Chapter 8

Lu Jing glanced around the bright café in the afternoon. With the charming and beautiful Dong Bing standing there, many people had already gathered to look at them, probably guessing the relationship between the two.

"I know. A girl's heart is always a dream, and a boy's heart is always a poem!" Lu Jing sighed. In his first year of high school, on the maple-lined avenue of No. 4 High School, two senior students, who were big and burly, stopped a sweet-looking girl and insisted she go drinking with them.

What the hell is this? A bunch of animals in human clothing.

Lu Jing had just returned from a year of training in the military. He was furious and rushed over to give those two school basketball team members a severe lesson. Those two boys had some background, so the incident naturally caused a lot of trouble. His older brother personally went to the school to coordinate with Principal Zhou to handle the situation.

In the end, those two boys were transferred to another school, and Lu Jing received a verbal warning. His reputation as "Lu the Second Young Master" was built on this incident.

Afterward, Lu Jing learned that the girl was named Ding Ling and was in the same class, Class 7, as him.

Dong Bing and Ding Ling were best friends, and she knew that Ding Ling had secretly fallen for the boy who stood up for her.

"You always recite these sour poems. I don't know who you learned them from." Dong Bing's eyes showed a hint of dissatisfaction. "I'm leaving. I'll call you and Ding Ling for dinner another day. You explain it to her yourself."

Without giving Lu Jing a chance to refuse, she turned and left.

Lu Jing's right hand paused in the air, about to speak, but Dong Bing had already walked away, leaving a trail of fragrance as she elegantly exited the café.

...

Lake East Road, which was wide, narrowed to four lanes when it passed by Swallow Lake. It ran through the university town and connected to another main road in the capital city, Bamboo Road.

The universities in the university town had side gates here, making this section of Lake East Road exceptionally bustling. Restaurants, cafes, and snack shops lined both sides of the road.

Dong Bing walked down the steps of Café 105 and waited by the roadside. She had already called her bodyguard Uncle Wang, who went to the eastern parking lot to fetch her car.

As she looked around, a silver-gray Crown suddenly accelerated and skidded toward her, performing a dangerous drift that made the car slide sideways like it was on ice. It finally stopped just fifty centimeters from her.

Even though she was on the pedestrian walkway, which was about thirty centimeters higher than the road, Dong Bing was still startled and stepped back, almost falling.

A repulsive face appeared at the car window. "Beautiful lady, would you like a ride?"

The exceptionally beautiful Dong Bing was a stunning sight on the roadside, making the surrounding "flowers and grass" seem dull in comparison. Passersby often glanced at her, and her回头率 (turnaround rate) was very high.

The young man used such a method to get her attention, which made her anger rise.

After steadying herself, Dong Bing adjusted her hat, raised her eyebrows, and pointed at him, angrily shouting, "Get lost!"

She hated this kind of showy approach. So what if he had a Crown?

A young man with dyed yellow hair got out of the back seat of the Crown and shouted across the car, "Little bitch, how do you talk to people? It's an honor for you that Brother Feng wants to give you a ride." As he spoke, he moved to grab Dong Bing.

Dong Bing's face turned pale with anger, and she really wanted to slap them. She suppressed her anger, reached into her beige Chanel handbag, and took out a pink tablet phone to start dialing.

The dangerous maneuver of the Crown made many students stop and point.

The young man in the driver's seat looked very displeased. Although he had failed before when trying to pick up girls with his Crown, he had never been insulted. The enthusiasm he had for the beautiful girl gradually faded. Seeing her take out her phone to make a call, his expression changed slightly, and he shouted, "Come back, Xiao Dong." Anyone who could use a phone was not an ordinary person. He needed to be more cautious.

The yellow-haired youth obediently sat back in the car.

The screeching sound of the Crown's tires caught Lu Jing's attention, and he quickly walked out.

"Okay, nothing's wrong," Dong Bing said briefly on the phone before hanging up. She looked coldly at the young man in the car and said in a chilly voice, "I don't care who you are. Get out of the car now and apologize to me."

The young man looked to be about twenty-two or twenty-three, with a side part hairstyle and a showy appearance. He lazily rested his hand on the car window and lit a cigarette. "Beautiful lady, it was just a joke. What do you think of my driving skills?"

Dong Bing gave him a cold glance, her face like a layer of ice. She was waiting for Uncle Wang.

"Are you Yu Feng?" Lu Jing walked over, and the image of Yu Yi immediately came to mind. The two looked so much alike.

"Hey, you know me?"

Dong Bing gave Lu Jing a curious look. For a moment, she even suspected that this scene was staged by Lu Jing to get her attention. She had seen boys use tricks to win her favor before.

"You don't know me?" Lu Jing squinted and smiled, but his smile was full of coldness. This was his signature smile after ten years of trials and tribulations.

Yu Feng looked about eighty percent like his father, Yu Yi, and how could Lu Jing forget what Yu Yi looked like? Without the hints from Yu Yi, how would the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection have summoned his older brother back to the capital for questioning? This was a crucial step in involving his brother.

"Damn, it's normal for Brother Feng not to know you. Do you think you're the president of the country?" The yellow-haired youth in the back seat pointed at Lu Jing and cursed.

"Ha, if you swim a lap in Swallow Lake now, I'll pretend nothing happened." Lu Jing's smile became even fainter, and he took out a cigarette and lit it. In his previous life, after his father's death, he rarely got into physical fights himself.

Using fists to solve problems was a sign of losing control.

