After making a fuss at the Chen family’s residence for quite some time, Lin Chengdong stood alone in front of the gate, playing a solo act, lamenting his pitiful state and how he had once earned money with the Chen family, making it sound more and more like the Chen family was ungrateful.

Just as Xiao Gao, tired of listening, stifled a yawn, someone suddenly appeared at the iron gate and splashed a basin of water, right onto Lin Chengdong’s face.

Xiao Gao instantly woke up.

Lin Chengdong was in the middle of shouting, his mouth wide open, and the water splashed directly into his throat, making him choke uncontrollably.

Xiao Gao instantly snapped to attention, sitting up straight. Was this the legendary foot-washing water?

The person who threw the water shouted, “Mr. and Mrs. Chen mean that besides laundering money, you should also cleanse your heart!”

With that, they turned and left.

Xiao Gao patted his chest, grateful that he had stayed in the car, otherwise he would have been drenched too.

This dousing finally quieted Lin Chengdong. Looking like a drowned rat, he was too undignified to bother anyone else. Xiao Gao quickly drove him back, completing his mission.

Chen Dan, not content with the situation, copied the surveillance footage from his front gate and sent it to Jiang Ruotang, as a token of “loyalty.”

Jiang Ruotang was in the middle of doing practice problems. He picked up his phone, saw the video, and burst into laughter, nearly choking himself. He collapsed onto his desk, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

Both in his past life and this one, Lin Chengdong had always maintained a dignified facade in front of him.

This was the first time it felt so incredibly satisfying.

Lu Guifan, who was nearby, took Jiang Ruotang’s phone, looked at it, and a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

---

Meanwhile, Lin Lu was not idle. He anticipated that Lin Chengdong’s visit to the Jiang family would not yield good results, because for several months now, he had been unable to control Jiang Ruotang.

Jiang Ruotang had subtly distanced himself from Lin Lu, escaping his influence, and his friends were completely different from before.

Especially Zhao Yunshu… Jiang Ruotang held Zhao Yunshu in high regard. With Zhao Yunshu present, she wouldn’t let Jiang Huaiyuan take the fall for Lin Chengdong.

Lin Lu opened his phone’s contact list, scrolling through names until he finally found “Qi Yanzhe.”

This guy’s older brother was the younger brother of Hongtian Borui’s chairman. He had once liked Lin Lu, clinging to him like sticky candy, sending him luxury goods, and waiting near his house, talking about taking him for a ride on his Harley.

He seemed like nothing but a hedonistic second-generation rich kid. Perhaps through him, Lin Lu could connect with Qi Yanfeng, the chairman of Hongtian Borui. They were rich and powerful, surely capable of handling this project.

Lin Lu no longer cared how many times he had rejected Qi Yanzhe. He shamelessly sent a message: [Brother Qi, I’ve been really sad lately. Can you take me for a ride?]

At this moment, Qi Yanzhe was playing billiards with his friends. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He opened the message without noticing who it was from, thinking, Where did this little green tea come from? Does she think pretending to be pitiful will make me waste my playing time to accompany her?

As he hit a ball, Qi Yanzhe suddenly realized something and pulled out his phone to look.

“How could it be him?”

If this were a few months ago, Qi Yanzhe’s heart would undoubtedly be pounding, and he’d rush out in a fit of passion, determined to win over Lin Lu, that delicate white flower.

But now, his mindset had long since changed.

He admired intelligent and insightful people like Jiang Ruotang. The more he thought about Lin Lu, the more tiresome he found him.

Lin Chengdong’s affairs had spread throughout Qi Yanzhe’s circle. It was said that Lin Chengdong had gone door-to-door, pitching his project to almost every capitalist in the entertainment industry. But anyone not completely blinded by greed knew his project was a no-go.

Not to mention, Lin Chengdong always schemed behind Jiang Huaiyuan’s back, and that was Jiang Ruotang’s dad!

Bullying his brother’s dad was no different from bullying Qi Yanzhe’s own dad.

The Qi family hadn’t kicked Lin Chengdong while he was down; that simply showed their good upbringing!

Qi Yanzhe replied: [Please begin your pitiful performance.]

Lin Lu looked at the sarcastic message, assuming Qi Yanzhe hadn’t recognized him, and immediately sent another one: [Brother Qi, don’t you remember me? It’s Xiao Lu, we met at the annual meeting last year!]

Qi Yanzhe lowered his head and smiled. [Oh, where did this expired little vixen come from? So cheap but always trying to be versatile. You should really cultivate yourself. Even Lady White Snake had to cultivate human form before she dared to seek out Xu Xian.]

Lin Lu was so angry he almost threw his phone at the wall. Now even cats and dogs can humiliate him!

But Qi Yanzhe was in a great mood: Yesterday you ignored me, today I’m making you out of your league!

After a while, Lin Lu was still immersed in his feeling of defeat. He realized that no one could help him, and he didn’t even have friends willing to listen to him.

How did it all come to this? He used to have such good relationships before!

