The pointer of time moved, until the end of August.
There was only a day or two left until school started, but less than a week until Lu Yunze’s piano competition.
Therefore, they didn’t rush back to Lan City and instead continued staying in Central City.
That evening, Luo Tianyu rarely appeared at the dinner table.
The few people who were originally eating and chatting immediately shut their mouths.
“Father, why are you here?”
Luo Yao was the first to speak.
Even when Luo Tianyu came home, he would be immersed in work and rarely eat with them, instead having dinner alone in his free time.
After Luo Tianyu sat down, he didn’t rush to start eating but looked up at them.
“Next week is the day Lu Yunze competes.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing my best.”
“Good. Don’t let me down, or else you’ll complain that my second punishment is heartless.”
Even Luo Tianyu couldn’t help but laugh when he said this.
The dining table was filled with a pleasant atmosphere.
“Father, did you come here just to make fun of Brother Lu?”
“Of course not.”
Luo Tianyu shook his head.
“Since it’s such an important day, I plan to hold a banquet this weekend.”
“An early celebration party?”
Luo Heng complained:
“I didn’t expect you to like popping champagne early too, Father.”
“It’s not a celebration party. It’s to make Lu Yunze work even harder during the competition.”
As Luo Tianyu spoke, his gaze fell on Lu Yunze again.
“Don’t let me down.”
In response, Lu Yunze only nodded in affirmation.
But privately, he couldn’t help muttering:
‘Is this really okay?’
He could understand Luo Tianyu’s good intentions.
But holding this kind of banquet would only increase the pressure on him, and he wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy himself at the venue.
In the ten years he had lived with the Luo family, this was the first time Lu Yunze became the protagonist of a banquet hosted by Luo Tianyu.
As the Head of the Luo Family, Luo Tianyu acted much faster than his son and daughter.
The night before, he had just told them about this, and two days later, he had all the preparations for the banquet ready.
The venue was reserved at an expensive local hotel.
All the ingredients were bought by the family.
Even the invitations to distinguished guests had all been sent out.
When the Head of the Luo Family issued an invitation, no one dared to refuse.
They all attended the banquet with smiles on their faces.
Everyone knew this was a banquet Luo Tianyu held for Lu Yunze.
Therefore, Lu Yunze naturally became the center of attention.
Those who used to look at him with contempt now came up to him with flattering expressions, endlessly praising him.
“Young Master Lu is truly a hero born in youth.”
“If you don’t win the championship next week, I swear there must be a conspiracy.”
“With a talent like Master Lu, the Luo family is like a tiger with wings.”
Hearing their praise, Lu Yunze couldn’t be happy at all.
At least they could act a little better.
These guys were practically wearing the words “Flatter Luo Tianyu” on their faces.
They weren’t sincerely blessing him; they were just using him as a bridge to approach Luo Tianyu.
So when Lu Yunze was exhausted from dealing with them, Luo Tianyu pushed Luo Yao to his side.
In the name of: taking care and helping.
Because Lu Yunze wasn’t good at handling this kind of thing.
As for whether Luo Tianyu had any ulterior motives, Lu Yunze couldn’t be sure.
But Luo Yao definitely did.
“Brother Lu, don’t get too far away from me, or you might get lost.”
“Brother Lu, let’s go dance together later, okay?”
“Brother Lu, why aren’t you talking? Are you feeling unwell?”
It was obvious that Luo Yao was enjoying it.
Only Lu Yunze couldn’t.
Seeing that more and more people were coming up to blow smoke up his ass, Lu Yunze simply dumped them all on Luo Yao and took the opportunity to slip away to a corner where there were fewer people.
Leaning against the table, Lu Yunze took a sip of iced drink and let out a long sigh.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you so flustered?”
Hearing this voice, Lu Yunze turned his head and saw that it was Lv Ziyi, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.
She was wearing a beautiful formal dress.
But her hairstyle was still the lively double ponytails.
The goblet in Lv Ziyi’s hand was half full of wine, and she casually clinked glasses with Lu Yunze.
Lu Yunze shook his head.
“If this were a school party, I’d find a way to skip it.”
“But if I run away now, I’ll definitely get scolded by Uncle Luo when I get back.”
“I totally get that feeling of being powerless.”
Lv Ziyi glanced at him.
“I used to be like you, taken to meet guests I didn’t want to see.”
“Later, I used a little trick, and they never forced me again.”
