Chapter Six: The One I Love Is You

"I refuse! If you have the guts, stop me yourself!"

Ruan Mianmian's hands didn't pause for a moment. She finished with a swift bow knot, deftly tying Jiang Ce's hands together.

Jiang Ce was gravely injured, and after the ordeal he’d just endured, he barely had the strength to struggle.

With a triumphant smile, Ruan Mianmian looked at Jiang Ce. "Whatever you want to settle, wait until you've recovered. For now, let me bandage you up."

Jiang Ce said nothing more, nor did he resist as Ruan Mianmian reached for his shoulder, ready to remove his bandages.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Ce let out a cold laugh, fixing her with a scrutinizing gaze. "What are you scheming now? What do you want from me this time?"

Ruan Mianmian’s hands stilled, but she ignored him, proceeding to unwrap the bandage from his shoulder.

“Hiss—”

Jiang Ce tilted his head back, inhaling sharply through his teeth. Ruan Mianmian slowed her movements in response.

After a moment, Jiang Ce turned to look at her. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped, captivated by the expression on her face.

For the first time, she was looking at him with such earnest focus, tinged with a hint of pain. It was also the first time they had ever been this close.

So close that if she lowered her head just a little, her warm breath would brush against his shoulder.

Ruan Mianmian, no matter when, you always manage to stir my emotions.

But what is it you’re after this time, going to such lengths? Is it to pry information for Jian Yanzhi again? Or is there some new purpose?

Jiang Ce closed his eyes, a bitter smile slipping out almost unconsciously. He forced a light, indifferent tone. "Ruan Mianmian, do you really like him so much?"

So much that you’d risk your life for him, exhaust all your cunning, even go so far as to use me...

As soon as the words were out, Jiang Ce regretted them. He struggled to pull away from her, but this time, Ruan Mianmian didn’t stop him.

She let him distance himself from her.

Jiang Ce felt an emptiness in his chest. See? Her heart is filled only with Jian Yanzhi. Even her brief kindness toward me has an ulterior motive.

"Jiang Ce."

She suddenly called his name, but he didn’t reply. Ruan Mianmian fell silent for a moment.

As if making a decision, she took a deep breath, then leaned in closer, carefully extending her arms to him.

Jiang Ce’s body went rigid. He turned his face in disbelief, brushing against her soft hair.

She embraced him quietly for a moment, then murmured by his ear, "Believe it or not, Jiang Ce, the one I love is you."

Jiang Ce’s eyes contracted. If he hadn’t known Ruan Mianmian’s ways so well, he might almost have believed this heartfelt confession.

"Ruan Mianmian, do you think I would still believe—" Jiang Ce had barely spoken half a sentence, neither of them fully recovered from the moment, when suddenly, a noisy commotion erupted outside the door.

Instinctively, Ruan Mianmian glanced at the entrance. Before she had time to move away, seven or eight beams of flashlight cut through the darkness, flooding the room without warning.

For a split second, the air grew stifling.

What the—? The newcomers were instantly stunned by the scene before them.

A delicate young woman straddling an injured man, their posture ambiguous and intimate...

Mortified, Ruan Mianmian buried her face in his shoulder. She had climbed onto Jiang Ce to better remove his bandages, and now, fatefully, this compromising position was laid bare before so many eyes. She wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow her whole.

Damn it! Why did they have to barge in at this exact moment?

Jiang Ce’s expression was equally grim, but no one was more shocked than the group of men who’d just returned.

Each one, flashlight in hand, converged from all directions, staring at Ruan Mianmian and Jiang Ce as if they’d seen a ghost.

“Brother Qing, what’s going on?” one of the younger men asked Shen Qing.

Shen Qing’s face was contorted with distress. “You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?”

“So what do we do?”

“Retreat?”

With a silent exchange of glances, the entire group turned in unison.

"I didn't see a thing!"

"Me neither, me neither!"

"Quick, quick, let's go!"

Bang—the door slammed shut.

In an instant, the room was once again occupied only by Ruan Mianmian and Jiang Ce, as though nothing had happened. But at this moment, Ruan Mianmian was so mortified she wanted to die.

“How long do you intend to keep holding me?” The man beneath her, close to his breaking point, clung to his last shred of composure, reminding her with deliberate care.

Ruan Mianmian froze. Feeling Jiang Ce’s rising body heat, she suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. She scrambled off him and dashed out of the room without a backward glance.

This is just too humiliating! she thought, her cheeks burning as she fled down the hallway.

“Whew—” After she left, Jiang Ce let out a heavy breath.

His taut body finally relaxed. Had she lingered a moment longer, he truly could not guarantee that nothing would have happened.

After steadying his breath for some time, Jiang Ce finally picked up the dedicated line by his bedside.

"Get over here, now!"

On the other end, Shen Qing jolted at the roar. He had known that disrupting the boss’s good moment wouldn’t come without consequences.

Meanwhile, Ruan Mianmian rushed back to her room, instinctively locking the door behind her. Remembering the heat beneath her, she couldn't help but blush again.

Though she’d never experienced such things, she was no naïve girl; she knew well enough what that meant.

Damn it! This is just too embarrassing! Too embarrassing!

She threw herself onto the bed, rolling back and forth in frustration, her face growing hotter with each turn, as if she might cook herself alive.

No, no—get a grip! Get a grip!

Now was hardly the time for regret. Recalling Jiang Ce’s icy demeanor earlier, her elated heart sank a little.

"In the book, it was because of this that Jiang Ce and Ruan Mianmian grew more and more distant," she remembered.

Lying quietly on the bed, the day’s chaos finally gave way to reflection. Only now did Ruan Mianmian realize she had reached a perilous crossroads.

In the story, after learning Jiang Ce had saved her, not only did she fail to thank him—she even showed up to scold him for meddling in her business. Afterward, Jiang Ce, disheartened, withdrew from her affairs altogether, leaving her ultimately isolated and alone.

So now, Ruan Mianmian’s priority was to keep Jiang Ce close, to change the course of events—so she wouldn’t have to face such a miserable end.

After all, the timeline was still forgiving, and many things could be remedied. Besides, now that she was here in Starfish Bay, she was determined not to leave until she had won Jiang Ce over.

But how, exactly, could she make him change his mind and see her in a new light?