Chapter 46 Pay Back Double

Lu Jiunian gripped Shi Nianzhi's fingers tightly, then looked at Gu Yuanyuan with eyes as cold as frost.

Gu Yuanyuan sat up and reached out to take Lu Jiunian's other hand.

Lu Jiunian dodged it.

“Uncle Lu, aren’t you the one who loves me the most? I don’t care how he hurt me. I want Shi Nianzhi to pay for it tenfold.”

Gu Yuanyuan looked up at Lu Jiunian, her voice sweet and coquettish.

Lu Jiunian sneered, his eyes clearly suppressing anger. "What do you want?"

Gu Yuanyuan, however, was completely oblivious and continued to say to herself, "Simple. Shi Nianzhi pushed me down the stairs. Since his hand is so cheap, let's just cripple one of his hands."

Li Yuan walked over, placing herself between Lu Jiunian and Gu Yuanyuan.

A gentle, delicate voice said, "I believe he didn't mean to do this. Alright, his face is so swollen, take him to see a doctor right away. You hit him too hard, don't cause any more harm. I'll comfort him from here."

"Thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law."

Lu Jiunian grabbed Shi Nianzhi's hand and led him away.

"land......"

Gu Yuanyuan stood up and wanted to chase after her. He couldn't let Shi Nianzhi get away with it so easily. What was a slap? How could he just let it go like that?

He was unwilling to accept it.

Li Yuan grabbed his hand, "That's enough, stay away!"

Li Yuan rarely spoke to him in a loud voice. Gu Yuanyuan turned around and looked at Li Yuan in surprise.

Then, somewhat annoyed, she said, "Mommy, you've been siding with that country bumpkin since just now. I'm your real son."

“I stopped you precisely because you are my own son. Didn’t you see how angry your Uncle Lu was just now? Didn’t that beating you last time teach you a lesson? He slapped Shi Nianzhi because of you, just to try and settle things.”

Li Yuan paused, then said, "Yuanyuan, you need to know that if it weren't for the close relationship between the Lu family and the Gu family, and the fact that he had to give the Gu family an explanation, he wouldn't have even lifted a finger. Can't you see how much he protects Shi Nianzhi? You really dare to say you've crippled one hand? I'm afraid your hand will be the one crippled in the future! You stay in the ward and don't go anywhere until you're healed."

"Mommy, you're going to put me in solitary confinement? What did I do wrong?"

Gu Yuanyuan was extremely intelligent; it was impossible for him not to realize that Li Yuan was punishing him.

"You're not wrong? Haven't you bullied Shi Nianzhi enough?"

"So what? He's just a substitute. Even if I kill him, so what?"

Li Yuan raised her hand, and Gu Yuanyuan subconsciously closed his eyes for a moment, but in the end, Li Yuan felt sorry for her son who still had injuries on his head, so she didn't hit him.

Li Yuan said sternly, "Yuanyuan, you need to understand that Shi Nianzhi is now your Uncle Lu's legal partner, while your uncle has no legal status. To put it bluntly, you have to consider the owner before beating a dog, let alone the man you hurt, who is your Uncle Lu's lawfully wedded husband."

Gu Yuanyuan was furious upon hearing this, "Mommy, how could you say that?! You...!"

"Alright, take good care of your injury. Mommy has something to do. Your dad will come to see you later."

Li Yuan turned and left.

Gu Yuanyuan was so angry that he smashed the table and chairs. He picked up a vase and smashed it heavily on the ground, then kicked the hospital bed hard.

His anger made him dizzy again, so he sat back on the bed and pressed his forehead, which was wrapped in gauze.

He shouted in pain, "You bunch of idiots, go and call a doctor!"

......

Shi Nianzhi covered her face with an ice pack as Lu Jiunian led her away, and he got into the back seat of the car.

Lu Jiunian had a cold aura and hadn't spoken to Shi Nianzhi for a long time.

The car is driving on the road.

Shi Nianzhi felt the ice pack was too cold, so he put it on his lap and rubbed his face.

Seeing that Lu Jiunian remained silent, he spoke up, "What are your plans?"

For example, should we send him back to his hometown?

Lu Jiunian looked at Shi Nianzhi, his eyes deep and serious. After a long while, he asked him, "Does it hurt?"

Shi Nianzhi scratched at the ice pack with her fingers, looking somewhat sullen.

It was simply because Lu Jiunian said something pointless.

If it doesn't hurt, should I let him slap me once? He's so weak, he'd need two slaps.

Lu Jiunian reached out his hand.

Shi Nianzhi defensively raised his arm to block, as if afraid that Lu Jiunian would hit him.

Lu Jiunian's fingers froze. He lowered his hand and asked, "Did Gu Yuanyuan bully you again at school?"

Shi Nianzhi remained silent.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "If he bullies you, come back and tell me. Don't try to handle it yourself. You hurt him like that, I have to give him an explanation."

Seeing that Shi Nianzhi still didn't speak, Lu Jiunian asked again, "Do you understand?"

"You know I hit you because Gu Yuanyuan bullied me, you know it wasn't my fault...it wasn't entirely my fault, but you still hit me. Because...in your heart, giving Gu Yuanyuan an explanation is more important than me."

Shi Nianzhi spoke softly, and his last sentence was uttered after much hesitation.

He may not have good grades, but he's not so stupid as to not be able to tell the difference.

Lu Jiunian stiffened slightly. "No matter what, it was your fault for hurting Gu Yuanyuan like that."

