Chapter 254: Wen Leyu: If I

"I don't understand poetry much, but by any standard of upbringing, forcing someone to do what they don't want to do is the real lack of manners—I don't want to deal with you right now, do you get it?"

Li Ye finally lost patience and shooed away the people before him.

The poet was first stunned, then furious.

But Li Ye didn't give a damn about him.

He turned to look at Lu Gang, ready to ask: "Did you understand?"

But Li Ye noticed Lu Gang was staring fixedly at Wen Leyu, his eyes flickering with a strange, dreamy haze.

"."

Wen Leyu had also furrowed her brow—she sensed something was off.

Due to her past experiences, Wen Leyu was highly sensitive to others' gazes, but at only twenty, she could only feel something was wrong without being able to articulate why.

But Li Ye's expression suddenly turned icy, his gaze as cold and lethal as the Reaper itself.

In Lu Gang's eyes, Li Ye saw the desire for destruction.

It seemed the man's later actions were deeply tied to his nature.

Li Ye spoke coldly to Lu Gang: "What are you looking at?"

"."

Everyone was startled by Li Ye's icy tone and saw Lu Gang quickly avert his gaze from Wen Leyu.

But Li Ye had no intention of letting him off—he grabbed Lu Gang and barked: "I asked you what you were just looking at!"

Wen Leyu was Li Ye's forbidden possession; even if Lu Gang later went mad and killed five people, if Li Ye truly went mad, ten Lu Gangs wouldn't be enough.

The poet couldn't take it anymore—he stepped in front of Li Ye and shouted: "What are you doing, student? Even if Lu Gang just glanced at your girlfriend, what's wrong with that?"

"Beauty is meant to be admired. Lu Gang looked at your girlfriend because he was drawn to human beauty—how selfish can you be? No wonder you said love is selfish."

"Slap~"

Li Ye delivered a loud, powerful slap across the poet's face, sending him stumbling backward, then wobbling before crashing to the ground.

"What the fuck? So that's why you rushed over to argue with me—you think love being selfish means you can't just freely admire someone else's 'beauty'?"

"So if love is selfish, you can't just gawk at other people's beauty anymore, is that it?"

Li Ye was truly done. He finally believed some people lied so much they even convinced themselves.

He yanked the poet up, nose to nose, eyes locked on eyes, and hissed: "Let your own wife be admired by whoever she wants—but don't let me ever see you again."

"."

"Li Ye, let him go, let him go right now!"

Many around them were terrified by Li Ye's demeanor and rushed to pull him off.

They feared he might strangle the poet in the next instant.

The once refined poet now trembled like a chick exposed to minus thirty degrees, barely holding himself together.

In the end, it was Wen Leyu who pulled Li Ye away.

But Wen Leyu didn't just pull him away and stop.

After pulling him off, she turned to the poet, bloodied and spitting, and asked: "What department are you from? Should I call your homeroom teacher to handle this?"

The poet's rage nearly blew his crown off.

He wasn't even from Jingda—where was he supposed to find a homeroom teacher? What the hell was there to handle?

"Since you don't want to call a teacher, shouldn't you just leave? Do you want to fight?"

Wen Leyu sharply scolded the crowd, her eyes darting around, searching for a stick of suitable length.

Since Li Ye had already struck, she'd follow him—whether in words or force. If verbal threats failed, she'd fight beside him. Otherwise, all those days of practicing bayonet drills were pointless?

Eventually, everyone dispersed. The man with the bloody mouth didn't choose to take legal action.

Wen Leyu wiped her sweaty palms and said to Li Ye: "Come on! Are you still serving me fried fries tonight?"

Li Ye paused in surprise, then smiled, pushed his bicycle forward, and picked her up to ride toward Zaojunmiao.

Tonight, he had to treat the little girl right.

After all, with her, his future wouldn't be lonely.

