Chapter 55: You’ve Been Corrupted by Fu Huayi

Lu Jiangting pulled out a wad of money, counted it, and handed it to her, “I’m returning one hundred yuan first; is that alright?”

No matter how much it was, she had to accept it.

Lin Yuyao didn’t hesitate to take it.

The result…

Lin Yuyao said with a dark face, “Are you going to return the rest or not?”

“I, I will.”

“Then let go of my hand.”

Lu Jiangting didn’t want to let go. It wasn’t that he was reluctant to part with the money, but he felt that once he returned the three hundred yuan, he and Yuyao wouldn’t even have a reason to talk.

Letting go wasn’t just letting go of the money, but of Yuyao’s hand.

Lin Yuyao was so annoyed she forcefully pulled the money away.

“Yuyao, can you tell your parents about this?”

Huh?

Lin Yuyao reminded him, “You still owe me two hundred.”

“Yes, I know. The IOU is with Aunt Lian, so I think… I should tell her about this.”

“Don’t worry, I know. Once you’ve paid it all back, I’ll have my mother return the IOU to your family.”

“Okay, then…”

Before he could finish, Lin Yuyao turned and left.

Lu Jiangting: “…”

Lin Yuyao went back to work in the bookstore, and Lu Jiangting followed.

Just as she was about to chase him away, she saw him asking Liu Yihuan about some books.

Lin Yuyao stopped in her tracks.

They were open for business; customers were welcome.

It wasn’t her store; as an employee, she didn’t have the right to chase away customers.

It was infuriating and annoying.

Liu Yihuan helped him find the books he wanted, and he sat in the reading area to read, clearly not planning to leave anytime soon.

However, he couldn’t seem to focus on reading, frequently glancing at Lin Yuyao.

He was still considerate though; when he needed something, he asked Liu Yihuan and Zhou Jing, never Lin Yuyao.

His presence was bothersome, and Lin Yuyao maintained a dark expression.

Zhou Jing was the first to notice something was wrong; she pulled Lin Yuyao aside and asked, “Do you know that person?”

This…

Lin Yuyao hesitated.

Zhou Jing said, “I see that your worried expression is back. Is he the one causing you trouble?”

Lin Yuyao nodded and then left under the pretext of work.

She didn’t want to talk about it, and Zhou Jing didn’t press further, but she was more observant of Lu Jiangting.

At lunchtime, Lu Jiangting didn’t leave; he didn’t eat either.

Lin Yuyao, Zhou Jing, and the others took turns going upstairs to eat.

After Lin Yuyao finished her meal and was carrying a stack of books downstairs, she saw Fu Huayi arrive and lock eyes with Lu Jiangting.

The two of them looked like they were about to fight.

Lin Yuyao remembered their previous fight and her heart sank.

She thought, wouldn’t they fight again?

She was just an employee and didn’t want to cause trouble for her boss.

She hesitated on the stairs, neither going up nor down.

“What are you doing here?” Lu Jiangting asked coldly.

Fu Huayi threw the books he had borrowed last time onto the table, saying indifferently, “This is my cousin’s bookstore; what do you think I’m doing here?”

“Hmph, that’s just an excuse; I know what you’re up to.”

“Oh really?” Fu Huayi sneered, “You’re an outsider; do you have the right to say that?”

“You…” Lu Jiangting slammed the table in anger and stood up.

Fu Huayi’s face also turned cold, ready to fight.

Everyone around looked at them curiously.

Actually, people had been looking at them curiously for a while, but their conversation was like a riddle; everyone wanted to know what was going on, but they couldn’t understand.

Seeing the two of them like fighting cocks, Lin Yuyao was terrified.

She couldn’t care less; she hurriedly went downstairs with the books.

“Brother Fu, the books you ordered are here. Are these the ones?”

Lin Yuyao’s voice brought Fu Huayi back to his senses.

He heard Lin Yuyao trying to smooth things over and didn’t want to cause her trouble.

He took a step back from Lu Jiangting, then turned to take the stack of books from Lin Yuyao.

“Let me see.”

“Okay.”

Lin Yuyao gave him a grateful look and relaxed a little.

She was glad that Fu Huayi was considerate.

It made sense; this was his cousin’s bookstore; they couldn’t fight here.

Turning to Lu Jiangting, her expression turned serious.

“What you want is in the back; come with me.”

With that, she turned and left.

Fu Huayi looked over in surprise, feeling a little jealous.

Lu Jiangting provocatively curled his lips at Fu Huayi and then followed Lin Yuyao.

Lin Yuyao stopped at the back door of the bookstore.

She looked at Lu Jiangting with disgust, “What are you trying to do? The marriage is over, and I haven’t chased you for the money; why are you still bothering me?”

“When did I bother you? I just came to read.”

Lin Yuyao: “…” She wanted to curse.

“Yuyao, I know you’re angry with me, and even…”

“…even hate me, but I assure you I have no ill intentions towards you.”

“No ill intentions towards me?” Lin Yuyao laughed angrily.

She suddenly remembered a passage:  ‘He will beg you, he will even kneel, he will slap himself, don’t soften your heart. He will swear repeatedly, men love to swear, their oaths are as worthless as a dog’s bark, don’t believe him.’

Yes, she wouldn’t believe him.

Lin Yuyao said coldly, “You’re acting humble in front of me just to get my forgiveness. Once you succeed, you’ll continue to oppress me.”

Why would she say such things?

Lu Jiangting found it unbelievable and incredibly painful.

“I’m sincere towards you. How can you think of me like this after all these years? I’ve already humbled myself for you. For you, I even abandoned my dignity as a man; can’t you see that?”

“Isn’t that the truth? Since you value your dignity as a man so much, why are you acting humble? Because it’s such a good deal. You only need to beg for forgiveness to get someone you can oppress, your own personal slave. If I were you, I’d do it too.”

Lu Jiangting: “…” He didn’t know why she had become like this; these words were not something the Lin Yuyao he knew would say.

These words sounded more like those spoken by someone who had suffered greatly and had a broken heart.

Had he really been so unforgivable as to make her so desperate and heartbroken?

But he hadn’t done anything; he just lent some money to Fang Qing. Why couldn’t she get over it?

Lu Jiangting didn’t understand.

He felt that Yuyao wasn’t like this; someone must have instigated her, teaching her to say these things.

Yes, it must be Fu Huayi.

Yuyao was so beautiful; Fu Huayi must have had his eye on her the moment he saw her.

To get her, he started scheming, constantly doing things, teaching her to say things, corrupting her.

Fu Huayi, that man was up to no good.

After figuring this out, Lu Jiangting felt better.