HR Chapter 17

After waiting for a long time, two cars finally pulled up in front of the door. The first person to get out of the lead car was Bai Ze, whom he recognized, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then, he saw a gentle and refined young man get out of the car, turn around, lean down, and reach out to help out a handsome and graceful teenager. His head of black hair was paired with a pair of light gray eyes, reflecting the bewitching cinnabar tattoo below his left eye, which was particularly striking.

Fang Yiwei couldn’t help but take a few more glances. Receiving a warning look from Bai Ze, he awkwardly covered it up, his nervous hands not knowing where to put them: “Senior, welcome to Qianwei Pavilion.”

Lu Qinyuan seemed gentle but exuded an imposing pressure. He stopped in front of Fang Yiwei, sizing him up: “You’ve grown quickly. I’ve seen the achievements you’ve made. Keep up the good work.” He led Xiao Qi by the hand and walked inside.

Bai Ze and Fang Yiwei lagged behind a step. Glancing at Fang Yiwei, who was constantly wiping his sweat, Bai Ze said, puzzled, “Lu Ye doesn’t eat people. Why are you so afraid of him every time you see him? I suspect you’ve done something you’re ashamed of.”

“Brother, don’t joke around. That’s the big boss, he’s a senior,” Fang Yiwei tensed up whenever he saw Lu Qinyuan, like a frightened bird. This was a habit he had been trying to change but couldn’t.

Actually, there was a shadow in his heart. Bai Ze knew very well that he was beaten up by Lu Qinyuan.

Although Lu Qinyuan was involved in the underworld, he was a cultured man. He formally graduated from Shang Ning City Hanwen University with a doctorate and even had dual degrees in finance and computer science.

When Fang Yiwei was still a student, he went to a KTV under Lu Qinyuan’s name with his classmates to sing and got into a fight. Coincidentally, Lu Qinyuan ran into them. After asking in detail, he was considered his junior, although nominally, he still had to give face.

Lu Qinyuan then said, “You are guests, and they are guests, but your identities are vastly different. But you have one advantage: you are a student of Hanwen University, so I’m technically your senior. Call me senior.”

“…Senior?” Fang Yiwei was a little drunk and reacted half a beat slower than usual, vaguely acknowledging this senior he had never met and didn’t know was a real deal or a fake.

“Yes.” Lu Qinyuan nodded in satisfaction and continued, “Since you called me senior, I still have to show some consideration. But since I helped you, you owe me a favor. How do you plan to repay me?”

“Ah?” Fang Yiwei looked blankly at Lu Qinyuan, stunned for a long time before catching on: “I didn’t ask you to help me, senior?”

“Oh, you want to ask me to help you?” Lu Qinyuan didn’t waste any words and directly beat Fang Yiwei up himself.

Fang Yiwei couldn’t react at all. He was just talking nicely, and the next moment, he was rolling up his sleeves and beating people. His change of face was too fast. The classmates who came with Fang Yiwei were happy to see someone helping, but when they saw the beaten-down Fang Yiwei, they immediately felt that death was more likely than survival, and there was no hope.

Lu Qinyuan twisted Fang Yiwei’s arm and said, “You beg me.”

Fang Yiwei was beaten until his slight drunkenness was completely gone. His stomach hurt, his arm hurt, and his whole body felt uncomfortable, but he stubbornly resisted: “I’ll beg you if you tell me to beg you. So what if you’re a senior? Do I even know you!”

“It’s enough that I know you.” Lu Qinyuan finished speaking and delivered another beating. Fang Yiwei was finally beaten into submission, crying with snot and tears all over his face, “What did I ever do to offend you? I just came to have a drink. You beat me just because you know me? What kind of senior are you? Waaah, it hurts!”

“Fang Yiran is your brother. I was a classmate with your brother. Go home and ask him why I beat you.” Lu Qinyuan threw Fang Yiwei to the ground, took the towel handed over by his subordinate, wiped his hands, sat down on the sofa, and said with a smile, “Study hard and come work for me after graduation. Tell your brother that the younger brother pays the debt for the older brother. Don’t struggle.”

