For students, the happiest thing in life is having a holiday. For a student with only three months of courses, the happiest thing, naturally, is completing the course. To help him become more familiar with this society, Lu Chenghe actually enrolled him in a modern history course. One must know, Zuo Ning had grown up listening to history classes and falling asleep. He thought Lu Chenghe might as well have enrolled him in a language course—in the very least, that’s a skill. Who would want to know about those things like movement, revolution, modernization progress history, and the like?
When the final class ended, quite a few people swarmed to that Professor Jin. Some more sentimental girls even had red eyes as they handed over gifts.
Zuo Ning, feeling completely relaxed, packed his textbooks into his bag, humming a tune in a great mood. That long-missed feeling of a long vacation made him feel very delighted.
Beside him, Lu Nianqi was resting his chin on the table, just like that, watching him. He spoke with a trace of regret: “From now on, we won’t be able to attend class together anymore. When the new semester starts, you’ll be going to the film academy for classes, right?”
Zuo Ning nodded: “Even if we can’t attend class together, we can still hang out. If you’re free during the holidays, you can come find me anytime to hang out—so long as I haven’t taken on a new drama.”
Lu Nianqi asked, “When is the show you previously filmed going to be released? Once your show is out, you’ll be a celebrity. At that point, going out and everything probably won’t be so convenient anymore.”
Zuo Ning shrugged: “I don’t know either. That’s not something I pay attention to anyway. The contract I signed clearly states that if it’s not voluntary, I don’t have to participate in any promotion.”
This was the first time Lu Nianqi had heard of such a contract. He couldn’t help but blur out: “There’s even something like that? I’ve heard that for a lot of movies, when they release, the male and female leads are required to promote everywhere and do road shows. If you do things this way, won’t people stop inviting you to act in their films in the future? Sometimes cooperating with promotion can help increase your visibility, too. If you really like being a star, why refuse it?”
Zuo Ning sighed: “That’s because I don’t even know what I’m capable of doing. I used to think about opening a pet shop. But unless I’m just the investor and hire professionals to handle the animals—basically being a hands-off boss—otherwise, I’d need to study veterinary medicine. But if I had to hold a knife and operate on cats and dogs, I feel like I definitely couldn’t do it. And if I just end up as a hands-off boss, then what’s the point of it all? Thinking it over and over, out of so many professions, it seems like the only one I’ve ever actually come into contact with is acting.”
After all, just being able to communicate with dogs doesn’t necessarily make one a good veterinarian. If he didn’t become a vet and only worked as a pet shop owner, he felt that the pets in his store probably wouldn’t sell—not even a single one. Because once you can communicate with them, you develop feelings, and then you can’t bear to part with them. So, for him, that wasn’t a good career choice.
After Zuo Ning finished speaking, he turned to ask Lu Nianqi: “What about you? Have you ever thought about what you want to do in the future?”
Lu Nianqi smiled: “I want to open a bookstore, sell some coffee and desserts. I want it to be on a sunlit street corner, and I’ll keep a few cats in the shop.”
“Why not dogs? Don’t tell me, you like cats more than dogs?”
Lu Nianqi couldn’t help but laugh: “Dogs are more suited to staying at home for companionship. I feel like cats go better with coffee. It’s not that I like one more than the other. Honestly, I like all these little animals.”
Zuo Ning snorted: “They do go better together. Cat poop can even be brewed into coffee. That’s definitely not possible with dogs.”
Lu Nianqi let out a soft laugh. Looking at Zuo Ning, he could only feel that this was probably because he’d spent too much time with Second Brother, and with that Little Pudding at home too, so Zuo Ning preferred dogs more than cats.
As the two were chatting, Ding Rui walked over, smiled at them, and said, “Now that the course is over, let’s exchange contact info. We got to know each other after all. Who knows, maybe fate will let us meet again in the future.”
Seeing that what Ding Rui handed over was a QQ number, Zuo Ning wrote down a number too—one he had re-applied for recently. On his account now, the only contact was Lu Chenghe. But the people Lu Chenghe needed to contact were mostly overseas business partners, so he basically didn’t use this kind of domestic communication platform. Even that QQ number had been registered by Zuo Ning for Lu Chenghe.
Seeing two more names appear in his contacts list, Zuo Ning smiled and put away his phone. He glanced at the time, picked up his bag, and said to the two of them, “I’m heading off first. Let’s grab a meal sometime when we’re free.”
However, halfway there, Zuo Ning was stopped by someone. The scene felt almost like déjà vu. Last time, it had been Lu Nianqi who was stopped; this time, it was him.
Looking at the person in front of him, Zuo Ning deliberately tensed his face and said coldly, “What do you want?”
Lu Jinsheng stared hard at Zuo Ning, his gaze even carrying a trace of hostility: “Last time, you did it on purpose, didn’t you? Did you deliberately embarrass me? Deliberately made it impossible for me to step down? Deliberately humiliated me in front of so many people!”
Zuo Ning let out a mocking laugh: “You really think too highly of yourself. Do you think you’re worth us going out of our way to do all that just for you? I think you’re just way too full of yourself. But then again, you can’t climb into higher circles, so all you can do is hang around with a bunch of people beneath you, people who try to curry favor with you. You’ve gotten so used to being flattered that you think the whole world should revolve around you?”
Lu Jinsheng: “You—!”
Zuo Ning gave a cold snort: “What, ‘you’? I think there’s really something wrong with you. Lu Nianqi didn’t even provoke you, but you stopped him and went on a whole rant full of condescending words. And now what—now you’ve come to stop me? What are you trying to do by stopping me? Curse me out, too, then make me get down on my knees and sob, saying I was wrong for not putting you in my eyes? Are you stupid or something?”
