After Jiang Sifan and Jiang Silu left, Chen He walked over to Lu Fan. "Boss, should we tell the Young Master the truth? After all, you were the one who arranged for help. Otherwise, he won’t know how much you’ve done for him."

Lu Fan smiled. "No need. Even if I told him the truth now, he wouldn’t believe me. Besides, we still have Silu, right? She’ll tell him."

He then looked at his assistant, Jiali. "Jiali, how is that background check coming along on the guy who poached his girlfriend?"

"It’s done." Jiali nodded. "His parents own a company that does international trade. A few years ago, due to certain events, they exported a batch of medical supplies and made a fortune."

Lu Fan nodded. "In that case, gather some intel on their business operations. See if there are any loopholes. If you find any, take the initiative and strike."

"Yes, Boss. What about the girl?"

"Tell the vice president of Jinling Institute of Technology about this and let him handle it. For this kind of morally corrupt behavior, give her a demerit. At the very least, it will make Sifan feel a bit better."

Lu Fan glanced back in the direction of the interrogation room, his face expressionless, then turned and left.

Soon.

Lin Qiang’s parents arrived.

Seeing Lin Qiang beaten black and blue, they were furious. "Where’s the one who hit him? Motherfucker! I’ll beat that son of a bitch to death!"

Lin Qiang cried out, "Dad, Mom, what took you so long!"

Mr. Lin immediately questioned one of the police officers, "Hey, Officer, did you make some kind of mistake?! My son is beaten this badly, and you just let that guy walk?! You just made my son sign a settlement agreement like that?"

An officer explained, "It was a mutual fight, and morally, your son was the one at fault. In cases like this, we generally advocate for mediation. Otherwise, both parties would face administrative detention."

"What the hell?!" Mrs. Lin pointed at Lin Qiang’s face. "My son was beaten like this? And you’re calling it a mutual fight? I don’t accept this mediation! You get that student back here right now, or I’m going to the School of Science and Technology tomorrow to raise hell!"

Just then, Huang Hui also came out of the interrogation room.

Seeing her, Mrs. Lin started berating her. "It must have been you, you shameless girl, seducing my son! You really are something else!"

"Ma’am, please watch your words," the officer warned. "If you continue to cause trouble like this, it’s considered ’picking quarrels and provoking trouble,’ and I can legally take compulsory criminal measures against you!"

Seeing this scene unfold, Huang Hui felt even more miserable.

She was panicking.

She didn’t know what to do.

Fortunately, her school counselor showed up just in time.

After getting a clear picture of the situation, he took Huang Hui and left.

But Mrs. Lin was relentless. "You stay away from my son from now on!"

Then she looked at Mr. Lin. "Hurry up and make a call! Don’t you know the deputy director of this station? Our son got beaten up like this, aren’t you going to do something to get even?!"

"Dad, you have to get revenge for me!" Lin Qiang cried, trying to appeal to his father’s love.

Just then, an officer came rushing back in. As he entered, he asked, "Where’s Xiaozhang? Get over here and report on tonight’s situation."

When Mr. Lin saw him, he immediately went forward. "Director Luo, hello, hello."

Director Luo seemed a bit out of breath. He frowned and asked, "And you are?"

"We met before at Section Chief Chen’s dinner. I’m Lin Dafu from Guangsheng Company," Mr. Lin said with a fawning smile.

Hearing this, Director Luo seemed to recall something. He asked, "What’s wrong? Are you here to file a report?"

"Yes, my son was beaten up," Mr. Lin said, pointing to Lin Qiang beside him. "But your colleagues let the student who did it go free! That’s so unfair! Director Luo, you have to stand up for us common folk!"

At that moment, the officer named Xiaozhang walked over to Director Luo and whispered a few words in his ear.

When Director Luo heard this, he grew indignant. "So your son is the one who stole the guy’s girlfriend?!"

He said this so loudly that everyone in the station heard him.

Mr. Lin was momentarily mortified. He explained awkwardly, "Oh, come on. These kids are just dating. There’s no such thing as stealing someone’s girlfriend; it’s all consensual, right? But that’s no reason to hit someone! He beat my son this badly! I can’t just let this go!"

"Let me see the statement." After looking at Lin Qiang’s statement, Director Luo said, "Your son fought back, too. That makes it a mutual fight. It’s either administrative detention for both of them or mediation. You pick one."

"This..." Mr. Lin froze. He then stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Uh... Director Luo, about this matter, could you possibly..."

"Out of the question," Director Luo said bluntly. "Your son messed with someone he shouldn’t have. My superiors called me back here in the middle of the night specifically to handle your son’s case! You’re lucky I know it’s your son, or he wouldn’t be going home tonight at all. Now, hurry up and leave. Don’t embarrass yourself here."

After saying this, he beckoned two other officers on duty into his office.

Mrs. Lin was still pressing him. "Old Lin, what do we do? Are we just going to let it go like this?"

"What else can we do?" Mr. Lin, having been chewed out by Director Luo like a dog, could only take his anger out on Lin Qiang. "And you! I give you so much money to spend. Why don’t you go after single girls?! You just had to go for one with a boyfriend. Are you stupid or what?!" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

With that, he angrily stalked off.

Seeing this, Mrs. Lin immediately shouted, "Old Lin! Old Lin!"

Then she comforted Lin Qiang, "Son, let’s go. We’ll go home so you can recover first. This isn’t over!"

It was the first time Lin Qiang had ever seen his father get shut down like that. He couldn’t understand what kind of connections a freshman who needed a work-study job could possibly have.

’Dad, you’re a fucking coward!’

...

「On the way back.」

Jiang Silu comforted Jiang Sifan, "Brother, don’t be so sad. As they say, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Why get hung up on just one? With my brother’s looks and character, tons of girls would be chasing after you."

At the moment, Jiang Sifan didn’t want to hear her flattery. He waved his hand. "Alright, just let me have some peace and quiet."

"Oh."

But when Jiang Silu thought about Lu Fan’s concern tonight and Jiang Sifan’s misunderstanding of him, she finally decided to explain. "Actually, you’re misunderstanding our dad. The moment he heard you were in trouble today, he rushed back from Yangcheng."

"What do you mean, ’our dad’? I’ve never acknowledged him as my father," Jiang Sifan immediately retorted.

The next second, he suddenly thought of something.

He frowned and asked, "Wait, what do you mean he rushed back from Yangcheng the moment he heard? Why was he in Yangcheng?"

"He... He opened a pastry shop across from Mom’s flower shop. He wanted to be closer to her," Jiang Silu said, seeing she could no longer hide it.

Hearing this, Jiang Sifan exploded with anger. "Why didn’t you tell me something like this?! Jiang Silu, have you been blinded by his money?! Have you forgotten how much we’ve suffered all these years?!"

"Has he been bothering Mom? Is he pestering her all day long?"

As Jiang Sifan spoke, his emotions suddenly broke down.

His eyes red, he said, "How did things suddenly turn out like this..."