Chapter 21

On his way to school, Shen Kuo was stopped by a group of young thugs at the alley entrance.

He recognized them—they were Wu Qiang and Zhao Shen underlings. They used to work as security at a nightclub, but after the club shut down, they lost their jobs and had been wandering aimlessly on the streets.

Shen Kuo noticed that they were holding sticks, knowing that their intentions weren’t good.

They blamed him for their job loss and were looking for trouble for him.

Shen Kuo was in a hurry to see Lu Yan’s competition and didn’t have time to deal with them, so he decided to end it quickly.

He was skilled in martial arts, but outnumbered. After knocking them down, he was left with injuries on his face and body.

With no time to deal with his wounds, he hailed a cab and rushed to Beicheng No. 3 Middle School. He got out at the school gate and ran to the small auditorium on the west side of the campus.

He finally caught up.

Today was his birthday, and the girl he liked would sing a song for him under the spotlight.

Perhaps this would be the best day of his otherwise gloomy seventeen years.

The girl sat on a chair on stage, wearing a plain long dress, holding a wooden-colored guitar in her arms. She looked fresh and elegant.

She began to sing slowly, her voice like the sound of heaven, captivating the entire audience with her beautiful tone.

Her eyes were clear and pure, without a hint of impurity, so beautiful it seemed as if she was glowing.

However, Shen Kuo’s expression slowly darkened.

This song wasn’t for him.

As Lu Yan sang, her eyes gently curved, and her tender gaze fell on the boy in the front row—Lu Zhen.

Shen Kuo suddenly felt a hollow emptiness in his heart, realizing how foolish he was.

Compared to him, an unnoticed, gloomy boy in a corner, her family was her true support.

Shen Kuo didn’t have such a beautiful family, which meant that everything about him was incomplete. How could he ever hope to hold a place in her heart?

How laughable.

He watched as Lu Yan finished singing the song quietly, saw the audience erupt in applause, watched her bow and thank them, and saw Lu Zhen rush onto the stage to present her with a large bouquet of brightly blooming champagne roses, followed by a big hug.

She grew in the warmth of sunlight, surrounded by an abundance of love.

He shouldn’t have hoped for it…

It was overambitious.

Lu Yan saw Shen Kuo’s desolate figure by the wall, his disappointed expression making her heart feel as though it had been pricked by a needle.

She felt a sense of guilt, as if she had let him down.

She had already promised him…

After Lu Yan left the stage, the next performance was by Shu Mengfei. Shu Mengfei was stunned by Lu Yan’s earlier performance. Her steps were unsteady when she took the stage…

She didn’t expect that Lu Yan, who everyone said was tone-deaf, would have such a heavenly voice. Compared to hers, her own voice felt… so ordinary.

She had originally planned to use Lu Yan’s poor performance to warm up the audience for her own, but she never expected that Lu Yan would perform so well.

When the music began, Shu Mengfei couldn’t focus, and she struggled to keep up with the melody. Once the mistakes started, it became even harder to find the rhythm. As a result, her performance ended up being a disaster.

The audience kept shaking their heads, and even her music teacher, who had always guided her, frowned. When the performance ended, the applause was sparse.

There’s no harm in comparison. Her performance, when compared to Lu Yan’s stunning performance, was worlds apart.

Afterward, Lu Yan went backstage, where Lu Zhen was already waiting in the corridor.

Upon seeing her, the young man rushed over and gave her a big hug, excitedly spinning her around.

“My sister is amazing!”

“How was it?”

“Our mom was wiping her eyes earlier, and dad even handed her a tissue.”

“Sounds good. Do you think she has a chance?”

“Hmm… we need to put in a bit more effort.”

Lu Yan sat down to remove her makeup, lazily seeming a bit down.

Seeing her like this, Lu Zhen walked over and ruffled her hair. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know… I just didn’t perform very well.”

“No way! That was great. The song you sang for dad earlier even made the principal stand up and clap.”

Lu Yan wiped half of her eyeshadow off, then turned to Lu Zhen and said, “That song was for you.”

“I thought it was for dad?”

“You are my dad, silly!”

Lu Zhen’s lips twitched as he rubbed her head. “My sister’s brain is sometimes good, sometimes it’s not.”

“…”

“Go ahead and remove your makeup. I’ll come back later.”

“Don’t come back…”

Lu Zhen had just left for less than two minutes when he hurriedly returned, excitedly saying, “Mom and Dad are here!”

Lu Yan stood up, and about to head out.

Lu Zhen grabbed her arm and said, “No, you can’t go out.”

“What’s going on?”

Lu Zhen looked around, then entered the narrow, empty props room. He smiled slyly and said to Lu Yan, “I’ve got an idea!”

“What are you planning to do?”

