Chapter 13

After school, Lu Yan ran to Lu Zhen’s classroom with her backpack and handed him two hundred freshly minted bills. “Take it and pay off the money you owe!”

“Where did you get the money from?”

Lu Zhen knew that all of Lu Yan’s pocket money had been spent paying off the money for the burned-down house. Now her pockets were empty, and there was no extra money left for her to give him.

Lu Zhen glanced toward the bike lane but didn’t see Lu Yan’s bike. His face darkened, and he asked, “Did you sell the bike I gave you?”

“Our house is pretty close to the school,” Lu Yan said with a guilty glance at him. “I just thought it wasn’t necessary to ride it anymore.”

A surge of frustration suddenly rose in Lu Zhen, and he shoved the money back into Lu Yan’s arms. He turned and started to walk away. After a few steps, he angrily turned around and snatched the bills back.

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“Who did you sell the bike to?” he said with a stern face. “Buy it back!”

“I can’t buy it back. The shopkeeper said it was already resold.”

Lu Zhen turned around and kicked the tree trunk angrily. “Who told you to make decisions on your own! I’m not so down and out that I need you to sell your bike and pay off my debts!”

Lu Yan blinked, her eyes red and wet with tears, looking very aggrieved.

Liang Ting couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He walked over and pulled Lu Yan behind him, scolding Lu Zhen, “Why are you yelling at a little girl? She’s only trying to help you!”

“Do you think I’m just like Shu Mengfei, useless and good-for-nothing?” Lu Zhen retorted.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Even though everyone said that Lu Zhen was a spoiled rich young man who had become useless, Lu Yan had never thought that way.

She had witnessed the hardship of her father’s entrepreneurial days, and she understood better than anyone what this man was capable of when pushed to his limits.

Liang Ting walked over and pulled Lu Zhen aside. “Even if you’ve just been dumped, you shouldn’t be taking it out on your little sister.”

“He’s always like this,” Lu Yan sniffled, her eyes red. She said in a muffled voice, “He always saves his worst side for the people closest to him.”

If it weren’t for Lu Zhen’s bad temper, causing Grandpa to feel disappointed, no matter how much Shen Xuexian played her tricks, it wouldn’t have caused a rift between father and son, making them no longer keep in touch.

Grandpa only had one son.

Lu Zhen calmed down and looked at the aggrieved look on Lu Yan’s face. His heart softened, and his anger vanished.

He looked at the crumpled two hundred yuan in his hand, feeling both heartbroken and anxious.

Who told her to sell the bike to pay him back? Even if he was down and out, he shouldn’t let this little girl go so far as to sell everything to get him money.

“You only got two hundred for it?”

Lu Zhen angrily patted Lu Yan on the head. “I bought that bike for a thousand, and you sold it for two hundred. That’s a real waste.”

“Ugh…”

Although he was reluctant, he still accepted the two hundred yuan and casually threw his arm around her shoulders. “You spent all of it already? Such a waste.”

“It’s because I was in a hurry.”

“When I have money in the future, I’ll buy you a new one.”

Lu Yan leaned against him, affectionately resting her head on his arm. “Dad, no matter what difficulties we face, don’t give up. Even if no one understands you, Yanyan will always be by your side.”

In the past, when Lu Yan had faced difficulties and couldn’t hold on, it was Lu Zhen who told her the same thing—

Don’t give up, even if the whole world dislikes you, your dad will always be by your side.

Lu Zhen moved his arm away, looking disgusted. “That’s too cheesy.”

Lu Yan smiled and snuggled closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Lu Zhen had raised her, acting as both her father and mother, which is why she had always been so attached to him.

Liang Ting laughed and said to Lu Zhen, “Shen Kuo can make money, we can make money too—more than him!”

Lu Zhen looked at the sunset in the distance and suddenly seemed energized. He stood up, raised his fist, and shouted, “I’m going to make a million!”

Qin Hao, infected by his enthusiasm, joined him and yelled, “I’m going to make ten million!”

“I’m going to have women on both sides! Let Shu Mengfei cry!”

“I’m going to marry ten wives!”

Lu Yan and Liang Ting exchanged looks, feeling embarrassed by the strange looks from people around them. It was so embarrassing!

Lu Yan knew that when her dad was young, he had done a lot of stupid things and was a completely rebellious teenager.

