Chapter Sixty: That Would Be Quite Strange Indeed

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Lu Jingyao, driven by a sense of justice, wanted Xia Yue to call Wen Leyu, but Xia Yue hesitated and refused.

“I... I’m afraid to go. I’m scared of Li Ye.”

“Why?”

Lu Jingyao looked at Xia Yue with puzzlement. Her best friend had once been a squad leader and class monitor for three years; she had always been bold and fearless before, never saying she was “afraid.”

Lowering her head, Xia Yue spoke with grievance, “Li Ye and I clashed over studies... I don’t know what he said to the teacher, but the teacher forced me to call my parents before letting me go... I just want to finish the college entrance exam smoothly...”

One had to admit, the experienced Xia Yue spoke with cunning—just a few words had painted Li Ye as a ruthless bully.

“No... that can’t be true,” Lu Jingyao said in disbelief. Although Li Ye had a temper and occasionally got into fights, it was impossible for him to behave so arrogantly.

But then Zhou Chenggong from Class One approached and began to complain tearfully.

“What Xia Yue said is true. I accidentally called him by his nickname once, and he dragged me out in front of the whole class. When my family came, they almost had to kneel to him...”

“Yeah, Lu Jingyao,” the class monitor Jin Shengli squeezed forward, indignantly adding, “Since you left, Li Ye has changed completely. He’s cold and ruthless to classmates. Everyone just wants to ask him a few questions about the tests, but it’s chaos in the class...”

“Yeah, yeah, Lu Jingyao, you have to do something about Li Ye! He acts like a big shot just because he’s a writer...”

“A so-called writer, he’s really... uh, uh.”

“........”

Several classmates came forward to complain to Lu Jingyao, revealing a scene of collective unrest and stirring in her a strange sense of responsibility.

She didn’t want to confront Li Ye, but judging by the crowd’s mood, everyone had “suffered Li Ye’s tyranny” for a long time and was waiting for her to uphold justice!

“Alright, Xia Yue, you lead me there. I want to talk to Li Ye,” Lu Jingyao finally made up her mind.

But Xia Yue shook her head vigorously.

She was bad, but not stupid.

After several confrontations, she had come to realize that against absolute power, her class monitor’s little reputation was useless; a director grandfather alone could keep Li Ye invincible.

Yet Xia Yue was unwilling to give up. Though the class seemed peaceful over the past month, her thirst for revenge had never faded.

When a woman goes mad, she becomes utterly unreasonable. Xia Yue was like a wasp with stingers, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Now with Lu Jingyao’s sudden return, it was a golden opportunity handed to her.

Xia Yue knew Lu Jingyao well—she was Li Ye’s natural enemy and fiercely self-reliant and proud. Even if she clashed with Li Ye, she would bear all consequences alone, never dragging Xia Yue into it.

Wen Leyu’s special relationship with Lu Jingyao and his significant role in Li Ye’s novel meant that if Lu Jingyao acted rashly, she might cement Li Ye’s reputation as a plagiarist, dooming him forever and implicating his grandfather too.

“Xia Yue, don’t be afraid. You lead me there. I’ll take full responsibility,” Lu Jingyao assured her.

But Xia Yue still refused. Lu Jingyao then looked at Jin Shengli and Zhou Chenggong, but both retreated timidly, leaving her incredulous.

However, someone finally stepped forward.

“I’ll take you. I know where Li Ye is.”

Lu Jingyao looked and saw it was He Weiguo.

He Weiguo had courted her in first year, so Lu Jingyao didn’t have a good impression of him, but with no one else willing to go, she reluctantly agreed.

Li Ye’s off-campus study room was behind the grain store, which was no secret. The two arrived quickly.

But upon arrival, He Weiguo was surprised. “It wasn’t like this before!”

The grain store’s backyard walls had just been renovated, and at the entrance, a guard room had been built.

Inside, a scar-faced man in his forties snarled at Lu Jingyao and He Weiguo, “Who are you looking for?”

Calmly, Lu Jingyao answered, “I’m looking for Wen Leyu.”

The scar-faced man replied, “Wen Leyu isn’t here. Leave quickly!”

“.........”

Lu Jingyao finally lost her temper.

What was this place? A small grain store with guards?

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Is this a prison?

Lu Jingyao came to find Li Ye feeling a bit uneasy, but now she felt emboldened.

“I’m looking for Li Ye!”

The scar-faced man tossed her a registration book.

“Li Ye’s not here. Write your name, workplace, home address, and contact info here. We’ll notify him when he returns.”

Suppressing her anger, Lu Jingyao snapped, “My name is Lu Jingyao. I know Li Ye is inside. Notify him now.”

“..........”

...

When the scar-faced man notified Li Ye, he and Hu Man were preparing to eat.

Li Ye’s expression was strange. “Lu Jingyao? What is she doing here?”

The scar-faced man said, “I don’t know, but it seems she’s not here for a friendly visit.”

“Ha~”

Li Ye chuckled and shook his head. “Gu Shu, you’ve listened to too many folk tales. There’s no such thing as ‘not here for a friendly visit.’”

Gu Jin Qiang shook his head. “Li Ye, don’t be naive. That woman came like a firecracker. I should just send her away!”

“No need. Let her in,” Li Ye dismissed Gu Shu’s concern with indifference.

A few days ago, after Li Dayong reported the final exam results to Director Li Zhongfa, the director took immediate action, designating the grain store as a key protected site, building the guard room, and sending Gu Jin Qiang there.

Gu Jin Qiang was a retired firefighter injured in a blaze, very disciplined. If he barred entry, no one could enter.

