As the end of her sophomore year approached, Lu Nian’s life became especially difficult.

At the beginning of the year, Lu Zhihong’s health had been poor.

Due to irregular living habits and social engagements, he suffered from chronic gastritis and his heart and lung function were not very good.

In March, before spring had even arrived, he had another bout of myocarditis due to social engagements, and once again stayed in a private ward at the central hospital funded by the Lu family.

Despite this, he didn’t forget to arrange for a home tutor to help Lu Nian with her studies in English and math, and Lu Yang kept an even closer eye on her.

In addition to attending school and tutoring, Lu Nian now visited the hospital every day to see Lu Zhihong.

Lu Zhihong didn’t let any other relatives from the Lu family come, and He Tian also hardly ever came.

Now, apart from employees of the Lu family and business associates, Lu Nian was the only one who came to see him every day.

His personal secretary, Zhang Hua, now stationed himself at the hospital every day, helping him with various matters from work to daily life.

Lu Yang’s appearance was also very frequent.

He basically had no classes now and was considered a full-time worker at the Lu family.

After Lu Nian saw Lu Zhihong, she reported on her recent life, and Lu Zhihong fell asleep.

Lu Yang said softly, “He may need surgery next year. Now, the affairs of the company are being managed by outsiders.”

Although the affairs of the company were being managed by a trusted person of Lu Zhihong, since they were not family members and didn’t have the Lu surname, Lu Yang instinctively rejected them.

He only hoped that Lu Zhihong would recover quickly, even better than before.

After all, his foundation was still not stable.

In the Lu family, he was not influential enough, and in terms of blood ties, he was not close.

He was actually just a Lu in name.

Lu Nian was young and still naive.

She hadn’t even graduated from high school yet, let alone gone to college.

Even if she waited until she went to university, she would still be far from marrying into the Zhao family and having them help share the pressure.

Secretary Zhang Hua also came out and, seeing the two siblings talking, he coughed to indicate his presence.

Lu Yang didn’t say anything more.

“Miss,” Zhang Hua said, “Mr. Lu has been unwell recently. He specifically instructed that if you have any issues, whether in life or study, you can tell me, and I’ll take care of them.”

Lu Nian thanked him.

She hadn’t eaten dinner, and she had come straight from school, feeling a faint hunger in her stomach, but she didn’t feel like eating anything.

Over the past few years, her health had been good, but during this period, she had lost weight again and looked even more gaunt, especially with her small, pointed face.

In March, the weather was still a bit chilly, but spring was gradually showing its warmth.

The school held a rally for the college entrance examination.

That afternoon, Lu Nian happened to be in physical education class. She had her period and wasn’t feeling well, so she asked the PE teacher for a break due to menstrual cramps.

She hadn’t been feeling very well during this period.

Soon, the physical education class ended, and they dispersed for free activities.

Lu Nian was sitting under a tree, resting.

Tian Yue walked over. “Nian Nian, are you feeling better?”

Lu Nian put her hand on her stomach and smiled. “I’m fine. I just drank some hot water, and now I feel much better.”

“That’s good,” Tian Yue sat down beside her. “The auditorium is hosting a rally for the seniors. Do you want to go watch?”

Fang Xiyan, who was beside her, asked, “Can we go in?”

Lu Nian wasn’t very interested in this and listened to their chat out of boredom.

“We can, the rules are very relaxed,” a girl said. “There are people live-streaming on Tieba all day today. It’s so lively.”

“It seems there will be a speech by the first-place winner this time, and it’s said to be a handsome guy.”

The girls suddenly became interested.

Lu Nian, who had been keeping her eyes closed, opened them. She automatically filtered out the “handsome guy” part and caught the words “first place.”

She remembered that in the previous few exams, the weighted average ranking for the seniors should have put Qin Si in first place.

Was he going to give a speech?

It had been so long since she had seen Qin Si.

“Nian Nian, are you going too?” Tian Yue was quite surprised.

Lu Nian nodded. “Mm.”

To see an annoying ghost.

The auditorium was very lively, with many seniors present, but to keep up the atmosphere, the school didn’t stop lower-grade students from joining in.

When the three of them sneaked in, the host announced that the student representative would give a speech.

Lu Nian’s eyes widened.

The person who came up on stage wasn’t Qin Si… it was a strange boy, wearing glasses, with very short hair, the typical look of a top student.

He began, “On this beautiful spring day…”

Fang Xiyan was disappointed. “Is this the guy who’s supposed to be really handsome and in first place?”

He looked really average, just like an ordinary high school boy.

Lu Nian didn’t say anything.

She should have thought about it earlier… why would Qin Si be willing to give such a speech?

But did he come today? Was he sitting somewhere in the auditorium?

Tian Yue was busy looking at her phone, then suddenly said, “There’s someone live-streaming on our school’s Tieba… It seems that the first-place winner refused, so they moved on to the next.”

The hot post on their school’s Tieba was about a student who had brought a phone in and was live-streaming the event.

