“Mr. Lu, we might need to discuss the sponsorship matter further. What do you think about letting Ms. Xu go back for now?”

Counselor Yuan stood silently, positioning himself halfway in front of Xu Youyou, his face adorned with a smile that carried a hint of formality.

He felt that what Xu Youyou had just said made perfect sense, okay!

The ancestors have said it all—— One who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions!

At first, he thought the other party was a kind-hearted person wanting to support financially disadvantaged students, especially since he was a well-known entrepreneur. The counselor didn’t think too much about it.

Now it turned out it’s very likely that he’s motivated by lust, an old bull grazing on tender grass^[1]a romance where the man is significantly older than the woman.

The counselor doesn’t know exactly how old Lu Haoyu is, but since he was already the chairman of a company, he’s definitely several years older than Xu Youyou, who had just started college, right?

He looked like a model citizen, but who knew that his mind was full of rubbish?!

The counselor still doesn’t know that Lu Haoyu once demanded Xu Youyou to be his girlfriend at the school gate for a monthly price of five hundred thousand. Otherwise, he would be even more furious!

But mainly it’s because once they entered the office, Xu Youyou didn’t find an opportunity to speak. The counselor was indeed a counselor; she didn’t find a chance to interrupt when the two were talking privately earlier.

Faced with Lu Haoyu, Xu Youyou felt she didn’t even need to speak anymore. His filthy thoughts were so palpable that they couldn’t be concealed. The counselor’s eyes were filled with vigilance and disdain.

“What’s there to discuss? As long as Xu Youyou agrees, isn’t that enough?”

Lu Haoyu looked at the somewhat bothersome counselor in front of him, furrowing his brows with displeasure.

Just now, after being retorted by Xu Youyou, he almost forgot his original purpose.

“I also think there’s no need for discussion. I don’t need sponsorship.” Xu Youyou said more directly. “Mr. Lu, instead of this, why don’t you just donate the money? I believe ten thousand yuan could cover the meal expenses for several children for a long while.”

At first glance, it sounded like a sincere suggestion, but if Xu Youyou’s expression wasn’t so mocking and her tone not so sarcastic, it would have come across differently.

She didn’t remember it just now; she just felt that Lu Group sounded somewhat familiar.

But upon closer examination of Lu Haoyu’s somewhat familiar appearance, she immediately thought of Uncle Lu!

With that realization, everything suddenly became clear, didn’t it?

Xu Youyou didn’t know the specifics of what happened in the Lu family back then, but she knew that Uncle Lu had completely fallen out with the Lu family.

Even during the Spring Festival, they would visit the Qin family instead.

Uncle Lu and Aunt Qin are such good people. Since they fell out with the Lu family, it must be the Lu family’s fault!

As a member of the Lu family, coupled with these two unpleasant encounters, Lu Haoyu had completely sunk into negative territory in Xu Youyou’s mind. She wished she could just kick him out of the school immediately, so he wouldn’t pollute the ground she was standing on.

“Student Xu.” Repeatedly being humiliated like this, Lu Haoyu’s temper, which wasn’t good to begin with, had now become outrageously gloomy. The counselor even had the illusion that he might lunge forward to hit someone at any moment.

Damn it. If he shouted loudly now, Old Zhou and Old Liu next door should be able to hear, right?

“I think as a student, you might not have experienced the hardships of society yet.” Lu Haoyu added in a low tone, “Sometimes, having more friends is much better than offending one more person, isn’t it?”

At first, he also wanted to take a gentle approach. Girls, for the most part, are more susceptible to kindness.

But this Xu Youyou was just too infuriating, prickly all over like a hedgehog.

Lu Haoyu also didn’t know why, but when he saw Xu Youyou like this, he found it hard to control his temper.

But she’s just a woman who was relying on Lu Chenjun, without any backing of her own. What right does she have to be so presumptuous in front of him?

“Brother Yuan! He just threatened me!” Xu Youyou shook her phone. “I recorded everything! Let’s call the police!”

Such a beautiful lunch break without classes, wasting it on a lunatic was really a loss, wasn’t it?

Xu Youyou decided to resolve this quickly.

Counselor Yuan was also very supportive. He spoke with a serious tone, “Mr. Lu, if you genuinely want to sponsor students, we welcome that. But if you have any ulterior motives, A University does not welcome you!”

