Chapter 61 (Chapter Sixty-One) Take it or leave it

Qin Tianrui had never seen Lu Yingchi like this before, and couldn't help but retort, "Are you a dog?"

It was only at this moment that Lu Yingchi remembered whose voice he had heard at the beginning. Oh, there was someone else.

He was wary and defensive: "How did you two end up together?"

Qin Tianrui is a very petty person. Is he still holding a grudge because he was beaten up last time?

His sharp, wolf-like gaze was fixed on Qin Tianrui, and then he checked Qiao Wu over from head to toe with concern: "He didn't bully you, did he?"

"?"

Are you blind? Who bullied whom last time?!

Am I allowed to bully her?

Qin Tianrui gritted his teeth: "Do you think everyone is like you? We're here to do serious business!"

"What important business could you possibly have?"

"Lu Yingchi!" The crowd had already surrounded Lai Shen on the ground. The bodyguards were helpless and could only try to push through the crowd to help their fourth young master up. The scene was in complete chaos. Fei Jingming and his men were able to come over at the same time.

Seeing Qiao Wu standing there, they all stood up straight like soldiers in military training: "Hello, Sister Qiao."

Lu Yingchi was annoyed: "Who's your sister? Don't call me that."

"Your sister, your sister, she's your sister." The others followed his lead, then asked, still confused, "What do we do now?"

"Call the police." Lu Yingchi took out his phone and dialed the police number with practiced ease.

He thought that one day his house would be adorned with a banner from the police station: "They said he led people to cause trouble, that bastard has no brains."

But before he could even make the call, police arrived at the scene, evacuated the crowd, and brought these strange people under control.

Ye Liang asked in confusion, "Was it done by enthusiastic citizens?"

An unnamed, enthusiastic bystander surnamed Qiao smiled and said, "When Jiang Yuan arrives, we'll apologize to him."

"Don't worry, I'll compensate you for any broken items."

"Who said you have to pay?" Qiao Wu raised an eyebrow, glancing meaningfully at the person not far away. "Whoever caused the trouble should pay for it."

Lai Shen, who was venturing into the mainland for the first time, never expected that he would be taken away by the police on his very first day. As he lay on the ground covering his face, he didn't know who around him was hitting him with something here and there, and it hurt him terribly.

When he was pulled up from the ground by someone, he looked up and saw a group of police officers standing in front of him. Beyond the police, he saw the culprit standing not far away, smiling and talking to a woman who looked very elegant.

They're in cahoots.

Lai Shen had never suffered such a loss before, and he was so angry that his eyes turned black and he gritted his teeth: "Lu Yingchi, I'm going to kill you!"

Before he could finish speaking, the policeman slapped him on the head: "Still not behaving yourself? You're truly unrepentant after all this fighting and killing."

Lai Shen stared wide-eyed, but before he could speak, the police took him into the car, along with Hu Zhuo and the others who had come with him.

The commotion here caused a major traffic jam, and by the time Jiang Yuan arrived, the crowd had already dispersed.

He hurried into the store, where the employees were tidying up and putting the tables and chairs back in their places, while Qiao Wu and his group were sitting upstairs.

"Miss Qiao." Jiang Yuan was really annoyed. Why were they all so blind?

His employees had already told him about the situation on the way here, and he also quickly asked someone to find out about the Lai family's situation in Gangcheng.

He pulled up a chair next to Qiao Wu and sat down, his feelings a jumble of emotions: "You should know something about the Lai family. That was the fourth son of the Lai family, the youngest. Hu Zhuo said he would introduce us, but I didn't expect..."

Unexpectedly, the two troublemakers who were originally good-natured are now behaving themselves, but a new one has appeared.

"The Lai family?"

Qiao Wu had indeed heard of the Lai family in Hong Kong. They were one of the most prominent families there. Each of their four children had their own mother, and the family was quite chaotic. And, coincidentally, she had some connection with one of the Lai family's children.

During her two years abroad, "she" mingled in the circles of many wealthy people and had a conflict with that child, but at that time, people didn't take "her" seriously.

Jiang Yuan spoke with sincerity, but Qiao Wu knew a little about his ulterior motives.

He arrived late after the matter was resolved, first stating his position that he was unaware of the situation, and since he hadn't shown up, he wouldn't offend either side.

Sure enough, the next second Lu Yingchi very "responsibly" took all the blame: "I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"What are you taking responsibility for?" Qiao Wu glanced at him indifferently. "Do you even know who that is?"

"Huh?" Lu Yingchi asked blankly, "Don't you know now?"

"you do not know."

