Chapter 27: Are You Calling Me Old?

Qiao Wu was caught off guard by the question. She hadn’t expected someone like Lu Jinzhi to care about such a trivial matter, leaving her completely unprepared.

After a moment of stunned silence, she quickly found an excuse: “It’s just… a friend you don’t know.”

“Before you said it, I didn’t know,” Lu Jinzhi replied.

But after you said it, that might change.

“…” Qiao Wu’s expression remained blank. “It’s just a misunderstanding. Do you really have to embarrass me like this?”

Lu Jinzhi leaned back in the car seat, his hands casually folded in front of him. Hearing her words, he tilted his head slightly to glance at her, then chuckled and admitted straightforwardly, “Yes.”

Of course.

Qiao Wu thought to herself, some traits are ingrained in a person’s nature and can’t be changed, no matter how much they evolve.

Perhaps because Lu Jinzhi was smarter than the average person, he had never been able to empathize with others easily. He enjoyed observing people’s emotions through their obvious expressions, which often led to his mischievous tendencies. As a child, he had been even worse, frequently taking things that Lu Xuan and Lu Yingchi liked. It seemed he hadn’t changed much.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have frozen Lu Xuan’s credit card over a single sentence.

“Then it was meant for you,” Qiao Wu went along with his words. “What do you think about it now?”

Lu Jinzhi actually took a second to think seriously.

Then he said, “I don’t dare to think about it. It’s terrifying.”

“Then don’t ask,” Qiao Wu retorted. “Otherwise, I’ll ask you the same question every day from now on.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected threat, Lu Jinzhi paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Strangely, hearing this threat didn’t irritate him as much as the earlier message had. Maybe it was because Qiao Wu had seen through his trick, or perhaps it was because her tone didn’t seem to care at all.

In any case, he found it amusing.

Truthfully, he didn’t really care about her earlier clumsy excuse. Whether it was true or false, whether it was meant for him or someone else, once he made a decision, he rarely looked back.

It was just that, the moment he saw Qiao Wu, he suddenly wanted to hear what her expression and tone would be like when she said those words.

Luckily, it wasn’t serious.

After all, the last time he had a proper conversation with Qiao Wu was over a decade ago, when she was just a child of about ten.

“I won’t ask anymore.”

He didn’t want to waste his energy on such meaningless questions.

The two of them didn’t have the kind of relationship where they could reminisce about the past, and Lu Jinzhi didn’t want to spend his rare moment of leisure listening to work reports. So, after his mischievous curiosity wasn’t satisfied, he closed his eyes to rest.

When he opened them again, they had arrived at the Lu Residence.

For Lu Jinzhi, home was just a place where he could sleep comfortably. Life there was convenient enough, but beyond that, it held no special meaning. Even though he hadn’t been back in two years, he had no interest in any changes that might have occurred. It was just another place to work.

So, after getting out of the car, he walked with little enthusiasm, his eyes downcast as he headed straight upstairs. His steps weren’t large, but his long legs allowed him to move quickly.

Qiao Wu followed behind, keeping pace with him. “When would be a good time to pick out the dress? I’ll have it sent over.”

Suddenly, the person in front of her came to an abrupt stop. Qiao Wu nearly bumped into his shoulder but managed to sidestep just in time, her arm barely grazing Lu Jinzhi’s elbow.

In the sweltering heat of summer, everyone instinctively pays more attention to anything cool.

Lu Jinzhi glanced to his side and caught a glimpse of a slender, pale arm moving away, the fleeting coolness gone in an instant.

He averted his gaze: “Whatever.”

Seeing that he seemed in good spirits, Qiao Wu said, “Then let’s do it now. The earlier we start, the more time we’ll have to choose.”

Lu Jinzhi didn’t respond. He was looking at the code of conduct and short-term goals posted on the wall of the first-floor living room, his eyes filled with confusion.

He had only seen such things in elementary school classrooms, and even then, few people followed them. Why were they here?

For the first time in many years, Lu Jinzhi realized that the Lu Family was not as uniform as he had thought.

He walked over and read through all the rules, noticing that each one was highly specific, almost as if they were tailored to individuals. In the bottom right corner of the code was a familiar phoenix leaf.

He concluded—Qiao Wu had done this.

Since twelve years ago, every member of the Lu Family had taken different paths, so Lu Jinzhi had always believed that they were destined to become strangers under the same roof, bound only by blood.

But now, seeing these names closely intertwined in the same frame, he felt an even stranger sensation.

After a long while, his eyes shifted slightly: “Did I come to the wrong house?”

“Hmm?” Qiao Wu, who had just finished contacting someone about the formal attire, followed his gaze and suddenly understood. “These are the family rules they set before. Do you see anything unreasonable? Anything that needs to be changed?”

