Uncle Han sighed. “You’d best not bring up Madam Lu, and especially not in front of the young master.”
Lin Yutang pressed her lips together, a little puzzled, but didn’t ask further. “Mm, alright, I won’t mention it. Don’t worry.”
Living under someone else’s roof, her parents had told her not to offend the Lu family, and she’d heard that this young master of the Lu family had a terrible temper and a wild, unruly nature.
Before coming, Lin Yutang had already decided—she absolutely must not provoke him.
She returned to her room and had just sat down on the sofa when her phone rang.
It was her mother calling.
She curved her brows and eyes, answering in a light, cheerful tone: “Mom! I’ve already arrived at the Lu residence and unpacked my luggage!”
Mother Lin deliberately softened her voice, but the exhaustion in it was still hard to hide: “That’s good, sweetie. Buy whatever you need for the new semester—don’t skimp on money, you hear?”
Lin Yutang gripped her phone tightly and gave a soft “mm.” “Mom, you and Dad and Brother should eat well too. Don’t work too hard. I’ll find ways to earn some extra money at school.”
Mother Lin grew anxious the moment she heard that.
“Leave the money matters to us—don’t you worry about it.”
“As long as you’re safe and sound and your studies go well, that’s what matters most.”
Lin Yutang’s nose tingled with emotion, the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat. She changed the subject: “Mom, I’m doing fine staying at the Lu residence. I haven’t met Uncle Lu yet since he’s on a business trip, but the butler Uncle Han and Uncle Lu’s son… they’re all pretty nice people.”
Mother Lin paused for a moment, then cautioned: “Uncle Lu’s son? Lu Chaosheng? He’s been admitted to Cambridge and should be flying back to school in a few days. While you’re at the Lu residence these days, avoid any conflict with him—be accommodating where you can.”
“Mm, I know.” Learning that Lu Chaosheng would be leaving soon, Lin Yutang felt relieved.
His teasing words from the dinner table earlier still lingered in her ears.
What a willful, reckless young master.
Mother Lin wanted to add a few more words of advice, but suddenly, violent pounding on a door erupted from the other end of the line, accompanied by crude, furious shouting—clear enough to hear even through the phone signal.
Mother Lin hastily covered the receiver, her voice instantly tightening, her breathing thrown into disarray: “Your father and brother are back. Let me go check on them. I’ll hang up now.”
Those distinct thuds of banging slammed against her eardrums, sharp and grating.
Lin Yutang clutched her phone, her fingertips ice-cold, her chest feeling as if something had seized it hard. Her throat felt coated in dust, and tears welled up without warning.
It must be those debt collectors again. She couldn’t just watch her parents get cornered in their own home by those people.
Lin Yutang picked up her phone, but after switching between three ride-hailing apps, she couldn’t get a single car.
This was the Jinghai villa district—every household had a driver. Lin Yutang could only turn to her best friend Ji Shuning for help, but unfortunately, Ji Shuning wasn’t in Jinghai City at the moment.
She went to look for Uncle Han, only to be told he’d gone out to handle some affairs, and the driver wasn’t home either.
With no other options, Lin Yutang’s gaze finally settled on one name.
Fu Xitan.
He’d pursued her for a full three years in high school, and she’d heard he lived in a nearby neighborhood.
But at the graduation ceremony a month ago, when he’d confessed again, she hadn’t even given him an answer before he tried to force a kiss on her.
In front of the entire school, Lin Yutang had slapped him right across the face.
She gritted her teeth, her fingertip hesitating over the screen for a few seconds. Thinking of her family in distress at this very moment, she sent a message to Fu Xitan asking for help.
[Can you do me a favor? Take me somewhere, please!]
Within a minute, he replied.
[Where are you?]
Lin Yutang sent him the address.
She grabbed her phone and ran to the entrance of the neighborhood. Before long, Fu Xitan drove up.
He was wearing a light-colored shirt—the pale blue made him look especially gentle. The collar was deliberately left with two buttons undone, revealing a hint of collarbone. His hair was styled soft and neat, with a few strands of fringe falling across his forehead, giving him a docile appearance.
A mild smile curved at the corners of Fu Xitan’s lips, but behind his glasses, a glint of ill intent flickered through his dark eyes.
“Yutang, I know you’re in a hurry. But don’t forget—at the graduation ceremony, with all those classmates watching, you raised your hand and slapped me across the face. You trampled my pride and my dignity right under your feet.”
There it was—he’d brought up the graduation ceremony after all.
Lin Yutang’s heart clenched tight.
A smug, self-assured smile curled at the corner of Fu Xitan’s mouth, his tone carrying the condescension of one granting a favor. “You obediently soften up for me, give me a kiss, and I’ll let bygones be bygones and take you there. How about it?”
