Chapter 58

“Nope. Also, do you have any news on how the school has decided to punish Lu Yifei?”

Ji Xiaonian had asked the head counselor earlier, but he had ignored her question. As a result, she was clueless as to how the institution would choose to punish Lu Yifei.

However, regardless of their decision, Ji Xiaonian was determined to reduce Lu Yifei’s punishment as much as possible.

“The school hasn’t made any announcement yet, and the upper management is keeping their lips sealed about the matter. In my opinion, I think Lu Yifei’s in the clear!” Yu Shengjie answered.

In truth, what Yu Shengjie heard was that one of the higher-ups had already secretly handled the Lu Yifei case. The person had ordered the institution to quell all the rumors surrounding Lu Yifei as soon as possible, and to pin the blame onto some of the students.

As a result, all the school newspapers and the sites relating to the institution had been scrubbed clean of Lu Yifei’s presence.

Yu Shengjie was certain that it was Ji Chen’s handiwork!

After all, there was no one else who had the resources to do so.

“It’s been settled?” Ji Xiaonian raised her eyebrows and stared suspiciously at Yu Shengjie. “That’s impossible. Our institution prides itself on its reputation. I doubt that they’ll let him off the hook that easily, especially since he’s caused such a major stir!”

“Maybe they’re trying to prevent it from blowing up?”

He gently patted her shoulder, and with a faint smile, continued, “It’s a good thing that the management has shown no response. If you’re really that worried for him, I think you should call him up and ask whether he needs our help instead.”

“Okay, I’ll give a call now.”

Ji Xiaonian dug out her phone and hurriedly keyed in Lu Yifei’s number.

She had attempted to call Lu Yifei earlier, but her calls had never connected. This time though, not only did the call connect on her first try, the person had even answered the call.

Ji Xiaonian hurriedly exclaimed, “Yifei, are you alright? Where are you? Has your mood improved?”

The man’s voice from the other end of the phone was sullen. “I’m fine. Don’t worry too much about me. I’ll be wandering alone for the next few days, and I’ll return after some time.”

“Huh? Don’t you need to attend your classes? It seems that the school has decided not to penalize you or anything, so you should be fine if you return.”

“I’ve already decided to drop out of school. Xiaonian, I appreciate your concern for me. If we are to meet again, I’ll definitely repay you for your kindness. Goodbye, I’m going to hang up now.”

“Huh? Drop out? Wait, you…”

“Toot… Toot…”

Without waiting for Ji Xiaonian’s response, Lu Yifei hung up on the phone.

Ji Xiaonian stared at Yu Shengjie in surprise, and her eyes were glazed over. “He… He said that he’s dropping out of school.”

Yu Shengjie heaved a sigh, but aside from that, he made no other comments.

‘Perhaps, dropping out is the best form of liberation for him!’

Ji Xiaonian lowered her head miserably. Her heart had ached for Lu Yifei.

She felt that Lu Yifei was a great individual, but just as she had started to get close to him, he left.

If she were to ever find out about the b*stard who did this to him, Ji Xiaonian swore to herself, that she would chop that man to pieces with a butcher knife.

“I’m going to return to my dorm now. You should get some rest as well.” Ji Xiaonian grumbled unhappily before turning her back on Yu Shengjie.

Yu Shengjie had only left the area once the little girl’s silhouette had faded into the distance.

…

In the blink of an eye, another week had gone by.

Back at the Bai Residence.

Bai Yan had just returned from the office, and just as he arrived in the living room, he could hear his parents complaining about him.

“Life these days is truly torturous. After all that effort in bringing Fang Miaoling over, I can’t believe Lil Bai had sent her overseas! Plus, it’s been a while since Lil Niannian had last visited. It’s so boring at home, and this overwhelming dullness is about to suffocate me to death!”

“It’s all your fault for giving birth to such a boring child! Other people’s sons spend their days hooking up and bringing home plenty of women, but why is ours so damn unenlightened?”

“Sigh, are you blaming me for not giving birth properly? Bai Qilin, I think that the problem lies with you. After all, you were the one who allowed him to hang out with Ji Chen back then, and now, just look at the results, our son prefers male partners instead!”

