RGL – Chapter 163

Second Aunt of the Li Fang naturally didn’t want her niece to end up in a detention center. If word of this got out, how would she ever find a husband in the future? Their family’s reputation would be completely ruined if people found out.

However, having her apologize in front of the entire school was quite a serious matter.

After weighing her options, Li Fang’s second aunt finally agreed to Su Min’s condition. “Alright, we’ll have our Li Fang apologize.”

Su Min nodded. “Okay. Once she apologizes, I’ll withdraw the report.”

Just like that, the two sides reached a reconciliation agreement. As for Li Fang’s own opinion, it no longer mattered.

Holding a school-wide apology assembly would have been a bit too dramatic. But after discussing with Teacher Zhou, and after Teacher Zhou consulted with the department leaders, they decided to have Li Fang broadcast her apology over the school intercom. After the broadcast, her written self-criticism would be posted on the school bulletin board.

To resolve the matter quickly, the school moved fast. At lunchtime that very day, the broadcast went out.

Right after the broadcast, both the letter of self-criticism and the school’s official disciplinary notice were posted on the bulletin board.

The final decision from the school was to record a major demerit on Li Fang’s file.

“I’m sorry, Manli. I didn’t want to let Su Min off that easily either. But I don’t have the face to stay in this class anymore. And the school is already considering expelling me. It’s only thanks to my second aunt pulling strings that I was allowed to keep my student status. If I cause any more trouble, I’ll definitely be expelled.”

Though Li Fang had decided to transfer departments, she still couldn’t bear to part with her friend Sun Manli. She especially felt guilty for not standing up for her this time.

Hearing Li Fang’s apology, Sun Manli, who had been quietly reading with her head down, suddenly looked up. Her expression was icy as she stared at Li Fang. “This is your problem. What does it have to do with me?”

Seeing the stunned look on Li Fang’s face, Sun Manli’s expression grew even colder. If it weren’t for this idiot Li Fang, Xue Mian wouldn’t have started avoiding her. Now he completely disliked her—and it was all Li Fang’s fault. Just thinking about how she had previously tolerated Li Fang made her feel utterly disgusted.

Li Fang never expected Sun Manli to say something like that.

Although Sun Manli had always been a bit aloof, prideful people were just like that. And she had every right to be proud—she was indeed outstanding.

But this time, what she said wasn’t just pride. It was clearly a complete disavowal of their relationship.

If someone else had said this, Li Fang might have brushed it off. But not Sun Manli. The only reason she had gone after Su Min in the first place was for Sun Manli’s sake. Even if Sun Manli hadn’t told her to do it directly, she should have known that everything was done for her.

Li Fang now felt terrible—wronged, angry—but couldn’t find the words to refute her.

“Manli, I did all of this for you.” It took Li Fang a long moment to squeeze out this one sentence.

Sun Manli sneered. “Did I ask for your help? You’re the kind of person who ruins more than you accomplish.” She had been holding in her anger for a long time, and seeing Li Fang now gave her a perfect outlet. “You really thought I’d be friends with someone like you? You’re too naive. From now on, stay away from me. You make me sick.”

Li Fang was dumbfounded. When she came back to her senses, her face twisted in fury. “Sun Manli, what do you mean by this? You knew perfectly well I did this for you! I never asked you to help me, but you didn’t have to say something like that. So all these years, you’ve just been faking it?”

Sun Manli couldn’t be bothered to respond and went back to reading at her desk.

Li Fang, being hot-tempered and already feeling wronged, completely lost control when she was hit with this new hurt. In a fit of rage, she kicked over Sun Manli’s desk, causing her to fall to the ground along with it.

The classroom, which had been full of hushed murmurs, fell silent at the loud crash. Everyone turned to look and saw Sun Manli and the desk sprawled on the floor, with an angry Li Fang pointing furiously at her.

Neither girl had a great reputation among their classmates, so no one stepped in to help. They just stood around watching. Even Su Min just glanced up briefly, smirked coldly to herself, and went back to sketching on her scratch paper.

A little while later, hearing the commotion, Teacher Zhou came over and his face immediately darkened.

Su Min’s situation had just been resolved, and now Li Fang was making trouble again in class. Wasn’t this just asking to be expelled? And to think he had gone out of his way to defend her before. Now she was just a nuisance.

In the end, the furious Li Fang and stone-faced Sun Manli were both dragged away by Teacher Zhou.

