Chapter 3: Leaving the Lu Family
Then Let’s Meet in Court
Yuan An didn’t have many belongings. Aside from essential identification documents, there were only a few sets of clothes and his laptop.
After packing his things, he sat at his desk for a while and informed Director Xu that his evidence had been deleted.
Director Xu was startled and immediately asked if Yuan An needed help contacting a hacker.
Yuan An smiled as he read the messages and declined, telling Director Xu that Xingxing was already going to help him.
“You’ve already found a hacker? That’s good then,” Director Xu replied. “I’ve posted your screenshots to Weibo. Let’s see how Liu Fengqing responds first.”
Liu Fengqing was the scriptwriter for Jiang Shang Yue.
The accusations of plagiarism against Yuan An had formed almost instantly online. Because Jiang Shang Yue was currently a hit drama, the hashtag “#HanDaoPlagiarism” had already trended several times.
It was precisely because of these frequent trending topics that Director Xu found the situation strange. Usually, even if a popular novel or TV series was “hammered” with proof of plagiarism, the topic wouldn’t trend five or six times in such a short period. Therefore, someone was likely boosting these trending topics for Han Dao behind the scenes.
That person might want to stop Han Dao from filming, perhaps they wanted to trip up Director Xu, or they might simply want to ruin Yuan An’an’s reputation.
Although Liu Fengqing had remained silent regarding the plagiarism from start to finish, Director Xu had a premonition that he was definitely involved.
If Liu Fengqing wanted to nail down the plagiarism charge, he would certainly come forward to make a statement. When that happened, they would wait to see his response before revealing the evidence to counter-strike. They would ensure that Liu Fengqing’s attempt to splash dirty water would only result in him getting stained himself.
Yuan An understood Director Xu’s objective and ended the conversation after agreeing.
Just as he closed his phone, he heard a knock on his door.
Yuan An opened it to find Butler Chen.
“Young Master, a case has been filed regarding the theft of the Madam’s jewelry.” His attitude had become more enthusiastic, and his tone had shifted from its usual coldness to a gentle warmth.
“Chairman Lu heard about this. He’s asking you to come to the study.”
Yuan An nodded and followed Butler Chen toward the study.
Along the way, Yuan An kept his head down in thought.
Seeing this and considering his situation within the Lu family, Butler Chen felt a surge of pity and guilt.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “Don’t worry, Young Master. Chairman Lu is in a fairly good mood tonight. Since you caught the thief who stole the Madam’s jewelry, he probably wants to praise you.”
Yuan An was startled for a moment, then smiled in response.
In truth, he wasn’t worried about that; he had just suddenly remembered another event that happened on this day in his previous life.
In his past life, he had returned home with his stomach cancer diagnosis, gathering the courage to tell Lu Chengyue about it. However, the three Lu men hadn’t come home at all that night.
Late at night, he had learned from Butler Chen that Lu Suichu had been in a car accident on his way home from work that afternoon. Lu Chengyue and Lu Shengheng had both gone to the hospital to stay with him.
Even though it was only a minor scratch, Lu Chengyue and Lu Shengheng were terrified he might have a head injury and stayed at the hospital overnight for observation.
In this life, since Lu Chengyue was back, had Lu Suichu not been in an accident? Or had Lu Chengyue rushed back from the hospital upon hearing that his wife’s jewelry had been stolen?
Yuan An’an’s confusion was resolved the moment Butler Chen pushed open the study door.
Lu Chengyue was sitting upright in the executive chair behind the desk, and sitting beside him was none other than Lu Suichu.
It seemed that in this life, Lu Suichu had not been in a car accident.
“Chairman Lu, the Young Master is here.”
Hearing this, Lu Chengyue merely glanced at Yuan An and gave a curt “Mm.”
Once Yuan An entered the study, Butler Chen closed the door.
Yuan An didn’t speak, and Lu Chengyue kept his head down, reading documents. An eerie silence filled the room until Lu Suichu’s gentle voice broke it.
