CH 062

TL: Moonlit

Wan Li Shuang laughed with anger.

From childhood to adulthood, Li Yuan had always relied on his family’s power to act tyrannically, using campus violence to force others to transfer schools, which had happened more than once. He had even broken someone’s leg and compensated them with two hundred thousand yuan to settle the matter.

Zhou Yuntang knew all about these incidents, but he would only advise Li Yuan with teary eyes and had never scolded him for abusing his power.

But when it came to someone Zhou Yuntang didn’t like, he readily threw one accusation after another, as if not accepting an apology and not forgiving Li Yuan were some unforgivable sins.

Wan Li Shuang sneered, “Yes, I am capricious, and I do abuse my power. If you can’t stand me, why don’t you ask your family to help your good friend?”

“My big brother said that your family is busy dealing with the Li family, and he can’t help,” Zhou Yuntang’s voice was sweet and gentle, even when he was loudly accusing, it didn’t sound like he was cursing. “You’ve gone too far. Just because Yuanyuan made a little mistake, you’re using such ruthless means against him. You’re so cruel.”

“Me? Cruel?” Wan Li Shuang laughed with anger. “The Zhou family is no less influential than the Wan family. If your family wants to help the Li family, it’s just a small matter for you. As long as you take action, based on my mother’s character that prioritizes benefits, she will stop soon. But instead of trying to help, you’re just standing here, trying to morally coerce me. So, isn’t Li Yuan your good friend?”

Immediately, the gazes of the people present became strange when they looked at Zhou Yuntang.

Everyone more or less disliked Li Yuan’s domineering personality, but he and Zhou Yuntang had a good relationship. If Zhou Yuntang was ‘bullied’, he would be the first to stand up for him.

Everyone present knew that the two of them had grown up together and had a good relationship. This time, Li Yuan was targeted by Wan Li Shuang for Zhou Yuntang’s sake, so why hadn’t Zhou Yuntang intervened?

With Zhou Yuntang’s status in the Zhou family, it would only take a word.

Instead, it was Wan Li Shuang, who was known to be unfriendly and unlikable, who was willing to help his friend. In contrast, Zhou Yuntang, who had always been kind and innocent, did nothing for his best friend when he faced trouble…

Under everyone’s gaze, Zhou Yuntang felt a little panicked. He explained, “My big brother said that our family has a tense relationship with the Wan family. If he intervenes, the two giant entities will clash, and it won’t be easy to extricate ourselves.”

The people present were all students, although their families had some power, they had some understanding of power struggles. However, they didn’t know the specifics. Hearing Zhou Yuntang’s explanation, they were puzzled, but they also understood.

If the Zhou family and the Wan family clashed, the entire Nanping City would tremble, and it would somehow affect their own families. No one wanted that.

“When two big companies have overlapping business, friction is certain. It’s all normal commercial competition,” a cold voice rang out, “Once it’s found to be more trouble than it’s worth, the company’s professional evaluation will submit a report to stop malicious competition… Businessmen always prioritize benefits. Once the Wan family takes action, if the Zhou family remains silent, there’s only one possibility.”

“The Zhou family also wants a piece of the pie.”

This statement seemed to make sense! But it also seemed more ruthless and heartless. The hearts of the people present turned cold as they looked in the direction of Lin Hanchuan’s calm and indifferent face.

He acted as if he hadn’t said anything shocking, and he looked at Zhou Yuntang, “If you don’t believe it, you can go and test your big brother.”

Zhou Yuntang looked flustered as he avoided Lin Hanchuan’s gaze, subconsciously looking at Li Yuan and his father. However, he saw Li Yuan looking incredulous, while his father looked amazed and appreciative at Lin Hanchuan.

Li Yuan’s father didn’t understand why this young man had a far broader vision than his background suggested, and he didn’t dare to ask. He just lowered his head even more willingly and said, “Young Master Jiang has sharp insight. My son was ignorant and offended you…”

Li Yuan’s father was a qualified businessman, able to bend and stretch, unscrupulous and humble. Such characters in business often resorted to any means, navigating in the gray area of the law, trampling on moral boundaries, and they could often climb up faster.

Lin Hanchuan had seen many people like him before. He said indifferently, “You engaged in unfair competition, crushing all your competitors, forcing them to commit suicide by jumping off buildings, and snatching the last shares from orphans and widows.”

Lifting his eyes slowly, Lin Hanchuan’s gaze held no warmth. “Back then, you didn’t feel any remorse.”

In the original text, Li Yuan was Zhou Yuntang’s good friend, and he also followed him, rising from obscurity to prominence, and encountering misfortune turned to good fortune.

From Zhou Yuntang’s perspective, although his friend’s personality was a bit unruly, his essence was kind. He bullied others because those people pointed fingers at Zhou Yuntang, and he broke someone’s leg because that person tried to pursue Zhou Yuntang without knowing their own limitations… Li Yuan cleaned up everything that Zhou Yuntang didn’t like.

After Jiang Tian appeared, Li Yuan also used any means necessary to target Jiang Tian.

The incident on the rooftop had also been mentioned in the original text. Jiang Tian had missed the first monthly exam because of that, and his rank in the year group, missing one subject, was just slightly above average. His classmates saw that his academic performance wasn’t outstanding, so they became even more unscrupulous in isolating him, not holding back.

When Zhou Yuntang clashed with Jiang Tian, Li Yuan intervened for him.

If the Zhou family employed cold violence against Jiang Tian, pressuring him psychologically and verbally bullying him, then Li Yuan used physical violence, throwing punches and kicks. If it weren’t for Jiang Tian knowing a bit about fighting, he might have ended up with broken legs and arms.

