Before Lu Yuyu left, everyone just assumed she went to the bathroom. So when Ji Chenai walked in with a visibly shaken Jiao Zuoyuan, the girl with the earrings—who had invited Ji Chenai to hang out—didn’t even look up. She casually called out to him, “What were you two doing out there for so long? The drinks are almost gone. That guy named Zhou or whatever—go have him bring more.”

She wasn’t the one paying, so she ordered everything without a care. Just the fruit platters alone—four of them. Not to mention two cases of beer, three bottles of wine, and a mountain of snacks.

When Ji Chenai walked in, he had glanced at the price list. A rough estimate told him tonight’s tab would definitely break five figures.

But since he wasn’t the one footing the bill, they could eat and drink all they wanted—what did he care?

Ji Chenai didn’t reply. He simply gave Jiao Zuoyuan a small smile. The moment Jiao Zuoyuan saw that smile, he felt his legs go weak all over again. He forced a nervous grin and asked, “Something wrong?”

Ji Chenai said casually, “Go turn off the music.”

Jiao Zuoyuan didn’t even dare ask why. He just walked over and hit mute. The girl who had been singing blinked in confusion, then snapped, “Jiao Zuoyuan, what the hell are you doing?!”

Ji Chenai drawled lazily, “It’s nothing big. Just have something I want to say.”

Everyone in the room turned to him in surprise. They’d always assumed Ji Chenai was just another pushover, like Lu Yuyu—an easy mark. No one had expected him to speak to them like that.

The guy leading the group scowled and started walking toward Ji Chenai. “What did you just say, punk?”

Ji Chenai didn’t waste time with words—instead, he unleashed his Saint’s Radiance.

A soft, glowing halo lit up around him, and in the dim lighting of the private room, he looked like the moon itself—radiating a gentle, sacred light.

The gang of rough-looking kids, who’d all been wearing various shades of hostility on their faces, suddenly froze. Their expressions shifted in an instant—from fierce T-Rexes to timid little bunnies.

Jiao Zuoyuan, being the closest to Ji Chenai, was hit hardest by the effect. His eyes were practically glowing with devotion, staring at Ji Chenai like a devout follower awaiting divine revelation.

With that, Ji Chenai cheerfully began his sermon.

“From now on,” he said, “no more bullying your classmates. And stay away from Lu Yuyu.”

Everyone nodded furiously, heads bobbing like dashboard ornaments, not a single peep of protest.

Ji Chenai went on, “And return all the money you took from Lu Yuyu. Actually—better yet—return everything you’ve ever extorted from anyone you’ve bullied.”

More nodding. No one even blinked. Their eyes remained locked on Ji Chenai, full of blind adoration. Honestly, if he told them to eat dirt, they’d probably ask for seconds.

He went on to share a few more “life tips”—but it all boiled down to the same core message: Be a decent human being.

With the brainwashing complete, Ji Chenai turned off the mute and casually handed the microphone to the nearest person—Jiao Zuoyuan.

“You guys carry on,” he said. “I’m heading out.”

Everyone smiled warmly and bid him goodbye like polite little lambs. As Ji Chenai reached the door, he paused and added. “Oh, and don’t forget to cover tonight’s bill.”

“Got it! No problem!” they all chimed in enthusiastically.

And with that, Ji Chenai left behind a room full of pitiful, wide-eyed admirers and walked out like a boss.

At the front desk, a staff member glanced at him as he passed, but since there were still plenty of people inside the room, they weren’t too worried about anyone skipping out on the check. Ji Chenai walked straight out of the KTV.

Outside, he spotted Lu Yuyu sitting alone on a bench. She hadn’t gone home after all. She was holding her phone, looking lost in thought, maybe debating whether to call someone. When she suddenly saw Ji Chenai walking out, her face lit up with shock.

“You’re out?!” she asked in surprise. “Zhou Yaoqin, they let you go?”

Ji Chenai gave a slight nod.

Lu Yuyu looked like she couldn’t believe it. “H-How did you even manage that?”

Ji Chenai didn’t answer her question. Instead, he asked, “Why were they bothering you in the first place?”

Lu Yuyu hesitated, then mumbled, “They… they’re friends of my brother… so…”

Ji Chenai frowned. “And where is your brother?”

She shook her head, clearly unwilling to say more about that. Sensing her reluctance, Ji Chenai didn’t press and just changed the subject.

