191: It's hard to convince yourself.

"Young Master Chen! Young Master Chen! Calm down! Calm down!"

Li Hao finally awoke from his shock, his soul nearly flying out of him. He dashed forward, squeezing himself between Chen Ruiyu and Lin Yao, spreading his arms like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

His face was plastered with a smile uglier than a cry as he repeatedly bowed to Chen Ruiyu.

"Young Master Chen, you are a magnanimous person! Don't stoop to her level!"

"Yao Yao… she… she's happy today and drank too much! Yes, she drank too much and is talking nonsense!"

As Li Hao spoke, he frantically winked at Lin Yao, looking so anxious he was almost on his knees.

He turned his head, lowered his voice, and pleaded with Lin Yao.

"Yao Yao! My dear aunt! Apologize to Young Master Chen quickly! Do you know what his family does? If we offend him, none of us will have a good outcome!"

However, Lin Yao just looked at him calmly, not saying a word.

That calmness sent a chill down Li Hao's spine.

Chen Ruiyu was in no mood to listen to him and shoved Li Hao, making him stumble.

"Get lost! Is this your place to speak?"

He glared intensely at Lin Yao, who was behind Li Hao, his eyes practically spitting fire with venom.

He had come today to feel superior, to enjoy everyone's awe, but instead, in front of so many people, he was told to 'get lost' by a 'schoolgirl' in his eyes.

How could he tolerate this?

"Good, very good!" Chen Ruiyu laughed in extreme anger. He pointed at Lin Yao, his finger trembling slightly from the force.

"A Mythical-grade profession really makes you unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth!"

His laughter was sharp and grating.

"You think you're so amazing? You're just like your crazy brother, who chose 288-star; both of you are mentally ill lunatics!"

"Useless!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the temperature in the private room seemed to drop to freezing point.

Before, it was just a personal grudge, but now he had dragged Lin Yu into it as well.

Chen Ruiyu's anger had completely taken over. He took a step forward, almost pressing himself against Lin Yao, and in a tone of utmost contempt and malice, he lowered his voice.

"Do you believe that with just one phone call, I can make sure you, and your crazy brother, can't even touch the gates of the College Entrance Examination?"

"Mythical-grade? Top Scholar? I'll make sure you don't even have the qualifications to take the exam!"

This was no longer a simple verbal dispute, but a blatant threat using power!

The students present were all as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to even breathe loudly.

For the first time, they clearly felt how terrifying power and background could be.

Just then.

Lin Yao, who had been sitting still, finally made a new move.

She slowly stood up.

This simple action, however, made the air in the entire private room solidify.

Li Hao's heart pounded in his throat. He instinctively wanted to rush forward and stop her again, but his legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead.

On one side was status, on the other… was aura.

Yes, from the moment Lin Yao stood up, her aura changed.

It's over.

Completely over.

This thought frantically swirled in his mind.

In his opinion, there were only two possibilities for Lin Yao standing up.

Either she had reached her limit and was preparing to act.

The consequences would be unimaginable! Even a Mythical-grade professional, no matter how young, still held significant value. But Chen Ruiyu's family background was even more influential! If it really came to blows, regardless of who won or lost, Lin Yao would definitely not come out ahead! The power of Tianhong Precision Manufacturing could easily deal with a student who had not yet reached Growth.

Or, she had finally succumbed to the pressure and was preparing to soften and apologize.

But looking at her aura, one could even say she wanted to tear Chen Ruiyu apart directly.

Everyone held their breath.

Chen Ruiyu's face, twisted with anger, showed a momentary look of bewilderment as Lin Yao stood up, which then turned into an even more cruel and mocking sneer.

"What? Want to fight?"

Instead of retreating, he stepped even closer, almost pressing against Lin Yao.

"Come on! Try to touch me!"

"I guarantee, tomorrow, no, tonight! You and your useless brother will disappear from this world!"

He was extremely arrogant.

Because he was certain Lin Yao wouldn't dare.

This world, after all, was a world of power. A student with only talent was nothing in front of a second-generation like him, who held substantial resources and connections.

He savored this feeling of controlling everything, enjoying the undisguised fear on the faces of the surrounding classmates.

However.

Lin Yao's subsequent reaction, once again, exceeded everyone's expectations.

The conflicted expression on her face became even more obvious.

Everyone thought she was in an internal struggle, weighing the pros and cons, agonizing between humiliation and reality.

Li Hao immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Still conflicted, huh… It seems I was wrong.

He had even prepared to immediately rush forward and smooth things over as soon as Lin Yao opened her mouth to apologize, to gloss over the matter.

But Lin Yao just let out a soft sigh.

The sigh was very light, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

There was no fear, no unwillingness, not even anger in it.

Only a kind of… pure, heartfelt… disdain.

Yes, disdain.

As if the Chen Ruiyu, who had put her in such a difficult position, wasn't some powerful figure with vast connections, but rather a piece of chewing gum stuck to the sole of her shoe, impossible to shake off.

"To convince myself to take action against someone like you…"

Lin Yao finally spoke. She didn't even look Chen Ruiyu in the eye, only looked down at the table, her clear eyes carrying an indescribable arrogance.

"…it's truly difficult."

The implication was that even touching him would dirty her hands.

This disdain was so intense that she needed to undergo a difficult psychological preparation herself.

"…"

The entire private room was deathly silent.

If the previous "Get lost" was a bomb, then this current statement was a spiritual kinetic weapon, precisely and destructively obliterating Chen Ruiyu's pathetic self-esteem, leaving not even a speck behind.

The muscles on Li Hao's face completely froze.

The short-haired girl's chopsticks fell to the floor.

Zhang Wei, who was playing dead on the sofa, couldn't help but secretly open a slit in his eyes.

Their brains were completely unable to process everything that was happening before them.

What an extreme level of contempt this was!

This was no longer a question of courage; this was… this was completely not treating Chen Ruiyu as an opponent of the same caliber!

"You… you…"

Chen Ruiyu's body trembled violently, not from fear, but from unprecedented rage and humiliation.

His mind was blank; all his rationality had been burned to ashes by fury.