Chapter 14

After saying that, Song Ruofeng hurried out of the classroom with an armful of notebooks before Li Rongxiu could react, making it abundantly clear that he did not want to touch Li Rongxiu's scars.

During the following classes, Li Rongxiu keenly noticed that he had fallen into the depths of being watched. Whether it was the teachers coming in to teach or the students around him, everyone was observing Li Rongxiu with deliberately drifting, barely perceptible gazes. When enough of those gazes gathered, they became like fireflies glowing in the pitch-black night. Even if Li Rongxiu wanted to ignore them, he could not.

Still, Li Rongxiu was used to it. Those covert peeks laced with sympathy and gossip were far gentler than the naked mockery and ridicule he had received in his previous life. So after taking a little time to adjust, thick-skinned Li Rongxiu simply ignored those hesitant, half-hidden looks.

As noon approached, Li Rongxiu's phone began ringing nonstop. They were all calls of concern from relatives and friends of his own generation—what had happened at yesterday's engagement ceremony had been too extraordinary. Everyone had considered the Li family's reputation and did not want to make it seem as though the Li family was outnumbering others and bullying them with power, so they had not stayed.

But that did not mean they were indifferent to the matter. In fact, Grandpa Li, Father Li, and Eldest Brother Li had remained in the study until the middle of the night, holding video conferences with in-laws and friends to discuss how to "punish" the Shen family and the Chi family.

Youngsters like Li Rongxiu were not qualified to participate in the family's business decisions, so they could only patiently wait until the next day and express their concern for Li Rongxiu in the form of condolence calls—as well as satisfy their own curiosity.

When Li Rongxiu hung up the last call and was about to turn off his phone to go eat, his lackey Zhao Qijun sneaked over again. He took out a sheet torn from a notebook and handed it to Li Rongxiu.

Li Rongxiu accepted it suspiciously. Seeing several stock names listed on the paper, followed by a few figures, he could not help asking curiously, "What is this?"

"The changes in the stock market as of eleven this morning." As Zhao Qijun spoke, he gave Li Rongxiu a detailed report. Because of the scandal exposed at yesterday's engagement banquet, as well as the Yao family's and Li family's respective decisions to break off the engagements, the Shen family's Victory Real Estate and the Chi family's Everlasting Enterprise Group had both suffered steep drops as soon as the stock market opened that morning. At the same time, unidentified funds had entered the market to buy up the two companies' scattered shares.

At nine thirty in the morning, Li Xizhao, the current head of the Li family, held a press conference regarding changes in the shareholders of the T Country Infrastructure Project. Once the news spread, the Shen family's stock fell again until trading was suspended.

Meanwhile, the Li Meihua Group's stock rose because its Meihua Infrastructure Company had acquired the shares formerly belonging to Victory Real Estate, becoming the largest investor in the T Country Infrastructure Project in one leap.

Even without Zhao Qijun's explanation, Li Rongxiu could have figured out the connections. But in order to show how thoroughly he had done his homework, Zhao Qijun was always willing to show off in front of Li Rongxiu.

Finally, Zhao Qijun added, "I also received word that the Yao family has moved to target the Chi family's and Shen family's stocks. But since the Yao family is acting independently, it's hard to know exactly how far they've gotten."

"As expected." Li Rongxiu casually tossed the scrap paper back to Zhao Qijun. "If Yao Qilin could raise Yao Pingting into that kind of person, do you really think he's mild-tempered? The Yao family built its fortune on gambling. Their background is different from that of legitimate businessmen like us. The Chi family dared to pull little tricks in front of Yao Qilin—they're simply courting death... I heard Chi Junrui not only fooled around with women behind Yao Pingting's back, but also got involved in the Yao family's internal power struggle. I really don't know where he got the nerve to stroke the tiger's whiskers."

Seeing that Li Rongxiu was in a fairly good mood, Zhao Qijun chimed in, "He was probably blinded by beauty. He thought he was invincible and treated everyone else like fools."

