Chapter 001: The Overbearing Emperor of Wu

  Wuzhong's early summer is the most beautiful season of this Silk Road city all year round. Having just bid farewell to the boisterous sandstorms that raged through spring, the scorching heat of midsummer has yet to arrive. Here, there is bright sunshine, clear breezes, and a hint of subtle fragrance wafting in the air. At this time, Wuzhong's residents are either out on excursions, taking leisurely strolls, or gathering with friends to appreciate the scenery, thoroughly enjoying their carefree lives.

  In Wuyi University, this century-old prestigious school, the early summer season is actually the most vibrant time of the year. At this time every year, it's the last stage of campus life for the new graduates who are about to enter society. Some people are busy attending various job fairs, while others are busy participating in farewell dinners. In the eyes of these graduates, their student career is about to become a thing of the past, and they are filled with anticipation, worry, and fear towards the society they are about to enter.

  It's almost noon, and students who have class haven't finished yet. Those who don't have class or are skipping class are already rushing to the cafeteria to line up for lunch. There aren't many people on campus. Even the basketball court, which is usually packed with people, only has seven or eight people gathered together at this time. However, outside the basketball court, by the iron fence, a crowd of students has gathered to watch the commotion, chattering and discussing something among themselves.

  Is a fierce basketball game going on in the stadium? It doesn't seem like it, as several people are gathered together in a circle. Which basketball game is played this way?

  "Boss, why bother talking to this kind of person? With just one word from you, the brothers can take care of him directly." The young man called "boss" was absolutely a typical handsome guy, with a height of 1.8 meters, and his physique was even more impressive in his black cheongsam suit. His fair skin and Korean-style haircut made him look even more sunny and handsome. Hearing what the brother next to him said, he didn't make a sound, but instead turned his head to glance at the beautiful woman holding his arm.

  "Chen Chao, don't be in a hurry, I haven't even heard him apologize to me yet, what's the point of taking action first? It won't be meaningful if we fight and then hear the apology afterwards. Right, Lu Yan?" The beautiful woman shook her arm that was being held, saying with a bit of a spoiled tone.

  "Chen Chao, let him apologize to Man Qing." A man named Lu Yan said calmly to the little fatty who had just called him "old big".

  "Did you hear that? The boss is asking you to apologize." Chen Chao was holding onto a boy's neck, and upon hearing Lu Yan speak, he kicked the boy in the foot.

  "Brother Yan, Sister Manqing, I was wrong. It's all because of my stinky mouth, I don't know how to control myself. From now on, I won't dare to speak recklessly again." The boy was obviously intimidated by the people in front of him, and his tone of voice trembled slightly.

  "It's too late now that I know I was wrong, why did you come so early!" Chen Chao said and kicked the boy again, "Brothers, help me beat him up, let him remember this lesson well."

  A group of boys standing nearby rushed over and started punching and kicking, while the onlookers outside the classroom were making even more noise.

  "Look, it's Lu Yan and the others. I don't know which unlucky guy didn't see them coming and provoked these four devils again. Offending Lu Yan is not going to end well for him." At this time, two female students happened to be passing by the basketball court, one of whom was wearing an orange sports suit said.

  "Chen Yu, who is Lu Yan? So arrogant?" asked a girl in a white dress next to her. The girl was Lin Xiaojun, the department flower of Wucheng University's mathematics department, and Chen Yu, the girl who had just spoken, was Lin Xiaojun's high school classmate and a senior at Wucheng University's journalism department.

  "Xiao Yun, you don't even recognize Lu Yan? He's the undisputed number one handsome guy in our school, the tallest and most handsome among that group of people." The girl named Chen Yu pointed at Lu Yan, her eyes shining with a light similar to infatuation.

  "What's the use of being handsome if you're just a useless pretty face, only good at bullying classmates with your gang?" Lin Xiaorou's tone revealed a hint of disdain.

  "Xiao Yun, you don't know this, but Lu Yan is not only handsome, his grades are also very good, always one of the top three in class. He's also the president of our department's student union, sings well and plays basketball great, not a stinky egghead like you said."

  "You're such a silly girl, I think you've fallen for him. Love is blind, so everything about him looks good to you, huh?" Lin Xiaoyun teased, looking at Chen Yu's lovesick expression.

  "Hey, Xiaoyun, don't say that anymore. I really have a crush on him, but he's so excellent and has never even looked at me. Look at the beautiful woman holding his arm, our school's flower Feng Manqing from the journalism department. She's the one who's truly a perfect match for him." Chen Yu said, pointing at Lu Yan again.