The next day was Sunday. Wen Leyu lied to Li Ye, saying she'd sleep in late, but secretly slipped out of school to find a post office and call home.

"Mom, Li Ye hit him pretty hard yesterday... I don't know if he lost any teeth, but he bled a lot—it wasn't from our school, it was someone from outside."

After speaking with Teacher Ke, Wen Leyu finally relaxed.

Li Ye's actions yesterday were justified, but illegal—if pursued, the consequences could be huge or small. That's why she'd rushed out early—to clean up his mess.

But after she finished the call, paid, and turned around, she saw Li Ye walking into the post office.

Seeing Wen Leyu, Li Ye froze for a second, then understood.

He walked over with a light smile and stood before her.

Wen Leyu grinned, saying nothing.

Li Ye didn't ask. He just ruffled her hair hard with his hand, messing it up.

"Let me make a call, then I'll take you to eat."

"I want fried fries."

"You can't eat so greasy anymore—I'll make you candied apples."

"Mm, candied apples are fine too."

Wen Leyu had little resistance to sweets.

Li Ye paid the deposit, entered the phone booth, and dialed Jin Peng: "Peng Ge, get Duo Ye to do something—tail someone near Hospital 262."

Last night, after just one minute of thought, Li Ye decided to change Lu Gang's fate.

Lu Gang was supposed to go abroad for studies next year under Li Zhengdao's student exchange program.

But until he finally killed five people, he'd produced no scientific achievements—and he'd clearly told his family that even with public funding, he had no intention of returning to work in China.

But the mainland doctoral student Lu Gang killed—"Xiao Shan"—had already published papers in renowned scientific journals and achieved outstanding results.

According to Lu Gang's roommate, Lu Gang ultimately believed Xiao Shan had stolen his chance to stay on campus.

In a letter to his sister, Lu Gang wrote: "I've always been upright and despise sycophants and corrupt officials who think they're above others... I need at least a few to die with me."

Was Xiao Shan a sycophant?

Xiao Shan was a poor boy from a remote mountain village, far behind Lu Gang's "big city" upbringing—but he married a stunningly beautiful girl whose father was a renowned mainland scholar.

A "phoenix man" marrying a "white rich beauty" could indeed invite scorn.

But what if you were that phoenix man?

So save Xiao Shan. At least he'll one day contribute to his hometown.

Lu Gang trudged home, exhausted and seething, to his family house near Hospital 262.

After his clash with Li Ye, he was already furious—and this morning he'd quarreled with his girlfriend, Xiao Xiang.

Xiao Xiang had asked when he'd bring her to meet his parents.

Meeting parents was a necessary step before marriage—but Lu Gang, obsessed with studying abroad, had no intention of doing so.

Perhaps because of Li Ye's words yesterday, Xiao Xiang was unusually emotional and demanded a breakup.

Lu Gang begged for hours, but she wouldn't relent—finally, he exploded.

"I'm going back to my hometown to wait for you. Come talk to me properly."

Lu Gang wasn't worried she wouldn't come—she had "sunk costs."

Decades later, the term "sunk costs" would torment countless men.

Dating a girl for years, spending hundreds of thousands, only to have her leave after a few days of marriage, leaving everything in ruins.

What's a man to do?

Little fairies are carefree: "As long as there's no child, a second marriage is no different from the first."

But what about a man who's emptied his family's savings? Is his situation any different?

But in the 1980s, this "sunk cost" weighed far more heavily on women.

Sure enough, Xiao Xiang came.

Though late, she came.

Lu Gang shut the door, a smug smile curling his lips.

But he never imagined all this had been calculated by Li Ye.

In his past life, Li Ye had read Lu Gang's suicide letter and various comments from his acquaintances.

Overall, Lu Gang was extremely narcissistic, constantly fantasizing about women, convinced that any girl should fall at his feet.

In his suicide letter to his sister, he'd written: "After I go to the Lighthouse, I've dated women from the mainland, overseas, single, married, good girls and prostitutes... maybe I just never met the right one—or I was too picky."