In all his life, Lu Jinsheng had never met someone like this—sharp-tongued, venomous, and totally unafraid! Just as Zuo Ning had said, there were indeed some circles he couldn’t break into, so he had no choice but to mix with people who were less than him. But he had grown to enjoy that feeling of being praised and surrounded by admirers. Now that someone had torn through all that so bluntly, all he wanted was to rip apart the mouth in front of him!
After what happened last time, though plenty of people still surrounded him with praise, Lu Jinsheng always felt like they were flattering him to his face but mocking him behind his back. Even the way they looked at him carried a trace of ridicule.
These past few days, he had thought a lot. With the kind of person Lu Chenghe was, it was absolutely impossible that he’d do something so rude and inappropriate. Even though he and his older cousin had never had much interaction, he’d never done anything to offend him either. So for Lu Chenghe to act that way, it must have been because he was incited by Lu Nianqi and the others.
He was convinced that this whole thing had to be Zuo Ning stirring up trouble behind the scenes! After all, Lu Nianqi had only come back partway through. From what he saw that day, Lu Chenghe was clearly more familiar with Zuo Ning. With Lu Nianqi’s level of influence, there was no way he could make Lu Chenghe act like that, so it could only have been Zuo Ning.
Lu Jinsheng suppressed his urge to use force and said, “I’ve got no grudge or hatred with you. Why did you do that to me?”
“What did I even do? I think you’ve got a persecution complex or something. Seriously, this is ridiculous.” Zuo Ning said this and then prepared to walk around him and leave—who knew if this guy might suddenly go crazy and bite him.
Lu Jinsheng reached out, trying to stop him. Zuo Ning reacted quickly and took a step back: “I’m warning you—this is school. Do you believe I won’t scream and draw everyone’s attention over here so they can see a lunatic like you going crazy in public?”
Lu Jinsheng felt like the self-control he had cultivated over his twenty-some years had completely collapsed in this moment. He had never felt such a strong urge to hit someone. He didn’t even know why he’d come here today to block Zuo Ning. He just felt especially irritated. Everything he had worked so hard to build had been completely destroyed because of that one move Lu Chenghe made that day. But he couldn’t go confront Lu Chenghe about it, so all he could do was vent through other people.
Seeing Lu Jinsheng’s expression suddenly twist, Zuo Ning was really afraid he’d snap and go feral, so he turned around and tried to run.
Lu Jinsheng instinctively reached out to grab his arm. Naturally, Zuo Ning struggled to avoid him. Somehow, whether intentionally or not, Lu Jinsheng had kept his nails long. Zuo Ning suddenly felt a sharp pain on his arm. Seeing how Lu Jinsheng was so inexplicably insistent on clinging to him, Zuo Ning completely lost it. He threw his bag down on the ground: “F**k this! Just because I don’t resort to violence, you think I’m easy to bully, is that it?!”
The moment Zuo Ning finished speaking, he saw Lu Jinsheng’s face twist in shock as he backed up a step. Zuo Ning didn’t care about his reaction at all. Being blocked over and over like this, even a clay Buddha would get angry. He raised his fist, ready to throw a punch.
Unfortunately, just as his fist was rising, it was wrapped in the palm of a hand. He turned his head. Lu Chenghe had somehow appeared behind him, his expression as cold as falling shards of ice as he looked at him.
Zuo Ning, who had just been burning with rage, was instantly extinguished like a flame doused in water, leaving only a puff of white smoke above his head. He looked at Lu Chenghe with a pitiful expression: “He—he was bullying me.”
Lu Chenghe pulled Little Pudding behind him and looked toward Lu Jinsheng: “Why were you stopping him? What were you trying to do?”
Lu Jinsheng hadn’t expected Lu Chenghe to show up. Faced with this man who controlled the economic lifeline of the Lu family, he instinctively felt afraid: “Cousin… Cousin…”
Lu Chenghe’s expression didn’t change. He just repeated the question in an even colder tone: “Why were you stopping him? What were you trying to do?”
Lu Jinsheng felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat. At this moment, he really wanted to turn and run, but he had no idea what might happen afterward if he did. Under Lu Chenghe’s piercing, oppressive gaze, Lu Jinsheng had no choice but to brace himself and say, “I—I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding between me and him, so I wanted to clear it up.”
Zuo Ning stood behind Lu Chenghe, rolling his eyes hard. Sure enough, people who’ve read books really are different. Lying straight to someone’s face without even blinking? Smooth as anything.
Upon hearing those words, Lu Chenghe’s gaze turned even colder: “Since when did talking things out require using your hands instead of your mouth?”
Lu Jinsheng didn’t know how to respond for a moment. Lu Chenghe clearly had no interest in hearing any more lies: “If you still want to study properly, then cause less trouble at school. Your surname might be Lu, but that doesn’t mean the name makes you superior to others. Don’t disgrace your grandfather’s reputation.”
After he finished speaking, Lu Chenghe didn’t even spare a glance at Lu Jinsheng, whose face had gone deathly pale. He directly grabbed Little Pudding and left. Thankfully, he had specifically come to pick him up today since it was his last class. Otherwise, Zuo Ning might’ve ended up going home with bruises.
Zuo Ning only felt deeply gratified that Lu Chenghe had stood up for him. Just look at that guy—face pale as a sheet, nothing left of the overbearing attitude he had when blocking his way earlier. He was feeling completely triumphant when he suddenly heard Lu Chenghe’s voice turn icy cold: “Three months of classes and I still don’t know how much you’ve learned. But you seem to be quite talented at swearing and picking fights.”
Looking at Lu Chenghe’s unfriendly expression, Zuo Ning could only scream internally: Oh f**k… I’m doomed.
And here I was hoping Lu Jinsheng was shocked because Zuo Ning had grown a set of menacing fangs because he was too angry 🤣