It was the plain truth.

Once the deal with Pan Dajun was completely settled, regardless of how one looked at it, Pan Shaohang was firmly established as Han Lie's 'great-nephew.' During holidays and festivals, Han Lie would undoubtedly have to give him a large red envelope. Isn't this relationship rock-solid?

Han Lie's words were not meant to be prickly; he never intended to engage in any verbal disputes with the young ones.

However, when Chen Yanfei obediently sat down following his pacification, it truly caught many people off guard.

All the girls widened their eyes, their mouths slightly agape, looking at each other in disbelief.

As for the boys, they all threw sideways glances at Han Lie. Some were simply shocked and curious, while others practically had fire shooting from their eyes.

In Dream City, Chen Yanfei was a goddess of the highest caliber, the most coveted individual on the marriage market.

There might be other women as beautiful, or even more so, than her.

But when you factored in family background, personality, intelligence, conduct, and other aspects, she was in a class of her own, far surpassing everyone else.

In the past, this campus belle had focused on her studies, rejecting all romantic advances. So, while many wished to pursue her, very few actually dared to make a move.

Even with Pan Shaohang's stubborn recklessness, he only began to present himself as her protector after they both enrolled in the same university. This just went to show how much Chen Yanfei's self-control and modesty deterred potential suitors.

But… what on earth was happening now?!

The room suddenly became incredibly quiet, so much so that a few heavy breaths were clearly audible.

Liao Miaochen wasn't agitated. He had long known that with his level of education and personality, he stood almost no chance, so he had never harbored any such fantasies. He was merely annoyed. Wen Yu and District Director Zheng, however, were genuinely consumed by envy.

As the people who knew Han Lie best, their thoughts could be summed up in two words: Why him?

A worthless loser! Why should he be the one to take a beating, get some plastic surgery, and then have all the good things fall into his lap?

Is having a surgically-enhanced face something to brag about?!

Damn it!

When people get desperate, they tend to lose their reason and fly into a rage.

District Director Zheng immediately dropped all pretense and began to openly mock Han Lie in front of everyone.

"Brother Liao, it's perfectly normal that you don't recognize Han Lie!

This classmate of mine, you see, used to be dirt poor, ugly, and sleazy. In school, he was more obscure than the most obscure student; half of his own class couldn't even remember his name. How could you possibly know him?"

"Oh?" Liao Miaochen asked, his interest piqued, playing along. "Isn't that an exaggeration? Brother Han looks quite handsome, doesn't he?"

"Why else would I say he got lucky?" District Director Zheng laughed heartily, sneering at Han Lie as he launched into a full-frontal attack.

"Everyone knows Young Master Pan got into trouble and had to come back to repeat a year, right? Well, the person involved in that incident was none other than this classmate of mine.

Back then, our Brother Lie was beaten like a dog by Young Master Pan on the train, just short of whimpering. Then, Young Master Pan's family compensated Brother Lie with 880,000 yuan. And what do you know? Brother Lie immediately perked up!

He used the money to get his teeth fixed, then went under the knife a few times for his face, and instantly became as handsome as Takeshi Kaneshiro!

Not long after, he hooked up with some rich girl from school—who knows how ugly or desperate she was—and she treated him incredibly well!

Look at his outfit now! Ha! All dapper and looking so respectable!"

"Really?!"

"So that's what happened…"

"Holy cow! I'd heard our school had a real character, so it was him?!"

"How boring. Turns out he's just a 'changed-face freak'..."

Like a single stone stirring up a thousand ripples, District Director Zheng's rapid-fire exposé instantly ignited everyone's emotions.

The crowd began to scrutinize Han Lie with peculiar expressions.

Several girls who had initially been interested in Han Lie because of his appearance now showed disappointment, even disdain.

And just then, Wen Yu chimed in at the perfect moment.

"Han Lie, you already have a girlfriend. Isn't it inappropriate for you to be all over Chen Yanfei like this?

We all know you're not short of money now; you even splurged 480,000 yuan on seafood just for New Year's.

However, even though you've become handsome and wealthy, your character needs to keep up. Don't think you can just do whatever you want. If you run into powerful figures who aren't impressed by money and won't tolerate that act, you could easily face another setback…"

Hmph, this bastard is the insidious type, isn't he? Using such elegant words.

Han Lie listened, a smile playing on his lips. Far from being angry, he found it rather amusing, a delightful sense of entertainment washing over him.

But Chen Yanfei couldn't bear it any longer. She knew these were all vicious rumors.

She had practically watched Han Lie grow taller bit by bit. Although his looks had changed quite a bit, he genuinely hadn't had time for any surgery; at most, he'd had some dental work done.

To hear Han Lie slandered like this felt like needles pricking her heart.

However, just as she was about to slam the table and rise in protest, the rhythmic TAP-TAP-TAP of footsteps echoed from outside the hall, accompanied by a frivolous voice that sounded all too familiar.

"How are all my brothers and sisters doing? This young master is finally free!"

***

I'm out of the hospital. Don't worry, I'll adjust gradually. Thank you for the concern, my brothers and sisters.