บท 16: Chapter 16 Cherish It Well
Finally enduring the end of the lecture and the Q&A session, no one spoke up. It wasn't that no one had questions; Lu Heyang noticed many people whispering among themselves, exchanging phones, seemingly checking something that only he wasn't aware of. He gracefully wrapped things up and left the classroom under the obscure gazes that kept falling upon him.
As he opened his phone, the relief he had just felt vanished, tension returning to his nerves. The dean had messaged him, insisting he come to his office immediately after the lecture.
Lu Heyang had a vague suspicion that it might be related to the middle-aged couple from earlier. When he pushed open the dean's office door, his suspicions were confirmed.
"It's him!" The middle-aged man suddenly stood up from the sofa, veins bulging on his forehead, pointing at Lu Heyang in agitation. "Dean Wang, you can't cover for him!"
Lu Heyang ignored him and politely greeted, "Dean Wang."
"Mr. Lu," Wang Zhiyuan's expression was complicated, and after some deliberation, he spoke, "These are the parents of one of our female students. They are accusing you… of being in a relationship with their daughter."
Lu Heyang looked around the office in disbelief, taking in each person's face, whether heavy with anger or seriousness. He was the only one treating this accusation like a joke.
"Completely baseless," Lu Heyang immediately refuted. "There's no way I'd be involved with any student like that."
"You still won't admit it!" The middle-aged man was fuming, pulling out his phone. "Look! Her schedule marks every one of your classes with hearts, and look at the posters on her wall—are they not all pictures of you? And this—this is a photo of the two of you together, looking so close!"
The man's phone displayed a schedule marked in red ink with hearts and a wall full of carefully composed photos of Lu Heyang—standing, sitting, glancing back—each one aesthetically pleasing.
Lu Heyang acknowledged that the photos were indeed of him, though most appeared to be taken without his knowledge. He wasn't looking directly into the camera. As for the photo showing him embracing a female student intimately, he didn't even recognize the girl's face, nor could he recall ever taking such a picture.
"Sorry, but what's your daughter's name?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman, who had been silent until now, could no longer hold back. She rushed up and hit Lu Heyang with her handbag.
"You, a teacher, not only refuse to admit what you've done, but you also pretend not to know my daughter? Don't you have any shame?" Her voice trembled, almost crying. "What else could this be but an insult?"
Lu Heyang's arm took the hit solidly, and Dean Wang quickly stepped in to separate them. "Let's talk this through. No need to resort to violence—once violence is involved, the situation changes."
"I really don't know this student. She's not even from the psychology department."
Seeing how certain Lu Heyang was, as if he genuinely had no idea, Dean Wang explained, "Indeed, she's not from our department. Her name is Tang Yifei, from the English department."
At the mention of the name, Lu Heyang recalled a vague memory. She had asked for his WeChat after one of his lectures.
"She did audit my course once, but I've had no further contact with her," Lu Heyang said. "As for that photo, I suspect your daughter edited it herself."
"What about the others?"
"I can control my actions, but I can't control how others think of me. I apologize for that." Lu Heyang maintained his composure, neither arrogant nor humble.
"You mean to say my daughter has an unrequited crush?" the middle-aged woman shrieked. "How do I know if you didn't seduce her, using your position as a teacher to pressure her into liking you?"
"If you have any evidence, you can…"
"Someone like you would be stupid enough to leave any evidence?!"
"Why are we wasting time talking to this wolf in sheep's clothing?! Beat him until he admits it!" The middle-aged man suddenly lunged, grabbing Lu Heyang by the collar.
The sound of a chair being knocked over, a teacup shattering on the ground—through the rising shards and steam, Lu Heyang vaguely saw someone rush in, grabbing the hand from his neck and twisting the wrist, throwing the man back onto the sofa.
"A teacher at Jia University just hit someone!" The man patted his thigh dramatically.
"I'm not a teacher at Jia University."
Numb with exhaustion, Lu Heyang looked up at the figure standing in front of him, holding a ridiculous lunchbox.
"I'm his brother, and I don't play by the rules like they do." Lu Xun stuffed the lunchbox into Lu Heyang's arms, then adjusted his mask, pointing a finger at the man recording with his phone. "You better stop filming, you hear me?"
"You dare hit someone but won't let me film? Your brother did something so morally corrupt…"
"Watch your mouth!" Lu Xun lifted the man off the sofa like a chicken. The woman screamed briefly, then picked up the broken shards of porcelain and stabbed at Lu Xun.
A nasty gash appeared across the back of his hand, blood trickling down, staining the spilled tea a faint red.
The bloodstained shard clattered to the floor, and the woman stared in disbelief, covering her mouth. She thought Lu Xun would release her husband's hand to avoid her attack, but he didn't. His grip remained firm on the man's collar, squeezing tight enough to leave red marks on his neck, turning his face a sickly purple from lack of air.
Lu Xun glanced at the wound on his hand. "See this? I could sue you for intentional assault."
"Enough." Lu Heyang finally spoke, prying Lu Xun's fingers off one by one. "Enough. Let's go to the hospital."
"They…"
"Shut up," Lu Heyang scolded.
Lu Xun licked his cheek and clenched his back teeth.
Facing the now-stunned middle-aged couple, Lu Heyang turned to Dean Wang and said, "I've made my position very clear. I'm willing to cooperate with any investigation the school or the police may conduct. For now, I'm heading to the hospital."
The wound was deep and required three stitches.
Lu Heyang sat outside the treatment room, staring blankly at the yellow receipt from his payment, the smell of disinfectant lingering in the air.
Total: 302 yuan.
Not too expensive.
But would paying this 302 yuan be enough to repay the blood and pain endured for his sake?
What was the motivation behind Lu Xun's defense?
Family pride? A sense of justice? Habit? Possessiveness?
He did mental arithmetic, weighing and crossing out possibilities, filling in new ones.
The rabbit's fate belongs only to the tiger. Perhaps Lu Xun was merely guarding his prey with blood.
It wasn't until Lu Xun's shoes came into view that he snapped back to reality, looking up. Lu Xun stood in the summer sunlight, the top of his head flickering with tiny specks of light.
This person, blessed by the sun when they first met at age fifteen, still remained favored by it now.
"I'm fine," Lu Xun said, showing the gauze wrapped around the back of his hand. "It's not serious."
"That's good." Lu Heyang lowered his eyes.
"You haven't eaten yet," Lu Xun sat beside him. "It must be cold by now. Want me to find somewhere to heat it up?"
"No need." He had no appetite at all.
Lu Xun leaned his head comfortably against the wall behind him, exhaling deeply. "Cherish it well, Mr. Lu."
Is he leaving? Lu Heyang quickly turned his head to look at him.
Lu Xun nonchalantly turned his right hand over in front of his eyes.
"My hand's hurt. After you finish this meal, you'll have to eat takeout for a few days."
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