Chapter 23: Toil (Inverted V Commences)

Chapter 23 - Hard Work (Inverted V Start)

"Why are you here?" Shen Xingzhuo frowned at Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin surveyed his surroundings.

His gaze didn't linger on Lu Ran; his eyes brimming with the arrogance of a wealthy heir. After scanning the area, he turned to Shen Xingzhuo and asked, "Ranran isn't here?"

Shen Xingzhuo was taken aback.

In the next moment, he felt as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly. "What do you want with my brother?"

However, an awkward expression flashed across his face after he said this. He subconsciously glanced back at Lu Ran, who was standing quietly behind him.

Lu Ran stood still with his left hand in his pocket, motionless as if stunned.

With Shen Xingran nowhere in sight, Zhang Lin addressed his lackeys, "Record a video."

After giving these instructions, he condescendingly turned his gaze towards Lu Ran, "Was it you who caused trouble for Lin Yi the other day?"

Lu Ran remained silent.

Shen Xingzhuo stepped forward.

However, Zhang Lin ignored him.

He continued to speak to Lu Ran, "Have you been enjoying what's been happening around you lately?"

Upon hearing this, the two henchmen beside him chuckled.

One of them commented, "When you provoke someone you shouldn't, you should anticipate the consequences."

Zhang Lin also joined in their laughter.

Suddenly, he loosened his grip, and the car key tumbled to the ground.

He tapped his toes and said to Lu Ran, "Waiter, pick that up."

"Hey!"

Shen Xingzhuo was the first to lose his temper.

But Lu Ran stopped Shen Xingzhuo and walked over himself.

He said, "He's not wrong. I haven't resigned from the boss yet, so I'm still a waiter at this club."

"Lu Ran, you're fucking crazy!" Shen Xingzhuo shouted in anger.

Lu Ran had no patience for the antics of these wealthy youngsters who enjoyed making others uncomfortable.

Bending down to pick something up wasn't shameful to him.

However, it was clear that these people present were looking for trouble.

The car key rolled across the floor, and just as Lu Ran was about to reach for it, someone kicked it away once more.

Lu Ran shifted his position, but the key ended up being kicked underneath the coffee table by another attendant lurking nearby.

He paused, lifting his gaze to look at Zhang Lin.

"Pick it up," Zhang Lin said, his attention still fixed on a video playing on his phone.

The private room was dimly lit.

In the rear-facing camera of the mobile phone, the youth happened to glance up, his face tilted skyward.

The pale lilac beam of light grazed across his cheek, accentuating the allure of his already fair complexion.

Beneath the soft glow of the screen's pixelated noise, Lu Ran gazed at him calmly through the lens.

Eyes dark and profound.

Those slightly downturned eyes, when they looked up, held an innocence that was hard to guard against.

They effortlessly concealed the danger lurking within them.

Zhang Lin gazed at the blurry image for a while.

Suddenly, he realized that this illegitimate child of the Shen family seemed to suit his taste perfectly.

When he looked quietly back, he appeared submissive, as if allowing others to do as they pleased.

It was as if... he wouldn't resist anything.

There was an alluring obedience about him.

"Too bad," Zhang Lin murmured to himself.

Too bad he had already made a promise to Shen Xingran.

"Since we can't pick him up, there's nothing to be done." Zhang Lin signaled to his henchman beside him.

The lackey on the left poured a glass of wine.

The one on the right handed a cigarette to Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin toyed with the cigarette for a moment but didn't light it. Instead, he submerged it into the wine.

With an air of magnanimity, he said, "Drink this cup of wine, and the matter of you bullying Lin Yi will be settled."

Everyone present couldn't help but direct their gazes at that glass of wine.

Shen Xingzhuo spoke coldly, "Lu Ran, dare you drink it?"

Lu Ran interrupted him.

In the tense silence, he raised his hand like a well-behaved student and asked, "Did Shen Xingran only tell you that I bullied Lin Yi, or did she also tell you how I did it?"

When Lu Ran said this, the expressions of those in the box who had participated in that fierce battle turned rather peculiar.

Shen Xingzhuo, who was about to pour the drink away, also froze and instinctively took a step back.

Only Zhang Lin was in the dark.

He was taken aback by Lu Ran's question.

In fact, he was a bit puzzled too.

When Shen Xingran spoke, her words were ambiguous.

When he asked Lin Yi, she burst into tears and ran away.

