Chapter 58
At the end of May, Jiang Huaiyu returned to Shenhai International School.
The children in the same circle all knew more or less about the turmoil in the Jiang family from their parents. Jiang Huaiyu transferred schools for a year, and everyone was speculating in private whether the fake young master had been sent back to a poor family. But no matter how long they waited, they never heard the news of the real young master of the Jiang family returning.
But Jiang Huaiyu did return.
The happiest person was naturally He Yan, who specially came from her own class to support Jiang Huaiyu. She pulled over an empty chair, sat down, and chatted excitedly with Jiang Huaiyu.
"Why didn't Lu Mingxiao come back with us?" He asked excitedly. "Where's my half-brother? He's still stuck in that run-down place. Does he really not plan to come back and inherit the family business?"
The people around seemed to be busy with their own things, but in reality, they were all curiously listening.
May in Shanghai is already unbearably hot. Everyone is wearing the newly revised short-sleeved school uniform. Jiang Huaiyu hasn't picked it up yet. She is wearing a black and white short-sleeved shirt, which looks like a couple's set. The small print on the chest is a cartoon dog wagging its tail, sticking to the left, its face squeezed out of shape.
He Yan found it quite amusing, but after looking at it for a long time, she still couldn't figure out which brand it was.
Jiang Huaiyu tidied up the new textbooks before looking at He Yan: "Ancheng is doing well. Your half-brother is preparing for the college entrance exam and doesn't plan to come back."
"Preparing for the college entrance exam?" He Yan clicked his tongue. "What is he thinking? Didn't he say his grades weren't good last time he came? Why doesn't he come back quickly so his family can find a way to send him abroad? Why is he preparing for the college entrance exam again?"
“Ah Yan, one should look at a person with new eyes after three days of separation. He has made great progress.” Jiang Huaiyu couldn’t help but speak up for Lu Mingxiao: “At his rate of progress, it’s not impossible for him to get into one of the top universities in the country. It’s much better than being arranged by his family to attend a no-name university with no real value.”
"Really?" He Yan stroked her chin with a hint of doubt. "Lu Mingxiao is quite smart, but his resources aren't good enough. Is it too late for him to start working hard now? I know you two have a good relationship, but even so, there's a bias..."
"bite--"
The sound of the game starting up.
He Yan: "...Brother, I'm heartbroken that you're ignoring me."
"No, let me show you his report card from his most recent monthly exam." Jiang Huaiyu scrolled through the game's chat list, found the unfamiliar IDs from recent chats, opened the chat history, clicked on the image, and pushed it in front of He Yan.
He Yan glanced at it and exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, that's awesome, Brother Xiao! Your total score is pretty high. This score is enough to get you into a good university in Shanghai!"
"Yes." Jiang Huaiyu nodded: "But he wants to take the exam in Beijing."
"Tsk..." He Yan stroked his chin, leaned closer to Jiang Huaiyu, and asked in a low voice, "Is he working so hard... for the family fortune? Huaiyu, let me tell you, although he gave me a figurine I really liked, my heart is with you. Although he gave me a figurine I really liked, you and I are childhood friends. Although he gave me..."
"Are you a broken record?" Jiang Huaiyu pushed the person away with one finger: "I have a boyfriend, it's not appropriate for us to get this close."
He Yan: !!
"You have a boyfriend?!" he shouted.
The students who hadn't gone out for activities immediately sat up straight.
"Hiss..." Jiang Huaiyu sighed, "Why don't you go to the broadcasting room and announce it for me?"
He Yan coughed, turned to look at the others, and frowned: "What the hell are you looking at! What's so strange about dating someone?"
Although the students sitting here generally come from well-off families, there are only a few families in the entire city that can be considered at the top of the pyramid. The Jiang family and the He family are among those at the very top. Although He Yan would not bully people because of his family background, he does have a bad temper. When he glanced at them, some people immediately moved away quietly, and those meaningful scrutinizing gazes also subsided considerably.
He Yan, having learned her lesson, lowered her voice and leaned closer with a cheeky grin: "What does she look like? She must be incredibly beautiful! Do you have a picture? Let me see..."
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt: "Huh? You're not dating someone from Ancheng, are you?"
Jiang Huaiyu: "Okay, class is about to start, hurry back to your own class."
"Oh my god, you're dating someone over there..." He Yan was always worried: "So many people around here have pursued you, and you're dating someone in that shabby little place? Tsk, what a story of a rich second-generation and a poor girl, short dramas are really telling the truth."
Jiang Huaiyu: "...Watch less."
The school bell rang, and He Yan had no choice but to get up and give the young master some peace and quiet. He hummed an off-key song as he returned to his classroom. Once he sat down, he realized what had been strange about what had just happened.
The report card was sent to the game? Are they communicating through the game?
What kind of strange contact information is this? Why not use a message in a bottle?
...
On the black and white short-sleeved shirt, a printed kitten is desperately trying to stick to the right, wagging its tail.
At the end of May, most people in Ancheng were still wearing thin long sleeves, but Lu Mingxiao was not afraid of the cold and had already put on short sleeves.
He applied to the school to skip evening classes, so he could go home and take online classes instead. Song Jingliang found him a tutor in Shanghai, who provided him with some extra help.
Lu Mingxiao's daily schedule is now very full. He attends classes at school during the day, memorizes English words during lunch break, and connects with his teacher for online classes after school in the evening. After the online classes end, he finishes his homework.
He wanted to use this last year to catch up with those who had worked hard for three years. There was no other way but to study as hard as he could. Fortunately, his parents had given him a bright mind, so keeping up wasn't too difficult.
