Chapter 25
Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao didn't take Bai Hongxu's matter to heart at first. Even without the Jiang family, Jiang Huaiyu's exam results were still there, which was a protective charm, but with a backlash effect. Anyone who got involved with her would suffer greatly.
The rumor that Duan Yueke liked Jiang Huaiyu spread more and more widely in the school. For some reason, three days after Bai Hongxu went to see Jiang Huaiyu, in the same grove of trees, Duan Yueke nervously held a small bouquet of flowers, blushing as she looked at Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao.
Lu Mingxiao: "Huh? This female student, I already said I didn't arrive early..."
"Jiang Huaiyu, this bouquet is for you!" Duan Yueke shoved the flowers into Jiang Huaiyu's arms and ran off.
Lu Mingxiao was stunned: "This girl wants both of them?"
Jiang Huaiyu watched the little girl's retreating figure thoughtfully, then casually handed the flower to Lu Mingxiao: "Here, have some."
Lu Mingxiao: "Jiang Xiaoyu!"
Jiang Huaiyu laughed out loud: "Take it, it's a pity to throw it away, give it to your mother when you get home."
Lu Mingxiao looked down at the bouquet and exclaimed, "Wow! From afar, they look like fiery red roses, but up close, they're like gentle, silent red carnations!"
"What's wrong with this Duan student's thought process?" Lu Mingxiao pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised an eyebrow.
"You guessed it?" Jiang Huaiyu said, "She doesn't like you or me at all. She just wants to create the illusion of being in a flirtatious relationship with a 'very powerful person' so that Bai Hongxu will back down. It doesn't matter who this person is, so she won't clarify the rumors. She might even add fuel to the fire."
"It's a bit unfair, Mr. Jiang, we've been used as pawns." Lu Mingxiao lowered his head to smell the flowers. "Forget it, let's leave it at that for now. Bai Hongxu really wouldn't dare to do anything to us. She's just a young girl, it's not easy for her. By the way, where are her family..."
Jiang Huaiyu: "If you don't know, how am I supposed to know? Let's ask the gossip king Liang Jing tomorrow."
...
“Duan Yueke…” Liang Jing thought for a while: “She’s quite pretty, and her family is well-off. Her father works at the Luxi Hotel, but I’m not sure exactly what he does. He’s probably a manager there. Her mother is a supervisor of the waitresses.”
“Lu Xi…” Jiang Huaiyu tapped the table: “One of Bai Hongxu’s family businesses?”
"Oh! That's right!"
Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu exchanged a glance.
That explains why Duan Yue didn't ask her family for help. Either she was too sensible and afraid of affecting her parents' work, or she had mentioned it, but her parents chose to let their daughter endure it because of her job. Or, to put it more cynically...
It's possible that they might persuade their daughter to follow the "young master."
In the past, Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu probably wouldn't have thought so much, but after Fu Qi's incident, they realized that not all parents love their children.
And like their parents, those who can treat children who are not their own as their own are extremely rare. How lucky they are!
"Hey deskmate, what should we do about this?" Lu Mingxiao asked.
"Let's leave it at that for now," Jiang Huaiyu said. "If this method works, I don't mind being the subject of rumors for a while."
"I knew you'd say that. My Xiaoyu is so kind." Lu Mingxiao felt a little sour; he wasn't the first one to be rumored to be having an affair with Jiang Xiaoyu.
But it's okay, they're already very lucky, so let's share some of that luck with others.
...
Duan Yueke initially chose Lu Mingxiao because Lu Mingxiao had connections both on and off campus, and it was said that Lu Mingxiao was also very good at fighting. She thought that Bai Hongxu wouldn't dare to make things too difficult for Lu Mingxiao.
Unexpectedly, due to a series of misunderstandings, Bai Hongxu mistakenly believed that she liked Jiang Huaiyu. Jiang Huaiyu was the principal's darling, and Bai Hongxu couldn't easily make a move on her.
She was right. Bai Hongxu's father, the chairman of several hotels, thought his son had gone mad when he heard that his son wanted to punish a student who scored "728 points".
"What score would you give him?" Chairman Bai looked his son up and down. "728? Is that right?"
"Yeah, they say he's almost a provincial champion, and Old Guan treats him like a precious gem..." Bai Hongxu was picking his ear with his little finger and didn't quite catch his father's tone: "So what? Aren't all the managers in our hotel college graduates? Aren't they all working for me?"