After thinking for a moment, he continued reporting, "When Chi Junhao returned to class this morning, he didn't notice that someone had smeared industrial-strength glue on his chair. He had no choice but to go to the logistics office with the chair stuck to his butt to buy a new uniform—because no one would help pull him free. When he returned to the classroom, he found that all his textbooks had been scribbled over, and someone had stuffed milk-soaked tissues into his desk. Then, when he went to the restroom, someone locked him in from outside and dumped a basin of cold water over his head, giving Chi Junhao a bath in the process. In the end, the classroom inspectors discovered poor Chi Junhao and rescued him from the restroom... The students' pranks are getting more and more creative."

Looking at Zhao Qijun's increasingly smug expression, Li Rongxiu asked gloomily, "You didn't do it, did you?"

Hearing that, Zhao Qijun hurriedly protested, "I was busy gathering information on the stock market all morning. How could I have had time to do something so boring? The students probably couldn't stand what the Chi family did either, so they wanted to teach him a lesson."

Li Rongxiu curled his lips, a hint of amusement flashing through his eyes. He lowered his head to check the time on his watch, then instructed, "It's almost noon. Go get Shen Yujun. We'll go out for lunch."

Zhao Qijun froze for a moment before understanding. He nodded and answered, "Okay."

But before he could go get anyone, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. Zhao Qijun had thought it was one of his underlings reporting something, but when he saw the caller ID, he paused and looked up at Li Rongxiu. "It's a call from Senior Alan. He's probably looking for you, Young Master Xiu."

Li Rongxiu took the phone and answered it. Alan Yakesa's Mandarin, colored by a London accent, came through the line. "...So, my darling Xiu Xiu, did you like my gift?"

"What?" Li Rongxiu asked instinctively, then immediately understood. "You arranged today's prank on Chi Junhao?"

Alan burst into laughter and declared in a wildly arrogant tone, "No one can offend us and get away unscathed. That goes for outside school and inside it as well. These are only appetizers."

"Oh? Do you have an even bigger feast waiting for Chi Junhao?" As Li Rongxiu spoke, he waved Zhao Qijun away to find Shen Yujun, lest Shen Yujun fail to learn of his plans and go eat at the cafeteria alone. Zhao Qijun nodded and ran off again with heavy footsteps.

On the other end of the call, Alan said mysteriously, "...Do you know about the school anniversary half a year from now? This year marks the hundredth anniversary of Diwan High School's founding, and the school places great importance on this Centennial School Anniversary. Besides the usual invitations to school shareholders, students' parents, and alumni who still hold important positions in society, I heard they will also invite members of internationally renowned financial conglomerates and royal families as guests of honor... From what I found out, the Chi family is determined to secure it. Chi Junhao has been secretly preparing for more than half a year to earn the title of Top Student at the anniversary celebration. Tell me, if Chi Junhao discovers that the goal he was so certain of turns out to be nothing but water carried in a bamboo basket, won't his expression be quite a sight?"

Chapter 14

Hearing Alan's suggestion, Li Rongxiu raised his brows with interest. After considering it, he said, "I've reserved a table at Glorious Residence for lunch. Want to join us?"

"Bring Zhou Ruixin, Wu Zhiheng, and the others too... Three cobblers can match Zhuge Liang!"

To avoid being miserably watched again, Li Rongxiu decided to wait until his classmates had gone to lunch before leaving the classroom. During that time, Zhao Qijun returned with his head hanging low, but he had not brought Shen Yujun back. According to students in Shen Yujun's class, Shen Yujun had asked the teacher for leave during the third period and left for parts unknown.

Li Rongxiu nodded and told Zhao Qijun to get the car from the parking lot, then pick him up at the main gate. Thinking about how Li Rongxiu had arrived that morning, Zhao Qijun hesitated. "Will it be safe for just the two of us to leave school?"

After seeing the morning's stock market situation, Zhao Qijun was afraid that the Shen family and Chi family, whose stocks had plunged disastrously, would become desperate and lash out. And that was probably one reason the Li family had acted as they did. Otherwise, why would Young Master Xiu, who had always been so flamboyant, give up his flashy sports car?

