“Ahem…W-what are you talking about?”
Ning Li choked strongly, tears filling her eyes.
He Xiaochen gave her a piece of tissue and said, “My, my, look at you. I simply mentioned your second brother. Why are you getting so riled up/”
Ning Li was finally able to calm down and adjust her breath, but when she heard He Xiaochen say that once more, she was at a loss about what to answer.
It took her quite a while to react. “We don’t see each other every day.”
In fact, the two of them had only known each other for a month, but no one would have probably believed it even if she tried to argue.
Nevertheless, her excuse did not deter He Xiaochen at all.
“That’s not important!”
He Xiaochen believed that Ning Li should only see her handsome second brother once every few days, or else she would suffer from a nosebleed to death.
He Xiaochen mysteriously looked around before leaning forward to Ning Li and asked softly, “The news of your second brother coming to the parent-teacher meeting has gotten out. Everyone knows him now! The guy who picked you up the other day after self-learning, that was him, too, right?”
Ning Li could only nod.
It would be difficult for Lu Huaiyu’s unrivaled looks to stay under the radar. His first appearance in the school had already caused quite the commotion.
Even until now, Ning Li frequently heard discussions about Lu Huaiyu.
It was normal for He Xiaochen to find out about this quickly. As a matter of fact, He Xiaochen unexpectedly saw Lu Huaiyu after the parent-teacher meeting and was so in awe of his handsomeness that she almost got down on her knees in front of him.
From his looks to his chivalry, every single aspect of that man was out of this world!
He Xiaochen used to believe that Pei Song, the class monitor, was the most handsome guy in the school, but now…
She had to admit that she was still too young and naive. There were always better-looking people out there.
“Your second brother is really kind to you!” He Xiaochen was jealous. “The country owes me a brother like that!”
Everyone more or less knew about Ning Li’s situation and background.
Ye Ci had gone to the hospital for a check-up because she was hit by a football yesterday, but no one expected her absence to result in her mother skipping Ning Li’s parent-teacher meeting.
He Xiaochen was a smart girl. She could connect the dots on her own even if she did not ask for the details.
Therefore, Lu Huaiyu coming to school for Ning Li meant a lot.
He Xiaochen stuffed a big spoon of rice into her mouth, but it did not stop her from talking in a muffled voice, “If I had such a handsome brother who is that good to me, I wouldn’t even care about the peasants in school!”
Comparison was the cause of all despair!
Ning Li rubbed the center of her brows. She felt helpless but amused at the same time.
For a moment, He Xiaochen continued eating before she suddenly sighed. “Ning Li, I’m telling you. Your second brother has boosted your standards to a ridiculous height. It will be difficult for you to get a boyfriend in the future.”
He Xiaochen assumed that Ning Li had no interest in common-looking guys anymore.
Ning Li’s hands froze. She suddenly remembered Lu Huaiyu’s intimate yet threatening words, and they started to echo in her ears.
“Behave and don’t make me mad.”
He had sounded drowsy when he said that. Ning Li had no idea what he meant, but she was in no position to ask him about it anyway.
Lu Huaiyu was not fully conscious when he said that, so she should take his words and actions seriously.
“That’s a concept that is very distant to me.”
…
After Ning Li left, Cheng Xiyue stayed behind in the mansion. He waited on the first floor and ordered takeaway for two servings of soup that could help cure a hangover: one for him, and one for Lu Huaiyu.
The two of them actually attended the same event earlier with many influential figures from the business world.
Lu Huaiyu came to Yunzhou to treat his condition, but there were times when he had to attend social meetings like this, especially when he was invited by those who had a better relationship with him.
The event went well at first, but when Lu Huaiyu got a message from Zhou Fei, he left halfway. He had quite a bit of alcohol, but fortunately, he was a decent drinker. While he was not drunk, his head felt slightly heavy. As much of a decent drinker he might have been, he had barely consumed any alcohol in the past year.
Cheng Xiyue had no idea how Lu Huaiyu was feeling now. Only when the sky turned dark and the soup was cold, Cheng Xiyue finally heard some noises upstairs, so he looked up at the second floor.
At that point, Lu Huaiyu came out of the room and walked down the stairs. He squinted his eyes when he saw Cheng Xiyue.
“Why are you here?”
Cheng Xiyue glanced at his watch. “Mr. Second Master Lu, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for an hour now, and you ask me why am I here?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lu Huaiyu looked tired and annoyed at the same time. “Okay, okay, you can go now.”
Cheng Xiyue was speechless though he kind of expected Lu Huaiyu to say such heartless words. He scoffed and said, “If Little Ning Li was here, I don’t think you would say the same thing! Second Master Lu, it’s not good to have double standards.”
Lu Huaiyu trudged down the stairs. His black shirt was wrinkled after his nap and his eyes remained tired. He walked to the table beside the kitchen for a glass of cold water.
“She’s not here.”
The light above his head outlined his towering contour beautifully as he drained the glass of cold water to its last drop. His jawline looked pronounced and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he drank the water.
The icy cold water flowed down his throat and refreshed his mind a little. The heaviness he had experienced earlier had faded substantially.
Cheng Xiyue leaned back on the couch and mocked him, “Little Ning Li went through hell to bring you back. Do you think your lazy bum will delay her studies?”
Lu Huaiyu put the glass down. He thought for a moment and said, “She left when I walked through the door, so I don’t think it will affect her class.”
“You said she left right after she sent you back?” Cheng Xiyue asked in shock.
“Mmm-hmm.” Lu Huaiyu then poured himself a second glass of water. His frustration had eased off a lot.
Cheng Xiyue slowly got up and sent a message to Ning Li with his phone.
[Little Ning Li, did anything happen when you sent Second Master Lu back?]
…
Ning Li was in Zhou Fei’s class when she received the message. She stared at the message for a while and had a hunch something was not right.
After all, Cheng Xiyue had asked her the question before, so why would he ask it a second time?
Besides, while the question might seem harmless she could still feel the unease and worry in between the lines.
Other than that, what Lu Huaiyu did in the room…
She tried her best to recall the details.
[Nothing special. It’s just that the taxi that we were taking almost got into a car accident.]
[A car accident? The taxi you were taking?]
[Yeah, but we are fine. Two cars in front of us crashed. We simply went around it.]
Cheng Xiyue’s eyes twitched as he read the message.
When Lu Huaiyu came over and sat opposite him, Cheng Xiyue put his phone face down on the table.
Lu Huaiyu did not notice the message. The soup on the table caught his attention instead, but Cheng Xiyue cleared his throat. “It’s already cold. Do you want me to heat it up?”
Lu Huaiyu shook his head. “Never mind. I barely drink soup at all.”
Cheng Xiyue simply grunted in agreement. “As you wish.”
A moment later, he said, “If you are alright, I’ll be on my way now.”
Lu Huaiyu nodded. He did not seem interested in sending Cheng Xiyue out, so the latter left.
The Cheng family’s driver, Gao Min, was waiting outside. He greeted Cheng Xiyue when the man got into the car but soon noticed his long face. He asked curiously, “Master, what’s wrong?”
Cheng Xiyue shook his head. After some serious thought, he decided to call Ning Li.