Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

Ling Yu halted all his deliberate "offensives" and returned to his own world. The project once again became his priority. However, he didn't completely block out news about Liu Rusi—he didn't believe Ke Jinfeng would succeed, or rather, he expected him to return in the same unsuccessful way.

The roommate's still diligent reports would appear on his phone, naturally mostly about how Ke Jinfeng's "performance" was getting worse:

"Master Feng is here again, blocking the classroom door with a bunch of high-end snacks, saying he wants to give Liu Rusi a new taste."

"Liu Rusi didn't even glance at it. She handed it directly to the biochemistry professor who had just walked in and said, 'Professor, you've worked hard. This student will treat you to breakfast.'"

"Master Feng gave me a limited edition scarf today, but Liu Rusi put it in the lost and found! Master Feng's face was twisted with rage, haha!"

As Ling Yu read these reports, a barely perceptible smile would occasionally curl up the corners of his mouth. Ke Jinfeng's humiliation somehow diluted the slight frustration he felt from his own failure.

He was like a calm observer, watching Ke Jinfeng bang his head against the iron wall called "Liu Rusi" and getting bloody in the intervals in the laboratory, and he only needed to pay a little "sincerity" as a ticket to observe.

However, the peace was soon broken. A message from a roommate came with unusual urgency:

"Master Ling! Something happened to Liu Rusi! She fainted during the first anatomy class today! She was rushed to the school hospital by her classmates and teachers!"

Fainted in anatomy class? Ling Yu's heart sank. He immediately put down the lab data in his hands. Anatomy class is fundamental to medical students, but fainting... what was the cause? Fear? Hypoglycemia? Or something else?

He quickly contacted the school hospital—given his status and the resources he brought to the school, it wasn't difficult for him to get a preliminary diagnosis of a student. The response he received was concise and poignant: severe malnutrition.

Severe malnutrition?

The word struck Ling Yu like a cold stone. A job at a luxury store, a waitressing job at a restaurant... She worked so hard, yet couldn't even guarantee basic nutrition? It didn't make sense! That salary at the luxury store was definitely enough for a student to eat and drink. Unless... she spent the money elsewhere? Or maybe she simply couldn't eat?

Ke Jinfeng had apparently also learned of the "malnutrition" news immediately. His desire to save was once again ignited, and he took incredible action. This time, he employed a "saturation attack"—he simply ordered a month's worth of nutritious breakfasts for Liu Rusi's entire grade! Every day, a dedicated person would deliver them to the teaching building on time, distributing them to everyone, eliminating the possibility that Liu Rusi would give them away.

"See how she can refuse! We can't just throw away breakfast for the whole grade, right?" Ke Jinfeng proudly called Ling Yu to "report the results."

Ling Yu simply gave a cold "hmm." He was thinking about something deeper... He recalled her cold, gloomy eyes, the faint blue tinge beneath them... and the diagnosis of "severe malnutrition." All these fragments swirled in his mind, pointing to a possibility he didn't want to dwell on but couldn't ignore.

He needed a more direct observation window.

A few days later, around noon, he received a message from his "informer": "Liu Rusi went to the third cafeteria, alone, in the corner by the window."

Ling Yu put down the work at hand, stood up almost immediately, and hurried to the cafeteria.

He didn't approach, but simply chose a seat a few rows away from the table where he could clearly see the corner window. A cup of coffee sat in front of him, barely touched, but his gaze penetrated the crowd, accurately locking onto the thin, lonely figure.

Liu Rusi sat, a simple vegetarian dish and a small portion of rice before her. She held her chopsticks, her movements so slow they were practically frozen. She didn't check her phone or glance out the window, her eyes lowered, fixed on her plate. Then, incredibly slowly, she picked up a handful of rice and placed it in her mouth.

Ling Yu's heart tightened as she moved. He saw her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her throat rolled with difficulty, as if she was swallowing rough gravel instead of food.

She paused for a long time, as if gathering her strength, before picking up the second bite. This time, as soon as she put the food into her mouth, her body tensed up imperceptibly, and the knuckles holding the chopsticks turned slightly white.

She quickly picked up the water cup beside her and took a big gulp, forcing down the strong feeling of nausea. Her face looked even paler and more transparent in the midday sun.