After all, it’s A University. There were quite a few well-known alumni, and there were also many willing to donate and support financially.

They didn’t need to bow down just for a bit of money. Although Lu Group has been influential in recent years, can even the most powerful people directly meddle with a university like this?

“You all!”

Lu Haoyu stood up abruptly. “Fine! Remember what you just said!”

Threatening her again?

If she didn’t exterminate’ Lu Haoyu this time, Xu Youyou had a feeling he would keep bothering her.

Her wonderful college life can’t be ruined by such a person!

Xu Youyou didn’t hold back either; she dialed the phone directly.

“Hello, is this the police? I’m Xu Youyou, a freshman at A University. I want to report someone!”

After making this call, Xu Youyou wasn’t finished yet.

Midway through, Lu Haoyu’s assistant wanted to intervene but was forcefully stopped by the counselor.

“Aunt Qin! There’s someone named Lu Haoyu here, he’s from the Lu Group, he said he wants to support me for fifty thousand a month! Help!”

That’s right, she tattled.

Not only did she tattle, but Xu Youyou also mixed in two incidents, emphasizing the word ‘support’. It didn’t matter anyway.

Her mother always said that if she’s unable to handle something on her own, she should seek help from adults.

Don’t feel embarrassed; otherwise, it’ll be too late when she’s really harmed.

Xu Youyou admitted that her current strength wasn’t enough, and she didn’t think asking for help was something to be ashamed of.

Wasn’t this how the bonds between people were formed?

“What?! Don’t be afraid, Youyou, Aunt Qin will come over right away!”

On the other end of the phone, Qin Yiren even felt like cursing. This Lu Haoyu is truly a chip off the old block. Dare to support Xu Youyou?

Dream on!

After hanging up the phone, Xu Youyou raised her head. Though she wasn’t taller than Lu Haoyu, her aura felt like she was towering at 2.8 meters.

“What are you looking at?! I don’t want to hear your nonsense right now. If you have something to say, talk to the police!”

She wasn’t some pitiful person who couldn’t speak up when bullied. Even though her mother wasn’t with her right now, Xu Youyou had plenty of confidence.

Even the counselor beside her was a bit stunned, not expecting Xu Youyou to be so assertive.

Moreover, from the tone of the phone call, it seemed that her relationship with that person called Aunt Qin was even better than he had anticipated. It seemed to be beyond just a regular friendship between mothers.

It’s always better for a child to have someone backing them up than to fight alone.

This time, it was his failure to investigate properly that caused trouble for Xu Youyou. The counselor felt a bit guilty inwardly.

When the police arrived, he would definitely tell them everything in detail.

As for whether this incident would have an impact on the college or the whole school?

Nonsense, was A University the kind of school to be afraid of such things?!

On the contrary, Lu Haoyu was quite furious at Xu Youyou’s maneuver. How dare she call the police?

And she even told Qin Yiren about this matter?

Xu Youyou wasn’t afraid that Qin Yiren would think she was trouble or that she was stirring up problems, was she?

How could an orphaned girl who was relying on the Qin family dare to be so arrogant? Could it be because Lu Chenjun really likes her?

Lu Haoyu didn’t know, but he didn’t feel it was necessary to stay there any longer. Such a public disturbance wouldn’t do any good for his reputation. Xu Youyou might not care about her reputation, but he did.

As Lu Haoyu was about to leave, and Xu Youyou was considering intercepting him, a sudden flurry of footsteps echoed down the hallway.

“Quick! That guy is trying to escape!”

Just then, a head poked out from around the corner—— It was Li Xiaodie.

She was the girl who had collapsed from heatstroke during military training and whom Xu Youyou had helped.

Behind her was Wei Xinmiao, leading three other boys, all classmates of Xu Youyou.

“What’s going on here?”

The counselor was also taken aback. Afternoon classes were indeed held in this building, but not on this floor. Seeing their aggressive demeanor, he wondered what was going on.

“That’s him! He wants to use money to browbeat Youyou!”

Angry flames were about to ignite in Li Xiaodie’s eyes. She and her roommate had come to find the counselor for a reason, but they happened to overhear Xu Youyou’s phone call to the police.

What? Someone actually dared to openly use money to take advantage of Xu Youyou? Li Xiaodie felt that term was too unpleasant, so she could only use ‘browbeat’ instead.