He tried asking others.

For some reason, everyone seemed to have their mouths glued shut, unable to bring themselves to speak.

Now, faced with Lu Ran's inquiry, Zhang Lin felt awkward. He was just about to say, "I don't care how you bully him, just make him drink it."

Yet, just as he was about to utter an "I," Lu Ran, who had been crouching before him in utmost "obedience," abruptly stood up.

In one hand, he held the glass of wine, while with the other, he pressed down on Zhang Lin's neck.

In the blink of an eye, he poured both the wine and cigarette into Zhang Lin's mouth.

Lu Ran's actions were incredibly swift.

None of them had expected him to dare pull such a stunt; everyone was instantly stunned.

Zhang Lin froze for a moment before pointing at Lu Ran, "Y-You dare to..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he immediately reached for his throat to induce vomiting.

The henchmen standing by Zhang Lin's side instantly paled in shock.

The cigarette that Zhang Lin had just thrown into the wine was no ordinary tobacco.

Soon, the people in the private room also realized what had been added to the alcohol.

Zhang Lin, who was previously lounging on the sofa with an arrogant expression, couldn't control the contortion of his face.

It seemed as if he was trying to endure something.

Then, those sitting nearby heard the sound of stomach churning.

Immediately after, a loud "pfft" echoed throughout the entire room.

Everyone was stunned.

The henchman who had fetched the cigarette was drenched in cold sweat, it was dripping down profusely.

That cigarette he just handed over contained a potent laxative!

Chen Sheng and the other spectators all gaped with their mouths wide open, forming the shape of an "O".

They had long heard about Zhang Lin's twisted sense of humor when it came to pranking others.

This time, he never expected to fall flat on his face.

His face turned from green to purple, and soon he could hardly speak, clutching his stomach as he rushed towards the bathroom.

Struggling to run a few steps, he found himself unable to move.

Zhang Lin stared back, wide-eyed.

There, he saw Lu Ran still wearing that gentle smile, reaching out to grab him.

"What are you running for?" Lu Ran smiled at him. "The video is still rolling. Why don't we have a nice chat?"

"Let me go!" Zhang Lin bellowed.

But as soon as he finished shouting, he abruptly clamped his mouth shut.

Lu Ran continued to hold onto him with a smile.

Despite appearing frail, the grip on his hand was unexpectedly immense.

Zhang Lin remained utterly still, beads of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

The two henchmen beside him snapped back to reality and attempted to assist him.

Lu Ran lifted his gaze, offering a smile to the duo, "If either of you dares to make a move, I'll take Young Master Zhang out to the corridor. He can relieve himself there if he needs to."

In that instant, everyone in the private room shuddered at the smile on Lu Ran's face.

"Plf."

Another sound echoed.

Zhang Lin stood frozen, as if turned to stone.

The two henchmen were frantic but dared not budge.

The restroom was just within reach.

Yet, it might as well have been miles away.

At this moment, even Shen Xingzhuo, who had never seen eye to eye with Zhang Lin, felt a profound sense of sympathy welling up inside him.

He reached out hesitantly and tugged at Lu Ran, suggesting, "Maybe...?"

Suddenly, Lu Ran pulled out two bags from his pocket.

Inside were some dark, mysterious objects.

Shen Xingzhuo's scalp tingled.

Memories of the past returned to haunt him.

He immediately let go and leaped back several steps, putting distance between himself and Lu Ran.

Chen Sheng, who was watching as an onlooker, glanced at Shen Xingzhuo. Although he was puzzled, he quickly followed suit and jumped away too.

A swift gap opened up between them.

In that clearing stood only Lu Ran and Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin stood with his body slightly bent, maintaining an extremely stiff posture in place.

Lu Ran's expression was gentle, and he kept his face lifted, still looking adorably obedient.

He was devilish in his demeanor.

Lu Ran spoke leisurely, "I am well aware of what has happened recently, but Young Master Zhang might not be. Perhaps I should elaborate on the details for you."

"I..." Damn it, he didn't want to hear the details now!

Zhang Lin's face twitched.

The Zhang family was an elite family in Jing City, and as the only son, Zhang Lin was the undeniable heir to the family's legacy.

Thus, Zhang Lin had always been arrogant towards others.

But at this moment, even he couldn't help but soften his stance.

He endured the excruciating pain of his intestines churning.

