Lu Xuan's brows furrowed deeply as he watched Zhang Yining, on the verge of tears and slapping herself.
What the hell? So many people are watching; are you afraid others won't know there's a show here?
He hated nothing more than such loud, emotional idiots.
"Enough!" Lu Xuan's voice was filled with impatience. "Put away your pity-seeking tricks; I'm not interested."
"I have a cousin whose college entrance exam scores seem to have been replaced this year. Isn't your dad somewhat influential in education? Have him help investigate what happened and resolve it if possible."
He kept his voice low.
"College... college entrance exam scores... replaced?" Zhang Yining's pupils suddenly constricted. The slap she had just given herself made her cheek burn, and the shock in her heart now made her hands and feet turn cold.
"Brother Xuan," Zhang Yining's voice was tearful, with a hint of an imperceptible tremor. She cautiously glanced around, afraid of eavesdroppers. "This... this kind of thing, talking about it over the phone, might not be convenient, right? How about... how about..."
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow: "Call now."
"Ah? Oh, okay, okay!" Zhang Yining was somewhat uneasy. She quickly pulled out her phone from her bag, her fingers trembling as she found her father Zhang Jianguo's number.
The phone rang a few times before it was answered, and a steady middle-aged male voice came through: "Hello, Yining, what's up? Dad's in a meeting right now."
"Dad..." Zhang Yining took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound normal. She glanced at the expressionless Lu Xuan and said, steeling herself, "Dad, my... my boyfriend has a cousin whose college entrance exam scores seem to have a problem this year, they were... they were replaced. I want to ask you... to help inquire about the situation."
In her haste, she directly referred to Lu Xuan as her boyfriend, thinking this might make her father take it more seriously.
Zhang Jianguo on the other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds, then his tone suddenly became serious: "Replacing scores? Wait a moment, tell me the name, I'll check. You, why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?"
Zhang Yining's face flushed. "Oh, Dad, hurry up and check."
Zhang Yining explained her cousin's detailed situation.
After hanging up, Zhang Jianguo quickly called back.
"Ningning, you'd better not get involved in this; I can't handle it."
Zhang Yining was on the verge of tears! "Dad! You have to handle this! That's my boyfriend's brother!"
"Nonsense! Is this something you can casually interfere with? Who is that so-called boyfriend of yours? Let his own family find a solution! Yining, I warn you, don't get involved in this muddy water, and don't drag me down! Do you know how many people are watching my position? Behave yourself and don't cause me trouble!"
With that, without waiting for Zhang Yining to say anything else, the phone was hung up with a "snap."
Listening to the busy signal from her phone, Zhang Yining's face instantly turned "pale," even paler than the slap mark she had just given herself.
She looked at Lu Xuan for help, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
Lu Xuan's face instantly darkened, his eyes as cold as a frozen lake in the dead of winter.
"Zhang Yining," he spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but carrying a sense of impending storm, "You really don't take me seriously now, do you?"
He slowly stood up, the invisible pressure making Zhang Yining almost gasp for breath.
"Come with me." Lu Xuan dropped three words and led the way towards the coffee shop's restroom.
Zhang Yining was scared out of her wits and dared not hesitate for a moment. She scrambled out of her seat and followed behind Lu Xuan, even forgetting to pick up her exquisite small bag that had fallen to the floor.
Other customers in the coffee shop looked on, somewhat confused by this scene.
Just now, the beautiful woman was slapping herself, and now she's walking one after another with that handsome man. What kind of play is this?
And in a corner not far away, the male student named Old Zhu, wearing black-rimmed glasses, was now wide-eyed, his face full of disbelief.
"Holy cow! Old Zhu, your goddess left with that handsome guy! Looking at the direction... it seems they went to the restroom?"
His companion next to him poked his arm, his tone full of the excitement of watching a show, "Tsk tsk, this plot development is a bit stimulating!"
Old Zhu's face flushed crimson, his lips trembling, and he pushed away his companion's hand: "Don't talk nonsense! Yining, she... she's not that kind of person!"
Although he said that, his heart felt like it was being clawed by a cat.
He had liked Zhang Yining for a long time and had always regarded her as a pure and untainted goddess, but that scene just now...
"You guys wait for me, I'm going to check!" Old Zhu couldn't sit still. He dropped a sentence and hurried to his feet.
With a heart full of doubt and a hint of an ominous premonition, he also walked towards the restroom.
The coffee shop's restrooms were at the end of the corridor, separated by gender.
Old Zhu lingered at the men's restroom door for a while but didn't see Lu Xuan come out.
He then peered towards the women's restroom but didn't see Zhang Yining either.
His heart was in turmoil, and just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that between the men's and women's restrooms, there was also an independent accessible restroom. The door was closed, and a "Occupied" sign hung on it.
Old Zhu's heart skipped a beat.
He found an inconspicuous corner nearby by some strange impulse, sat down, pretended to play with his phone, but his eyes occasionally darted towards the tightly closed cubicle door.
Time passed by minute by minute.
Ten minutes... twenty minutes...
During this time, people continuously entered and exited the men's and women's restrooms, but there was no movement from the independent cubicle.
The longer Old Zhu waited, the more anxious he became, and the more he felt something was wrong.
What on earth were they doing in there?
After nearly half an hour, so long that Old Zhu's legs were starting to feel numb, the cubicle door finally opened with a "click" from the inside.
Old Zhu abruptly looked up, staring without blinking.
Zhang Yining was somewhat roughly pushed out by Lu Xuan.
At this moment, Zhang Yining was in an extremely disheveled state.
Old Zhu only felt his head "buzz," as if it had been hit hard by a heavy hammer!
Is this... is this still Zhang Yining, the radiant, high and mighty goddess in his mind?
Lu Xuan glanced back at the distraught Zhang Yining, his voice chillingly cold: "The matter I told you about, you must handle it well for me. Otherwise..."
He took out his phone, his fingers quickly tapping a few times, bringing up the interface of a social media account named "Scandal Exposure Little Angel."
Then, in front of Zhang Yining, he quickly drafted a message, the content of which was shockingly about "Yanjing University Zhang XXX academic misconduct, falsifying scores for admission" with the full name hidden.
"Otherwise, next time it won't be as simple as anonymity!"
Lu Xuan's lips curved into a cruel arc, and his finger lightly tapped the "Send" button.
"No! Don't!" She let out a piercing scream, not caring that this was a busy coffee shop corridor. With a "thump," her knees buckled, and she actually knelt directly in front of Lu Xuan, her hands tightly clutching his calves.
"Brother Xuan! I was wrong! I was really wrong! Please! Please delete it! I'll go beg my dad again! I'll definitely make him help! Please!"
She cried heartbrokenly, completely oblivious to Old Zhu, who stood like a statue not far away.
Old Zhu felt dizzy and utterly devastated at this moment!
His goddess... his goddess Zhang Yining, whom he yearned for day and night and cherished as a treasure... actually... actually humbled herself to such an extent in front of a man!
What on earth happened in that cubicle just now?!
Now, she actually knelt before this man!
Old Zhu felt his worldview shatter into pieces at this moment!
That young and fervent heart of admiration also cracked inch by inch, falling to the ground and breaking into countless fragments.
It turned out that beneath the goddess's halo, there was such a disgraceful sight.
He only felt a wave of nausea, his throat burning, as if something was about to surge out.