Lu Jinzhi was straightforward: “Its very existence is unreasonable.”

“They were quite enthusiastic about it,” Qiao Wu said.

“Even more unreasonable.”

Lu Jinzhi turned around and asked with a smile, “You seem to know them well.”

“After living under the same roof for so many years, isn’t it natural to know them?”

“But you’re Qiao Wu,” Lu Jinzhi said.

“So?”

Lu Jinzhi didn’t look at that childish thing again, as if even a glance would be a waste of his time. Hearing Qiao Wu’s matter-of-fact “So?” made him find it somewhat amusing.

He turned around, his gaze gently resting on her eyes, and asked softly, “Are you saying that while you claim to focus only on me, you’ve also been paying attention to others and have come to understand them thoroughly?”

Qiao Wu: “…It’s subtle influence.”

“So, how much subtle influence have you had on me?” Lu Jinzhi asked patiently.

There really wasn’t any.

Based on her reaction, Lu Jinzhi concluded with a light laugh, “So, as the person assisting me, you know the least about me.”

From Qiao Wu’s shallow understanding of Lu Jinzhi over the past decade or so, he never showed obvious possessiveness toward anyone or anything because he would immediately calculate its value.

He would go to any lengths to get what he wanted, and he wouldn’t hesitate to discard those whose hearts weren’t with him.

So, his current words and actions were merely to see her surprise and panic, satisfying his desire to glimpse her true emotions.

Thus, she calmly said, “That’s not necessarily true.”

“Hmm?”

“The Old Master once told me that I needed to assist the future leader of the Lu Family,” Qiao Wu said with a light smile, raising her eyes. “But it’s still uncertain. After all, you never gave me the chance to understand you in the past, so I could only focus on understanding others. Besides, the Lu Family has more than just you. Didn’t Lu Xuan also say he wanted to replace you? Who says you’re definitely the future leader?”

Lu Jinzhi’s brow twitched slightly.

“Not to mention Lu Xuan, Lu Yingchi is only eighteen, full of energy and potential,” Qiao Wu pointed to the list of names she had written down. “And even if not him, there’s still Lu Ning. She’s smart, lively, and driven. By the time she reaches your age, she might achieve even more than you.”

Lu Jinzhi: “…”

He quickly processed all the information and arrived at a conclusion: “Are you saying I’m old?”

Only eighteen.

Your age.

What age was he? Wasn’t he just twenty-seven?

Lu Jinzhi was used to hearing people praise him as young and accomplished, a genius in his youth. This was the first time someone had referred to him as being of “this age.”

Qiao Wu: “?”

What kind of strange logic was this?

Her tone remained gentle: “No, I’m just reminding you that newcomers can surpass you, so you still need to work hard.”

She then asked, “Didn’t you read the document I sent you?”

What document?

That strange Overbearing President Anti-Pitfall Guide?

“Do I need to read something like that?” The thought of it made Lu Jinzhi feel like his eyes were being tainted.

“One of the classic flaws of traditional overbearing presidents is arrogance and complacency. That’s not good,” Qiao Wu kindly reminded him. “It can lead to disaster, in every sense of the word.”

Lu Jinzhi found this amusing.

Now she wasn’t just calling him old, but also arrogant.

“You’re really something.”

“Did I catch your attention?” Qiao Wu asked cautiously. “Any normal person would think that way, so you should be careful not to develop such thoughts. That’s even more dangerous.”

What a mess.

Lu Jinzhi completely abandoned the idea of finding amusement in her. His expression finally turned indifferent as he turned and walked out the door.

“Weren’t we supposed to look at clothes? Where are you going?”

Without looking back, Lu Jinzhi replied, “I’ll have the models take pictures and send them over.”

In most cases, they didn’t personally try on the clothes. The brands kept their measurements updated in real-time, so the clothes sent over always fit perfectly. They mainly looked at the styles and kept what they liked.

For custom-made formal wear, they could try it on if they wanted, but if not, the models would wear it and show them.

Qiao Wu’s job didn’t require her to follow anyone around constantly, so she didn’t interfere much with Lu Jinzhi’s schedule.

After leaving the main house, Lu Jinzhi didn’t go far. Seeing the leaf on the code of conduct reminded him of his earlier plan.

He decided to visit the Repository of Books.

As he walked, his mind raced.

Once again, he had misjudged Qiao Wu. She hadn’t remained the same; she had become even more formidable.

The Qiao Wu from his childhood would never have spoken to him so harshly. Back then, she was quiet and obedient, often looking at him with admiration.

Being envied by Lu Xuan and Lu Yingchi, those fools, wasn’t something to be proud of.