Ji Yun glared at her husband with a reddened face.

Bai Qilin responded with a look of helplessness. “What am I supposed to do if he really likes Ji Chen? Worst comes to worst, we’ll allow him to be in a relationship with Ji Chen. After all, having Xiaonian as our daughter-in-law sounds pretty nice!”

“You! It’s one thing to not come up with any ideas, but I can’t believe that you’ll allow our son to date another man.”

Ji Yun was so mad that she could puke blood. She had even considered throwing the cup on the tray at her husband.

Bai Yan had just made it to the entrance of the living room at this point, but when he saw his mother’s actions, he immediately ran over to her and restrained her.

“Father, mother, can you guys just stop that for a moment?”‘What do they mean by me liking males? Also, do they really think they could stop me if I really liked Ji Chen?’

‘But nevermind that, the main problem now is that I’m a perfectly straight male!’

‘I really don’t understand what these two old folks are constantly worrying about.’

“So, you’ve finally returned.”

Ji Yun turned around and glared at Bai Yan. With her chest puffed, she warned, “I’m warning you, Lil Bai. You had better get yourself a girlfriend, otherwise, don’t you blame me for arranging a blind date for you.”

Bai Yan grabbed the cup from his mother’s hand, and after returning it to the tray, he loosened the button on his collar and plopped himself onto the sofa behind him.

After pouring himself a cup of tea elegantly and taking a sip from it, he then raised his head and looked at his mother. “A blind date? Didn’t you already choose a certain individual for me? What’s the matter now? Are you having second thoughts?”

Upon hearing those words, Ji Yun immediately sat back down and looked at her son. “Did-Didn’t you hate Xiaonian?”

Bai Yan took another sip of his tea. He had chosen not to answer her question.

From the way his son was acting, Bai Qilin had seemed to understand his son’s thoughts. He hurriedly asked, “Lil Bai, have you finally thought it through? Or, could you finally understand the voices in your heart?”

A moment of silence later, Bai Yan then rose to his feet and answered, “I have a video conference to attend. I’m going to head upstairs now.”

After taking two steps and noticing that his parents had yet to respond, he then turned around and reminded them, “If you’re lamenting on how boring our house is, then why don’t you call someone over to accompany you. After all, the holidays are arriving soon.”

He did not state his intentions clearly, nor did he mention that person’s name. All he did was remind his parents, and with that, he continued heading upstairs.

Ji Yun and Bai Qilin were no idiots. They exchanged looks with one another as if they had understood their son’s intentions.

Ji Yun shouted at her son, “Alright, but since you’re the one who’s calling Xiaonian over, you’d better not treat her poorly when I call her over, alright?”

Bai Yan remained silent as he continued heading upwards.

Despite that, Ji Yun understood what Bai Yan had meant. Her son was a dull individual, and whenever he remained silent, it had usually meant that he had given his approval.

Ji Yun excitedly brought out her phone and gave Ji Xiaonian a call.

It was the evening at that point in time, and Ji Xiaonian was tasting the delicacies that Yu Shengjie had prepared for her!

Her phone rang, and when she noticed that it was a call from Aunty, Ji Xiaonian hesitated for a moment before answering the call.

“Hello Aunty,” Ji Xiaonian greeted in a sweet tone.

Ji Yun was perfectly fine. However, she pretended to be deathly ill. In a sickly voice, she responded, “I-Is this X-Xiaonian? Aunty’s been feeling under the weather for the past few days, and because of it, I haven’t been able to visit you lately. You don’t blame Aunty for this, right?”

The moment that she heard that Aunty was sick, Ji Xiaonian’s heart began to thump rapidly.

She hastily rose to her feet, and in a concerned voice, she asked, “Are you okay, Aunty? Why did you get sick all of a sudden? Did you go to the hospital yet? What did the doctors say?”

Note:

The chapter title if translated literally would mean “a bitter meat strategy”. It’s a type of strategy employed historically in China where one inflicts an injury on themselves as a ruse to win the enemy’s confidence, or a trick for one to gain something by enduring the injuries.