“Come on. They shouldn’t bother you again. It’s getting late—you should head home.”

Lu Yuyu nodded softly. Then she said, “Zhou Yaoqin… thank you.”

Ji Chenai looked at her, like he wanted to say something more—but in the end, he stayed silent.

The quiet stretched between them.

Eventually, Lu Yuyu pulled out her phone and helped him call a cab. When it arrived, Ji Chenai got in and gave her a quiet “Goodbye.” That was when they finally went their separate ways.

Lu Yuyu stood there, watching the taxi pull away. Then she reached up and quickly wiped her eyes, brushing away the tears that had started to fall.

After getting in the car, Ji Chenai started chatting idly with Xiao Qi.

“You humans can be so strange sometimes…” Xiao Qi said thoughtfully.

Ji Chenai knew he was talking about Lu Yuyu. “Yeah,” he replied, “sometimes we are.”

Xiao Qi continued, “When someone’s bullying you… shouldn’t you speak up?”

Ji Chenai thought of Lu Yuyu’s tearful eyes and found himself at a loss for words.

Because of what happened with her, Ji Chenai stayed in a low mood the rest of the night. And since there was no school the next day, he ended up watching movies until the early hours of the morning.

It was close to 3 a.m. when Xiao Qi suddenly said, “A thousand energy points just came in.”

Ji Chenai blinked. “From who?”

Xiao Qi replied, “Hmm… those punks you put in their place today. And…”

Ji Chenai narrowed his eyes. “And who else?”

Xiao Qi hesitated, then said, “Lu Yuyu’s brother.”

Ji Chenai raised an eyebrow. “Can you pull up Lu Yuyu’s brother’s info? I want to take a look.”

Xiao Qi didn’t say much—just instantly projected the profile right in front of him.

Unlike Lu Yuyu, who had a soft, gentle appearance, her brother Lu Xiangming was clearly cut from a very different cloth.

Close-cropped hair, dark skin, tattoos running down his arm—he looked like someone you definitely wouldn’t want to mess with. Ji Chenai stared at the profile, thinking about Lu Yuyu’s conflicted expression earlier, and in his mind, he’d already drafted a hundred-episode family drama.

Xiao Qi commented, “Well, he’s not bad-looking… just way too dark.”

Ji Chenai side-eyed him. “Are you seriously judging by looks now?”

“Hmph! I am not that shallow,” Xiao Qi huffed indignantly.

Ji Chenai shot back, “Yes, you are.”

Xiao Qi: “…”

It was nearly four in the morning when Ji Chenai finally got into bed. He stared up at the ceiling, let out a yawn, and soon drifted into a deep sleep.

The next morning, around eleven, he was jolted awake by the sound of his phone ringing. Half-asleep, he fumbled around until he found it. The caller ID showed it was Lu Yuyu.

He answered with a drowsy, “Hello…”

“You’re still not up?” Lu Yuyu said. “I can call you back later if you want.”

Ji Chenai rubbed his eyes. “No need, I was about to get up anyway. What’s going on?”

There was a pause on the other end before she spoke again, her voice quiet.
“What… did you do to Jiao Zuoyuan and the others?”

Hearing that name, Ji Chenai blinked a few times before finally recalling who she meant.
“What happened? Did something go wrong?”

Lu Yuyu hesitated. “He came to see me this morning… and gave me a lot of money.”

Ji Chenai gave a quiet “Mm. And then?”

Lu Yuyu continued, “He apologized. Said he shouldn’t have treated me that way before…”

Ji Chenai said, “Sounds like a good thing. You called just to tell me that?”

Lu Yuyu’s tone dropped. “No… it’s my brother…”

Ji Chenai immediately thought of the photo Xiao Qi had shown him last night. “What about him? Did he do something to you?”

“No, it’s not that… He went and beat those guys up again. If my dad finds out, he’s done for.”

Ji Chenai blinked. Okay… this plot twist was not what he’d been expecting.

“So what exactly are you calling me for?”

Lu Yuyu replied, “I just wanted to say thank you. I don’t know what you did to make Jiao Zuoyuan and the others change their minds, but… really, thank you.”

Only then did Ji Chenai quietly reply, “Mm.”

Lu Yuyu chatted with Ji Chenai a little longer about this and that before finally hanging up. Her voice still carried a hint of gloom, but Ji Chenai could tell—beneath it—there was a quiet kind of relief, maybe even happiness.

