Chapter 46 Lin Xiao

Chapter 46 Lin Xiao

Before leaving, Lu Jingtang felt she absolutely had to thank the girl and her family who had helped her earlier.

She walked over and said, "Hello."

The girl looked up, and Lu Jingtang smiled, "Thank you so much for your help today. Otherwise, I would have been in big trouble. What's your name? How about I treat you to a meal sometime?"

"No need, no need," the girl quickly waved her hands. Her parents, simple and honest people who disliked taking advantage of others, echoed, "It's really not necessary. We're all Chinese—it's what we should do."

Lin Xiao's parents seemed a bit reserved. They had just heard the police mention that Lu Jingtang was the young miss of the Fu Corporation—someone far beyond their social sphere. They feared saying the wrong thing and offending her.

Fu Nanyu didn’t say much but shook hands with Lin Xiao’s father calmly and politely.

"Then let me add you on WeChat. If anything comes up, we can chat," Lu Jingtang said, pulling out her phone and giving it a little shake.

Lin Xiao initially didn’t want to appear as if she was trying to curry favor, but then she worried that if a serious problem arose, her family, lacking power and influence, might not be able to resolve it. So, she added Lu Jingtang on WeChat and whispered, "Sister, my name is Lin Xiao."

Lin Xiao?

That name sounded familiar. Lu Jingtang thought for a moment, then it suddenly clicked—the girl in the original novel who was bullied by the female lead’s sister and jumped off a building was also named Lin Xiao.

"Your name is Lin Xiao? Do you also study at Jing'an Middle School?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Lin Xiao asked, puzzled.

Lu Jingtang looked at the young girl with a pang of pity. She appeared quiet and pretty, with eyes as clear as a stream. Yet, in the original story, when her body was found in an abandoned building, it was covered in burns and knife wounds, with no unmarred skin beneath her clothes.

Lu Jingtang said gently, "I know because a friend’s sister also goes there. She mentioned a girl named Lin Xiao who is exceptionally bright and often ranks first in her grade."

Lin Xiao blushed at the praise, "Sometimes I've ranked third too."

"Since we’ve added each other on WeChat, we’re friends now. If you ever need anything, remember to reach out to me. If anyone bullies you at school, you can come to me too. Your big sis can fight... I mean, I can help you solve it."

Lu Jingtang originally wanted to say she was great at fighting, but Fu Nanyu’s glare made her scalp prickle, forcing her to change her wording.

After leaving the police station, Fu Nanyu told Qin Xianzhao he could go rest. Qin Xianzhao handed him the keys, "Then, Mr. Fu, Miss Lu, I’ll be going now."

Lu Jingtang said reluctantly, "Bye, Assistant Qin!"

Qin Xianzhao barely suppressed a smile, "Goodbye, Miss Lu."

Fu Nanyu shot her a glance, his face grim as he walked to the driver’s seat. Lu Jingtang, adhering to the principle that avoiding eye contact with the enemy grants the courage to move mountains, secretly tried to make a stealthy retreat to the back seat.

But with a "thunk," the back door locked.

Well, no escape route.

Lu Jingtang had no choice but to obediently get in, fasten her seatbelt, and sensing the tense atmosphere, she touched her bruised and swollen cheek and said ingratiatingly, "Big brother, you’ve worked hard. I should be the one driving."

Fu Nanyu said sarcastically, "Not hard at all. After all, I came uninvited. Hope I didn’t ruin your plans."

Lu Jingtang shyly pursed her lips, "Eldest brother, you’re being too humble. I really needed your support. Second brother is completely unreliable. It just goes to show that you and I are the closest."

Fu Nanyu snorted, unimpressed, "I wouldn’t dare. If we’re so close, why didn’t you call your family when you got into trouble outside? Instead, you asked a colleague to bail you out?"

Seeing Fu Nanyu’s cold expression, Lu Jingtang silently curled into a ball, burying her head in her scarf, not daring to argue, "Wahh, I was wrong. I deserve to die."

Fu Nanyu clearly wasn’t done scolding her. Driving with one hand, he used the other to extricate her head from the scarf, forcing her to face the criticism, "You’re something else, daring to jump from such a high platform. Since when did you know martial arts? That foreigner weighed twice as much as you. Do you have any idea how serious it could have been? You could’ve landed in intensive care tonight!"

