Ji Ruomeng shook her head with a wise and distant air. “You don’t understand the ways of the Jianghu^[1]in wuxia, the subculture of the martial arts community; in crime fiction, the subculture of the criminal underworld. His name has already become a legend. Best not to speak of it, best not.”

Too lazy to respond to this melodramatic girl, Qi An’an clicked her tongue and turned around, just in time to see Qi Zhen walking over. “Ah Zhen, are you coming to my place for dinner tonight? Uncle Chen has been experimenting with homemade desserts lately, and they’re pretty good.”

After starting high school, Qi Zhen had chosen to live on campus. Qi An’an had also wanted to, but Qi Yan absolutely forbade it. Qi An’an had already made him quite helpless by secretly enrolling in Xincheng No. 1 High without prior approval. How could he bear to let his little sister live alone on campus? He made a swift decision and bought her a new apartment right next to the school.

Qi Zhen smiled gently and said, “Sorry, An’an. I can’t make it tonight. I’ve made plans with Huihui and the others to eat out. There are seven or eight of us waiting outside already. If I don’t show up, they’ll hound me about it. I can’t stand them up.”

Qi Zhen really was popular, and Qi An’an smiled cheerfully. “That’s totally fine. Have fun, and you’re welcome at my place any time.”

Qi Zhen looked at Qi An’an’s open, carefree smile. Her expression shifted slightly, and she clenched her teeth inwardly.

She was pretty and well-liked, popular among their classmates. Qi Zhen didn’t believe Qi An’an wasn’t jealous of her deep down. But Qi An’an’s act was just too good, better than any award-winning actress.

Forcing herself to keep smiling, Qi Zhen said, “I’ll get going then.”

After she left, Ji Ruomeng snorted from the side. “Qi An’an! Why are you so friendly with Qi Zhen? You even invited her to your house for dinner? And you never invited me?”

The jealousy was practically visible in the air. Qi An’an laughed in spite of herself and quickly soothed Ji Ruomeng, “I was going to invite you too! How could I not? Mengmeng, come home with me and have some desserts, please? Give me a chance.”

Ji Ruomeng gave a lofty snort. “Fine, since you’re so pitiful about it. Let’s go.”

────ρя


Qi Zhen walked arm-in-arm with two female classmates. Just as they stepped out of the school gates, she suddenly stopped in her tracks when she spotted a few people across the street. “Hold on a sec.”

She looked across the street at a group of boys. “Wait for me a bit, I see an old friend over there. I’ll go say hi.”

Jiang Lu held a cigarette between his fingers but hadn’t lit it. His eyes were downcast, lost in thought. Around him, Zhou Qi and Jiang Zifan puffed away, smoke curling thick around them.

Jiang Zifan glanced at Jiang Lu several times, then couldn’t help but start chattering, “Brother Lu, what did He Jiahao say to piss you off so much? I was watching a variety show at the time so I didn’t hear anything. But you went off on him hard. I mean, I get why you got mad when Li Hanyu whistled at you before, but He Jiahao? He shouldn’t have dared to provoke you, right?”

Jiang Lu gave the other party a look but stayed silent.

Zhou Qi elbowed Jiang Zifan. “Can you stop asking already? Haven’t you noticed Brother Lu’s been in a bad mood since then? Keep poking and he might beat you up too.”

“Fair point.” Jiang Zifan changed the topic, “Man, traffic’s awful right now. The ride we ordered is stuck. It says eight more minutes……”

He trailed off, staring dumbfounded at someone walking toward them. He smacked Zhou Qi. “Lao Zhou, is that Qi Zhen? The girl who won first place in the campus beauty poll? Looks like she’s coming this way.”

It didn’t take long to confirm. Qi Zhen was indeed walking straight toward them. She stopped right in front of Jiang Lu. “Jiang Lu, it really is you. Long time no see. I thought I was mistaken when I spotted you from across the street. You……”

She gave Jiang Lu a once-over. He wasn’t wearing a school uniform, but he had the jacket of Xincheng No. 1 High draped over his arm.

Jiang Lu enrolled at Xincheng No. 1 High? But Qi An’an had clearly said he went to No. 7 High.

So they both enrolled in Xincheng No. 1, and Qi An’an didn’t know? That meant Jiang Lu had lied to her. Now that was interesting.