“They don’t get the chance to be together very often. I want to make something big happen. Just cooperate with me.”

Before Lu Yan could respond, Lu Zhen shoved her behind the curtains to hide.

“Don’t do anything crazy! They’ll be mad!”

Lu Zhen winked at her. “Don’t worry.”

Lu Jian and Meng Zhining were quite the pair of enemies. Even though Lu Yan was hidden behind the curtains, she could hear their bickering from far away.

“Stinky man, don’t follow me!”

“I’m here to see my daughter. Who’s following you?”

“Stay two meters away from me!”

“Stop being unreasonable!”

Lu Yan found it amusing. Grandpa Lu Jian was usually very serious at home. Even with Shi Xuexian, he rarely showed any lighthearted smile, let alone joked or scolded like this.

The two of them walked into the makeup room, where they didn’t see Lu Yan but found Lu Zhen grinning at the door.

Meng Zhining asked, “Son, where’s your sister?”

“She’s in the props room moving things around. Mom, Dad, you can go help her.”

“You brat! You’re just standing here while your sister is doing all the work. What kind of brother are you?”

Lu Jian scolded his son and immediately walked toward the props room, with Meng Zhining following closely behind.

“Yanyan, Mommy’s here to help you.”

“Yanyan, Dad’s here to help.”

As soon as they entered the props room, they heard a loud “bang” as the door slammed shut.

“Mom and Dad, it seems like the door’s broken. Wait a minute, I’ll go get someone to open it for you!”

Lu Zhen covered his mouth, laughing happily.

Lu Yan stepped out, and he kept signaling her with hand gestures.

“You brat, what are you doing? Open the door!”

“Lu Zhen, open the door right now, or you’ll regret it!”

The props room wasn’t very big, and the two adults standing inside made it feel cramped.

“Don’t touch me!” Meng Zhining shrieked. “I’m warning you, stay away from me.”

It was rare for Lu Jian to lose his temper like this. He knocked loudly on the props room door, shouting, “Lu Zhen, I’m warning you, open the door now! Your mom has claustrophobia, don’t mess around!”

Lu Yan kept pulling on Lu Zhen’s sleeve. “Open it quickly, stop messing around, or I won’t be able to save you when you get a beating when we go home.”

Lu Zhen whispered, “Just two minutes, two minutes, it’ll be fine.”

Meng Zhining slowly squatted down, hugging her knees tightly, trembling with anxiety. “I can’t… I can’t breathe anymore.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Lu Jian said in panic, quickly taking off his suit jacket and draping it over Meng Zhining’s small body to wrap her up. “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

“Get off me!”

Meng Zhining shoved Lu Jian away angrily. “It’s so dirty!”

“Dirty? What’s dirty?”

“You’re with that kind of woman. Don’t you dare touch me!”

Lu Jian: …

He stood up slowly, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “I’m with her because…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Lu Yan and Lu Zhen exchanged looks, feeling like they had messed up.

Two minutes later, Lu Yan opened the door. Lu Jian helped Meng Zhining up, and they both walked out of the cramped props room.

“Where’s your brother?”

Lu Yan innocently blinked her eyes. “He… ran away.”

At the new talent competition for the New Star Cup, Lu Yan rightfully took first place.

Who would have thought that Lu Zhen’s sister, who was rumored to be mentally challenged, would have such a heavenly voice? Not only that, under the spotlight, she resembled a female version of Lu Zhen, with bright peach blossom eyes that were mesmerizing.

The boys who had firmly refused to admit that Lu Zhen was handsome immediately slapped themselves in the face when they saw Lu Yan.

Lu Yan received a 2,000 yuan reward from the school.

Shu Mengfei, in second place, stood silently, with only a trophy and no other reward. She clenched her teeth, her clothes almost crumpled in her grip.

This reward should have been hers.

Just as Lu Yan was about to accept her certificate, a girl suddenly stood up and said:

“Lu Yan’s family is so rich, she doesn’t even need that 2,000 yuan.”

Immediately, another girl echoed, “Yeah, Feifei’s family isn’t well off. That money should’ve gone to Feifei.”

“If I were the school leader, I would give the first prize to Lu Yan, but I would give the reward money to Shu Mengfei.”

“That arrangement makes sense.”

—

Lu Yan looked over at them and recognized that the group of girls were Shu Mengfei’s close friends.

Lu Yan had personal experience with this, in this day and age, the thinking was not yet very open, and the issue of wealth and poverty was still quite sensitive.

Whoever was weaker was considered right. In twenty years, this might be criticized as being unreasonable, but in the society at that time, most of the time, the weaker person was justified.

Since someone had brought it up and others had heard it, the school leadership couldn’t just ignore it.

