Chapter 72#
The final exam for the School of Life Sciences at Peking University usually includes a week of field internship. However, Yang Rucheng had a different habit; he usually scheduled it about a month after the start of the semester.
Peking University’s field internships were all held in Huaishan, where there were several experimental bases and greenhouses in the mountains, a five-hour drive from the capital.
For this internship, reports were to be submitted in groups, with two or three people per group, choosing either botany or zoology.
Messages asking Gu Xingye to team up kept flashing, but he didn’t agree. He wanted to team up with Yan Heqing.
He was very curious about Yan Heqing.
It had nothing to do with Lin Fengzhi. He didn’t care about their relationship; he was purely curious about Yan Heqing himself.
He added Yan Heqing as a friend.
After a long while, there was no response.
Then Gu Xingye saw a classmate post in the class group, “Don’t look for me anymore! Me, Old Zhan, and the new classmate make three, full!”
There was only one new classmate, Yan Heqing.
Yan Heqing ignored Gu Xingye’s request and added the boy who added him later. This boy had spoken to Yan Heqing a few times and had a very nice personality. After Yan Heqing agreed, he immediately pulled Yan Heqing into the group.
There was also a girl from Bio-Science Class 2 in the group, named Zhan Pingting.
After joining the group, the boy asked whether they wanted to choose botany or zoology. Botany involved identifying, cultivating, and making plant specimens, while zoology involved catching insects and night mountain climbing activities.
Zhan Pingting expressed her opinion first, “Vote to decide, the minority obeys the majority. I choose botany.”
The boy was pursuing Zhan Pingting and selfishly wanted to follow her choice of botany. However, since he pulled Yan Heqing in, he still waited for Yan Heqing’s opinion before deciding, “Heqing, what about you?”
Yan Heqing, “Botany.”
The boy was deeply moved and privately messaged Yan Heqing, “Boohoo, thanks bro! I’ll treat you to skewers when we get back to school!”
At the same time, he posted in the group, “I also choose botany! Unanimous pass, our group settles on botany!”
Yan Heqing replied with two words, “No need.” He didn’t mean to help the boy; he indeed wanted to choose botany. Putting his phone back in his pocket, he heard movement downstairs. He walked to the window; Lu Muchi was back.
This time the pastry chef reminded Lu Muchi that hot butterfly pastries were more delicious. He specially added an insulation box and an insulation bag, speeding all the way back to the villa just to please Yan Heqing with hot butterfly pastries.
Carrying the huge insulation box, he strode into the villa. Just reaching the top of the stairs, he caught a glimpse of the thin figure in the living room from the corner of his eye. He stopped abruptly, turned back to walk towards Yan Heqing, looking proud as if asking for a reward, “You will absolutely never eat better butterfly pastries than these.”
Approaching.
Yan Heqing didn’t respond to him. Yan Heqing was looking at that sofa.
Just as described in the original text, hand-stitched with hundreds of pieces of top-layer whole leather. It was on this sofa that the original him suffered countless humiliations.
He withdrew his gaze and looked over calmly, “Teacher Xu is gone.”
Lu Muchi said casually, “Where did she go—” His smile froze, pupils dilating, “What?”
Yan Heqing didn’t reply, just stared at him heavily.
Lu Muchi’s heartbeat accelerated continuously. That feeling from childhood came back again: uneasiness, anxiety, astonishment, anger… He put down the insulation box, turned and rushed to the stairs, rushing up to the second floor.
At the top of the stairs, he stopped abruptly, looking at the closed room door ahead. His ten fingers trembled, anxiously clenching and unclenching several times before opening his dry mouth. “Mom…”
No sound came out.
After a long while, he lifted his foot again, ran forward and slammed the door open.
The window was open, the wind blowing the window screen making a rustling sound. On that bed, the quilt was neatly spread, but that woman was missing again.
Lu Muchi’s mind went blank.
When he came back to his senses, he had already rushed back to the living room. In his blood-red vision, that thin figure was actually still there, he dared to be there!
Yan Heqing didn’t even deign to run!
Lu Muchi stepped forward in a few strides, his veined hand grabbing at the long, slender white neck. Before touching it, it slanted again, firmly gripping Yan Heqing’s shoulder, fingertips almost digging in. Lu Muchi gritted his teeth, squeezing out a voice from between them, “Why didn’t you run?”
