Chapter 121 Delusions

"You're back? You look so listless. Are you missing your classmate who left?" Song Yushu asked, noticing that he wasn't in good spirits.

"It's alright, I'll be fine after a rest," Zhou Chengyu said, not wanting Song Yushu to worry, and went back inside without saying anything.

Seeing that he had grown up, Song Yushu did not press him for details, giving him space to think for himself.

The next day, Zhou Chengyu returned to normal and went to the restaurant to help Zhou Chengzhu collect the bills.

"Brother, you can't even pay the bill as fast as me!" Zhou Chengzhu was most proud of his ability to calculate bills, which was better than Zhou Chengyu's.

“I’m not as good as you, but I’m not slow either,” Zhou Chengyu said, showing no anger at Zhou Chengzhu’s teasing, and continued to settle the bill slowly and methodically.

Students who knew him at the academy would greet him from time to time, and he would respond with a smile, showing no sign of the dejected look he had when he returned yesterday.

"What a coincidence! I didn't expect to see the talented Zhou working here. And who is this young lady?" Hu Xuan and his group of cronies were also surprised to see Zhou Chengyu. They originally wanted to teach him a lesson, but when they saw Zhou Chengzhu next to him, they changed their minds.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Chengyu pulled Zhou Chengzhu behind him.

"We're just here for a meal, why are you so nervous? We're from the same academy, there's no need to be so formal, right, Miss Zhou?" Hu Xuan guessed Zhou Chengzhu's identity from their similar faces, which dispelled his idea of ​​teaching Zhou Chengyu a lesson.

“If you gentlemen would like to have a meal, there are empty tables in front,” Zhou Chengzhu said. Seeing that they didn’t seem like respectable people, but he couldn’t just send them away directly, he could only tell them to find a place to sit and not block the counter.

"Alright, bring me one of all your restaurant's signature dishes," Hu Xuan actually didn't cause any trouble. He led the group to a table and started ordering.

"You go back first. These people aren't good people. I'll pay the bill," Zhou Chengyu said, feeling disgusted by the way Hu Xuan looked at Zhou Chengzhu. Afraid that Zhou Chengzhu would be bullied, he told her to go back to her place first.

“Okay, I’ll go tell Mother and then I’ll leave,” Zhou Chengzhu said without any suspicion, and went straight into the kitchen to find Song Yushu.

When Song Yushu learned of this, he immediately found someone to send Zhou Chengzhu back without delay.

"Hey! Why isn't Miss Zhou serving the dishes?" Seeing the table full of dishes but not a single dish of Zhou Chengzhu, the group of people were somewhat dissatisfied.

Xiong Erni only said that Zhou Chengzhu was not feeling well, and then she tried to leave.

"That Zhou Chengyu is really something. If we had known he had such a beautiful younger sister, would we have gone against him?"

"Brother Hu is so dashing and charming. If you do this a few more times, this young lady surnamed Zhou will probably be chasing after you just like the previous young lady!"

"You're talking about girls from brothels. This Zhou girl is from a respectable family, so why use those old tricks?" Under the flattery of his cronies, Hu Xuan opened his folding fan and fanned himself a few times in what he considered a dashing manner, clearly determined to have Zhou Chengzhu.

A group of people were spouting vulgarities in the restaurant, and even the other customers spontaneously distanced themselves from them.

“Those people are probably targeting Sister Zhu. We shouldn’t let her settle scores for a while,” Xiong Erni went back to the kitchen to explain the situation to Song Yushu.

Song Yushu didn't want Zhou Chengzhu to take any risks and planned to let Zhou Chengzhu lay low for a while.

“Mother, it’s my fault. I provoked these people at the academy. They probably targeted my sister because of me,” Zhou Chengyu told them about his encounters with Hu Xuan and the others at the academy.

"This is not your fault. They have been too reckless. But it hasn't come to a point of mutual destruction yet. Let your sister lay low for a while. Maybe they will forget about it after a while."

Song Yushu didn't blame Zhou Chengyu. They had encountered this kind of bullying behavior several times before, and no matter how careful they were, they couldn't withstand others deliberately finding fault with them.

They didn't hide anything from Zhou Chengzhu, explaining the reason clearly so that Zhou Chengzhu could stay at her residence without worry. After thinking about it, Song Yushu also left Xiong Erni to keep her company.

"Zhou Chengyu, why are you the only one here today? Where is your sister? Why didn't she come over to say hello?"

"Yes, Brother Hu came all this way specifically for her!"

Zhou Chengyu suppressed his anger and said, "She wasn't feeling well and went back to her hometown to recuperate."

"You're not trying to fool Brother Hu, are you? You ungrateful wretch! It's your sister's good fortune that Brother Hu has taken a liking to her! And you're still making excuses, do you really think Brother Hu is so easy to fool!"

"Zhou Chengyu, I'll let it slide this time because you're her brother. Is your sister really sick?"

Hu Xuan had dressed up specially for this trip, looking glamorous and even applying makeup, but he didn't even see anyone, which made him angry.

"What's going on? Chengyu, is this your classmate? Why are you letting them stand here? Go and find them a good place to sit!" Seeing that something was wrong, Song Yushu quickly came out to deal with the situation.

"Ahem! I met Brother Zhou at the academy. I heard that his family opened a restaurant, so I came here yesterday to support them. I didn't see Miss Zhou today, so I asked her a few questions," Hu Xuan said to Song Yushu, his aggressive demeanor gone, even becoming somewhat pretentious.

“So that’s how it is. She felt unwell yesterday and developed a high fever last night. The doctor said it was due to the change in environment. Today, I had someone send her back to her hometown to ask her maternal grandfather to take care of her. She will come back when she is better,” Song Yushu said, repeating the same words, but they sounded more believable than those of Zhou Chengyu.

“I see. Today is the same as yesterday, one of each of our signature dishes,” Hu Xuan said, leading his group to find empty seats and sitting down, appearing no different from the other diners.

Song Yushu breathed a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen to prepare the dishes.

In the following days, just as Song Yushu and the others had expected, Hu Xuan and the others did not come again.

Zhou Chengyu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news from Song Yushu.

"Is it just my imagination? Why do I feel like that Master Hu is particularly enthusiastic towards Brother Zhou?" Liao Yunfei leaned closer to the group and told them about his discovery.

"Indeed, but he's quick and good at math, so isn't it normal that Master Hu likes him?"

The group didn't see anything wrong with it; on the contrary, they thought Liao Yunfei was just making trouble for no reason.

"Zhou Chengyu, Master Hu wants you to come over!"

"Alright, I think Master Hu is not bad. He didn't target us because of our conflict with Hu Xuan. He even values ​​Brother Zhou. Isn't that good?"

Zhou Chengyu also felt that Master Hu would not openly harm them in the academy, so he comforted Liao Yunfei for a few words and then went to find Master Hu.

"Master, are you well? May I ask what brings you here?" Zhou Chengyu bowed to Master Hu and then inquired about his purpose.

“You are one of the best at math in our academy. This time, you and your senior brother Shen were the only ones in the academy who got all the questions right. I called you here to ask you how you usually study, so that those who haven’t figured it out can learn from you,” Master Hu said with a hint of helplessness.