Chapter 30

This time, Li Rongxiu did not hesitate at all and directly pressed the answer button. A stranger's voice, faintly familiar, instantly came through the phone, speaking with a smile. "Why did you take so long to answer? Are you satisfied with the gift I sent you?"

Li Rongxiu hesitated for a moment, doing his best to recall the owner of that voice, but his reply did not pause in the slightest. "You mean that Siberian Husky? I'm extremely satisfied. But... how did you know I liked that kind of dog?"

"Haven't you heard the saying, 'Knowledge can be found everywhere if you pay attention'? Besides, with my capabilities, finding out such a detail, which can hardly be called a secret, isn't difficult." The person on the other end casually explained, then paused. Seemingly a little embarrassed, he added, "Consider it repayment for the favor you did me last time by buying my school uniform."

The moment he said that, Li Rongxiu immediately remembered who the voice belonged to. However, he did not act as though he had suddenly realized it. Instead, he naturally said, "I was wondering about that. How come I haven't seen you at all since that day? It's like you vanished off the face of the earth. What have you been busy with lately?"

"Thanks to the Li family, I made a small fortune. So I'm returning the favor with a gift." As Shen Yujun spoke, he seemed to picture Li Rongxiu's unconcerned expression through the phone. Sure enough, Li Rongxiu directly said the next second, "So is your gift repayment for my favor with the school uniform, or repayment for the Li family's favor? You're getting two uses out of one gift. You really know how to calculate."

Shen Yujun smiled. If those words had come from someone in the Shen family or anyone else, Shen Yujun would have wondered how many meanings lay behind them. But since Li Rongxiu had said them, Shen Yujun straightforwardly took them at face value. "Didn't I say it? The dog is to repay you for the school uniform. As for the Li family's favor... how about I give you a piece of information for free?"

Li Rongxiu curled his lips and lazily threw himself onto the soft bed. "What information?"

"The true identity of your new friend from today, Li Jiuying." Shen Yujun spoke with a smile, ignoring the disdainful glance his friend beside him shot his way.

Li Rongxiu rolled over on the bed. In truth, he was not particularly interested in Li Jiuying's identity. In his eyes, Li Jiuying was merely a chess piece, a tool for him to toy with Chi Junrui. As for who Li Jiuying really was... to speak arrogantly, no matter who he was, as long as he was in Wancheng, he could not pose any threat to him.

Still, Li Rongxiu "considerately" said, "Sure. Go ahead."

Hearing the indifferent tone in Li Rongxiu's voice, Shen Yujun smiled faintly again before saying, "Li Jiuying's original name is Li Zhi, courtesy name Jiuying. But he thought the character Ying sounded too feminine, so he disliked it and changed it to the character for victory without permission... You're familiar with the name Li Zhi, right?"

Li Rongxiu was silent for a moment before asking somewhat blankly, "So... who is Li Zhi?"

Shen Yujun fell silent awkwardly for a moment. His gaze involuntarily swept over the friend seated across from him before he simply said, "Li Zhi is His Majesty the Emperor's ninth son, the Empire's Ninth Prince with succession rights."

After saying that, Shen Yujun stopped and patiently waited for Li Rongxiu's reaction. Yet Li Rongxiu merely gave an unenthusiastic "Oh," as though he did not care much about it.

That reaction surprised Shen Yujun, yet deep down, he also felt that such a reaction was perfectly normal for Li Rongxiu. Shen Yujun's unusual silence caught the attention of the person seated on the sofa opposite him. That person raised his brows at Shen Yujun with a curious, questioning expression. Shen Yujun waved him away, signaling for him to move farther off. The man smiled slightly, rose with the crystal glass of whiskey in his hand, and left.

Only then did Shen Yujun soften his voice and ask, "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to bathe the dog. You know, Siberian Huskies are especially hilarious once you throw them into water. Especially when you dry their fur after the bath—it's even more fun." As Li Rongxiu spoke, he could not help recalling the times in his previous life when he had whimsically bathed a dog.