“Xiao An, I heard you caught the thief who stole Mother’s jewelry today. How did you find out?”
He seemed genuinely interested, but Yuan An knew he was actually asking if Yuan An had entered their mother’s room without permission.
Because since Yuan An was old enough to remember, Lu Chengyue had strictly forbidden him from entering the room where Yuan Chulan had lived.
Sure enough, Lu Chengyue looked up, his sharp eyes sweeping over Yuan An. “You went into your mother’s room?”
Yuan An lowered his eyes, instinctively remaining silent when Lu Chengyue questioned him.
But then he realized he had been reborn.
So, he looked up and met Lu Chengyue’s gaze with cold indifference. “I won’t be a self-deceiving coward like you.”
After Yuan Chulan passed away, Lu Chengyue would occasionally visit their old room to reminisce. However, after Lu Suichu returned that year, he never stepped foot in that room again.
Yuan An’an’s words clearly enraged Lu Chengyue. The veins on his forehead pulsed, and he suddenly threw the ashtray near his hand toward Yuan An.
The ceramic ashtray couldn’t withstand the impact and shattered into pieces at Yuan An’an’s feet.
“Yuan An, watch your tone!” Lu Chengyue roared in a low, thunderous voice.
Seeing him erupt, Lu Suichu trembled and quickly said, “Father, don’t be angry. Although An’an went into Mother’s room, he caught the thief. Weren’t you still angry on the way back? Didn’t you want to praise An’an when you heard about this?”
He seemed to be soothing Lu Chengyue, but Lu Chengyue’s expression only grew more unsightly.
On the way back.
He had almost forgotten the news he had just received.
Lu Chengyue asked in fury, “Yuan An, who have you been running wild with to learn such bad behavior? You dare talk back to your father, write such low-class things, and stir up a plagiarism scandal? Are you trying to lose face for the Lu family?”
Yuan An’an’s heart skipped a beat, and he frowned deeply.
Low-class things… from the sound of it, Lu Chengyue already knew he was writing scripts.
According to his memories of his previous life, this shouldn’t have been discovered until tomorrow night. It seemed that after his rebirth, these events were changing like a butterfly effect.
Thinking about the beating he received in his past life, Yuan An made a quick calculation in his mind.
If he wanted to sever ties with the Lu family, now seemed like a perfect opportunity.
“If I’m no longer part of the Lu family, I won’t be losing face for your family anymore.”
Both Lu Suichu and Lu Chengyue froze the moment the words left Yuan An’an’s mouth.
Lu Chengyue instinctively snapped, “What do you mean by that?”
Yuan An said, “We can sever our father-son relationship.”
The sentence landed with a resounding thud.
Lu Suichu was the first to react, saying hurriedly, “An’an, what nonsense are you talking? If you leave the Lu family, what can you do…”
Lu Chengyue raised his hand, cutting Lu Suichu off.
He looked at Yuan An and asked, “Are you sure? Leaving the Lu family means abandoning your current life of luxury. Do you think those things you write can support a young master who came from the Lu family?”
Yuan An found it somewhat amusing, a trace of mockery appearing in his eyes. “Chairman Lu seems shrewd, but he has never understood his own son.”
As he spoke, his gaze drifted almost imperceptibly toward Lu Suichu.
Lu Suichu froze, realizing Yuan An’an’s words held a double meaning.
His eyes darkened, and his mind raced.
What had Yuan An noticed? His personality had changed drastically today; was it because he was traumatized by “that” matter?
Lu Chengyue’s face grew even more livid at Yuan An’an’s formal form of address.
He felt an inexplicable irritability in his chest, like a suffocating blockage.
“Then get out of the Lu family! I want to see how many days you can live happily without the Lu family’s protection.”
The moment Lu Chengyue finished, Lu Suichu snapped out of it and said instinctively, “Father, how can you mess around like An’an?”
His words sounded quite unreasonable, yet Lu Chengyue didn’t get angry with him at all.
