After the Fake Young Master Ran Away with His Child, the Villain Went Crazy - Chapter 2

Over the past few days, Jing Ruan had been making frequent appearances at the hospital to establish a good rapport, and he had successfully managed to become good friends with the protagonist. Today, he walked in carrying a fruit basket to visit Yan Jin.

Inside the ward, Yan Jin was on the phone, trying to pull strings to clear up his issues. Hearing footsteps, he immediately looked up to see who had entered.

“Brother Yan.”

Seeing that Yan Jin was on the phone, Jing Ruan proactively greeted him in a low voice and stood to the side, waiting for him to finish.

Jing Ruan didn’t have much of an education. The extent of his knowledge was merely reading and writing basic characters, and nothing more. His grandmother had been the one to teach him how to read.

He was born an orphan. His grandmother had picked him up and raised him, but she passed away when he was sixteen. From then on, Jing Ruan had no choice but to go out and scavenge for food.

He had rummaged through trash cans, and when he was driven mad by hunger, he had even stolen food. Unfortunately, he failed to run fast enough; people caught up to him, snatched the food back, and gave him a severe thrashing.

Whenever his hunger became truly unbearable, he would hide in a dilapidated shack and flip through web novels to distract himself. The world he had originally lived in was fully digitized, and paper books had long been abandoned by society; such literal garbage could only be found in the Lower Fifth District.

Those books were just fragments and torn pages his grandmother had scavenged to teach him how to read. Some only had the beginning of a story, while others only had the final pages.

Listening to his stomach rumble, Jing Ruan would read about the extravagant, decadent lives of wealthy young masters, yearning for it deeply. He desperately wanted to become a high-society elite, a young master born into wealth.

He didn’t want to starve, he didn’t want to be bullied, and he didn’t want those lecherous, ill-intentioned people staring at him with perverted eyes. He could only do his best to make himself look as filthy and foul-smelling as possible to protect himself.

He was like a rat in the gutter, only able to see his own tiny square of territory, a space that was nonetheless fraught with constant danger.

The era he previously lived in was divided into five major districts. The First District was where the rulers lived, heavily protected by formidable military equipment. The Second District was the elite, ultra-wealthy residential area. The Third District belonged to the mercenaries. The Fourth District was for the middle-class and ordinary citizens. The Fifth District was a place of exile—commonly referred to by the other districts as the garbage zone, or simply the Lower Fifth District.

The Lower Fifth District had no governing laws; it was merely heavily guarded along its outer perimeter by military forces to prevent anyone inside from escaping. It was a chaotic, lawless wasteland filled with all sorts of people, where one could witness someone dying every single day.

From childhood to adulthood, Jing Ruan had spent his life hiding in a hidden hole beneath a dilapidated wooden shack. Whenever thugs came to ransack their things, his grandmother would make him hide inside. After she passed away, he spent two years dodging danger and hiding from place to place. Up until the moment he transmigrated here, he had fully expected that he would one day quietly starve to death or be beaten to death by someone.

“Brother Yan, are you in trouble? Do you need my help? I have money. I can spend money to hire someone to resolve your problems for you.”

Yan Jin turned his head in surprise, staring at the dead-serious expression on Jing Ruan’s face. Assuming that Jing Ruan was just naive and ignorant of the world, he hung up his phone and decided to tease him.

“How would you resolve it?”

Jing Ruan stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes up, mimicking a hanged ghost.

Jing Ruan’s moral compass had been shaped entirely by the Lower Fifth District. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he just suggested; in his worldview, if you had money and power, you could do whatever you wanted.

Startled by the gesture, Yan Jin quickly pressed further, “Who taught you that? You absolutely cannot do things like that in the future. That’s illegal, do you understand?”

“It’s not allowed? Then I won’t do it anymore,” Jing Ruan mumbled. “Well, do you need money then? I can lend it to you. But once you make money in the future, you have to pay me back with a lot of interest, okay?”

Jing Ruan figured that since the male lead was bound to be the most powerful person eventually, helping him through his current crisis would definitely yield massive benefits later on. However, he felt it was necessary to state his terms upfront—just in case Yan Jin actually thought this was unconditional charity.

That would be a huge loss.

Hearing Jing Ruan’s words, Yan Jin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He couldn’t fathom how Jing Ruan’s family had raised him. The boy possessed a bizarre blend of naive cruelty, and his petty, mercenary nature wasn’t hidden in the slightest.

