Chapter 215: Chapter 164: Jiang Silu: "Dad, can you go watch the sunrise with me?
After Jiang Sifan said this,
the students in the large lecture hall were also very curious.
Just then, the professor for the class walked in.
He looked at the unfamiliar face of Jiang Sifan and asked curiously, "Student, are you in our department?"
Jiang Sifan pretended to explain, "Professor, I’m not a junior. I’m a freshman. I came here today mainly to apologize to Minister Xu of the Dual Innovation Department."
The students sitting around Xu Junjie all turned to look at him, wondering why an apology was necessary.
Xu Junjie wanted to go up and stop him, but with so many students present, the situation was too awkward.
He could only clench his fists, waiting to see what kind of trick this guy was trying to pull.
Jiang Sifan looked at the crowd and continued his explanation. "The reason I’m apologizing to Minister Xu Junjie is because of what happened a while ago. I went to the Dual Innovation Department to submit my startup application, but perhaps I interrupted him while he was on the phone hitting on a girl, because he threw my application into the trash."
"Then, when I asked about the status of my application, he kept delaying and gave me no response. Later, I accidentally knocked over the trash can and discovered my application form inside. We ended up getting into an argument."
"A teacher later told him to apologize to me, but he never did."
"I thought, ’He’s a junior, after all. I should show him some respect.’ He’s an upperclassman, and I was worried he might bully us freshmen."
"But then, my worst fear came true. Yesterday afternoon, he opened the door to my workshop and let a strong gust of wind blow my data sheets everywhere. Some of the data analysis is now missing, which has caused a definite loss for my startup project."
"I thought it over and over, and I decided I can’t just confront him head-on. After all, a freshman like me is bound to have to deal with the whims of a scheming veteran like him. So, I specifically took time off from one of my classes to come here and apologize to Minister Xu in person."
Jiang Sifan had actually spotted Xu Junjie in the crowd long ago.
He bowed deeply and apologized again. "Minister Xu, I’m so sorry. I’ll never dare to cross you again. I’ve learned my lesson. Please, just let me off the hook. I’m begging you."
Sometimes, this is how you have to handle things. If you run into a problem you can’t solve, you might as well blow it up and get more people involved.
The lecture hall today wasn’t just filled with Xu Junjie’s own class, but the class next door as well. There were more than a hundred people in total.
They were all juniors, upperclassmen.
When they learned that Xu Junjie would actually bully a freshman like this,
many of his peers who were protective of the underclassmen began to voice their opinions.
One of the girls frowned and looked at Xu Junjie, who was sitting not far behind her. "Xu Junjie, how could you do that? A freshman starting a business is something that should be encouraged, but instead, you made it harder for him. Why are you bringing all that bureaucratic power-tripping to campus?"
Xu Junjie scrambled to explain, flustered. "No, you can’t just listen to his side of the story...!"
Just as Xu Junjie was about to explain, Jiang Sifan interrupted him again. "Minister Xu, I finally found you! Teacher Zhu told you to apologize to me, but you never showed up. I figured you must be busy with your studies, and besides, it was just a small thing, not worth mentioning. But I didn’t expect you to hold a grudge over it, Minister Xu."
"Don’t worry, Minister Xu. From now on, I’ll definitely keep a low profile. I’ll also tell the other students not to try starting a business in their freshman year. They should just lay low and wait until they’re juniors."
These words were a slap in the face to every single junior in the room.
That included the professor who had come to teach the class.
After all, he had taught this group of students from their freshman year all the way to their junior year.
He knew basically every one of them.
He looked in Xu Junjie’s direction and gestured. "Jun Jie, come out here for a moment."
Then he turned to Jiang Sifan. "And you, student. You come out too. Let’s talk outside."
"Professor, there’s no need." Jiang Sifan completely shut down the conversation. "I don’t want to cause any more trouble over this. I’m leaving, Professor."
Hearing this, the professor quickly called out, "Hey, hey, don’t go! This isn’t how you solve the problem."
"It’s already been solved. The teacher’s mediation is useless. If it were useful, this whole follow-up incident wouldn’t have happened in the first place. The only correct course of action is to apologize to Minister Xu in person." After saying this, Jiang Sifan looked at Xu Junjie again and shouted, "I’m sorry, Minister Xu! I was wrong!!"
And with that, he left.
This left Xu Junjie so furious he was sputtering. "You... You get back here! Make yourself clear!!"
Meanwhile, the professor on the stage had a grim expression. He beckoned for Xu Junjie to come out and explain the whole story from beginning to end.
Jiang Sifan, of course, didn’t care what happened next.
Since Teacher Zhu hadn’t handled it, he decided to just blow the whole thing up.
He’d let the students gossip about Xu Junjie behind his back.
He also had Gao Lao and the others post on the school’s forums and message boards.
[Freshman Apologizes to Junior in Mechanical Engineering Lecture Hall Today!!]
[Heard a Junior is Pulling Rank to Crush People! The Vice-Minister of the Dual Innovation Department Threw a Freshman’s Startup Application in the Trash!]
[What a Power Trip!]
[Has to be Xu Junjie from the Dual Innovation Department. Damn, I’ve had it with that guy. I wanted to start a project before, and he just told me my idea was trash.]
