Chapter 21
The incident had escalated considerably.
On the way to the adviser’s office, Jiang Min cried and complained the entire time.
The adviser handling the matter was named Chen Wan. In all her years of teaching, this was the first time she had ever encountered an incident where an Omega and an Alpha fought each other on campus.
Ye Bai’s injuries appeared more serious, so she first took him to the infirmary for treatment. Shu Baiyu was instructed to remain in the office and wait.
Jiang Min was also in the office.
At that moment, only the three of them were there. From the beginning, Jiang Min had chosen a seat far away from Shu Baiyu. He still clutched his stomach and sobbed intermittently, but when left alone in the same room as Shu Baiyu, he appeared considerably more nervous.
He had seen Lu Xingzhou follow Shu Baiyu there.
Lu Xingzhou had somehow obtained a bottle of iodine solution and was now crouching before Shu Baiyu, preparing to apply medicine to his injuries.
Shu Baiyu had only lost control of his emotions for that brief moment earlier. By now, he had already calmed down and had not spoken again throughout the journey.
Lu Xingzhou dipped a cotton swab into the iodine.
Since he was crouching, he had to look up at Shu Baiyu.
“Raise your head. The injuries on your face need medicine.”
Shu Baiyu’s emotions had stabilized, but remembering his earlier loss of composure still made him uncomfortable.
He lowered his eyes toward Lu Xingzhou, then turned his head aside.
“There’s no need.”
Lu Xingzhou’s movements paused.
As though realizing something, he asked:
“Are you still angry?”
Shu Baiyu said nothing and remained motionless in his seat.
“I understand…”
After identifying the issue, Lu Xingzhou remained silent for a moment before withdrawing his hand.
However, he continued looking at Shu Baiyu.
“I’m only going to apply some medicine. I’ll leave afterward.”
Within his field of vision, the line of Shu Baiyu’s jaw tightened slightly, as though he had begun wavering.
Lu Xingzhou lowered his eyelids, pretending not to notice the gaze Shu Baiyu later cast toward him.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me. I only want to treat your injuries.”
The room fell silent.
After a long while, he finally heard Shu Baiyu’s voice.
“Do whatever you want.”
Lu Xingzhou lifted his eyelids slightly.
“All right.”
He reached out and touched Shu Baiyu’s chin.
Shu Baiyu instinctively tried to avoid him, but Lu Xingzhou tightened his grip slightly and held his chin in place.
“Don’t move.”
At some point, Lu Xingzhou had freed his other hand.
He pressed back the hair covering Shu Baiyu’s forehead and swept it away, fully exposing his face.
Shu Baiyu shifted his gaze aside somewhat unnaturally.
Because of this, he failed to notice Lu Xingzhou’s eyes darkening after seeing all the injuries on his face.
Several seconds later, Lu Xingzhou released his chin and picked up the cotton swab instead, while his other hand continued holding back Shu Baiyu’s bangs.
The liquid was cold.
When the tip of the cotton swab touched beneath his eye, Shu Baiyu unconsciously flinched.
Lu Xingzhou paused while applying the medicine.
In a low voice, he said:
“I’ll try to be gentle.”
Shu Baiyu opened his mouth.
However, upon seeing Lu Xingzhou’s focused expression, he ultimately swallowed the explanation he had intended to give.
Shu Baiyu had not looked in a mirror, but he still knew where he had been struck.
At the time, Ye Bai had either punched his face or hit his waist.
Even without looking, he knew his face must be badly bruised, swollen, and hideous.
Therefore, after Lu Xingzhou finished applying medicine around his eye, Shu Baiyu tried to let his bangs fall back down.
Lu Xingzhou stopped him.
“Don’t move yet. I’m not finished.”
Lu Xingzhou’s cool fingertip lightly touched the visibly swollen bruise on one side of his cheek.
When Shu Baiyu’s body trembled slightly in response, his finger paused.
He asked softly:
“Does it hurt?”
Although Shu Baiyu did not avoid him, he did not answer either.
Lu Xingzhou tactfully withdrew his hand but continued asking:
“Besides your face, where else did he hit you?”
Shu Baiyu lifted his eyes.
However, when he discovered Lu Xingzhou was watching him, he looked away and finally broke his silence.
“…It has nothing to do with you.”
“Mm.”
Lu Xingzhou did not persist.
He merely approached the subject from another direction, as though unconcerned.
“Do you have any other injuries?”
He pointed toward the iodine on the desk.
“It would be best to treat everything at once.”
Shu Baiyu frowned, clearly hesitating.
Lu Xingzhou continued in an apparently indifferent tone:
“If you don’t treat them now, you’ll have to visit the infirmary or hospital later for an examination. That will cost you more money.”
Upon hearing this, the person in the chair indeed moved.
