Wealthy Woof Chapter 121

Faced with the extra work his boss had added to his plate, Qi Wei couldn’t help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. But as the special assistant, it was naturally his duty to serve his boss in every aspect. Only then would he be worthy of the high salary he received. Even so, he still worried that his boss’s intelligence might drop due to being in love, so he offered a kindly reminder: “It shouldn’t be hard to dig up some dirt on Xing Ze. Even if there’s none, making some up wouldn’t be a problem. But, Boss, do you really want to make a move this directly?”

Lu Chenghe looked at Qi Wei. Qi Wei hurriedly added, “Since Young Master Ning has chosen to walk this path, he’ll inevitably face all kinds of schemes and calculations in the entertainment industry. If I may say something you might not be pleased to hear, how can a person grow if they don’t stumble and fall? Right now, Young Master Ning is still young. Being innocent and pure isn’t a big deal. But what about when he’s twenty or thirty? If he lacks life experience and has been overly protected, I’m afraid that might not be a good thing either.”

Lu Chenghe relaxed his body and leaned slightly against the back of the chair, looking at Qi Wei as he said, “So?”

“So… how about we observe how things develop for now? We can have everything ready, and only step in if it really becomes a threat to Young Master Ning.”

To Qi Wei, this was the most beneficial approach. Since someone was willing to jump out and be a stumbling block, why not use that stone to sharpen the path of life? After all, if one doesn’t learn to lift their feet and gets too used to smooth roads, they might stop watching where they step. If they run into a rock in the future, they might not just stumble, but end up taking a heavy fall.

“If you already know it’s a threat, why let it remain?” Lu Chenghe looked at Qi Wei and asked back, giving a casual, light chuckle. “As long as I’m here, he doesn’t need to grow up.”

Qi Wei was instantly choked speechless. He didn’t even know whether it was the golden dog food that had choked him or his boss’s infuriating tone. That sentence, he really had no way to argue back.

Lu Chenghe tossed Xing Ze’s folder to Qi Wei. “Go take care of it. From now on, anyone who dares to reach out their claws, I’ll chop them off. Once, twice, those people will eventually learn their lesson.”

Just as Lu Chenghe finished speaking, his phone rang.

Qi Wei picked up the file and flipped through it. He was about to head out to get started. As a top-tier special assistant, he now had to handle a PR crisis for a small-time celebrity. It really made him feel unworthy of his high salary. But before he could even turn around, he saw his boss’s face change drastically as he took the call.

Since he’d started working for Lu Chenghe, he had never seen the boss so shaken. In an instant, his own heart jumped up with anxiety. “Boss?”

Lu Chenghe hung up the phone and strode quickly toward the elevator. Qi Wei hurried to catch up. No matter what had happened, he could at least be of some help.

In the makeup room, Yang Shun was applying medicine on Zuo Ning, who had scrapes on both his legs and hands. The whole person sat there dazed, as if his soul had flown away.

By the time Lu Chenghe arrived at the filming set, the entire crew had already been surrounded by reporters. A bunch of police officers were also gathered at the scene, and everyone in the production team wore looks of panic and confusion on their faces.

Upon seeing Lu Chenghe, Bei Xiao immediately came over to greet him and led him toward the makeup room. “Xiao Ning is fine, don’t worry. I already had someone fetch the surveillance footage right away. I’ve also sealed the media’s mouths, but there were quite a few bystanders present when it happened, so I’m afraid it’s already been leaked. As for public relations, I’ve already had people start preparing. Right now, we can only respond as the situation develops.”

Lu Chenghe nodded toward him with a tense face. Qi Wei, following behind, quickly asked, “What exactly happened? Did something happen to Lu Ning?”

Bei Xiao nodded. “A car very clearly came straight at Xiao Ning, but Yang Shun managed to pull him away in time. However, there was a celebrity talking to Xiao Ning at the time, clinging to him. They didn’t realize in time and couldn’t dodge, got hit head-on, and were sent flying. When they were taken to the hospital, they still had one last breath, but it’s unclear whether they’ll survive. That celebrity is currently extremely popular—practically at their peak—with a huge fanbase. If we don’t handle this carefully, the public opinion might become very unfavorable for Xiao Ning.”