Struggling to maintain his composure, he forced a grotesque smile at Lu Ran. "Let's... talk later."

"How could that work?" Lu Ran whispered softly.

He held up a bag in front of Zhang Lin and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

Zhang Lin was rendered speechless.

Lu Ran continued his soft-spoken explanation, "This is cow dung that I personally collected from my teacher's farm."

Upon hearing the word 'cow dung', Zhang Lin instinctively recoiled, even in his current state.

Lu Ran gazed at the dung with affection and continued its tale, "To prevent contamination of the specimen, I used aseptic sample bags and followed the cow's rear for a long time before I finally collected a suitable sample."

"I almost got kicked by the cow during that time."

Lu Ran looked up earnestly and asked, "Wasn't that hard work?"

Tears threatened to spill from Zhang Lin's eyes as he couldn't fathom why Lu Ran was sharing this with him.

All he could do was echo, "Hard... work."

"Was it not difficult to obtain?" Lu Ran pressed on with his question.

"Yes, yes!" Zhang Lin struggled desperately towards the toilet.

"But you had someone throw him into the trash bin!" Lu Ran's voice rose in anger. "And you also discarded the bacterial culture I had painstakingly separated!"

With a sudden lurch, Lu Ran seized Zhang Lin's head and shook it violently. "If my experiment fails, I won't be able to complete my major project, and I won't earn any credits. Without credits, I won't qualify for a scholarship!"

"Do you have any idea how painstaking it is for a struggling college student to accumulate credits? Ah!"

Zhang Lin was oblivious to this struggle.

He had never worked hard for his grades before.

His path through college had been paved by his family.

Upon enrollment, he barely attended any classes, usually enlisting someone to help him with attendance checks.

Prior to today, Young Master Zhang had never found accumulating academic credits to be a laborious task.

That was until Lu Ran smeared the contaminated specimen across his face.

It was then that Zhang Lin experienced such agony.

He felt as if his soul had left his body.

Upon witnessing this scene, everyone in the private room was left with their jaws hanging open.

Shen Xingzhuo huddled on the sofa, trembling uncontrollably.

He began to reflect on whether he had been too harsh with his words towards Lu Ran just now.

Chen Sheng crouched beside him, also shivering in fear.

Wiping his face, he sighed, "So university turns out to be that challenging, huh?"

The others around them remained frozen, not daring to make a move.

None dared approach Lu Ran.

This was not only due to what Lu Ran held in his hands but also... the state Zhang Lin was in.

Should anyone else attempt to intervene, it might trigger an immediate breakdown.

However, Lu Ran was far from finished.

He picked up another bag.

Inside was the bloodied corpse of the hamster.

Lu Ran's gentle tone sent shivers down one's spine.

"Why did the hamster do anything wrong?"

"Why must it be killed?"

With dung smeared across his face, Zhang Lin stared at the bloody corpse before him and couldn't hold back his tears; they trickled down his cheeks.

"Apologize!" Lu Ran demanded.

"Sorry, I-I shouldn't have disturbed your experiment," Young Master Zhang stammered, his arrogance deflated.

His expression was utterly heartbroken, as if Lu Ran wasn't holding a hamster, but the remains of his parents.

"I want you to apologize to the mouse!"

"Sob sob sob, I'm sorry..."

His sobs were enough to move anyone to tears, and those watching could almost empathize with the agony reflected in his contorted face.

After all, everyone knew the discomfort of holding back the urge to use the restroom.

Only then did Lu Ran stand up. He looked at Zhang Lin with a smile. "Feel free to visit my lab anytime."

Having consumed all the drama, Chen Sheng alternated between touching his face and holding his stomach, still processing the events of the day.

The specifics of what had transpired escaped him entirely.

In the end, all that remained vivid in Chen Sheng's memory was the sight of Young Master Zhang awkwardly crawling on the ground, using both hands and feet, to reach the restroom.

As for the state of his pants, that was anyone's guess.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lu Ran, who had just engaged in a fierce battle with the heir of the Zhang family, gathered his belongings with poise.

He stood up, wiped his hands clean, and even found the time to call the club owner to tender his resignation.

With a five-fold salary increase from Shen Xingzhuo and an impressive display of his skills, he exited the club calmly and unruffled, leaving no one daring to stop him.

Before leaving, he even glanced at the henchman still recording the scene.

With a gentle smile, he reminded, "Don't forget to send the video to Shen Xingran."