Before, Lu Yan could only imagine this from the stories her uncles told, but now she was experiencing it firsthand, and she found it quite amusing.

That evening, when Lu Yan came home from school, she saw a pink bicycle parked under the hanging vines of the pothos by the front door.

She quickened her pace and walked over, only to discover that the bike was exactly the same as the one she had sold before!

Curious, Lu Yan looked around. Apart from the neighbors in the community, there was no one else around.

Oh my God! How… did it come back?

Lu Yan hurriedly got on the bike, took a few laps around the grass to confirm that it was indeed the bike she had sold. She cherished the bike, and finding it again was such a pleasant surprise.

She decided to ride the bike directly to the shop and asked the shopkeeper what was going on.

The shopkeeper, familiar with the bike, said, “A handsome young man bought this bike before. How did it end up back in your hands?”

“Who bought it?”

“I just sell the bikes, I don’t know who bought it. The buyer looked to be around your age.”

“Around my age, huh.”

Lu Yan pushed the bike home, feeling very confused.

It couldn’t be Lu Zhen. Recently, he had been so poor that he was eating free soup rice in the cafeteria. He could barely take care of himself, let alone have the money to redeem a bike.

The tall young man stood at the door of a convenience store, lit a cigarette, and watched from a distance as Lu Yan’s petite figure walked by.

Shen Kuo was definitely not the type of person to do good deeds anonymously. On the contrary… he was sophisticated and smooth, and anything he did would surely be known by others, making sure they owed him a favor.

In this world, the path for poor people is narrow. If he wanted to widen his road, he needed to build connections and accumulate favors.

But this time, it was different.

Thinking back to the beginning of the semester, there had been a math practice workbook mysteriously placed on his desk—one he had been copying problems from at the bookstore but could never bring himself to buy.

Lu Yan had bought it for him and secretly placed it on his desk.

Shen Kuo didn’t understand why Lu Yan would do this. Perhaps… it was just that the rich young lady’s sympathy had flared up, like feeding a stray dog on the street. She might even have forgotten that she had helped him.

Shen Kuo also knew that he shouldn’t overthink it, shouldn’t be overly happy, and certainly shouldn’t think that there might be a girl in this world who would care about him or even… like him.

Shen Kuo never owed anyone anything, so this time, he considered it… paying back her unintentional kindness.

He crushed the cigarette butt on the tree trunk and turned to leave.

That afternoon, Lu Yan was holding a flyer and excitedly ran to Lu Zhen’s classroom to tell him some important news.

Unexpectedly, as she rounded the corner of the stairs, she bumped into a man.

The man’s chest was hard, the kind of solid muscle that made her head hurt from the collision.

She pressed her forehead and groggily looked up, meeting Shen Kuo’s narrow, dark brown eyes.

When he wasn’t smiling, his features carried a special aloofness, always giving off a vibe that made people feel he was untouchable.

“Ouch, that hurts!”

The moment she saw it was Shen Kuo, Lu Yan immediately switched into her acting mode, holding her head and crying out, “It hurts so much!”

Shen Kuo seemed to have just finished gym class, with his bangs slightly damp. Lu Yan could feel the masculine heat radiating off his body, constantly invading her senses.

“I didn’t bump into you, you threw yourself at me. Stop pretending.” Shen Kuo ruthlessly called her out.

Lu Yan stopped pretending, lowering her head and smiling slightly.

Anyway, in front of Shen Kuo, she had to “stir things up” a lot, cling to him, and rely on him, hoping that he would one day be generous and let her off.

Shen Kuo couldn’t understand what bad intentions this girl might have, so he casually asked, “Why are you running?”

“I’m looking for my brother. I have important news to report to him.” Lu Yan raised the flyer in her hand and flashed a smile at Shen Kuo.

Shen Kuo’s eyes darkened for a moment. His long fingers suddenly touched the corner of her lips. Lu Yan froze, as though frozen by a spell. She didn’t dare move, her whole body on alert, feeling extremely nervous.

His gaze was calm and gentle as he softly wiped away a small crumb of cookie stuck to the corner of her mouth.

Lu Yan could even feel his rough fingertip brushing lightly against her lips, sending a tingling sensation through her body.

Thinking back to the past, at the age of forty, Shen Kuo rarely looked at her with such a soft and intense gaze. He always seemed to stand in the shadows, away from the sunlight, watching her coldly and indifferently.