Qiao Wu took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Today you were just having dinner with your classmates. Even if you encountered people you had conflicts with in the past, you didn't hold grudges. But you didn't expect a stranger to suddenly verbally humiliate you and your classmates. You stepped forward just to get an apology from the other party, but that person suddenly brought in bodyguards and attacked you. You were scared, so you grabbed the person and asked the crowd for help to protect yourself."

She looked up and smiled gently, "Even now, you still don't know who that is, you know?"

The rest of the people: "..."

That's why I say you're wise.

“That’s right!” Jiang Yuan immediately realized. “Hu Zhuo only said he would introduce me to someone, but I haven’t even arrived yet, so I don’t know the person.”

Qiao Wu put down his teacup and looked at the other students: "You are just ordinary college students, how could you have a conflict with a rich young master from the port area? Even rich people can't do whatever they want."

The innocent and naive male college students immediately understood.

"Yes, we were just having a meal together!"

What kind of status and position do they have? How could they possibly know someone of that status?

“Now you can take the bill to them and settle the score.” Qiao Wu nodded slightly to Jiang Yuan. “But since the other party was someone you originally invited, not only should you not ask him for compensation, but you should also give him a few bottles of wine as an apology and treat him to a meal. However…”

Jiang Yuan was worried about how to handle this matter, and Lai Si Gongzi was a troublemaker who was hard to deal with.

“But since the child went to the police station, you have no choice but to let his family know about it first.” Qiao Wu thought of the person’s personality in his memory and chuckled, “Apologize to his elders for neglecting his child.”

This is like directly suing someone's family and still managing to distance yourself from the situation. Young people like Lai Si are impatient and lack experience when they come here to gain experience. In the end, they'll just become another ex-officio or Qin Er.

But it's different with his family; to build relationships, you have to rely on people who have a voice.

Few people from Gangcheng come here, but it's not like they've never been before. With connections like Jiang Yuan's, you can easily find out how to contact the other person by asking a few more people. Before, there was no excuse to get to know them, but now there is.

He gave Qiao Wu a deep look and extended his hand to her: "Miss Qiao is truly intelligent and kind-hearted. All your expenses today are on me. I'll have someone bring up some more of my private collection of wines in a bit."

Qiao Wu nudged him: "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"No, no."

Jiang Yuan came with a gloomy face, but left with a happy heart, and then ordered the kitchen to serve another table of fine wine and dishes to entertain him.

The other students were thinking of leaving first, but since they were being given free wine, and it was even a private collection, they decided to test its quality.

Qiao Wu had almost finished eating, but since she had already met Lu Yingchi, she didn't leave immediately.

She was just telling him to quit, not that she really wanted to break off all ties with him.

However, Lu Yingchi's energy was no longer focused on drinking at this moment. He only took small sips, and if anyone asked, he would proudly say, "My family is strict and doesn't allow me to drink too much."

Family members: "..."

She turned around and glared at him.

Lu Yingchi immediately stuck to him: "He said you were doing something important. What important thing?"

Qiao Wu turned the chopsticks upside down and pressed them against his forehead: "Sit still."

Lu Yingchi said reluctantly, "I'm just curious."

Seizing the opportunity to gloat, Qin Tianrui said in a cheeky tone, "You beg me and I'll tell you."

Lu Yingchi snapped at him, "Don't think I won't slap you just because Qiao Wu is here."

"Is violence all you know how to solve problems?" Qin Tianrui said disdainfully, raising his chin. "You're like a baby who hasn't been weaned all day long, always talking about Qiao Wu. She's just your housekeeper. Does she have to keep an eye on you even when you're out for a meal? Doesn't she have her own life?"

Lu Yingchi was enraged by his sarcastic remarks: "Say it again!" "So what if I do?" Qin Tianrui patted his bag. "See this? The contract. I'm here to discuss business cooperation with President Qiao, not to take care of a child."

Lu Yingchi's surprise outweighed his anger: "You're cooperating with this kind of person?"

Qiao Wu stood between the two, his expression calm: "You two are equally bad. If you can't speak properly, then get out."

She did not intentionally interrupt Qin Tianrui.

Although she was sometimes a bit harsh with Lu Yingchi and the others, she couldn't bring herself to say anything too harsh. Someone had to play the bad cop, and Qin Tianrui's words were actually quite reasonable.

Qin Tianrui didn't say anything too harsh, because he was afraid that Qiao Wu would get angry, so he kept quiet when the other party spoke.

Lu Yingchi felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He couldn't believe that even someone like Qin Tianrui could cooperate with Qiao Wu, but since Qiao Wu had spoken, he held back his anger.

After finishing his meal, he didn't get into his own car. Instead, he called his driver and followed closely behind Qiao Wu.

Qiao Wu went with him; she did have something to say.

However, because Lu Yingchi's classmates were present, she always gave Lu Yingchi some face.

