Unyielding and Paranoid

Lu Ruoxi's words were like a depth charge dropped into a still lake, sending shockwaves rippling outward.

Every pair of eyes in the room instantly turned toward Li Jinchuan.

Li Jinchuan's body stiffened, blood roaring in his ears as it rushed to his head.

He hadn’t expected Lu Ruoxi to declare war on him in this way, in this setting.

This wasn’t a question—it was an execution.

Before hundreds of students and faculty, before the world’s most elite scholars, and right in front of Qin Ya beside him.

She had laid a trap, one he knew was a trap but couldn’t refuse.

Su Yang studied Lu Ruoxi’s cool, composed profile, a strange mix of awe and unease rising in his chest.

Now he understood—this was her counterattack. Silent, yet thunderous.

Using her weapon, on her battlefield, she had publicly nailed her opponent to the pillory with unflinching precision.

Qin Ya removed her sunglasses, a cruel and amused smile playing at her lips as she watched Li Jinchuan with keen interest.

She wanted to see how he would handle this public humiliation.

Li Jinchuan took a deep breath and slowly rose to his feet.

He couldn’t retreat.

If he did, he would be worthless in Qin Ya’s eyes.

"That’s a very interesting question," he said, forcing calm into his voice, even managing a confident smile, as if being singled out was an honor.

He began to speak fluently, effortlessly.

Avoiding the core mathematical principles of the question, he wrapped his answer in financial jargon and market case studies—terms he knew well but which masked a fundamental misunderstanding.

He spoke quickly, smoothly.

The terms he cited grew increasingly sophisticated.

Some of the less discerning students even looked impressed.

But Lu Ruoxi simply listened in silence.

When he finished, she picked up the microphone again.

"Thank you for your answer," she said, her tone still devoid of inflection.

"But there are three fatal logical errors in your response."

One by one, Lu Ruoxi dismantled his argument.

With each point she made, Li Jinchuan’s face paled further.

Finally, she delivered her verdict with icy calm:

"Everything you’ve said is nothing more than a sandcastle—beautiful in appearance, but collapsing at the first touch of a wave."

She set the microphone down and took her seat.

The room was dead silent.

Then, Professor Malcolm began to clap.

The applause that followed was deafening.

Li Jinchuan remained standing, frozen, his face cycling through shades of gray before settling into ashen defeat.

He felt as though he’d been stripped naked and paraded before a jeering crowd.

Every clap was a merciless mockery of his ignorance and arrogance.

His gaze flicked to Lu Ruoxi.

The girl was already seated, quietly discussing something with Su Yang beside her.

She didn’t even glance his way again.

As if he were nothing more than a scrap of paper—covered in wrong answers—discarded into the wastebasket after she’d solved the problem.

A wave of humiliation and fury, unlike anything he’d ever felt, crashed over him.

He sat down slowly.

Qin Ya leaned in, her voice laced with amusement.

"That was brutal," she murmured, a hint of delight in her tone.

"She didn’t just beat you. She executed you in public."

Li Jinchuan said nothing, his fists clenched so tightly under the table his knuckles turned white.

"But…" Qin Ya’s tone shifted, excitement creeping in, "I liked the way you stood your ground. And I like the hatred in your eyes right now."

"I despise cowards more than I despise losers."

She stood, slipping her sunglasses back on.

"I’ll be waiting outside."

With that, she strode away, the sharp click of her heels fading as she left him alone in the now-empty lecture hall.

Li Jinchuan didn’t move until the last person had gone.

Then, slowly, he rose.

His eyes fixed on the podium, on the seat where Lu Ruoxi had sat.

The anger and resentment in his gaze had vanished.

In its place was something deeper, colder—obsessive.

He had thought he wanted her for revenge against Lu Chenyuan, for climbing the social ladder.

Now he understood.

He wanted her for conquest.

To erase every ounce of shame she had inflicted on him today.

He would make her pay for what she’d done.

He would strip away her icy composure, her pride, until she knelt willingly before him.

The thought took root in his mind like a black seed, feeding on his humiliation, growing wild and unchecked.

——

Elsewhere, Lu Ruoxi and Su Yang walked along the tree-lined path of the campus.

"You were incredible today," Su Yang said, genuine admiration in his voice.

"I just don’t like it when people pretend to know things they don’t," Lu Ruoxi replied, her tone indifferent.

To her, it really wasn’t a big deal.

Li Jinchuan had been nothing more than a glitching program—persistent, annoying.

She had simply debugged him.

Or, more accurately, formatted him.

"He won’t let this go," Su Yang warned.

"I know," Lu Ruoxi nodded. "But he won’t bother me like this again."

She had drawn her line.

If Li Jinchuan still wanted to play, he’d have to find another way—one she couldn’t dismantle with intellect alone.

Power, perhaps. Or money.

And that… was no longer her battlefield.

That was her brother’s domain.

"Let’s go back to the lab," she said, quickening her pace. "Last week’s model still needs parameter optimization."

Compared to the eternal truths of mathematics, Li Jinchuan was nothing more than a fleeting distraction.

——

Qin Ya’s car was parked just beyond the campus gates.

Li Jinchuan slid into the passenger seat.

"Figured out how to make your comeback yet?" Qin Ya asked, starting the engine without looking at him.

"I have," Li Jinchuan replied, his voice cold and steady.

"If I can’t beat her in the ivory tower, I’ll crush her brother in the real world."

"When Lu Chenyuan falls, the tower of money and power she hides in will crumble with him."

Qin Ya let out a delighted laugh.

"Good. I like this plan."

She pulled a black credit card from her handbag and tossed it to him.

"Five million, as promised."

"Get the company registered. I want to see ‘Qin New Energy’ on the signboard within a month."

Li Jinchuan took the card. It was light in his hand, yet heavy with implication.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"Don’t thank me," Qin Ya replied, eyes on the road, her red lips curling into an enigmatic smile.

"I just think this game just got a lot more interesting."

"Lu Ruoxi, Lu Chenyuan… I’m looking forward to seeing what surprises you two have in store."

Her expression was one of pure, chaotic anticipation.

Li Jinchuan watched the city blur past the window.

From this moment on, he was no longer the penniless outcast.

He had a new identity.

New leverage.

Qin New Energy.

This was Li Jinchuan's new beginning.