"Stop messing around!" Chen Lu's father said sternly. "I'll call Old Song right now, no! I'll go to his place personally to explain this matter. You two listen to your mother and go outside to lay low for a while. When Dad settles this, I'll let you come back."
At this moment, the groom, bride, and the groom's parents came over.
"Second brother, you can't go!" the groom's father said. "Haven't you heard how doting Old Song is on his child? That kid has already complained to his dad. If you go, will it end well for you?"
"I don't believe it! I'm a district-level cadre, dare he do anything to me?!" Chen Jianguo retorted defiantly, glaring angrily at the door. Of course, Song Wenzhi had already left.
"Alright, Uncle, Dad," Chen Lu said. "This is something we caused, and we'll take responsibility."
"You take responsibility? You take responsibility!" the groom's father poked Chen Lu's head. "Leave the provincial capital quickly! You've brought great trouble to our Chen family!"
After speaking, Chen Lang's father glared at me fiercely but said nothing.
I calmly observed the Chen family's anxious situation. Some other guests also came over to persuade Chen Jianguo not to be angry and urged me and Chen Lu to leave quickly. A few middle-aged men, who seemed to be influential, discussed going to the Song family together to mediate the matter for the Chen family.
Chen Lu and I couldn't resist their persuasion and urging, and we were forcefully driven out.
The fox spirit, seeing that things were not going well, had already slipped out and driven the car to the entrance. When did she learn to drive? In the last couple of days?
Chen Lu and I got into the car. Urged by Chen Lu's mother, we drove a certain distance away from their sight, parked in a spot, and then I smiled and asked Chen Lu, "How was my acting? How many points would you give me for acting with you?"
Chen Lu was slightly taken aback, her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
I pouted. "Old classmate, don't play dumb with me. How can I not know what you're thinking?"
"Oh?" Chen Lu asked with interest. "Then tell me, what am I thinking?"
"Everything that happened today was a setup you orchestrated. You wanted to ignite this powder keg and completely get rid of Song Wenzhi's harassment and the threat to your Chen family. In other words, you wanted to use me as a tool—or rather, use them—"
I gestured towards the fox spirit and the nine others, Yao Yao and the rest. "—to eradicate the Song family's influence in one fell swoop!"
"How did you figure that out?" Chen Lu raised an eyebrow. Judging by her expression, I had guessed quite accurately.
"Until Young Master Song was hit, I didn't see it. But when you waved the wine bottle in front of me, I finally understood," I said with a smile. "You were too obvious. If I hadn't helped you smash it, Young Master Song wouldn't have been able to leave this door even if he spoke!"
Chen Lu pursed her lips and smiled shyly. "You're still so smart! I'll tell you the truth, among the fifty-plus people in our department, I only fancied two people: Song Lei and you. I thought Song Lei was capable because we're from the same region, and because he's knowledgeable. As for you, it's just one thing: you're extremely intelligent! Sometimes I wonder why you became our classmate instead of going to Qingbei."
"Intelligence and academic performance are two different things," I waved my hand. "Don't rub salt in my wound. If I hadn't had diarrhea on the day of the college entrance exam, I might have reached the threshold of Qingbei. Alright, stop flattering me. Tell me, what's your plan next? What do you need us to do?"
The fox spirit interjected casually, "Go through fire and water, big brother!"
She must have watched a lot of human movies recently.
"Actually," Chen Lu said coyly, "it's not entirely that I want to use you. Do you know Song Wenzhi's background?"
"What background?" I asked.
"I heard from Kun Kun that a few days ago you encountered a group of demon hunters in Ben Xi, called... Mohe, right?"
I nodded. "Could it be that Song Wenzhi is related to the Mohe organization?"