Lust is human nature—so Li Ye was certain Lu Gang would go to his family house near Hospital 262.

Night fell. Duo Ye arrived at a house and prepared to carry out the plan.

This was his first task after joining the sect. Though strange and awkward, he gave it his full focus—he'd make it perfect.

Jin Peng had given Duo Ye a note with the target's name, approximate address, and detailed instructions.

The first two items were easy—child's play for a street-smart guy like Duo Ye.

But the task requirement was tricky: "Let the innocent girl escape, and capture only the male."

That was harder.

So Master Duo estimated the time, planned to stir up trouble, shout to alarm the neighbors, and then block Lu Gang so the girl could escape.

But before Master Duo could yell, a fierce argument broke out inside the house.

Lu Gang and Xiao Xiang erupted into another fight, their voices growing louder; no help from Master Duo was needed—the neighbors were already stirred.

Master Duo timed it, ready to bang on the door and rescue her, but just as luck would have it, Xiao Xiang suddenly burst out, covering her face and sobbing as she ran off.

【Damn, who came up with this plan? Am I just a spectator?】

Master Duo was truly astonished—so far, he hadn't needed to lift a finger; everything had unfolded exactly as written on the note.

Lu Gang also rushed to the door, shouting at Xiao Xiang's back: "If you walk out now, think about the consequences!"

"Cough, cough~"

Master Duo finally stepped forward, grinning at Lu Gang: "Hey, brother, don't talk about her consequences—have you thought about your own?"

Lu Gang glanced at Master Duo and warned sharply: "Who are you? I've never seen you before."

Master Duo gestured around at the crowd and smiled: "Don't care who I am—if you don't drag that girl into this, you're fine. But if you point the finger at her, your crime's serious."

Lu Gang looked left and right and saw neighbors peering out, all eager for a show.

"Hmph~ Meddlesome."

"Bang~"

Lu Gang slammed the door shut, cursing Master Duo under his breath.

But after closing the door, he felt a flicker of relief—he'd avoided acting rashly, sparing himself and Xiao Xiang mutual ruin.

Yet one minute later, a chaotic rush of footsteps sounded outside.

Then Lu Gang heard Master Duo shout: "This is the house! Someone was sexually harassing someone inside just now!"

"."

The neighborhood patrol team kicked down Lu Gang's door.

Lu Gang stared at Master Duo, frozen in shock—when had he ever crossed paths with this man?

Was it just now, when he'd called him "meddlesome"?

No way! How could it happen so fast?

"Hey, weren't you just sexually harassing someone? Where's the woman?"

Lu Gang snapped back to his senses and denied flatly: "No. No woman."

"No? Hmph~"

The veteran patrolman held up a used "baby-poop plastic bag" with a chopstick, waving it twice in front of Lu Gang.

"Don't tell me this is your parents'—it's still warm! Confess now, and we'll go easy on you."

Sweat poured down Lu Gang's forehead—he finally understood what Master Duo had meant earlier.

Right now, he was already humiliated, but there was still a way out. But if he exposed Xiao Xiang, he was finished.

"I—I was just... playing with myself."

"."

Everyone fell silent—had they all come for nothing?

But the seasoned veteran spoke calmly: "Have his workplace come pick him up. Give him a proper interrogation—minimum, he needs a strong re-education."

Mmm!

On Monday, Lu Gang's story spread through the entire school.

Before the investigation concluded, they didn't expel him outright, but studying abroad was out of the question.

Thank you to patron "Lemon With Me Crazy" for 3000 coins, to patron "Ye Linran" for 200 coins, to patron "Qiu Ran Ke 588" for a donation, to patron "Dao Tong You" for 500 coins, and to all other patrons—thank you for your combined two-day support; it seems there's plenty left. o(n_n)o haha~

(End of Chapter)