Shu Baiyu glanced at the iodine, then toward Jiang Min nearby.
“I’ll treat the rest myself.”
He stood and lifted the hem of his shirt, rolling it upward until it reached his chest.
Then he took the cotton swab and lowered his head to search for his injuries.
Lu Xingzhou remained directly in front of him.
After hearing Shu Baiyu’s words, he neither turned away nor avoided looking. Instead, his eyes went straight toward him.
However, the sight of Shu Baiyu’s injuries made his gaze abruptly freeze.
Large patches of blue and purple covered his pale, taut waist.
Blood had pooled beneath the skin, and despite so little time having passed, the area had already swollen.
Against his smooth, fair skin, the injuries appeared even more shocking.
Shu Baiyu did not seem particularly concerned.
He had already expected injuries like these.
He calmly brought the cotton swab toward the wound, planning to apply medicine for bruising and blood circulation afterward.
When he noticed Lu Xingzhou’s expression, he paused.
Then he caught Jiang Min secretly looking toward him and bluntly said:
“I’m fine. I hit him back anyway. Ye Bai is far worse off than I am.”
Hearing this, Lu Xingzhou temporarily suppressed his thoughts.
Remembering Ye Bai’s miserable condition when he was taken away, his expression relaxed slightly.
Jiang Min, however, shrank back again as though frightened, attempting to reduce his presence as much as possible.
He had never imagined that Shu Baiyu would actually attack someone directly.
Moreover, he had injured Ye Bai despite Ye Bai being an Alpha.
The office remained quiet until Chen Wan returned with Ye Bai.
After bringing him to the infirmary, Ye Bai had only allowed the doctor to apply a simple bandage before struggling to return and settle the score with Shu Baiyu.
Chen Wan had spent the entire journey stopping and persuading him.
Only after making him promise not to attack Shu Baiyu again did she finally relax.
The moment he entered, Ye Bai turned toward Shu Baiyu, his eyes blazing.
“Shu Baiyu!”
Shu Baiyu stared directly back.
Although he remained silent, his gaze alone was enough to provoke him.
Just as the newcomer appeared ready to explode at the slightest spark, a figure suddenly entered Shu Baiyu’s vision and blocked him.
His eyes traveled upward along the shoulders outlined neatly beneath a black shirt and saw several strands of Lu Xingzhou’s hair lifting slightly.
Lu Xingzhou had stepped in front of him.
His voice was icy.
“We should first discuss the matter of you bullying another student.”
“Ha! I bullied him?”
Ye Bai laughed furiously.
“Lu Xingzhou, why don’t you open your eyes and see who attacked first? He beat me into this condition! I nearly had to go to the hospital, and you say I bullied him?”
Lu Xingzhou’s gaze was cool and cutting.
“Oh? You seem very proud of being beaten into the hospital by an Omega.”
“You fucking—”
Ye Bai gritted his teeth and prepared to rush forward, but Chen Wan stopped him.
Only after hearing Lu Xingzhou’s words did Chen Wan realize something.
She glanced at Shu Baiyu’s slender figure, then at Ye Bai’s thick arms, and frowned.
“Ye Bai, who attacked first?”
How could an Omega possibly take the initiative to provoke an Alpha?
“It was him!” Ye Bai answered.
She did not believe him.
“There are surveillance cameras in the classroom. Tell the truth. Otherwise, when the footage is retrieved, none of you will look good.”
Ye Bai erupted in helpless fury.
“It really was him! How the fuck would I know why he attacked me first? Is it my fault that there’s something wrong with his head?!”
Chen Wan’s brows drew tightly together.
She turned toward the silent Shu Baiyu.
“Was it really you…?”
Shu Baiyu glanced at Lu Xingzhou, who had turned to look at him, then silently nodded.
After receiving that answer, Chen Wan visibly fell silent for several minutes.
“You see? He admitted it himself, damn it!”
The gaze Ye Bai directed toward Shu Baiyu could nearly have produced flames.
He understood perfectly well what this admission meant.
He had been beaten by an Omega—and beaten into such a miserable state.
The mere thought of this incident spreading throughout the university made him want to tear Shu Baiyu apart.
“We still need to consider what happened beforehand.”
To everyone’s surprise, Lu Xingzhou suddenly spoke again.
“Adviser Chen, do you really believe Baiyu would do something like this for no reason?”
Hearing his name unexpectedly, Shu Baiyu instinctively looked over and met Chen Wan’s complicated gaze.
She had clearly also heard the recent rumors circulating online.
Now that this incident had occurred, she intended to handle both matters together.
Shu Baiyu paused.
The unusual silence made Ye Bai prepare to interrupt and argue.
However, Shu Baiyu spoke before he could.
“Mm.”