[LMAO, same here, bro. He told me, "What’s a freshman like you trying to start a business for? You’d be better off just playing video games and chasing girls."]
[Sounds like this guy has a long history of being a jerk.]
In an instant, a wave of negative public opinion about Xu Junjie was stirred up.
Jiang Sifan hadn’t expected Gao Lao and the others to do such a perfect job.
When he got back to the dorm, he brought them a bunch of snacks and praised them, "You guys did a great job. I can’t believe you made so many posts."
Gao Lao explained with a wry smile, "Actually, we only made three posts. The rest of them are real."
"What?" Jiang Sifan was a little surprised. "So you’re telling me that guy has really done that much disgusting stuff?"
"You bet," Qiu Zai chimed in cheerfully. "You’ve basically fired the first shot in the freshman anti-bullying campaign."
"Then let’s make this controversy even bigger." With that, Jiang Sifan opened his laptop, intending to make more posts.
Just then, his counselor called.
Jiang Sifan knew his counselor would definitely call him; he just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.
Jiang Sifan answered the phone. "Hello, Counselor."
"Sifan, I heard you went to the juniors’ classroom today?" the counselor asked.
Jiang Sifan replied, "You already know, Counselor."
"Yes, I know. I have a pretty good idea of what happened. I’m going to find that Teacher Zhu from the Dual Innovation Department right now to get the full story," the counselor explained.
Jiang Sifan said awkwardly, "Sorry to cause you trouble, Counselor."
"Not at all. I will absolutely not allow students from other years to bully one of my kids," the counselor promised.
Lu Fan also quickly learned of this wave of public opinion.
Chen He commented in surprise, "I didn’t expect the Young Master to do something like this."
"He doesn’t let a grudge go cold. In that, he’s just like me," Lu Fan joked.
Chen He asked, "Boss, should we help?"
"Not yet," Lu Fan replied. "Besides, Principal Luo already knows Jiang Sifan is my son. As long as it’s not some world-ending disaster, he can handle it."
Lu Fan didn’t plan on focusing his attention on Jiang Sifan right now.
After all, the kid’s head was full of his startup, and he wouldn’t pay any attention to him anyway.
He asked the butler, Old Luo, "Old Luo, are the pastries and milk tea ready?"
"They’re ready, Boss." Old Luo packed up the pastries and milk tea and placed them in the car.
Lu Fan nodded and gestured to Chen He. "Alright, let’s head to Jinling University. I want to see my daughter. It’s been a few days."
"Boss, ever since your relationship with the Young Miss started getting better, you’ve really become a doting father," Chen He teased.
Lu Fan didn’t see anything wrong with being a doting father. He admitted it freely, "I think being a doting father is great. Having someone to care about is a very happy thing. I used to always run from responsibility, but now... I want to be responsible for the three of them until the very end."
And so, Lu Fan took the car to Jinling University.
This time, he followed Jiang Silu’s advice and didn’t drive onto campus. Instead, he got out at the school gate and walked to the girls’ dormitory building.
At that moment, Jiang Silu was preparing her project for the next round of the competition. Ever since returning from her landscape architecture internship, her life had basically consisted of classes, sleeping, and drawing.
Other than going to class, she hadn’t even stepped out of the dormitory courtyard gate.
She never expected Lu Fan to personally bring her desserts.
Lu Fan: [Are you in your dorm right now? I’m downstairs. I brought you something to eat.]
Jiang Silu: [Really?! I’ll come down right now.]
Lu Fan: [Okay.]
A moment later, Jiang Silu appeared before Lu Fan, looking both excited and shy.
When she saw that the luxury car was nowhere in sight, she was delighted. ’Dad really listened to my suggestion!’
At the very least, it showed that her dad truly valued her opinion.
Lu Fan handed her the pastries and milk tea. "I figure you’ve been busy drawing and trying to meet your deadline these past few days."
"Mhm," Jiang Silu nodded. "But I should be able to finish it today."
"So fast? That’s great. Tomorrow’s Saturday, so you can take a break. Where do you want to go tomorrow? Dad will take you," Lu Fan asked.
Jiang Silu had actually been thinking about this for the past few days.
She had a long-held wish.
She wanted to see the sunrise at Huang Mountain.
But before, she was always working part-time jobs to cover her living expenses and never had the time.
So, the wish was never fulfilled.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Silu asked cautiously, "Could you... could you go see a sunrise with me?"
Hearing this, Lu Fan was naturally delighted. "Of course! No problem at all. When?"
"Then we can leave tomorrow afternoon, spend the night at Huang Mountain, and we’ll be able to see the sunrise first thing in the morning~" Jiang Silu suggested.
Lu Fan nodded. "No problem. Should we invite your roommates this time?"
Jiang Silu hesitated.
Originally, she had wanted to invite her three roommates, but then she realized she had never really gone on an outing alone with her dad.
The last trip to Suzhou was to visit Teacher He Fengchun.
It wasn’t a real trip just for fun.
So, she asked tentatively, "I... I’d like to go just with you."
"Okay." Lu Fan was both happy and relieved to hear her answer.
This meant his daughter was getting used to going out with him.
At the very least, his efforts and concern over the past few days hadn’t been in vain.
He was confident it wouldn’t be long before he would hear Jiang Silu call him "Dad!" with her own voice.