Ling Yu suddenly realized the answer: this wasn't simply a case of picky eating or a poor appetite. This was a physiological resistance and pain. She wasn't just savoring the food; she was fighting a difficult and arduous battle against her own body.

Ling Yu sat there quietly, the coffee had already gone cold.

He looked at the girl struggling with food alone in the sun, watched the pain flash across her brow every time she swallowed, and watched her shoulders tremble slightly as she suppressed her nausea.

...

Ke Jinfeng's various actions to pursue Liu Rusi almost became a public farce on campus.

Liu Rusi's attitude remains consistent: indifferent, outright rejection, and clear boundaries.

But after repeated, unsuccessful attempts at refusal, her words of refusal grew increasingly terse, her gaze increasingly distant, until she finally dismissed him as merely disturbing background noise. As long as those things didn't fall directly on her, or block her path to the classroom, the library, or her part-time job, she was reluctant to pay any extra attention, as if Ke Jinfeng and his carefully prepared "care" were just dust floating in the air.

This complete indifference drove Ke Jinfeng madder than any fierce rejection, yet he was helpless for the moment. However, he still stubbornly pestered her, even showing signs of getting more and more angry!

Liu Rusi's reaction was as cold as Ling Yu had expected.

Because he understood that Liu Rusi's heart was locked tightly, locked within it was a heavy past and trauma that far exceeded the reach of money or ordinary social interactions. The ordinary people's appearances, whether well-intentioned or malicious, were automatically blocked out by her strong psychological defenses.

Her indifference wasn't arrogance, but a complete, almost exhausting isolation.

Ling Yu completely abandoned Ke Jinfeng's superficial material offensive, and also gave up his previous clumsy attempts to integrate into her life circle or create intersections.

Only by helping her solve those problems can you get close to her.

He mobilized deeper connections and influence, but his actions were extremely secretive, and even Ke Jinfeng was unaware of it.

He facilitated the school to launch a large-scale project called the "Sunshine Project to Care for College Students' Mental Health", ostensibly in response to the call from higher authorities to popularize mental health knowledge.

An important part of the project is to require all students in the school to anonymously fill out a standardized psychological assessment questionnaire designed by an authoritative organization online.

Ling Yu held her breath and waited for the result.

Through special channels, he got the expert diagnosis report of Liu Rusi's "anonymous" questionnaire as soon as possible.

However, the conclusion of the report was like a bucket of cold water: "Mental health status assessment: good. No obvious anxiety, depression or personality disorder tendencies."

At the bottom of the report, the authoritative psychologist who conducted the assessment cautiously added a note: "Note: This assessment is based on a self-report scale. If the test-taker is familiar with the scale structure or deliberately selects the 'healthy' option, the results may be distorted and fail to truly reflect potential problems."

"Deliberately choose the 'healthy' option..." Ling Yu repeated this sentence in a low voice, his fingertips tapping the table unconsciously.

The feeling of frustration came again, but this time, it was overlaid by a larger and heavier emotion - a deep sense of powerlessness.

He thought he had found a circuitous but potentially effective way to try to illuminate the dark corners of her heart, but he didn't expect that she had even closed this door tightly, and might even have calmly "painted" the wall behind the door to pretend that everything was fine.

She was so vigilant about her own pain, so good at hiding it, that she even cleverly avoided using professional tools. He felt that he was not facing a specific person, but a silent fortress, and all escape routes had been sealed from the inside.

After this failure, Ling Yu did not plan any new "actions".

He still obtained her whereabouts from the reports of his "intelligence officers", but more often, after finishing his heavy project work, he would go alone to the places where she might appear, and watch her quietly from afar, as if looking for some kind of comfort or confirmation that she still existed in this world.

With Ke Jinfeng pursuing her so forcefully, Liu Rusi was naturally a popular figure in school, not to mention she was indeed beautiful. It was just that with Ke Jinfeng, a super-rich second-generation, pursuing her—and always failing—there were no other boys openly competing with her.

Rumors about Liu Rusi have been all sorts since the start of the school year, discussing whether she could be impressed by Ke Jinfeng, or what kind of person she really likes.

One of the speculations is very clear - she is suspected to be a lesbian.