Yan Jin had already run a background check on him. On the day of his accident, Jing Ruan had intentionally shown up at that location with a clear purpose, heading straight for the site of the incident.

The Jing family was merely a low-tier wealthy family with a modest amount of money. Jing Ruan’s parents had passed away early, but before their deaths, they had exhaustively planned for their son’s future by setting up a trust fund. Crucially, the terms stipulated that he could only take full control of the assets when he turned thirty-five.

Until then, the trust only covered his basic daily expenses by doling out a fixed monthly allowance. This condition was put in place not only to prevent their young son from being swindled but also to protect him from being murdered by malicious actors eager to snatch his inheritance early.

Furthermore, records showed that after Jing Ruan finished high school, he refused to continue his education. The information gathered described him as a quiet, introverted boy who disliked interacting with people and was somewhat misanthropic.

Yet, the person standing before him was the exact polar opposite of those reports.

It was highly suspicious.

Yan Jin had agreed to become friends with Jing Ruan precisely to see what he was up to. If he had been sent by his older brother, Yan Qian, could the plan be to place such a person by his side to deliberately lead him astray?

If so, the tactic was far too transparent.

As Jing Ruan finished nurturing their bond for the day and prepared to leave, Yan Jin called out to stop him.

“Jing Ruan, I have a banquet to attend in a few days, and I’m allowed to bring a guest. Do you want to come with me? I heard a lot of influential figures will be there. Also… could you do me a favor, Ruan Ruan?”

Yan Qian—or rather, Yan Jin—intended to test Jing Ruan.

“Really? But I’m a bit clumsy. I can’t handle things that are too complicated,” Jing Ruan said, looking a little anxious. He had never attended a banquet before and had no idea how to behave, fearing he might ruin everything.

“It won’t be complicated at all. I just need you to deliver a message to someone for me,” Yan Jin coaxed smoothly, carefully observing Jing Ruan’s reaction as he spoke.

Jing Ruan figured that sounded simple enough; he could definitely manage passing along a single sentence.

He patted his chest confidently. “Okay!”

Yan Jin couldn’t detect any flaws in his behavior, so he set the appointment, arranging to pick him up from his house at 7:00 PM in a week’s time.

Since Jing Ruan still didn’t know the address of the house he was currently living in, he told Yan Jin to wait a moment while he used the restroom.

Inside the restroom, Jing Ruan called the butler back at the villa, asking for the name and house number of their residence. Instead of answering immediately, the butler questioned why he needed it.

Jing Ruan explained that a friend was coming over in a few days to pick him up so they could go out together, but the friend didn’t know the address.

The butler fell silent on the other end of the line for a few seconds before asking what kind of friend it was and what their name was.

Jing Ruan obediently answered every question.

However, the butler advised against it, stating that high society had far too many strict rules and etiquette. If Jing Ruan went, it would be bad if he accidentally offended someone.

But Jing Ruan thought to himself: The male protagonist is my friend! If I don’t help him while he’s down, where will there be a spot for me once he hits the big time?

He was fully planning on riding those coattails!

Hanging up the phone, Jing Ruan walked back into the ward.

“Brother Yan, how about we meet at the hospital entrance instead? The butler won’t let me go with you, so I’ll sneak out when the time comes,” Jing Ruan whispered.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was making the call, Yan Jin had silently walked over to stand behind the door to eavesdrop. Having overheard bits and pieces, he found it incredibly bizarre.

How could a person not even know their own home address? Even if they couldn’t remember it, they could simply send a location pin once they got home.

It was becoming more and more suspicious.

“Alright,” Yan Jin agreed, nodding.

No matter how sharp Yan Jin was, he could never guess that Jing Ruan was a transmigrator from a different world who had absolutely no understanding of modern digital technology. He had only recently figured out how to use a smartphone, and there were still countless things he hadn’t learned yet.

Leaving the hospital, Jing Ruan took a taxi straight home. When getting out, he pulled out paper cash to pay the fare. This cash was a substantial amount he had previously requested from the butler.

Every time he tried to use mobile payments, the app required a password. Jing Ruan didn’t know it, and after blindly guessing a few times to no avail, he could only set it aside to figure it out slowly later.

He didn’t dare ask the butler either. He was terrified that if he asked too many questions, the butler would realize he was an impostor and throw him out, leaving him to wander the streets.

He didn’t possess a single marketable skill; his only talent was scavenging trash.

Jing Ruan was terrified of returning to his past life, which made him desperate to find a powerful backer. Yan Jin was the golden thigh he had chosen to cling to.

