Chapter 329: Forgotten Encounters

Courier stations are always packed, but mornings have fewer students around.

Lin Zheng Ran walked through alone, heading to where Jiang Jingshi had dropped her ring the day before.

With no one nearby, he crouched down and stared into the dark, filthy sewer.

The ring was nowhere in sight now.

Yet he reached out, gathering his spiritual power.

His ability to control spiritual energy was handy, but he spent so much time with those little girls.

Most days, even this useful power hardly got any use.

If he wanted water, sometimes just a look was enough.

That fox girl would pipe up, “Brother Zheng Ran, want some water? I’ll grab it for you!”

Or whenever they went out, Heqing always had half a bottle of mineral water in her bag—if he mentioned buying some, she’d just pull it out.

So Lin Zheng Ran only used his control ability a lot at first, but these days, he barely touched it.

In the muddy sewer, Lin Zheng Ran pictured the diamond’s properties.

Hidden in the sludge, the ring seemed pulled by an invisible force.

It shot out of the mud in a flash, flying straight into Lin Zheng Ran’s palm.

He caught it firmly.

Two of them.

Staring at the two diamond rings in his hand, Lin Zheng Ran wondered about this unexpected find.

One was the elegant one Jiang Jingshi often wore; the other was smaller but still pricey for most people, and it looked like a wedding ring.

Lin Zheng Ran headed to a nearby restroom and rinsed them under the tap.

Both rings sparkled like new.

He took the unfamiliar one to the lost and found.

“Teacher, this is a diamond ring, right? I think some teacher lost it before—I just found it by the sewer.”

The lost and found teacher was surprised and recognized it:

“Isn’t this the wedding ring someone lost a week ago? We’ve been searching everywhere! Thanks, kid! Leave your phone number; the teacher will be grateful when they get it back.”

Lin Zheng Ran replied, “No need for thanks—just get it back to the owner. I’m heading out.”

And with that, he left the lost and found.

The teacher there thought, “What a good student.”

Back on the path, Lin Zheng Ran examined the remaining ring—Jiang Jingshi’s—and spotted some strange tiny words engraved inside.

“Love at First Sight”

Though he often saw Jiang Jingshi wearing this ring, he’d never noticed those words before.

Love at First Sight—did that mean Jingshi fell for me the moment she saw me?

Recalling their first meeting at the high school gate over instant noodles, Lin Zheng Ran found it odd. Back then, she seemed cautious, maybe a bit curious, but nothing like the way she looks at me now.

And he thought about their chat in her bedroom after getting close yesterday.

She always said he was rough with her, but he couldn’t remember any of that.

As he kept walking, he idly wondered if the high school campus wasn’t their first meeting.

Logically, with the system’s boost, his memory shouldn’t fail him.

Suddenly, a strange memory flashed in his mind.

He saw a cute girl who vaguely resembled Jiang Jingshi but with a totally different personality, looking lost and saying to him, “Is this the right way?” She acted a lot like little Heqing.

In that memory, he snapped back gruffly, “Stop asking questions—just follow me. Stick with me and you’ll get out. What were you thinking, wandering alone in a strange place as a little girl?”

“You’re so mean,” she whispered.

“How am I mean?!” he shot back.

The little girl flinched but followed quietly, since she was lost in the neighborhood.

Lin Zheng Ran froze right there, puzzled—this was when? Was that little girl Jingshi?

He’d never paid attention to it before.

Gazing at the ring again, Lin Zheng Ran blinked and got an idea.

He pulled out his phone and called Pan Lin.

Pan Lin answered respectfully, “Hello, Mr. Lin? What made you call me?”

Lin Zheng Ran asked, “I have something to check—just a quick question: Is the ring Jingshi wears custom-made?”

“Yes, but it was made years ago by a skilled craftsman.”

Lin Zheng Ran nodded to himself.

“Got it. Today, get me some diamond ring materials and ship them over—plenty of them. Oh, and one more thing: Jingshi knew me before, right?”

Pan Lin paused on the line, her tone uncertain because Jiang Jingshi had warned her about this: “What do you mean, Mr. Lin? I’m not following.”

Lin Zheng Ran said, “Don’t play dumb. I just remembered—I must’ve met Jingshi years ago. As her personal secretary, you must know about it.”

“Heh…” Pan Lin chuckled awkwardly, “You finally remembered. Boss Jiang has been waiting for that. Yeah, she met you a long time ago, back in kindergarten.”

Lin Zheng Ran quickly asked Pan Lin for the details.

The memory of that first meeting sharpened in his mind right away.

Though his memory was sharp, boosted by the system, he didn’t bother storing every little thing like faces from childhood or what he ate for dinner.

With effort, he could recall it.

After Pan Lin finished, she added personally, “Has Boss Jiang been happy since going to school? Does she get to see you every day?”

“Yeah, we see each other daily.”

Pan Lin sounded relieved on the phone, like a shipper whose favorite couple finally hooked up: “That’s perfect.”

He hung up and slipped the ring into his pocket.

During the morning classes,

Lin Zheng Ran waited for Pan Lin’s package while noticing the jealous glares from the three little ones.

Han Wenwen lay on her desk, her fox-like eyes giving him a knowing look: “Skipping dinner was one thing, but I heard you didn’t even come back to the dorm last night, Brother Zheng Ran.”

Heqing blinked her pure eyes: “You stayed over at the counselor’s place last night, didn’t you, Lin Zheng Ran?”

Lily turned away with a huff: “You flirt, Zheng Ran!”

Lin Zheng Ran stared helplessly at the blackboard in the distance.

Even though they were all openly dating and knew about each other,

jealousy was something that just wouldn’t go away.

Lin Zheng Ran habitually raised his hand and tapped each of the three girls on the head—thump, thump, thump.

They settled down a bit.

Outside the classroom in the hallway, Jiang Jingshi watched the scene and smiled to herself, though she felt a twinge of jealousy too.

He was always so good to those three.

Looking toward the podium, Lin Zheng Ran said, “Let me tell you three something—in a few days, Jingshi will be moving in with us.”

The three clutched their heads, their faces flushing red.

They chorused, “Huh?”

Their expressions varied, but you could guess what they were thinking.