Chapter 301: Heroic Minds Think Alike

"Waiting for someone?" Zu An was stunned. "Who are you waiting for?"

"Xie Xiu," Shang Liuyu slowly enunciated a name.

"Xie Xiu?" Zu An paused, then quickly realized. "So the beautiful Headmistress also arranged for Xie Xiu to come along. She's truly far-sighted; with him there, the process of taking over the Plum Blossom Gang will be much smoother."

Although Xie Xiu was a bit of a slacker, he was still the City Lord's eldest son. With him present, many official matters would be much easier to handle.

Shang Liuyu shook her head. "It's not Luo Fu who arranged for Xie Xiu to go; you need to invite him."

"Me? Invite him?" Zu An was dumbfounded.

"Exactly," Shang Liuyu said with a slight smile. "It wouldn't do for outsiders to know that the school took 7.5 million taels from you, and certainly not the Xie family. So you'll have to be the one to approach him. I'll just pretend to be helping you then."

Zu An was speechless.

She was truly cunning. The beautiful Headmistress, with her penchant for black stockings, seemed to have a heart as dark as her attire. She truly didn't miss any opportunity to use him.

"Is this difficult for you?" Shang Liuyu asked considerately.

"No problem," Zu An shook his head. Honestly, Jiang Luofu had already been good enough to him. Anyway, the IOU for 7.5 million taels was just a piece of paper in his hands, so he might as well fulfill her request. At least Jiang Luofu's reciprocation had been substantial.

"Let's go find Xie Xiu." Almost instantly, Zu An had analyzed the pros and cons.

Shang Liuyu naturally had no objections and followed him towards the Heavenly Class. Several times, she was curious about the relationship between him and Zheng Dan. But Zu An deflected her questions with jokes and playful remarks. Seeing that he didn't want to talk about it, Shang Liuyu smiled slightly and didn't press him further.

The two arrived at the Heavenly Class. Zu An called Xie Xiu out, taking the opportunity to observe that Chu Chuyan evidently rarely came to school. As for Zheng Dan, she clearly hadn't returned to class either; it was unclear where she had gone.

"Two... teachers, what do you need me for?" Xie Xiu asked after coming out. It was really hard for him to utter the word "teacher." After all, looking at Zu An's punchable face, calling him "teacher" felt truly against his will. Yet, of all things, the other party had called him out of class using the pretense of being a teacher. As for the teacher who was conducting the class, upon seeing Shang Liuyu, he was overjoyed and paid no mind to anything else.

Shang Liuyu smiled slightly. "It's not me who needs you; it's Zu... Teacher Zu who needs you." *Why does it feel so awkward for me to call him 'teacher' too?*

Xie Xiu could only look at Zu An with a bitter expression. "Zu... Zu..."

Zu An laughed heartily and put an arm around his shoulder. "Let's drop the formalities among ourselves. When we're not in public, there's no need to call me 'teacher.' Just call me 'A'Zu' from now on."

Xie Xiu gave an awkward laugh. "A'Zu, what do you need me for?"

Zu An replied, "You witnessed me win 7.5 million taels from the Plum Blossom Gang last time, didn't you? At the time, Mei Chaofeng wrote me an IOU, but now that he's dead, he naturally can't pay it back. I have no choice but to mortgage his assets. I need some help with that, which is why I came to you."

"Me?" Xie Xiu was always only interested in women, and he usually had little enthusiasm for serious matters. Moreover, this was no trivial affair. Just as he was about to politely decline, he suddenly saw Shang Liuyu standing nearby and couldn't help but wonder, "Teacher Shang, why are you with him?"

Zu An said, "Of course, she's coming to help me collect the debt."

Xie Xiu's eyes widened instantly. "Brother Zu, you truly are remarkable! Teacher Shang has always been aloof, known for ignoring worldly affairs, yet you managed to convince her."

Zu An laughed heartily. "Oh, you flatter me. I'm just that popular."