"Um."

"Hmm what?"

Shi Nianzhi replied, "You hit me, you did nothing wrong."

"It's not that I'm protecting you, you've already lost an arm."

Shi Nianzhi put the ice pack back on her face. "Thank you."

There was too much awkwardness in the sudden politeness.

Lu Jiunian felt as if his heart was stuffed with cotton, feeling very suffocated. He looked at the boy beside him and wanted to hug him, but in the end he held back.

"Go home and get some rest."

He gave the order.

A smile finally appeared on Shi Nianzhi's face. He looked up at Lu Jiunian and said, "I don't have anything to pack. I have my ID card with me, so I can take the train back by myself."

Lu Jiunian's face gradually darkened. "Where do you want to go back to?"

"Go home."

Lu Jiunian said in a deep voice, "Return to Lujiang Bay."

Shi Nianzhi's bright and beautiful eyes instantly dimmed, and he gave a listless "oh".

Then he added, "Then send me back to school, I want to go back to study."

He hated studying the most, but at this moment he preferred to go to school rather than go home.

It's clear that he was annoyed and angry.

Lu Jiunian was annoyed when he realized this, but he couldn't bring himself to coax Shi Nianzhi.

He decided to ignore it and just had the driver take him back to school.

Before getting out of the car, Shi Nian said to the driver, "Don't rush to drive away."

He got out of the car and looked at his cheeks in the rearview mirror. They were still red and swollen. Shi Nianzhi was a little embarrassed. If he went back to class like this, people would inevitably gossip about him.

The driver rolled down the window and handed Shi Nianzhi a brand new, unopened face mask.

Knowing that Shi Nianzhi didn't like studying, they still advised her, "You've already asked for leave, Shi Shao, go back and get some sleep. Your face will be fine after a good night's rest."

Lu Jiunian sat in the back seat of the car without saying a word, which was obviously tacit approval.

"Thanks."

Shi Nianzhi took the mask, evaded the driver's words, and turned back to school.

As he walked, he unwrapped the mask and put it on his face.

Lu Jiunian lowered the back window of the car and watched the slender figure of the boy in the sunlight gradually walk away in his blue and white school uniform.

The man's eyes held an unreadable emotion. He looked down at his hands, knowing full well that his skin was delicate and that a light pinch would leave a red mark, while a stronger pinch would turn it blue and purple.

He even slapped him so hard.

Lu Jiunian curled his fingers up, and after a long while, he took out his phone and made a call.

The call connected, and I got straight to the point: "Let's have lunch together."

Jiang Kai was still holding a grudge about what happened last time, and said in an indignant voice, "I don't have time, I have a lot of classes lately."

That damn Lu Jiunian dared to call him! Who gave him the nerve?

Damn it.

"I'm coming to find you."

"Don't......"

Before Jiang Kai could finish saying "Don't come looking for me," the phone call was disconnected.

Jiang Kai stood in the corridor, holding his phone, so angry he wanted to smash it, but he had class to attend, so he suppressed his anger.

With a smile, he turned around, walked politely to the podium, picked up a laser pointer and circled it on the projection screen, his warm voice saying, "Now, let's pick a student to answer a question."

Before the last class was even over, Lu Jiunian was already standing in the corridor, leaning against the railing with his long legs outstretched, looking like he wanted to keep everyone at arm's length while waiting for Jiang Kai to finish class.

He does have some self-awareness, knowing to come and ambush him; otherwise, given his personality, he would most likely have stood Lu Jiunian up.

Jiang Kai assigned homework.

He has always been informal with his students, after all, he is the youngest professor in the entire business school.

A group of girls followed Jiang Kai, smiling and asking, "Professor, is this your boyfriend? He's really handsome."

“What nonsense are you spouting, brat? This is my second uncle’s son, Lu Tiezhu.”

"puff----"

The girls walked away laughing.

Jiang Kai walked over and asked Lu Jiunian with a displeased expression, "So, what troubles have you encountered? It must have been really tough for you, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me."

"Too many people, let's go somewhere else."

Men are too lazy to utter a single unnecessary word.

"What kind of attitude is that? You're asking me for a favor and you're giving me attitude. I'm busy with my date, I can't be bothered with you."

Lu Jiunian held a business card between his fingers. "The one you want to date."

"I was just kidding. What's more important than having dinner with Third Master?"

Jiang Kai stared intently at the business card in Lu Jiunian's hand, reaching out with both hands to take it.

Lu Jiunian ruthlessly stuffed the business card into his pocket.

Jiang Kai: "......"

Dining room.

After hearing the whole story, Jiang Kai exclaimed in surprise, "So, you beat your wife over such a trivial matter? Third Master, how can people call you Third Master if you're such a coward in front of that brat Gu Yuanyuan?"

"I have to give the Gu family face, Gu Yuanyuan is seriously injured."

"How serious is it? Have you read the diagnosis? Have you asked the doctor? Did you even understand the whole story before drawing conclusions? Where's your intelligence? Or do you simply think that slapping someone isn't a big deal?"

Lu Jiunian looked at Jiang Kai and said, "I didn't expect him to be so insensible."

"What do you mean by being ignorant?"

"He's angry with me, but he's always been so immature. Any random guy outside would be more obedient than him. Sometimes I really don't know why I married such a jerk. All he does is make me angry every day, and he can't do anything else."

Lu Jiunian lowered his head and lit a cigarette with some irritation.