Before morning self-study the next day, Jian Sha collected English papers one by one. As she passed Zhao Changfeng, she covered her eyes, looking as if she couldn’t bear to look, “Zhao Changfeng, are you a genius? Can’t you tell the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘whether’?”

Zhao Changfeng tilted his face, “Huh? Is there a difference?”

Jian Sha bent down and went through the vocabulary section of the paper with Zhao Changfeng from beginning to end.

Seeing Jian Sha’s calm demeanor, Jiang Ruotang exhaled a sigh of relief. It seemed there was no need to worry about Jian Sha’s mood being affected by the infringement incident for now.

During the break after the second class, a student in the front row suddenly shouted excitedly.

“Wow, Weibo’s hot search just dropped to first place—that screenwriter Zhang Chun, nicknamed ‘Big Octopus’ or ‘Big Copycat,’ is suspected of colluding with a former editor from a publishing company to swindle online authors! Now Big Octopus and that editor are fighting like dogs!”

“Didn’t it just get on the hot search two days ago? I thought it would be suppressed, how did it get back to first place?”

“This time, ‘Rule of Law World’ published an article, popularizing copyright knowledge!”

“Damn, Big Octopus is getting full treatment this time! I know, there’s some kind of special campaign against infringement recently, Big Octopus just walked into the muzzle!”

“This isn’t the first time Big Octopus has done this! That romance drama he wrote last time, wasn’t it a Chinese translation of a Chinese work, rewriting a piece by a deceased romance novelist from abroad? The author’s fans cursed Big Octopus for a month, and Big Octopus shamelessly told that romance novelist to sue him!”

“He’s truly shameless, just because the novelist has passed away and only has a child who’s a few years old, so it’s impossible to sue him.”

“It’s about time this kind of person with no moral bottom line hit a brick wall.”

---

Lin Lu saw the headline news and immediately understood why his father had been in such a bad mood recently, and why he kept asking about his relationship with Jian Sha, and if he could persuade her.

And this top trending search indicated that Zhang Chun and Jian Sha had completely fallen out.

“Don’t have any improper thoughts,” Bai Yingchuan’s voice sounded in his ear.

“Ah?” Lin Lu’s heart skipped a beat. “I don’t… I don’t have any thoughts?”

Bai Yingchuan’s face held his usual gentle expression, but the gentler he was, the less warmth Lin Lu felt.

“You want to go find Jian Sha, explain to her that your father has nothing to do with her infringement, and that your father was also deceived by Zhang Chun. You want to say that your father is willing to spend a lot of money to buy her copyright, and will definitely give her credit, hoping that for the sake of this IP, she can give Zhang Chun a letter of understanding?”

Lin Lu’s throat bobbed. He carefully asked, “No… can’t I? Wouldn’t that be good for Jian Sha too?”

“Of course not. Do you really know what Jian Sha wants?” Bai Yingchuan asked Lin Lu in a very patient, almost childlike tone.

“Credit?”

Bai Yingchuan shook his head, “Jian Sha has never lacked money since she was little. She grew up in an idealized environment, where her parents and teachers taught her that good and evil will be repaid, and everything must follow rules and laws. She simply can’t understand how difficult it is to earn 500,000, 1,000,000, or even 3 to 5 million. What she wants is fairness and justice.”

Lin Lu lowered his head. Bai Yingchuan had enlightened him to the essence of the matter.

“Since you intend to represent your father in a negotiation, it’s natural that he’d have the right to film this story by buying her IP. But if you ask her to give up punishing the wrongdoer, you’d be destroying the fairness and justice she pursues. She won’t agree, and will only feel even more strongly that you’re not on the same side.”

Lin Lu slowly clenched his fists. Perhaps he could still ask Jiang Ruotang to persuade Jian Sha.

“Don’t bother Jiang Ruotang either. The fact that Jian Sha considers Jiang Ruotang a friend shows that they share similar values.”

This time, Lin Lu was a little flustered. He earnestly looked at Bai Yingchuan, “Then… my father’s project, if… if we rewrite the script, will you participate?”

“I haven’t received his new script, so I can’t answer that question.”

Lin Lu looked into Bai Yingchuan’s eyes, which were so calm and detached it was frightening.

He had a premonition that the project’s problems were not as simple as script infringement. It was like a domino effect; the first piece had fallen, and the chain reaction would likely cause everything to collapse.

---

At noon, Jiang Ruotang went to the student cafeteria with Lu Guifan and Cai Ji for student meals.

Jian Sha even teased Jiang Ruotang about it, “Little young master, you’re used to eel rice and expensive business lunches. Can you still come back to our student cafeteria?”