Xie Xiu was speechless.

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed. After all, even if he didn't give face to Zu An, he still had to give face to Shang Liuyu. Such a gentle and beautiful female teacher like Shang Liuyu was liked by every male student in the entire school, unless they weren't truly men. Although Xie Xiu didn't have overly passionate thoughts about her, accompanying such a great beauty was still quite a pleasant experience. As for helping Zu An, that was merely a side benefit.

"Haha, thank you then." Zu An cupped his hands. He couldn't be bothered with Xie Xiu's true motivation, as long as the task was completed in the end.

Next, the group headed out of the school. Of course, as they left, they were joined by a small team—these were the professionals Jiang Luofu had dispatched to truly liquidate and take over the Plum Blossom Gang's assets. After all, she knew Shang Liuyu's temperament. Convincing her to come along was already a great concession; asking her to handle these trivial matters would likely cause her to turn hostile.

Along the way, Xie Xiu pulled out all the stops, constantly trying to strike up a conversation with Shang Liuyu. Although he adhered to the principle of not abandoning the entire forest for one tree, Shang Liuyu was simply too beautiful a 'tree', causing his resolve to waver. So, he couldn't help but talk to her on the way, even deploying the tried-and-true tricks he used to charm young ladies in their boudoirs. Unfortunately, Shang Liuyu remained polite but uninterested in her responses throughout.

Noticing her attitude, Xie Xiu, being no ordinary person, no longer insisted, and shifted his attention to Zu An. "Brother Zu, I truly admire you more and more."

"Admire me for what?" Zu An replied subconsciously, still recalling his recent interactions with Zheng Dan.

"How exactly did you manage to persuade Teacher Shang? And before that, you also charmed Qiu Honglei from the Divine Immortal Pavilion. Once could be a coincidence, but several times in a row definitely indicates a reason." Xie Xiu looked at him expectantly.

Zu An wagged a finger. "You're mistaken."

"What's mistaken?" Xie Xiu asked curiously.

"I missed out on some important people, for example, I also 'handled' Chu Chuyan," Zu An said with a smug expression. This 'handling' was truly a 360-degree, flawless success, so of course he was smug.

Xie Xiu was speechless. *Brother, I know you're impressive, but do you have to rub it in like that?*

At this point, Zu An muttered to himself, "There's nothing for it; when a man is too exceptional, he just has these kinds of worries."

Xie Xiu was speechless.

From a distance, Shang Liuyu, who had originally pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation, was also speechless.

After a long while, Xie Xiu finally recovered from his dejection. "By the way, A'Zu, how did you compose that 'Xiao Ao Jiang Hu' piece last time?"

Zu An gave a wry smile. "I've already told you it wasn't me who made it."

"A'Zu, you're too humble," Xie Xiu remarked.

Zu An was also dejected. *Why did no one ever believe him when he told the truth?* He could only say, "Brother Xie, are you also interested in music?"

"To be honest, I'm not interested in the least," Xie Xiu chuckled. "The only reason I learned this stuff was to impress girls."

Zu An was startled and immediately grabbed his hand. "Buddy, we clearly see eye to eye!"

Shang Liuyu was speechless.

"Since Brother Xie isn't interested in music, why did you ask about it? If you want to use it to impress girls, feel free to take it. No need to be polite between brothers," Zu An said nonchalantly.

"It's not exactly for impressing girls," Xie Xiu said with a wry smile. "It's just that my sister is interested in this piece and has a lot of questions for you." Mid-sentence, he suddenly froze. Zu An had just said that learning music was for impressing girls, and now he was bringing his sister into it? Wasn't he just leading a lamb to the slaughter?

Fortunately, Shang Liuyu spoke up at that moment, conveniently diffusing the awkwardness. "A'Zu, today I also heard some things about the 'Xiao Ao Jiang Hu' piece. Didn't you say last time that you only knew 'Hometown Original Scenery'?"