No need to ask, Xu Qiaoyin couldn’t run away alone at all. Unless someone helped!
This person was Yan Heqing!
Yan Heqing noticed this subtle change in Lu Muchi. Compared to the suffocation of being strangled, the pain of the shoulder grip was not worth mentioning. His expression remained unchanged, “Why should I run.”
Lu Muchi roared like thunder, “I fucking searched the whole city to find the best butterfly pastries for you, just to get a smile from you. What are you doing? You are helping my mom escape! Tell me why you should run!”
His furious appearance had long alarmed the butler and servants. They all stood in the distance, trembling and daring not to make a sound.
Located in the center of the storm, Yan Heqing remained unmoved. He didn’t even move his eyebrows, his two lips uttering calm syllables, “It’s your wishful thinking.”
“You’re looking for death!” Lu Muchi suddenly pushed Yan Heqing against the back of the sofa, pressing down on Yan Heqing’s shoulders with both hands, his eyeballs filled with bloodshot veins, “I’ll kill you!”
The servants were terrified instantly, quietly pushing the butler to intervene. The butler was also afraid that a life would really be lost. He swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, emboldened himself to take a few steps, “Young Master—”
“Get out!” Lu Muchi shouted violently, “All of you get the fuck out!”
The butler and servants trembled all over from the shout. Looking at each other, they ran out of the villa silently, daring not to delay.
Outside the villa, the butler was burning with anxiety. After thinking about it, he walked to a corner, took out his phone with trembling hands, and made a call, “Quick, quick! Help me find President Lu’s contact information. It’ll be too late if we delay!”
The President Lu he mentioned was Lu Lin. Now, the only one who could control Lu Muchi was Lu Lin.
At this time in the living room, Yan Heqing still had no ripples of emotion.
Those extremely beautiful pupils, looking through Lu Muchi, saw another scene.
It was a certain time in the original text. Lin Fengzhi and Gu Xingye went to watch a movie, and Lu Muchi went crazy, torturing him frantically.
Right on this sofa, the boy was dying, having the thought that death would be better for the first time.
Mom, Dad, Brother, I’m sorry…
Living is really tiring.
Light brown pupils, out of focus, he said softly: “Torturing me like this, aren’t you afraid I’ll die.”
Lu Muchi revealed a cruel smile, looking down from above.
“You can’t bear to die, you love me.”
…
Withdrawing from the scene in the original book, Yan Heqing calmly met those bloodthirsty eyes, “You won’t.”
His light attitude completely enraged Lu Muchi. Blood rushed to his forehead, and he couldn’t even distinguish whether he cared more about Xu Qiaoyin being let go by Yan Heqing, or Yan Heqing’s disdain for him at this moment.
He said word by word, “Yan Heqing, don’t challenge my bottom line just because I like you!”
“Do you like me?” Yan Heqing revealed a mocking smile, “Spending money to humiliate, implementing violence, that kind of like.”
“You—” Lu Muchi wished he could seal Yan Heqing’s mouth immediately. Every word pierced him speechless.
“To you, I’m no different from that cat.” Yan Heqing’s words condemned the heart, “When happy, buy high-end canned food to coax. When unhappy, throw on the roadside.”
“Shut up!” Lu Muchi flew into a rage out of humiliation, grabbing Yan Heqing’s collar, “Talk back again, believe it or not I’ll lock you up!”
“I believe.” Yan Heqing even nodded, “The last one you locked up, I just helped her escape.”
Hit on the sore spot, Lu Muchi’s hand bones were about to crush. “Stop talking! I told you to stop talking!”
Yan Heqing didn’t stop. He calmly exposed him, “You hate your grandfather, hate him for making you lose your mother, lose your freedom. But you are no different from him, you are also that kind of person.”
“I am not!” Lu Muchi retorted anxiously.
But in his mind was the scene of him being locked up by Lu Changcheng.
Just not long ago, it was Yan Heqing who persuaded him, and he regained his freedom, limited freedom.
Yan Heqing suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Muchi’s arm, then flung it away heavily, like flinging a bag of garbage.
The dozen or so pounds of weight gained played a role at this moment.
Not powerful enough yet, but no longer a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
“Lu Muchi, you don’t love anyone, you only love yourself.” Yan Heqing looked straight ahead, “Don’t try to find Teacher Xu. You know better than anyone that if things get big, your grandfather won’t let her off.”
