Since there was no guest room, Jiang Yunxing slept on the floor in Lu Heng’s room for the night.
Early the next morning, the housekeeper woke them up just after six.
Lu Heng sat up groggily. “What time does school start?”
“Senior year students must arrive by seven,” Jiang Yunxing replied.
It was unusually early.
Although Lu Heng had early mornings for work sometimes, it was never this early every single day.
He rubbed his brow as he got out of bed, contemplating whether to skip school.
Of course, that was just a passing thought. After washing up, Lu Heng felt more awake. They had breakfast delivered by the housekeeper before heading downstairs.
Since they’d gone straight home from the hospital yesterday, his schoolbag was still at school, so he walked unburdened.
The butler waited at the entrance, bowing respectfully as he opened the door. “Young Master, have a good day.”
Lu Heng paused at the doorway, staring at the main gate before turning to the butler. “No one’s driving me?”
The butler hesitated before responding, “You need to go to school on your own.”
Lu Heng’s brows furrowed, his tone turning cold. “For a company as big as Lu Corporation, not having a dedicated car to send the young master to school seems unreasonable.”
He had already found the butler disagreeable since yesterday, and now he wanted nothing more than to fire him on the spot.
The butler remained unfazed. “The chauffeur is taking the Second Young Master and Third Young Miss to school. If you need, I can call you a taxi.”
The butler’s words made Lu Heng’s mood darken further.
Despite being family, the treatment between Alphas and Omegas was worlds apart.
This was exactly the kind of rule Lu Shenghua would make.
It seemed this world’s Lu Shenghua wasn’t much different from reality.
The butler maintained his slight bow, unaffected by Lu Heng’s mood, while Jiang Yunxing trembled slightly beside them.
“Then call one,” Lu Heng said flatly. “Be quick about it. I don’t want to be late.”
After giving his orders, Lu Heng walked out. Jiang Yunxing glanced at the bicycle by the door before hurrying after him.
The taxi arrived quickly. Lu Heng took the front passenger seat while Jiang Yunxing naturally sat in the back.
He kept stealing glances at Lu Heng through the rearview mirror. Lu Heng was looking out the window, his expression calm as if nothing had happened.
He thought Lu Heng would argue with the butler earlier.
But even if that happened, it wouldn’t change anything. It would only make Lu Heng look unreasonable to others.
Lu Heng wasn’t that kind of person.
Jiang Yunxing glanced at Lu Heng through the rearview mirror, and memories from yesterday flooded his mind involuntarily.
Lu Heng taking down those guys, Lu Heng at the hospital, Lu Heng holding a wine glass at night…
He had to admit, the man was handsome with an alluring presence. Every move he made was captivating.
Jiang Yunxing stared until he met Lu Heng’s gaze in the mirror, snapping him out of his trance.
Lu Heng was propping his head with one hand, looking at him sideways with an intense gaze that seemed to devour him.
“…”
Jiang Yunxing’s face burned red, his heart pounding. He quickly lowered his head.
Before he could say anything, Lu Heng spoke first. “Do you still want your bicycle?”
“A-ah? Yes…”
“Hmm.” Lu Heng shifted his gaze away. “I’ll keep it at my place. You can get it when you have the chance.”
“…Okay.” Hearing Lu Heng’s steady voice, Jiang Yunxing’s heartbeat gradually calmed. He gathered his courage and leaned toward Lu Heng’s seat.
“Ge, don’t be angry.”
This time Lu Heng turned his head, his face expressionless. “Do I look angry to you?”
“…”
Jiang Yunxing searched his face but couldn’t find any trace of anger, leaving him uncertain.
“In situations like this, anger is the most stupid response,” Lu Heng turned back to the window.
Power was never demonstrated through emotional outbursts.
Rather than getting pointlessly angry, he needed to find an opportunity to meet with Lu Shenhua.
Even meeting Lu Tian required permission. Lu Heng instinctively felt that meeting Lu Shenhua wouldn’t be easy. He would have to work through Lu Tian first.
As for that butler… he’d fire him eventually.
No. 2 High School was a day school, and the roads were typically congested during school hours.
To avoid being late, Lu Heng and Jiang Yunxing got off the car near the school and walked the rest of the way.
Students in school uniforms filled the streets, some in groups while others walked alone. Some chatted cheerfully while others muttered vocabulary to themselves.
Jiang Yunxing sighed dejectedly, “I already graduated, but now I have to repeat senior year.”
That was indeed true, and it sounded quite miserable, Lu Heng thought.
“Ge, you must have been a good student back then?” Jiang Yunxing asked.
“Yes,” Lu Heng admitted frankly. “But that was years ago, and I went to high school abroad.”
“Ah, then you should be mentally prepared.” Jiang Yunxing’s face scrunched up at some thought. “High schools here are terrifying, especially senior year. It’s absolutely brutal.”
“…”
Before Lu Heng could respond, another voice cut in.
“…Yunxing?”
They both turned to look. Lin Yao stood at the school gate with Zhou Qi, as usual, by his side.
Jiang Yunxing clenched his fingers, unsure how to react.
Zhou Qi rushed over first.
“Jiang Yunxing? Why did you come from that direction?” Zhou Qi stopped in front of them, pointing at Lu Heng. “Why are you with him?”
“…” Jiang Yunxing glanced at Lu Heng, but Lu Heng seemed detached, clearly having no intention of dealing with Zhou Qi.
He had to make up an excuse. “We just happened to meet on the way.”
“Huh? Don’t you live in the other direction?” Zhou Qi pointed the opposite way.
“I came here for breakfast, and we met after I finished eating.”
“…” Zhou Qi fell silent but still looked suspicious.
Lin Yao walked over, too, looking up slightly at Jiang Yunxing. “Why did you leave so early today? I went to your place but couldn’t find you.”
