Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

The night breeze blew into Bai Li's ears through the receiver.

Is this girl homeless in the middle of the night?

"Where are you now?" Bai Li asked.

"I'm at the entrance of Half Moon Bay," Jiang Ruyue sobbed, the occasional tire noise of passing cars audible amidst the background noise.

"Okay, don't wander off. Let's talk when we meet."

Bai Li sat up, kicked off the blanket, grabbed the clothes from the head of the bed, and put them on.

Li Jiaxin half-pulled the blanket over her, her long legs exposed, watching Bai Li's back in his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Jiaxin, something happened with Ruyue." Bai Li buttoned up his shirt.

Li Jiaxin very sensibly rolled out of bed, grabbed a coat and draped it over her shoulders:

"It's okay, business is more important. Let's go pick her up together; girls communicate better together."

The two were dressed neatly.

Bai Li just opened the door to the master bedroom.

"Ouch!"

"Don't push me!"

"My head!"

Three cries of pain rang out in succession.

Outside the door, Zhang Qian, Lin Xiaoshuang, and Chen Tingting were eavesdropping on the door frame. Because the door opened so suddenly, the three girls lost their balance and fell flat on their faces.

Chen Tingting rubbed her red hair and stood up straight with a guilty look on her face.

Lin Xiaoshuang stuck out her tongue and quickly pulled Zhang Qian up.

Bai Li was too lazy to investigate the girls' perverse tastes; he was in a hurry.

"I'm going out to pick up Jiang Ruyue, do you want to come?" Bai Li asked.

Zhang Qian straightened her disheveled pajamas and raised her hand:

"I also want to pick up Ruyue, but that Panamera is overloaded with six people including you. If the traffic police stop it, we'll get points deducted."

Bai Li took out her phone: "I have a way."

He dialed the dedicated property management hotline for Genting Palace.

The monthly property management fee here is nearly 100,000 yuan, and 24-hour vehicle service is standard.

Less than three minutes after hanging up the phone, a white Alphard came to a smooth stop in front of Villa No. 1.

The driver, dressed in a crisp white shirt and white gloves, respectfully got out of the car and opened the electric door.

Bai Li sat in the passenger seat, while the four girls chattered and squeezed into the spacious airline-style seats in the back.

"Go to Half Moon Bay," Bai Li gave the address.

The Alphard smoothly drove out of the Sky Palace.

Half Moon Bay was also a wealthy area in Ping County. Although it couldn't compare to the current Yunding Tiangong, it was still considered a place where only the rich and powerful could live.

The car stopped at the intersection outside the main gate of Banyuewan Community.

The dim streetlights cast a halo of light, and Jiang Ruyue stood right in the center of that halo.

She was wearing a slightly thin hooded sweatshirt, her arms were crossed in front of her chest, her long hair was a little messy from the night wind, her shoulders were shaking, and there wasn't even a suitcase at her feet.

All alone.

Bai Li pushed open the car door and got out.

Hearing the noise, Jiang Ruyue looked up and, with her red and swollen eyes, recognized the person approaching through the car headlights.

"Bai Li!"

The slender figure rushed over without regard for anything and crashed straight into Bai Li's arms.

"Waaaaah..." Jiang Ruyue burst into tears, her arms tightly wrapped around Bai Li's waist, her tears and snot smearing all over Bai Li's trench coat.

"They said they don't want me anymore! Waaah... I've been kicked out!"

Bai Li raised his hand and patted her back, letting her vent her emotions.

This girl usually puts on an aloof and ethereal air, her words and actions always carrying a contrast between coldness and cuteness and seriousness. Today, she has completely torn off that disguise.

After crying for two or three minutes, Li Jiaxin handed her a pack of tissues.

Chen Tingting then pulled Lin Xiaoshuang aside and whispered:

"Poor thing, what must this girl have been through to cry like this? It reminds me of the time I fought with my dad in junior high, and I ran away like this too."

Bai Li pulled out a piece of paper and wiped Jiang Ruyue's face haphazardly: "What happened? Tell me slowly."

Jiang Ruyue sniffed, her voice terribly hoarse:

"It's because of practicing the piano. I came in second place in the last city competition. They were very dissatisfied and demanded that I practice for an extra three hours every day. This time, I must get first place in the provincial selection."

She clutched the tissue in her hand, becoming more and more aggrieved as she spoke:

"I argued with my dad. I said I've already tried my best, and I only learned the piano as an extracurricular hobby."

"But they keep pressuring me, to the point that I feel nauseous just looking at a piano now. My hobby has long since become a burden."

Jiang Ruyue raised her head, her eyes, which should have been untouched by worldly dust, filled with incomprehension and accusation:

"I'm so sad. Why can't my parents understand me? Why do they have to force me to do everything perfectly and control everything I do?"

