Chapter 686

"The reason Lu Jingyao was able to get a spot to study abroad back then was all thanks to your help, Li Ye!"

With just one sentence, Zhang Zui made everyone around them raise their eyebrows, and even the way Li Kaijian looked at Li Ye became somewhat unkind.

"Li Ye, what is going on here?"

Back then, when Lu Jingyao's family proposed breaking off the engagement, it had been a slap in the face to Li Kaijian. If it hadn't been for the Lu family's promise that "if Li Ye gets into university, they can reconcile," which led Li Ye to study and strive twice as hard, Li Kaijian would have had the heart to tear their house down.

Later, Li Ye got into Jing University and got all lovey-dovey with Wen Leyu, so Li Kaijian stopped holding a grudge over the Lu family's lack of integrity; his perspective had changed, and so had his mindset.

But if you were to say that after Li Ye got into university, he was still foolishly helping Lu Jingyao like he did in high school, Li Kaijian would never forgive him.

When Lu Jingyao's house was broken, you rushed to fix it for her; when her mother was sick, you helped her mother get medical treatment; and in the end, she kicked you to the curb anyway. Now that she wants to go abroad, you're still giving her a helping hand? Is she a vixen or what?

Even a vixen wouldn't be allowed!

Li Ye's face was gloomy, and a hoarse sound came from his throat: "I don't remember helping Lu Jingyao with anything regarding her studying abroad, so I hope you can explain yourself, lest you cause a misunderstanding among everyone. Sometimes, misunderstandings... can get people killed."

Zhang Zui looked at Li Ye strangely, then looked at Lu Jingyao, and finally looked at Watching Liu Muhan.

"What? Could it be that you... don't know? That's impossible, right?"

Zhang Zui looked at Li Ye with amusement and said, "Back when my father moved house, Section Chief Liu and Lu Jingyao, as well as you and those fellow villagers of yours, were all present. At that time, my father called you into the room to chat alone for a while. You don't deny this matter, do you?"

Li Ye's expression turned stern. After staring at Zhang Zui intently for a moment, he nodded slowly.

"Yes, at that time, someone was maliciously slandering Lu Jingyao on the spot for the sake of a study-abroad opportunity. I'm not a particularly magnanimous person, and I even hold grudges, but I never wrong others, so I clarified some things with Professor Zhang. That doesn't count as helping, does it?"

"That doesn't count as helping?"

Zhang Zui shook his head and said with a hint of sarcasm, "In that year, there were at least a hundred students who wanted to ask my father to help them secure a study-abroad spot; my father might not even remember all their names.

But after the clarification from the famous 'Seven-Inch Blade,' Lu Jingyao's name was firmly remembered by my father.

Moreover, Lu Jingyao's situation was very special, to the point that my father later felt that not recommending Lu Jingyao would be a lack of respect for the freedom of marriage, so..."

Zhang Zui drew out his tone and said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "If this doesn't count as helping, then what does?

Li Ye, you should also know how precious undergraduate spots are. Lu Jingyao's overall grades were only average; how could she have stood out?"

"."

Zhang Zui's words made several people around them feel irritated, yet they had to concede.

Because the number of undergraduate spots for studying abroad was limited—fewer than those for graduate students and visiting scholars—those who could obtain study-abroad qualifications in their sophomore or junior year were definitely top-tier students like "class cadres."

But Lu Jingyao was not among the "several people," and she gritted her teeth and insisted on defending herself: "I respect Professor Zhang very much, and I am very grateful to him, but my overall grades that year were third. I was fully qualified to obtain the study-abroad qualification..."

"The person who was first overall that year didn't get selected, so what makes you think you were qualified to be selected?"

Zhang Zui seemed to have anticipated this, retorting to Lu Jingyao with split-second speed, which left the scene in silence.

Li Ye was impressed; Zhang Zui's words seemed like wishful thinking, but they were impeccable.

If Zhang Zui had directly produced "evidence" saying, "Li Ye, you demanded my father help Lu Jingyao study abroad," Li Ye could have spat in his face.

But Zhang Zui was now creating something out of nothing, using his own reasoning to "logically and factually" prove that Lu Jingyao's study-abroad qualification was thanks to Li Ye.

This sentence easily led everyone's train of thought in that direction, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt, "That really must be how it happened."

Li Ye had seen this trick plenty of times in his past life.

At his workplace, he had worked 996 hours and stepped over countless corporate climbers, and just when he finally got some benefits, a bunch of people who wouldn't even greet him on a normal day would appear.

"If I hadn't mentioned you when I was talking to XX back then, you wouldn't have gotten this precious promotion opportunity, so you should thank me."