As a young man, Shen Kuo had less worldly sophistication and bitterness, but he had more passion.

“Mm…”

Lu Yan took a step back, looking somewhat cautious.

“He’s on the playground, probably in a bad mood.”

“What’s it to you?”

Lu Yan instinctively felt that Shen Kuo might have done something to provoke him. Every time Shen Kuo casually said something, it could send Lu Zhen into a fit of rage.

Shen Kuo gave a faint smile, not responding, and loosened the collar of his shirt, revealing a glimpse of his pale collarbone.

Lu Yan softly said, “Don’t bully him, okay?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What if I want to?”

“If you bully Lu Zhen, I’ll make you regret it!”

Lu Yan shook her fist at him, but her little hand, fair with a hint of pink, was completely non-threatening.

The smile in the corner of Shen Kuo’s eyes deepened. He dragged out his words, each one carefully emphasizing: “Oh, make me regret it?”

Lu Yan realized how foolish she sounded, so she quickly withdrew her fist and said weakly, “I… I’ll repay you if you let him go.”

Shen Kuo realized that this little girl was truly afraid of him.

He felt like, even if he had done something particularly terrible to Lu Zhen, it wasn’t really that bad. And if he were to do something, it wouldn’t be now.

He lowered his head, moved closer to her, and his lips brushed against her ear, his voice low and smooth: “How would you repay me?”

“I… I haven’t thought of it yet. I’ll figure it out later!”

Lu Yan quickly turned away from him and ran down the stairs, trying to hide the burning blush on her face.

Shen Kuo turned around, gazing at the slim, delicate back of the girl, his lips curling into a faint, subtle smile.

Most of the time, his smile wasn’t genuine.

But at least, when facing her, it truly felt pleasant.

—

Lu Yan found three dejected young mens by the playground.

Lu Zhen, wearing a red basketball jersey, angrily threw the basketball, which rolled a few times before landing at Lu Yan’s feet, where she stepped on it.

It was clear that these guys had been completely outplayed by an expert.

“I’m not playing basketball anymore, never again in my life.”

“Brother Lu, don’t give up. Although we can’t beat them at basketball, our grades are worse, and we can’t even win in a fight…”

Lu Zhen said indignantly, “So that means we’re worse than him at everything, right?”

Qin Hao quickly tried to smooth things over: “But we’ll be big bosses in the future! We’ll crush him in every way!”

Lu Zhen rubbed his nose and grumbled, “When I become a big boss, I’ll make him look bad.”

Lu Yan actually wanted to say, in reality, when you become a big boss one day, Shen Kuo could still crush you with a single finger, like squashing an ant with ease.

Lu Zhen turned to Lu Yan and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh!” Lu Yan quickly took out the crumpled flyer from her hand. “The New Star Cup Campus Talent Competition!”

Lu Zhen took the flyer and glanced at it nonchalantly. “What’s this nonsense?”

“It’s a talent competition where you can sing and dance. I heard the school holds it every year. The prize is 1,000 yuan!”

“You’re going to sing?”

“Yes!” Lu Yan looked at him eagerly. “I’m sure I can win, and we can pay off our debts. Grandpa will be happy too.”

Lu Zhen and Liang Ting exchanged looks and burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Lu Yan frowned. “Why are you laughing?”

Lu Zhen patted her on the shoulder. “Girl, back in primary school, you got up on stage to sing ‘Lost Love Lineup’ by Grasshoppers. Do you remember how badly it turned out? It was like a car crash scene.”

Lu Yan: …

She wasn’t like her little aunt, who would be off-key! She was almost going to debut in the center of a group! Back then, so many talent agencies wanted to sign her.

“Hmph, don’t look down on me!”

Liang Ting also said, “Lu Zhen’s not looking down on you. Since middle school, Lu Zhen’s ex-girlfriend, Shu Mengfei, has participated every year. She’s won two championships in a row and is aiming for a three-peat this year. If you think you’re going to beat her, it’s just a pipe dream…”

“Then I absolutely have to enter,” Lu Yan said determinedly. “This year, I’m going to take her down and ruin her three-peat, to get revenge for my dad!”

Although Lu Zhen and the two uncles didn’t think much of Lu Yan’s chances, she still signed up. When the time came, they would surely be in for a big surprise.