After all, no one enjoys being bullied.

It wasn’t until much later that Ji Chenai found out just how badly things had gone for the group that had bullied Lu Yuyu.

That night at the KTV, the group nearly ended up at the police station because they couldn’t pay the bill. In the end, their parents had to show up with cash to bail them out—only to take them home and give them a proper beating.

All of them were older than Lu Yuyu, currently in college. They used to be friends with her brother, Lu Xiangming. But after a falling out, Lu Xiangming had completely cut ties with them. Somehow, they ended up turning their attention to Lu Yuyu instead.

At the time, Lu Xiangming was already on thin ice with his family due to a recent fight, and Lu Yuyu had been terrified that if he found out about the bullying, he’d go beat someone up again—so she kept it to herself.

Maybe it all would’ve just blown over, if not for one thing: Ji Chenai.

Once Jiao Zuoyuan showed up at Lu Yuyu’s door with a face full of guilt and a heartfelt apology, it didn’t take long for Lu Xiangming to catch wind of what had happened.

And well… let’s just say Jiao Zuoyuan almost ended up in the hospital.

After the school break started, Ji Chenai suddenly found himself with a lot more free time.

Lu Yuyu had asked if he’d like to hang out sometime during the holidays, and since Ji Chenai didn’t have anything else going on, he agreed without hesitation.

Letters from Zhou Yaoyun still came occasionally, but recently, they’d become less frequent. Ji Chenai peeked at a few of them and, seeing just how rough things were for Zhou Yaoyun, offered him some words of comfort: Don’t rush. I’ll be here when you come back.

What Ji Chenai didn’t know, however, was that someone else—Xu Yunchong, whom he’d briefly met not long ago—had discovered something… interesting.

Xu Yunchong hadn’t come to Ji Chenai’s city just for him; he had business interests here as well. A deal needed his personal attention, so he figured he might as well make the trip himself.

After seeing Ji Chenai once at the school gate, Xu Yunchong hadn’t thought much of him. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about the kid, so he lost interest and didn’t follow up.

But fate has a funny sense of timing.

The same night Ji Chenai “handled” Jiao Zuoyuan and his gang at a KTV called Yise, Xu Yunchong happened to be there too.

Yise was owned by a friend of Xu Yunchong’s. So when the staff realized a certain private room of guests couldn’t pay their bill, they naturally called in the boss.

Xu Yunchong was present at the time—and when the surveillance footage was pulled up, and Ji Chenai’s face appeared on the screen, Xu Yunchong immediately had the feeling he’d just stumbled upon something… very interesting.

The surveillance footage appeared normal. Ji Chenai went out once, and when he returned, he seemed to say something to the others before leaving again. The remaining people continued playing until it was time to settle the bill, at which point they calmly admitted they had no money.

Xu Yunchong asked the leader of the group if he knew Zhou Yaoqin.

The young man was momentarily stunned, then nodded and said, “Yes, but not well.”

Xu Yunchong then asked why Zhou Yaoqin had left first. Upon hearing this, the group looked puzzled. After a brief pause, someone finally answered, “He had something to do, so he left early.”

Xu Yunchong found this odd. These kids clearly weren’t the type to dine out without money. The situation seemed more like someone had planned to cover the bill but unexpectedly bailed halfway through.

However, no matter how much he asked, he couldn’t get anything more out of them. They didn’t seem to know much about Zhou Yaoqin, almost as if they had just met him.

Xu Yunchong reviewed the surveillance footage once more but didn’t notice anything unusual.

In the end, the owner called the police and summoned the children’s parents. Only after the bill was settled were they allowed to leave.

Seeing how invested Xu Yunchong was in the situation, the owner jokingly asked if he was planning to open a KTV himself.

Xu Yunchong chuckled twice, then changed the subject. Casually, he asked if anything unusual had happened there recently.

The owner thought for a moment and said, “Nothing strange.” Then, after a brief pause, he added, “Unless you count the huge hole someone made in the bathroom?”

Xu Yunchong frowned. “A huge hole? What kind of hole?”

“No idea how it got there,” the owner replied. “There’s no surveillance in the bathroom, but the tiles were smashed to pieces. Looks like someone took a hammer to it.”

Xu Yunchong found it a little odd but didn’t immediately associate it with Ji Chenai.