Thinking of poor Xu Youyou being forced to resort to calling the police to escape the harassment of a scum, both Li Xiaodie and her roommate couldn’t help but feel angry.

But they realized that they were just two girls. What if they rushed in and couldn’t protect Xu Youyou?

Who knows how many people that scum brought with him.

So, Li Xiaodie stayed behind to monitor the situation, while the roommate hurried back to fetch reinforcements.

She didn’t explain clearly, only saying, “Xu Youyou is being bullied by an outsider”, instantly igniting the young people’s anger.

However, considering that class was about to start soon, it wasn’t good to mobilize too many people. Wei Xinmiao stepped forward and singled out the three tallest and strongest boys. This way, at least in terms of momentum, they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage, even if they really started fighting!

Being freshmen in college, they hadn’t yet been tainted by some of the worldly influences. Plus, having been admitted to A University through the rigorous entrance exam, each of them could be considered a chosen few. Naturally, they had their own temperaments and were filled with passion.

Dare to bully their class flower^[2]class belle? Scum, go to hell!!

Xu Youyou: “……” She truly hadn’t expected things to develop to this point.

But seeing some of her classmates standing in front of her to comfort her while others confronted Lu Haoyu, Xu Youyou couldn’t help but feel moved.

She had only known them for less than a month, yet they were willing to stand up for her.

Even in the heat of the moment, with the possibility of negative consequences, no one backed down.

Compared to Xu Youyou, who was feeling moved, Lu Haoyu was genuinely angry.

Were these people insane? Making such a fuss over a small matter and blocking him like this, do they think they’re some kind of savior?

Faced with the tall and skinny girl’s interrogation, Lu Haoyu also became enraged.

“You think I’m really interested in that Xu Youyou? If it weren’t for her resemblance to Youyou^[3]莜莜, you think she would amount to something?!”

“She’s not even worthy to clean Youyou’s shoes!”

With that remark, the whole room fell silent.

Li Xiaodie’s eyes widened even further. “Scum! Scumbag!”

Mom, I’ve seen a real-life scumbag!

Any normal girl wouldn’t like the term ‘stand-in’, whether they’re the one being replaced or the actual stand-in.

As for the other girl, just the thought of a guy supposedly liking her and then seeking out a girl who resembles her was disgusting, wasn’t it?

Ironically, after spewing out all that worldview-shattering talk, Lu Haoyu didn’t seem to think he had any issues at all. He then disdainfully glanced at Xu Youyou as if to say, “How dare you compare yourself to my Youyou?”

Xu Youyou: “……”

“Is this guy sick?” Wei Xinmiao voiced what everyone was thinking at that moment.

They might enjoy watching some cheesy TV dramas where ‘You love me, I love him’ plays out for entertainment, but when they encounter someone like this in real life, most people would probably have the same reaction.

If you’re sick, go get treatment, but don’t come out here and harm innocent kids!

“You-!” Lu Haoyu couldn’t bear being looked at with such strange eyes by so many people and finally raised his fist.

As someone who had received some instruction from Old Master Lu, he naturally knew a few moves. In the novel, there had even been occasions where he had laid hands on Xu Youyou during their arguments.

“Sanshui!”

Xu Youyou hurriedly rushed over. If her friend got hurt because of her, she would definitely feel guilty.

However, Xu Youyou hadn’t expected that at the moment Lu Haoyu’s fist came down, Wei Xinmiao swiftly dodged and then, seemingly accidentally, leaned to the side, directly tripping Lu Haoyu with her foot.

Just as Lu Haoyu was throwing his punch, his center of gravity was in his upper body. Being tripped like that, he instantly spun around, crashing to the ground like a toppled toad, completely floored.

Wei Xinmiao even raised her hands innocently, saying, “I didn’t even fight back, he fell by himself.”

She seemed to know a thing or two, choosing the perfect moment and angle, perfect in execution.

Lu Haoyu’s fall was painful to watch.

But what did it have to do with them?

They couldn’t blame Wei Xinmiao at all. She clearly just dodged normally. It’s Lu Haoyu’s own fault for being so clumsy.

“Pffft——”

“Hahaha.”

Laughter erupted immediately. Xu Youyou couldn’t help but give Wei Xinmiao a thumbs up, earning a proud little expression from the other party in return.

“Argh! All of you can go to hell!”

