After Xie Jinhua finished speaking, the surrounding crowd grew suspicious of Ye Feng. Could it be that Ye Feng really has a connection with Xu Ke?

But Ye Feng's expression quickly turned to contempt. "Offend you? What makes you think you're worthy of being offended by me? The Xie Family can run rampant in Sui City, but to act so arrogantly here in Tianhai… do you really think our Ye Family is a pushover? Never mind hitting him, even if that mutt Xu Ke were here, you wouldn't be qualified to lay a finger on him. Understand?"

Xie Jinhua's face fell. "Are you dead set on opposing me?"

Ye Feng sneered, "I suggest you wait patiently. If you cause any more trouble, I won't hesitate to act."

At his words, Xie Jinhua's complexion turned ashen. Is Ye Feng really determined to stick up for Qiu Mingli? He didn't dare say another word.

Meanwhile, Qiu Mingli's eyes were wide with disbelief. He had despaired when he first heard that Third Young Master Ye was the one sticking up for him. My savior is Xu Ke's enemy? I'm going to be in even worse trouble! He never expected Ye Feng to actually speak up for him.

Xu Ke, however, was speechless. This Ye Feng is so petty. I only screwed him over once. Does he really have to call me a mutt?

Hearing Ye Feng's declaration, the crowd suddenly understood. His meaning was clear. Xie Jinhua had beaten someone right in front of him in Tianhai and boasted that the Ye Family wouldn't dare to cross him. How could Ye Feng not be enraged by such a provocation?

At this point, who he was defending no longer mattered. What mattered was that if Ye Feng backed down now, he and the entire Ye Family would be the ones to lose face. This was Tianhai, and Xie Jinhua could not be allowed to run wild. This was Third Young Master Ye declaring his dominance in Tianhai before First Young Master Xie.

Only then did the bystanders realize that standing up for the janitor on the ground was merely a pretext. Even if it had been a dog being bullied by Xie Jinhua, Ye Feng would have stepped in to help.

***

Intimidated by Ye Feng's forceful stance, Xie Jinhua didn't dare utter another peep and left in a sulk. Before leaving, he shot a venomous glare at Qiu Mingli on the ground. If it hadn't been for Qiu Mingli, he wouldn't have been scared off by Ye Feng in front of so many people.

As for Qiu Mingli, he scrambled to his feet and thanked Ye Feng profusely. "Thank you! Thank you, Third Young Master Ye."

"Don't mention it." Ye Feng felt nothing in particular for Qiu Mingli, so his reaction was lukewarm. He immediately turned to leave with Xu Ke and Tang Yingchang.

Xu Ke fought the urge to show his concern and kept his eyes off Qiu Mingli.

Once they had walked to the side, Ye Feng asked, a playful smirk on his lips, "I helped you out. How are you going to thank me?" Secretly insulting Xu Ke in front of Xie Jinhua just now felt great.

"Then I'll say thank you," Xu Ke said blandly.

"That's it?" Ye Feng's expression froze.

"What else do you want? For me to wire you money?"

"You son of a…" Seeing Xu Ke's attitude, Ye Feng almost exploded with rage again.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not bothered, so why are you?" Xu Ke patted Ye Feng's shoulder reassuringly.

Ye Feng's eyes widened. "Of course you're not bothered!"

Ignoring him, Xu Ke's gaze shifted to Qiu Mingli, who was shouldering a water tank and heading toward the academic building. "I'm going to find my teacher. I'll leave things here to you."

"You…" Ye Feng wanted to stop him, but seeing Xu Ke's resolve, he could only wave his hand. "Make sure you stay hidden."

"Okay."

After Xu Ke left, only Tang Yingchang and Ye Feng remained.

"This guy… he really thinks he can just use me," Ye Feng muttered angrily, watching Xu Ke's retreating figure.

Tang Yingchang couldn't help but chuckle. "Third Young Master Ye, Mister Xu will remember your kindness."

"Right, he'll remember. In my next life, maybe," Ye Feng said irritably.

***

Once out of sight, Xu Ke slipped into the academic building. When Qiu Mingli returned to the storeroom, Xu Ke immediately followed him inside and locked the door.

CLICK.

"Who are you?" Qiu Mingli spun around, terrified to see the door being shut by an unknown person. He assumed Xie Jinhua had sent someone to beat him up.

But when he got a closer look, he froze. "You… you're Third Young Master Ye's bodyguard?" Qiu Mingli recognized him at once.

"It's me, Teacher!" Xu Ke said, taking a deep breath.

In his panic, Qiu Mingli hadn't recognized him. But as he calmed down and took a closer look, the familiar voice made everything click.

"Xu, Xu Ke?!" Qiu Mingli exclaimed.

"It's me," Xu Ke confirmed with a nod.

A complex look crossed Qiu Mingli's face. "You… what are you doing here? Did you see everything?" He had endured so much precisely for Xu Ke's sake, only for Xu Ke to witness the entire thing.

"I saw everything." Xu Ke's expression turned cold. "What exactly is going on? Didn't Tianhai University bring you back to be a counselor? Why are they making you do this…?" He looked around at the shabby storeroom and its musty smell, his face filled with anger. This is infinitely worse than being the mailroom supervisor…

"This-this is temporary. I'm just helping with some cleaning," Qiu Mingli said, avoiding his gaze.

"Stop lying to me," Xu Ke interrupted. "Teacher, tell me the truth."

Staring into Xu Ke's eyes, Qiu Mingli sighed after a long moment. "They did promise to let me return as a counselor, but they said there were no positions available and that they'd arrange something else for me."

Xu Ke's gaze turned skeptical. "So they had you start cleaning?"

"N-no, that wasn't the original plan," Qiu Mingli shook his head. "But after Shan Lan was punished, her sister Shan Juan—who is also Xie Jinhua's mother—had my post swapped to get revenge on her behalf."

He quickly added, "So, in the end, it's just Shan Lan causing trouble for me. But she's locked up now, so let's just drop the matter."

A chill flashed across Xu Ke's face. Drop the matter? Absolutely not!

"So, the main culprit is the Xie Family?" Xu Ke asked.

Qiu Mingli stiffened before giving a vague nod. "Mm…"

In truth, Qiu Mingli was hiding a great deal. For instance, from the very beginning, no one at Tianhai University had told him he'd be a counselor; he was brought back simply to atone for Xu Ke's actions. Furthermore, within the university, it wasn't just the Xie Family pulling strings, but the Ye Family as well. Ye Yunfeng was a visiting professor and one of Tianhai's overlords. To curry favor with him, the university administration would naturally go to great lengths to target those close to Xu Ke. Qiu Mingli had inevitably been caught in the crossfire.

But Qiu Mingli didn't want Xu Ke to pick a fight with Tianhai University, nor did he want to escalate the conflict with the Ye Family. His only choice was to shift all the blame onto Shan Lan.

"Teacher, I'm sorry. This is all my fault," Xu Ke said, closing his eyes with a sigh. If I hadn't gone after Shan Lan, he wouldn't be in such a miserable state.