Qi Zhen lowered her head, unable to hide a subtle smile. She used to think Jiang Lu might like Qi An’an a little. But now it seemed she’d been overthinking it.

She had been interested in Jiang Lu from the first time they met. But she was also looking for the man from her dream— the one she’d promised to treat better. Plus, with Jiang Lu supposedly at No. 7 High, far away, she’d let the idea go.

But now the timing was perfect. Even if he wasn’t the one she was looking for, it wouldn’t hurt to flirt a bit and make him fall head over heels.

With that thought, Qi Zhen looked up and smiled warmly at Jiang Lu. “It’s been so long, and what a coincidence running into you today. Let’s grab dinner together. You guys haven’t eaten yet, right? It’ll be a good chance to get to know each other and make some friends.”

She smiled at Zhou Qi and Jiang Zifan. The two exchanged glances and looked to Jiang Lu.

From the moment Qi Zhen had walked over, Jiang Lu had been lazily watching her, eyes cold and unreadable.

“What do you say? I know a nice private kitchen restaurant behind the school. Let’s go together.” Qi Zhen encouraged him, seeing his silence.

Jiang Lu suddenly curled his lips into a faint smirk. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he slowly lifted the cigarette to his mouth, lit it, took a deep drag, and finally said, “Qi Zhen, I was going to let you off. But you came to me yourself, so don’t blame me later.”

His voice was cool and indifferent, his words neither loud nor soft, but anyone with half a brain could sense the underlying danger.

Jiang Zifan, of course, had no brain. He was practically thrilled. So the two knew each other? And Jiang Lu’s words were way too suggestive. This was definitely some mutual romantic tension, and they were about to witness it firsthand!

He shot Zhou Qi a look. Oddly, Zhou Qi just glanced between Jiang Lu and Qi Zhen without reacting.

Qi Zhen was briefly stunned, then lowered her head, cheeks tinged with pink.

Jiang Lu looked on with a cold expression, a trace of mockery flickering in his eyes.

His life was already an abyss, full of despair and darkness. He didn’t mind dragging someone down with him.

Since Jiang Lu didn’t refuse, Qi Zhen turned around and went to cancel her dinner plans with the other girls. They didn’t have their phones with them, so she had to go back and tell them in person.

Before she left, one of the girls said, “Qi Zhen, those boys don’t look like good students. None of them are wearing uniforms, and they’re smoking. You really shouldn’t hang around with them.”

Qi Zhen smiled and replied casually, “It’s fine. We’re super close. Even if they fight all the time, they’re perfect gentlemen with me. Don’t worry.”

Across the street, Jiang Lu was still smoking lazily. Jiang Zifan couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Brother Lu, you know Qi Zhen? You never mentioned her before. You’re seriously good at keeping things under wraps! What’s going on between you two? Come on, spill it!”

Jiang Lu said, “Don’t know her. She came on her own. Didn’t you see?”

Zhou Qi laughed. “That’s true, Brother Lu is endlessly charming.”

Jiang Lu exhaled a puff of smoke and asked, “I remember you have Li Hanyu’s number. Give him a call and tell him I want to have dinner with him tonight.”

Zhou Qi didn’t quite understand. “Huh? Dinner with him?”

Jiang Lu replied, “Yeah.” Trash belongs with trash.

Just as he said that, a car sped past in front of them, making Jiang Lu freeze.

He instinctively set the cigarette down.

He had seen it wrong. It couldn’t be. Jiang Lu stared, dazed, at the car that had already vanished. It was just the same bun hairstyle and the same warm smile. It flashed by so quickly that it fooled his eyes.

Zhou Qi had still been waiting for Jiang Lu to finish his sentence when he saw him suddenly stop talking, standing there like a lost soul staring at the car long gone.

He had never seen Jiang Lu with this expression before, like something precious had been snatched away. Zhou Qi asked uncertainly, “Brother Lu, you just said you wanted to have dinner with Li Hanyu? Didn’t Li Hanyu mess with you before? I think he’s been avoiding you lately. But of course, if you want him to come, he wouldn’t dare say no.”

“Forget it. Let’s go.”

“Huh? What about Qi Zhen? She’s still across the street and hasn’t—”

Jiang Lu closed his eyes briefly and clenched the cigarette in his palm until the last ember was extinguished. He said, “Let’s go.”