“They just moved on to the second place?” Fang Xiyan asked, “Doesn’t he have some reason for being absent? Isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”

Tian Yue shook her head. “It seems not. He just didn’t want to do it, so he directly refused.”

“He doesn’t seem to have even gone up on stage.”

This post was also hotly discussing the matter.

First comment: Isn’t this too arrogant?

Second comment: It proves that this person is indeed very arrogant. He ignores people in the same class and is rarely seen.

Third comment: But he’s handsome, smart, and has good grades. He has the capital to be arrogant.

Fourth comment: …User above, are you infatuated? There’s more than one handsome, smart person. Does everyone else behave like this?

There was quite a bit of argument around this topic.

Until someone said: What’s there to be arrogant about? Don’t you know his family situation? No parents, just someone living off others’ money. What qualifications does he have to act cocky?

That comment set off a firestorm.

The user, named “Black and Blue,” continued: Let me tell you more, not only did he live off others’ money, he also took advantage of the situation to get close to the daughter of the sponsor (to protect her **, I won’t mention her name), trying to climb up, lacking in morality.

Someone replied below: Why are you speaking so harshly? Should orphans be naturally inferior? Can’t they have a free love life? You’ve gone too far.

Black and Blue: You don’t know what kind of person he is, what kind of free love. He intentionally seduced her, and he’s been fooling around outside with countless girls. He’s much more skilled in playing around than you guys. Is it that easy for someone who’s been mixing in society since childhood? Typical scumbag.

Lu Nian looked around, but all she saw were students in formal school uniforms.

Her eyes were tired from scanning, but she didn’t see Qin Si.

When she turned back, she suddenly saw Tian Yue’s eyes widening, and Fang Xiyan and her were huddled together, their eyes glued to something.

Lu Nian couldn’t help asking, “What interesting thing are you guys looking at?”

Tian Yue waved her over. “Nian Nian, explosive gossip! Look at this… the school’s senior high school god and school grass, just take a look…”

Qin Si?

It took Lu Nian a long time to connect the dots.

Because they had almost no interaction at school, and even if they occasionally ran into each other on the street, they wouldn’t greet each other.

Qin Si had long since left the Xie family, and even the people they both knew were few.

Her eyes quickly scanned through the words, and her face grew increasingly grim.

“Nian Nian, do you know him?” Tian Yue remembered seeing Qin Si come to find Lu Nian in the studio last time and had some impression. “Is he really like this?”

Lu Nian had taken out her phone, her hands trembling.

She entered the post and angrily replied, “This is slander, do you know this is illegal?”

Her reply was quickly drowned out by a pile of ridicule.

Lu Nian was so angry that her face turned red. She put her phone in her pocket and turned to leave.

“Nian Nian, Nian Nian!” Tian Yue and the others didn’t know what had happened.

Lu Nian said, “I’m not feeling well. I want to go to the health room. Xiao Yue, can you help me get a leave of absence?”

Leaving the two still confused.

Walking to a secluded place, Lu Nian took out her phone and dialed Zhang Hua’s number directly.

The Lu family has contributed to the Affiliated Middle School, and Lu Zhihong was even once one of the school directors.

The relationship between the principal of the Affiliated Middle School and the Lu family is very good.

She sent Zhang Hua the address of the post. “Uncle Zhang, could you please find someone and ask them to delete this post immediately?”

Lu Nian had never contacted Zhang Hua before, this was the first time, and with her tone, Zhang Hua naturally took it seriously.

However, this sudden request made him act cautiously, “Can you wait a few minutes? I need to verify the situation.”

Lu Nian didn’t hang up the phone, waiting for Zhang Hua’s reply.

Soon, Lu Yang’s voice came from the other end, “Nian Nian, I read that post. It may have been a bit harsh, and you might not be able to accept it for a while, but what they said is true…”

Lu Nian was furious, “You let Zhang Hua answer the phone, I didn’t call you.”

Lu Nian is usually easy-going and gentle, speaking softly, easy to handle.

Lu Yang never expected her to react like this, his face changing rapidly.

Thinking back, from childhood to now, it seems that every time Lu Nian treated him like this, it had something to do with that illegitimate child.

Lu Yang’s fingers tightened.

On the other end, Zhang Hua had already quickly read through the post.

As the senior personal secretary around Lu Zhihong, he naturally knew about Qin Si’s situation.

This was the first time Lu Nian had asked him to do something, and the post did indeed contain harsh words.

If this continued to spread, it would be very detrimental to the reputation of the Lu family and Lu Nian.

So, Zhang Hua immediately contacted the principal, urgently found the forum’s administrator, deleted the posts, and banned the relevant accounts.

Zhang Hua immediately called Lu Nian to inform her, “Everything has been deleted. If anyone spreads such false rumors again, the Lu family’s lawyers will seriously pursue legal action against the rumor-mongers. We have already conveyed this to the relevant personnel.”