Listening to Li Rongxiu chatter excitedly on the other end, Shen Yujun somehow thought of the scene of Li Rongxiu drying his hair that day. He shook his head somewhat nervously, tossing the fantasy from his mind, and absentmindedly said, "Then hurry up and bathe it. It's late, so I won't keep you from resting."

Hearing that, Li Rongxiu did not bother with polite small talk and directly replied, "All right, you get some rest too. If there's anything, we'll talk at school tomorrow morning."

Shen Yujun listened to the busy signal coming from the phone and sat there motionless in thoughtful silence for quite a while.

Li Jiuying returned to Shen Yujun with his now-empty crystal glass in hand and raised a brow. "Does this count as valuing profit over loyalty, or choosing beauty over friends? You sold me out just like that?"

Shen Yujun came back to his senses and smiled at Li Jiuying. "Not at all. I'm doing this for your own good. You should know that our increasingly elderly Emperor has always disliked his sons getting too close to those wealthy families capable of influencing the Empire's situation. I was merely afraid that Your Highness the Ninth Prince had just arrived and might temporarily forget His Majesty's taboos."

Li Jiuying maintained the gentle and refined smile on his face like a mask. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, leisurely swirled it, and said meaningfully, "But as I recall, you, Shen Yujun, have never been someone who meddles in other people's affairs."

"Unless doing so brings him greater benefits." Shen Yujun smiled as he finished the thought. He casually poured himself a glass of whiskey, then raised it toward Li Jiuying in a toast.

With a crisp clink, the two shared smiles of mutual understanding.

Chapter 30

For office workers and students alike, Mondays were always busy.

Not long after arriving at school that morning, Zhao Qijun brought over a stack of documents to report to Li Rongxiu on the selected start date and subsequent work for the production crew of Above the Elite... In truth, aside from providing the investment, the rest of the work had little to do with Li Rongxiu and the others. The production crew only needed to coordinate with the school. Thus, Li Rongxiu listened with half an ear for a while before waving Zhao Qijun off. "All right, handle these matters as you see fit. Come find me again if there's anything you can't decide."

Zhao Qijun gave an "Mm," then stood before Li Rongxiu with the folder in his arms, deliberately putting on a conflicted expression.

Amused, Li Rongxiu reached out and flicked Zhao Qijun on the forehead. Smiling, he said, "Say what you want to say. Don't put on such a coy, affected act like a girl."

"It seems Student Li's understanding of girls goes no further than that. Not all girls are coy and timid. At least, I'm not." A female voice came from behind them, startling Li Rongxiu and Zhao Qijun. They thought they had misheard.

They hurriedly turned around and saw that there truly was a girl standing in the corridor of the Diwan High School Moral Education Boys' School building. She wore the uniform of Diwan High School Benevolence Girls' School, her long, smooth black hair falling over her shoulders and making her face look no bigger than a palm. Her forehead was full, her nose high, her eyes large and bright, and her pointed chin framed thin lips curved in a half-smile. She possessed a sharp, proud sort of beauty. Her fitted black blazer and plaid wool skirt displayed her ample chest, slender waist, and shapely hips, while her long, straight legs were sheathed in sheer black stockings above black strappy high heels. Simply standing quietly in the corridor of the Moral Education Boys' School building was enough to draw every passing boy's gaze. Li Rongxiu viciously complained in his heart, Uniform temptation. Then he smilingly said, "Isn't this Diwan High School's campus beauty, Senior Yu Meijia? Long time no see. You're still as beautiful as ever."

Yu Meijia smiled slightly and exchanged pleasantries. "It's been some time, Young Master Xiu, and you've truly made us see you in a new light. For this centennial celebration, our Song and Dance Troupe was only able to do better thanks to your film project. We've all been busy lately, so I never had the chance to thank you. It's not too late to say it now, is it?"

