Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Afraid I’ll Scare Her? Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Afraid I’ll Scare Her? Zhou Shuyan’s gaze flashed with warmth for a moment, “Moreover, her grandparents favor boys over girls, and although her parents are decent, they listen to their elders a bit too much, right or wrong. Of course, there’s also the fact that the old folks in her family are domineering. This caused her days at home to be rather difficult. She even nearly missed the chance to attend Jing University. Thankfully, she has a scholarship and doesn’t need money from her family. Her family is also quite poor; it would be hard for them to come up with her tuition.”
Zhou Shuyan then briefly described the situation of the Lu Family.
“That’s really tough for her,” Xu Jingmin sighed but admired Lu Youxi even more, “To be able to save herself in such circumstances and get into Jing University. This girl is bound to achieve great things in the future.”
Xu Jingmin greatly admired this spirit of unyielding self-reliance.
However, when Zhou Shuyan initially mentioned the young girl, she thought he meant Grandma Xu’s young granddaughter or a very young child.
But it turned out she was already a university student.
Still, Zhou Shuyan is her son after all.
Xu Jingmin did not overlook the fleeting reaction Zhou Shuyan had when he mentioned the girl who saved him.
“What’s her name? Is she pretty?” Xu Jingmin asked carefully, watching Zhou Shuyan’s reaction.
“…” Zhou Shuyan helplessly said, “Mom, please don’t think of going to the school to find her.”
He wasn’t worried that Lu Youxi would be scared; he guessed that even if Old Master Zhou went to find her, she wouldn’t be intimidated.
It was the thought of Xu Jingmin unexpectedly going to meet Lu Youxi that made him a bit nervous.
As for why he felt nervous, Zhou Shuyan couldn’t quite articulate.
“Oh, are you that protective of her? Afraid I’ll scare her?” Xu Jingmin raised an eyebrow.
The gesture was strikingly similar to that of Zhou Shuyan’s eyebrow-raising.
“What are you talking about?” Zhou Shuyan shook his head helplessly, unable to muster more of a rebuttal.
Immediately after, Xu Jingmin said, “What if I sponsor her university education? Would she agree? Since her family is in such a difficult situation, I’ll cover her tuition and living expenses. She gets good grades and can keep her scholarship money as pocket money.”
Xu Jingmin had listened to Zhou Shuyan, partly to repay Lu Youxi and partly because she found it commendable that Lu Youxi could still get into Jing University despite such hardships.
Zhou Shuyan seemed to admire Lu Youxi in his conversation.
Xu Jingmin trusted Zhou Shuyan’s judgment.
If he thinks she’s good, then Lu Youxi surely can’t be bad.
Plus, with Lu Youxi’s strong will and perseverance, having lived so hard for the past eighteen years, Xu Jingmin wanted to make things easier for her.
“On what grounds, though? She’ll definitely ask. If it’s because of me, she won’t agree,” Zhou Shuyan said, “She believes in her own abilities, not in relying on someone else’s money. When she came here, I was worried about her not having a phone, which would be inconvenient in the Imperial Capital. In case of an emergency, it would be safer to have a phone. But knowing her personality, she wouldn’t accept this, so I specially chose a phone that cost a thousand yuan for her. Who knew she wouldn’t even accept that. Only after I said she could pay me back for the phone when she earned money did she take it.”
“She’s got quite the backbone,” Xu Jingmin said, before letting out a “Oops,” and added, “but you seem to know her quite well, don’t you?”
“The village isn’t big; I know the villagers pretty well,” Zhou Shuyan replied.
“So tell me, what other stories are there in the village?” Xu Jingmin was intrigued.
Old Master Zhou also lived in a village, but it was a wealthy village on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital. Although the villagers didn’t know Old Master Zhou’s true identity, they could tell he was well-off from the way he spent money, even if they couldn’t guess that he was extremely rich.
So they were quite polite to Old Master Zhou on a regular basis, and the village didn’t have as much news as Hexing Village.
After all, Old Master Zhou was an outsider, and if there was gossip in a family, they wouldn’t run to tell him.
But Hexing Village was different; it was a small village that had not yet escaped poverty.
Since Xu Jingmin finally stopped asking about Lu Youxi, Zhou Shuyan breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly started telling her about life in Hexing Village, as well as the gossip about various families.
He narrated how Aunt Liu next door was warm-hearted, and how Aunt Lin was also kind but much more gossipy.
Old Master Zhou ate his meal without saying a word.
After dinner, when Aunt Yao was cleaning up the kitchen, Old Master Zhou said to Zhou Shuyan, “Shuyan, come with me to the study.”
Zhou Shuyan nodded and followed Old Master Zhou to the study.
After closing the door, Old Master Zhou said, “From what I heard at the dinner table, it sounds like it was your second uncle this time?”
If Zhou Xueyi really had attacked his own family, Old Master Zhou wouldn’t tolerate it.
“I suspect, but I have no evidence,” Zhou Shuyan had no intention of hiding anything, “so I will find evidence.”
Old Master Zhou leaned on his cane with both hands and nodded, “With evidence, you can completely exclude your second uncle from Chengzhou. Your second uncle has his share of power over the years, both within the family and the corporation. Without evidence, speculation alone cannot convince everyone. Without a reason, we can’t completely kick him out of the company. And if we can’t kick him out entirely, there’s no point.”
“I understand,” Zhou Shuyan nodded, as long as Old Master Zhou didn’t block him.
Old Master Zhou suddenly smiled, lifting his eyes towards Zhou Shuyan, “Do you think I would protect your second uncle?”
“We’re all family,” Zhou Shuyan said frankly, “I’m your grandson, and he’s your son.”
“But you are also your father’s only son,” Old Master Zhou said slowly, “the only thing he left behind.”
In Old Master Zhou’s heart, Zhou Shuyan’s father was always the most important.
“Moreover, he was after your life,” Old Master Zhou let out slowly, “If it was just a power struggle, I wouldn’t mind. It would be good for competition, a way to sharpen you.”
“But once it’s a matter of life and death, it can’t be sheltered,” Old Master Zhou said gravely.
Zhou Shuyan didn’t reply.
He knew, Old Master Zhou’s words were not only directed at Zhou Xueyi, but also at him.
Old Master Zhou was also warning him that he could deal with Zhou Xueyi, that Old Master Zhou would accept any kind of struggle, but it couldn’t involve taking lives.
Zhou Shuyan understood; Zhou Xueyi was Old Master Zhou’s son no matter what.
The so-called favoritism of the older generation was simply because he was his father’s son.
Old Master Zhou looked at Zhou Shuyan, and seeing that Zhou Shuyan didn’t intend to respond, he understood Zhou Shuyan’s decision.
Old Master Zhou laughed softly, patted Zhou Shuyan’s shoulder, and left the study.
“Dad, are you leaving already?” Xu Jingmin’s voice came from outside.
“Yes, as long as Shuyan is alright,” Old Master Zhou replied.
Zhou Shuyan also left the study and sent Old Master Zhou off at the entrance.
The two acted as if nothing unusual had happened, as if the conversation had never occurred.