Chapter 49: Father and Son

In truth, Lu Yan He knew that being able to bluff Luo Zicheng and his mother today was largely due to luck.

People like Luo Zicheng, and his parents, were easy to manipulate once you figured out their Achilles' heel.

But the prerequisite for manipulating them was finding that Achilles' heel accurately.

Given Luo Zicheng's constant posturing in class, his mother's attitude of unconditionally believing her son was a model student after entering the office, and the fact that Luo Zicheng's father worked at the municipal government, Lu Yan He judged that image and face were extremely important to their family.

Precisely because of this, Lu Yan He's threat was able to take effect.

Otherwise, if it had been a profit-driven mother, she wouldn't care about these threats. Since it wasn't her son who actually threw the punch, she could simply deny everything, refusing to admit her son had said those things. Even with the entire class as witnesses, she could still stiffen her neck and claim the whole class had been bribed.

However, because Luo Zicheng cared about his reputation, and his parents cared about theirs, and they could not afford to be embroiled in a scandal, the threat became a real, sharp blade held against their throats.

Lu Yan He wasn't doing this to vent his own anger; he just didn't want to see Li Pengfei get threatened after throwing that punch on his behalf.

Unlike the original Lu Yan He, who had always been insecure, cowardly, and overly cautious, he possessed the pride of most eighteen-year-old boys. A person must fight for their dignity; one cannot be a coward.

Lu Yan He and Li Pengfei returned to the classroom safe and sound. Especially Li Pengfei's expression, which seemed to say, "That idiot Luo Zicheng dared to provoke me," made the rest of the class breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed everything was fine.

Everyone has their own moral compass.

Everyone was present for this incident. While Li Pengfei was certainly wrong to hit someone, when they recalled how Luo Zicheng had looked down on Lu Yan He and mocked him to his face, everyone had wanted to throw that punch.

After class, a group of people gathered around Li Pengfei, chattering away, praising him for being awesome and loyal.

Li Pengfei was beaming with pride, putting on an indifferent expression as he said, "Alright, that's nothing. A small matter. Let me tell you, as long as I, Brother Fei, am in this class, I won't let that grandson act rampant for even a day. The thing I hate most is someone whose mouth is as foul as if it had been soaking in a cesspit for ninety-nine days."

"Knock, knock!"

Suddenly, there were two knocks on the back door.

During the break, the back door was left open for people to come and go; who would still knock?

Li Pengfei turned around, about to spout off a few words, when he caught sight of his father in a suit and leather shoes.

His father looked at him expressionlessly and said, "Brother Fei, come out."

Li Pengfei's face changed immediately.

At this moment, a lackey-like person next to him squinted and said, "Who are you? Just because you tell Brother Fei to come out, he has to come out?"

Li Pengfei slapped the top of that person's head and pushed him down.

He nimbly stood up, ran over, and lowered his voice: "Dad, there are so many classmates here. Give me some face, don't beat me here."

Li Luzhi looked at his simple-minded youngest son and sighed heavily in his heart, unable to help thinking: they are both his sons, so why, compared to his eldest, did this youngest one seem to have half a brain missing?

"Come out." After saying these two words, Li Luzhi walked out into the corridor.

Upon hearing this, Li Pengfei was terrified and hurried to follow: "Dad, they can see us in the corridor too, don't be impulsive!"

Li Luzhi felt as if his high blood pressure was spiking.

He took a deep breath. "If you can't control that mouth of yours, I really won't be able to control my hands."

Li Pengfei's eyes widened like copper bells, and he immediately shut his mouth.

"What you did this time, while correct, was stupid." Li Luzhi lectured him with dissatisfaction. "If you want to beat him, find a place without people or surveillance cameras. Hitting him in front of so many people, aren't you just making yourself a target? Today, it was fortunate that your classmate spoke harshly and scared that woman. Otherwise, if she had made a scene and insisted on giving you a demerit for hitting someone, did you think I'd have a way to stop it?"

Li Pengfei chuckled and said, "Dad, don't worry. Only serious cases get demerits. I just hit him that one punch; it didn't cause any injury, so what demerit would they give?"

Li Luzhi glared at him immediately.

Li Pengfei quickly wiped the smile off his face.

"That classmate of yours, his name is Lu Yan He, right?" Li Luzhi said. "He's not bad, he has a sense of responsibility. I heard he's also an entertainer?"

"He was an idol for a few years, but he said he's already past his prime and can't be an idol anymore, so he came back to take the college entrance exam." Li Pengfei said immediately, "He improved by over two hundred places as soon as he came back. He's a monster."

Li Luzhi glared at him, frustrated by his lack of ambition: "I wish you were a monster too, so you could give me a surprise."

Li Pengfei: "..."

"You helped him this time, and he helped you, so the matter didn't blow up. I won't hold this against you, but if you cause trouble again, I will arrange for a secretary to watch you at school every day. Don't blame me for being heartless." Li Luzhi said, "Your grades are so poor, and your English is bad too. Tell me, what can you do after next June?"

Li Pengfei lifted his chin: "Just wait and see, Dad. I'm telling you, if Lu Yan He can improve by two hundred places with just a little effort, why can't I? I might not be able to get into a top-tier university, but I will definitely secure a first-tier one for you!"

Li Luzhi took a deep breath and said, "I can't be bothered to argue with you. Get back to class and listen to your Teacher Liu!"

Seeing that his father had actually let him off so easily, Li Pengfei felt his whole body relax and scurried away, as if afraid his father would change his mind.

At this moment, Xiao Tang walked over.

"Mr. Li, the matter has been handled."

Li Luzhi nodded and said, "Remember to take the original surveillance footage from the school and destroy this segment."

"Understood, Mr. Li."

Li Luzhi walked toward the stairwell, his face still habitually tense, but the corners of his mouth betrayed his mood, curling upward.

Just now, in the office, Liu Qin had told him that Li Pengfei had changed a lot recently; not only had he started studying on his own initiative, but it was clear he truly wanted to do well, which could be seen from the homework he handed in every day. Liu Qin had also asked him if he had been managing Li Pengfei more strictly at home recently.

Li Luzhi was usually too busy with work to have any time to manage Li Pengfei. Li Luzhi had already prepared himself for the fact that his youngest son was a waste; it wasn't that he couldn't afford to support him, so he would just let him be. Now it seemed that, after all, he was in his final year of high school and had become sensible.

Li Luzhi sighed again.

If his wife hadn't died early, how could Li Pengfei have been raised so wild without any parental supervision? ===== CHAPTER 50 =====