Li Rongxiu laughed and waved his hand. "Diwan High School's Song and Dance Troupe is famous throughout the country. I wouldn't dare accept your thanks, Senior. Besides, I didn't do anything. It was all the director's decision. If you truly want to thank someone, thank Director Zhang for recognizing talent. It has nothing to do with me."

Of course, he did not want it to have anything to do with him. Back when the auditions for the female lead had first begun, Li Rongxiu had received no shortage of harassing calls. They all came through various connections to ask favors of him. Fortunately, he had immediately sensed trouble and cleverly pushed every problem onto Zhang Mengqiu, refusing to take charge of anything. Otherwise, he would not have had any peace at all. Now that the matter had finally passed, Li Rongxiu did not want Yu Meijia's few words to land him in trouble again. Therefore, a few humble words to distance himself were absolutely necessary.

Yu Meijia was somewhat surprised by Li Rongxiu's response. As Diwan High School's campus beauty and the captain of the school Song and Dance Troupe, Yu Meijia had never lacked swarms of admirers around her. Many elite boys would become so dazzled by a few deliberate compliments from her that they lost all sense of direction. She had not expected Li Rongxiu, a mere spoiled young master, to possess such self-awareness.

Li Rongxiu could not guess Yu Meijia's thoughts, and naturally, he could not be bothered to. Hearing the warning bell before first period ring, Li Rongxiu quietly gave Zhao Qijun a look. Seeing it, Zhao Qijun could only steel himself and ask Yu Meijia, "Classes are about to start. Why did you come to the boys' building, Senior?"

"I wouldn't come without a reason." Yu Meijia smiled slightly. She did not dwell on the earlier topic and instead said, "At seven tonight, the Student Council's executive members will hold their usual meeting to discuss preparations for the centennial celebration. After careful consideration, several of us Student Council officers have decided to invite Student Li and the other investors in Above the Elite to attend as well."

Li Rongxiu raised his brows and bluntly asked, "Why?"

Yu Meijia smiled, dispensing with empty pleasantries as she explained directly, "Because we need to discuss filming matters. You are the investors in this film, so whatever decisions the school clubs make naturally cannot bypass you. Rather than have us settle on a proposal and hand it to you later, only for you to disagree, reject it, and make us draft another one, wasting time, it would be better for everyone to sit down and work out a result together. Besides..."

At this point, Yu Meijia's beautiful eyes shifted slightly. She cast Li Rongxiu a highly confident glance and said, "Being able to gather and chat with Diwan High School's most outstanding students will also benefit your futures."

Yu Meijia was confident that her words were logical and well-founded, thoroughly laying out the pros and cons. Anyone with even a little ambition should have found them impossible to refuse. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that Li Rongxiu had never been an ordinary person. Therefore, after her speech, Li Rongxiu merely curled his lips in disinterest and pointed at Zhao Qijun. "I have other plans tonight and don't have time for the meeting. Besides, I've already handed the film preparations over to Zhao Qijun. He can attend with you when the time comes. Whatever needs discussing, you can discuss directly with him. Zhao Qijun has full authority to represent me in this matter."

Yu Meijia froze upon hearing that. She instinctively glanced at Zhao Qijun, who stood behind Li Rongxiu looking entirely like an attendant, and felt slightly dissatisfied. From birth until now, Yu Meijia had never been rejected by any boy. Could Li Rongxiu be trying to play hard to get?

Thinking this, Yu Meijia pressed her lips together in boredom. She looked Li Rongxiu over, studying his handsome face, more exquisite than a girl's, then hesitated for a moment before kindly persuading him, "I don't know what Young Master Xiu has planned tonight, but I believe that for Diwan students, nothing at this stage is more important than the school's centennial celebration. Since Young Master Xiu has registered for the celebration and intends to compete with all of Diwan's elite students for the title of Top Student, you must first show a certain degree of respect for Diwan's traditions. What do you think, Young Master Xiu?"