Chapter 16
Lu Mingxiao understood that the "kid" Liang Jing was talking about was probably not the same age group as the kid he was talking about, but it was only natural to like cute and pretty things. Otherwise, why wouldn't he want to pinch Li Rui's face or touch Li Rui's head when they were clearly boys of the same age and gender?
Obviously, it's because Li Rui is really...
"Brother Xiao...you're so generous! How much did you earn this week?" Li Rui sat at a small table at the barbecue stall, munching on skewers with both hands, his cheeks bulging. As he chewed vigorously, he gazed at Lu Mingxiao with bright, admiring eyes: "Brother Xiao, why don't I have your brains?"
Lu Mingxiao: ...
He didn't want to be so harsh on his childhood friend, but the brat's eating habits were just too appalling.
Looking at Jiang Huaiyu, he was slowly and methodically eating the fried instant noodles on his plate. His long, thick eyelashes were lowered, as if eating noodles was a very important matter. Noticing that Lu Mingxiao was watching him, he looked up at him, a sesame seed stuck to the corner of his pale lips, and tilted his head in slight confusion.
Why are you staring at me?
Lu Mingxiao handed him a tissue: "You have sesame seeds on your mouth."
He then stepped on Li Rui's foot under the table again: "Could you not gnaw on those bones so cleanly? Leave some meat for Tiger."
"Brother Xiao, why are you treating me differently?" Li Rui burped. "I was punished during my lunch break this week by copying the wrong questions from the monthly exam, so I couldn't help you deliver things. It'll be fine next week, I'll help you next week!"
The thought of squeezing Li Rui into the small garage and having him lie on the clean mattress made Lu Mingxiao feel uneasy. Before he could even process why, the words of refusal had already slipped out: "Grandma recently burned her hand. Aren't you going to get food from the cafeteria and then bring it back?"
"Oh right, right!" Li Rui slapped his forehead: "I was punished by copying these past two days, and I'm so grateful that Aunt Qing made an extra meal every morning. Well, sorry, Brother Xiao, I'm afraid I won't be able to..."
"Don't be shy." Lu Mingxiao handed him another skewer of baked flatbread, smiling kindly. "Grandma is more important."
Li Rui looked at Jiang Huaiyu: "Brother Yu, I feel like something's not quite right. What do you think?"
Jiang Huaiyu nodded in agreement while biting into a meat skewer: "Grandma is indeed more important."
Today is Saturday, and we're having this barbecue to celebrate Lu Mingxiao's first week of profit of 850 yuan, which far exceeded Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu's expectations. However, Lu Mingxiao knows very well that mobile vendors will appear near the school next week, and profits will drop significantly. But he only wanted to earn some pocket money anyway, so he doesn't care about that.
Li Rui had to go home first because she had to take care of her grandmother. Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao ate for a while longer before the "victory celebration" ended. Lu Mingxiao sent a message to Li Qing and, after learning that she hadn't gotten off work yet, decided to bring some barbecue skewers back to cook dinner for Li Qing and Lu Chuan, so that Li Qing wouldn't have to cook when she got home.
Jiang Huaiyu stayed at the barbecue stall to wait for the chef to grill skewers, while Lu Mingxiao went to the fruit shop across the street to buy fruit for Grandma Li, as they were going to visit her later.
The weather has been getting cooler since the start of the school term, but even so, the daytime temperature is still 29 degrees Celsius. It gets much cooler after the sun goes down, and the barbecue stalls are doing a great job. The area is bustling with people coming and going.
Jiang Huaiyu still remembers the first time he sat here, he found it hard to bear the noisy environment and greasy smell. But only a few months later, he has gotten used to the smoky atmosphere and can sit calmly in the midst of the smoke and fire, responding to the greetings from his "friends" at the high-end banquet.
"Huaiyu, I heard you transferred schools. Did you go to England or the United States? Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Last time, my family held a birthday party for me, and we originally wanted to invite you and Uncle Song, but you weren't there, and we didn't want to bother Uncle Song. It was really a pity."
