054 Li Huashan – 054 Li Huashan Bodhi! The Buddha says: "A friend's wife should not be ridden upon—never ridden upon!" Just as Zhou Quan’s nose was beginning to bleed and he stood at attention with a crisp salute, Liang Hongyu finally found another pair of chopsticks. She straightened up and saw that Zhou Quan was staring at her chest, his face flushed in embarrassment. "Zhou Quan," she said, blazing red, "what are you looking at?" Startled, Zhou Quan quickly closed his eyes and recited the Buddha’s name with such solemnity that he looked like a master monk standing upright in meditation. After chanting a few rounds of “Amitabha,” he felt calm again. Opening his eyes, he smiled softly, giving Liang Hongyu a cheeky glance. “I’ve seen everything I should have—every bit of the inappropriate, I haven’t glanced at even once.” “You’re… you’re utterly unprincipled!” Liang Hongyu blushed furiously, pointing at him with an intensity she thought was truly scathing. “You and Lu Yun are just as coarse and indifferent as each other!” Indeed—how could one possibly ride upon a friend’s wife? The very idea of being ridden upon was sacred! Zhou Quan laughed, relieved to see Liang Hongyu no longer burdened by inner sorrow. "Class leader," he said, waving her off, “I’m just playing around with you. Let’s hurry and eat—there’s still more to the day ahead!" Liang Hongyu frowned and pouted, sitting down on her chair with one hand resting on her cheek, slowly stirring noodles in the bowl with her chopsticks. In a quiet, thoughtful tone, she said: "What about Lu Yun? Shall we go talk to Teacher Fei and Teacher Wang? We can’t just leave him there being ignored, can we?" It seemed that even though she had once expressed distaste for Lu Yun, now all her heart was clearly tied to him. Zhou Quan choked down a mouthful of noodles with an unpolished sound, his words stumbling slightly: "Now, class leader—just relax! As soon as my cousin arrives, I’ll personally rescue your sweetheart from the police station, and then you can go on eating!" "Your cousin?" Liang Hongyu asked curiously. "What does he do? And why did the police release Lu Yun the moment he arrived? Is he perhaps connected to the district bureau?" Zhou Quan felt momentarily stunned—women were so tricky! He didn’t want to explain himself, so he simply nodded and said: "Something like that. Just let me get him out—everything else, you don’t need to worry about." "Oh," Liang Hongyu murmured, her mood lightening as she settled back into eating the cold noodles slowly. After lunch, while Liang Hongyu was washing her bowl, Zhou Quan sat in his chair, pondering how best to convince his cousin to intervene on Lu Yun’s behalf. He had originally hoped only to use his cousin’s influence to settle his own personal grievances—yet within just one day, Lu Yun had become entangled again. Zhou Quan deeply admired his cousin's rigid personality and knew well from past experience that unless he could present a compelling reason, the cousin would be unlikely to act. By the time class ended in the afternoon, Zhou Quan still hadn’t found a solid, convincing argument to persuade him. "Be it ever so! If necessary, I’ll fight my cousin tooth and nail!" Zhou Quan declared firmly, determined to get Lu Yun out—unaware that at this very moment, Lu Yun was already peacefully asleep in the afternoon nap. ... At the police station, Lu Yun enjoyed a private room and meals far superior to those offered at school. Village folks often said it wasn’t exactly a place one wanted to live in—yet here, Lu Yun felt more at home than ever. Leaning back on his elbows with legs crossed, he mused that classes should have started by now. Was Liang Hongyu still lingering around the room, or had she gone off to do something else? Did she perhaps feel uneasy about being left alone in such a setting? He hadn’t considered that Liang Hongyu had nearly cried out of sheer longing for Lu Yun—so ungrateful! Once the matter was resolved, he would be able to clear his name and emerge as a true hero at school. And Xiaoying would proudly become not just a student, but also a heroine’s girlfriend—a new kind of young bride. Lu Yun couldn’t help laughing at this very idea—how could stealing items from someone's home be elevated into a heroic feat? And now, he was being granted a full exemption from tuition for six months! What more could one ask for? Hahahaha… Soon enough, drowsiness overtook him. With drool streaming from his lips, he drifted off to sleep—drifting into the arms of Mr. Zhou Gong, the ancient sage of dreams. ... Meanwhile, at school, by the time the third class ended, Li Huashan and a man of imposing stature arrived on campus. Zhou Quan led them to a quiet corner, breathless: "Uncle Li, how could you both arrive so late? I’ve been desperate for the past hour!" Li Huashan was Zhou Quan’s cousin—about twenty-one or twenty-two years old—and though his name suggested warmth, he carried himself like an iceberg—cold, distant, and utterly composed. His face, sharp-angled with a serene calm, combined with his height of nearly one meter eighty, made him the very image of a dreamy ice-castle prince in any girl’s imagination. Behind him stood another man—a solid, strong-looking figure of similar age—taller than Li Huashan by half a head. His arms were heavily muscled, and on his left arm flowed a fierce green dragon tattoo; along his right arm, a vivid, wild tiger curled in majestic pride. The sheer presence of these two seemed to command respect and even instill a sense of awe from the very moment one saw them. "Things have developed beyond expectation," Li Huashan said coldly, never once smiling. "You mentioned you were planning to begin tomorrow—why are you so anxious? Does it seem like the situation is about to escalate?" Zhou Quan had always felt uneasy around his cousin—he was used to waiting patiently under pressure. Now, with Lu Yun in danger and needing urgent assistance, he pushed forward despite his discomfort: "It wasn’t me personally involved—it was a close friend of mine who’s now being held at the police station. Could you do something to free him?" Li Huashan replied coldly: "Zhou Quan, haven’t you forgotten why your father sent you here to this remote village in the first place? And more importantly—what we in this line of work loathe most is any interaction with law enforcement. You should know that well." "I do," Zhou Quan said earnestly, “but I can’t simply watch him being detained and ignored! Uncle Li, I’m begging you—Lu Yun is one of my closest friends on campus. Just yesterday, if not for his efforts to defend me during a fight, I might have ended up badly beaten myself. I’m truly asking you now!" Li Huashan sighed: "You have the audacity to say that? You’re barely able to hold your own against several young students—what will your father think when he hears about this? Will he be so upset he’ll fall ill?" "I know—I just wish they’d taught me how to fight!" Zhou Quan exclaimed, deeply exasperated. "It’s as if my very identity has been erased by these rough kids!" Li Huashan nodded gently: "Your uncle truly meant well—only wanting you to live a life that was more ordinary and less entangled in conflict. But he may not have anticipated how deeply you’ve grown into someone who values the very challenges he once hoped to avoid." Zhou Quan stared at him, his expression filled with admiration—the boy who had been so fresh-faced just one month ago now seemed transformed. Li Huashan could hardly believe that such a sudden maturity had emerged in such a short span of time. ... Update complete! 054: Village Beauty – 054 Li Huashan (Updated!)