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy Zhao Qijun became. For the first time, he questioned Li Rongxiu's decision and cautiously suggested, "Actually, Glorious Residence's food is only so-so. Master Zhang, their head chef, was promoted to management long ago and rarely cooks personally now. His apprentice's cooking is about on par with the special dishes at our school cafeteria... If you really want food from Glorious Residence, why don't I call and have their kitchen send someone over to cook for you?"

Li Rongxiu waved his hand with an amused smile and explained to the worried Zhao Qijun, "Relax. Since my brother told Li Ten to protect me, Li Ten must be hiding nearby until he sees my brother tonight. We just can't see him. Besides, I'm not going to Glorious Residence just to eat—I need to discuss something with Alan and the others."

Zhao Qijun instantly understood. Then he cheerfully went to get the car from the parking lot. When he drove it to the school gate, he indeed saw Li Ten, dressed in black, standing behind Li Rongxiu like a utility pole. Zhao Qijun relaxed inwardly and was just about to get out to open the door for Li Rongxiu when Li Rongxiu opened the door himself and sat in the back. Li Ten walked over to stand beside the driver's seat, signaling for Zhao Qijun to get out.

Zhao Qijun obediently surrendered the driver's seat and sat down in the front passenger seat. The car drove steadily all the way to Glorious Residence, where a valet came forward to attend to them. Perhaps because he had read too many newspaper reports, the valet could not help stealing curious glances at Li Rongxiu several times, making Li Rongxiu frown repeatedly.

Zhao Qijun secretly glared at the valet several times, thinking that he absolutely had to complain to Glorious Residence's manager later—this level of service was simply atrocious.

The group walked silently into the lobby. Sister Meng, the lobby manager who knew them well, immediately greeted them with a bright smile. As she led the group toward their private room, she exchanged pleasantries with the three of them. She was beautiful and socially adept, neglecting no one and offending no one. By the time they reached the room, she had flattered them all into high spirits. Even Zhao Qijun forgot about making a complaint.

After they entered the private room, Li Rongxiu, still caught up in his earlier thoughts, could not help asking Zhao Qijun, "That valet from before looked somewhat familiar. Do you remember him?"

Zhao Qijun was taken aback. After seriously thinking it over, he said, "I really don't have any impression of him. Do you want me to investigate him later?"

Li Rongxiu shook his head. "No need."

In these troubled times, it was better to invite less trouble.

Just as they were speaking, Alan asked from inside the private room in his London-accented Mandarin, "What are you investigating? Do you need my help?"

The whole group of animals around the dining table turned to look over with smiling eyes. Zhou Ruixin even wickedly raised his wineglass at Li Rongxiu and said in a teasing tone, "Yo, I heard Young Master Xiu dumped that beautiful fiancée he had just gotten and returned to the ranks of golden bachelors. To celebrate Young Master Xiu regaining his freedom, shouldn't we have a few extra drinks?"

Before Li Rongxiu could retort, Miss Xin could not take it anymore. She smacked Zhou Ruixin on the head he had just so carefully styled and sarcastically remarked, "Golden bachelor, my ass. How shameless. At most, you're a golden little bachelor. But treating us to drinks is acceptable."

Then she turned to Li Rongxiu with a beaming smile. "After knowing you for so many years, I've finally seen you make one correct decision. If you ask me, aside from being pretty, acting all sweet and coquettish, and being good at playing innocent, that Shen woman had nothing special about her. How did she manage to make all you men lose your minds over her? And now? Once that skin came off, she was still no good."

The men in the private room exchanged looks at Xin Mengmeng's indignant appearance. Taking advantage of Xin Mengmeng not paying attention, Wu Zhiheng winked at everyone. The group shared knowing smiles. Li Rongxiu casually found a seat and sat down, shaking his head with a bitter smile. "Exactly. For a muddleheaded white lotus like that, I nearly gave up the entire forest. Fortunately, I came to my senses and immediately turned from darkness to the light. Otherwise, who knows how badly she would have ruined me."