Kaiwei Academy.
The cheating incident had been thoroughly investigated and resolved. Yu He had just walked out of the dean's office when a black Audi stopped in front of her.
The car window slid down, revealing Qin Beiting's striking profile.
Yu He glanced at her phone's date: Wednesday.
She had promised to help him with his health over the weekend. Distractedly, she asked, "Why are you here? Didn't you say it was the weekend?"
Seeing her expressionless face, Qin Beiting assumed she was upset about her grades and said, "Get in the car, I'll take you somewhere to eat."
Yu He was puzzled but didn't refuse. She walked to the back seat, about to open the door when Qin Beiting said, "Sit in the front."
She tried the door handle again, finding it locked. Resigned, she got into the passenger seat.
Qin Beiting took her to a high-end Western restaurant.
The spacious dining room had only one long table in the center.
Piano music, flowers, fine wine, candlelight, and a line of attentive waiters ready to serve completed the scene.
Yu He had never been in a relationship, but she knew this romantic atmosphere was meant for couples.
Her steps faltered slightly. "Uncle, why did you bring me here? Are you going to show me you and Auntie on a date?"
"I'm still single. It's just us two. Eat to your heart's content. No bad mood can't be solved by food," Qin Beiting gestured, and the waiters began serving dishes.
Yu He gave him a questioning look.
Did she look like she was in a bad mood?
Well, what the Ye family had done at the academy was indeed a bit frustrating, and she still needed to find time to clean things up…
"I heard about your grades. Don't let it bother you. Test scores don't mean everything," Qin Beiting said as he cut his steak.
Yu He: "..."
So, he invited her to dinner to comfort her?
"If you don't want to study, don't. I'll support you in the future," Qin Beiting placed his cut steak in front of her.
"Given your situation in the Qin family, Uncle, I think it's better if I study hard. You don't need to worry about me," Yu He replied.
In other words, you should worry about yourself and stop meddling in affairs that don't concern you.
She had seen Qin Beiting's information, not just his, but the profiles of every member of the Qin family. She knew them all by heart.
To outsiders, Qin Beiting was the prestigious seventh young master of the Qin family, but in reality, he was the illegitimate son of the elder Mr. Qin from his later years.
After being brought back to the Qin family, he was, as expected, ostracized by the family.
Before his death, the elder Mr. Qin had given him most of his shares, making him second only to the new Qin family head in terms of shareholding. However, he could only inherit them after marriage; otherwise, all shares would be donated to charity. His intention was for the Qin family to accept Qin Beiting.
But the opposite was true; this made the ostracization Qin Beiting faced even more pronounced.
At fourteen, the new family head, under the guise of "training," sent him to the military to fend for himself.
He only returned to the Qin family two years ago after retiring from the military. He was then assigned as the general manager of a small subsidiary of the Qin conglomerate, again under the pretext of "training him."
As long as he didn't marry, he couldn't obtain the Qin family shares, and the Qin family could arbitrarily order him around.
Logically speaking, in Qin Beiting's situation, to retaliate, he should have married immediately upon reaching the legal age, inherited the shares, and put those who bullied him in their place.
But he was 24 this year, long past the legal age for marriage, and still single.
It was truly baffling… Could he have some hidden ailment in that area?
Thinking this, Yu He's gaze towards him suddenly filled with pity.
Qin Beiting, seeing Yu He's gaze filled with pity, began, "Actually…"
His publicly available personal information, while not false, was not entirely true either.
But then he thought, the young girl had lived in the mountains since she was six, her experience was limited, and he shouldn't scare her.
With that in mind, the words on his lips took a detour. "You've discovered it."
Yu He: "..."
They ate in silence. After the meal, Qin Beiting drove her back to Kaiwei.
Yu He thanked him. As she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, Qin Beiting called out to her, "Wait a moment."
Yu He turned back. He took a book titled "Five Years of Gaokao, Three Years of Mock Exams" from the back seat.
"Since you want to study hard, take this workbook back and complete it. I'll assess your level first, and then I'll create a tutoring plan for you," Qin Beiting said.
Yu He: "..."
This workbook was probably prepared for her from the beginning, wasn't it?
She had painstakingly forced herself to complete the university courses her master had given her, and now this!
"Thank you," she said with a strained smile, took the workbook, decisively closed the car door, and entered the school gates.
—
At the academy, the "Ye Family Grand Feast" incident had become the laughingstock of Kaiwei Academy after a morning of fermentation.
As a member of the Ye family, Ye Zisu, with her superior "white lotus" acting skills, managed to distance herself entirely from this embarrassment.
She put on a facade of delicate vulnerability and said to those who mocked her, "I'm sorry, could you please stop talking about it? My father was just caught off guard by what my sister did, and he's already very upset…"
Privately, however, she was frantically posting anonymous messages on the school forum:
[The Ye family's attention-seeking annual drama is truly an unprecedented joke.]
[A bumpkin cheating is one thing, but their parents are brainless too. I hope the dean expels this kind of student.]
After posting, she checked back and was surprised to see Lu Chenyu had replied with his real name!
Lu Chenyu: [There was a misunderstanding in this matter. It's over now. Please don't post such things anymore.]
With the top student's word, no one else commented on the post.
Ye Zisu was utterly confused. Lu Chenyu's exam papers had been leaked; why was he still speaking up for Yu He?
Just then, Yu He, who had been missing all morning, returned to Class One.