It wasn’t until almost dismissal time that Sun Manli returned, lips tightly pressed together. Li Fang didn’t come back at all.

Su Min saw how defeated Sun Manli looked and thought to herself: Serves her right. Evil always brings about its own destruction. Sun Manli thought everyone else was a fool and used Li Fang like a tool. Now that Li Fang was no longer useful, she was ready to toss her aside. But things were never that simple. With Li Fang’s personality, she was bound to start resenting Sun Manli from now on.

The class didn’t feel any different with Li Fang gone. In fact, Su Min felt the whole environment was much more peaceful.

Sun Manli, after being kicked down by Li Fang, was clearly shaken and had been quiet ever since.

Meanwhile, Su Min had been even busier lately, preparing for her upcoming trip to Paris. Grandma Zhang and Zhang Qingqing had returned home to prepare for their wedding, so she was now learning embroidery basics under Tian Su.

Tian Su was a very talented girl. Her skills had already reached an impressive level. Su Min thought that next time she had the chance to go to Paris, she would definitely bring Tian Su along.

“Su Min, did you and Xue Mian have a fight? I haven’t seen him come by lately,” Liao Zhaodi asked on their way home from the shop that evening.

She still thought Xue Mian was a great guy—an old classmate, from a good family, and most importantly, genuinely cared about Su Min. Where else could you find someone like that? If Su Min stuck with him, they could get married after graduation, and her life would be perfect. Why overthink it?

Su Min was a little dazed when she heard her mention Xue Mian.

Since she told him about Li Fang and the others, they hadn’t seen each other. He hadn’t come to her, and she hadn’t gone to him.

She figured that maybe he had finally given up.

Liao Zhaodi looked up at the dark sky. “Su Min, I’m serious. If someone liked me that much, I’d marry him on the spot. It’s not easy to find someone who truly treats you well.”

Su Min smiled and shook her head. “Alright, we’re too young to talk about that. Let’s hurry home, I’m exhausted.”

Seeing that Su Min didn’t want to talk about it, Liao Zhaodi didn’t press further. But she had a strong feeling that Su Min would accept Xue Mian—maybe not now, but eventually. As long as he kept holding on.

Xue Mian wasn’t deliberately avoiding Su Min.

He simply couldn’t see her even if he wanted to.

At the moment, he was lying on a hospital bed reading documents, while his assistant stood cautiously beside him. Seeing that he had no intention of resting even after such a long time, the assistant said with concern, “President Xue, you should take a couple of days off. The doctor said you really need proper rest.”

Xue Mian shook his head with pursed lips. “The product is about to launch. We can’t stop now. Go talk to Yue Hao and coordinate things for after the product hits the market.”

Seeing him like this, the assistant hesitated to speak but ultimately said nothing more.

He had once assumed that someone so young starting a company must have come from a wealthy background. But after seeing Xue Mian work like this, he truly felt admiration.

Several days and nights with barely any sleep—where does a person get that kind of stamina?

Once the assistant left the room, Xue Mian leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes with a sigh.

It had already been seven days since he last saw Su Min. She was probably happy now, glad to have shaken off someone as annoying and burdensome as him.

Thinking of that only made Xue Mian feel even more disheartened.

Although he’d had the courage to confront his parents that day, he knew full well that even if he spent the rest of his life estranged from them, Su Min still wouldn’t accept him.

He knew she wouldn’t—but he still couldn’t bring himself to give up. So he threw himself into work these past few days, trying not to think about any of it. But the more he tried not to think, the more his mind wandered, and in the end, it wore him down.

Su Min, meanwhile, had no idea what was happening with Xue Mian. Now that Li Fang was gone and Sun Manli had also calmed down, and with no need to think about Xue Mian for the time being, she was very satisfied with how things were going. Life was getting better by the day.

In the blink of an eye, the weather had already turned warm. Su Min was also preparing for her trip to Paris.

She had already started learning embroidery from Grandma Zhang. While her work wasn’t as polished as a trained apprentice’s, she had grasped the fundamentals. When the time came to negotiate in Paris, she would at least have some confidence.

“Su Min, once we arrive in Paris, just stay by my side and act as my assistant. That way there’ll be fewer restrictions. This trip, you need to observe and learn as much as possible. Foreign clothing styles are all the rage now. In that area, they really are a bit ahead of us,” Wu Yang reminded her on the plane.

Su Min nodded seriously.

This was a rare opportunity, and she was determined to make the most of it.