Even so, Jiang Tian still had purple and blue bruises on him every day as he went to and from school.

While Li Yuan bullied, Zhou Yuntang offered warmth, putting Band-Aids on Jiang Tian’s injuries, softly scolding Li Yuan to stop bullying Jiang Tian, and standing in front of Jiang Tian when Li Yuan brought a group of people to beat him, protecting him… Over time, Jiang Tian forgot that all of this was because of Zhou Yuntang, and he only felt disgust and hatred toward Li Yuan.

However, after Jiang Tian fell in love with Zhou Yuntang, he couldn’t and didn’t want to seek revenge against Li Yuan anymore, simply because Li Yuan was Zhou Yuntang’s good friend.

In the original ending, as part of Zhou Yuntang’s circle of friends, Li Yuan still didn’t like Jiang Tian. He often secretly caused trouble for him, and Jiang Tian could only silently endure it, just as he silently endured the Zhou family’s brothers’ open and hidden hostility.

The text mentioned one extreme and unscrupulous thing Li Yuan had done in the past, which was an example of his malicious competition, causing the other party’s bankruptcy and suicide. Lin Hanchuan had no good feelings towards the Li family, and even if Wan Li Shuang hadn’t taken action, he would have placed the Li family on his blacklist, ready for future reckoning. But since Wan Li Shuang had acted, he didn’t mind benefiting from it.

Li Yuan’s father’s forehead was covered in sweat, and this point about his ruthless methods was not a secret in the eyes of those in power in the upper circles. The younger generation, however, knew nothing about it. He didn’t know where this young man had gotten his information from.

But with this, he also knew that seeking reconciliation was probably impossible.

Li Yuan’s father left with Li Yuan, and the way the people looked at Lin Hanchuan was akin to looking at a god.

A student from a humble background with excellent academic performance, extremely intelligent, and knowledgeable about business matters, even daring to confront the powerful Li Yuan and making him leave with a disheartened expression… not to mention common students, even those from wealthy families who could achieve this were few and far between. In their impression, only the Eldest Brother Zhou in his youth had this kind of momentum.

But the Eldest Brother Zhou had the Zhou family as his backing, while Lin Hanchuan had nothing behind him, which made his brilliance even more prominent.

The once admired Zhou Yuntang was completely ignored. He looked at Lin Hanchuan in the center of the crowd, feeling an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Such formidable ability, comparable to his big brother’s, filled him with immense worry. He knew that once his family knew the truth, they would bring him back home, and then he would be ignored just like now, with his brothers all surrounding the real young master and neglecting him.

Zhou Yuntang’s eyes turned red, and his nose felt sour, but this time, no one noticed his little emotions. The one who always cared for him and stood up for him, Li Yuan, had already left.

For a moment, Zhou Yuntang felt somewhat lost and lonely.

The Zhou family, with the extremely busy four brothers gathering together, each one looking very serious.

Among the four brothers of the Zhou family, the eldest took over the company and was a cold and domineering CEO; the second was a nationwide popular movie star; the third was a professor at the best university in the country, and the fourth was still in school, attending the same school where the third brother worked.

The four brothers of the Zhou family were shining brightly in their respective fields, with no overlap. Each had a different personality, but their common trait was that they adored their younger brother, adored him to the point of pampering him.

At this moment, not only the naturally cold and domineering eldest brother had a stern expression, but the second brother, who was free-spirited and unruly, the third brother, who was calm and gentle, and the fourth brother, who was honest and cheerful, all looked serious.

The fourth brother spoke first, “You guys know, right?”

The others remained silent, and the atmosphere in the living room became as cold as ice. The third brother said, “After I received that email, I pulled out a hair from our little brother for a DNA test…”

The second brother also spoke, “Me too.”

The fourth brother, as a student, didn’t have the means to do a paternity test. At this moment, he couldn’t help but urgently ask, “What’s the result? What’s the result?”

The eldest brother, seated at the head, said coldly, “No matter what the result is, we only have one younger brother.”

With that statement, the fourth brother also knew the final result. He suddenly became dazed and then slumped into the sofa in despair, “How could this be…”

The other two brothers also wanted to ask, how could this be?

They watched their younger brother grow up before their eyes, but he turned out not to be the Zhou family’s biological child, but a child with no blood relation to them.

For a moment, everyone recalled the little bits and pieces of these many years, and the image of Zhou Yuntang’s adorable face and his usual coquettish appearance appeared in their minds… An endless tenderness surged in their hearts.

“No matter what, he is our younger brother, the one we watched grow up, the most beloved younger brother,” the second brother said slowly. He had the most exquisite and perfect appearance among all the Zhou family members, and his tone of speech was elegant and magnificent, enchanting countless young girls. But now, the words he spoke felt as if they had turned to ice, “As long as we don’t say anything, no one will know about this.”

No one objected, and a hint of hesitation flashed in the fourth brother’s eyes. “Then… what about that person?”

Which person? The others were somewhat puzzled but then realized.

The real young master of the Zhou family.

“…I’ve checked, his family background isn’t good. If we give him a few million, it should be enough to get rid of him.” The third brother pushed his glasses and said slowly.

Author’s note:

There are also many pro-friendship CPs like Li Yuan, who secretly make trouble for the main couple… From the perspective of the protagonist, he can’t bear to see the lover being bullied and protects them like a crazy dog. Apart from having an extreme way of doing things, he can be considered a perfect pro-friendship group.