Qi Wei let out a breath of relief. “It’s okay, it’s okay. As long as he’s unharmed. No matter what kind of public opinion comes up, even if it’s black, I can have someone turn it white. You go handle your end. If you need anything, just tell me.”

Lu Chenghe pushed open the door to the makeup room and saw Little Pudding sitting on the sofa, with Yang Shun applying medicine for him. The voice he called out with even trembled slightly: “Little Pudding!”

Zuo Ning immediately looked up when he heard Lu Chenghe’s voice. His eyes turned red in an instant, and he leapt up from the sofa, running over and throwing himself into his arms, hugging him tightly: “Chenghe!”

Lu Chenghe held him tightly, breathing in that all-too-familiar scent. Only then did his whole body slowly calm down. “It’s okay now. Don’t be scared, it’s all okay now. Where are you hurt? Does it hurt?”

Once again brushing past death, and this time witnessing with his own eyes someone else getting hit and sent flying—blood everywhere—the originally still trying to act calm Zuo Ning, the moment he saw Lu Chenghe, immediately felt a sense of reliance and support. All the panic and fear that had been forcibly suppressed suddenly erupted uncontrollably, and he broke into tears, crying so hard his face was soaked with them.

Lu Chenghe gently patted his back. “It’s over now. Don’t be afraid. Let me take a look at your injuries.”

Zuo Ning sniffled, stretching out the scrapes on his hands and legs for him to see. “Thank goodness Yang Shun was next to me. I hadn’t even reacted yet when I heard a bang, and that Xing Ze just flew out. Blood was all over the ground. That car even tried to run me over, too. Yang Shun dragged me, and we ran behind a building to hide. That’s how we got away.”

Lu Chenghe reached out and touched his head, checking over the wounds. The scraped areas had already been treated with medicine. It seemed like the situation had been too urgent at the time, and he must have been thrown straight to the ground, which caused the abrasions. “In a bit, we’ll go to the hospital for a checkup. If everything’s okay, we’ll go home.”

Zuo Ning messily wiped away his tears and nodded with a quiet “mm.”

Lu Chenghe pulled out a few tissues and helped wipe off the wet tears from his face. Then he turned his head and asked Yang Shun, who was standing to the side, “What about you? Were you hurt?”

Yang Shun quickly shook his head. “I’m fine.” Someone trained in defense reacts very differently from someone who isn’t when hitting the ground. At the time, he had only been focused on dragging Lu Ning out of the way of the oncoming car. In the rush, he had even pulled Lu Ning into a few rolls across the ground. That’s probably why Lu Ning had those scrapes. As for himself, it was likely just some dirty clothes at most.

Still, now that things had settled a bit, he couldn’t help but feel his legs a little weak. Luckily, he always stuck close to Lu Ning. Otherwise, just based on Lu Ning’s reaction time today, he would’ve definitely ended up like Xing Ze. And if that had happened, he might not even have known how he died. With the boss’s level of danger, once he went into a rage, his destructive power was absolutely Godzilla-level.

Just as Yang Shun was about to open the door to check whether the crowd at the entrance had dispersed, Bei Xiao suddenly walked in and looked at the few of them, saying, “That celebrity who got hit by the car… didn’t make it.”

Zuo Ning’s face turned pale. He looked toward Lu Chenghe in a panic, filled with unease. That car had come for him. Xing Ze was someone who had died because of him, even if indirectly.

Lu Chenghe pulled Little Pudding into his arms, wrapping him tightly and covering his cold hands. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Bei Xiao said, “Right now, only the police are still handling the scene. The reporters have all rushed to the hospital. There are barely any people at the back door, so you two should leave through there first. I’ve already spoken with the director. During this period, Xiao Ning can rest at home. But the police station might ask Xiao Ning and Yang Shun to come in and make a statement.”

Lu Chenghe nodded. “I’ll have someone handle things with the police. Everything else, I’ll leave to you.” After saying that, he took Little Pudding and left first. They went to the hospital for a checkup. Once it was confirmed that he only had a few superficial scrapes, Lu Chenghe finally felt relieved enough to bring him home.

Meanwhile, on the internet, news of this incident was already flooding every corner. But even with people posting photos of the scene showing blood all over the ground, no one believed it. Everyone treated the reports as some kind of hoax. Just an hour ago, that person had posted on Weibo saying they’d finally gotten off work after a long day. How could they suddenly be dead?

