Chapter 280: Acting

Plans always fail to keep up with changes, especially changes like this.

The one who appeared before him was not Jiang Sui but Luo Yao.

Although Lu Yunze was shocked, he quickly figured out roughly what had happened.

When he went to find Ye Qianlan, Jiang Sui must have been lying in wait nearby for him to appear, but it was precisely at this time that Luo Yao passed by this place and immediately blocked Jiang Sui’s path.

This is a bit troublesome. It would have been fine if Luo Yao had appeared from the start, but it had to be at this moment.

Lu Yunze had already prepared all the setup and was just waiting for Jiang Sui to appear and cooperate with her acting.

And what she’s holding in her hand isn’t the salad Jiang Sui made, is it?

If Jiang Sui borrowed the Kitchen to make salad, she would definitely let them know, so it wasn’t strange for Luo Yao to get a portion.

But upon learning that he wasn’t the only one who could enjoy that delicious fruit salad, Lu Yunze felt an inexplicable bad taste in his heart.

“Brother Lu, you’d better explain what you just said clearly.”

Luo Yao’s expression was extremely serious.

“Is some shameless woman pestering you lately? If so, just bring her out, and I’ll settle it for you.”

“…No, there isn’t.”

“Is that so? It doesn’t sound like it.”

Luo Yao let out a heavy sigh.

“Brother Lu, I feel like you’re more and more unwilling to share your thoughts with me. In the past, no matter what happened, you would come to me first, but I don’t know when it started, you began liking to hide things in the bottom of your heart, telling no one, even ignoring me.”

Although she seemed to be complaining that Lu Yunze had neglected her, Lu Yunze could hear a trace of something off in her tone.

He didn’t dare shift his gaze. Once he made even a small movement to look for Jiang Sui, Luo Yao’s suspicion would grow even greater.

He didn’t know when it started, but Luo Yao had always given him a feeling of suffocating pressure.

Now Ye Qianlan was also beside them, and the look she cast over was still very strange.

‘So I should just say it plainly, huh?’

Lu Yunze slightly pressed his lips together, thinking of something.

“Fine, I’ll make it clear to you.”

Lu Yunze’s expression suddenly became even more serious than Luo Yao’s.

“Is it possible that I am no longer the child who only knew how to rely on others?”

“Huh?”

“Luo Yao, I know you care about me a lot, but we’ve long since become adults. I learned to solve things on my own a long time ago, instead of relying on you every time.”

He hadn’t expected his attitude to become so firm. Now it was Luo Yao’s turn to be at a loss.

“No, Brother Lu, I just want to understand you better.”

“Don’t you already know me well enough?” Lu Yunze retorted. “We grew up together, haven’t you known me inside and out for a long time?”

That was true enough.

“You just asked me whether another woman was pestering me. I can tell you with absolute certainty: no.” Lu Yunze’s tone became even firmer. “On the contrary, the way you are now looks more like you’ve become the unreasonable one who keeps clinging to me.”

“B-But I didn’t mean to…”

“Then you should leave me enough personal space, okay? Luo Yao, neither of us is a child anymore.”

“Fine, I understand. I was bothering Brother Lu.”

Luo Yao lowered her head, her mood visibly downcast.

The stiff expression on Lu Yunze’s face relaxed somewhat.

Although he felt a little sorry toward Luo Yao, for the sake of his reputation and personal safety, he could only sacrifice her a bit.

It was only after her figure disappeared around the corner of the Corridor that Ye Qianlan, who had been watching for a long time, finally spoke:

“I thought you would curry favor with the Second Miss.”

“Why?”

“Aren’t you a Harem Protagonist? The Second Miss is beautiful and kind, and she’s your childhood sweetheart. And you still treat her like that?”

“A childhood sweetheart is just a childhood sweetheart. Would I treat her as someone I can toy with just because of that?”

Lu Yunze frowned.

“I will only wholeheartedly like one person. I won’t hurt her, and I won’t do anything to betray her.”

These words sounded like self-praise, but Luo Yao’s example was right before her eyes.

In Ye Qianlan’s eyes, their behavior did not look at all like they were cooperating in a performance.

Ye Qianlan changed her previous attitude and became respectful.

“Sorry, I misjudged you, Young Master Lu. I apologize for my earlier remarks.”

Lu Yunze was delighted inwardly, but he still coughed once to steady his expression.

