Chapter 8

The day Lu Yan arrived at her new classroom, she saw Shi Ya sitting in the front row, wearing the dress that Shi Xuexian had carefully prepared for her.

Shi Ya didn’t meet the entrance score for Beicheng No. 3 High School, missing by exactly three points.

When Shi Xuexian saw that Lu Jian seemed unwilling to help, she had no choice but to use her identity as Mrs. Lu to go to the principal of Beicheng No. 3 High School and ask for his help.

Unexpectedly, the principal turned out to be acquainted with Lu Jian’s ex-wife—not just acquainted, but very familiar with her. Shi Xuexian was subjected to quite a bit of sarcasm from him, but she could only keep smiling, since she needed his help.

That afternoon, after leaving the principal’s office, she was shaking with anger, her lips pale.

Fortunately, the principal finally agreed to let Shi Ya enroll, taking Lu Jian’s face into consideration, so her efforts weren’t in vain.

Shi Ya was assigned to the same class as Lu Yan, but Lu Yan had no intention of paying her any attention and went straight to sit in the back of the classroom.

When Lu Yan was in high school, she also liked sitting in the back of the classroom in the leisure zone, watching beauty videos with the girls or playing games with the boys.

In the front, a few familiar girls were gathered together, whispering and gossiping—

“I heard Lu’s youngest daughter is in our class!”

“Is that true? Lu Zhen’s sister is in our class?!”

“Yeah, but we don’t know who she is.”

“If we become friends with her, maybe we’ll get to see Lu Zhen often!”

“Hahaha, what’s the use of that? You can see him, but you can’t eat him.”

“Eh~ You’re so impure, if you can become friends with his sister, maybe you’ll get to meet him.”

—

Lu Zhen was indeed a popular figure at school, very well-liked. After all, with his handsome looks and bright, outgoing personality, who wouldn’t like him? Even many of the female teachers favored him.

The girls looked around, scanning for anyone who might be Lu Zhen’s sister.

Lu Yan lowered her head slightly. She looked very similar to Lu Zhen, but she didn’t want to be the center of attention.

However, Shi Ya stretched her neck out, raising her head like a swan, her expression seemingly eager for everyone to know she was related to Lu Zhen.

Her best friend, Qinqin, immediately saw through her intentions and deliberately raised her voice, saying, “Yaya, I heard your brother Lu Zhen is having a music party tonight. I’d really love to go.”

Her tone was perfect, loud enough for the girls around them to hear, but not too obvious.

The girls immediately turned their curious eyes toward Shi Ya. She ran her fingers through her hair, lifted her chin even higher, and in a faint voice said, “You know, my brother wouldn’t invite people from different circles. But if you want to go, I can talk to him about it.”

Qinqin hooked her arm around Shi Ya’s, smiling as she said, “Thank you, Yaya.”

Due to her extreme insecurity and desire for ^[1]“face” refers to reputation, dignity, or social standing, which are highly valued in many cultures, including Chinese culture.face, Shi Ya didn’t have many friends. Qinqin, her classmate from middle school, knew she lived with the Lu family and would always try to ingratiate herself with her, constantly flattering and supporting her. As a result, they became close “best friends.”

With Qinqin’s “promotion,” half of the class knew that Shi Ya was the sister of the school heartthrob, Lu Zhen. Several girls came to sit next to Shi Ya, initiating conversations with her, complimenting her dress, and so on.

“The dress was bought by my mom, it’s a brand from Paris.”

“My brother doesn’t come home often, so I don’t get to see him much.”

“He didn’t come to see me off. You all know what he’s like—he appears aloof and indifferent on the outside, but actually, he cares a lot about me.”

Shi Ya really enjoyed this feeling of being the center of attention, surrounded by others. This was because her mother, Shi Xuexian, had been an unmarried mother in her early years, which had been a huge scandal at the time. As a result, Shi Ya had faced a lot of cold treatment growing up and had always yearned for the attention of others.

Lu Yan just found it amusing. At home, her mother, Shi Xuexian, was doing everything she could to sow discord between Lu Zhen and Lu Jian, but now, here she was, acting as if she were Lu Zhen’s beloved little sister.

Of course, the reason Shi Ya had become the center of attention in the new term, the girl everyone noticed in the class, wasn’t just because she was Lu Zhen’s sister but also because she was the youngest daughter of the Lu family.

The Lu Group had been running businesses and factories since the Republic of China era, and after several reforms and structural upgrades, it had grown into one of the most well-known conglomerates in the country—a truly prominent family.

These glamorous halos were more than enough to inflate Shi Ya’s vanity.

Lu Yan didn’t want to listen to the constant chattering of the girls in the front row, so she put on her headphones.

At this moment, a girl leaned toward her, curiously asking, “Is that your Walkman?”

Lu Yan looked up at her. The girl had a fair complexion and almond-shaped eyes that sparkled. When she smiled, it was as sweet as a crescent moon.

Lu Yan took out the Walkman and handed it to the girl. The girl eagerly took it and said, “I really want a Walkman too, but they’re so expensive. My family won’t buy me one.”

“My brother gave it to me.”

Lu Zhen spoiled her without any limits—bicycles, Walkmans, game consoles… as long as she wanted something, he’d find a way to get it for her.

If it were her father in the past, asking for a game console would have been like waiting for the sun to rise from the north.

So the treatment of being a sister was very different from being a daughter.

“Whose music are you listening to?”

“Leslie Cheung’s.”

“Ah! I love him too! Can I listen it with you?”

Seeing that the girl had a lively personality, Lu Yan handed the headphones over to her. Back then, friendships between girls were always so simple. After listening to a song, the two of them quickly became familiar with each other.