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
This classmate's family business has a partnership with the Jiang family, but this way of speaking is far too blatant and direct. He thought for a long time but couldn't recall having such a tactless person among his friends.
Of course, secrets don't stay hidden forever. The fact that Jiang Huaiyu wasn't the Jiang family's biological child eventually spread to some extent. There were quite a few "friends" on WeChat trying to find out what was going on, and Jiang Huaiyu blocked them one by one.
He sat there waiting for the dinner he was going to bring home for his mother, while idly cleaning up the "fake friends" in his WeChat list. The owner of the barbecue stall was stir-frying sea snails, stirring spices over a high flame. Jiang Huaiyu was attracted by the rising flames for a moment and briefly looked up.
In those few seconds, he saw a tall, thin figure standing behind the falling flames, his gaze like an empty, dry well, staring straight at him through thick glasses.
Jiang Huaiyu was stunned until Lu Mingxiao crossed the road and gently patted his shoulder, which brought him back to his senses.
"What are you looking at?"
Lu Mingxiao peeked out, but the man had already blended into the crowd. He was carrying a brightly colored fruit basket, which was a bit old-fashioned, but it was the kind of festive color scheme that older people would like.
"I think I saw Fu Yucheng." Jiang Huaiyu frowned slightly. "Is that his name?"
Hearing this, Lu Mingxiao got goosebumps all over his arms: "Jiang Xiaobao, are you sure you saw him again? Is he crazy? Is he following you again?"
Jiang Huaiyu shook his head. He and Lu Mingxiao crossed the road together, passing through the bustling night market. As they walked, the sounds of people gradually faded away, and the warm sunset stretched their shadows long.
Jiang Huaiyu said, "I don't think he meant any harm. His eyes... looked very desperate, it's hard to describe, like he was pleading or begging for help."
"What? Are you asking me to give him back first place?" Lu Mingxiao frowned slightly. "Isn't this kind of thing all about skill? There's always someone better than you. Even if you let him have his way for a while, does that mean everyone stronger than him should let him have his way forever? He can't be number one forever..."
A short notification sound from WeChat interrupted Lu Mingxiao's words. Jiang Huaiyu took out her phone and saw a new message in her friend request list.
The verification information is:
Hello, could you please not be number one in the exam?
The other person's WeChat name was a capital "F", and their profile picture was a deep black background.
...
"Jiang Xiaobao, this is a very serious matter." Lu Mingxiao sat cross-legged on Jiang Huaiyu's bed, his handsome brows and eyes full of solemnity: "From now on, you are not allowed to walk home alone after school. You must wait for me, understand?"
"Hmm~" Jiang Huaiyu sat at the small desk doing her homework, "But you were kept after school tonight because you failed the vocabulary quiz. I waited for you for half an hour, and the express delivery station was closed. I couldn't get out the snacks I bought for Hu Zi."
"It's gained almost ten pounds, and you're still buying it snacks? Be careful it doesn't get old age diseases!" Lu Mingxiao, with his long arms and legs, climbed up to Jiang Huaiyu's side: "No, don't change the subject. Don't you think Fu Yucheng is acting abnormally? Can't you be a little more vigilant, young master?"
Jiang Huaiyu pressed the button on the ballpoint pen, the simple little machine making a "click" sound. He rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment, "Okay, then you should study your vocabulary properly, and don't make me late for school next time. I can consider waiting for you."
"Alright, alright..." Lu Mingxiao sighed deeply, "I'll do whatever Teacher Jiang says."
...
Lu Mingxiao is the kind of person who has a great memory and is very smart. Once such a person gets serious, he can memorize words very quickly. Sure enough, he was no longer kept after school by the English teacher to write as punishment, and he was even praised by name several times.
Recently, however, he received a game request from "Big-Eared Strange-Wowing Donkey". Every night, he has to spend a lot of time doing the game's daily tasks for "Strange-Wowing Donkey". If he doesn't finish his homework, he copies Jiang Huaiyu's. Jiang Huaiyu strongly opposes this behavior. He won't lend his homework to Lu Mingxiao to copy. As a result, Lu Mingxiao, who didn't finish his homework the next day, handed in a blank paper and was punished by standing for a class period.