After a few more reminders, Wu Yang moved on to speak with the other students.

There were three teachers in total on this trip, and five students, all top-performing ones from the school. Although they were classmates, they weren’t particularly familiar with each other, so they didn’t talk much along the way.

Su Min didn’t feel like reading on the plane, so she simply leaned back and took a long nap.

“Welcome,” someone greeted them.

When the plane landed in Paris the next day, there was already someone waiting to pick them up at the airport.

Originally, Su Min had assumed their airport pickup would be a foreigner. But when she saw the person, she was surprised—it was a Chinese man, and a very young one at that, maybe twenty-five or twenty-six.

“Professor Wu, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Li has already arranged accommodations for you.”

Professor Wu greeted him warmly, “Xiao Gao, thank you for all your trouble.”

“I’m just doing my job,” Assistant Gao said with a smile, leading the group to a minibus.

Once on board, everyone opened the curtains to look at the scenery outside. Only Wu Yang was still chatting with Assistant Gao.

Su Min wasn’t listening to their conversation. She was too busy curiously observing the streets of Paris.

Although her face remained calm and her emotions only barely showed, inside she was overwhelmed with excitement. In two lifetimes, this was her first time going abroad. And her first destination was none other than the world-renowned fashion capital—she couldn’t contain her joy.

It wasn’t until the bus came to a stop that Su Min finally looked away from the window.

When she stepped out and saw the hotel before her, she couldn’t help but think, Having money really makes all the difference.

Since this was a school-funded trip, she had expected the accommodations to be modest—she had even brought her own money just in case. But to her surprise, they were staying in a luxurious hotel.

After traveling for a day and a night, Su Min was ready to rest. But just as she was about to lie down, there was a knock on the door. When she opened it, she saw the classmates who had traveled with her.

It turned out that they were all here for the first time and couldn’t resist the urge to go explore.

Su Min also wanted to go out, but she didn’t want to cause trouble for Wu Yang by going alone. Hearing that everyone else was going, she quickly agreed, freshened up, and joined them outside.

Su Min had never been to Paris before, so she didn’t know how it differed from the Paris of the future. But one thing was undeniable—this was truly a bustling and romantic city.

She didn’t speak French, but her English was decent, thanks to her past experience working with William. It really came in handy this time. Among the group, she was the only one who could communicate effectively here.

After a tour around the area, they all headed back to the hotel.

Just as they walked through the hotel entrance, Su Min saw Wu Yang heading toward the door from the lobby. Standing beside him was a man in a suit, and the two were deep in conversation.

When Wu Yang reached the door, he finally noticed the students.

Su Min and the others greeted him.

“These are the students I brought with me—very talented. I hope they’ll gain some valuable experience during this trip,” Wu Yang said with a smile, introducing them to the man beside him.

The man returned a polite smile but didn’t say much.

Only then did Su Min take a closer look. He wasn’t conventionally handsome, but his features were refined and gentle. No matter what angle you viewed him from, he gave off a very warm impression. However, Su Min sensed that his outward warmth was misleading—his confidence was plainly written in his eyes.

Wu Yang didn’t formally introduce them. After exchanging pleasantries, he and the man left together.

The students watched them leave, all curious about the man’s identity.

“I heard Professor Wu has many friends overseas. He’s probably one of them. Maybe he was the one who arranged for us to be picked up yesterday.”

“Who cares who he is? We’re here to learn.”

At this stage, none of the students were thinking about networking.

Su Min was curious too, but didn’t ask Wu Yang about it.

Surprisingly, although the students didn’t ask, Wu Yang brought it up himself at breakfast the next morning.

“Many fashion businesspeople will attend today’s Paris Fashion Exhibition. The gentleman you met yesterday is Mr. Li Weisi, a Chinese expatriate. He’s here on official business and will also be attending the exhibition. We owe him a great deal for helping make this trip possible. You all must study hard. If you succeed in the future, you might even have the chance to collaborate with Mr. Li. His fashion company has a major market share abroad.”

Hearing this, the students were visibly excited.

Getting into a multinational fashion company like that would be a dream come true. Whether they returned home or not, they’d have a head start in their careers.

Wu Yang saw the various expressions on their faces and felt a bit conflicted. On the one hand, he hoped his students would find success in the fashion world. On the other, he wanted them to stay in the country and help develop the domestic industry.

Of course, this wasn’t something he would force. All he could hope was that they would follow their hearts.