Chapter 598: Chapter 515: Beware

"Brother Lu, don’t you feel like this is a pathetic way to handle things? With your strength, you could have clearly put up a fight against Bai Junfan. Even if you couldn’t win, it shouldn’t have turned out like this."

Lu Jian Country held out his hands. "What else can I do? I don’t think I’m any worse than Bai Junfan, but I was the one who came late to the picture. Bai Junfan had a head start on everything, and it’s an undeniable fact that he and Liu’er have a history. The only thing I have that he doesn’t is a heart that will never change! Even so, my place in Liu’er’s heart right now is definitely not as secure as his. One wrong move, and Liu’er might end up trusting and siding with Bai Junfan! So, I can only feign weakness. The more miserably I get beaten, the better! This method is definitely frustrating, but it’s the safest and most effective. Let’s say I was as powerful and imposing as Bai Junfan, and I even beat him to a pulp and kicked him off the bridge. What do you think Liu’er would think of me then?"

"The way you put it, Brother Lu, makes Liu’er sound like a reed in the wind."

"No, Liu’er is not a reed in the wind. I know her. I trust her, and I trust my own judgment! She’s just too kind and soft-hearted, which makes her passive and easy to take advantage of. Besides, Bai Junfan means something different to her. He wasn’t just her first love; he was also like a brother to her... But none of that matters anymore. Manman, you just watch. Brother Lu might not look like much today, but true love is always rewarded. Liu’er will willingly become your Sister-in-law Lu."

"That confident?"

"Of course!"

The two of them shared a laugh, then suddenly heard a hoarse cry from outside the door. "I’m home!"

Lu Jian Country instinctively tried to roll out of bed. "It’s Liu’er! She’s so impetuous, she must have run up the stairs. I hope she doesn’t wear herself out..."

Xiao Man said, "You’re an injured man right now. Are you sure you can go out to meet her?"

Lu Jian Country froze, then immediately lay back down. He fumbled around his torso for a moment before clutching his chest and letting out a pained groan!

Xiao Man: "..."

’Isn’t that a little over the top?’

But as it turned out, Yang Liu’er fell for it hook, line, and sinker. When she came in and saw Lu Jian Country clutching his chest and groaning in pain, she believed him completely. Feeling a pang of sympathetic pain, she thought his heart had been seriously injured. The color instantly drained from her face. She quickly put down the things she was holding and rushed to Lu Jian Country’s bedside, watching him anxiously, not knowing what to do. Finally, she spun around and ran out the door to find a doctor, completely forgetting that Xiao Man, who was standing right there, was a doctor herself!

Lu Jian Country, however, was quick on his feet. He immediately came up with another idea: he would ask Xiao Man to stick a few silver needles in him as part of the act. This would be the perfect cover story—an Imperial Doctor Disciple had personally administered a secret acupuncture technique, causing the pain to vanish and the injuries to heal at a miraculous rate. He wouldn’t need to be hospitalized or take much medicine, and he would surely be back to normal in two or three days. That way, Yang Liu’er would never suspect anything was amiss with his injuries!

And just as he’d planned, when Yang Liu’er returned with a doctor and two nurses in tow, she saw Lu Jian Country with silver needles sticking out of his head, face, hands, and even legs. She seemed to suddenly remember something and gave Xiao Man a sheepish smile, letting out a long sigh of relief.

By evening, Lu Jianling arrived in the new car the clothing company had just purchased to pick them up. Yang Liu’er readily helped Lu Jian Country leave the hospital to go home—between hospitalization and Xiao Man’s acupuncture, she naturally trusted Xiao Man more.

Xiao Man walked them to the hospital entrance, reminding Lu Jian Country that Bai Junfan probably wouldn’t let this go and might show up at their home to cause more trouble.

Yang Liu’er, both angry and worried, suggested to Lu Jian Country, "Why don’t we all go somewhere else for a few days? We can come back after he’s gone."

Lu Jian Country patted Yang Liu’er’s hand reassuringly. His voice was weak but firm. "Don’t worry. Even if he does show up, he won’t dare do anything. Besides, all our neighbors in Shunji Lane are from families that have lived in the Old Capital City for generations. We’re all united and level-headed. Throwing your weight around just doesn’t work in our neighborhood!"

Lu Jianling chimed in, "That’s right, we’re not afraid of him! If he dares to show his face, we’ll expose him and let everyone see what he really is. Some noble son from a powerful family? He’s nothing but a domineering bully!"

Lu Jian Country gave Xiao Man another nod. Guessing he probably had a plan, she stopped worrying as much.

The next day, Xiao Man didn’t go to the hospital. After a class at school, she took advantage of a break to run to Professor Min’s office to use the phone, dialing the number for Lu Yang’s clothing company.

As expected, Yang Liu’er wasn’t there; Lu Jianling was holding down the fort at the company. When she answered Xiao Man’s call, Lu Jianling first laughed and thanked Xiao Man for performing acupuncture on her brother. She said he was doing much better after getting home last night, but just in case, Yang Liu’er had taken the day off from school to stay home with him.

Lu Jianling then changed the subject, telling her what happened after they got home the previous day. Xiao Man thought to herself, ’So Bai Junfan really couldn’t let it go. He went to the Lu Family’s house again after dark.’

According to Lu Jianling, Bai Junfan hadn’t gone to the Lu Family’s home to cause trouble. He had even brought money and a number of expensive health supplements, but Uncle Lu refused to accept any of it.

The Lu Family, for their part, handled the situation with grace and poise. They left the courtyard gate open for Bai Junfan to enter. Lu Jian Country, still recovering from his "serious" injuries, remained in his room and didn’t meet with him. Only Yang Liu’er sat and spoke with him in the living room for a short while. Out in the courtyard, two tables had been set for dinner. Uncle Lu sat at one with a few old neighbors. At the other table sat seven or eight men about Lu Jian Country’s age, some perhaps a few years older. Lu Jianling didn’t recognize any of them, but when Bai Junfan saw them, his expression turned strange. Afterward, he tried several times to get Yang Liu’er to leave with him, but she refused. He restrained himself and didn’t resort to force. As for when he finally left, Lu Jianling was so busy refilling dishes for the guests that she didn’t even notice.

Xiao Man knew that Bai Junfan was actually a calm and reasonably intelligent person. He also had to consider the Bai Family’s reputation. Crucially, Yang Liu’er herself was not well-liked by the Bai Family. His public beating of Lu Jian Country the day before had resulted in the police being called, and Bai Junfan had already been forced to pull strings to make the incident go away. What would the consequences be if Mr. Bai learned he was repeatedly causing trouble over Yang Liu’er? That was why he had gone to the Lu Family’s home last night, hoping to resolve things quietly. He just hadn’t expected them to put on such a display. He wasn’t yet capable of publicly forcing someone to leave with him.

But Bai Junfan was clearly not willing to lose Yang Liu’er just like that. If he were, he wouldn’t have become so consumed with rage that he lost his senses and beat Lu Jian Country. In his eyes, Yang Liu’er was his personal property, meant only to be dependent on him. She was like a fruit tree in his yard: even if he didn’t eat the fruit himself, he wouldn’t let anyone else so much as look at it. And now, Lu Jian Country had dug her up by the roots. How could he not be filled with hatred?

Overt retaliation could probably be avoided for the time being, but they still had to be wary of underhanded methods of revenge. Xiao Man offered a few more words of caution to Lu Jianling, who just laughed. "My brother is staying home for now. He’s even preparing to go to university. He said we don’t need to worry about a thing, he has it all planned out!"

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