Lu Chengyue smiled mockingly and said, “Some rich second-generation kids are full of youthful arrogance and rebellion. They insist on leaving the family to pursue so-called ideals, only to come crawling back home in shame within three days.”
He spoke with absolute certainty, which was exactly what Yuan An wanted.
He understood Lu Chengyue. For so many years, in Lu Chengyue’s heart, Yuan An was merely a talentless rich second-generation kid who occasionally used tricks to get their attention.
So, he took advantage of Lu Chengyue’s mindset.
Yuan An smiled and nodded to Lu Chengyue. “Then we shall wait and see.”
With that, Yuan An walked out of the study, feeling completely unburdened.
He went back to his room, threw on the backpack he had already packed, and was about to leave when he ran into Lu Suichu, who had chased after him.
Lu Suichu grabbed Yuan An’an’s wrist. “An’an, Father was speaking out of anger. You…”
“He might have been speaking out of anger, but I wasn’t,” Yuan An interrupted, prying his fingers away.
Unexpectedly, Lu Suichu grabbed his clothes again. “An’an, there’s no need for this. The misunderstanding between you and Father is too deep. Don’t leave the Lu family out of spite!”
Feeling helpless, Yuan An was about to pry his fingers away again when he saw the anxious look in Lu Suichu’s eyes.
He truly seemed to not want Yuan An to leave the Lu family.
Why?
Recalling what Lu Suichu had said before Yuan An died in his previous life, a suspicion surfaced in his mind.
Could it be that Lu Suichu was already eyeing his heart at this point?
Yuan An’an’s eyes turned cold. He forcefully pried Lu Suichu’s hand away and, without another word, strode toward the stairs.
Lu Suichu pursued him relentlessly, still holding onto Yuan An and trying to persuade him to stay in that self-righteous, gentle manner.
The two went downstairs. Lu Shengheng, who was reading a newspaper in the hall, heard the commotion and looked up.
Yuan An, looking impatient, tried to shake off Lu Suichu’s hand. Seeing this, Lu Shengheng set down his newspaper, frowned, and stepped between them.
He supported Lu Suichu, who had stumbled after being pushed by Yuan An, and immediately began scolding Yuan An.
“Don’t you know your brother has a weak heart? Can’t you stop and listen to him?”
Yuan An didn’t want to explain much to Lu Shengheng. He merely glanced at the two of them and walked straight toward the door.
Behind him, Lu Suichu’s anxious voice rang out: “Big Brother, stop An’an quickly! He’s running away from home out of spite…”
Lu Shengheng seemed to remain silent for a moment before saying, “He wants to show off his presence this way? Let him go. The further the better, so we don’t have to look at him and get annoyed!”
Hearing this, Yuan An paused as he stepped out the door.
In the end, he said nothing and left the Lu family villa without looking back.
…
Yuan An found a random hotel and checked in. As soon as he entered his room, he received a text message from the bank.
The supplementary card under Lu Chengyue’s name had been frozen.
It seemed to be a warning.
However, what Lu Chengyue didn’t know was that Yuan An had never used that card. He had opened his own account long ago, and all his money was stored there.
Therefore, the freezing of the supplementary card had absolutely no impact on him.
Yuan An smiled, took a shower in the bathroom, and went to bed early.
While he was showering, Director Xu sent him a message telling him to check Weibo; Liu Fengqing had responded.
[I thought about it and decided to use legal weapons to protect my rights as a creator. I am currently organizing evidence; everyone, wait for my good news tomorrow.]
Beneath this Weibo post, Jiang Shang Yue drama fans were expressing their support and hurling insults at Yuan An.
Looking at the post and the comments below, Yuan An found it somewhat amusing.
After a moment’s thought, he used his own account to repost Liu Fengqing’s Weibo and left a comment:
[Then let’s meet in court.]
Author’s note:
In less than three months, you all will be kneeling and begging An’an to come back. ←_←
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