Chapter 66: They Are All Cowards

Lin Muxue soon brought out the sweet soup she had prepared. Because Li Sicheng had mentioned before that he couldn’t eat anything too rich or luxurious, the ingredients she used were all quite simple. Yet, thanks to her superb culinary skills, the resulting flavor was excellent and lingered pleasantly on the palate.

“This is delicious.” Li Sicheng had barely taken a spoonful before he couldn’t help but praise it.

Lin Siyu shot him a look and said, rather testily, “Isn’t that obvious? My sister’s cooking is first-rate!”

For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, even though she had warmed up to Li Sicheng in her heart, Lin Siyu refused to admit it and insisted on contradicting him at every turn.

Li Sicheng simply smiled and continued drinking the sweet soup without bickering, which left Lin Siyu feeling inexplicably disappointed.

“If you like it, have some more,” Lin Muxue said cheerfully, clearly delighted by the compliment.

In that moment, she seemed every bit the gentle and virtuous young wife, a far cry from the shrewd and decisive business legend she was in the marketplace.

As she stirred the soup, Lin Muxue asked, “By the way, Sicheng, how was school today? Did anything interesting happen? Or… did anyone give you a hard time?”

Hearing this, Lin Siyu’s heart skipped a beat in alarm. Her hand trembled involuntarily, causing her spoon to clink against the edge of her bowl with a faint, metallic sound.

Lin Muxue turned to look at her, her gaze questioning.

Panic fluttered in Lin Siyu’s chest, but she forced herself to stay calm and made up an excuse. “Uh… the soup tastes so good I drank it too quickly, and accidentally knocked my spoon against the bowl.”

At the same time, she silently pleaded, “Oh, you liar, for the sake of me covering for you tonight, please don’t tell my sister that I was targeting you at school…”

Lin Siyu had been raised by her elder sister since childhood and felt a natural sense of awe toward her. She knew all too well that if her sister ever found out about the tricks she’d played on Li Sicheng at school, she’d be in for far more than just a scolding.

At this moment, Lin Siyu was truly a bundle of nerves.

In fact, her worries were completely unnecessary. All the little schemes she and Tan Xiaoxiao had orchestrated at school had been so discreet that Li Sicheng hadn’t the faintest idea they were behind them.

As it turned out, she was worrying over nothing.

Li Sicheng didn’t mention a single word about those incidents. He just smiled and gave a vague reply, “School life is pretty good…”

“Whew… at least you were smart enough not to snitch to my sister.” Seeing this, Lin Siyu breathed a silent sigh of relief, most of her tension dissipating. Yet a trace of grievance crept into her heart: “Strange, why didn’t this liar report me? Is it because he doesn’t want my sister to worry, or did he not care about those things at all?”

These questions plagued Lin Siyu for the rest of the evening.

After enjoying the sweet soup and finishing his evening routine, Li Sicheng returned to the basement.

A day and a night had passed, and the basement had changed yet again. It was no longer damp and cold with a musty odor; instead, it felt pleasantly warm and fresh, with a hint of clarity in the air.

If someone versed in geomancy or metaphysics were to step inside, they would be stunned. The feng shui of this basement perfectly embodied the “withered wood meets spring” formation—a setting ideal for a patient’s recuperation. And Li Sicheng had achieved this transformation with nothing more than a bed, a desk, and a few simple pieces of furniture.

Such skill was truly astonishing.

After returning, Li Sicheng walked to the desk, took out an ancient copy of “Treatise of the Hidden Dragon” from the drawer, and tried to read. But his mind was restless, unable to concentrate, haunted by the image of Zeng Yi being dragged away by his mother, ear pinched.

With a sigh, he put the late-Ming dynasty volume back into the drawer, then drew a white jade magnolia pendant from his pocket and gently stroked it in his hand.

“Everyone in this world has parents—except me…”

After a long while, Li Sicheng shook his head, tucked the pendant back into his clothes, switched off the lamp, and went to the bed. Instead of lying down, he sat cross-legged, slipping into a meditative state.

The next morning, as Li Sicheng stepped out of the villa and prepared to unlock his electric scooter, he saw Lin Siyu already seated in her Mercedes. She rolled down the window, waved him over, and said, “Hey, don’t bother with the scooter—come with me to school! Uh… Don’t get any ideas, I’m not doing this for you. I just don’t want my sister to scold me again!”

Li Sicheng smiled.

He suddenly found Lin Siyu rather endearing.

This kind of stubborn, contrary attitude—sometimes, it was pretty cute, wasn’t it?

Even so, Li Sicheng shook his head and politely declined. “I appreciate your kindness, but as I said last night, I can’t ride in a luxury car right now. For the time being, this electric scooter is the most suitable means of transportation for me.”

Lin Siyu hadn’t expected that after agonizing over the decision all night, she would be turned down so flatly.

“Hmph, so you won’t ride with me and have to make up such a lame excuse? Do you really think I’m that gullible? Only my sister would buy a story like that!” Fuming, she ignored Li Sicheng and snapped at the driver, “Go!”

Watching the car pull away, Li Sicheng shook his head with a wry smile and sighed softly, “I’m telling the truth—why won’t anyone believe me? These days, people would rather trust a lie than the truth.”

He got on his scooter and rode leisurely toward Nanshan High School.

Upon arriving at school and walking along the corridor outside his classroom, he happened to run into Cheng Haoyu.

Unlike Li Sicheng, Cheng Haoyu was surrounded by seven or eight people—some first-year students, others upperclassmen from the second and third years.

At the sight of Li Sicheng, a flash of malice appeared in Cheng Haoyu’s eyes.

As they passed, Cheng Haoyu sneered, “So, you’re the one who said you’d ruin the Cheng family? Funny, because I’m still living the high life, eating and drinking well. Let me give you a piece of advice: if you don’t have what it takes, don’t make such wild claims!”

Li Sicheng chuckled. “What’s the rush? I said your family would fall within a week—only a day’s gone by. What, are you in a hurry for your family’s ruin?”

“Damn you!” Cheng Haoyu, already seething with resentment, exploded with rage. He raised his hand to signal his cronies, intent on teaching Li Sicheng a lesson then and there.

But before they could make a move, a figure darted in front of Li Sicheng, glaring at them and barking, “Cheng Haoyu, what do you think you’re doing? Starting a fight on school grounds?”

It was Gao Zixi, the homeroom teacher of Class Three, Grade One—a fiercely protective teacher who would never allow her students to be bullied.

Li Sicheng stepped out from behind her, swept his contemptuous gaze over Cheng Haoyu and his gang, and said with a cold smirk, “It’s all right, Miss Gao. These guys are all cowards. Even if you gave them a thousand more chances, they wouldn’t dare start a fight at school.”