Chapter 6

In the bustling arcade, Lu Yan watched in astonishment as the gaming machine spewed coins like a waterfall.

Shen Kuo’s sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing a stretch of fair skin. His left hand operated the controls swiftly, while his right hand firmly held the game controller.

His expression was cold, and a faint glimmer flickered in his dark, night-like eyes.

Unlike the other players around him, who were either overjoyed or despondent, Shen Kuo seemed unaffected. It wasn’t that the game brought him any particular joy—he just treated it as a task that needed to be done well, and so he focused intently on doing it, nothing more.

Lu Yan stared at Shen Kuo’s frosty expression. He didn’t look like he was having fun at all—more like he was working.

The tattooed arcade owner watched his machine spit out coins like crazy, his heart aching unbearably.

In just a few rounds, all of Lu Yan’s debts were cleared.

This guy… Who on earth is he?

Lu Yan raised her eyebrows at the owner, who forced a dry laugh, filled with regret.

Grabbing a handful of game tokens, Lu Yan went to the counter to exchange them for real money. She then bought a few rice puffs, snapping off a piece and holding it to Shen Kuo’s mouth when she returned.

Shen Kuo glanced down at the rice puff and then back at Lu Yan, puzzled.

Lu Yan smiled innocently. “Here, have some.”

“No.”

He rejected her stiffly, clearly uncomfortable with someone feeding him.

“Don’t fuss, just eat it.” Lu Yan directly shoved the rice puff into his mouth. “It’s really tasty.”

The puff melted immediately in her mouth, sticking sweetly to her tongue.

In the end, Shen Kuo accepted the piece, holding it in his hand and nibbling on it with restrained politeness.

Lu Yan munched on her rice puff noisily, like a little hamster, occasionally flashing him a smile.

It was Shen Kuo’s first time eating this kind of snack. He would never spend money on such things. Snacks were a luxury he didn’t have time for.

Lu Yan, on the other hand, acted as if they were close friends. She casually took a pear out of his pocket and bit into it.

Shen Kuo turned to glance at her. She quickly said, “I gave you a rice puff. Eating one of your pears shouldn’t upset you, right?”

Shen Kuo wanted to point out that it wasn’t his choice to eat the puff. But with the lingering sweetness still on his tongue, he paused and simply said, “Wash the pear first.”

“Oh~~”

Lu Yan shrugged and took another bite.

Suddenly, she thought, ‘Young Shen Kuo isn’t as scary as he seems.’

She handed Shen Kuo another rice puff. Without saying much, he took it and ate.

He rarely had such enjoyable gaming moments, especially with his arch-nemesis’s sister. Shen Kuo found it a bit unbelievable.

However, it was hard for him to refuse this girl, especially when… she smiled at him.

Lu Yan didn’t expect Shen Kuo to be so good at the game. That afternoon, the two of them made a huge profit. Although the money from exchanging game tokens wasn’t much, at least it covered all of Lu Yan’s previous losses.

Other boys around them looked envious and eagerly begged Shen Kuo to play a few rounds for them. Shen Kuo didn’t even glance at them and simply turned to leave. “Let’s go.”

“Oh, okay.”

Lu Yan followed him closely, walking out of the arcade. As luck would have it, they ran into Lu Zhen and his friends, who had come to play games.

Seeing Shen Kuo, Lu Zhen’s expression immediately darkened. When he turned his head, he saw that Lu Yan was with him.

Anger surged in Lu Zhen’s heart. Without a word, he threw a punch straight at Shen Kuo’s face.

Shen Kuo wasn’t prepared for the sudden attack. He took the punch squarely, his body jolting sideways, and he barely managed to steady himself against the wall. The bag of pears in his hand flew out, scattering across the ground, some even rolling into the middle of the street, getting run over by cars.

Lu Yan froze for a few seconds, then quickly ran in front of Shen Kuo, spreading her arms to block Lu Zhen. “How can you just hit someone without asking what happened?”

