In the video, Zhang Yong stood stark... naked in the bathroom, his hair already covered in suds.
"Baby, we only just hung up. Missing me already? I'm taking a shower. Look, I've still got suds on my head."
As he spoke, Zhang Yong brought his sudsy hair closer to the screen.
Lu Sangning frowned deeply as she watched Zhang Yong's hypocritical face in the video.
"Zhang Yong, you said you were in room 666 at the Xigelila Grand Hotel, right?"
Zhang Yong nodded firmly and smiled. "What's wrong, baby? I just told you that. Why are you asking again?"
Usually, whenever he said where he was, which hotel he was staying at, or who he was with, Lu Sangning never questioned him.
Because she trusted him.
Unconditionally.
Lu Sangning approached relationships the same way she approached hiring at her company, following the principle, "Don't employ those you doubt; don't doubt those you employ."
She had never imagined that everything over these past three years and more had been nothing but a lie.
"Zhang Yong, do you love me?" Lu Sangning could no longer contain the mockery and heartache at the corners of her lips, yet she still desperately tried.
"Of course I do! Would I have waited three and a half years for you if I didn't? Hey, what's with you today? You're acting strange."
Lu Sangning sneered. "Since you love me, do you dare walk out of the bathroom and show me the entire room on camera?"
"Ah..." Zhang Yong was clearly unwilling. "Come on, baby, I'm showering right now. I'm soaking wet. I'll get everything dirty if I walk out. Stop being unreasonable. I'll video-call you after I finish showering, okay?"
"No!"
Lu Sangning mocked him. "It's not that you think walking out soaking wet is a bad idea. You're not at the Xigelila Grand Hotel at all. You're not in Shanghai. Am I right?"
Zhang Yong's heart lurched.
Then he denied it. "Oh, baby, why won't you believe me? When have I ever lied to you?"
"Ha!" Lu Sangning said icily. "Then walk around outside! Go show me your room number!"
Zhang Yong forced himself to stay calm. "Oh, you silly little thing. Let me finish showering first, and I'll video-call you right away. Be good, okay? Be good~"
"Ha! Zhang Yong, stop pretending. Look at this!"
Lu Sangning aimed the camera at the number plate for room 666.
There was also a line of small print on the door: Welcome to the Xigelila Grand Hotel.
On the other end of the video call, Zhang Yong went silent. ...What?
"Zhang Yong, didn't you say you were at the Xigelila Grand Hotel? Then where am I standing? I'm right outside room 666 at the Xigelila Grand Hotel. Go on, open the door!"
On the other end, Zhang Yong forced himself to stay calm. "Baby, stop joking around. I'm going to shower. Let's leave it there."
Lu Sangning was on the verge of breaking down.
She shouted at him through the video call, "Zhang Yong, you scumbag! You've disappointed me so much!"
Lu Sangning was about to hang up. Once that bastard, that scumbag Zhang Yong returned to Jing City, she would break off their engagement!
And terminate all business dealings with the Zhang family.
Who could have known!
Suddenly!
Zhang Yong's scream came through the video call.
"Ah! Who are you? What are you doing?"
The next second, there was a deafening bang, and the phone screen shook violently.
Then came two loud clatters.
The video camera was no longer pointed at Zhang Yong's face, but somewhere else.
Somewhere Lu Sangning had never seen before, yet recognized at a glance.
It was a bare... butt!
Startled, that big butt seemed to plop right onto the phone screen.
How did Lu Sangning know? Because those two huge cheeks suddenly grew larger on the screen.
Only an instant later, he sprang back up.
As though scrambling for his life.
From the looks of things, Lu Sangning knew without even thinking.
The phone must have fallen to the floor, and then Zhang Yong had landed butt-first on its screen.
Then he had hurriedly scrambled back up.
"You scumbag! How dare you go behind our eldest young lady's back and bring another woman here to get a room! You're utterly despicable. How could you possibly deserve our eldest young lady?"
"Exactly! Scumbag! Take plenty of pictures of him! Let the eldest young lady see his true colors once and for all!"
"Ah! Let go of me!"
"Zhang Yong, help me!"
"What are you doing?"
A woman's voice came from the room, and Lu Sangning was so furious she nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Her little brother Lu Chi's inner thoughts had been true, and so had her father's investigation. Zhang Yong really had betrayed her, and the person he was involved with was none other than his secretary, Zou Nana.
It was absolutely infuriating. Whenever she had seen him with his secretary Zou Nana before, he had deliberately kept his distance, making it look as though their relationship was purely that of superior and subordinate, with nothing else between them.
She had never imagined they had hooked up long ago.
After a series of camera clicks, the room filled with the sounds of punches and kicks, along with a man's and a woman's agonized screams.
Zhang Yong and Zou Nana were beaten until they were searching the floor for their teeth.
Listening to their screams over the video call, Lu Sangning felt not the slightest discomfort. Instead, she found it immensely satisfying.
Her dad really was wonderful, so dependable. She had never imagined he had arranged a backup plan for her.
And thank goodness she could hear Lu Chi's inner thoughts. Otherwise, who knew how much longer she would have been betrayed!
Several minutes later, whether because the phone had run out of battery or gotten water inside, the other end of the video call went black and fell silent.
Lu Sangning sneered, ended the video call, and held the phone in her hand.
Naturally, Qin Yi also knew everything that had happened on the other end, since she had been right beside Lu Sangning just now.
Lu Sangning told Qin Yi, "Back to Jing City!"
The morning breeze was especially refreshing.
The Bugatti La Voiture Noire, with a market value of 120 million, drove along a street bustling with traffic.
On Lu Chi's second day after transmigrating into the book, he had to go to school, however unwilling he was.
Still, he was not actually going there to attend classes. Instead, following Lu Yuanqing's instructions, he went with Lu Yanxin to the regular high school to handle his transfer paperwork.
They were transferring him to an elite school, saying the teaching resources there were more abundant.
Ten minutes later, the transfer paperwork was done.
Lu Yanxin then took Lu Chi to the elite school next door and handed him over to the homeroom teacher of Class 2, Grade 12.
He had originally been supposed to join Class 1, Grade 12, the same class as Lu Jiyang, but Lu Chi refused, so they could only transfer him to Class 2.
In fact, Class 1 was the best. Commonly known as the rocket class, it was the best class in the entire school.
Class 2 was just an ordinary honors class.
Of course, Class 2 was also staffed with the school's top teachers.
Once she had settled Lu Chi in, Lu Yanxin left.
She did not like Lu Chi and did not want to spend even a moment with him.
If her father had not told her to handle his transfer paperwork, she would never have had the patience to accompany him.
So what if he was her biological younger brother? They had not grown up together and had no affection for each other whatsoever.
In Lu Yanxin's eyes, Lu Chi was just a country bumpkin who had grown up without any proper upbringing, utterly unworthy of being her younger brother.
The homeroom teacher, Gao Qiliang, was a little, balding old man, though he looked quite energetic. He led Lu Chi to the classroom for Class 2, Grade 12.
"Everyone, this is Lu Chi, our new classmate."
Lu Chi bowed to everyone and said in a very gentle tone, "Hello, everyone. My name is Lu Chi. Please look out for me from now on."
Barely had Lu Chi finished speaking when a discordant voice rang out from among the students. "The country bumpkin joined our class. What rotten luck!"