Jiang Huaiyu got angry, and when Lu Mingxiao was kept after school to do his homework, he simply slung his backpack over his shoulder and left.
Lu Mingxiao was anxiously scratching his head as he watched Jiang Huaiyu's slender back from the classroom on the second floor. In particular, he saw Fu Yucheng also walk out of the school gate. He picked up his schoolbag and wanted to chase after him, but was stopped by the math teacher.
The math teacher's short, stubby fingers were practically poking into his mouth as he yelled at him, "So what if you improved by eighteen points? You still failed! Do you think you can skip homework just because you've made a little progress?! We're from the same family, how come you're so much worse than Jiang Huaiyu?!"
Lu Mingxiao took a deep breath and pleaded softly, "Teacher, it was wrong of me not to do my homework, but I have an emergency at home. I will definitely make up for it when I get back..."
"What's the rush? In such a hurry to get to an internet cafe?" The math teacher, hands on hips, said, "I've seen plenty of students like you; you never tell the truth..."
Lu Mingxiao simply lifted his long leg and went around to catch up with Jiang Huaiyu, who had left first.
He rode his bike home quickly, searched the area thoroughly, and asked Lu Chuan again.
"Dad, is Jiang Xiaoyu back?" To avoid worrying Lu Chuan, he added, "If he's not back, he's probably at the warehouse. He mentioned it to me at noon, but I don't remember clearly."
Lu Chuan said, "Xiao Bao probably went to the warehouse; he hasn't come back."
Lu Mingxiao hurriedly left again, riding his bicycle along the way home once more. The bicycle sped past the alleyway after alleyway. The familiar figure flashed by in his peripheral vision, but he quickly caught sight of it. He braked sharply, returned to the alley, and met Jiang Huaiyu's gaze as she was about to walk out of the alley.
"Jiang Xiaoyu!" Lu Mingxiao threw his bicycle aside and strode into the alley.
Jiang Huaiyu, unaware of what was going on, carried a shopping bag and watched Lu Mingxiao walk over with a gloomy face.
"How could you be so quick..." Before he could finish speaking, Lu Mingxiao grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the alley. The hand holding his wrist was still warm and dry, but it was squeezing hard, making his wrist hurt a little.
The school wasn't far away, and Lu Mingxiao made the whole round trip. He was both anxious and scared while riding, and his entire back was soaked with sweat. Jiang Huaiyu followed him and slowly realized why he was in such a hurry and angry. Her tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and a faint smile appeared in her eyes.
Lu Mingxiao was too busy sulking to say a word to Jiang Huaiyu. The two of them rode their bicycles all the way home without exchanging a single word. Jiang Huaiyu hesitated several times before swallowing her words when she saw Lu Mingxiao's tightly pursed lips.
Lu Mingxiao didn't see the packaging bag Jiang Huaiyu had put in the bicycle basket. As soon as he got home, he ignored even the whining Tiger and went straight to his bedroom.
Jiang Huaiyu patted Huzi and muttered softly, "He's got quite a temper..."
Tiger chimed in, "Awoo~"
Jiang Huaiyu continued to rub Hu Zi's pointed ears: "Do you think I should coax him?"
Tiger wagged his tail: "Woof!"
Jiang Huaiyu: "Then let's try to appease her."
He opened a jar for Tiger, and just as he stood up, he heard a loud "thud" from the bedroom.
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
Are you so emotionally unstable? You're throwing things because you're angry?!
Jiang Huaiyu's expression also turned cold.
It wasn't entirely his fault. Lu Mingxiao could have improved his grades significantly, but he didn't care about them at all. In the future, Lu Mingxiao would have to deal with the Jiang family's business. Jiang Huaiyu never doubted Lu Mingxiao's intelligence and excellence, but the board members didn't know what kind of person Lu Mingxiao was. A good-looking degree from a prestigious university would be the most direct way to prove his ability, and he would encounter much less resistance then.