Old Bai's lips twitched, and he placed his hand on his chubby belly, touching his belt buckle: "Working for you?"
Bai Hongxu: "Yeah, Dad! I don't like that Jiang Huaiyu at all. You need to think of a way to get him transferred to another school, the farther away the better. He's such a show-off, acting all high and mighty. What kind of rich kid is he pretending to be? He's related to Lu Mingxiao, but they're both poor bastards. Can he even afford clothes that cost thousands or tens of thousands? They're probably all fakes... Speaking of clothes, Dad, can you give me some of my allowance? I want to buy an LV down jacket. Jiang Huaiyu, he..."
"You look like a down jacket to me!" Boss Bai jumped up and lashed Bai Hongxu on the sofa with a belt. "728! 728! You spendthrift, do you even know what 728 is?"
Bai Hongxu howled as he was beaten, running around on the ground trying to avoid his father: "So what! Didn't you always say at the drinking party that college students should work for you?"
Although Bai Dong was fat, he was agile and relentlessly pursued Bai Hongxu, displaying his fatherly whipping skills to the fullest: "What do you know! He's a top scholar! You could go back eight generations and not even know what a top scholar looks like. You think he's just one person? Behind him are the principal, the director of the education bureau, the mayor... and if you go any further back, it would alarm the provincial government. You'd better kneel down and lick his boots right now, or you still want to mess with him? I'll kill you first!"
The next day, Bai Hongxu went to school with a bruised and swollen face.
Duan Yueke is very timid, but when she saw Bai Hongxu's face, she couldn't help but chuckle a little.
She never expected that even with Bai Hongxu's face so swollen, she could still see her secretly smiling.
"You little bitch, are you laughing at me?" Bai Hongxu gritted his teeth. "You think I'm giving you face by pursuing you? Watch me kick your parents out of here in a heartbeat! If I can't handle Jiang Huaiyu, I can certainly handle you!"
Duan Yueke's face turned pale instantly, but her eyes reddened.
"Bai Hongxu, who do you think you are!" She wiped away her tears, sobbing as she thought of the pressure from her family. "You only dare to bully me. When you encounter someone with real power, you can only cower like a coward..."
"You dare to curse me?" Bai Hongxu kicked over Duan Yueke's table. "Jiang Huaiyu, is it? I'll deal with you just the same way!"
He turned and rushed out of the classroom. Some nosy classmates peered out the window and exclaimed, "Hey? He's gone out! He's left school!"
Duan Yueke's friend wiped away her tears and whispered a reminder: "Keke, what you just said was really inappropriate. It provoked Bai Hongxu. He might really go and cause trouble for Jiang Huaiyu. I think you should go and remind Jiang Huaiyu."
Duan Yueke just cried: "Didn't you hear him say that he wouldn't dare to touch Jiang Huaiyu? Why am I so unlucky..."
Her friend had no choice but to comfort her.
Duan Yueke sobbed, her head resting on the table. In the darkness shielded by her arm, her watery eyes held only an empty indifference.
...
In the north, it gets dark very early in winter, and the roads are very slippery. Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao stopped riding bicycles a long time ago. On days when it doesn't snow, the two of them walk home, talking along the way, so they don't feel that the distance is far. Usually, Lu Mingxiao does the talking, while Jiang Huaiyu listens quietly.
"In our school, the old campus, there are tons of these kinds of ghost stories..." Lu Mingxiao kicked an ice block away: "There was a senior student who went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and when she washed her hands after using the toilet..."
"Lu Mingxiao!" Jiang Huaiyu walked carefully, trying not to fall, and said, "Shut up!"
"Hmm? Such a big reaction..." Lu Mingxiao grinned mischievously and leaned closer, his tone rather cheeky: "Are you afraid of ghost stories?"
"I'm not afraid."
"Then I'll continue..."
"Shut up!"
They were almost home after passing through the last alley. There was a downhill slope there, and Jiang Huaiyu had already slipped twice. Lu Mingxiao, with great foresight, grabbed his arm and was about to teach him again how to "slide" smoothly when suddenly a gust of wind came from behind him.
Without a second thought, Lu Mingxiao pressed Jiang Huaiyu's head down to squat, and Jiang Huaiyu sat down without hesitation. Lu Mingxiao then quickly stood up and turned to look at the attacker.
The three people were all wearing masks and were completely covered up, but judging from their figures, they should be three adults.