  "I think you're hopeless, everyone else has a partner but you still have feelings for him, just give up on that thought, I'll take care of you instead." Lin Xiaojun said with a smile.

  "I wouldn't dare, if you accept me, who knows how many handsome guys in Wu Da would want to kill me in their dreams." Chen Yu said, scratching Lin Xiaoqun's armpits, the two girls burst into laughter.

  Lu Yan, of course, did not know that Lin Xiao Yun and Chen Yu were just discussing him. Just as Chen Yu and Lin Xiao Yun were laughing and joking around, Chen Chao and several others had already stopped playing and were following Lu Yan and Feng Man Qing out of the basketball court. The classmate who had offended Feng Man Qing earlier was lying flat on his back in the middle of the basketball court, with dirt all over his body and face, looking like he had just rolled around in a pile of soil.

  "Chen Chao, be more gentle with your moves later on. You're getting more and more ruthless, be careful not to hurt someone badly." Lu Yan said as he walked away.

  "Brother Yan, don't worry, I have my own measure. That little brat speaks ill of your wife behind her back, if we don't give him a hard time, everyone will think we're easy to bully, and it'll also tarnish your reputation as the great Brother Yan." Chen Chao said.

  Listening to Chen Chao's words, Lu Yan slightly furrowed his brow, wanting to say something but not saying it, he quickened his pace and led Chen Chao and the others towards the cafeteria.

  Lu Yan didn't particularly like the nickname "Wu Da Xiao Ba Wang", but it wasn't just Chen Chao who called him that, almost all of the senior students at Wu Cheng University knew about his nickname, except for a few people like Lin Xiao Jun who didn't usually pay attention to such things.

  Lu Yan is a senior graduate of the School of Journalism at Wucheng University. He was admitted to Wucheng University with a high score of 67 points, exceeding the first-class admission line in Xizhou Province. During his four years in college, he had excellent academic performance and was also a key player on the school basketball team. He even won a prize in the top ten singers' competition on campus. In the university campus, Lu Yan is naturally a prince charming in the eyes of countless girls. However, Lu Yan is not a playboy. During his college years, he only had one girlfriend, Feng Manqing, and never had any rumors with other girls.

  Lu Yan is not only in good physical condition, but his family also has a strong background. Lu Yan's father, Lu Xiaodong, is a standing committee member of the Wuzhou City Committee and secretary-general of the city committee; his mother, Xia Qiu, is the deputy director of Wuzhou TV Station and was once the leading female anchor of Wuzhou TV Station. Lu Yan also has a godfather, who is Zhang Guojing, the current secretary of the Wuzhou City Committee. When Zhang Guojing was still vice-county magistrate of Fengxi County, Lu Xiaodong had just become Zhang's secretary and accompanied him all the way from vice-county magistrate to county magistrate, county party committee secretary, then to deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, mayor, and finally municipal party committee secretary. Last year, Lu Xiaodong was also promoted from permanent deputy minister of the Organization Department to secretary-general of the Wuzhou City Committee.

  At the beginning, Lu Xiaodong asked his son not to casually show off his family situation. No one in the department knew that Lu Yan had such a strong family background. In the second semester of freshman year, Lu Yan and several students from the physical education department got into an argument over a game of basketball. The other side called over a group of thugs who wanted to teach Lu Yan a lesson. After a big fight, no one gained the upper hand, and the police were called in to handle the situation. The leader of the thugs seemed familiar with the team captain, and just as he was about to approach him to try to make friends by offering cigarettes, the captain slapped him across the face: "You dare to hit Director Lu's son? Don't you know your own weight?" The thug was immediately left stunned.

  Now everyone in the department knew that Lu Yan was a second-generation official, and some clever classmates also started to make small moves. Later, even the school leaders who met Lu Yan were exceptionally polite. Although Wucheng University is a 985 university and a deputy ministerial-level university, on this piece of land in Wucheng, the city party secretary and the municipal party committee secretary-general are also very influential.

  Chen Chao and his gang recognized Lu Yan as the leader at that time. Lu Yan's personality did not like to bully the weak, but Chen Chao and others were different. They took advantage of Lu Yan's name to dominate and bully their classmates. As a result, in the eyes of most students who did not know the truth, Lu Yan, the leader, was definitely more despicable than Chen Chao. So the title "Wu Xiao Small Overlord" fell on Lu Yan's head.

  The cafeteria wasn't far away, just a few steps and they arrived. Chen Chao and the others were still discussing today's fight behind them. Lu Yan saw that there were more people around the cafeteria, and was about to speak up to tell them not to talk anymore when he suddenly heard the sound of his phone ringing from his pants pocket.