Standing in the courtyard of the villa, Jing Ruan looked up at the beautiful, grand house before him. When he had first transmigrated, he loved to wander around the perimeter of the estate, constantly terrified that this was all just a beautiful dream.

This gorgeous house was his home.

Noticing Jing Ruan standing frozen in the courtyard instead of coming inside, the butler turned his head to speak to the nearest servant.

“Go tell the young master to come inside. Inform him that I have hired several tutors for him. Moving forward, he needs to take lessons at home and stop running outside so frequently.”

The servant lowered her head and softly complied.

When the servant informed him that the butler had hired tutors, Jing Ruan was overjoyed. Education was something he could never have even dared to dream about in his past life.

He practically sprinted up to the butler, bouncing on his heels with excitement as he eagerly asked when the teachers would arrive and what preparations he needed to make.

“I have already instructed the staff to prepare everything you will need. You only need to listen attentively to the lessons, Young Master.” The butler paused slightly before adding, “Once the lessons begin, you won’t be able to go out as often.”

Jing Ruan nodded, saying he understood.

At worst, he just wouldn’t go out for the next few days, saving his outing for the night Yan Jin was taking him to the banquet.

The following day, the tutors hired by the butler arrived. Jing Ruan spent the entire day completely lost in the clouds, failing to comprehend a single word.

On the third day, the entire batch of tutors was replaced. This time, Jing Ruan was instantly able to understand the material. The new tutors even taught him how to read and write characters, and he studied with absolute, unmatched diligence.

Soon, the day of their agreement arrived.

The butler steadfastly refused to allow Jing Ruan to attend the banquet. Jing Ruan threw a tantrum and begged for a long time, but the butler wouldn’t budge. Ultimately, Jing Ruan resorted to climbing out of the kitchen window to escape. He ran incredibly fast, and the butler failed to catch up to him.

Jing Ruan figured he would just apologize to the butler once he returned from the party.

By the time his taxi reached the designated meeting spot, Yan Jin was already waiting. He was dressed formally, and he looked at Jing Ruan with a bizarre expression when he saw the boy wearing casual lounge clothes.

“Are you going like that?” Yan Jin stared down at the slippers on his feet.

Jing Ruan knew nothing about banquet dress codes or etiquette. Since the butler hadn’t arranged anything for him, he was completely oblivious.

“Brother Yan, I climbed out of a window to sneak out. The butler wouldn’t let me come,” Jing Ruan replied, completely missing the point of the question.

Suppressing his confusion, Yan Jin realized time was tight. He could only rush him to a nearby mall to buy a ready-to-wear suit as an emergency fix. A store-bought suit naturally lacked the impeccable fit of a custom-tailored one.

Jing Ruan’s frame was far too slender, so the clothes only barely fit him.

An ordinary person might not notice anything amiss, but to anyone well-versed in social etiquette, the flaw would be glaringly obvious at a single glance.

Jing Ruan, however, stroked the fabric of the suit with immense care. He thought it looked beautiful and incredibly expensive; he had caught a glimpse of the price tag when Yan Jin paid for it.

As Yan Jin drove, his gaze flicked toward the passenger seat from time to time via the peripheral vision.

Jing Ruan was currently staring around the car’s interior with wide, curious eyes.

The cloud of suspicion in Yan Jin’s mind grew heavier, increasingly convincing him that Jing Ruan was a trap set up by Yan Qian.

He needed Jing Ruan to deliver a message to someone.

That person was Yan Yihe.

Yan Jin knew that Yan Qian belonged to Yan Yihe’s social circle, a group that revolved entirely around Yan Yihe as their centerpiece. He planned to send Jing Ruan back into that circle as a counter-test.

He wanted to see how Yan Qian would react to Jing Ruan.

If the boy truly was a plant sent by Yan Qian, Yan Qian would definitely prevent him from getting close enough to disturb Yan Yihe, which would instantly signal to Yan Jin that his own scheme had been exposed.

If he wasn’t a plant, Yan Qian would likely enjoy watching Yan Yihe get amused. Once they verified the boy posed no danger, they would most likely let him pass through.

Someone of Yan Yihe’s stature wouldn’t be interested in making things difficult for an insignificant nobody. Besides, the message he wanted Jing Ruan to deliver was completely harmless; it wouldn’t threaten his life, though it might cause him to lose a bit of face.

Once he confirmed that Jing Ruan was innocent, he would make it up to him with ample compensation later.