The more Fu Nanyu spoke, the more frightened he felt. God knows how awful his expression was when he watched the security tape at the police station and saw Lu Jingtang launch herself off a nearly two-meter platform like a cannonball, kicking the man in the face.

He was sure Lu Jingtang had more injuries than just on her face.

But when he turned and saw her looking like a scared rabbit at him with watery eyes, half his anger dissipated, and his tone softened, "Patriotism is good, but it doesn’t have to be through violence. You could gather evidence and report it through other channels. What you did today—you think you came out on top, but you didn’t. Men and women are naturally different in strength. That foreigner’s injuries will heal in maybe four or five days tops, but your face? If you don’t give it time to heal for two months, I doubt it’ll get better."

Lu Jingtang nodded deferentially, like a chastened servant, "Yes, yes, I won’t dare again. I’ll definitely stay out of trouble from now on."

She knew Fu Nanyu scolded her because he cared. In her previous life at the children's home, no one had ever taught her these things. There were many children, and the headmistress couldn’t manage them all. Having food to eat was already a blessing.

Some children formed cliques to bully the weaker ones. She was cute as a child, so she often became a target. If she wasn’t fierce, she’d just be bullied to death.

Lu Jingtang was lectured the entire ride, nearly dozing off, and only woke up when the car entered the villa.

She stood at the front door, looking at the bright lights inside, and couldn’t help shaking her legs and singing, "A new storm has arrived…"

Fu Nanyu glanced at her and walked straight in. Lu Jingtang could only follow behind him.

Fu Xiaqing was holding a wooden ruler, his expression stern and authoritative as he looked over. Ye Xixi and Chen Ma were distressed seeing the awful bruises on her face.

Chen Ma exclaimed, "Oh, my dear young lady, your poor battered face! First, a bump on the forehead, and now it’s the cheek."

Ye Xixi held her face, full of concern, "Does it hurt? Aunt Xi has the doctor waiting."

"It hurts," Lu Jingtang squeezed out a tear, "I don’t know why, but seeing wooden things makes it hurt even more, especially wooden sticks or rods."

Fu Xiaqing walked over and said, "You still feel pain? If I’d known you could jump like that, I would’ve sent you straight to one of those physical challenge shows like Wipeout."

The house staff lowered their heads, biting their lips to keep from laughing.

Lu Jingtang hid behind Ye Xixi and Fu Nanyu, "Uncle, you’re joking. If I went, people would think our family sponsored the show."

"Still cheeky? Come here."

Fu Xiaqing didn’t actually intend to hit her. She was already injured—how could he really strike her? He just gestured a couple of times. Lu Jingtang was bundled up like a snowman, so those taps were about as effective as swatting a fly.

Seeing his eldest son give him a look, Fu Xiaqing knew he’d already given her a lecture, so he didn’t say more and quickly had the doctor come in to examine her.

The private doctor looked her over for facial injuries and said she needed to let it heal properly, apply medicine on time, and it would take at least a month for the swelling to go down completely.

"Does Miss Lu have any other injuries?" the doctor asked in a friendly tone.

Lu Jingtang couldn't help feeling like the doctor was almost hoping she’d be injured or sick—his tone sounded almost delighted.

What she didn’t know was that the Fu family had ironclad immune systems. Even Ye Xixi rarely fell ill. But since she came along, Dr. Lin finally felt useful.

Fu Nanyu told her to pull up her pant legs. Her slender, fair calves were covered in bruises mottling her calves here and there, and her knees were slightly red and swollen.

"Don’t misunderstand, don’t misunderstand. Some of these aren’t from today. This one’s from walking into a wall corner, this one’s from the edge of the coffee table, this one’s from when David ran into me… Only the knees are from today," Lu Jingtang explained one by one.

The corner of Fu Nanyu’s mouth twitched, "You sound quite proud."

Lu Jingtang gave a sheepish grin.

"It’s normal for girls to have delicate skin. If you bruise, you can use arnica oil to massage it. It’ll heal quickly."

After the examination, a house staff saw Dr. Lin out. Lu Jingtang said she was hungry, so Ye Xixi had someone prepare a midnight snack for her.

"Nan Yu, do you want some late-night snack too?"

Fu Nanyu wasn’t very hungry initially, but seeing Lu Jingtang watching him expectantly, he nodded, "Mm."