“Ah, um, I forgot some homework, so I came early to finish it.”
“Is that so?” Lin Yao smiled. “How rare, you actually coming to do homework.”
Jiang Yunxing froze, then remembered that in the novel, Jiang Yunxing hated studying and wouldn’t do homework without Lin Yao’s company, even if he brought it home.
Fortunately, Lin Yao didn’t probe further, only saying, “Then you should hurry to class now. By the way, do you want to have lunch together today?”
Jiang Yunxing stayed quiet. He wanted to refuse but worried about raising suspicions since he’d already declined yesterday.
He instinctively looked toward Lu Heng, then quickly caught himself and held back.
Lin Yao keenly noticed the movement.
He glanced at Lu Heng, but before he could speak, Zhou Qi snapped with disgust, “Hey, why are you still standing here while we’re talking? Get lost! You’re making me sick!”
Lu Heng’s lips tightened, and his gaze turned icy as he stared at Zhou Qi without a word.
He needed time to deal with family matters, but there was no reason to hold back against these brats.
“Did you say something? Stupid dog,” Lu Heng said coldly.
Zhou Qi was stunned by the retort, taking a full three seconds to react.
“What the fuck?” His face twisted as he took a step toward Lu Heng, grinding his teeth. “You bastard…”
“Zhou Qi, stop causing trouble!” Lin Yao held Zhou Qi back. Though seething with anger, Zhou Qi turned away to sulk as usual.
Lin Yao sighed helplessly and looked at Lu Heng with friendly eyes. “We’ll be late if we don’t go in. Let’s walk together.”
With Zhou Qi’s interruption, they didn’t mention lunch again. The four of them entered the school together, parting ways with Jiang Yunxing on the fourth floor while the remaining three headed to the fifth floor.
As soon as they entered the classroom, someone greeted Lin Yao, but their expression changed when they saw Lu Heng beside him.
Ignoring the stares, Lu Heng spotted a desk piled with test papers in the corner and walked over.
He didn’t come back yesterday afternoon or bring his backpack home, so it was easy to figure out which seat was his.
The desk was stacked with at least ten papers, some marked and corrected, others blank, probably yesterday’s homework.
Lu Heng sat down and casually pulled out a completed English test, frowning at the red crosses.
Eighty points out of one hundred and fifty.
How embarrassing.
Not wanting to look further, Lu Heng folded the paper and put it in his drawer as Zhou Qi and Lin Yao approached.
They were all tall, so their seats were at the back. Zhou Qi sat in front of Lu Heng, while Lin Yao sat in the next row across the aisle from Zhou Qi.
Just as they sat down, a girl walked over.
“Zhou Qi, time to hand in homework.”
Zhou Qi took out a stack of papers from his bag and sorted them into piles. After taking them, the girl looked at Lu Heng, seeming hesitant.
She felt something was off about Lu Heng today. Although he’d always seemed unwilling to interact with others, today his don’t-approach-me aura was especially strong.
Still, she asked, “Lu Heng, can you turn in your homework?”
“He didn’t even bring his bag home yesterday. What homework could he turn in?” Zhou Qi cut in, turning around to rest his hand on Lu Heng’s desk with a mocking expression.
He seemed to deliberately raise his voice as he sneered, “Lin Yao finished all his homework at school yesterday and left his papers here, too. Why didn’t you come earlier today to steal his papers again? What a shame.”
“…” Lu Heng really wanted to glue this guy’s mouth shut.
He leaned back against his chair, distancing himself from Zhou Qi, and said coldly, “Are you a parrot? Your chirping is giving me a headache.”
Zhou Qi: “…”
Lu Heng turned to the female student and said, “I can’t submit it now, but please tell the teacher I’ll complete it before noon.”
Lu Heng was naturally good-looking, but his previous questionable behavior had tarnished others’ impression of him, diminishing his appeal.
Today’s Lu Heng seemed like a completely different person. His conduct was impeccable, and he seemed to be glowing. The female student’s cheeks flushed as she lowered her head and replied, “Okay, I’ll let the teacher know.”
After she left with the homework, Zhou Qi finally caught his breath and pointed at Lu Heng, “Damn it, don’t you dare leave at lunch.”
Lu Heng took out his folded test papers, not even bothering to look at Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi grew angrier. His words grew increasingly nasty. “For an Omega, you’re quite arrogant. You’re just asking to be—”
“Zhou Qi.” Lin Yao’s voice cut in, his tone displeased. “I’m also an Omega after my presentation. Do you have to make such sweeping statements?”
Zhou Qi: “…”
Seeing that Lin Yao was genuinely angry, he fell silent but still muttered resentfully, “Why are you always taking his side these days…”
Lin Yao either didn’t hear Zhou Qi’s words or chose to ignore them. Instead, he turned to Lu Heng.
“Zhou Qi just can’t control his mouth. Don’t take it personally.”
Lu Heng looked up, eyeing Lin Yao warily.
Lin Yao maintained his usual expression, a slight smile on his lips and gentle eyes that would disarm anyone’s anger.
But Lu Heng could sense that Lin Yao wasn’t as simple as he appeared.
After all, as the protagonist of this novel with his characteristically high IQ and EQ, how could he be as innocent as his appearance suggested?
He might have noticed something was off yesterday at lunch.
“There was quite a bit of homework yesterday. You might not finish it all this morning. If you need help understanding anything, feel free to ask me,” Lin Yao said, then after a brief pause, added, “Would you like to have lunch together today?”
Lu Heng didn’t answer immediately, keeping his gaze fixed on Lin Yao, who remained composed under his scrutiny, waiting for his response.
“No,” Lu Heng rejected coldly, then added slowly, “I already made plans with Jiang Yunxing.”
Leave a Reply