“Yes? Why not? A 10 yuan buffet, what more do you want?”

Lu Guifan, standing behind Jiang Ruotang, smiled faintly.

Jian Sha said, “See, even the class monitor doesn’t believe you.”

Jiang Ruotang turned around: “Class monitor, tell them I’m easy to feed.”

“Who told me he was very precious?” Lu Guifan gently bumped Jiang Ruotang’s back with his chest. “Get a plate, move forward.”

Jiang Ruotang took a plate and looked down. The new cafeteria’s dishes were indeed very good: braised chicken feet with soybeans, beef stew with potatoes, stir-fried trio of vegetables… Jiang Ruotang was in high spirits and served himself a full plate.

He hadn’t patronized the new cafeteria before due to various reasons, but now he could finally enjoy a good student meal.

Zhao Changfeng was still eating his athlete’s meal. He looked at Jiang Ruotang’s plate, piled up like a small mountain, and immediately widened his eyes and said, “You dished it yourself, you finish it yourself. Did you see what’s written on the sign at the door? Waste is shameful, fine thirty!”

“Ah?” Jiang Ruotang looked down at his plate, somewhat guilty, and said, “What about you? You’re eating all this bland stuff…”

“I’m not helping you clean your plate… Little master is bulking up! I must follow a scientific diet!”

Surprisingly, when it came to basketball, Zhao Changfeng was very self-disciplined.

Lu Guifan set down his tray and sat next to Jiang Ruotang.

“Class monitor, you’re only eating this much?” Cai Ji leaned over and asked.

Lu Guifan subtly indicated Jiang Ruotang with his chin, “Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?”

Jian Sha showed an “I see” expression, and she gave Jiang Ruotang a meaningful glance, “Ruotang, you’re truly fortunate. No matter what happens, the class monitor always has your back.”

“Haha, well, I have good character.”

Their table was filled with laughter and joy. Jiang Ruotang took just one bite of a spare rib, and his expression became complicated.

Cai Ji, diagonally across from him, also scratched his curly hair, “This spare rib is too sweet, I don’t like it either…”

“Is that so?” Lu Guifan calmly countered, reaching out with his chopsticks to pick up the spare ribs from Jiang Ruotang’s plate.

Even though Jiang Ruotang had a childish palate, he couldn’t stand overly sweet dishes.

Cai Ji looked at Lu Guifan with longing eyes. Zhao Changfeng couldn’t stand it anymore and tapped his finger in front of Cai Ji: “Cai Cai, you’ve grown up.”

“Ah?”

“The food you took, you have to finish it yourself, even if you’re crying.”

Jian Sha was amused.

The table next to them was very lively because Bai Yingchuan was sitting there.

Lin Lu was already swamped by enthusiastic classmates around him. He lowered his head, eating the food on his plate.

Bai Yingchuan, on the other hand, smiled and chatted with the surrounding classmates, eating in a way that looked like it belonged in a school idol drama.

This meal was like chewing wax for Lin Lu. He quickly finished and went to put away his plate.

Lu Guifan also stacked his and Jiang Ruotang’s plates and carried them away.

Jiang Ruotang reached out his hand, “Huh? I can put them away myself…”

“It’s okay, you go back to the classroom for your nap first.”

At this moment, Jiang Ruotang clearly felt cared for by the other person.

“Is this special treatment for being your deskmate?” Jiang Ruotang asked.

“Hmm, I guess so.”

Lu Guifan turned and left.

Jian Sha, however, propped her chin and said, “Jiang Ruotang, you truly are the class monitor’s favorite.”

“Ah?”

“That’s right, the class monitor only eats the dishes you don’t like and only helps you carry plates.” Cai Ji had eaten a few overly sweet ribs and was still hiccuping.

According to the school cafeteria rules, leftovers on plates should be dumped into a large plastic bin before being placed at the dish return window.

Lu Guifan was using his chopsticks to scrape off the leftovers when another person approached him from the opposite side.

Without needing to look up, Lu Guifan knew who it was and calmly said, “Ruotang was once very infatuated with you.”

The person opposite him paused imperceptibly.

Lu Guifan continued, “I used to really dislike that side of him, a reckless fool. But I never said a bad word about you in front of him, do you know why?”

Bai Yingchuan never thought that one day he would hear about Jiang Ruotang’s infatuation with him from Lu Guifan’s mouth.

Just as he didn’t understand what charm Lu Guifan held for Jiang Ruotang.

“Why?”

“Because if I spoke ill of you, he would be sad. So, classmate Bai Yingchuan, don’t try to achieve psychological balance by shaking him or hurting him. That way, you’ll never enter his world.”

