Chapter 12

Starting Today, I’m In Charge Of You

Ruan Mengmeng’s reaction was completely within Li Junyu’s expectations.

He raised his brow, and a chilly gleam flashed through his cold stern eyes. He made no attempt to hide his impatience with this.

“Those are my father’s orders. Starting today, I’m in charge of your food, shelter, education, manners, your physical and even your mental health. All of it.”

As he said that, Li Junyu stood up and strode up to Ruan Mengmeng with his long legs.

Bending forward, he used his own hands to pull her right leg down from her left knee.

The man’s fingers rested on her knee. They were slender and long, with well-defined knuckles.

Since he was bending down and leaning really close to her, Ruan Mengmeng was almost completely and utterly enveloped by Li Junyu’s lazy yet chilly aura.

Li Junyu put her legs together and forced her to sit politely, like a well-mannered lady.

“Never cross your legs. This is your last warning.”

He murmured that threat into her ear with his exceedingly deep voice before he straightened up again.

The entire time, Ruan Mengmeng was lost in a daze.

Her brain had not recovered yet. It was still registering Li Junyu’s earlier declaration.

Only now did she finally raise her head bewilderedly, looking at him in sheer disbelief. “You— Did you just say you were gonna educate me? What right do you… My last name is Ruan, and yours is Li…”

It took her a little longer than usual, but Ruan Mengmeng finally came back to her senses.

Li Junyu lowered his gaze, staring at her as he said with his extremely cold voice, “It’s simple. It’s because my father is Li Yaoyang, and his second wife’s name is Chen Qingzhi.”

Chen Qingzhi…

Chen. Qing. Zhi!!!

Li Junyu’s words were like a bolt of lightning crashing onto Ruan Mengmeng.

It stunned her and made her dizzy, its effects lasting for a good while.

Chen Qingzhi…

Chen Qingzhi…

Chen Qingzhi was her mother’s name!

Eleven years ago, she could not stand her father’s infidelity, his mistress’ pressure, as well as her mother-in-law’s and sister-in-law’s bullying…

So she drowned herself in the ocean! That was her mother, who should have died a long time ago!

“No, that can’t be…” Ruan Mengmeng shook her head. Her eyes had always sparkled with rainbow colors, but now they had been instantly drowned in tears.

“My mom died a long time ago, she left us eleven years ago…Th-There’s no way she’s still alive. If she was, how could she bear to abandon my sister and me? I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it!”

Ruan Mengmeng had a pair of eyes that sparkled as though they could speak.

When she smiled at someone, her sparkling almond eyes seemed to contain the stars, the sun, and the moon.

Now, however, her clear crystal eyes were covered in a thin layer of mist.

When he saw the girl reacting like this, Li Junyu could not help but frown.

A peculiar emotion flitted past his previously composed black eyes.

For a second there, he had actually, inexplicably, felt something akin to pity.

Hah, what a joke.

She was just a useless heiress who had been completely spoiled by her upbringing. She did not warrant a careful education at his hands.

The only one who cared about such a thing was that old man back home who was so dedicated to Chen Qingzhi.

When he remembered his father’s orders, the last trace of pity in Li Junyu’s bottomless eyes was obscured by an impenetrable haze.

“I don’t care if you believe it or not. That has nothing to do with me. Either way, I’m your guardian, starting from now.”

“No, you’re not!” Ruan Mengmeng did not back down at all, glaring at him with her teary almond eyes. “I’m not a minor anymore. I’m nineteen this year, so you can’t boss me around!”

“Unfortunately, you’re still a student. Apparently, you’ve been in your third year of high school for two years now. With the way you’re going, how long will it take for you to graduate on your own? Hmm?” Li Junyu did not hide his contempt at all.

There was absolutely no warmth in his eyes when he looked at Ruan Mengmeng.

He had long since investigated her life. The second miss of the Ruan Family had started school in advance at merely five years old.

Now that she was in the third year of high school, though, she had somehow still managed to take two years longer than everyone else.

That was why she was nineteen now and still had yet to graduate.

“Even if that’s true… that’s still my business! I don’t need your interference! I have my dad, and I have a family. I don’t need you to be my guardian!”

Ruan Mengmeng turned her head away stubbornly, purposely telling herself not to look at his cold gaze of contempt.

No one else knew her life better than she did. Ruan Mengmeng did not need to explain anything to anyone else!

“In that case, that surely means you don’t need to meet your mother either, right? Alright, you can go then. I won’t force you.”