Although he wore a polite and businesslike expression, Lu Shiyin still faintly felt that the person in front of him was not entirely serious.
Even so, he did not say much more and simply offered a polite hello in reply.
Big Brother was probably worried that he might actually need to contact the doctor for something in the future, so he urged the two of them to add each other on messaging apps.
Once that was done, seeing that Doctor Ji had nothing further to attend to here, he excused himself and left.
Over the next few days, Lu Shiyin focused on familiarizing himself with his living quarters. He asked Lin Fu for the class schedule and used it to review the coursework he would need to catch up on once he returned to school.
After all, final exams were only a month or two away, and he had no desire to fail any classes. Taking makeup exams was quite a painful ordeal.
Fortunately, Assistant Mo assured him that his regular attendance grades would not be docked for taking such a long absence, which came as reassuring news.
During this period, Lu Shiyin did not receive any messages from his academic counselor either. However, Assistant Mo explained that Big Brother had instructed the counselor not to disturb him during his leave and to simply report back to him once he returned to campus.
With his return to school fast approaching, Lu Shiyin messaged his counselor to confirm he would be heading back on Sunday.
Before heading back to campus, however, he received an unexpected piece of news.
“Big Brother, you said Chen Nian wants to invite us to dinner? Is he Chen Qingling’s father?”
Lu Shiyin took a calm sip of his coffee and said smoothly, “His son made a mistake. If he does not do something soon, I am afraid his good days are coming to an end.”
“When you were still in the hospital, he contacted my secretary several times. I turned them all down because I did not want him disturbing your rest.”
“He must be extremely anxious right now. Understandable, really, having a fat piece of meat snatched right out of his mouth, how could he not be anxious.”
Lu Shiyin let out a dry chuckle, set down his coffee, and whispered to Lu Shiyin, “Xiaoyin, do you want to go accept their apology? If you do not wish to look at their faces anymore, I can help you decline.”
Deep down, Lu Shiyin wanted to go. He wanted to find out who exactly had persecuted the original owner. “Big Brother, I will go.”
By the time Lu Shiyin and Lu Shiyin arrived fashionably late that evening, Chen Nian and Chen Qingling had already been waiting at their seats long enough to grow restless.
Seeing the two Lu brothers arrive, Chen Nian could no longer sit still and rushed forward with a beaming, ingratiating smile.
“President Lu, you are here! Come, come, come, take your seats right this way.”
The moment he walked in, Lu Shiyin had already noticed the person sitting beside the table.
He had decent facial features, a wolf-cut hairstyle, and wore a white T-shirt. When quiet, he might even have passed for a handsome young man.
At the moment, however, the corners of his mouth bore bruises, and he glared coldly and gloomily at Lu Shiyin, making no effort to conceal the malice in his heart.
Lu Shiyin clearly noticed it as well, a flicker of coldness crossing his gaze.
He smiled, though his tone carried unmistakable displeasure. “President Chen, your son does not seem very willing to let us take our seats. It looks like we will skip this meal after all. Let us go, Xiaoyin.”
“A-Ah, President Lu! Please do not leave! You good-for-nothing scoundrel, hurry over and apologize to Young Master Lu!”
Chen Nian grabbed and dragged Chen Qingling over to stand in front of Lu Shiyin.
“I am sorry, Young Master Lu.”
Chen Qingling apologized with his head lowered, but where others could not see, his fists were clenched tightly.
Lu Shiyin did not react and simply stared at them calmly.
“Young Master Lu, President Lu, I brought this unfilial son here to admit his wrongs. He is indeed guilty, but he was also deceived by others. I have already disciplined him.”
Chen Nian wiped away non-existent sweat from his forehead.
“Also, our company currently has several very promising projects. I would like to offer them to Young Master Lu as a token of apology. I only ask if President Lu might raise your hand in mercy and leave a path of survival for our small enterprise.”
“There is no need, President Chen.” Before Chen Nian could finish, Lu Shiyin interrupted him.
“Since your son committed a crime, it is better to leave him to the judgment of the law. I do not have extra time to watch your performance.”
With that, he pulled Lu Shiyin back toward the way they came.