After the two got into the car, she took the initiative to speak to Lu Yingchi, who was sulking.

“We were indeed talking about work; I started a company with him.”

"Why?!" Lu Yingchi asked her in astonishment, "Why him?"

"Of course, it's because of shared interests." Qiao Wu gestured for him to fasten his seatbelt, then took a drink from the car refrigerator to help him sober up. "Can you calm down and think about the rationale behind this?"

I was quite calm and quick-witted in the store before.

But as long as they are around her, they will subconsciously hide their sharpness and stay in the comfortable environment she creates.

That won't do.

“This is unreasonable in itself,” Lu Yingchi said. “Do you know who he is? He’s even more cunning than me, he…”

Qiao Wu's voice softened: "Lu Yingchi."

Lu Yingchi felt an intense bitterness in his throat.

Why is Qiao Wu now speaking up for Qin Tianrui when Qin Tianrui was deliberately cutting him off not long ago?

Qiao Wu asked gently, "If it weren't for Qin Tianrui, would you question my choice?"

The aggrieved dog shook its head.

"Then why can't he?"

"He has never accomplished a single thing."

“But he did a great job on this.” Qiao Wu took out the contract the two of them had signed and handed it to him. “He proved to me that he could do it well, so I believe in him. Of course, I can also listen to you.”

Lu Yingchi's eyes lit up: "Really?"

“Really.” Qiao Wu gestured for him to look at the contract. “If you can find a bigger drawback than the benefits in this contract and my cooperation with him, I will listen to you.”

Lu Yingchi is studying finance. Although he is only a freshman this year, he has already started taking some basic courses.

Moreover, he promised Qiao Wu that he wouldn't fail any courses, so he's very attentive in class now, and even sits in the front row.

God knows how valuable it is to sit in the front row during class.

He was somewhat tempted by Qiao Wu's words, so he seriously began to scrutinize all the clauses in the contract documents, determined to find out Qin Tianrui's weaknesses.

However, based on his limited professional knowledge, there were no problems with either the acquisition plan of this entertainment company or the subsequent cooperation contract; in fact, Qiao Wu's interests were in the majority.

He looked at it over and over again, becoming more and more silent with each reading.

Can you prove it?

Lu Yingchi closed all the contract documents and stuffed them into her arms. He opened the drink and gulped down several mouthfuls. The icy temperature quickly cooled his mind, but his eyes were a little red.

"cannot."

He had to admit it.

Qiao Wu: "So why use the old way of thinking to deal with things that should be dealt with rationally?"

Because it's you.

I don't want you to be with someone I don't like.

I'm afraid you'll be wronged, afraid you'll suffer losses.

But Lu Yingchi couldn't bring himself to say it. He had once said he would protect Qiao Wu, but now he suddenly realized that everything he was doing was hindering her. He couldn't be her protector.

Qiao Wu had never been wronged or taken advantage of by anyone.

Only him.

Lu Yingchi pulled down his headband to cover his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and admitted his incompetence for the first time.

"Why do you want to start a company?" he asked.

He knew Qiao Wu was not short of money, and she didn't want to be confined to the Lu family. She even went to the foundation. So why did she keep going outwards and going further and further away?

He's really hard to catch up with.

"Because I need to have some confidence." Qiao Wu didn't hide it from him, "I want to be in charge of my own life."

Lu Yingchi didn't turn his head; all he could see was darkness obscured by the headband. After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice, "What should I do?"

“You will grow your own wings and fly higher and higher,” Qiao Wu said. “Let’s fly together.”

Lu Yingchi paused for a moment, then turned his head, but he couldn't see Qiao Wu. He could only imagine what she looked like in the direction of the sound.

"Together?"

"Do you expect me to stay here forever just because I'm gone?" Qiao Wu tapped him on the head with the contract. "I'm not dead. I'm still your friend, still your family."

Lu Yingchi has always been very sensitive to sound.

Therefore, he was able to fully recall the scene where Qiao Wu touched his hair and said, "How come my little brother is so smart?"

When he first saw her, he was so overjoyed that his mind went blank, and the tone of that sentence didn't seem as important to him as she was.

But now, upon hearing it, it sounds like the tenderness he has always longed for.

“Don’t leave me,” he said.

"I have no intention of abandoning any of you."

This time, Lu Yingchi finally stopped insisting on starting a company. His complexion improved a lot, and he turned back to look up at the darkness.

A line finally became clear in his mind, clearly telling him that Qiao Wu was very important, so important that he couldn't accept any possibility of losing him.

This realization surprised him greatly, because he had never encountered such a thing in his past life—a desire that he was both attracted to and afraid of.

He can get what he wants with just a reach, so he doesn't have to put in much effort. He has enough to live on for many lifetimes, even if he just lazes around.