This speculation is well-founded: Ke Jinfeng is already the best option among men. He is of similar age and looks okay. He has an extremely superior family background. Coupled with his unyielding and persistent pursuit of his dreams, even if his personality is too flamboyant, it is not a shortcoming.

There's other important evidence: Liu Rusi treated her male classmates with equal coldness and indifference, as if anything with the word "male" was an object of her dislike. However, she maintained a basic courtesy towards her female classmates, even occasionally offering them helpful care, like making brown sugar water for a stomachache. Despite her solitary nature, some speculated that she was a sign of closeted intimacy.

But some people think this label is too niche, that she is just "too dull", "boring" by nature, "like a robot who only knows how to study and work", and "where else can she be except the dormitory, classroom, library, and work place?"

These comments, whether well-intentioned or malicious, were like stones dropped into a deep pond, failing to stir the slightest ripple in Liu Rusi's heart. She continued to walk hurriedly, her eyes distant, living in a world that no one else could enter and she had no intention of leaving.

When Ling Yu heard these rumors, he just glanced over them because he knew that if the fortress in her heart was not opened, both men and women would be rejected.

One afternoon, Ling Yu "accidentally" found her in a secluded corner of the library that was almost never visited and was filled with old books and materials.

The thin, petite figure sat on the floor, her back against a tall bookshelf. She wore a pale black cap with the brim pulled down low, covering most of her face, leaving only her mouth and chin exposed.

What made Ling Yu's heart tremble slightly was that between her tightly pursed lips covered by the shadow of the hat brim, there was a small plastic stick. The abrupt, almost childish color formed a strange contrast with the world-weary style welded on her body and the gloomy and cold aura around her.

She lowered her head, concentrating on a thick book spread across her lap. The afternoon sun streamed through the high windows, casting a single shaft of light through the dusty air, which fell precisely on her fingers, thin and pale, as they gripped the pages. They were incredibly steady.

She sat there motionless, like a frozen statue, with only a slight, almost inaudible rustling sound when she occasionally raised her fingers to gently lift the corner of the page when she needed to turn it.

Time flows slowly in the silent dust.

Ling Yu stood in the shadow behind two rows of bookshelves, also motionless, staring at this rare scene with bated breath - she let down all her defenses - even if it was just a moment of tranquility in her body posture, which belonged to her.

An unknown amount of time had passed. Just when Ling Yu thought she would sit like this until closing time, he clearly saw a drop of water roll down her chin without warning and land on the page of the book she was reading.

The thin and petite body tensed up almost imperceptibly for a moment.

She didn't look up, nor did she make any sound. She just came to her senses, immediately raised her arm, pulled up the corner of her simple T-shirt, and quickly pressed it on the place where the tear fell. She repeated it several times, trying to absorb the liquid that accidentally fell on the book.

Her movements were almost brutal, as if she were erasing evidence that shouldn't be there. After a few seconds, as if she was sure the traces had been taken care of—or perhaps she had simply given up, she slammed the book shut.

She still had her head bowed, the shadow of her cap hiding her entire face, the book pressed against her chest. She hugged her knees like that, burying her face in the double darkness of her arms and the brim of her hat.

His shoulders, with their protruding shoulder bones, were slightly hunched, and he maintained this posture for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, she took a deep breath and stood up. Her movements returned to their usual agility, and she took the book and walked to the back of the bookshelf, accurately finding its original place and stuffing it back.

It was not until her figure disappeared at the entrance of the library that Ling Yu came out from the shadows where she was hiding.

He walked quickly to the bookshelf and found the book by memory. He pulled out the book - a professional book on post-traumatic psychological reconstruction, with a cold, hard and heavy cover.

He flipped through the pages quickly, searching with a sharp eye.

Soon, he found it.

In the middle of one page, near the binding, there is a small area with a slightly different texture than the rest of the paper, a slightly darker color, and a slight, rubbed roughness around the edges.

It was a tear. A teardrop, hastily absorbed by the hem of a garment, never completely dried, leaving a mark on the page.

Ling Yu's fingers gently brushed over the tiny mark, and the cool, rough feel of paper lingered on his fingertips. He looked at the mark, and it seemed to reflect the figure huddled in the corner, hat brim drooping, silently weeping.

He silently put the book back where it belonged.

The silence of the library enveloped him, heavier than ever, making him feel heartbroken and powerless.