“Why are you here?” Lin Yutang looked at the man before her, puzzled.
“If I hadn’t come, you’d have been bullied by now.”
Lu Chaosheng let out a light chuckle, his long, slender index finger pressing against her forehead as he slowly guided her out of his embrace to stand properly.
Yet his fingertip lingered on her forehead, as if reluctant to part, a hint of unwillingness in the touch. But the scum who had been bullying Lin Yutang were still around—this wasn’t the time for flirtation.
Lin Yutang stood still.
Seeing Lu Chaosheng arrive, the weight on her heart instantly lifted, and she felt much more at ease.
Ji Shuning caught the interaction between the two, a flicker of surprise passing through her eyes before a look of someone ready to enjoy the show settled on her face. She quietly stepped aside.
She even pulled along Jian Ying and Ni Qianqian, who were still completely bewildered.
Jian Ying scratched her head, utterly shaken. “Oh my god, oh my grandma, oh my jacket, oh my coat, oh my dad, oh my grandpa, oh my socks, oh my shoes! Can someone tell me how Tangtang knows Young Master Lu?!”
Ni Qianqian quietly added, “And they’re this familiar?!”
Ji Shuning just smiled without saying a word.
The green-haired man over there had originally thought Lin Yutang was about to run, worried that today would end up with nothing to show for it. But unexpectedly, Lin Yutang suddenly stopped running.
Just what he wanted.
He waved his hand behind him, signaling his brothers to move in together.
Lu Chaosheng casually draped one arm over Lin Yutang’s shoulder, his gaze sweeping coldly over the crowd of troublemakers before him, a chilly smirk curling at the corner of his lips. “That bastard Liu Yiqiang set a trap on purpose. Not only does he refuse to honor the contract, but he also sends you lot to threaten and intimidate people into submission?”
The green-haired man saw that he had come alone and wasn’t afraid in the slightest. He sneered, “You little brat! Talking trash about our boss! Brothers, get him! The boss said whoever catches Lin Yutang gets a big reward!”
Ni Qianqian was both worried and anxious. “I’ve called the police and the campus security—why aren’t they here yet?! There are over a dozen burly men on the other side. Can Lu Chaosheng handle them alone?”
“Don’t worry. Wherever Young Master Lu is, his few friends will show up within two minutes.” Ji Shuning patted her hand. “Besides, this young master of Jinghai has been formidable in a fight since he was a kid…”
Ji Shuning gave a thumbs-up gesture.
The moment she finished speaking, Zhou Shiying and the others arrived.
The scene had already descended into chaos.
To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, many students had retreated to the sidelines, but now that Lu Chaosheng and his crew had arrived, everyone felt much bolder and began voicing their condemnation of the debt collection crew for being unreasonable—coming to the school to threaten people, even trying to grab someone!
A few who disapproved muttered under their breath.
“That girl Lin Yutang’s family owes money! Paying debts is only natural. The debt collectors can’t find her parents, so they have to come to the school to find her! Just take her away already—being in the same school as someone whose family won’t pay their debts is embarrassing enough!”
“Exactly. Why should that creditor, Boss Liu, not get his money back? The girl’s clothes and shoes all look clean and decent, so she probably has the money but just won’t pay. Maybe her whole family are deadbeats!”
But the people around them shot them dirty looks.
“Dude, don’t start making up rumors and going off the rails just because you see a girl, okay? If someone owes money and won’t pay, go through legal channels—not send a bunch of street thugs onto campus to endanger the safety of a girl and all the other students, got it?”
“Besides, that Boss Liu—just a few days ago I saw gossip that he used his family’s money to try and coerce a rookie celebrity into sleeping with him. Disgusting…”
The green-haired man noticed a few more people had arrived on the other side, but he wasn’t scared. Even if the security guards showed up, they’d still fight.
“Lin Yutang, are you and your parents going to pay the money back or not? If not, you can forget about continuing your studies!”
“Get this straight,” Lin Yutang replied coldly, her brows and eyes icy as she spoke each word clearly. “Boss Liu signed an agreement with my parents. The money is due next May. It’s all there in black and white, and both parties signed it. Your Boss Liu is the one who went back on his word and refused to honor the agreement.”
