Chapter 23
When Lu Jiyu and Zhou Zifang stepped into the milk tea shop, they immediately saw Xu Junfeng and Lin Liwei standing in front of the order counter.
Zhou Zifang cursed, "It's bad luck!" Then he noticed Li Mu, whose face was twitching non-stop. "What's wrong with your face? Did your grandma give you a stroke?"
"You are the one who had a stroke." Li Mu wondered how this man had no tact at all. Didn't he know that when enemies meet, they will be particularly jealous of each other.
"Hey, why are you swearing?" Zhou Zifang touched Lu Jiyu's hand. Lu Jiyu was scanning the QR code on his phone to place an order. He raised his eyebrows and looked at him sideways: "Want a drink?"
Zhou Zifang approached enthusiastically: "Are you treating me?"
Lu Jiyu retracted his gaze and kept his distance from him: "Just asking casually, don't take it seriously."
The two of them sang back and forth beautifully, confusing Li Mu, who had just been anxious. What was going on? Did these two people lose their memory or something?
Lin Liwei was the first to lose his balance. He took a few steps forward, cleared his throat pretentiously, and said, "School Prince, it's been a few years since we last met, and you don't even recognize me, old classmates?"
Lu Jiyu didn't raise his head lazily until he finished choosing the milk tea, but he was not looking at Lin Liwei, but at the gentle boy with glasses following behind him. His eyes were distant and cold, with a bit of condescending attitude that he rarely showed.
Zhou Zifang took a look at his expression at this time. Although Lu Jiyu was not the amiable type, he rarely acted in front of others, so people often forgot that he was actually a proud and arrogant young master.
Zhou Zifang's smile disappeared completely. He stared at Xu Junfeng with a sullen expression and said sarcastically, "You're doing pretty well now."
Xu Junfeng said nothing and lowered his head in silence.
He'd grown a few centimeters taller than in junior high, but he was still the same quiet, quiet, and gentle boy he'd always been. His personality wasn't particularly compatible with Lu Jiyu's. The two of them finally warmed up because one day, while out of school, Lu Jiyu happened to see Xu Junfeng being blackmailed by a group of school thugs. He wasn't usually one to meddle in other people's business, but Xu Junfeng happened to be his deskmate. When he arrived at school on the first day of school, there was a black stain on his desk, a dark stain of unknown origin.
Lu Jiyu was a bit of a germaphobe, and he had been in such a hurry that day that he hadn't brought any tissues with him. At that very moment, his new, unfamiliar deskmate pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, dipped it in water, and silently wiped the table for him.
So it was a courtesy for Lu Jiyu to deal with those blackmailing thugs for him.
Later, the two became friends who could talk to each other.
But Lu Jiyu didn't expect that everything was planned by Xu Junfeng. He thought that if he put his mind to studying, he wouldn't be so bad at the bottom of the exams.
But Lu Jiyu never felt melancholy; he was best at accepting defeat. Lu Lin was right; he always had a certain inexplicable softness in his heart. He knew being soft-hearted would put him at a disadvantage, but he had no intention of changing. And why should he? The world was changing, and life was only a few short decades long. He only had so much sincerity and determination in his life; he couldn't let it all be extinguished by a few bad people.
After Zhou Zifang got the milk tea, the three of them were about to go out. Seeing this, Lin Liwei strode forward and blocked their way.
Li Mu's heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his voice unconsciously: "What? You want to fight?"
Seeing Lin Liwei's clingy look, Lu Jiyu's eyes were quite calm. "What's the matter?"
As soon as he asked, Lin Liwei seemed to have finally caught the opportunity to humiliate him: "Lu Jiyu, I heard that you wanted to marry the daughter of the Yaojin International family but failed?"
"You always act so arrogant, I thought you were some high-class beauty, but it turns out you're just a jerk looking for a woman's leg."
Lu Jiyu didn't know where he heard the news from. Even the game of pass the flower couldn't pass it as fast as he did. However, he had no time or interest to argue with him. He took a sip of milk tea and didn't even bother to look at him.
"Are you done? Can you give way now?"
He is such a polite person. Even if he is blocked by a dog while walking on the road, Lu Jiyu will patiently squat down and talk to the person and the dog.
However, comparing Lin Liwei to a dog is an insult to the dog.
In fact, Lin Liwei had long known that Lu Jiyu was an invulnerable person. He had particularly disliked this guy since junior high school. He had tried to deal with him several times but failed. In the end, he found Xu Junfeng, a seemingly innocent guy, to set a trap for Lu Jiyu behind his back.
But he didn't care at all. He was still the center of attention, always full of energy. Lin Liwei hated his expression, but he couldn't do anything about it. Later, when he heard that Lu Jiyu hadn't done well on the high school entrance exam, he was so happy that he spent the whole night drinking at the bar.
But not long after that, I heard that he was transferred to No. 3 Middle School, and was doing very well there.
Even Xu Junfeng asked him why he hated Lu Jiyu so much.
Lin Liwei just sneered at the time and said, "I just can't stand the look of this pretty boy. So what? Do you need a reason to hate someone?"
He thought about it later.
It's necessary.
During the parents' meeting for the first semester midterm exam, Lin Liwei's mother, who had disappeared for several years, suddenly appeared, her maternal instincts igniting the school's parent-teacher conference for him. However, Lin Liwei's dismal grades nearly caused his mother to walk out on the scene. Later, the class broadcast a live speech by an outstanding student, and Lu Jiyu was the speaker.
On the way home from the meeting, Lin Liwei's mother suddenly asked him, "Don't you think that outstanding student in your school looks a bit like you? Why are your grades so different?" After saying this, Lin Liwei's mother disappeared again.
