Jingcheng’s Central Villa District was home to several different villa communities.

Yan Feifan looked out the car window, nodding frequently. He was looking at the two and three-story villas, each with a unique design. Some sat on the shores of a lake, while others were nestled among landscaped trees.

Yu Suye reminded him, "Feifan, it’s summer now, so the scenery is quite nice."

"But come winter, you should see it..."

"Everything is bare, the wind is strong, it’s cold, and the air is full of sand and dust. Add a bit of smog from time to time, and you’ll have a completely different experience."

Yan Ziruo suddenly asked, "Su Ye, how much is a villa here per square meter?"

Yu Suye replied softly, "The prices for these villas vary quite a bit, depending on the community’s location, as well as the renovation and design. They can range from twenty or thirty thousand to over a hundred thousand per square meter."

"The Lu Family’s villa is currently on the market for around one hundred and twenty thousand per square meter, and it’s over five hundred square meters in size."

Yan Ziruo exclaimed, "Whoa, that’s over sixty million! Tsk tsk, they’re seriously rich."

Yu Suye chuckled. "That amount of money is nothing to the Lu Family. Their company, Kaiyuan Biopharmaceuticals, has a market value in the tens of billions."

"They also own several properties in bustling parts of the city that are worth over a hundred million each."

Yan Ziruo asked boisterously, "Do they have a courtyard house?"

"I’ve heard that the truly wealthy people in Jingcheng own a courtyard house, and it has to have at least two or three courtyards."

Yu Suye said uncertainly, "That... I’m really not sure if the Lu Family has a courtyard house."

"Maybe they do..."

As they continued their idle chatter, the car finally came to a stop in front of a small yard belonging to a Chinese-style villa.

The yard was nearly a hundred square meters, enclosed by an iron fence and planted with ornamental flowers, trees, and wisteria.

As soon as Yan Feifan got out of the car, he heard low, guttural growls.

He followed the sound with his eyes.

Inside the iron fence, he saw two sturdy-looking black dogs, about half a meter tall at the shoulder, baring their teeth and letting out threatening low growls at him.

Yu Suye explained, "Feifan, those are the Lu Family’s pit bulls. I’ve heard they’re extremely vicious—the kind that won’t let go once they bite until they’ve torn off a piece of flesh."

This piqued Yan Feifan’s interest.

He placed both hands on the iron fence, put on a ferocious expression, and locked eyes with the two dogs in the yard.

"Feifan, what are you doing?" Yu Suye asked, a little curious.

Without turning his head, Yan Feifan replied, "I heard that dogs are particularly sensitive. They can sense a person’s killing intent and don’t dare to bare their teeth at a butcher."

"I want to see if they can sense my killing intent."

Yu Suye couldn’t help but laugh. "Feifan, don’t be so childish. You’re a doctor. You save people, you don’t kill them."

She walked to the back of the car and, together with Yan Ziruo, took out the flowers, fruit basket, and nutritional supplements from the trunk.

Carrying the gifts, they walked to the iron gate of the fence, only to see the two pit bulls tuck their tails between their legs and run into the villa.

"Whoa, you actually scared them off?"

Yu Suye was a little surprised, then couldn’t help but add, "I’ve been here once before, and Lu Yao told me."

"These two dogs are both vicious and smart. Any stranger who enters without someone they know will be fiercely attacked."

As she said this, Yu Suye pressed the doorbell on the iron gate.

Yan Feifan said with a hint of pride, "I guess the scent of blood on me is a bit too strong. It must have scared them."

Just then, a woman in her forties wearing an apron came out of the villa and walked over quickly.

"This is Mrs. Zhang, the housekeeper the Lu Family hired."

Yu Suye introduced her in a low voice, then asked Mrs. Zhang, "Mrs. Zhang, we’re here to visit Lu Yao."

"Is he in?"

"Yes, yes..."

Mrs. Zhang replied a few times as she opened the iron gate. "Dr. Yu, and you two, please come in!"

Yan Feifan and the others followed Mrs. Zhang through the small yard and into the villa.

In the refreshingly and elegantly decorated living room stood a graceful woman with perfectly coiffed white hair, dressed in loose, casual clothes.

A pit bull nestled against her on each side.

Seeing the woman, Yu Suye took a few steps forward, set down the items in her hands, and bowed slightly. "Mrs. Lu, hello!"

She then gestured to the Yan siblings beside her and introduced them. "This is Dr. Yan Feifan from Binhai, and this is his older sister, Yan Ziruo."

"We’ve come to visit Lu Yao and to thank him."