But he's really tempted now.

Because Qiao Wu said let's fly together.

Everything Qiao Wu said was something he wanted but no one could easily give him.

He was alone.

If that scoundrel Qin Tianrui can become Qiao Wu's partner, why can't he?

At this moment, Lu Yingchi seemed to have finally found what he wanted to do.

He pulled off his hairband, turned around and looked at Qiao Wu seriously, eager to try: "I promise you!"

Qiao Wu: "?"

What did you promise?

I don't know what he was thinking, but as soon as he got home, he rushed upstairs excitedly.

Qiao Wu knew he would drink when he mentioned having a dinner party earlier today, so she came to check Lu Ning's homework today.

After watching Lu Yingchi go upstairs, she prepared to go to the library.

Unexpectedly, she ran into Lu Xuan walking in from outside as she went out: "Back so late?"

Although he's back, Lu Xuan still goes to the company for acting classes every day. When he gets home, he collapses onto the sofa and says, "I had a meeting today."

Meng Xingxing would send over the meeting minutes later, so Qiao Wu didn't force him to talk to her. Seeing that he looked tired, she said, "Then get some rest."

But Lu Xuan seemed to sense her movements and immediately opened his eyes: "Where are you going?"

"Check Lu Ning's homework."

“Isn’t that Lu Yingchi’s job?” Lu Xuan sat up straight again, her brow furrowing slightly. “I’ll go with you.”

Qiao Wu looked at him silently.

Lu Xuan understood what she meant. Qiao Wu had told him not to exclude his family, so how could he be so heartless as to argue with a little girl like Lu Ning about such things?

"What do you take me for?" Lu Xuan said lazily. "As an uncle, can't I go and check her homework? Didn't you say you'd treat everyone equally?"

Qiao Wu raised an eyebrow: "Alright, let's go."

After leaving the main house, Lu Xuan didn't say a word the whole time, but he would kick the potted plants by the roadside every few steps. Qiao Wu was really worried that the gardener would come looking for trouble with him the next day.

She found it amusing: "When did you become so hesitant?"

"What do you know?"

Lu Xuan gave a soft snort, but still didn't say anything.

But just as they were about to reach the library, he finally stopped: "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Qiao Wu knew he was going to film on Jiang Qi's set, so he nodded: "And then?"

"There's no 'then'." Lu Xuan continued walking forward, but his pace was noticeably slower. "I've come to say goodbye."

He really wanted to ask if Qiao Wu could send him there, just like he sent him to the training camp before, encouraging him and praising him before he started something.

But if he said that, Qiao Wu would definitely scold him for not learning his lesson.

A round trip would take at least a day, and with one night's rest, it would take two days, plus there are other people at home.

Qiao Wu disliked his selfishness.

So he endured it.

But he still wanted to say goodbye to Qiao Wu alone, at least she would give him some advice before he left, such as what kind of reward he would receive if he persevered.

He assured, "This time I will go all the way."

"Just this once?"

“Every time from now on,” Lu Xuan said, lowering his eyes to look at their shadows side by side on the ground, “I will make you look at me in a new light.”

"Is it for me?"

"Hmm." As if knowing what she was thinking, Lu Xuan precisely stepped on her shadow. "But not only you, but also the people in the crew who watch my acting, I will take responsibility for them all."

Qiao Wu tacitly approved of his childish behavior, but also felt that Lu Xuan had indeed understood what to pay attention to when doing any job.

“I understand,” she said.

The two arrived in front of the library, and she suddenly stopped: "We're here, let's go in."

Lu Xuan: "?"

"Didn't you want to see her homework?" Qiao Wu gestured for him to come in. "A second-year junior high student's homework doesn't need two people to look at it."

"..."

What the heck?

He wasn't really there to watch Lu Ning do her homework!

Who can understand the scribbles she wrote?!

"Go back and rest early after you finish watching," Qiao Wu said. "We have to catch an early flight tomorrow."

Seeing that she was really about to leave, Lu Xuan became anxious: "You're going back just like that?"

“Yeah.” Qiao Wu smiled as she saw his speechless yet hesitant expression. “I need to go back and pack my things, otherwise how can I catch the early flight with you?”

Lu Xuan stood there, stunned, not understanding what she was saying for a moment.

After a long while, seeing Qiao Wu about to turn around, he quickly grabbed her hem: "You, are you going too?"

“As your housekeeper, I set your career plans. I have to be there for your first time filming. As the future boss of an entertainment company, it’s also my job to be familiar with the filming process.”

Qiao Wu gently brushed his hand away and smiled, "As family, this is my brother's first time joining a film crew, so of course I have to go."

Lu Xuan couldn't help but smile, and emphasized again, "I said I'm your older brother."

"Take it or leave it."