Lu Zhen grabbed her by the back of her collar and angrily said, “Do you know what kind of person he is? How dare you hang out with him!”

Lu Yan shoved his hand away, furious. “What I see is you bullying him just because you can! You’re the one…”

She didn’t finish the sentence. Swearing at her father like that could result in divine punishment.

Lu Zhen shoved Lu Yan towards his friends and stepped forward, kicking the pear beside Shen Kuo. He grabbed Shen Kuo’s collar and slammed him against the wall, speaking slowly and threateningly, “You can mess with any woman around me, but if you touch this girl, I’ll kill you.”

A cold glimmer passed through Shen Kuo’s dark eyes. Suddenly, he tugged at the corner of his mouth, a devilish smile spreading across his face.

“Fine.”

He responded so decisively that Lu Zhen was almost skeptical. But not wanting to waste more time with Shen Kuo, he threw him aside and grabbed Lu Yan’s hand, marching off.

Lu Yan stumbled, trying to keep up with him, but she kept glancing back. She saw the silent boy bend down to pick up the pears scattered on the ground and dust them off.

For a moment, her heart ached from the restraint in his eyes.

As Lu Zhen dragged Lu Yan toward home, she broke free from his grip at the alley’s entrance. Fuming like a little hamster with puffed cheeks, she shouted, “I never expected you to be like this!”

Even though she was a pampered and helpless second-generation rich kid, she knew not to bully the weak or act arrogantly. Her father had always taught her to be upright and righteous.

How could she have imagined that her upright and composed father was once such a thug?

“Dad, you’ve really disappointed me!”

Lu Zhen twitched his mouth, reached out, and tapped her on the back of the head. “You’re really dumb, aren’t you? I’ve always been like this. If you’re going to blame someone, blame your real father for caring more about his career than raising us properly.”

Looking at Lu Zhen’s irredeemable, lifelong thug attitude, Lu Yan found it hard to imagine what he had gone through to become the upright man he would eventually become.

“Anyway, from now on, I don’t want you to have anything to do with Shen Kuo.” Lu Zhen said sternly, “If I catch you again, you’ll be sorry.”

Lu Yan asked, unsatisfied, “Why do you hate him so much?”

“Because he’s a disgusting person, all fake and hypocritical. He’s just a bad guy.”

“What makes him a bad guy?”

Lu Zhen was about to speak but suddenly stopped, as if recalling something, and shut his mouth. “Just stay away from him. He’s not a good guy!”

Lu Zhen hesitated to speak clearly, which only made Lu Yan more curious. After all, the key to resolving the conflict between her father and Shen Kuo lay in understanding the grudge between them.

Lu Yan felt like she, as his daughter, was worrying too much. But who said there’s no instant karma? In her previous life, her father had constantly fretted over her life.

Being a premature baby, she had been weak and sickly from a young age. Her father gave up all his personal time and entertainment to focus entirely on her, even chasing her every day to get her to drink the bitter Chinese medicine.

No matter what, Lu Yan had to bring her father back on track and stop Shen Kuo from seeking revenge.

Lu Yan proposed to Lu Jian that she wanted to attend Beicheng No. 3 High School.

Her aunt had attended special education schools due to her intellectual disability, but as a normal person, Lu Yan didn’t want to be put in a special education class.

At dinner, Lu Yan brought up her desire to attend Beicheng No. 3 High School with her brother. Before Lu Jian could respond, it was Shi Ya at the far end of the table who couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

She was the only one laughing at the table. Lu Jian’s expression darkened as he asked, “What’s so funny?”

Shi Xuexian shot Shi Ya a glare, and Shi Ya quickly stopped laughing, “Ah, I… I was just thinking about a joke my friend told me yesterday.”

Lu Yan glanced at Shi Ya, who clearly had a mocking look in her eyes, obviously thinking that Lu Yan wasn’t smart enough to attend the best High School in the province, Beicheng No. 3 High School.