Lu Muchi froze on the spot.
He heard Yan Heqing leave, heard the door close, but still didn’t move.
——
Outside the house, the butler finally got Lu Lin’s number, and the villa door opened.
Everyone looked at Yan Heqing in surprise, the unharmed Yan Heqing.
The butler froze, holding the phone, watching dumbfounded as Yan Heqing got into the car and drove away.
Only after the car had left for a long time did the butler come back to his senses. He lowered his head and deleted the dialed number that hadn’t been called yet.
At the same time, the assistant was reporting to Lu Lin.
“The person asking for the number is the Young Master’s private butler.”
Lu Lin flipped through the documents, “What’s the matter.”
“Didn’t say.” The assistant reported truthfully, “Just said he seemed very urgent.”
Lu Lin didn’t make a sound anymore, meaning the assistant could leave. The assistant turned around, thought of something, and turned back, “President Lu, news came from Peking University Biology Department. Bio-Science is going to Huaishan for a field internship next week for a week, and funds need to be allocated from the scholarship.”
Such small matters were usually not reported to the assistant; there were dedicated people in the group responsible for them. But this year was different. Yan Heqing was in Peking University Bio-Science, so the assistant paid special attention.
The assistant glanced at the succulent that was growing incredibly well and was out of place in this office from the corner of his eye.
He guessed it was given by Yan Heqing.
Lu Lin turned a page, “Specific time.”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
Getting off the highway, Yan Heqing didn’t go home first but went to the welfare institute.
Departing for the field internship tomorrow afternoon, he went to pass a message to Aunt Zhang first.
Arriving at the welfare institute, night had just fallen. The neon lights of the welfare institute were flashing. Yan Heqing got out of the car. When his feet stepped on the ground, he finally had a sense of reality.
Was he ever afraid?
At the moment facing Lu Muchi, perhaps.
Only after putting down the bait and lifting the rod would one know what kind of prey could be caught.
In the end, he won.
The small fish caught the big fish.
From this moment on, it was Lu Muchi’s turn to experience hell.
Yan Heqing looked up slightly at the sky.
Spring night.
Stars were about to appear.
It was almost eight o’clock, and the welfare institute was still working overtime on construction. The children didn’t feel it was noisy, gathering there laughing and cheering for the workers.
Install the elevator earlier, and the friends on the fourth and fifth floors could come downstairs to play with them and bask in the sun together!
The guard said Aunt Zhang was in the dormitory building. Yan Heqing came over and was a bit surprised to see the elevator.
Haven’t been here for a while, the welfare institute actually installed an elevator.
Aunt Zhang was helping hand over tools with great enthusiasm. Taking a break and seeing Yan Heqing, she immediately beamed with joy, wiped her hands on her apron, and ran over to greet him, “Xiao Yan!”
Yan Heqing went to school and came less often. Aunt Zhang missed him quite a bit. “Why come at this time?”
Yan Heqing withdrew his gaze from the elevator and relayed Xu Qiaoyin’s farewell. Xu Qiaoyin made up a reasonable excuse, “She wanted to go to the west to support education. After considering for a long time, she decided to leave today. She wants you not to worry about her and will contact you when she settles down.”
Aunt Zhang was both relieved and teary-eyed, “This Teacher Xu, so she went to support education! Such a small matter, yet she cut off contact! I’ve been worried about her for two months. She… when she contacts me, I must scold her properly!” As she spoke, she laughed incredibly happily.
Message delivered, Yan Heqing prepared to go home and pack his luggage. Before leaving, he looked at the elevator again.
Was it sponsored by Lu Lin?
Thinking about it, he still asked Aunt Zhang.
Aunt Zhang nodded, “Yes! It’s that big boss from Lu Group. Oh my god, never seen a more generous boss than him, taking care of everything! Our welfare institute met a great person this time.”
She mentioned again, “Xiao Yan, so you stayed in our welfare institute before! If the old employee hadn’t recognized you, I wouldn’t have known.”
Yan Heqing’s eyelashes moved, “Old employee?”
Aunt Zhang then told him about the night at the amusement park.
“Sister Zhao retired more than ten years ago. She saw you in the welfare institute before. She has a deep impression of you, even remembering the reason for your family’s accident clearly. The big boss of Lu Group was also there at that time.”
Yan Heqing stopped instantly.
Lu Lin knew the reason for his family’s accident?
Knew, the fire?