Bei Xiao had already rushed to handle the situation at the first possible moment. That car had clearly been aiming for Lu Ning. If Xing Ze hadn’t come over to talk to him, he wouldn’t have been caught up in this disaster out of nowhere. But if someone posted a video showing the entire incident from start to finish, and Xing Ze’s fans realized that Xing Ze had died purely because he was implicated by Lu Ning, then as long as Lu Ning stayed in the entertainment industry, this matter would always be brought up. For Lu Ning, that would definitely not be a good thing. And if they encountered some more fanatical fans, who knew what terrifying things they might do?

Lu Chenghe didn’t take Little Pudding back to the new house they’d bought outside. Instead, he brought him directly back to the manor.
Returning to this familiar place, Zuo Ning’s tightly wound nerves finally began to ease a little, but he still couldn’t stop crying. The tears just kept falling without end.

Lu Chenghe wiped his tears and teased him, “What are you, a faucet that can’t be turned off?”

Zuo Ning sat on the bed, face pale. “I killed him, Chenghe. Someone’s dead. He died. It was my fault. What do I do? If… if I’d pushed him a little at that moment, maybe he wouldn’t have died?”

From childhood until now, Zuo Ning had barely even gotten into fights. This incident had impacted him too much, especially witnessing a living, breathing person die right in front of him. He didn’t like Xing Ze. He really had been annoyed earlier when Xing Ze was pestering him to talk. But that didn’t mean he wanted him dead. Even now, he still felt dazed. How had things ended up like this?

Lu Chenghe directly pulled him into his arms, using a damp towel to wipe his face. “How do you know that person was targeting you? Did you offend someone?”

Zuo Ning spoke with a heavily stuffy nose, “I didn’t offend anyone… except… except for that one person from your family—the one still in graduate school. We had some friction, but other than that, I haven’t offended anyone. That car today… It hit Xing Ze and still came at me. I hadn’t even gotten up after being thrown to the ground by Yang Shun before he dragged me a good distance to avoid the car when it came back again. But that driver kept chasing me down, trying to hit me. If Yang Shun hadn’t pulled me into the building, and if the crowd hadn’t gotten bigger and bigger, that person probably wouldn’t have stopped until I was dead. Isn’t that clearly targeted at me?”

Lu Chenghe said, “The truth of the matter hasn’t been fully investigated yet. That person was so vicious. Maybe he’s just mentally unstable. Or maybe his real target was that Xing Ze from the beginning, and you were just unlucky to be on the scene, so he wanted to kill you as a witness.”

Zuo Ning stared blankly at Lu Chenghe, unable to process what he had just said.

Lu Chenghe rubbed his head. “Don’t think about it anymore. Drink your milk.”

Zuo Ning shook his head. “I don’t want to. I feel dizzy and uncomfortable. My stomach’s upset. I can’t drink it.”

Lu Chenghe picked up the cup and held it to his lips. “Be good. Just drink a little.”

Zuo Ning was already used to listening to Lu Chenghe. Seeing that he insisted, he could only open his mouth. But he really couldn’t drink much, and only managed half a cup.

Lu Chenghe stayed by his side like that, watching over him until the medicine started to take effect and he slowly drifted off to sleep. Then he pulled the blanket up over him and stepped out onto the balcony to make a phone call.

Over on the other end, busy investigating the incident, Qi Wei quickly answered when he saw it was the boss calling. “All the videos are in my hands now. But the police also took a copy. I’ve already spoken with the higher-ups—that footage definitely won’t leak. We also found the car, but the vehicle’s totaled, and the driver died. I just need a bit more time. I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Lu Chenghe said, “Look into the Tang family.”

Qi Wei paused briefly, then agreed. He was just about to hang up when the boss added, “Also, the target of this incident was that celebrity. Lu Ning was merely caught in it. As for what kind of grudge the killer had with the deceased, you figure out how to arrange that.”

Lu Chenghe hung up the phone. When he turned around and saw Little Pudding fast asleep, his gaze immediately turned cold. Looks like the Lu family had been peaceful for too long. Now that the elders were gone, the younger generation had yet to understand the bloodline of the Lu family and what it meant.

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