The principal, a slightly chubby middle-aged man, cleared his throat and said, “We are awarding the first prize to Lu Yan for the wonderful performance she gave us today. However, I believe that Lu Yan, as a student with noble character, will be willing to donate this prize money to a fellow student who needs it more.”

The audience applauded.

This was definitely a moral coercion.

Everyone in the audience eagerly looked at Lu Yan, hoping she would donate the money to someone who needed help more, like Shu Mengfei.

Shu Mengfei showed no sign of feeling embarrassed, instead, she smugly looked at Lu Yan.

Lu Yan knew this was like forcing her hand, she had to donate the money, or she would be criticized.

Lu Jian looked at Lu Yan, seemingly encouraging her to donate the money and gain a good reputation for being helpful.

Meng Zhining was also mouthing to Lu Yan that her mother would make up for the money if she donated it.

Lu Yan faintly pursed her lips and said, “Alright, I’m willing to donate this money to a student who needs help more.”

Shu Mengfei proudly smiled and bent her eyes, walking up to Lu Yan and sincerely saying, “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

Lu Yan lifted her chin, giving her a cold glare. “Did I say I was giving it to you?”

Upon hearing this, Shu Mengfei’s face changed dramatically. “W-what do you mean?”

“I’m donating this money to a student who needs help more, but not to you.” She looked Shu Mengfei up and down. “The dress you’re wearing is probably worth no less than five hundred yuan.”

What does five hundred mean? Back in Lu Yan’s time, the cost of living was nearly one-tenth of what it was now. Five hundred back then was roughly equivalent to five thousand now.

Looking at it from today’s perspective, that price was astounding for a student.

The students below started whispering and gossiping.

Indeed, the fluffy purple dress that Shu Mengfei was wearing today looked gorgeous, and its price definitely wasn’t cheap.

Lu Yan knew exactly how much the dress cost because it was a gift from Lu Zhen to Shu Mengfei. She had heard Liang Ting mention that after school every day, Shu Mengfei would stop by the clothing counters on Commercial Street and eye this dress.

But she never asked Lu Zhen to buy it for her, which made Lu Zhen, that foolish straight guy, feel incredibly heartbroken… He saved up two months’ worth of pocket money and even lied to his father, saying he needed to buy study materials and tutoring supplies, just to finally save enough to buy this dress for Shu Mengfei.

Lu Yan publicly exposed the price of Shu Mengfei’s dress, and the school leaders and teachers, unaware of the details of their underground relationship, showed confused expressions on their faces.

However, the students who knew about Shu Mengfei’s family background had more or less guessed who had bought her the dress.

Shu Mengfei clenched her teeth tightly, clearly embarrassed.

Lu Yan gave her no opportunity to save face.

At this moment, a school leader stepped forward and asked Lu Yan, “Well… Lu Yan, which student in need would you like to donate this reward money to?”

Lu Yan scanned the entire auditorium. She wasn’t familiar with the family backgrounds of these unfamiliar students, but the one person she did know… was the man sitting at the back of the hall.

“I want to donate this money to…”

The words “Shen Kuo” were about to slip from her tongue when, suddenly, Shen Kuo stood up. With a slight curve of his eyes, he spoke in a mocking tone, “A group of people here are forcing a little girl to give away the money she earned with hard work. There’s no such thing in this world.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room was in an uproar.

At that time, the concept of “moral coercion” didn’t exist, and people were more likely to enjoy a story about selfless devotion without expecting anything in return.

Lu Yan looked up at the young man sitting in the last row. He lazily leaned against the back of his chair, a cold smile on his face. He seemed rebellious and unruly, completely out of sync with the other students around him.

He was the only one in the room who was on Lu Yan’s side.

At this moment, one of Shu Mengfei’s close friends muttered softly, “What’s the big deal? She just went up to sing a song, and now she’s talking about money she worked hard for. It’s too exaggerated.”

Shen Kuo snorted coldly, “Then you go up and sing a song, and let’s see if this money will end up in your hands.”

For the first time in her life, that girl… was confronted by Shen Kuo, the most difficult and least approachable student in the school. Her face turned bright red, and she immediately lowered her head, falling silent.

The school leader quickly intervened, “The student in the back has a point. We can’t force Lu Yan to donate this money. That’s not right. So, we’ll let this matter go. If Lu Yan wishes, she can donate privately. Of course, if she doesn’t want to, that’s fine too. It’s okay.”

The money was originally meant to help her father, Lu Zhen, pay off the remaining debt, so he could use it for that.

The situation quieted down, and Lu Yan looked at Shen Kuo gratefully. Shen Kuo didn’t say anything, and after the competition ended, he turned and left the auditorium, his back slightly hunched, looking weary.

Lu Yan felt a pang of guilt and immediately ran after him.