But now Li Ye didn’t care, so there was nothing Gu Shu could do.

...

Lu Jingyao finally entered the grain store’s small backyard, but He Weiguo remained outside.

A big yellow dog barked furiously at Lu Jingyao, giving her a chilling feeling like “No. 72.”

Yet when Lu Jingyao lifted the curtain and entered the small storeroom, everything reversed.

Inside, warmth and the fragrant aroma of rice and dishes filled the room.

Near the stove stood Jiang Xiaoyan, clutching a spatula tightly, glaring at Lu Jingyao as if ready to strike her.

Hu Man, Han Xia, Fu Yingjie, and others, who Li Ye had “lured” out, all cast sharp, wary glances, as if Lu Jingyao was the real offender.

A tall, upright figure about 1.8 meters stepped before Lu Jingyao.

“Long time no see~~”

The familiar voice reached Lu Jingyao’s ears but sounded so unfamiliar.

Li Ye’s tone was cold and detached, unlike the warmth she remembered.

If not for his still handsome face, Lu Jingyao might have thought she had mistaken him.

[No, he seems... even more handsome now.]

Lu Jingyao’s confidence wavered suddenly.

Then Li Ye’s words snapped her fully awake.

“What do you want from me?”

[What do you mean, ‘What do you want from me?’ You’re the one who used to pester me for no reason.]

Before, Li Ye always greeted Lu Jingyao with joy. How could he now question her like this?

His icy words seemed to push her a million miles away.

“I do have something to discuss,” Lu Jingyao tried to steady herself, silently repeating, “I’m a university student, I’m a university student.”

“I heard people say that Li Ye, you use your family’s wealth to attract some classmates to study off-campus, causing their grades to slip...”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“.........”

Lu Jingyao’s words were cut off by a sharp retort—not from Li Ye, but Hu Man.

Lu Jingyao stared at Hu Man in shock, unable to understand her “fall from grace.”

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Lu Jingyao knew Hu Man’s grades had slipped badly; last year she failed to get into university due to poor results, and now she had declined further, yet she said, “What does it have to do with you?”

So Lu Jingyao sternly said, “Hu Man, even though cabbage stewed with meat is delicious, it’s insignificant compared to your grades.”

“Hey, hey, Lu Jingyao, don’t say nonsense!” Li Dayong pulled the angry Hu Man aside, grinning mischievously. “We don’t actually eat much cabbage stew because it’s not tasty. Usually, we have pork knuckle with soybeans, sauerkraut fish, twice-cooked pork...”

“..........”

Lu Jingyao was dumbfounded. She knew most of these classmates well—what had they become?

Jiang Xiaoyan lifted the pot lid, saying, “We’re having beef stew with radish today. Li Ye said it’s nutritious and delicious, best with rice... Want some?”

Lu Jingyao: “.........”

Jiang Xiaoyan slammed the lid back down coldly. “Sorry, no extra bowls.”

[He’s still the same, still likes to corrupt hearts with material things.]

Lu Jingyao’s body trembled twice, memories she preferred not to recall flooded back.

Back then, she thought Li Ye was simple-minded, but his family’s wealth was overwhelming.

His goofy smile and the constant offering of scarce goods won over her family, who saw him as a perfect son-in-law, without considering her feelings at all.

[Fortunately, I have broken free from fate and now control my destiny.]

Feeling stronger, Lu Jingyao looked at Li Ye expressionlessly.

“Li Ye, I can’t manage your affairs nor do I want to, but Wen Leyu—I’m taking her away.”

“.........”

Her statement stunned not only Li Ye but also Hu Man, Li Dayong, and the others.

[Who the hell do you think you are?]

Li Ye’s face grew colder as he asked sternly, “What gives you the right to say that?”

Lu Jingyao lifted her chin and said seriously, “I met Teacher Ke in the capital. He entrusted me to take care of Wen Leyu. I can’t let her grow up under your influence.”

“Says who’s not growing up well?”

“Yeah, explain yourself, or we’ll rip your mouth apart today.”

Hu Man and Han Xia erupted in anger. If not for Li Dayong and others holding them back, they would have attacked Lu Jingyao.

In the 1980s, people valued marital fidelity highly. Some would say Lu Jingyao was strong-willed, but many thought she shameless.

Hu Man was one of the latter.

“Enough, quiet down.”

Li Ye gently silenced the furious Hu Man and others, then looked coldly at Lu Jingyao.

“Are you sure Teacher Ke entrusted you to look after Wen Leyu?”

Lu Jingyao nodded gravely. “I’m absolutely sure. In the capital, I personally escorted Teacher Ke to his inn.”

“That’s strange then.”

Li Ye smiled faintly and turned to take a telegram from his bag, handing it to Lu Jingyao.

She looked at him in surprise, then lowered her eyes to the telegram.

[I have arrived in the capital. Don’t worry. Please take care of Leyu. Thank you!]

The telegram was brief, charged by word count.

But those few words exploded in Lu Jingyao’s mind.

She clearly saw the telegram was addressed to Li Ye.

So the “someone else” Teacher Ke said he had entrusted Wen Leyu to in the capital...

Was actually Li Ye?

[No wonder I always felt something was off with Teacher Ke. So he too despised me?]

Silence fell in the small storeroom.

Hu Man and the others were furious but saw Lu Jingyao grow pale, her hands trembling as she held the telegram.

They exchanged uncertain glances, unsure if they should drive her out.

Wen Leyu stepped out from behind and walked to Lu Jingyao’s side.

“Come with me. Let’s talk.”