“It’s fine. Actually, I don’t care that much; I just hope there will be a little less trouble.”

“If Young Master Lu really isn’t a despicable Harem Protagonist, then that’s a good thing. I certainly don’t want Miss Qiaoying to fall into a Harem Protagonist’s hands.”

To be honest, Lu Yunze didn’t think someone like Luo Qiaoying could be carried off by sweet talk.

She was physically weak, but her spirit was very strong.

And she was a powerful Secret Arts Practitioner.

If she were truly betrayed, he felt that Luo Qiaoying could make the other person vanish from the world without attracting anyone’s attention.

“However, I’ve become a little interested in what Young Master Lu just said. May I ask Young Master Lu a question?”

“Ask. I can answer anything.”

“Since Young Master Lu says he will only wholeheartedly treat one person well, then who is that person?”

Tch, he hadn’t expected it to be this kind of question. Lu Yunze was speechless for a while.

“Only one person. Could that person be one of the people I mentioned earlier?”

Judging by his attitude toward Luo Yao, she could basically be ruled out.

But there were still several people left. Ye Qianlan waited for Lu Yunze’s answer.

“Uh, can I not answer?” Lu Yunze immediately chickened out.

“Oh my, isn’t this our Young Master?”

Just then, a voice that could save Lu Yunze rang out.

“Why are you here?”

Jiang Sui quickly ran over, directly ignoring Ye Qianlan, her eyes only able to hold Lu Yunze.

“Ah, I…”

“Young Master, don’t just stand there dumbly. Come with me quickly.”

“What’s wrong?” Lu Yunze suddenly became worried.

“Isn’t the Young Master very knowledgeable about growing flowers? I ran into a problem and was afraid of causing trouble, so I came to find you.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you right now.”

Before Lu Yunze could finish speaking, Jiang Sui directly hugged his arm.

Whether intentionally or not, she pressed her large breasts against his arm.

Ye Qianlan had thought Lu Yunze would immediately shake her off, but after seeing the expression on his face mixed with enjoyment and shame, she was stunned.

Before leaving, Jiang Sui even gave Ye Qianlan a friendly smile:

“Sorry, Steward Ye, I need to borrow the Young Master for a bit.”

“It’s fine. We weren’t talking about anything anyway.”

Lu Yunze, who had just acted so strong in front of Luo Yao, was now completely dragged along by Jiang Sui.

“I see. So that’s the answer?”

Ye Qianlan couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

“He didn’t choose the best, but the most suitable. I never expected it to be like this.”

Now she had to admire Lu Yunze for making such a courageous decision.

After getting away from Ye Qianlan, Jiang Sui slowed her pace.

Since there was no one around, she continued hugging Lu Yunze’s arm.

“All right, all right. We can stop acting here, right?”

“No, no. What if it wasn’t strong enough?”

“What do you mean, not strong enough?”

Of course, it wasn’t enough to convince Ye Qianlan, but Jiang Sui didn’t say that.

“Was the Young Master scared half to death just now?”

“Yeah, scared half to death.”

Lu Yunze never dreamed that Luo Yao would barge in.

“You didn’t run into her, did you?”

“No, no. I was watching from far away the whole time.”

“That’s good. The whole Plan was almost ruined.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Yunze noticed that Jiang Sui’s little expression was still so sly.

“What’s wrong? You’re not hiding something from me, are you?”

“How could I? I’m just happy for the Young Master that he avoided the crisis again.”

Jiang Sui giggled.

If Lu Yunze knew that the Plan they had agreed on last night was only a cover, who knew what expression he would make.

Acting directly in front of people was still too risky, so Jiang Sui simply arranged a real act and let Lu Yunze improvise.

The Plan succeeded. Jiang Sui gained pleasure, Lu Yunze gained a restored reputation, and Ye Qianlan’s attitude toward Lu Yunze became clear.

Everyone gained something. It was truly a perfect Plan.

Guilt? None at all. To survive, Jiang Sui was willing to do anything. How could there be any guilt to speak of?

“Sometimes when you smile, I feel like nothing good is going to happen.”

“Young Master, you’re too much. You make it sound like I would use you.”

“How could that be? Even if you used me, it would definitely be for my own good.”

Mm. As long as Jiang Sui buried the Truth forever in her heart, no one would get hurt.