────ρя


In the car, Ji Ruomeng leaned back with her eyes closed, resting. Suddenly, she said, “An’an, don’t be friends with that Qi Zhen anymore.”

“Hmm? Why’s that?”

“Ugh, don’t you think she’s kind of fake? I mean, I’m not bad-mouthing her behind her back or anything……” Halfway through, Ji Ruomeng changed her tone, “Even if I am talking bad about her, I’m not guilty about it. Just look at the way she looks at you. It’s weird. It’s like she wants to act superior but can’t quite match up. Girls like that are the worst.”

Qi An’an smiled and didn’t say anything. After spending so much time together, and being a girl herself, even with her generous filter for Qi Zhen, she had still noticed a few things.

It wasn’t anything blatant, but she sensed that Qi Zhen didn’t really like her. There was also this faint desire to outshine her. Whenever they interacted, Qi Zhen always seemed slightly forced and unnatural.

But Qi An’an could understand that kind of distance and need to compare. After all, Qi Zhen was different from Jiang Lu. Jiang Lu was just a regular classmate, while there was still an awkward status imbalance between Qi An’an and Qi Zhen.

Qi An’an didn’t like making others uncomfortable. If Qi Zhen really resisted being friends with her, she wouldn’t push it.

“Alright, alright, you jealous little thing.” Qi An’an said with a laugh, pinching Ji Ruomeng’s cheek. “I’m not even that close to her. She has her own group, and I have my friends. Look, you’re already pulling a long face again.”

It was true that Qi An’an really liked Ji Ruomeng. Being with the other party felt easy and pleasant, except she got jealous way too easily and needed constant pampering.

“Stop inviting her to your place and invite me more.”

“Got it.”

After coaxing Ji Ruomeng, Qi An’an rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window. Who could understand the sorrow of a CP fan like her? Jiang Lu had suddenly started avoiding her, and Qi Zhen didn’t want to be her friend either. The two were miles apart.

Qi An’an sighed. She had been too greedy, dreaming of sweet moments between the two. Now, even seeing them in the same frame would be a miracle.

Forget it. A shared frame was a distant dream now. She could barely even catch a glimpse of Jiang Lu, let alone expect Qi Zhen to have anything to do with him.

────ρя


The next day after school, the weather was clear. Qi An’an decided to walk home. Ji Ruomeng had once shown her a shortcut, a small path that would cut the distance. She had never taken it before, so today seemed like the perfect chance to try it out.

Unfortunately, her journey started off poorly. Halfway through the winding alley, she suddenly heard the sounds of a scuffle ahead.

She frowned. The alley was only wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side. If she kept going, she’d walk straight into the fight. Having never encountered something like a school brawl before, she decided to stop and wait until the people left.

From the sounds, the fight was just around the corner and was close enough that she could hear every word clearly. One boy kept begging in a panicked voice.

“Brother Lu, I was wrong, I really was wrong. I shouldn’t have tried to get back at you. I won’t ever dare again……”

Another voice, fast and angry, cut in, “What the hell, He Jiahao, are you insane? Where was this attitude when you brought over a dozen people to ambush us? You came with knives and bats. Real tough guy, huh? What now? Planning to kill us or something?”

The boy called He Jiahao was nearly crying. “I was wrong…… I really won’t do it again! I swear it won’t happen again! Brother Lu, I now know why you beat me up before……”

“Why?”

That voice! Qi An’an’s eyes flew open wide, blinking in disbelief. She stared toward the corner, then suddenly rushed forward.

Jiang Lu had one hand gripping He Jiahao’s collar, pinning him to the wall. After one summer, he had grown even taller— nearly 188 centimeters— half a head taller than He Jiahao. Held from above in a single-handed grip, He Jiahao couldn’t even struggle.

Jiang Lu leaned in closer, speaking in a low voice only the two of them could hear, “Tell me, why?”

“Because you like—” Seeing Jiang Lu’s cold, pitch-black eyes, He Jiahao finally showed a sliver of sense and changed his words immediately. “Because…… because I ran my mouth. I said the wrong thing. I deserved to be punished. Brother Lu, I was wrong, I swear I won’t do it again……”

Suddenly, from nearby, Jiang Zifan shouted, “What are you looking at? Think this is a show? Move along, move along!”

Jiang Lu lazily glanced in that direction.

And in the next moment, his expression completely froze.