At this moment, Lin Lu realized that he didn’t have any true friends.

If Jiang Ruotang faced the same situation, Lin Lu could imagine Zhao Changfeng, Jian Sha, Cai Ji, and Lu Guifan all being by his side. If anyone mocked or gossiped about him, his friends would step up for him, defend him, and comfort him.

But he had nothing.

What should he do? What should he do?

Perhaps… he should go to Jiang Ruotang and beg him to speak to Jiang Huaiyuan and Zhao Yunshu on behalf of his father?

After all, they had been friends for over ten years. Jiang Ruotang shouldn’t be so heartless towards him, right?

Lin Lu turned around and ran frantically to the community gate. After a long wait, he finally hailed a taxi and went to Jiang Ruotang’s house.

When he rang the doorbell, Sister Juan opened the door.

A warm aura enveloped him, starkly different from the cold, chaotic atmosphere of the Lin family, making Lin Lu’s nose instantly sting.

“Is Ruotang home? I… I want to talk to him…” For the first time, Lin Lu couldn’t look Sister Juan in the eye.

“Yes, he’s in his room doing practice papers.”

Sister Juan opened the shoe cabinet and got him slippers.

Lin Lu then noticed a pair of white canvas shoes inside—they were Lu Guifan’s.

So… Lu Guifan was by Jiang Ruotang’s side all this time?

Lin Lu took a deep breath, walked upstairs, and stood before Jiang Ruotang’s bedroom door, hesitantly tapping lightly.

“Ruotang, it’s Lin Lu… can I come in?”

---

At the same time, Zhao Changfeng, who was agonizingly doing practice problems in the adjacent room, heard Lin Lu’s voice and almost stood up. “What does that Lin Lu want with him again?”

But his shoulder was pressed down by the person next to him.

The other person looked calm, but their strength was considerable. Zhao Changfeng felt as if he was suppressed under the Five Finger Mountain.

“Do your problems.”

“But Lin Lu… he…”

“He can’t affect Ruotang. As for you, if you can’t even do such simple problems, do you still want to go to Capital University of Science and Technology?”

Zhao Changfeng turned his face. Lu Guifan was sitting beside him.

He had expected Lu Guifan to be as worried as he was about Jiang Ruotang being taken advantage of, but he was remarkably composed.

Yes, Jiang Ruotang was no longer the Jiang Ruotang of the past.

Zhao Changfeng settled down and continued doing practice problems with Lu Guifan.

Lin Lu pushed the door open and entered Jiang Ruotang’s room. He saw him sitting at his desk, with a stack of papers in front of him, and no one else beside him.

The way he looked at Lin Lu was very calm. This was a Jiang Ruotang Lin Lu had never known.

Composed, serene, as if in another world.

“Ru… Ruotang…”

Jiang Ruotang understandingly pulled over a chair. “Sit. You’re here for your father.”

Lin Lu lowered his head and sat in front of him. “You know everything…”

“The news I received is that the board of directors will remove all of your father’s positions tomorrow.”

“Mm…” Lin Lu finally couldn’t hold it in. This time, he cried without any agenda, truly crying. “Help me… Ruotang… I don’t know what to do… Help me…”

Jiang Ruotang sighed, “So how do you want me to help you? Persuade my father to reluctantly take on that project, and then after it explodes, my father gets investigated and removed from his position, so your father can escape scot-free? Then your family kindly buys my father’s shares at one-third the price, leaving me with that money to hire lawyers for my dad’s lawsuit?”

Lin Lu was stunned. He hadn’t expected Jiang Ruotang to speak so directly.

“Lin Lu, I’ve actually thought for a very long time, we practically grew up together, what am I to you in your heart?” Jiang Ruotang countered.

In his previous life, when he had just overheard their father-son conversation in the bathroom, he had really wanted to rush out and ask Lin Lu this question.

But now, Jiang Ruotang didn’t care as much. The question was whether Lin Lu himself had figured it out.

Lin Lu opened his mouth, “Just… just a friend…”

Jiang Ruotang put down his pen and said calmly, “In my heart, a friend is someone who tells you to stop before it’s too late when you make a mistake, who grabs your arm when you’re impulsive, who cheers you on when you need support, not a tool to weigh pros and cons.”

For some reason, Lin Lu’s heart ached. He didn’t know what he was afraid of, or rather, he realized his own baseness. All the hidden guilt welled up and drowned him.

“Ru… Ruotang… why are you telling me all this?”

“What I’m telling you is my standard for a friend. And I’m going to treat you by this standard.”

Lin Lu looked into Jiang Ruotang’s eyes. There was a maturity there that didn’t belong to his age. He seemed to have already witnessed many storms, having now crossed countless mountains.

“I’m urging you to pull back from the brink.”

“What?”

“I understand you, Lin Lu. From the moment you learned about your father’s affairs, you must have been looking everywhere for help, hoping someone would take on this mess. So, let’s assume someone takes on this project for you. How do you plan to help them when it explodes?”