Lin Liwei simply dyed his hair yellow, smoked, drank, ate when he was hungry, and got punished by the school when he was full. He also cursed Lu Jiyu behind his back.
He never understood the look his mother gave him when she said that, but then he understood. It was the same look people give pirated copies. He was a good person, yet somehow he became a counterfeit. Whose fault was that? It had to be the original.
"Lu Jiyu, I'm telling you, stop being so arrogant. One day you'll be in big trouble!" Lin Liwei gritted his teeth and looked at him viciously.
Lu Jiyu had always known that there were many people who loved him, but there were definitely many who hated him. However, those who hated him to the point of relentless despair like Lin Liwei were rare.
"Do you hate me for making your life better these years?" He stood up straight and almost for the first time looked seriously at Lin Liwei, a boy who looked somewhat similar to him.
Lu Jiyu wasn't completely clueless about Lin Liwei's hatred for him, but while soft-hearted, he wasn't so chaste as to try to change him. Appearance and talent might be a gift from heaven, but choosing kindness and self-reconciliation is a personal journey. Those who hate you don't hate you for climbing high and looking far, but for not falling down and sharing their fall and struggle.
"If so, just keep going."
Lu Jiyu tilted his head and paused, his eyelids half drooping, and said in a cold voice: "Because I don't care at all."
After Jiang Wan sent Chen Meiyun off to cram school, she remembered that her mother's birthday was tonight and she hadn't bought a cake yet. She had no choice but to turn back to the Financial Building. When she passed the milk tea shop on the first floor, she glanced inside aimlessly and unexpectedly saw Lu Jiyu.
Standing next to him was Zhou Zifang, and behind him was a boy she didn't recognize. The boy standing in front of Lu Jiyu looked unhappy, and the atmosphere was a bit tense. Jiang Wan was hesitating whether to go in and say hello to him, when the next second the boy standing opposite suddenly grabbed Lu Jiyu's collar. Zhou Zifang was about to rush over, but Lu Jiyu raised his hand to block him halfway.
Although it looked like he was trying to stop a fight, Lu Jiyu looked calm and composed, as if he had the upper hand in the world. To be honest, it made people even angrier.
Sure enough, the next second, the man said something to Lu Jiyu with a red neck. Lu Jiyu still didn't react. He was so angry that he threw Lu Jiyu's collar off and turned to rush out. As luck would have it, Jiang Wan was standing at the door. When the man rushed out, she didn't have time to completely avoid him. He hit her shoulder and she fell to the door. Fortunately, a boy who looked gentle behind him helped her up and Jiang Wan didn't fall.
"I'm sorry, my friend didn't mean it." Xu Junfeng withdrew his hand and explained in a low voice.
"It's okay." Jiang Wan smiled at the other person politely. Before he could put away his smile, he looked up and unexpectedly met a pair of cold eyes.
She was stunned by what she saw.
There was a hint of emotion in Lu Jiyu's eyes as he looked at her. How could she describe it? It felt like being cheated on. But she had also heard Chen Meiyun gossip about Lu Jiyu's love history before. This guy, with such a handsome face, had never been involved in any scandals. Chen Meiyun said that his method of rejecting people was particularly decisive. As for how decisive it was -
Lu Jiyu had lived partly in legend since junior high. He had many friends, but few close ones. Most were just passing acquaintances, and he was quite adept at these superficial relationships, maintaining a good reputation at school. But because he was so mysterious and aloof, people couldn't help but spin their own stories about him. All sorts of wild rumors were spread, but he never denied or acknowledged them.
There was only one thing he claimed—
"Do you know something?" Zhou Zifang and Li Mu were flanking Jiang Wan like bodyguards, each looking at her like a giant panda. Only Lu Jiyu, for some inexplicable reason, was playing it cool, trailing behind them not far behind.
Jiang Wan lowered his head and took a sip of the milk tea Zhou Zi put in his mouth. He shook his head, too lazy to think: "I don't know."
"A girl went online and called Lu Jiyu a gold digger."
Even though a handsome guy like Lu Jiyu might not seem easy to get along with, girls who are interested in him still flock to add him on WeChat. It's okay to just casually send him a few words, but the most frightening thing is when some people keep pestering him and demand a reason.
Lu Jiyu was quite direct, offering a price of 5,000 to anyone who wanted to add him on WeChat. Zhou Zifang was lucky enough to witness the entire process of the girl's face turning from red to white, and then green.
Although this method was not very kind, it was surprisingly useful and saved Lu Jiyu a lot of trouble.
"But there must be someone willing to pay five thousand, right?" Jiang Wan didn't really think that Lu Jiyu's face was worth five thousand, but he felt that there were too many rich people nowadays, so it was no problem to just casually pay five thousand.
"More than that, there are quite a few."
"Then he must be making a lot of money, right?" Jiang Wan felt an inexplicable surge of jealousy. They were both known for their beautiful faces, so why was he able to make so much money while she could only be harassed into writing love letters? It wasn't fair.
"Of course not, actually—"
"You're making up stories about me right in front of me." Jiang Wan didn't have time to turn around before she felt someone tap her head. She glanced back at Lu Jiyu and gave him a sincere look: "I didn't, your friend insisted on telling me."
Zhou Zifang: ...
Li Mu: Very good.
Lu Jiyu had already walked around to her and said casually, "Didn't she just say she wanted to wash her hands?" He then glanced at Li Mu and said, "I'll accompany her to the bathroom first. You guys go up first."
Zhou Zifang: Okay, okay. You can do anything as long as you don’t sleep with her.
…
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