He suddenly stepped forward, trapping Lin Yutang between the car body and himself.
Lin Yutang frowned, her back pressing against the cold, smooth surface of the car, with nowhere to dodge.
A low, deliberately pitched voice came from above her head, carrying a teasing pressure: “Beg me. Call me ‘Daddy, I was wrong,’ give me a kiss, and I’ll drive you over.”
Not far away.
Inside a pure black Pagani sports car, the man’s fingertips clenched the steering wheel hard, his fingers straining white, knuckles protruding—nearly pressing indents into the fine leather.
His jawline was drawn into a cold, hard line. The car window had been lowered just a crack, and while the conversation outside was too muffled to make out, the movements of the two figures were more than enough to be glaring.
The ember at the tip of the cigarette in his other hand flickered in the dark. He exhaled a thin wisp of smoke through his lips, the haze momentarily blurring the side of his face—yet it could not conceal the surging violence and fury churning in Lu Chaosheng’s eyes. Those pitch-black phoenix eyes were sunk deep, as if tempered in ice.
With a dull thud, he kicked the door shut with one foot, cigarette pinched between his fingers, and strode toward the man and woman ahead.
Fu Xitan, impeccably dressed, smiled like a sanctimonious bastard. “Yutang, don’t you want to move past this? My patience has its limits. Why don’t you call me daddy and say I was wro—”
The final syllable never left his lips. A pained howl tore from his throat instead.
“Ah—”
The glowing red cigarette butt was ground hard into Fu Xitan’s neck. The smell of scorched flesh wafted faintly through the air.
His entire body stiffened in agony, his face instantly turning ashen. He instinctively stumbled back a step, allowing Lin Yutang to slip free from his grasp.
Fu Xitan was furious, his eyes bloodshot as he glared. “Who the hell are you? Are you insane?”
Lu Chaosheng’s face betrayed nothing, only his eyes sinking darker, radiating unvarnished ruthlessness.
He took another drag of the cigarette, the flame burning brighter.
“You want to know who I am? You think you’re worthy?”
Fu Xitan threw a punch, which Lu Chaosheng dodged with ease. In the same motion, he seized both of Fu Xitan’s arms and pinned them behind his back, rendering him immobile.
The cigarette butt pressed against Fu Xitan’s neck once more, grinding down hard for half an inch before Lu Chaosheng released him at a leisurely pace, letting the scorched, deformed stub drop to the ground.
“Get lost. As far as you can.”
Fu Xitan howled in pain, the perpetually gentle smile on his face long gone. All he could do was watch helplessly as the man grabbed Lin Yutang by the wrist and led her toward the pure black Pagani parked nearby.
The license plate: Jing L88888.
Fu Xitan sucked in a sharp breath.
Everyone in all of Jinghai City knew that plate. The young master of the Lu family had passed up the Jing A88888 plate and insisted on Jing L instead.
Fu Xitan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, a dark, venomous glint flickering in his deep-set pupils.
He hadn’t known that Lin Yutang was acquainted with the young master of the Lu family.
Lin Yutang was dragged by the wrist all the way into the car.
She shook off his large hand. “What are you doing?”
Lu Chaosheng stared at her with a faint, ambiguous smile. “When he was making you submit just now, why didn’t you shake him off?”
“How do you know I didn’t…” Lin Yutang shot him a glare. “I already slapped him once last time. If you’d come one second later, my palm would’ve landed right on his face!”
Throughout all three years of high school, Fu Xitan had played the perfect gentleman, pursuing her without ever going too far. But at graduation, he’d finally slipped and revealed his true hypocritical colors—and now he wasn’t even bothering to keep up the act.
Lu Chaosheng lounged lazily against the seat back, a thin smile curling at the corner of his lips.
Actually, he’d seen her hand rise just a little.
That was why he’d come to handle it for Lin Yutang.
How could he let her hands get dirty?
Her palm could land on his own face, and he’d even praise it as sweet—but it could never touch the face of trash like that.
Lin Yutang was still worried about what was happening at home. Fu Xitan had delayed her for so long, and she had no idea how things were now.
She sent a message to her parents. To her surprise, both of them replied quickly, saying they were cooking and even sent photos.
It seemed things weren’t as bad as she’d feared—the people banging on the door must have left.
But she still couldn’t relax. She wanted to go see for herself.
Her gaze drifted to Lu Chaosheng beside her. She steeled herself and spoke up, “Chaosheng-ge, could you take me to Qinhai Town?”
“Qinhai?” Lu Chaosheng let out a light scoff. “Where your parents live now?”
“Yes. They might be in trouble—debt collectors came banging on the door earlier. I want to go check on them.” Lin Yutang hung her head, looking a bit pitiful.
“I can take you. But I have one condition.”