Bai Yingchuan looked at Lu Guifan. This person was actually speaking words akin to a threat with such a composed and calm demeanor.

Through the lenses, Bai Yingchuan saw the other person’s eyes, and at that moment, he seemed to understand why Jiang Ruotang liked to look at Lu Guifan.

The gentle corners of his eyes were like the lingering brushstrokes of fine brushwork, and his deep amber eyes, shifting with the light, resembled glazed cups holding clear tea.

He slightly raised his eyes, and the flickering light within them stirred a subtle emotion.

Such cinematic eyes and brows would most easily awaken Jiang Ruotang’s emotional passion, even Bai Yingchuan himself was struck by their beauty.

Lu Guifan turned, depositing both meal trays into the window. As he passed Bai Yingchuan, he said coolly, “I understand him better than you do.”

Bai Yingchuan stood there, pondering Lu Guifan’s last words. They held infinite meaning.

I understand Jiang Ruotang better than you do.

I am more tolerant of him, protect him more. We talk about everything, unspoken understandings.

“Yingchuan? Bai Yingchuan, are you still not done with your plate?” A classmate’s voice sounded behind him.

Bai Yingchuan snapped back to reality and quickly moved aside, making way. “Sorry.”

At this moment, Bai Yingchuan realized that Lu Guifan was a much more formidable opponent than he had imagined.

He possessed a strong core and a stable temperament.

Bai Yingchuan couldn’t even find a way to defeat him.

In Jiang Ruotang’s world, he had already lost.

Even when he asked that unsettling question to Jiang Ruotang on the phone last night, he had lost completely.

---

That evening, as soon as Bai Yingchuan returned home, he found Bai Yue sitting poised on the sofa, seemingly having waited for him for a long time.

The coffee table was covered with financial documents, and Bai Yue’s face, illuminated by the lamp, had a cold, porcelain white quality.

Her entire being seemed sharp and tense.

She had made up her mind.

“Mom,” Bai Yingchuan softly called her, walking casually and placing his backpack on the floor beside the sofa.

“You’re right, what is Lin Chengdong? How can he dictate the future of our mother and son? When I, Bai Yue, was at my peak, he was still playing in the mud.”

Especially remembering Lin Chengdong’s emotional outburst at home that day, it gave Bai Yue nightmares for several nights.

Not to mention, he had been pressuring Bai Yue these past few days, even resorting to coercing her to establish a new studio to help him cash out movie funds.

This was truly terrifying. Once the truth came out, Bai Yue would bear the responsibility, and with such a large amount, she would probably be imprisoned for life, while Lin Chengdong could remain free.

Since she was pushed to this point, Bai Yue would rather suffer a loss of 8,000 to inflict a loss of 10,000 on the enemy!

Bai Yingchuan chose to sit beside her this time. “As long as you’re willing to go all out, no one can use you as a tool again.”

“But Yingchuan, you also need to think clearly. If you choose to be Lin Chengdong’s enemy, and this blow doesn’t bring him down, he might retaliate wildly, making things very difficult for you.”

Bai Yingchuan chuckled softly, “Our mother and son both have good looks. Even if Lin Chengdong retaliates, there will always be others who appreciate us.”

Because he knew that as long as Bai Yue took this step, they could climb out of the quagmire.

---

The next day at noon, a sensational piece of news that Jiang Ruotang had long awaited spread across the internet, quickly topping the headlines and igniting the online world like a wildfire.

—Actress Bai Yue confessed to tax authorities, revealing that under the manipulation of Lin Chengdong, a shareholder and executive at Huanyu Film and Television, she had evaded an astonishing eight-figure sum in taxes over three years.

According to Bai Yue, her first tax evasion was due to a desperate need to repay bank loans after a failed investment. She initially intended to evade tax only once, planning to confess to the tax authorities after earning money. However, subsequent investments also resulted in total losses, leaving her no choice but to resort to tax evasion again.

Thus, she repeatedly fell deeper into the mire.

Recently, Bai Yue discovered that several PR companies Lin Chengdong introduced her to were problematic, seemingly involved in conflicts of interest with senior executives of the investors.

When Bai Yue sought to terminate cooperation with these PR companies, Lin Chengdong blackmailed her with “yin-yang contracts” and even threatened to drag Bai Yingchuan into the mess, demanding Bai Yue continue the transactions.

Unable to bear the threats, Bai Yue fought back and confessed everything to the tax authorities.

Reporters swarmed, digging up all of Bai Yue’s investments and discovering that they were all linked to Lin Chengdong. This fueled public speculation: Was Lin Chengdong setting a trap to pull Bai Yue down, with all the investments being a scam designed to make Bai Yue lose money until she was forced to obey Lin Chengdong?