Footsteps sounded behind them again, and the alley entrance on the other side was also blocked, again by two adults.
"Are you guys short on cash?" Lu Mingxiao pulled Jiang Huaiyu behind him and smiled calmly. "It's no big deal. I have some money in my phone. Consider it a treat for you guys to a meal."
Seemingly surprised that a high school student would have such courage, the four people exchanged glances, but in the end remained silent and slowly approached the two.
“It’s not about the money…” Jiang Huaiyu pulled Lu Mingxiao aside and whispered, “Someone gave them money, was it Bai Hongxu?”
"That bastard..." Lu Mingxiao cursed under his breath, "He can cause so much trouble just by going to school. Is it really necessary for him to act like this over such a trivial matter of jealousy? How old is he this year?"
Jiang Huaiyu pulled Lu Mingxiao back: "Don't make a move yet, there are too many of them."
He raised his voice but softened his tone: "How much benefit did Bai Hongxu give you? I can give you three times that."
Across from them, someone laughed, speaking in a gruff voice with an accent: "Young Master Bai said you're just a fake, yet you're pretending to be a young master."
These people had a clear purpose, so they stopped wasting words and swarmed forward.
They weren't the same energetic young men like Green Hair from last time; they were mature men in their prime. A punch came flying with a whooshing sound. Jiang Huaiyu raised his arms to protect his face and caught the blow, leaving his entire arm numb.
He had learned many techniques, but a teenager's muscle strength was no match for an adult's, and he soon found it difficult to defend himself. He took a few blows to his back and shoulders, but his opponent was not having an easy time either. This seemingly thin and refined "fake young master" specifically targeted joints, using techniques whether twisting or kicking.
Lu Mingxiao was simply strong. He kicked the other man in the back of the knee, and that tall adult was forced to his knees. He then grabbed the man's hair and slammed his knee into the man's nose. He was ruthless, but he was even more vicious. He would take as many blows as possible himself to make sure the other man was injured.
However, the two were young, and the opposing team consisted of five people, including some who were skilled in martial arts. They were quickly cornered.
As the fist landed, Lu Mingxiao pressed Jiang Huaiyu's head into his chest, breathing heavily in his ear, "It's nothing... just a beating. Brother Xiao has been getting beaten since he was a kid, he's got plenty of experience..."
He held Jiang Huaiyu in his arms as tightly as possible, knowing that Bai Hongxu would never dare to kill anyone; at most, he would just get a beating and then it would be over.
But his Jiang Xiaoyu has delicate skin and tender flesh; if she punches someone, her own hand will be red for a long time.
Jiang Xiaoyu was particularly naughty at this moment, struggling in his arms like a big, wriggling carp. He had no choice but to press down hard on the back of Jiang Huaiyu's neck with one hand and hold Jiang Huaiyu's shoulder tightly with the other, pushing him against the wall while he blocked the way outside.
He said it's true that he can take a beating; his clothes are thick and provide some protection. When the fist lands, it hurts only a dull ache, unlike the time he was hit as a child...
He heard Jiang Huaiyu call his name, her voice trembling slightly.
“Lu Mingxiao…”
The group of people were somewhat restrained and didn't hit him in the head. He turned his head and secretly kissed Jiang Huaiyu's ear. Right after he finished the kiss, he was hit hard on the head.
He cursed under his breath, his scalp burning with pain, a slight dizziness, and warm blood trickling down his temples.
"Lu Mingxiao!" Jiang Huaiyu wiped the blood from Lu Mingxiao's face with trembling hands.
There seemed to be a disagreement among the attackers. One person cursed, "Why did you hit him on the head?" Another said, "That bastard was aiming for the head just now." In the chaos, no one saw the boy who had been being protected pick up the stick that had attacked them earlier.
Jiang Huaiyu's school uniform jacket was still stained with specks of blood, none of which were his. He seized the opportunity and struck one of the men hard on the back of the knee with a stick. He had always been lenient with his hands before, but this time he struck with full force. The man cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Jiang Huaiyu's next blow was aimed at the back of the man's neck.
"Jiang Xiaoyu!" Lu Mingxiao rushed over and hugged him around the waist: "Don't worry, I'm fine. Are you going to beat him to death?"
His teeth were grinding together, and reason told him that saying harsh words at this time was definitely not a good choice. Jiang Huaiyu swallowed back what he was about to say. In the darkness, his eyes shone brightly, with a flame flickering in them.