Li Qing had no work to do today and was at home helping Lu Chuan assemble small toys. When she saw Lu Mingxiao return, she got up to bring out the food she had prepared and peeked into the yard to greet Lu Mingxiao: "Son, come in and rest for a while, wash your hands and eat. Oh dear! Don't touch Tiger! He hasn't been bathed all winter, he's covered in dust!"
Lu Mingxiao rubbed his hands, covered in dust, and smiled in agreement. He then stroked the dog's head a couple more times before turning to see Tiger's new ceramic rice bowl.
The black ceramic rice bowl had a cute cartoon image of a tiger biting a bone printed on it. Judging from its exquisite style, it was clearly mailed to Tiger by Jiang Huaiyu, since Tiger used to use an old stainless steel bowl.
He didn't ask Li Qing, to avoid embarrassing his mother. At least on the surface, he and Jiang Huaiyu had no contact, but seeing the rice bowl and Jiang Huaiyu's traces reappearing in the courtyard, he still felt a tacit, bittersweet feeling.
Seeing Lu Mingxiao looking at his new food bowl, Tiger became alert. He stopped wiggling his bottom and ran over to try to carry the new food bowl into his den. However, the ceramic was heavy and slippery, and he couldn't carry it. He circled the food bowl and whimpered a couple of times, and finally just sat down on the food bowl.
"Tsk~ Tiger, you're really not fussy." Lu Mingxiao stood up and patted the dust off his hands: "Don't worry, the ceramic basin is too heavy to fly."
Tiger barked warily, as if scolding Lu Mingxiao for not speaking human language.
Lu Mingxiao washed his hands and went inside to eat.
Whenever Li Qing has some free time, the dishes at home become exceptionally plentiful. Moreover, Lu Mingxiao has recently shown a strong drive to study diligently, which makes Li Qing both gratified and distressed.
She put food on Lu Mingxiao's plate: "Eat more, you need to be full to have the energy to study. Mom thinks you've lost weight recently."
"No, I've grown a bit taller, Mom. You don't need to cook so many dishes tomorrow, it's too tiring..."
In the midst of their conversation, a bowl of rice vanished into thin air, and Lu Mingxiao ladled out another bowl, continuing to show off his rice.
Li Qing was initially a little worried, fearing that the two children would resent their parents for breaking up the couple, and that Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu would feel resentful. But seeing that Lu Mingxiao had almost finished eating the pot, she felt relieved and continued to serve him food.
She wanted to help clear the table and wash the dishes, but Lu Chuan stopped her.
"Dad will wash the dishes. You go study. The sooner you study, the sooner you can go to bed."
Lu Mingxiao didn't stand on ceremony: "Then I'll go to class. Thank you for your hard work, Dad."
After he returned to his bedroom, Li Qing and Lu Chuan huddled together in the kitchen, whispering amongst themselves.
"Xiao Bao left, but he wasn't discouraged; instead, he became even more enthusiastic about learning. Is that right?"
Lu Chuan put on an apron and started washing the dishes. When his wife asked him this, he just smiled and said, "Actually, I think these two kids are much more mature than we imagined. They're influencing each other and gradually getting better. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Brother Chuan, how could you betray us and defect to the enemy?" Li Qing subconsciously lowered her voice: "These are two boys! How can this be?"
She thought for a moment, then sighed, "I'm afraid that gossip will hurt my two children, especially Xiao Bao. That child is very sensitive. And what about Da Bao's maternal grandfather, that old man surnamed Jiang! What will happen if he finds out?! He might even say that Xiao Bao is only clinging to Da Bao for his family's meager money. That old man is absolutely capable of saying such things!"
Li Qing grew angrier the more she thought about it, and wrung the rag fiercely: "If he dares to bully my child, I'll tear his beard off!"
Lu Chuan laughed out loud: "That's right, with a mother like you, who would dare to bully Xiao Bao?"
...
After finishing his homework, Lu Mingxiao quickly washed up, his hair still wet, and rushed to bed to open the game interface.
He put on his headphones, stared at the progress bar, and finally pushed it to the maximum level. The game interface loaded, and his character appeared on the main street of the map "Cyber Chang'an".
A shiny character was squatting next to him, with three letters above his head: JHY.
He sent a team invitation, which the other party accepted, and then they started the team voice chat.
"Was today's homework difficult? You came to class a little late."
The familiar voice, warm and soothing, with a hint of drowsiness, clearly reached my ears, as if Jiang Huaiyu were still sleeping on the bed opposite me.
"Hmm, I've compiled the questions I got wrong from the monthly exam." He controlled his character to run in circles around JHY: "Boss Jiang, we haven't explored any of the new maps yet, want to go check out the scenery?"
Jiang Huaiyu's character stood up and extended a "ride-sharing" invitation. Lu Mingxiao accepted, and the next moment, the screen was filled with light pollution. Young Master Jiang's top-tier mount, the mechanical Qilin he had synthesized last time, instantly burned out Lu Mingxiao's phone's memory. The next second...
He was suddenly stuck and the app crashed.
Lu Mingxiao: ...
He didn't rush back into the game. Instead, he opened WeChat, tapped Song Jingliang, and sent him the report card.
"Dad, can I buy a new phone?"
Song Jingliang: [Thumbs up][Thumbs up][Thumbs up]
Song Jingliang: [Transfer 30,000]
Song Jingliang: ? ? ? No, you unfilial son, what did you just call me?
Song Jingliang: [Staring.jpg]
Author's Note:
Paying off debts like crazy, hehe!
[Cat's paw] Drops a small red envelope
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com