Lu Jian turned to Lu Yan, asking, “Yanyan, why do you want to go to Beicheng No. 3?”

“I want to study with Lu Zhen.”

She needed to stay close to him, keep an eye on him, and find out exactly what had happened between him and Shen Kuo.

As a rebellious young rich heir, Lu Zhen almost never came home, and fortunately, he wasn’t at the table at this moment. If he were, he would surely have strongly opposed it.

“At school, I can also help Grandpa look after him a little,” Lu Yan said earnestly.

Lu Jian smiled and placed a chicken leg on her plate, “Live your own life, and don’t worry about that brat.”

He was already quite disappointed in him.

Lu Yan didn’t want Lu Jian to give up on Lu Zhen, so she said, “Sometimes he listens to me, and also, I want to try to be a normal child.”

Sometimes, Lu Jian really felt that, apart from occasionally calling her brother, dad, or grandpa out of order, his daughter was actually a pretty normal child. Her last words really struck a chord with him.

He agreed to let Lu Yan go to Beicheng No. 3 High School, and just then, Shi Xuexian thoughtfully said, “Yaya is also preparing for the independent admission exam for Beicheng No. 3 High School. Maybe she can lend Yanyan her review materials so you two can study together.”

Shi Ya joined in, “Sure, I can lend them to her. Yanyan, the exam for the independent admissions is really hard, so make sure you work hard!”

Lu Yan knew that Shi Ya was deliberately mocking her. It was clear that Shi Ya thought of her as someone with intellectual disabilities, and she probably couldn’t even do basic math, let alone pass an entrance exam.

Lu Jian didn’t expect her to learn much, but at least being in a school environment with peers around her was good for her development.

While Shi Ya was mocking Lu Yan, Shi Xuexian had deeper intentions.

As expected, Lu Jian said, “Yanyan doesn’t need to prepare for any entrance exams. The principal of No. 3 High School is an old friend of mine, and I can just give him a word.”

Shi Xuexian quickly responded, “Ah, that’s great! Yaya, how’s your exam preparation going? Do you feel confident?”

Shi Ya picked up on the deeper meaning in Shi Xuexian’s gaze and replied, “Hmm, the questions are difficult, but I’m working hard. I’ve been staying up late to study these past few days.”

“Don’t overwork yourself. Look at you, you’ve lost weight.”

“Mom, I’m not tired. I really want to get into Beicheng No. 3 High School.”

The mother and daughter were playing the “pretending to be pitiful” tactic together, trying to get Lu Jian to ease up and, when greeting the principal, casually bring Shi Ya along as well.

Before Lu Jian could speak, Lu Yan interjected, “No need for connections, I can take the exam myself.”

As soon as she said this, both Shi Xuexian and Shi Ya looked at Lu Yan, surprised.

Lu Jian asked, “Yanyan, are you sure? You want to take the exam yourself?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Shi Xuexian laughed, “Yanyan has learned to joke around.”

Lu Yan was expressionless and responded, “I’m not joking. I’ll take the exam myself. If I pass, I’ll attend, if not, that’s fine. Using connections wouldn’t be fair to the other students.”

Shi Xuexian’s face darkened slightly. Just a moment ago, she had hinted at asking Lu Jian to help Shi Ya as well, but now, with Lu Yan saying this, it was clearly a slap in her face.

However, Lu Jian smiled and said appreciatively, “As expected of my daughter. Well done. Since you’re determined, take the exam yourself. Your dad won’t interfere.”

“Okay.”

Shi Ya bit her lip, glaring at Lu Yan in frustration. She couldn’t wait to see how this “special” child would manage to take the exam!

The entrance exam for Beicheng No. 3 High School was notoriously difficult—five stars in difficulty. Even Shi Ya, who was usually quite diligent, found it a struggle to get in, let alone this “special” child. She was just waiting to watch the spectacle unfold.