Bai Ze and Fang Yiwei had a good relationship, so he pressed him to ask what debt Fang Yiran owed Lu Qinyuan. Fang Yiwei struggled for a long time before reluctantly pouring out his grievances.

“My brother is so disloyal to his friends. We agreed to work for Senior after graduation, but he fell for his current sister-in-law and chased her abroad, ditching Senior.” Actually, this wasn’t a big deal. The key was: “Uh, that sister-in-law almost became Senior’s wife.”

So Fang Yiran, who doted on his younger brother, heard that Fang Yiwei, this idiot, had been captured by Lu Qinyuan and came to question Lu Qinyuan aggressively: “What right do you have to kidnap my brother? So what if I stole your wife back then? It’s not a big deal. You didn’t even like her anyway.”

Lu Qinyuan didn’t even raise his eyelids: “The world is going downhill. Now, even third parties are interfering with confidence. You stole my person, so I kidnapped your brother. A life for a life. Don’t you think that’s fair? Do you want your brother or your wife?”

Fang Yiran was a wife slave and also doted on his younger brother. His eyebrows were almost knotted into a ball from the struggle. In the end, he couldn’t resist the temptation of a gentle embrace and decisively abandoned his brother: “Xiao Wei’s grades are bad, and I can’t control him anyway. If you’re willing to control him, then control him well.”

From then on, Fang Yiwei lived a life of studying and getting beaten. Every day, Lu Qinyuan sent a car to pick him up to check his homework, forcibly beating a slacker into a straight-A student and turning a rotten wood into a pillar.

Only Fang Yiwei could understand the hardship involved.

It was all blood and tears.

Fang Yiwei stood at the door, dawdling and unwilling to go in. Bai Ze pushed him from behind, saying with a wry smile, “Lu Ye won’t beat you.” Then he turned and left.

Fang Yiwei shrank back, moving one step and pausing for three seconds, even slower than a snail. Lu Qinyuan greeted him in a very good mood, “Xiao Wei, come, sit down and let’s chat.”

Fang Yiwei immediately burst into tears, moving one step and pausing for three seconds, even slower than a snail.

There weren’t many dishes, but each one was exquisite, with a light and non-spicy flavor. Xiao Qi didn’t have any particular dislikes either. He tasted every dish once. When he ate the Emerald Celery and Shrimp Dumplings, he couldn’t help but praise, “This is delicious.” He picked up a shrimp dumpling and put it in Lu Qinyuan’s bowl.

Lu Qinyuan picked it up and ate it, then looked up at Fang Yiwei, who had moved closer, and smiled, “Xiao Wei, I heard your brother recently had a son.”

Fang Yiwei’s heart couldn’t help but tremble: “Ah, yes, he hasn’t reached his first month yet.”

“Has a name been chosen?” Lu Qinyuan took a napkin to wipe the soup from the corners of Xiao Qi’s lips. Fang Yiwei shook his head: “They’re looking into it, but it hasn’t been decided yet.”

Lu Qinyuan smiled and said, “I’m the child’s godfather. I won’t interfere with the formal name, but I’ll choose the nickname. How about Shaoxin?”

Fang Yiwei nodded and said, “I’ll tell my brother.”

“Lu Ye,” Bai Ze knocked on the door and came in, “Mi Shengfei is here.”

Mi Shengfei came in dressed in a suit, with a generous and polite manner. He greeted Lu Qinyuan, sat down, and didn’t look sideways at Xiao Qi sitting next to him. He asked, “Lu Ye, what are your instructions for calling me here?”

“Temporarily hand over the work in your hands to others. From today onwards, you will take over Shu Xiu’s work.” He pointed to Fang Yiwei and said, “This is the assistant assigned to you. I wish you a happy collaboration.”

Mi Shengfei reached out his hand to Fang Yiwei: “Hello, Mi Shengfei.”

“Y-you, hello, Fang Yiwei.” Fang Yiwei timidly reached out his hand, his movements slow and hesitant, like a frightened rabbit.