When had Lu Haoyu ever been so humiliated like this? His rage overwhelmed his reason, and he gritted his teeth through the pain, ignoring the people around him as he once again swung his fist toward Wei Xinmiao.

“Youyou!”

“Don’t move!”

Coincidentally, at that moment, the police and Qin Yiren arrived at the scene simultaneously.

Wei Xinmiao agilely dodged the fist and then, with a frightened expression, hid behind the police. “Officer, that’s the person! He wants to hit people!”

“Don’t move!” The police officer naturally saw what was happening.

One of them attempted to step forward to restrain the frenzied Lu Haoyu. However, Lu Haoyu, already in a rage, didn’t even see who was beside him and threw a punch directly at the police officer’s chest. At the same time, he was muttering, “I won’t let you off, I’ll make you pay!”

Oho, assaulting a police officer!

Xu Youyou looked at the stern-faced police officers, lightly tapped Qin Yiren’s hand, and mischievously winked at her before starting to complain indignantly, “Officer, he threatened me like that too, just because I refused to accept his ‘financial support’!”

This matter couldn’t be resolved there. The counselor instructed the other students to go to class first, while he, along with Xu Youyou and Qin Yiren, followed the police to the police station. Of course, Lu Haoyu, who was subdued and handcuffed, was also taken into custody.

He attacked a police officer! It had to be done this way, otherwise, who knows what else he might do?

As for the assistant that Lu Haoyu brought along, he was already in a state of panic, not knowing what to do.

———pr

“Officer, that’s how it happened.”

At the police station, someone was taking notes on the side, and Xu Youyou eloquently recounted the entire incident from start to finish.

This included the incident that happened at the school gate earlier, with security guards and surveillance footage serving as evidence. Lu Haoyu couldn’t deny it even if he wanted to.

Qin Yiren and the counselor were hearing about the first incident for the first time, their faces showing a mix of concern and anger, of course, concern for Xu Youyou and anger towards Lu Haoyu.

“You child, didn’t I say you must tell us immediately if something happens?”

“Aunt Qin, I didn’t take it seriously at first.”

Xu Youyou pouted and batted her shiny eyes at Qin Yiren, who immediately surrendered to her charm.

Exactly, why blame Youyou for this? It’s all Lu Haoyu’s fault!

She initially thought this child wouldn’t be as foolish as his idiotic father in matters of love, but it turned out he would be even worse.

Finding a stand-in? And targeting Xu Youyou and even planning to use money to take advantage of people?

He really doesn’t care about the law, does he?

Qin Yiren was aware that the Lu family seemed to be on the rise again under the leadership of Lu Haoyu over the past two years.

She felt that it wasn’t necessary to vent her anger at the children for the mistakes of their parents. Ruan Rourou was already in prison, and Lu Weiyao had been leading a miserable life these past years. Seeing Lu Haoyu showing some rare initiative, she didn’t intend to intervene.

Unexpectedly, while she chose not to act, others had their own plans!

Soon, Qin Xiao and Lu Chenjun also arrived at the police station. There was no need to keep this matter from them since Xu Youyou hadn’t done anything wrong.

Seeing the two people who also cared about her, Xu Youyou tried to play cute to smooth things over.

However, Lu Chenjun’s expression was really grim, making her unable to resist tugging at his clothes. “Don’t be angry. It’s not worth getting upset over someone like him.”

Lu Chenjun didn’t speak.

Xu Youyou continued, “Juanjuan~Juanjuan~”

Lu Chenjun asked, “……Are you hurt?”

He felt helpless. He had originally wanted to seriously tell Xu Youyou that she should have informed them when this first happened, so they wouldn’t have given Lu Haoyu a chance to harass her again.

But when Xu Youyou called out to him like that, Lu Chenjun deflated like a balloon, leaving only a faint sense of resignation.

“Of course not, I’m super tough!” Xu Youyou raised her arms, trying to make Lu Chenjun feel her strength. However, the next moment……

“Ouch~”

Her forehead was mercilessly flicked.

Xu Youyou covered her forehead, pretending to be injured. “I was hurt by Juanjuan! Aunt Qin, you have to help me!”

Qin Yiren put on a ‘stern’ face, even more ruthless than Lu Chenjun. “Where? I didn’t see anything~”

“Cough, cough.”