These five people, and Bai Hongxu...
If he could let them have a good New Year, he wouldn't be surnamed Jiang.
"Still watching, you bastard!" Lu Mingxiao, holding the tense Jiang Huaiyu, curled his lips into a sinister smile, his bloodied cheek smirking. "You've already beaten her up, are you really going to fight to the death? Then I'll play along to the end..."
Of the five people, one said, "We've got the money, let's go."
Several people quickly ran out of the alley, leaving behind a mess of footprints.
“Lu Mingxiao…” Jiang Huaiyu quickly supported him: “Are you dizzy…”
His fingertips trembled with fear as he gently touched the half-congealed blood. "I'll flag down a car and take you to the hospital."
"It's nothing, just a little dizzy." Lu Mingxiao hooked his arm around Jiang Huaiyu's shoulder, leaning his weight against her, and even had the mood to laugh: "Based on my experience of being hit, this isn't serious, Jiang Xiaoyu, don't cry."
"Who's crying?" Jiang Huaiyu helped him walk towards the alley entrance. "Are you out of your mind, blocking the way like that?"
"I... I call this going through fire and water for my brothers, even if it means taking a knife in my side."
"That's incredibly stupid."
...
Lu Mingxiao had a bald patch that required two stitches. He had mild encephalopathy and said he didn't need to be hospitalized, but Li Qing insisted on being hospitalized for observation. So he stayed for two days. After completing the hospitalization procedures, Li Qing explained the situation to Jiang Lan with great concern.
After all, Da Bao is not just his child anymore, and Xiao Bao was also injured, covered in bruises.
The police quickly apprehended the five individuals who committed the assault. They had even turned themselves in after having a barbecue, claiming they were drunk and had a conflict with the two children. They pleaded guilty and accepted punishment.
Anyway, he won't be locked up for more than a few days before he's out.
Jiang Huaiyu knew that Song Jingliang would call him to ask for details. This matter was definitely not over in the Jiang family. But he did not expect that it would be Old Master Jiang Qiheng who called him.
He answered the phone in the bathroom, unsure of how to address him, and remained silent for a moment. Jiang Qiheng, however, began to scold him.
"I heard this was because of you. The person who hired someone to beat someone up was jealous of you? Jiang Huaiyu, do you think you handled this properly? You're utterly disappointing. No matter what Mingxiao thinks, you'd better come back from there immediately. With your mind, I suspect you..."
"What do you doubt about me?" Jiang Huaiyu suddenly interrupted him.
Jiang Qiheng was stunned, then became even angrier: "What kind of tone are you using to talk to me?! I am your..."
“You are not,” Jiang Huaiyu said calmly. “Mr. Jiang, we are not related by blood.”
Jiang Qiheng remained silent for a moment.
Jiang Huaiyu smiled and said, "What did you just say, 'What do you mean by my intentions'? You mean that Lu Mingxiao's injury was something I deliberately orchestrated?"
"You dare say it has nothing to do with you?" Jiang Qiheng questioned angrily.
"Yes." Jiang Huaiyu suppressed the tremor in her voice, her tone remaining calm and unhurried, even deliberate, each word clearly transmitted to the other end of the receiver: "But your own grandson is willing to get hurt for me, what can I do?"
"You! You have the ambition of a wolf!"
“A wolf in sheep’s clothing…” Jiang Huaiyu stared indifferently at himself in the mirror.
The boy in the mirror had a tall and straight figure. His posture, cultivated over many years, gave him an air of refined elegance and a touch of high-society arrogance.
This is how Jiang Qiheng carefully cultivated it; it does indeed have some wolfish ambitions.
He spoke into the receiver: "I am indeed cunning. Today I was able to scheme against Lu Mingxiao, making him willingly get hurt for me, so that in the future I can make him hand over the Jiang family to me. You..."
His words abruptly stopped.
Lu Mingxiao, with bandages wrapped around his head, stood at the bathroom door.
"I..." He didn't know what to say. His previous imposing manner collapsed rapidly in front of Lu Mingxiao, like a deflated balloon. A sense of inexplicable grievance welled up instantly, causing his eyes to redden slightly.
Lu Mingxiao walked over and took the phone from his hand.
Jiang Huaiyu pursed her lips, her body stiffening for a moment.
Lu Mingxiao said into the phone:
"He's right."
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