Thank you my ass! Who knows if you even mentioned my name in a conversation with XX years ago?

You're coming here now, begging for benefits—how am I supposed to verify that?

Yet, the unscrupulous colleagues around them would all fan the flames, giving this guy face and turning the fake into the real.

Lu Jingyao was also clearly shaken, because she didn't know what Li Ye had said to Professor Zhang alone in the room back then.

Moreover, Lu Jingyao had been extremely panicked at the time, afraid that Li Ye would exaggerate the story of their broken engagement and make Professor Zhang despise her.

Later, when she received the study-abroad spot, she still couldn't believe it—how could such a precious spot fall on her?

Now, listening to Zhang Zui's narrative, it wasn't without reason. After all, the "Seven-Inch Blade" was at the height of his fame at the time, and the title of an outstanding young writer still had some weight. It wasn't impossible that Professor Zhang had done Li Ye a favor.

"This isn't..."

Lu Jingyao muttered, but she couldn't form a complete sentence.

Deep down, she resisted accepting Li Ye's favors again, but it was as if she had fallen into Moore's Law: the more she wanted to deny it, the more panicked she became, and the more she lost her self-confidence.

Throughout her journey to this day, the most precious thing she had was her self-confidence.

Zhang Zui suddenly changed to a smiling face: "Of course, Lu Jingyao is indeed very outstanding. Look at her now; she is undoubtedly the number one person among our batch of students abroad.

She manages an investment company, earns over 50,000 pounds a year, and also has company shares. It was worth the pressure my father is currently enduring for her..."

"."

Li Ye's mind raced, and he vaguely caught onto something. Playing along, he asked Zhang Zui: "What pressure is Professor Zhang enduring?"

"Oh, it's all just nonsense,"

Zhang Zui said with a sneer: "My father was the recommender for Lu Jingyao's government-sponsored study abroad. Because Lu Jingyao didn't return as expected, my father and another guarantor have both endured a lot of pressure. But my father doesn't resent Lu Jingyao; after all, she is indeed more capable than others in some respects..."

【Are you here today to suck up to Watching Liu Muhan? Or to disgust Lu Jingyao?】

By this point, Li Ye finally caught onto the drift.

This Zhang Zui held a grudge against Lu Jingyao.

Originally, Li Ye thought Zhang Zui was using Lu Jingyao, a successful individual, to disgust him, but now Li Ye felt that Zhang Zui was making veiled accusations that Lu Jingyao was ungrateful.

Government-sponsored students in the early eighties couldn't just up and leave; they had to go through a series of procedures, with recommendations and guarantees. If they didn't return after going abroad, the impact was huge.

In his past life, Li Ye had heard his parents talk about an example: a female student went abroad and didn't return. The organization found her family and demanded they do whatever it took to make her come back.

Her family wrote letters one after another, but in the end, she just didn't return. The family had no choice but to issue a statement severing the father-daughter relationship.

Even then, she didn't return, and she didn't even come back when her parents died.

Lu Jingyao had used Jonina's investment company to establish a handicraft company in Qingshui County.

She brought foreign capital to the county and opened up export channels through Watching Liu Muhan, which was the only reason she resolved her family's issues; otherwise, her father's career as a primary school principal would have definitely been over.

But what about the recommenders and guarantors at the school? Well, later on, there were too many who didn't return, and since you don't fear lice when you have too many, it gradually faded into obscurity.

Seeing Lu Jingyao's rapid breathing, red eyes, and pale face, her good friend Watching Liu Muhan finally had to intervene helplessly.

She didn't argue that Lu Jingyao's going abroad was entirely her own effort, because that would be nonsense; she had been the one to lead Lu Jingyao to Professor Zhang's house back then, hoping to get her face known, so she couldn't turn her back on that now.

She diverted the attention of Zhang Zui and Lu Jingyao.

"Alright, nephew, you can consider this a case of 'planting a willow by accident.' Lu Jingyao owes you this favor, and she must repay you double in the future."

"."

Zhang Zui was stunned and asked timidly: "Mu Han, what do you mean by 'nephew'? And 'closer than blood'?"

Watching Liu Muhan pointed at Li Ye: "There, this is my nephew, closer than blood."

Li Ye sighed and said: "Aunt, you'd better not go around claiming favors for me; it's unnecessary."

"."

Zhang Zui looked at Li Ye strangely, not knowing what to say.

Today, he had intended to use veiled criticism to expose Lu Jingyao's "ingratitude," but he ended up using Li Ye as a supporting character—how did it end up involving Watching Liu Muhan's relatives?