Chapter 308 Childhood Sweethearts
Lu Yuwu was so startled that she turned her head sharply, and Fu Yan's lips brushed against her cheek.
"You bastard!" Lu Yuwu was both ashamed and angry, and kicked the leg of the stool he was sitting on hard.
Fu Yan was completely unprepared for her move, lost his balance, and fell to the ground in a sorry state, chair and all.
Just then, the wind chimes at the entrance of the coffee shop rang crisply, accompanied by a few familiar calls.
"Little Mist?"
"Disgusted?"
"What...what are you doing?"
Shang Wu, Madam Fu, and Lu You, who had come along to join in the fun, stood by the booth, watching the scene before them in astonishment.
Fu Yan sat on the ground, the stool leaning to one side, while Lu Yuwu stood there angrily, her cheeks flushed.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
The next second, Fu Yan on the ground and Lu Yuwu standing seemed to instantly activate some kind of disguise mode.
Fu Yan stood up nonchalantly, patted her clothes, her movements elegant and composed, and a gentle smile appeared on her face: "Mom, Aunt Shang, Auntie. It's nothing, I just slipped and fell because I wasn't sitting properly on the stool."
He looked at Lu Yuwu, his tone concerned and natural, "I was just asking Xiaowu if she's had any trouble adjusting since she just arrived at school. I'm going to accompany her to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities later."
Lu Yuwu felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, but facing the three elders, especially her mother's thoughtful gaze, she could only force a sweet smile and say in a soft voice, "Thank you, Brother Fu Yan, you're so kind."
Seeing this, Madam Fu smiled with satisfaction: "That's right. You two grew up together, so it's only natural that you take care of each other."
Shang Wu's gaze swept between the two, and she understood what was going on with her daughter's stiff smile and Fu Yan's overly perfect performance.
She smiled slightly, deliberately stepped forward, and asked softly, "Really? But I saw you two standing so close from a distance just now, as if you were whispering something? The atmosphere... seemed a bit off?"
Lu Yuwu's heart jumped into her throat, and Fu Yan's smile froze almost imperceptibly.
Lu Yuwu's internal alarm bells were ringing, but she immediately switched to a coquettish mode. She sidled up to Shang Wu, hugged her mother's arm, and gently shook it, her voice soft and sweet: "Mom~ look at you, you're overthinking it! Fu Yan and I were just... just discussing which supermarket near the school has the most stuff! It's close by because he just fell, and I instinctively tried to help him, but I couldn't catch him..."
As she spoke, she secretly glared at Fu Yan, signaling him to cooperate.
Fu Yan immediately understood, a flawless apologetic smile on his face: "Yes, Aunt Shang, I wasn't sitting properly and startled Xiao Wu. We really didn't argue." His tone was sincere, his gaze open, as if he wasn't the one who had almost forcibly kissed her and fallen to the ground in a disheveled state.
Lu You tried to smooth things over, saying, "Oh, it's normal for young people to bicker. Sis, don't interrogate them. I think Yan Yan and Xiao Wu get along very well."
Madam Fu nodded with a smile: "That's right, the two children know their place."
Shang Wu was skeptical, but looking at her daughter's "innocent and harmless" eyes and Fu Yan's steady and reliable appearance, and with Lu You and Madam Fu having spoken up, she didn't press the matter further. She simply tapped her daughter's forehead lightly: "You silly girl, so clumsy. Alright, since we've run into each other, let's sit down together."
The afternoon tea that followed seemed to be in a harmonious and pleasant atmosphere. Lu Yuwu played the role of a well-behaved and sensible little sister throughout, while Fu Yan was a polite and considerate older brother next door.
Only they knew that under the table, undercurrents were surging. Lu Yuwu's feet "accidentally" stepped on Fu Yan's shiny leather shoes several times, while Fu Yan "unintentionally" pinched her wrist hard with his fingertips when handing her snacks.
After finally getting through the afternoon tea, Madam Fu instructed Fu Yan: "Yan Yan, take Xiao Wu back to school. She's a girl and has a lot of stuff."
Fu Yan readily agreed: "Okay, Mom."
Lu Yuwu inwardly refused a thousand times, but in front of her elders, she could only obediently nod: "Thank you, Brother Fu Yan."
The two walked out of the coffee shop one after the other, the feigned harmony from just moments before instantly crumbling. Lu Yuwu, like a wilted eggplant, walked ahead listlessly, wishing she could stay as far away from Fu Yan as possible.
As soon as she arrived at the school gate, Lu Yuwu turned around immediately and said in a stiff tone, "We're here. Thank you for bringing me. Goodbye." Then she tried to rush inside.
"Lu Yuwu." Fu Yan called out to her, his voice low.
Lu Yuwu turned around impatiently: "What now?"
Fu Yan looked at her, the afterglow of the setting sun gilding his body with a layer of gold, but it could not soften his tense expression.
He was silent for a few seconds, as if he had made up his mind, and then said, "I'll give you one last chance. If we make up now, I can pretend you never said those things before, and that you never dumped me."
This was his biggest concession, a bowing of his head that Young Master Fu Yan had never shown before.
Lu Yuwu scoffed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world, her beautiful eyes filled with mockery: "Fu Yan, are you alright? Do you need me to help you remember? It was me, Lu Yuwu. I got tired of you and dumped you! What are you doing now? Begging to get back together? Don't make me despise you even more."