Qin Xiao, the serious one, cleared his throat. He felt this wasn’t the place for playful banter. It would be better to resolve things quickly and go home.

The counselor, who had been pretending to be invisible on the side: “……”

No, don’t mind me. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything.

The whole situation with Lu Haoyu was pretty clear, from beginning to end.

He saw Xu Youyou resembling the person he liked and wanted to ‘take care’ of her. When he failed and felt humiliated, he tried to hit someone in anger, only to end up assaulting a police officer.

Hitting a police officer constitutes obstructing official duties, and that’s a whole different level of offense!

Just like theft and robbery, assaulting a police officer is a serious offense regardless of how severe the officer’s injuries were.

Lu Haoyu was naturally detained, but it would take a few days to determine how long he would be held and how the case would be handled.

Once the statement was recorded, Xu Youyou and the others could naturally go home.

With such an incident occurring, the counselor thoughtfully allowed Xu Youyou to take the afternoon off to rest, with the promise to fill out the leave form later. Meanwhile, the counselor needed to report back to the dean.

After all, with the matter escalating to the police station and considering that Lu Haoyu is the chairman of a corporation, it was a serious issue.

“I’ll also contact Director Lou on my end, so don’t worry.” Qin Xiao seemed to know the counselor’s thoughts. “You’ve done a lot for Youyou at school.”

Does this person actually know their dean?

Even though one could tell from the car and attire that Qin Xiao was someone significant, the counselor hadn’t realized he was even more significant than he had imagined.

At this moment, Xu Youyou also remembered the counselor’s misunderstanding about her financial situation. To avoid future embarrassment, she couldn’t help but explain, “Brother Yuan, I’m really not poor.”

Xu Youyou pointed to a nearby gated community. “My home is in that neighborhood. It’s not rented.”

Counselor Yuan: “……”

Could he possibly not know about this neighborhood near A University? How much was the price per square meter again? A hundred thousand?

Afraid the counselor might read too much into it, Xu Youyou quickly added, “It wasn’t bought recently. It wasn’t as expensive back then!”

“Haha, it’s okay, it’s okay.” The counselor waved his hand. “Knowing that you’re doing well, I’m certainly happy.”

It was just a case of jumping to conclusions, and it ended up being a misunderstanding.

After dropping off the counselor at the school, Xu Youyou and the others returned home.

Some things weren’t convenient to discuss at the police station, but once they were home, there were no such concerns. Qin Yiren slammed the table and exclaimed, “Brother! We need to take down the Lu family. The look in that kid’s eyes tells me he won’t just let this go!”

Lu Haoyu doesn’t possess the virtue of forgiving and forgetting; on the contrary, he’s vindictive. After this big setback from Xu Youyou, once he’s released, he would definitely seek revenge if given the chance.

They’re not philanthropists; they couldn’t afford to wait for retaliation before taking action. It’s better to strike first while they have the upper hand.

“I know.” Qin Xiao had several encounters with Lu Haoyu. The young man’s tactics and vision in business were commendable, but if he used those things to harm his family, Qin Xiao wouldn’t be lenient!

He would contact Lu Weizheng later. Lu Haoyu’s gaze towards Lu Chenjun wasn’t like that of a cousin. More than likely, that kid was still holding a grudge from what happened years ago.

Some people are like that, they never think it’s their own fault, always blaming others for their mistakes.

Oh, and he mustn’t forget about Qing Yixing’s side as well.

Over the years, Qin Xiao and Qing Yixing have had a good relationship. The two families have also collaborated on many projects, which can be considered a win-win situation.

If that guy found out that Xu Youyou had been bullied and he didn’t tell him, he would definitely use his cold demeanor to attack Qin Xiao again.

He didn’t want the office to have any more human ice cubes.

As for Father and Mother Qing, it’s up to Qing Yixing to decide whether to tell them or not. He wouldn’t meddle in their family matter. Father and Mother Qing had also broken their promise to Xu Wenyin for the first time when they had an accident. They visited Xu Youyou, however, at that time, she assured them that she was fine and asked them not to worry.

The two could only nod and pretend to be reassured, but deep down, they were certainly still worried.

So never assume that Xu Youyou was a helpless little girl with no one to rely on. She had a powerful background!

At this moment, Lu Haoyu, who was still in detention, was unaware. But when he gets out, there would be even bigger ‘surprises’ waiting for him.