The girl’s name was Qi Yuhuan, but the boys in their class often teased her about her name, calling her Yang Guifei (an ancient Chinese empress), which bothered her a lot.

Unfortunately, her parents had chosen the name, and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Lu Yan asked her, “Are you a transfer student from the middle school?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know a girl named Jian Yao?”

Qi Yuhuan shook her head blankly. “I don’t know her. Why?”

“I want to meet her. She’s very important to me.”

After all, she was her mother, whom she had never met before.

One of the main reasons Lu Yan wanted to attend Beicheng No. 3 High School was because of Jian Yao.

“Is she a student at our school?” Qi Yuhuan asked.

“She should be, I think.”

“What grade is she in?”

“I don’t know.”

Qi Yuhuan was a kind-hearted girl. After thinking for a moment, she said, “There are several of my middle school classmates in different classes in the first year of high school. I can ask them to keep an eye out and see if they can find her.”

“Thank you so much! If you can find her, you’ll really be helping me a lot.”

“You’re welcome.”

While they were talking, a girl by the window suddenly exclaimed, “Lu Zhen’s here!”

Nearly half of the girls in the class stretched their necks to look outside the window.

As a cool and stylish guy, Lu Zhen’s fashion sense was quite trendy. He wore a black jacket paired with tight pants and black leather high-top shoes, the laces loose and untied.

From Lu Yan’s modern aesthetic, his tight pants were almost an eyesore, but the girls around her thought he looked incredibly stylish, gazing at him like he was a celebrity, collectively swooning.

Without any hesitation, Lu Zhen walked confidently into the Class 1 (2) classroom.

Everyone assumed he was there to find Shi Ya, but instead, he walked past her desk without even glancing at her and went straight toward Lu Yan.

Lu Yan was still listening to music with her headphones on when Lu Zhen unceremoniously yanked them off her ears, stepped onto her chair, and leaned down to look at her.

“Who told you to bring your Walkman to school?”

“Why can’t I bring it?”

“If old man Lu finds out, he’ll definitely give me a beating.”

Lu Yan grinned and said, “I won’t let him know. This is our little secret.”

As an older brother, Lu Zhen naturally wasn’t too harsh with his sister. He sat in the empty seat in front of her and placed two concert tickets on her desk.

“There’s a party tonight. Come and support your dad… I mean, come and support your brother.”

He was almost getting thrown off by her calling him “dad” all the time.

Lu Yan took the tickets and readily agreed, “Okay!”

Without saying much more, Lu Zhen stood up and left, giving her a quick pat on the back of her head and reminding her to put the Walkman away.

Lu Yan hugged her head, pouting at his retreating figure.

The girls around them, seeing how naturally affectionate and intimate the two of them were with each other, quickly realized their relationship was not ordinary. Their gazes shifted to Shi Ya, and the atmosphere changed.

“What’s going on? Didn’t she say Lu Zhen was her brother? Why is he ignoring her and giving the tickets to someone else?”

“She must be lying, Lu Yan and Lu Zhen look so alike, and they both have the same last name.”

“I heard Lu Zhen has a stepmother. Could this girl be the daughter she brought along?”

“Come on, a step-sister and a biological sister are totally different. How could she have the nerve to say that?”

“She almost tricked us.”

—

Shi Ya’s face turned red, and she tightly clenched the corner of her skirt, biting her lower lip until it turned a pale pink.

This was what she deserved—whatever praise others gave her, they could just as easily turn it into embarrassment.

Lu Yan felt that even without her intervention, Shi Ya could destroy herself on her own.

The real trouble was her mother, who still had some brains. Her clever manipulations had caused the father and son of the Lu family to turn against each other.

Even in his later years, when the once-powerful Lu Jian lay on his deathbed, his son and daughter became his greatest regret in life.

And Lu Zhen, too, eventually lost his youthful vigor. The loss of his father, wife, and daughter… he had truly become a lonely man.

Lu Yan, now reborn, would make sure that no one she cared about would suffer any harm.

Qi Yuhuan, with her bright, watery almond eyes, eagerly looked at Lu Yan, or rather, at the two tickets she held in her hand.

Lu Yan generously handed the tickets to Qi Yuhuan. “Let’s go together tonight.”

“Great!” Qi Yuhuan replied, her eyebrows dancing with joy. “Tonight’s going to be exciting.”

Lu Yan was confused. “What’s so exciting?”

“You don’t know?” Qi Yuhuan said, her voice full of excitement. “Your brother’s music party is going head-to-head with Shen Kuo’s!”

“Head-to-head with Shen Kuo?” Lu Yan asked.

“Yes, I heard that Shen Kuo and some friends opened a nightclub tonight, right on Entertainment Street. After Lu Zhen found out, he rented the basement across the street and turned it into his own nightclub, and it’s free! Everyone can go in and have fun. He’s clearly trying to steal Shen Kuo’s business! With a free nightclub, who’d still go to the paid ones? Your family is really loaded!”

Lu Yan frowned. “Is that true?”

Lu Zhen hadn’t even hinted at anything like this to her.

“Just go and see tonight,” Qi Yuhuan said.

“Okay.”

After school, Shen Kuo, carrying a crossbody bag, walked out of the campus with a lazy stride.

A gust of wind blew, and a flyer for Lu Zhen’s music party landed at his feet, where it was immediately stepped on by his left foot.

Shen Kuo picked up the flyer and glanced at it, a cold glint flashing in the corner of his eye.

The nightclub he opened with his friends had cost him all the savings he’d earned from years of hard work. Now, that young master Lu’s free nightclub was clearly trying to compete with him and crush his business.

After a while, Shen Kuo tossed the flyer into a fly-infested garbage bin and walked towards Entertainment Street.