Fu Yan's face instantly darkened, and he clenched his fists, trying to explain, "Lu Yuwu, be reasonable! Jin Ting just..."
"Stop!" Lu Yuwu interrupted him rudely, her face full of impatience. "I have no interest in your 'sisters and lovers'! Fu Yan, how come I never realized you were so annoying before? Stop being such a simp, it's beneath you!"
"Simp?" Fu Yan repeated the two words, his eyes turning completely cold, as if frozen. He stared intently at Lu Yuwu for several seconds, then said nothing, turned and strode away, his back view resolute and icy.
Watching him disappear around the street corner, Lu Yuwu's shoulders, which she had been holding together, slumped. A strange emptiness filled her heart, but it was quickly replaced by an inexplicable restlessness. She shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about it, and quickly walked into the campus.
Fu Yan returned to his dorm, his face so gloomy it could drip water. His friend and roommate, Zhou Zixuan, was playing a game. Seeing him return, he casually asked, "Hey, Young Master Fu, how's it going? Did you manage to win back our Miss Lu?"
Fu Yan tossed the key onto the table with a crisp sound, his voice devoid of any warmth: "From today onwards, I will never speak a single word to her again."
Zhou Zixuan peeked out from behind the computer screen, saw his unpleasant expression, and wisely refrained from asking any further questions.
Meanwhile, in Lu Yuwu's dormitory.
During a video call with her mother Shang Wu that evening, Lu Yuwu tried her best to appear normal, chattering about her dormitory environment and new roommates, without mentioning her conflict with Fu Yan that afternoon.
After hanging up the video call, Shang Wu leaned against the headboard and said to Lu Rang, who was reading a book, "It's a bit strange, isn't it? Fu Yan used to always say he wanted to apply to aviation university and become a pilot, right? How come he ended up in the finance department?"
Lu Rang put down his book and pushed up his glasses: "The Fu family's business is so large, someone has to take it over. Don't forget, his uncle Fu Mingyuan has never married and has no children. In the future, Xingyao Group will most likely be handed over to Fu Yan. Studying finance and managing the company is his responsibility."
Shang Wu sighed, her tone somewhat wistful: "Speaking of Fu Mingyuan... sigh, he and Lu You almost got together back then, but unfortunately Lu You ultimately chose Cheng Zhou. Fu Mingyuan is also stubborn; after all these years, he still hasn't found a suitable person by his side."
Lu Rang put his arm around his wife's shoulder: "You can't force feelings. Just like our daughter and Fu Yan, they seem awkward to each other, but they have to work things out on their own."
Shang Wu nodded, nestled in her husband's arms, and said no more.
The next day, at the university cafeteria.
Lu Yuwu and Luoluo were carrying their trays when they spotted Fu Yan sitting by the window, eating with Zhou Zixuan. He was wearing a simple white T-shirt, and the sunlight streaming through the window shone on him, highlighting his perfect profile. Several girls around them were secretly glancing at him.
Lu Yuwu immediately looked away, pretending not to have seen anything, and pulled Luo Luo in the opposite direction.
Perhaps because she was distracted, or perhaps because the cafeteria floor was too slippery, Lu Yuwu accidentally bumped her elbow on a girl's bag on a chair next to her when she turned around.
With a "thud," a limited-edition designer handbag that looked expensive fell to the ground, leaving a noticeable scratch on the clasp when it hit the ground.
"Ah! My bag!" the girl exclaimed, immediately picking it up. Upon seeing the scratches, her face instantly turned pale.
Lu Yuwu's heart sank, and she quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I'll pay for the scratches. How much do you want?"
The girl examined the scratches carefully, her heart aching more and more as she looked at them. Her tone became sharp: "Compensation? You make it sound so easy! This is a limited edition, you can't buy it anymore! Even if you repair it, there will still be traces! You have to pay me three times the original price!"
"Three times?" Lu Yuwu was stunned; this was clearly extortion.
Although she came from a wealthy family, she wasn't one to be ripped off. "Excuse me, I damaged your bag, so compensation is the right thing to do, but three times the price is unreasonable. We can agree on the current price of similar models at the boutique, or have a professional agency assess and repair the costs..."
"Who's going to appraise it with you! I want three times the price! If you can't afford to pay, don't try to take advantage of me!" The girl persisted, her voice attracting the attention of many people around her.
Lu Yuwu frowned, trying to reason with them, but the other party's unreasonable behavior left her at a loss.
At the window, Fu Yan and Zhou Zixuan also noticed the commotion. Zhou Zixuan nudged Fu Yan with his elbow: "Hey, isn't that your 'I won't say another word' Miss Lu? Looks like she's in trouble."
Fu Yan paused for a moment, holding his chopsticks. He glanced over and saw Lu Yuwu being aggressively accused by the girl. His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and he instinctively wanted to stand up.
However, Lu Yuwu's heartless words from yesterday instantly echoed in my ears.
"You're such a simp, it's beneath you. Don't make me despise you even more."
He slowly sat back down, forcing himself to look away, and picked up a spoon to scoop a mouthful of rice into his mouth.
He told himself: Fu Yan, her affairs are none of your business anymore. Stop being delusional.
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