“It’s fine, I know what’s going on. Go wait behind me.” Lu Chaosheng gently grasped her wrist.
The touch was delicate and soft, as if a slightly firmer grip would leave an alluring shade of red there.
Lin Yutang looked up at him.
Meeting his dark, calm eyes, she pressed her lips together slightly.
Because of her fury, and the tension and fear from before he arrived, the nerves that had been wound so tightly finally relaxed in this moment.
As if sensing the shift in her, Lu Chaosheng curved his lips into a smile. “I’m here. Don’t be afraid. Go on over and wait with your roommates.”
Lin Yutang nodded.
She took a few steps forward, then turned back to look at him.
Lu Chaosheng waved his hand at her.
Tsk. Little sister keeps looking back at him with every step.
Kinda satisfying, not gonna lie.
Zhou Shiying kicked him. “Lu Chaosheng, we came here to help you handle this—not to watch you and your little sister have your sweet little moment!”
The green-haired man stared at them in disbelief.
“I came here to cause trouble! Not to watch a soap opera either!”
“Since you guys insist on picking a fight, we won’t hold back either! Beat them up!”
At the green-haired man’s command, his brothers with hair of every color under the sun surged forward all at once.
It was a fighting style driven purely by brute force, with brains that had long since checked out.
Against Lu Chaosheng, Zhou Shiying, and the others—people who had been trained at home for over a decade since childhood—each thug was taken down in seconds.
By the time the security guards and police arrived, all they saw was a group of dyed little chicks sprawled haphazardly on the ground outside the cafeteria, wailing for mercy and crying out “Grandpa, spare me!”
The green-haired man’s hand was pinned under Lu Chaosheng’s foot, his knuckles ground into the floor by the sole of his shoe. A sharp, piercing pain shot from his fingers through his entire body.
He convulsed in agony, his face instantly turning deathly pale, a pained grunt squeezed from his throat. Even the strength to struggle was completely locked down by that crushing pressure.
“It hurts, it hurts… ow, ow, ow, it hurts so bad! Grandpa, spare me, Grandpa!”
Security guards: “…” They should’ve just kept eating their lunch. This batch of students was still way too tough.
The police asked Lin Yutang a few questions and took the troublemakers away.
The security guards also shooed off the students who had gathered to watch.
Lu Chaosheng walked over and stopped in front of Lin Yutang, all the fierce, murderous aura around him completely reined in.
The cold ruthlessness and brutality he’d shown when dealing with the green-haired man had vanished without a trace. His brows softened, his voice low and gentle: “You weren’t scared, were you?”
Lin Yutang shook her head and looked up at him. “No. I saw that man throw a punch at you—are you hurt?”
“He didn’t land it. I dodged.” Lu Chaosheng raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of lazy teasing rippling in his eyes, his tone casual yet carrying a flirtatious edge. “Sis, so worried about me?”
Lin Yutang: “…”
Completely unserious, as always.
She’d just been about to properly thank him, and with one sentence he’d dredged up all the man’s earlier misdeeds again.
“Here, hot milk. Hold onto it.” Lu Chaosheng took the hot milk from Zhou Shiying, who had jogged back over, and placed it in Lin Yutang’s palm.
He continued to explain: “You were probably a little shaken up just now, right? Go back to the dorm and drink some milk—it’ll help calm your nerves and settle your mind.”
Lin Yutang curved her lips into a smile.
“Thank you, brother!”
She suddenly felt that, aside from when he went crazy and kissed her out of nowhere, Lu Chaosheng was actually a pretty decent person.
Zhou Shiying then distributed the remaining bottles of milk to Ji Shuning and the others—everyone got one.
“Thank you, thank you!” Ni Qianqian took the milk with a bit of surprise, not expecting them to get any too.
Zhou Shiying let out a humph and jutted his chin toward Lu Chaosheng: “Don’t thank me, thank him. He told me to buy a few bottles of hot milk for his dear sister’s roommates as well.”