The stern-faced Mrs. Lu nodded at Yu Suye, acknowledging her greeting.

While Yu Suye was making the introductions, Mrs. Lu directed most of her scrutinizing gaze toward Yan Feifan.

"Mr. Yan, my Lu Yao has mentioned you quite a bit lately."

Mrs. Lu glanced at Yu Suye again and said in a mild tone, "For Dr. Yu to give up on my Lu Yao, it seems you must be quite outstanding, Mr. Yan."

After a pause, she continued, "As for what happened yesterday morning, that was something my Lu Yao ought to have done. You don’t need to take it to heart."

Mrs. Lu then looked at Mrs. Zhang, who was standing to the side, and instructed, "Mrs. Zhang, go get Lu Yao and bring him down."

Mrs. Zhang acknowledged and quickly turned to go upstairs.

Next, Mrs. Lu began stroking the pit bulls beside her, ignoring Yu Suye and the Yan siblings.

Since their host hadn’t offered them a seat, they had no choice but to remain standing.

Yan Feifan could more or less understand Mrs. Lu’s cold, even dismissive, attitude.

After all, he had come to their door with Yu Suye, which carried a subtle undertone of flaunting their relationship.

A moment later, they heard the THUMP THUMP of footsteps and turned to see Lu Yao coming down the stairs.

"Su Ye, you’re here!"

Lu Yao’s eyes lit up, and he walked straight over, oblivious to anyone else.

At that moment, Mrs. Lu let out a cold snort and said in a stern voice, "Apologize for what you did yesterday."

Having reached them, Lu Yao quickly stood up straight, faced the Yan siblings, and bowed slightly. "You two, I’m sorry."

"Yesterday, when Yan Feifan made a kind introduction, I had a moment of foolishness and blurted out something inappropriate."

"I absolutely didn’t mean to offend you. Please forgive me."

Facing his sister’s questioning gaze, Yan Feifan felt the urge to strangle that bastard Lu Yao.

Yan Feifan suppressed his anger, forced a slight smile, and said vaguely, "It was a small matter. An apology isn’t necessary."

"I was also being inconsiderate and acting on a whim."

He then looked at Lu Yao’s bandaged right hand and asked with concern, "How’s your hand?"

"Do you want me to take a look at it?"

Lu Yao seemed to sense that Yan Feifan’s so-called "look" was not well-intentioned and quickly replied, "It’s fine. My hand is fine."

"The doctor said the wound was treated and sutured very well."

Since their hosts were cold, Yan Feifan didn’t want to stay any longer either.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the Yan siblings and Yu Suye left their gifts and departed.

As soon as they were back in the car, Yan Ziruo asked impatiently, "Feifan, what was that apology from Lu Yao all about?"

"And why was he apologizing to me?"

Frustrated, Yan Feifan had no choice but to briefly explain what had happened the day before.

"I’m not even good enough to be a second-best option?" Yan Ziruo ground her teeth.

Yan Feifan grew a little scared and quickly covered his head, bracing for impact.

"Sis, the Lu Family doesn’t think much of me either, actually."

This piqued Yan Ziruo’s curiosity. She asked, "They don’t approve of you? But didn’t your two families already give their consent?"

Seeing that Yan Ziruo’s attention had been successfully diverted, Yu Suye quickly explained, "It was only because Lu Yao insisted that they had no choice but to agree."

"A family of the Lu Family’s status has strict standards for choosing a daughter-in-law."

"It mainly comes down to two aspects: her personal qualities and her family’s substance!"

Yu Suye elaborated, "Personal qualities include things like the woman’s education, figure, appearance, temperament, social skills, and so on."

"As for substance, that mainly refers to the woman’s family background. They check three generations back."

Yan Ziruo seemed to understand. "Su Ye, with my parents’ situation, that would definitely be a deal-breaker, right?"

Yu Suye gave an awkward smile and said carefully, "The educational background, financial status, and reputation of the parents and grandparents all have to meet a certain standard."

"In cases like losing a father or mother at a young age, divorce, or coming from a single-parent family, they believe children raised in such environments have certain character flaws."

Seeing Yan Ziruo’s expression darken, Yu Suye changed the subject again. "They believe that so-called socialites cultivated by a single generation are phony and can’t hold up when faced with a major crisis."

"Only a family that has been well-educated for at least three generations, and with a respectable financial standing, can produce a daughter-in-law with the substance to run the household." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"In my case, I lose points mainly because of my family..."

Just then, Yu Suye noticed the car had stopped.

Liu Jiang’s voice followed. "Someone’s blocking our car..."