Chapter Fifty-Five: Crisis

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Chapter Fifty-Five: Crisis

Zhuo Nan and Zhao Jiawen walked into the classroom hand in hand, immediately drawing a chorus of startled exclamations from their classmates. Such blatant behavior was enough to earn anyone’s admiration.

Lu Zihan watched Zhao Jiawen standing beside Zhuo Nan like a lovestruck little bird, and a sinister gleam flashed through his eyes. Zhuo Nan seriously irritated him.

He had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. In everyone else’s eyes, he was the dazzling star whom all admired. Whenever beautiful women saw him, they would quickly kneel at his feet. He had originally planned to get Zhao Jiawen into bed after becoming familiar with her, but before he had even gotten close to her, Zhuo Nan had beaten him to it.

Zhuo Nan glanced at Lu Zihan and sneered inwardly. “With Jiawen here, it looks like I can’t transfer schools after all. But Lu Zihan, I’ll let bygones be bygones. If you dare scheme against me again, I’ll kill you.”

When Lu Zihan met Zhuo Nan’s gaze, he felt as though a venomous snake had fixed its eyes on him. A chill ran through his entire body. He lowered his head guiltily and returned to his seat.

The first class that morning was Chinese. Ever since “High Bamboo Pole” had been beaten up, another teacher had been filling in for him. The substitute only cared about delivering the lesson; once class ended, he would leave. He did not care whether the students behaved or not. Even if the classroom became as noisy as a marketplace, it made no difference to him.

This time, however, it was not the substitute who entered. “High Bamboo Pole” appeared before everyone, swaying slightly as he came in with his teaching materials in hand.

The students stared blankly for a moment before erupting into thunderous applause. “High Bamboo Pole” looked somewhat embarrassed. When the applause finally subsided, Zhuo Nan stood up and said sincerely, “Mr. Gao, I apologize to you. Please forgive me.”

Seeing Zhuo Nan adopt such an attitude, the students all nodded faintly. His gesture had clearly won their approval. “High Bamboo Pole” had already reached an understanding with Zhuo Nan, so at this point he was merely putting on a show. Smiling, he said, “All right, all right. Young people are bound to make mistakes. Zhuo Nan, sit down. Let’s begin class.”

Another round of applause broke out, directed at both “High Bamboo Pole” and Zhuo Nan. Zhuo Nan’s willingness to admit his mistake deserved praise, while Mr. Gao’s broad-mindedness was equally worthy of recognition.

After returning, Mr. Gao discovered that classroom discipline had improved considerably during his lessons. Although Zhuo Nan still buried his head and chatted with the Duke of Zhou, that was a trivial matter. In Mr. Gao’s eyes, it was nothing but drifting clouds—mere drifting clouds.

Zhuo Nan appeared to be sleeping, but in reality, the Super Brain was helping him expand and strengthen his nervous system, making his reactions faster, more powerful, and more forceful. This also helped him practice his Rapid Combat Technique.

Although the Super Brain had directly transferred an entire body of knowledge and skill into Zhuo Nan’s body, he still could not unleash its full power if his physical condition was poor. The Super Brain’s task was to help Zhuo Nan maintain his body in peak condition at all times.

Just then, a crumpled paper ball struck Zhuo Nan on the head. He looked up at “High Bamboo Pole” on the podium and saw that the teacher was not looking in his direction. He then unfolded the paper.

A line of delicate handwriting read:

“Zhuo Nan, stop sleeping and pay attention in class. Love, your Wen…”

If Fu Xinxin had been there, she certainly would have said, “Jiawen, never pass notes to Zhuo Nan during class. Otherwise, you won’t hear a single word of the lesson.”

Clearly, Zhao Jiawen had not anticipated the consequences of passing notes.

Zhuo Nan picked up his pen and wrote:

“I already know all this. There’s no need for me to listen.”

Zhao Jiawen took the note and opened it. Doubt appeared on her face.

“Really? Are you actually that amazing?”

“Of course. How dare you doubt your husband’s abilities?”

“Such a braggart. Who said I was going to be your wife?”

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“You’re not going to be my wife? Fine, then. I’ll find someone else.”

“How dare you! If you dare find someone else, I won’t let you off!”

The little paper ball rolled continuously through the seats at the back of the classroom. Anyone with eyes could see it, yet “High Bamboo Pole” remained perfectly calm, continuing his lecture as though nothing were happening.

He might have been calm, but someone else was suffering. Lu Zihan could no longer stand it. He abruptly rose to his feet and said loudly, “Mr. Gao, Zhuo Nan and Zhao Jiawen are passing notes during class, seriously disrupting the lesson. I demand that you throw them out immediately.”

At school, students hated two kinds of people most of all. One was the delinquent who caused trouble everywhere; the other was someone like Lu Zihan, who treated every minor authority as a weapon and loved reporting his classmates.

As soon as Lu Zihan finished speaking, disgust appeared on the faces of everyone in the class. Yes, he was the class monitor. Yes, Zhuo Nan and Zhao Jiawen were disrupting the lesson by passing notes. But the teacher had not said anything. For him to stand up and voice his opinion made him seem rather heartless.

To put it plainly, they were all high school students. To some extent, they could distinguish right from wrong. They would be classmates for three years; who could guarantee that no one would ever make a mistake? If someone like Lu Zihan kept making petty reports whenever nothing was happening, life would become unbearable.