Jiang Ruyue bit her lower lip, and tears fell down her cheeks again.

"We're family! Even if I didn't do well on the test this time, even if I didn't get first place, they shouldn't have used so many hurtful words to scold me."

"Those words were so hurtful. I'm their daughter, not a commodity they can flaunt!"

The rebellion of "good girls" often comes very fiercely, because it is the backlash from more than a decade of high pressure.

Although she often searches for strange and unusual knowledge online in an attempt to learn bad things, when she truly breaks ties with her parents and their familial bond is shattered by their utilitarian demands, the little girl's defenses crumble.

Jiang Ruyue gripped Bai Li's sleeve tightly.

"Bai Li, you'll treat me well, right?" Jiang Ruyue's voice trembled, her tone full of flattery.

"I have nothing now. Under the strict control measures, I haven't even made a friend to go out with."

"I only realized today that after running away from that home, I have no relatives or friends left."

Jiang Ruyue looked up at him:

"Besides you, I can't find anyone to confide in. All the love and pampering I've received since childhood is gone. I'm so pathetic."

Looking at her adorable appearance, Bai Li tucked her disheveled hair behind her ears.

"Don't look so sad." Bai Li said calmly, "The agreement we made at Li Mengmeng's dinner table is still valid."

Jiang Ruyue smiled through her tears, though tears still clung to her cheeks.

"Really? Will you be like them, making me do things I don't like? Will you bully me?"

"No," Bai Li answered decisively.

Jiang Ruyue blinked, and her usual cool and inquisitive demeanor reappeared.

"Then would you crave my body and make me suffer like this?" Jiang Ruyue asked, surprising everyone.

Three black lines appeared on Bai Li's forehead.

"Furthermore." Bai Li pulled Jiang Ruyue half a step away from his embrace and flicked her forehead with his finger.

"You've run away from home and are penniless."

"But I lack nothing!"

Bai Li pointed to the four young girls beside him, each dressed in a different style and exuding charm.

"As you've seen, I have many women, and they all followed me willingly." Bai Li confessed frankly, his hands in his trench coat pockets.

"I have money. I don't care about your family background or your wealth. You don't even have enough money to buy a loaf of bread, so why would I go to all that trouble to covet you?"

"So I will absolutely not do anything excessive to you, you can rest assured that you are staying with me."

This blunt and scheming statement was originally intended to reassure Jiang Ruyue and stop her from overthinking.

Who knew?

After hearing this, Jiang Ruyue's mind started working again.

She reached into the large pocket of her sweatshirt and rummaged around for a while before pulling out a string of lustrous beads that emitted a faint woody scent.

"I'm not so poor that I don't have a single penny!" Jiang Ruyue held up the bracelet in front of Bai Li's eyes and waved it, her tone tinged with a hint of smugness.

"When I came out, I took my dad's golden nanmu wood bracelet with me."

"This is his most treasured possession; he's been handling it for years."

"Selling this will definitely feed me for many days!"

Holy crap, what a master of sabotage!

If the education bureau's own father found out that his precious, well-worn possession had been stolen by his own daughter to pay for his meals, he would probably have a stroke on the spot and end up in the ICU.

After demonstrating her wealth, Jiang Ruyue was still not giving up.

She walked around Bai Li's arm and turned to look at the four energetic young women in the car.

Chen Tingting with red hair is cool and edgy, Lin Xiaoshuang with yellow hair is cute and soft, Li Jiaxin with purple hair is dashing, and Zhang Qian with blue hair is charming.

Jiang Ruyue withdrew her gaze, stared at Bai Li again, straightened her back, and retorted confidently.

"Actually, they are different." Jiang Ruyue stood on tiptoe, her tone particularly serious: "Although the older sisters are all beautiful, young, and have great figures, our styles are different."

She pointed to her pure, unadorned face: "A high-class beauty like me, still in school, isn't even included in your harem catalog yet."

Bai Li was amused; this girl was actually trying to sell herself in order to stay.

A night breeze blew by, opening the collar of Jiang Ruyue's sweatshirt slightly, revealing a section of her fair neck and delicate collarbone.

Jiang Ruyue seemed to suddenly remember some important knowledge point, and a blush rose on her cheeks.

She leaned forward, lowered her voice like a thief, and whispered a question into Bai Li's ear.

"Bai Li, have you ever seen 'Calabash Brothers'? Do you know what the fifth brother is?"

Bai Li was stunned for a moment. Shuiwa? What does this have to do with her?

Before he could even turn around, Jiang Ruyue swallowed hard and said in a serious, low voice:

"The internet says my constitution is special." She blinked her clear, innocent eyes, her tone tinged with a strange pride.

"Just like the fifth child, she has a rare physique that every man dreams of."