But being admired by a clever and well-behaved child like Qiao Wu had indeed brought him joy during his youth and had been a source of his confidence.

Yet now, she was the one calling him arrogant.

It bothered him.

She wasn’t wrong. She had indeed caught his attention.

The Repository of Books was empty, but on the table in the center of the first floor, some books and stationery were neatly arranged.

Lu Jinzhi noticed a few familiar books and paused for a moment.

The servants of the Lu Family would never leave these books scattered on the table unless someone had specifically instructed them to do so. But who else in the Lu Family would come here besides him?

He walked over and opened the topmost book, *Sophie’s World*.

There was a bookmark inside, indicating that someone had been reading it recently.

Then he saw the familiar handwriting—notes left by Qiao Wu over a decade ago, which he had seen before he left.

In addition, there were one or two new sticky notes, but they only had messy scribbles, crooked and illegible.

Lu Jinzhi felt an inexplicable sense of intrusion, as if his private territory had been violated, but he wasn’t one to suffer in silence.

So without hesitation, he removed those two scribbled sticky notes.

Hmm, that felt much better.

He continued flipping through the book.

But no new sticky notes appeared, and Lu Jinzhi’s anticipation over the past few days gradually faded. Just as he was about to close the book, a sticky note fell out.

His gaze fell on it and suddenly froze.

Unlike the previous new sticky notes, this time, beneath his old note, there was a familiar handwriting.

“She will cross the sea of freedom and go wherever she wants to go.”

He had always been confident in his memory, especially when it came to things he had left behind.

So this latest sentence must have been written after he went abroad.

When he went abroad, Qiao Wu had also gone abroad, so this response on the sticky note.

Had arrived twelve years late.

The questions he had been harboring over this period seemed to have found an answer in this moment.

A soft sound at the door interrupted Lu Jinzhi’s thoughts. Holding the sticky note, he turned around and saw Lu Ning entering with her backpack.

Lu Ning hadn’t expected anyone to be in the Repository of Books. Wasn’t Lu Yingchi supposed to come back late today?

She was pulling out her homework as she said, “I finished my assignment at school today… Yikes yikes yikes!”

When she saw the figure standing by the table, she slammed on the brakes and pressed herself against the wall, clutching her backpack to her chest, staring nervously at the tall man.

Lu Jinzhi never acted according to convention, and no one could guess his thoughts. So when he left two years ago, it was without a word. If it hadn’t been for Grandfather’s furious return, no one would have known.

She had never dared to get close to Lu Jinzhi. Even when they occasionally shared a meal, she would sit as far away as possible, finish quickly, and leave. He, on the other hand, seemed to pay no attention to her, barely exchanging any words.

So when Lu Jinzhi left, she felt as if the mountain pressing down on her had suddenly disappeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, that mountain had silently returned, and the two years hadn’t diminished his aura in the slightest. If anything, it had grown stronger. The light seemed to focus solely on him, casting a shadow over his cold face, making his expression unreadable.

He… he’s back!

Oh right, he was supposed to come back.

Lu Ning instinctively wanted to run.

But Lu Jinzhi’s gaze pinned her in place, and after the initial shock, she didn’t dare to speak.

Hearing her string of “yikes,” Lu Jinzhi was inexplicably reminded of Qiao Wu’s comment about his age.

He looked away and said indifferently, “Next time, call me that in front of your grandfather.”

Lu Ning: “…”

She thought Lu Jinzhi would ignore her as usual, but unexpectedly, this time he picked up a sticky note: “Did you write this?”

Lu Ning realized it was the one she had left in the book.

“Um… I tried to blend in,” she said timidly.

“You blended in very poorly. Don’t do it again,” Lu Jinzhi said as he tossed the note onto the table. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think the servants were raising chickens here.”

Lu Ning felt humiliated, but she didn’t dare to retort. She just kept her head down, walked over, and picked up her sticky note, planning to put it back when Lu Jinzhi wasn’t around.

“Are all these yours?” Lu Jinzhi picked up a workbook from the pile.

Lu Ning had been doing her homework in the Repository of Books recently. It was quiet, and she could read, so she had left many things there, including some workbooks.

She nodded.

Lu Jinzhi’s slender fingers lightly flipped through the pages.

Lu Ning hunched her shoulders, her heart tightening with his every movement.

Having Lu Yingchi look over her homework and having Lu Jinzhi look over it were completely different experiences.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a cold, emotionless scoff fell over her head: “Might as well raise a chicken.”

Lu Jinzhi closed the workbook.

From start to finish, it was nothing but mediocrity.

Lu Ning swallowed her pride.

The sharp tongue she had avoided for thirteen years had finally landed on her.