“As for how to clean up the inside, I don’t need to teach you. I also believe in Shengfei’s abilities.” Lu Qinyuan emphasized, “The net should be slowly tightened, so as not to alert the fish. When the time is right, you can catch them all in one fell swoop.”

“Yes.” Mi Shengfei and Fang Yiwei answered at the same time.

The matter was only resolved incidentally. The main thing was still eating.

Xiao Qi hadn’t finished eating yet. There was a kind of dim sum called Chestnut Crisp. He ate more than half a plate and still wanted to reach out for more. Lu Qinyuan was afraid that he would eat too much again like last time and suffer from indigestion, so he quickly stopped him: “Don’t eat so much that you feel uncomfortable like last time. Drink some Rose Dew.” He said to Fang Yiwei, “Pack some of this dessert for me to take away. You guys go down. Xiao Bai, go eat. You can leave later.”

Fang Yiwei was relieved as if he had been granted amnesty and scurried out in a puff of smoke, making Mi Shengfei, who was following behind, laugh straight. He asked Bai Ze, “Did Fang Yiwei see a ghost?”

Bai Ze also laughed, “Indeed. Even more terrifying than a ghost.”

Until Lu Qinyuan left, Fang Yiwei didn’t show his face, but he did have a large bag of Chestnut Crisps sent out and said that if he wanted to eat more, he could call and have them delivered.

Xiao Qi hugged the paper bag of Chestnut Crisps and nodded happily: “Uh-huh, uh-huh, give me the phone number.”

The waiter handed over a business card, and Xiao Qi took it, glanced at it, and returned it to him: “Thank you, I’ve memorized it.”

Smelling the fragrance of the Chestnut Crisps, Xiao Qi’s stomach started to rumble restlessly. Lu Qinyuan simply put the Chestnut Crisps in the back, put his arm around Xiao Qi, and scolded him, “You don’t learn from your mistakes. Who was it who felt so uncomfortable that they couldn’t sleep? Have you forgotten again?”

Xiao Qi hummed unhappily and argued, “It’s not your fault. You insisted on making me drink porridge.” He held out two fingers and waved them in front of Lu Qinyuan’s eyes: “Two bowls, too.”

“What’s past is past. Let’s not mention it anymore.” Lu Qinyuan was in the wrong in this matter and didn’t say much. He grabbed Xiao Qi’s hand and held it in his own, letting Xiao Qi lean on him. He looked at the scenery receding outside the car window, feeling as if it was a world away.

It seemed that since Xiao Qi came, he wasn’t so keen on going out anymore. As long as Xiao Qi was there, it seemed to matter little where he was.

Being close to the company meant a half-hour drive, provided there was no traffic. But unfortunately, there was a traffic accident ahead, so they took a detour. By the time they arrived at the company entrance, Xiao Qi was already asleep.

Lu Qinyuan sat still, unbuckled Xiao Qi’s seat belt, and held him in his arms, making him sleep more comfortably. He directly ordered, “We’re not going up. Let’s go back.”

Qi Yue had been back in the country for over half a month, but his wife was stubbornly staying at Lan Yuan, saying that Sha Tang could make him Buddha Jumps Over the Wall there. To put it bluntly, he was a homebody; to put it unkindly, he was lazy, too lazy to move.

To coax his wife home, Doctor Qi, who always adhered to the principle of a gentleman staying away from the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves and entered the kitchen, pestering Sha Tang to teach him how to make Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Sha Tang played with the □□ and looked down at Qi Yue condescendingly: “With me, it’s easy to take you as a disciple, but it’s hard to graduate. If you don’t satisfy me, you can forget about graduating.”

“Okay, okay, I know your broken rules. I agree to everything.” For his wife, Qi Yue was going all out.

The result was that Qi Yue’s culinary talent was inversely proportional to his medical talent, looking at each other from opposite extremes, both feeling that the other was incredibly gifted to reach such a height.

Qi Yue looked at his hands that could cut people into flowers without drawing blood when holding a scalpel and felt deeply helpless.

Sha Tang failed for the first time and kicked Qi Yue out of the kitchen, wiping away tears of bitterness for his own blindness.