Ruan Nianxi’s delicate hand was gently held by Xie Shu, who then softly pressed her warm palm against his cheek, speaking to her in a tender voice.

Looking at Xie Shu’s handsome face so close to hers, and feeling his burning skin with her fingers, Ruan Nianxi’s face turned completely red.

She slightly turned her head, trying to distract herself.

Enjoying the feeling of being loved, her heart felt warm, but at the same time, she was filled with anxiety.

Because she knew, this matter had nothing to do with their family backgrounds, it was solely about him…

After Xie Shu gently coaxed her a few times, the worries in Ruan Nianxi’s heart were quickly cast aside. Overall, she was more greedy for the tenderness Xie Shu was giving her now, with no time to worry about the future. The future… they would deal with it when it came.

Just as Ruan Nianxi was still immersed in Xie Shu’s tenderness, she heard him suddenly change the subject: “By the way, what was that medicine Uncle Ruan mentioned? Is something wrong with your health?”

Ruan Nianxi’s previously dizzy thoughts suddenly cleared up.

She pursed her lips and shook her head, indicating that she was fine.

Xie Shu frowned, a bit worried.

A few days ago, Aunt Jian had come to see him, asking all sorts of questions about Ruan Nianxi. He didn’t know why she was asking those questions at the time, and she specifically told him not to tell Ruan Nianxi afterward. He had wondered if she was sick, but he couldn’t find anything out by probing.

In the past few days, he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with her; everything seemed normal.

So he had thought he was overthinking it and had almost forgotten about his meeting with Aunt Jian.

But today, Uncle Ruan suddenly brought it up again, and he…

“If you’re feeling unwell, remember to tell me.” Xie Shu squeezed Ruan Nianxi’s soft hand nervously, his tone full of worry.

“No… nothing, my dad just… loves to worry unnecessarily. He often gets anxious over a small cold. He’s just exaggerating, really, it’s nothing.” Ruan Nianxi said vaguely.

Xie Shu still found it strange. If it was just a small cold, why did Uncle Ruan speak so cautiously?

Although he didn’t see Uncle Ruan’s expression outside, the tone of his last sentence was obviously much more careful than the previous one…

He was thinking about saying something more when the sound system in the gymnasium suddenly started testing.

Hearing this, Ruan Nianxi immediately turned around, no longer facing Xie Shu.

“It’s about to start, let’s go in.” She changed the subject proactively.

“Alright, let’s go.”

The two of them held hands and walked towards the door ahead. At the entrance, they separated, Ruan Nianxi went inside, and Xie Shu took the stairs to the second floor.

Separated from Xie Shu, Ruan Nianxi felt a mix of reluctance and relief.

…

When Xie Shu returned to his seat, the person testing the sound on stage had almost finished, and the principal took over the microphone.

The principal gave a long opening speech according to the program, finally mentioning Ruan Qin, the chairman of the Suoyuan Group.

After another round of introductions, the students applauded cooperatively…

After the formalities, Ruan Qin took the microphone and began his speech.

He talked about his entrepreneurial journey when he was young, the hardships he faced, how poor he was, how he persevered through various difficulties, how he took the company public step by step, and how he developed the company to its current state…

Suoyuan Group is a well-known company both domestically and internationally, involved in many fields, with its industries permeating almost every aspect of people’s lives. Having such a prominent figure come to the school to share his entrepreneurial story with students who have yet to enter society, and teach them how to face and solve difficulties, as well as impart professional knowledge… it was quite beneficial for those aspiring to start their own businesses.

Even those who were just there to make up the numbers found his story fascinating, although the main reason was that the gymnasium was crowded and the internet was poor, so they couldn’t play on their phones.

“Back in those days, 100 yuan could do a lot. Mr. Ruan said he was so poor that he couldn’t make ends meet and couldn’t sleep at night due to anxiety. He must have had a really tough time. No wonder those who can endure hardships succeed.” Zhao Lin suddenly sighed.

Sitting next to him, Li Da and Liu Ping were also moved by Ruan Qin’s story and nodded in agreement.

Leaning back in his chair, Xie Shu crossed his legs and said nonchalantly, “Although, sometimes what you hear and what you think might not be the same.”

The three of them: “???”

Noticing their puzzled looks, Xie Shu explained, “For example, Ma Yun’s artist father, Ma Huateng’s manager father, Wang Jianlin’s military father.”

The three of them: “???”

Xie Shu: “You can look it up yourselves.”

He didn’t say much more, knowing well about Ruan Nianxi’s family situation.

He remembered one year during the Spring Festival when Ruan Nianxi’s parents brought gifts to his house. At that time, Ruan Nianxi was playing at his place, and naturally, his parents invited them to stay for lunch.

During the meal, they talked about the past. His parents, not being in business, were curious and asked a lot of questions.

He still remembered Uncle Ruan saying that the early days of starting a business were tough, facing many setbacks, barely making ends meet, and being so poor that they only had a few hundred thousand to keep things going.

He was speechless at the time.

Decades ago, when their parents were young… even a few dozen yuan could do a lot, let alone hundreds of thousands.

If he hadn’t known these things beforehand, he would have thought Uncle Ruan’s “poor” meant they were almost starving.

He believed Uncle Ruan was telling the truth, not trying to flaunt his wealth. After all, to wealthy people, hundreds of thousands might be like a few yuan to them.

Uncle Ruan did work hard in his early entrepreneurial days. He said that back then, technology and transportation weren’t as advanced, and he had to personally handle everything, traveling constantly to solve problems bit by bit. Each trip could last from ten days to several months, with hardly any rest.

Later, when Uncle Ruan married Aunt Jian and had Ruan Nianxi, the country’s economy was booming, and the internet had been widespread for many years, impacting many traditional industries, including their company. He wanted to make changes and explore new development plans, and Aunt Jian joined him…

So Ruan Nianxi was left at home, cared for by a nanny…

These were things he heard at the dining table as a child; he didn’t know much more.

Come to think of it, during Uncle Ruan’s younger days, being able to invest so much in starting a business and building connections meant their family’s previous generations must have been quite well-off.

A century-old family?

Xie Shu rubbed his temples. He had never thought about this before.

It seemed he needed to work even harder if he wanted to marry Ruan Nianxi.