Lu Zihan paid no attention to his classmates’ reactions. He held his head high and stared at “High Bamboo Pole,” clearly expecting him to act according to his wishes.

“High Bamboo Pole” glanced at Zhuo Nan and said, “Zhuo Nan, Zhao Jiawen, were the two of you passing notes?”

Zhuo Nan understood that “High Bamboo Pole” intended to smooth things over. He stood up and answered respectfully, “Mr. Gao, Zhao Jiawen and I were not passing notes.”

The moment Zhuo Nan finished speaking, Lu Zihan rushed to Zhao Jiawen, snatched the paper ball from her hand, held it high, and shouted, “Then what is this?”

“Lu Zihan, give it back!” Zhao Jiawen reached out to take it.

Lu Zihan shoved her aside. Her waist struck the corner of a desk, and pain immediately spread across her face.

That infuriated Zhuo Nan.

Damn it. You dared lay a hand on my woman. Even if your grandfather were the Jade Emperor himself, I would still cripple you.

Lu Zihan did not notice that Zhuo Nan had already exploded with rage. He was preparing to unfold the note and publicly reveal what the two of them had written.

Suddenly, Lu Zihan felt the temperature around him plunge. He turned and saw Zhuo Nan staring coldly at him. The light in Zhuo Nan’s eyes was as excited as that of a predator gazing upon its prey. Fear surged into Lu Zihan’s heart.

“What are you trying to do? This is a classroom! What do you want?”

In an icy voice devoid of emotion, Zhuo Nan replied, word by word, “I want you dead…”

The moment the words left his mouth, he lunged at Lu Zihan. Under the horrified gazes of the others, Zhuo Nan drove two fingers deep into Lu Zihan’s eyes.

A heart-rending scream immediately reverberated throughout the entire school building.

In the office, Xia Qianrou’s pen suddenly snapped in her hand. As she stared at the broken pen, an ominous premonition rose in her heart…

The students had never witnessed anything like this. They all drew in sharp breaths, and the more timid among them squeezed their eyes shut.

At that moment, Zhuo Nan was no longer their classmate. He seemed more like a demon from the depths of hell.

“High Bamboo Pole” rushed to the scene at the first possible moment, but even he was unable to pull Zhuo Nan away. Seeing Lu Zihan rolling on the floor, “High Bamboo Pole” immediately shot Zhuo Nan a meaningful look and silently mouthed two words:

“Run!”

Run? Where could he run?

Mr. Gao did not know the power behind Lu Zihan, but Zhuo Nan did. The Lu family’s influence was immense, and Zhuo Nan understood it all too well. Running away was simply impossible.

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If he really fled, he might even bring catastrophic disaster upon his family. His only choice was to stay and slowly contend with them.

Death? Zhuo Nan had already considered it. He had died once before, so what was there to fear? Besides, if he truly had to die, Zhuo Nan would first make sure to kill the old man of the Lu family…

With a faint smile, he said to “High Bamboo Pole,” “Mr. Gao, call the police…”

“High Bamboo Pole” was slightly stunned. Looking at the expression on Zhuo Nan’s face, he sighed, took out his phone, and dialed three numbers.

Xia Qianrou ran toward the classroom like the wind. When she heard what had happened, she was utterly stunned.

How could something like this have happened?

She kept asking herself why, but no one could give her an answer. As she watched Zhuo Nan being handcuffed and taken away, Xia Qianrou was overcome with grief, unable even to cry. Zhao Jiawen had already dissolved into tears.

At a villa in the western suburbs of the capital, Old Master Lu had just returned from a meeting and was resting when his secretary hurried in, phone in hand.

“Chief, it’s Chairman Lu calling. There’s an emergency,” he said anxiously.

A trace of displeasure appeared on Old Master Lu’s face. He took the phone and said, “Hello…”

His voice was aged, but it carried unquestionable authority.

The secretary stood respectfully to one side. Gradually, he noticed that something was wrong with the old man’s expression. His brows began twitching rhythmically, followed by spasms in the muscles of his face.

The secretary had been with him for many years and knew that this was a sign that Old Master Lu was furious.

The old man uttered only a single word from beginning to end before hanging up. He reached for the teacup beside him and fixed his eyes on the glass coffee table in front of him.

Suddenly, he raised the teacup and smashed it against the table.

With a sharp crash, the teacup and the coffee table met in intimate contact, and fragments scattered across the floor.

The secretary’s heart gave a violent thump. The last time Old Master Lu had been this furious had been ten years earlier. Standing to one side, he did not dare even breathe too loudly.

After smashing the table, Old Master Lu seemed to have vented some of his anger. He turned to the secretary and said, “Put me through to the State Council. I want to speak to him directly…”

The secretary had clearly not expected the State Council to be involved. He was momentarily stunned, then immediately picked up the internal phone and dialed the number as instructed.

By then, Zhuo Nan had been locked up in the detention center, a place he knew rather well.

Grinning, he accepted a cigarette from the guard and lit it, taking a deep, satisfied drag. Before he had been brought in, Chen Longming’s people had already made the necessary arrangements, so the guards were fairly friendly toward him.

If his calculations were correct, he would be taken away before long. As for where he would be sent, he had no idea yet.

What Zhuo Nan had not anticipated was that an insignificant nobody like him would trigger a momentous power struggle among the highest-ranking figures in the country.

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