Ning Li blinked awkwardly.
In her past life, her reputation went down the drain. The insults and criticism she received were a hundred times harsher than what she received from this incident.
The endless sneers and criticism had numbed her ears and mind.
Compared to what she experienced before, the insults from this incident were nothing.
However, for whatever reason, she felt a stinging pain in the deepest part of her heart when Lu Huaiyu asked her.
Lu Huaiyu continued calmly and patiently. “If you feel pain, just let it out. If someone bullied you, come talk to me. We will fight back together. Can you do that?”
Ning Li would never.
Ever since Ning Haizou was convicted, she had become a plague to everyone.
People put dead rats in her bag and tossed her books down the drain.
They criticized her behind her back, calling her disgusting names.
Everyone knew she had lost her parents, so even if she was bullied, no one would stand up for her.
5
Ning Li chose to endure the insults at first until someone cut her jersey to shreds while she was away for gym class.
Her grandmother made the jersey for her.
She found the boy who did it that very day. Even though she cried her eyes red, she beat the boy up until his face was covered in blood.
The incident got big.
She could clearly remember her grandmother’s scrawny figure bowing non-stop at the boy’s parents in the office.
2
After they got back, her grandmother asked her if it hurt.
She hugged the shredded jersey tightly and shook her head strongly.
“No! No! It did not hurt! Lili is fine!”
From that day onwards, she never told anyone about her pain.
She knew it would be useless because it would only make her grandmother sad.
Ever since that incident, she never told her grandmother about school anymore.
However, she did not expect Lu Huaiyu would say something similar.
A slight silence later, she said, “But it’s troublesome…”
Lu Huaiyu realized that even though the girl was in her teenage years, she had a lot of concerns.
He chuckled. “You won’t regret calling me second brother.”
…
Cheng Xiyue watched the slender figure talking through the phone from the side and then looked at his watch.
‘Great. Her one call is longer than 10 of my calls…’
7
Ning Li finally hung up the phone and walked over.
Cheng Xiyue sat up straight.
“How’s it, Little Ning Li? What’s your verdict?”
Ning Li passed the documents to him and said, “Sue them.”
1
…
Yunding Fenghua.
Lu Huaiyu went back to the living room from the balcony.
Opposite the couch sat a man in his thirties.
The man had a black blazer on with a white T-shirt. He was handsome and had a gentle temperament.
He smiled when Lu Huaiyu came back.
“It seems like Master Lu’s worries are unnecessary.”
Lu Huaiyu seemed stable.
If the man had not looked through Lu Huaiyu’s records, he would strongly believe there was nothing wrong with Lu Huaiyu.
Lu Huaiyu sat opposite the man and crossed his legs.
“If you say so, that’s great, Dr. Gu.”
The man was none other than Dr. Gu Tinglan, the doctor that Old Master Lu had hired from the states to check on Lu Huaiyu.
Gu Tinglan was not even 30 years old this year and he was already a world-renowned therapist.
Lu Huaiyu did not want to meet him at first but he got sandwiched by Old Master Lu and Cheng Xiyue. Eventually, he was forced to the meeting.
Though after the first meeting, he had a rather decent first impression of Gu Tinglan.
The man was capable and most importantly, he knew his place.
Lu Huaiyu had seen a few therapists before him but they all had the same problem — they tend to pry on their patient’s deepest secrets and perform all kinds of analysis and study.
2
Be it an occupational habit or pure curiosity, Lu Huaiyu felt offended and invaded. He disliked all the meetings.
On the other hand, Gu Tinglan was a gentleman with great manners. His presence was able to grace anyone by his side with comfort.
He was a capable man.
Gu Tinglan poured himself a cup of tea.
“I’ve never heard about it before but which lucky junior won your favor and care? I would like to meet the junior if I have the chance.”
He had vaguely overheard Lu Huaiyu’s call.
The lucky junior should still be in school. Besides, Lu Huaiyu spoke in a rare gentle and patient voice.
Gu Tinglan had already heard of Lu Huaiyu’s reputation before he came back to the country.
He was a proud man even in the capital. It had always been others trying to win his favor or service him and not the other way around, let alone seeing him this kind and gentle to someone.
If Gu Tinglan was correct, the person on the other end of the call must be the key to Lu Huaiyu’s improvement in his condition lately.
Lu Huaiyu knew Gu Tinglan was trying to find out more about his condition by asking but he somehow felt invaded.
“She’s busy studying.”
Lu Huaiyu rejected Gu Tinglan’s request politely.
A hint of surprise appeared in Gu Tinglan’s eyes but it quickly faded.
It felt like… Lu Huaiyu was hiding a treasure and did not want others to peek at it.
Since Lu Huaiyu did not want to talk about it, Gu Tinglan did not linger on the topic.
“Well then, let’s leave that aside.”
Although Gu Tinglan had grown up in the states, he knew about the education system in the country.
“I heard the students in this country usually face a tremendous amount of academic pressure. If so, maintaining a healthy mentality is the most important thing to them.”
Lu Huaiyu agreed with his statement.
He nodded and asked, “Dr. Gu, I heard you are going to stay in the country for a while this time. Am I right?”
Gu Tinglan nodded. “Yeah, I have matters to deal with.”
“If so, I better not hold up your time, Dr. Gu.”
Gu Tinglan smiled.
“I came back this time to visit Lincheng because it’s quite near to Yunzhou, so it’s not much of a delay.”
Lu Huaiyu was slightly stunned. He looked at Gu Tinglan.
“Lincheng?”
…
Night at the Ye Family.
Dinner was a feast tonight, and the dishes on the table were all Ye Ci’s favorite.
However, dinner felt colder and tenser than usual.
Su Yuan had originally thought that they could celebrate Ye Ci winning the Huatsing Cup, so she had asked Aunt Zhao to prepare a feast beforehand.
Who would have thought…
4
Getting only second place might seem as good to others but to Ye Ci, who grew up under her mother’s protection, it was quite an impact.
2
Besides, the outsiders had assumed that Ye Ci would get the first place too, so the praises and flatteries were endless before the competition.
Now, she had to explain to people that Ye Ci got second place, not first place. It was embarrassing.
Dinner felt like torture.
In the end, Ye Ming was the one who broke the ice.
“Second place is good enough. As for the guaranteed enrollment to Xijing University…”
Su Yuan swiftly added, “Actually, with your grades, you can still make it through the exam, can’t you? You’d just have to work harder this year.”
Ye Ci’s hand that was holding the chopsticks froze for a moment. When she looked at her mother, the unusual look on her face was gone.
“It’s not that tough.”
Su Yuan sighed. When she thought of the rejection she got from the exhibition organizers, it suffocated her.
She could never let Ye Ci know what the organizers said about her.
Ye Ming nodded happily after hearing Ye Ci’s assurance.
“Master Cheng’s birthday dinner is tomorrow. Are you guys prepared?”
As if Ye Ci had thought of something, she looked at Ning Li.
“Oh right, Sister Ning Li. We’re going to the Chengs’ place tomorrow in formal dresses, I thought you might need one. Since you are still new around here, I don’t think you’ll have a dress for the occasion. Why don’t you take one of mine instead?”
3