A group of academicians looked on with envy.
Right in front of Yun Xiaoyuan, they were practically itching to poach Rong Yu as their own student.
Yun Xiaoyuan couldn't fend off everyone at once, so she quickly spoke up, "Xiao Yu, go to the kitchen and see if the dishes are ready."
Rong Yu couldn't help but smile.
In a private restaurant like this, would a customer really need to check on the food?
But since her teacher asked, she might as well step out and get some fresh air.
She walked out of the private room, through the corridor, and was just about to head to the main hall when she suddenly heard the sound of a group laughing and joking.
At the far end of the restaurant's corridor, a small courtyard was open, furnished with sofas and chairs for patrons to gather around a stove for tea after meals. It was currently peak dining hours, so the place was empty except for a group of young men in their early twenties, surrounding a tall man and laughing heartily.
The leader was a young master, a cigarette dangling from his lips, who said with a loud laugh, "Young Master Sheng, I heard you're a mute who can't speak. Is that true or not?"
Sheng Qingyan stood by a tree, his face devoid of any emotion, not even a flicker of his eyelashes, as if these sounds had nothing to do with him.
"Really can't talk, huh? Can you at least make a sound?"
Someone gave Sheng Qingyan a shove. Caught off guard, he stumbled back a step, his back hitting the large tree, but he didn't utter a single sound.
"Hey, Young Master Sheng, does that hurt? Don't tell me you don't even feel pain?"
Sheng Qingyan's eyes were vacant, like a statue without a soul.
One of them pulled out his phone, his face full of malicious amusement. "Pour some wine over his head, let's see what reaction he has. It'll definitely be hilarious."
Another frowned. "He's from the Sheng family. Isn't this going too far?"
"What's going too far? He's an idiot. Can't talk, can't tattle. Who would know what we did?" The man blew a smoke ring into Sheng Qingyan's face and burst out laughing. "He finally reacted! He's coughing! This is too funny..."
Crash—
Suddenly, a glass shattered at their feet. The group, lost in their cruel teasing, snapped back to reality and turned to look. They saw that a woman had appeared in the courtyard at some point.
The woman wore a simple coat, wasn't very tall, and seemed quite young. Yet, standing there, an aura radiated from her—authoritative and intimidating without her even being angry, making people inexplicably uneasy.
"Isn't that..." one man recognized her first, "isn't that the actress Rong Yu who's all over the hot search lists right now? She's really popular."
"An actress, interesting." The leader, Du Mian, walked towards Rong Yu. "A mere entertainer dares to meddle in men's business? Do you know who I am?"
He was one of the Capital's Four Young Masters, Du Mian.
Even the top stars in the entertainment industry couldn't touch the lowest rung of the capital circle.
So, a minor celebrity like Rong Yu was even more beneath his notice.
He approached Rong Yu, got a clear look at her face, and was instantly struck by her beauty. He reached out to hook a finger under her chin.
However—
He saw that Rong Yu was actually toying with a shard of glass in her hand, its sharp point aimed directly at his jaw.
Rong Yu smiled. "You seem to enjoy seeing if others react. How about letting me see what reaction you'd have if this glass shard pierced your carotid artery?"
"You!"
Du Mian flew into a rage and reached out to teach this woman a lesson.
Rong Yu grabbed his arm and shoved him hard. His back slammed into a pillar, mirroring the exact treatment Sheng Qingyan had just received.
The other young masters with Du Mian were about to jump in together.
Rong Yu picked up wine glasses from the table and hurled them one after another, shards flying everywhere.
She's a tough one.
That was everyone's first impression of Rong Yu.
While the group was stunned, Rong Yu took out her phone and snapped a picture of Du Mian.
Du Mian was furious. "Bitch! What do you think you're doing?"
Rong Yu dropped the photo into a search bar, and a series of information popped up.
She let out a light laugh. "So it's the Capital's Four Young Masters, the eldest son of the Du family. My apologies for not recognizing you sooner. Your grandfather is a founding hero of the nation, and here you are, disgracing the Du family's reputation outside. Tell me, if I were to publicize what you've done here, how would Elder Du discipline his disappointing descendant?"
Du Mian felt as if his lifeline had been grabbed.
The thing the old man hated most was the Du family bullying the weak. Although the Sheng family wasn't weak, Sheng Qingyan was undeniably vulnerable...
If the old man found out, he was finished.
"Fine, fine, fine!" Du Mian, enraged to the point of laughter, said, "Rong Yu, right? I'll remember you. You just wait and see."
He turned and stormed off, his pack of followers quickly scurrying after him.
Rong Yu wiped her fingers with disgust, the ones that had touched Du Mian.
She looked up towards the other side. Sheng Qingyan stood there, his dark eyes quietly watching her.
When he was being bullied by that group moments ago, he had shown no fluctuation.
Now, his pupils reflected her figure.
For some reason, this person always easily stirred a sense of pity in her heart.
She kicked aside the glass shards on the ground and walked over. "Sheng Qingyan, why are you here alone? Where's your brother? Your family?"
Sheng Qingyan didn't answer.
She looked down and saw dirt on his hand, probably grime rubbed off from the tree.
She took his hand and wiped it clean with a tissue. After wiping, she tried to let go, but couldn't.
Sheng Qingyan's large hand, like an iron clamp, held tightly onto her five fingers.
Headache.
Big headache.
Rong Yu used her other hand to pull out her phone and called Sheng Ciyuan. "Your big brother is missing. Didn't you notice?"
"Oh my god!" Sheng Ciyuan's voice was full of anxiety. "I'm going crazy looking for him! Thank you, Rong Yu! Where are you? I'll be right there!"
In less than a minute, he arrived in the courtyard, panting.
He saw his older brother, who usually showed no reaction to anything or anyone around him, actually sitting with Rong Yu, holding her hand, his eyes fixed intently on her...
While Rong Yu looked utterly exasperated.
"B-big brother!" Sheng Ciyuan rushed over, blocking Sheng Qingyan's line of sight, trying to pry his fingers open. "This isn't polite, it's really not polite. Could you please let go..."
Sheng Qingyan wouldn't let go. He just wouldn't.
Stubborn as a five- or six-year-old child.
"Ugh... Rong Yu, my big brother can be really unreasonable sometimes," Sheng Ciyuan was on the verge of tears. "Big brother, could you please behave?"
He had come out for a meal with classmates. His big brother insisted on following. Their grandmother, feeling sorry for the brother being cooped up at home all day, insisted he bring him along. So he did.
He was chatting with his classmates, turned around, and his big brother was gone.
God only knew what went through his mind in that instant.
Thankfully, his brother wasn't lost.
But now, his brother had latched onto Rong Yu.
If not for the clear innocence in his brother's eyes, he might have suspected his brother was using this as an excuse to harass the girl.