After a brief silence, he added:
“He insulted me first.”
“Bullshit! I was stating the truth!”
Ye Bai cursed loudly.
“Your private life is a mess! Everyone at the university is already talking about it. Don’t we all know what kind of person you are?”
His injured head still throbbed whenever he mentioned it.
“You did those things but don’t dare admit them. Why are you pretending? I only told the truth, and you became angry from humiliation and attacked me!”
“That’s enough! Everyone be quiet!”
Chen Wan stopped the rest of his words with a headache evident in her voice.
Her expression was unpleasant as she turned toward Shu Baiyu.
“…Student Shu, are you aware of the rumors online?”
Originally, the matter had only gained some attention among students privately.
It had been nowhere near serious enough for people outside the university to hear about it.
Yet overnight, it had somehow intensified dramatically.
Not only had the rumors reached the university administration, but more seriously, people outside the university had also begun hearing about them.
Although the truth remained unknown, most people had already assumed Shu Baiyu was guilty of the behavior described.
The matter had clearly reached the point where Chen Wan needed to intervene.
She did not know whether the student before her was truly involved, but she ultimately offered a warning.
“If possible, please tell the truth. There is still time.”
If the rumors were true, she hoped an Omega with such improper intentions would realize his mistake as soon as possible.
The moment she finished speaking, Shu Baiyu directed his gaze toward Jiang Min, who had withdrawn into a corner.
Lu Xingzhou clearly noticed what Shu Baiyu was thinking.
His fingers moved slightly, but he did not speak recklessly.
“Those are all rumors. None of them are true.”
Shu Baiyu kept his eyes on Jiang Min as he directly stated the issue.
“The so-called photographic evidence is also false. The person spreading rumors about me has not only slandered me online but also attacked me offline.”
“I have reason to believe my personal safety has been threatened. The person responsible for spreading these rumors should be severely punished.”
He displayed the photographs he had taken of the dormitory that day on his phone.
The glaring red words were clearly visible to everyone.
Chen Wan had not expected this response.
She frowned.
“Rumors?”
Jiang Min, standing in the corner, gradually reacted.
He could not allow Shu Baiyu to clear his name.
“You say they’re rumors, so that makes them rumors? Everything was written clearly, and there were even witnesses.”
Shu Baiyu stared directly at him.
“You’re in such a hurry to contradict me. Are you afraid they’ll uncover that you were behind it?”
Jiang Min instinctively blurted:
“How is that possible?”
Shu Baiyu did not continue arguing.
He turned toward Lu Xingzhou.
“Did you save the original post?”
Lu Xingzhou nodded and opened a webpage on his phone.
When Wei Li had originally shown him the post, Lu Xingzhou had already taken screenshots, preparing to use them when clarifying the matter.
Shu Baiyu did not stand on ceremony.
He showed Chen Wan the images from the original post.
“I have no relationship with Qi Yan. In the photograph, we were merely attending a group meal. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him.”
“If it were true, then he would also be a victim. There would be no reason for him to defend me.”
“I also don’t have a sugar daddy. A single photograph of me leaving an expensive residential compound, combined with statements intentionally designed to smear me, proves nothing.”
“Qi Yan is your ex-boyfriend! Even if we ask him, he may defend you because of your previous relationship!”
Jiang Min appeared to understand the position he was in.
Only by preventing Shu Baiyu from clearing his name could he remain safe.
“Besides, how do you explain the marks on your gland in that photograph? Are you going to claim those were also an accident?”
Hearing this, the way Shu Baiyu looked at him changed even further.
A cannon-fodder supporting character truly lived up to the title—mindlessly forcing the slander no matter what.
Shu Baiyu was about to answer when he noticed Jiang Min’s eyes abruptly widening in disbelief.
Before he could wonder about it for more than two seconds, he suddenly sensed a cool presence approaching from behind.
This time, Lu Xingzhou moved extremely close.
Before Shu Baiyu could react, an arm wrapped around his waist.
The cool scent of melting snow became infinitely stronger until Lu Xingzhou rested his chin on Shu Baiyu’s shoulder.
Jiang Min and Ye Bai could not conceal their astonishment.
Lu Xingzhou raised his eyelids and looked toward the two of them.
His voice was calm and even.
“Don’t you know that he and I are engaged?”
“I was also present at the meal. I was the one who invited him to the expensive residential compound.”
“The mark on his gland was a temporary mark. I was the one who bit him.”
His gaze shifted toward Jiang Min and Ye Bai, gradually turning colder.
“Are there any other questions?”
Shu Baiyu had not expected Lu Xingzhou to admit everything directly.
His body abruptly stiffened.
At the same time that the office fell silent, the figure that had suddenly appeared at the doorway also stopped in its tracks.
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