"I don't know you." Yu Feng looked at Lu Jing for a while, confirming that he didn't know him. Seeing Lu Jing confidently call out his name, Yu Feng's confidence wavered.

"My name is Lu Jing."

Yu Feng shook his head blankly and looked at the yellow-haired youth, Xiao Dong. He had heard the names of several famous young masters in the capital, but none of them was Lu Jing. And in the university town, he had never heard of Lu Jing.

The yellow-haired youth said, "I don't know who this guy is."

At this moment, a red Maserati drove up. A man in a black jacket and sunglasses quickly got out.

The onlookers whistled, thinking a real prince had arrived. The man walked up to the Crown, grabbed Yu Feng's hair, and slammed his head against the top of the car window. Yu Feng reacted quickly and pulled back into the car just in time.

"What are you doing, what are you doing, why are you hitting people?" The yellow-haired youth shouted from the back seat, but the man's violent style made him only support Yu Feng verbally.

Yu Feng got out of the other side of the car, intending to argue with the man.

The man, after hitting Yu Feng, felt his anger subside a bit. He turned and respectfully said to Dong Bing, "Miss, I'm here."

Dong Bing said sternly, "Uncle Wang, smash this car." She wouldn't be able to calm down until the car was destroyed.

Yu Feng, holding his head, sneered, "Smash it, do you know how much this car costs?"

Lu Jing found it amusing. Could a Maserati owner not afford to replace a Crown? In 1996, foreign luxury cars had not yet flooded the Chinese market. Many rich people liked to drive unknown luxury cars to keep a low profile.

However, the red Maserati was clearly of a very high class, and Yu Feng's inability to recognize it only showed how incompetent he was.

Uncle Wang picked up a brick from somewhere and smashed the front window of the Crown, which instantly shattered into a spider web pattern.

"Oh—!" The onlookers gasped. Smashing a car was not something they saw every day.

Yu Feng sneered and took out his phone to start dialing.

Dong Bing was unconcerned. Her private savings were enough to cover the cost of the Crown. She had to vent her anger.

Lu Jing smiled, "Yu Feng, you should call your father and tell him I smashed your car."

Yu Feng's face changed slightly, "What do you mean?"

Lu Jing gestured, "Call him. I'm giving you a chance. Otherwise, when some random people show up, it won't help."

Yu Feng looked at Lu Jing, seeing that he wasn't joking, hesitated for a moment, and then walked to the side to make the call.

Uncle Wang worked quickly, and in less than five minutes, the Crown was unrecognizable. If the Crown was a well-dressed gentleman before, it now looked like a beggar with barely any clothes on.

Seeing Lu Jing calmly smoking, Dong Bing smiled, "Lu Jing, I'll handle this myself." Lu Jing smiled, knowing that Dong Bing's family was wealthy and had connections in the capital. However, he did find Yu Feng annoying.

His father, Yu Yi, would be going to prison in three days. Bullying the son now would help him vent his anger.

Lu Jing pointed at the yellow-haired youth who had just come out of the car, "I don't like being insulted. I said he should swim a lap in the lake, and he must do it."

"Oh? Okay." Dong Bing smiled faintly, not believing Lu Jing. The young man's reaction clearly showed he had never heard of him. Lu Jing's method was simply to use force.

The yellow-haired youth was about to speak when Yu Feng, who had just finished his call, walked back.

"Sorry, Young Master Jing." Yu Feng bowed slightly.

Lu Jing flicked the ash from his cigarette and pointed at the yellow-haired youth, "Yu Feng, you must keep your word. You decide how to handle it." Yu Feng looked at the yellow-haired youth. Jumping into Swallow Lake in early April wasn't that uncomfortable.

The yellow-haired youth, with a bitter face, hesitated, then gritted his teeth and walked toward the lake.

"Apologize to this lady who was frightened, then call for a tow truck to remove the car. It's an eyesore." Lu Jing patted Yu Feng's shoulder and turned to leave.

Yu Feng looked at Lu Jing's back with a complex expression. His father had scolded him on the phone, telling him he had offended the younger brother of his superior. He had no choice but to back down. If his father lost his position, he would be nothing.

"Sorry, Miss!" Yu Feng bowed again in front of Dong Bing. Dong Bing covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes following Lu Jing's departing figure, feeling incredulous. For the first time, she felt that Lu Jing was a bit deeper than she thought.

Uncle Wang, who had just smashed the car, stood guard beside Dong Bing, determined not to let her be frightened again. He wanted to beat up the young man, but as her bodyguard, he had to follow her orders.

Dong Bing nodded, ignoring the humiliated Yu Feng, and quickly walked to the Maserati, started the car, and followed the direction Lu Jing had left.

Uncle Wang glared at Yu Feng and went to fetch his own car.

The onlookers finally realized that the cool guy was a bodyguard and the car belonged to the beautiful lady. Someone by the lake shouted, "He jumped, he jumped, he really jumped."

The news of the smashed Crown quickly spread in the university town, with various versions circulating. This is a story for another time.

...

The setting sun dyed Swallow Lake a golden yellow, reminiscent of the ancient poem "half the river green, half the river red." Lu Jing, hands in his pockets, enjoyed the spring evening breeze, leisurely walking along the quiet Lake East Road toward No. 4 High School.

"Lu Jing, would you like a ride?" The red Maserati stopped beside Lu Jing, its streamlined body gleaming in the sunset like a noble princess. Dong Bing's beautiful face appeared as the window slowly lowered.