No matter how much Chen Nian pleaded, he could not get the two Lu brothers to stop. Frantic and flustered, he paced back and forth in place, muttering that he was finished.
Then, glancing at the silent Chen Qingling, anger surged within him. He lashed out with a kick, cursing him as a bastard.
Caught off guard, Chen Qingling was kicked to the ground. He raised his head, looked at his father with disappointment in his eyes, and roared, “Dad, no matter how big a mistake I made growing up, at worst you would only scold me. But just these past few days, this is the second time you have hit me.”
“Shut your damn mouth!” Chen Nian grabbed a plate from the table and hurled it to the floor. The shattering porcelain shards flew toward Chen Qingling, startling him into a shiver.
“You have the nerve to feel wronged? Liking a man already caused your old man to lose face, and on top of that, you went and spread rumors about the Lu family! That is the richest family in the country! Do you have any brains before you do things?”
“The company is about to go under, and I lowered myself to beg President Lu, yet you still ruined my good intentions by putting on a gloomy face here!”
“You are just being discriminatory! What is wrong with liking someone? I was tricked by others, otherwise who would have too much time on their hands to go spread rumors?”
Chen Nian was so enraged by those words that his blood pressure threatened to spike.
“You! You! You unfilial brat, are you trying to drive me to an early grave? You think you are the protagonist starring in some idol drama? Go back and reflect on yourself! The moment you get money, you start causing trouble. I am freezing your cards, and until President Lu’s anger subsides, do not expect a single penny from me.”
Chen Qingling acted as though he had just heard a colossal joke and sneered, “Starting trouble the moment you get money? Sounds like you are talking about yourself.”
“My mother stayed by your side when you had nothing, yet once you got rich, didn’t you still go find a mistress and even father an illegitimate daughter? What kind of good thin—”
Before he could finish, Chen Qingling was slapped across the face.
Chen Nian breathed heavily, his finger trembling as he pointed at Chen Qingling.
“You bastard, bastard! No matter what, I am still your old man. Who gave you the gall to speak to me like this? You must be tired of living as a young master.”
Having lived in luxury and pampered all his life, Chen Qingling had never suffered such humiliation. Right then and there, he started fighting back against Chen Nian.
Lu Shiyin had no idea that another farce was playing out after he left. At that moment, he was being led by Lu Shiyin to another restaurant for dinner.
After bringing his younger brother away, Lu Shiyin did not bring up the unpleasant incident again. Since he rarely got the chance to take Xiaoyin out, he did not want to head back so soon.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, the manager personally led the two of them to a private dining room.
Even though Lu Shiyin had decided to come on short notice without a reservation, as a VIP guest, his private room was always kept on standby for him.
Once they were seated, he immediately invited Lu Shiyin to order.
“Xiaoyin, see what you would like to eat. However, nothing iced, nothing spicy, nothing greasy, and nothing heavily seasoned. Show it to me after you finish ordering.”
“If there is nothing you want to eat here, we can go somewhere else.”
The manager standing nearby was sweating profusely. If he let a distinguished guest leave empty-handed, he would inevitably face reprimand, yet he did not dare speak up prematurely for fear of disturbing them.
Hearing this, Lu Shiyin could not help complaining, “Big Brother, if I cannot eat anything, we might as well go home and eat the food Aunt Zhang makes.”
“Xiaoyin, be sensible about your own body. Your stomach is still very fragile right now, so you need to watch your diet.”
“If all else fails, let us just go back and have Aunt Zhang cook.”
Lu Shiyin waved his hands repeatedly. Although Aunt Zhang’s cooking was excellent, eating bland food for so long meant he was on the verge of getting sick of it.
Now that he finally had a rare chance to go out and eat something special, how could he possibly just go back like that?
“Aunt Zhang is off tonight, so let us not bother her. This place is quite nice, and there are plenty of things here that I can eat.”
Just as he was picking out dishes, Lu Shiyin’s phone rang.
Lu Shiyin picked it up and saw it was his second brother calling.
He tapped to answer. “Hello, Second Brother, what is wrong?”
“Xiaoyin, why is it that the moment I get back, I cannot find you anywhere? Where did you go? Jiujiu and Guoguo are going crazy calling out because they do not see you!”