But Lu Mingxiao was only focused on the few hundred yuan he earned from game boosting...
No, no, you can't think like that...
Even if it's just a few hundred yuan, it's money Lu Mingxiao earned through his own abilities. Jiang Huaiyu took a deep breath, reminding herself not to lose her temper.
He went inside and said to Lu Chuan, who had come after hearing the noise, "Dad, it's nothing, he's helping me pack my things."
Once Lu Chuan returned to his room, he pushed open the bedroom door with a cold expression.
“Lu Mingxiao, I need to talk to you…” He paused, staring blankly at the hole in the wooden board and Lu Mingxiao’s embarrassed expression: “What’s wrong with the partition?”
"I bumped into the standing fan when I came in, and it fell over and made a hole." Lu Mingxiao rubbed his nose with his knuckles and moved his feet to try to cover the hole.
"Oh, the fan fell over..." Jiang Huaiyu crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow slightly: "I thought you were still angry and smashing things in the house to vent your anger. You didn't make this hole on purpose, did you?"
"Why are you so temperamental..." Lu Mingxiao couldn't hold back any longer. He scratched his short hair, pursed his thin lips, and said with a hint of grievance, "You know that Fu Yucheng's matter made me very worried about you, but you still insisted on going home first. I already said we should go together..."
“I didn’t go home first,” Jiang Huaiyu said. “There’s a snack shop in a nearby alley. Liang Jing and the others went there at noon to buy snacks. They said they were delicious. If we don’t hurry after school, their homemade beef jerky will be sold out. I plan to buy some and then go back to school to find you. Anyway, you have to stay and do your homework.”
Lu Mingxiao was still somewhat dissatisfied, muttering under his breath, "Is it really that delicious? It's not like we're starving you..."
Jiang Huaiyu handed him the bag of snacks, her noble and delicate eyebrows looking at him with a half-smile: "I'm afraid some people will go and snatch snacks from Hu Zi again. Here, your special teething stick."
Lu Mingxiao: ...
He raised his hand, a dazed look appearing on his handsome young face: "So, you're going to buy me snacks?"
"Hmm~" Jiang Huaiyu chuckled, then glanced at the hole in the partition: "Tsk, Young Master Lu has quite a temper."
"Jiang Xiaobao, I already told you I really didn't do this on purpose..." Lu Mingxiao clutched the snack bag, his ears turning red with embarrassment. "I was wrong, I shouldn't have snapped at you just now. You were only trying to help me..."
His gaze fell on Jiang Huaiyu's wrist, his pupils trembling slightly: "No? Jiang Xiaobao, I didn't use any force, so why is your wrist all red?"
Jiang Huaiyu glanced at her wrist: "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
Even though he said it didn't hurt, Lu Mingxiao still solemnly brought out the first-aid kit and applied some ointment for treating sprains and bruises.
The refreshing scent of mint dispelled the stuffy, oppressive heat in the cabin. Jiang Huaiyu let Lu Mingxiao fidget with his wrists, but he just frowned at the partition with a large hole in it and said, "So ugly."
Lu Mingxiao rubbed his wrists carefully a couple of times: "Just find a board and nail it on."
But in the end, the hole was never nailed shut.
Over the weekend, Lu Mingxiao found a saw and, following the lines drawn by Jiang Huaiyu, completely enlarged the hole, turning it into the outline of an arched window. The two of them placed their study desks under the window, adjacent to each other through a thin partition.
While Lu Mingxiao was sanding the rough edges of the "window," Jiang Huaiyu was hanging curtains on the "window." The small curtains were chosen by Jiang Huaiyu; they were a simple old bed sheet, a light off-white color.
Jiang Huaiyu installed the curtains and then opened them.
“That way, if you have any problems with your homework, you can ask me directly,” Jiang Huaiyu said. “Then draw the curtains when you go to sleep.”
“Okay.” Lu Mingxiao took out his workbook, opened it, and had just finished writing two questions when the game startup sound suddenly came from the other side.