And so, once again, Ji Chenai narrowly escaped suspicion.

Jiao Zuoyuan and his group met a rather miserable fate. After being taken home by their parents, they secretly stole money from their families and gave it to the very people they had once bullied.

Their parents, already furious over the unpaid bill incident, were even more enraged upon discovering the theft. Without hesitation, they gave their children another harsh beating and strictly forbade them from hanging out together again.

The “Saint’s Radiance” effect of their newfound righteousness lasted for quite some time. When it finally faded, Jiao Zuoyuan and the others were utterly bewildered, unable to comprehend why they had acted that way in the first place.

Then, one of the girls suddenly blurted out, “Could we have been cursed or something? I heard there’s a kind of spell that can control people…”

That remark sent a chill down Jiao Zuoyuan’s spine. He immediately recalled Ji Chenai, who had laughed as he kicked a hole in the wall. A violent shiver ran through his entire body, and the fear haunted him so much that he fell seriously ill after returning home.

From that moment on, none of them ever dared to trouble Lu Yuyu again.

As for Ji Chenai, he earned over 3,000 energy points from this incident alone. Coupled with the chain reactions from his previous actions and his online posts, he managed to rake in a total of 10,000 points that month. Although he was still far from his goal of 500,000, at least he was making steady progress.

Lu Yuyu found some free time and invited Ji Chenai out for a meal. The closer she got to Ji Chenai, the more she liked this seemingly small and skinny classmate who, despite appearances, was anything but timid.

So, in the second week of the holiday, Ji Chenai once again met Lu Yuyu—along with her tall, muscular, and intimidating older brother, who looked like he could be a mafia boss if he just threw on a gold chain.

Given Ji Chenai’s leg condition, Lu Xiangming had driven over to pick them up. After greeting Wang Zhixiu, Ji Chenai headed downstairs, where he was met with the sight of Lu Xiangming’s Porsche.

The license plate read five sixes in a row. Clearly, Lu Yuyu’s family wasn’t as ordinary as she made them out to be.

Lu Xiangming had been smoking, but upon seeing Ji Chenai come down, he casually put out his cigarette and said, “Yuyu, your friend is here.”

Lu Yuyu ran over to Ji Chenai and then slowed down to walk beside him. “Zhou Yaoqin, this is my brother. I hadn’t planned on bringing him along today, but he insisted on coming.”

Ji Chenai responded with a simple “mm” and got into the back seat, with Lu Yuyu sliding in beside him.

As Lu Xiangming started the car, he asked, “What do you guys feel like eating today?”

Lu Yuyu turned to Ji Chenai and said, “Zhou Yaoqin, what do you want to eat?”

Ji Chenai said he was fine with anything. Lu Yuyu thought for a moment before suggesting, “I know a place that makes amazing grilled cod.”

Lu Xiangming lazily scoffed, “Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you ever think about. Aren’t you worried you’ll eat so much you won’t be able to get married?”

Lu Yuyu glared at him. “What nonsense are you talking about? Do you believe I won’t beat you up?” With that, she reached forward and gave Lu Xiangming a hard pinch.

He let out a small yelp but had a smile on his face the whole time.

Watching the two of them, Ji Chenai figured they must have a genuinely good sibling relationship.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Lu Xiangming went to park the car before joining Ji Chenai and Lu Yuyu inside.

As soon as they got the menu, Lu Yuyu excitedly recommended the grilled cod to Ji Chenai, using a string of adjectives to emphasize just how delicious it was.

Lu Xiangming chuckled at her enthusiasm but said nothing. Instead, he pulled out a cigarette and prepared to light it.

Seeing this, Lu Yuyu frowned and said, “Don’t smoke, we’re about to eat. I can deal with secondhand smoke, but my classmate is here too.”

Lu Xiangming let out a short laugh but still listened to her, tucking the cigarette back into the pack.

“I’m gonna run to the restroom real quick. You two chat,” Lu Yuyu said before getting up and heading toward the bathroom.

As soon as she left, the smile on Lu Xiangming’s face faded. He looked at Ji Chenai and said, “Your name is Zhou Yaoqin, right?”

Ji Chenai nodded as he shrugged.

Lu Xiangming smirked. “Do you have any idea what our family actually does?”

Ji Chenai hesitated for a moment before replying, “…The mafia?”

Lu Xiangming: “…You’re overthinking it.”

=^_^=