“Huh?”
“Remember the seven-character mantra.”
“What is it?”
Lu Yunze became interested.
“Cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang yourself. They’ll never force you with a tough attitude again.”
Lv Ziyi looked quite proud of her smile.
But Lu Yunze just twitched the corner of his mouth.
It wasn’t that they wouldn’t.
It was that they dared not be tough with you.
You’re already crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang yourself—you’re tougher than anyone. Who would dare to play hardball with you?
“By the way, why are you always with Luo Yao? Where’s Jiang Sui?”
“She’s at home.”
“Why didn’t you invite her?”
“What are you talking about? That would cause trouble, right?”
Lu Yunze twitched the corner of his mouth again.
“If someone saw me holding hands with a maid while leaving Luo Yao aside…”
“What, so you’re a coward too,”
Lv Ziyi’s eyes turned teasing.
“Do you really think staying in a place like this will make you happy?”
Of course not.
Otherwise, Lu Yunze wouldn’t have come alone to get some air.
But compared to dealing with those hypocritical people, Lu Yunze found talking with Lv Ziyi much more interesting.
This tsundere double ponytail girl also wanted to hide her true feelings.
But her clumsy mouth would always accidentally let them slip, making her quite cute.
“Ah, damn.”
“What’s wrong?”
Lv Ziyi frowned.
“Stomach hurts.”
Lu Yunze wasn’t lying. It really hurt.
Had he been eating too many cold things lately?
He had to leave, heading to the bathroom while holding his stomach.
He squatted for over ten minutes.
When he came out to wash his hands, Lu Yunze started thinking about whether he should control his mouth from now on.
Otherwise, if his stomach acted up during the competition, it would be a disaster.
Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, Lu Yunze instinctively looked back.
A sneaky figure flashed around the corner.
Recalling what had happened recently, and the fact that the Black Star Cult’s influence in Central City hadn’t been completely eradicated,
Lu Yunze couldn’t help but have a bad feeling.
Could they be planning to launch an attack during the banquet?
Lu Yunze immediately chased in the direction where the figure had disappeared.
After turning a few corners, he found himself back at the banquet venue.
A black robe was stuffed in a nearby trash can.
Lu Yunze frowned.
Everywhere he looked, there were guests with smiling faces.
Could the suspicious person have blended in?
Just as Lu Yunze was about to continue searching for the suspicious individual, a sharp pain suddenly shot from behind his shoulder, making him wince.
It felt like someone had pressed a branding iron against his shoulder.
It burned fiercely.
Too focused on enduring the pain, Lu Yunze didn’t notice.
At the spot where the pain came from, an originally inconspicuous mark was now glowing like a red-hot piece of iron.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the lights in the entire banquet hall went out.
Screams immediately erupted in the venue.
“What’s going on?”
“A power outage?”
“What the hell? How annoying.”
Soon, someone contacted the staff to handle the issue.
“Was it really just an accident?”
Lu Yunze had a bad feeling for some reason.
At the same time, he felt a chilling wind blow behind him.
It was as if someone’s malicious gaze swept across his back.
“Aaaah!!!”
Just before the lights came back on,
Everyone heard a scream.
It was Luo Tianyu’s scream.
Something happened?
Lu Yunze quickly rushed to Luo Tianyu’s location.
He saw him falling from his chair, sitting on the ground, pale, gasping heavily.
“Father, are you okay?”
Luo Yao also arrived, asking with concern.
“I’m fine… help me up.”
Luo Tianyu forced calm.
With the hotel manager’s apologies, the small power outage incident seemed to pass.
After sitting down, Luo Tianyu still looked grim, holding his forehead and muttering to himself:
“Hallucination? It must be just a hallucination… It has to be a hallucination.”
The faint voice was only audible to himself.
The elbow he had supported on the table just barely pushed down, and with a “bang,” the table collapsed into a pile of broken wood chips.
“What now?”
“Damn, cheap furniture!”
“I’m never coming to this place again.”
Everyone complained about the store’s unreliability.
Only Luo Tianyu saw.
Beneath the shattered tabletop, a clear mark appeared on the floor.
The pattern of the mark was quite strange.
In the middle was a black star.
Three tentacles extended outward, surrounding the black star.
It was as if someone had taken a stamp, pressed it hard on the table, crushing the surface, and imprinted it on the floor.
Luo Tianyu’s expression froze completely at that moment.