Lu Mingxiao looked up in disbelief: "Jiang Xiaobao, you made me do my homework, and then you played games?"
“I’ve talked to all the teachers, and I can only do the questions that I find difficult. Unfortunately, I don’t think this week’s homework is difficult.” Jiang Huaiyu pushed the tablet to the window: “Log in to Big Ears Strange Donkey’s account, and I’ll do his daily tasks for you.”
Lu Mingxiao was stunned.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you doing these part-time jobs. Whether it’s being a ‘personal shopper’ or a game booster, you earn this money through your own abilities. It’s more fulfilling and responsible than me just waiting for my parents to give me pocket money…” Jiang Huaiyu looked at him, a warm smile shimmering in her eyes: “But you’re so smart and talented, you shouldn’t be held back by these trivial things. I just think it’s a pity.”
Through this inexplicably opened "window," Lu Mingxiao gazed at the refined and handsome young man. Jiang Huaiyu's eyes shone with a light even brighter than the summer sun, and at that moment, that light fell solely on him.
Lu Mingxiao felt his heartbeat was a little irregular and pressed his chest.
How did he suddenly develop an irregular heartbeat?
As expected, doing homework really does make him anxious and short of breath, but...
He really couldn't bear to disappoint Jiang Xiaoyu's focused gaze.
...
One month into the new semester, in the citywide high school joint exam, Jiang Huaiyu's score once again stood out from the crowd, this time leaving the second-place student more than 90 points behind. And the second-place student was still the same name: Fu Yucheng.
Lu Mingxiao's grades improved rapidly in the past month, with his total score increasing by more than 80 points. Li Qing was praised at the parent-teacher meeting for the first time, and she walked with a swagger.
She held her own daughter, a cabbage, in her left hand and the little wild boar she had raised herself in her right, asking Lu Mingxiao in a high-pitched voice what he wanted to eat for dinner the whole way.
"You've made so much progress, even if you want to eat the Jade Rabbit in the sky, Mom will catch it for you!"
"Come on, Mom, are you planning to go to the moon?"
"You brat..."
Jiang Huaiyu remained silent, only watching Lu Mingxiao and Li Qing bicker with a smile. As they walked out of the school gate, Jiang Huaiyu inadvertently felt that familiar, cold gaze again.
He turned around alertly and saw Fu Yucheng get into the car with a man. The man was probably Fu Yucheng's father. The two men's profiles were so similar. Fu Yucheng seemed to want to sit in the back, but the man shoved him hard. In the end, Fu Yucheng sat in the passenger seat. Before the car door closed, Jiang Huaiyu saw the man raise his hand high.
In an instant, all those doubts were resolved.
Jiang Huaiyu was preoccupied with this matter and was somewhat absent-minded on the way home, but Li Qing was very happy. He didn't find an opportunity to tell Lu Mingxiao about his guess.
While cooking at home, Li Qing discovered that they were out of soy sauce. Lu Mingxiao was peeling garlic, so Jiang Huaiyu went out to buy some.
He never expected to run into Fu Yucheng at his own doorstep. The tall, thin boy was wearing a hood and had his head down, looking like a wilted eggplant.
Jiang Huaiyu hesitated for a moment and did not approach rashly. He tried to go around him, but the other party was obviously waiting for him. Upon hearing footsteps, Fu Yucheng immediately raised his head and stared straight at Jiang Huaiyu.
...
"It takes this long to buy soy sauce..." Lu Mingxiao muttered as he left the house. Just as he turned the corner, he saw Fu Yucheng talking to Jiang Huaiyu. The man seemed a bit agitated and was about to grab Jiang Huaiyu's arm. Lu Mingxiao immediately became alert, quickly went to meet him, grabbed Fu Yucheng's shoulder, and said coldly, "Are you fucking crazy...? I'm going to get you!"
He looked at Fu Yucheng, whose face was bruised and swollen, then at Jiang Huaiyu, and asked cautiously:
"Jiang Xiaobao, are you really that ruthless?"
If you hit him, don't hit me again!
Author's Note:
Green Hair: Haha~ You've finally met your match~
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