Lu Jinsheng agreed so quickly that it caught everyone off guard. It was as though he had agreed instinctively, without even thinking.
Ji Shang showed little surprise and simply said, "Good. You've got what it takes to do great things."
"I'll have someone contact you later. I'll also take care of the hospital arrangements for your mother."
Lu Jinsheng's mother had a lung disease that required hospitalization. For someone as young as Lu Jinsheng, the medical bills were astronomical.
The Lu family ignored the mother and son, and Lu Jinsheng's mother was stubborn enough that she would rather die than ask them for help.
She also felt she had let her son down and didn't want to burden him, so she refused to be hospitalized and simply endured it at home.
Now her illness was growing increasingly severe. Without proper medical care, she probably wouldn't survive the winter.
With his mother now having a chance to live, Lu Jinsheng bowed again. "Thank you."
His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, emotions surging inside him. This was the first time he had felt warmth from others.
He and his mother had once been despised by everyone, branded as a mistress and an illegitimate son.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake off the labels others had forced onto him.
He studied hard and worked hard, but people always found something to say about his background.
No one had ever helped him, much less treated him well.
He knew his mother was suffering terribly, secretly crying from the pain every night, yet he couldn't do anything. He really was an unfilial son.
Now his mother could receive treatment, and he could finish his education.
Whatever their motives were, Lu Jinsheng would obey them unconditionally.
"Thank you so much."
Afterward, Ji Shang took a call and had to attend to something urgent. He told An Yubei to look around on his own, then wait for him so they could go home together.
An Yubei didn't find that particularly interesting, so he suggested going with Lu Jinsheng.
Lu Jinsheng's part-time shift wasn't over yet, and he still had work to do.
As long as An Yubei didn't interfere with his work, the two of them could chat.
An Yubei wanted to learn more about Lu Jinsheng, but he was also worried that Lu Jincheng would keep causing trouble for him.
For now, Lu Jinsheng's job was to stand to the side in case the guests needed anything.
He stood tall and straight as a pine.
Lu Jinsheng had striking features that gave him an intensely commanding look, with a particularly outstanding pair of amber eyes.
If Ji Shang was the mature, dependable older-man type, then Lu Jinsheng was a youthful, energetic piece of fresh meat.
This piece of fresh meat was neither reckless nor tsundere. He was somewhat steady, with a personality everyone would love.
An Yubei playfully stood beside him and rose onto his toes. All right, there really was a huge height difference between them.
Ji Shang was taller than him, and now Lu Jinsheng was taller than him too. An Yubei was a little unhappy.
Lu Jinsheng pressed his lips together in a smile, thinking that An Yubei had such an adorable personality.
An Yubei pouted unhappily. "What are you laughing at?"
Lu Jinsheng held back his laughter and said, "You're so cute, Xiao Bei. Like a little animal."
An Yubei folded his arms indignantly. "I'm not a little animal, and I'm not cute."
"Mm, Xiao Bei isn't cute. Xiao Bei is interesting."
Was there any difference?
An Yubei didn't want to talk anymore.
"Did you take the college entrance exam this year too? Which university did you get into?"
At that, much of An Yubei's bluster faded, and his temper instantly vanished.
In front of a top student, his academic record was a complete joke.
Like the original owner, An Yubei had never been good at studying. They could also be called academic dregs.
The original owner had been an even worse student than An Yubei himself, and had only gotten into A University through a few connections.
With no choice in the matter, he had been forced to major in animal husbandry and learn to raise pigs.
The original owner had kicked up a fuss over it, but Ji Shang had found it annoying and ignored him.
Later, after things went wrong, the original owner never got the chance to attend university. Instead, Ji Shang sent him to the grasslands to herd sheep.
When it came down to it, the line of work was quite relevant to his major.
An Yubei wasn't particularly opposed to the major. He was fine studying anything.
In his previous life, he had only attended an ordinary university and studied computer science, a popular major. Every day, he was either working or on his way to a part-time job. It had been exhausting.
Since he could still go to university in this life, he didn't care what he studied. What he mainly wanted was to properly experience university life.
An Yubei smiled and said quite naturally, "Animal husbandry at A University."
"My specialty is raising piglets. Once I make it, I'll definitely give you a big sow so you'll have pork to eat."
Anyone else would surely have laughed at An Yubei for saying that, but Lu Jinsheng not only refrained from mocking him, he even encouraged him to study hard, saying he would be waiting for that pork.
They chatted some more about things like whether they would live on campus.
Of course An Yubei wanted to live on campus. He didn't want to stay at home every day.
Ji Shang was busy working, and Ji Dongsheng was busy dating. Being alone was terribly boring.
He also wanted to properly experience university life, so he wanted to live on campus.
Of course, he hadn't discussed this with Ji Shang or Ji Dongsheng yet. He had made the decision on his own first.
After chatting a little longer, An Yubei realized that Lu Jinsheng had been asking all the questions while he answered. Hadn't they gotten things backward? Wasn't he supposed to be learning about Lu Jinsheng? How had it turned into Lu Jinsheng learning about him?
Before he could figure it out, someone whose name badge read "Manager" walked over.
"Lu Jinsheng, you can leave now. Your pay has been settled. I won't dare hire you again."
Lu Jinsheng took the envelope, looking slightly bewildered. "Didn't you say I could work for another month, Manager? Why aren't you keeping me on?"
The manager sighed and told him honestly, "Lu Jinsheng, it's not that I don't want to keep you. The higher-ups have said I can't. Ah, why did you have to offend those rich young masters? Now you're paying for it!"
"Take the money and leave through the back. Someone's waiting to corner you at the front." The manager patted Lu Jinsheng's shoulder regretfully. "This is all I can do for you. You'll have to handle the rest yourself."
Lu Jincheng hadn't let the matter drop. Instead, he had put out word that he would corner Lu Jinsheng tonight.
An Yubei couldn't remember whether this had happened in the original novel. He kept feeling that the plot had already taken a strange turn.
After the manager left, Lu Jinsheng kept his eyes lowered, looking at the envelope in his hands.
He said nothing and simply stared at it in silence.
An Yubei didn't know what Lu Jinsheng was thinking, so he said, "Let's go find my brother. With him around, Lu Jincheng won't dare touch you."
An Yubei thought Ji Shang was the most capable person in the world. He admired him immensely.
Looking at An Yubei's shining eyes, Lu Jinsheng felt deeply unsettled.
He didn't particularly like An Yubei's blind worship of Ji Shang.
He could be very capable too. It was only a matter of time.
"No. Your brother has already helped me a lot. I shouldn't trouble him any more."
Lu Jinsheng rejected An Yubei's suggestion. "You should leave too. I can handle this myself."
Lu Jinsheng turned and headed out. Rather than going to the back entrance, he faced the challenge head-on and went straight to the front.
An Yubei panicked. Wasn't he rushing to his death?
Was this the courage of a protagonist?
Doing something even when he knew it couldn't be done!
"Wait for me." An Yubei caught up with Lu Jinsheng and grabbed his wrist. "You can't go alone. I'll go with you."
Copying the way Ji Shang comforted him, An Yubei rose onto his toes and patted Lu Jinsheng's head. "Don't be afraid. I'll protect you from now on."
Lu Jinsheng lowered his eyes and nodded. "Mm. With you protecting me, I won't be afraid."
An Yubei: "...!"
The male lead's lines didn't seem right.
Why did they have such a green tea flavor?