this month."
Zhang Ruonan didn't turn her head, her gaze fixed on the taillights of the taxi in front of her, as if the taxi would suddenly brake if she blinked.
"Wow! Looks like you make a lot of money!" Wang Zian put his arm on the car window frame and looked at her sideways.
The tips of her ears were red when she was driving; I don't know if it was from nervousness or from being sunburned while standing in the sun.
"Didn't you say before that you were the eldest daughter in your family and that all the money you earned was for buying clothes and shoes for your younger siblings?"
When she mentioned her younger brother and sister, Zhang Ruonan finally turned around and glared at him.
"My younger brother and sister aren't as unreasonable as you think," she said coldly, turning her gaze back to the traffic ahead.
After a moment of silence.
"Besides, I'm still in school. My parents are very good to me and won't make me bear too much responsibility that I shouldn't have to bear."
Oh~!
Wang Zian leaned back in his chair and looked at her profile, a long-held impression in his mind being gently pushed aside.
In the past, when she talked about her family, she always said that the girls in her hometown either married wealthy men who were several years older than them, or they were always making sacrifices for their families.
At the time, he thought she was the kind of Voldemort.
Unexpectedly, the situation was different from what he had imagined.
Zhang Ruonan's parents seem to really adore her.
Seeing him lean back in his seat without speaking, Zhang Ruonan glared at him with a hint of danger in her eyes: "What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about something bad?"
"I thought your parents would pressure you to marry a rich man," he said casually.
The carriage suddenly fell silent.
It wasn't a natural quiet; it was an unnatural feeling, as if something had suddenly been paused.
The sudden silence created an awkward atmosphere inside the car.
Zhang Ruonan's profile was briefly illuminated by a passing streetlamp. Her expression remained unchanged, except that her lips pursed slightly and her eyelashes drooped down half an inch.
"If I don't make a name for myself," she said calmly, looking ahead, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, "I'll probably just marry a rich man in the future."
Why?
"This way, my life and my younger siblings' lives can be a little easier!" Zhang Ruonan seemed completely unconcerned.
"You truly deserve to be called the eldest sister," Wang Zian said, not jokingly, but seriously.
"Of course. Don't older sisters in your hometown help their younger siblings?"
Zhang Ruonan's rhetorical question returned to its usual confident and straightforward tone.
Yes, I will!
"Then what are you wondering about?" Zhang Ruonan tilted her head, her ponytail sliding down her back from her shoulder. "We young people in Vancouver are like this; we have a very strong sense of family!"
"I'm working hard to earn money right now because I don't want to marry someone for money in the future; I want to marry someone I love."
Wang Ziwei raised an eyebrow and gave her a thumbs up.
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