Who Asked You To Deceive My First Love? - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Polite Refusal: “My grades are fine, I don’t need a tutor.”

Before Qiao Muyu could snap out of his shock, Lu Zhen had already handed the form to his seatmate. He then picked up his water bottle and stood up to leave.

Qiao Muyu hurriedly called out to him: “Student Lu Zhen, where are you going?”

Lu Zhen: “The water room.”

Without thinking, Qiao Muyu stood up to follow: “You probably don’t know where it is yet. I’ll take you!”

Lu Zhen raised an eyebrow at him. “Monitor, I’m a high schooler, not a local kindergartner.”

Qiao Muyu choked for a second, then turned back to grab his own water bottle, flashing a harmless, “innocent” smile: “I mean, I happen to need a refill too. Shall we go together?”

Lu Zhen didn’t refuse again and left the classroom with him.

…

The water room was quite crowded, with several groups of acquaintances chatting animatedly as they waited.

As Qiao Muyu absentmindedly picked at a cartoon sticker on his bottle, he pondered how to tactfully remind this new classmate—whose head was seemingly kicked by a donkey—that he couldn’t just fill in target scores at random.

700 points? It wasn’t even logical if you thought about it with your pinky toe.

It wasn’t like being asked how many grains of rice you planned to eat for dinner.

While lost in thought, someone suddenly tapped his shoulder: “Hey! Qiao Number One, what are you spacing out for?”

Qiao Muyu turned to see Fang Yao, from the elite Class 2 next door.

Qiao Muyu wasn’t exactly close with Fang Yao, but they were certainly familiar. After all, behind every “Rank 1” student, there is always a “Rank 2” student carrying a grudge.

Fang Yao was that chosen unlucky soul. The title of “Eternal Second” had been a curse lingering over his two years of high school.

Fortunately, Fang Yao had a bright personality and was good at self-deprecation. He maintained a friendly rivalry with Qiao Muyu, though he frequently teased him with the sarcastic nickname “Qiao Number One.”

Qiao Muyu hated the nickname because it didn’t fit his “low-profile and humble” persona. For the nth time, he corrected him: “Fang Number Two, I told you not to call me that. It sounds hideous.”

“Tsk, and the nickname you gave me sounds good? I suspect you’re just trying to be colorful!”

After showing his disdain, Fang Yao’s gaze shifted to Lu Zhen, who was standing beside Qiao Muyu.

Confirming he hadn’t seen this handsome guy before, Fang Yao nudged Qiao Muyu with his elbow, curious: “Old Qiao, who’s this?”

Qiao Muyu introduced him: “This is Lu Zhen, a new student who just transferred to our class.”

“Newly transferred?” Fang Yao looked at Lu Zhen in surprise. “Brother, our first round of review in the elite classes started a long time ago. Transferring in now… can you keep up? Class 1 is full of ‘Involution Kings’ [cutthroat overachievers]!”

Lu Zhen glanced at him expressionlessly, didn’t respond, and simply walked away with his filled water bottle.

Fang Yao watched his retreating back. “Is this guy shy?”

Qiao Muyu was merciless: “It has nothing to do with being shy. He just couldn’t be bothered to talk to you.”

Fang Yao: “…”

…

Qiao Muyu quickly filled his bottle and caught up with Lu Zhen. “Student Lu, Fang Yao is just blunt. He didn’t mean anything by it; he just wanted to remind you that the academic pressure in our class is quite high.”

Lu Zhen tilted his head back to take a sip of water and said, “Mm, I know.”

Seeing that he truly didn’t seem to care, Qiao Muyu felt safe enough to continue with his carefully phrased advice: “I’m not sure if Old Wan told you, but Class 1 and Class 2 are the two elite classes. The pace of review is faster than other classes, or even other schools. Since you’re new, you might find it hard to adjust, so…”

Qiao Muyu paused, trying to be as tactful as possible. “About that target score… do you want to fill out a new form? I can let you submit yours last so you have more time to think it through.”

Lu Zhen turned his head to look at him, seemingly not understanding his intention. “Why?”

“Just looking out for a new classmate.” A lame excuse, but a usable one.

“Not necessary,” Lu Zhen replied.

“You’re sure?”

“Mm.”

“…”

Qiao Muyu was momentarily speechless.

I’m giving you a way out and you won’t take it? Do I really have to grab you by the ear and tell you that it’s impossible for you to get 700 points?

Who do you think you are, Einstein? Talk about being overconfident…

If Old Wan hadn’t asked him to look after the newcomer, he really wouldn’t bother.

Qiao Muyu sighed and decided to be direct: “But Student Lu, that 700 you wrote is truly difficult to achieve. Of course, having ambition and liking a challenge is a good thing; Class 1 welcomes students with drive. Do you need to borrow my notes? If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask. If I know the answer, I’ll definitely teach you!”

Lu Zhen understood now. His long fingers brushed against a water droplet on the glass side of his bottle. He looked down for a few seconds before asking calmly, “Monitor, what was your score on the last final?”

Qiao Muyu had been waiting for this question. He straightened his back, cleared his throat, and answered with practiced modesty: “686. First in the grade.”

Usually, when people heard this score, they would gasp and offer a few words of praise. But Lu Zhen merely raised an eyebrow and gave a faint “Oh.”

Then he said, “Thanks for the concern, but my grades are fine. I don’t need a tutor.”

Qiao Muyu: “…”

1. WAS. POLITELY. REJECTED!

What does he mean! Does he look down on my 686?! Damn, what is he acting so smug for!

Qiao Muyu had never suffered such a snub. His heart was bleeding with frustration, and he quickly took a gulp of water to calm himself down.

He stopped making a fool of himself. He walked beside Lu Zhen without saying another word, maintaining a gentle smile on his face while inwardly scoffing: Tsk, this new classmate is really hard to get along with.

…

“Grades are fine? Don’t I need a tutor?” Du Jingfei repeated in shock. “He really said that?”

Qiao Muyu nodded while wiping the dining table with a napkin.

Taking advantage of the dinner break, Qiao Muyu couldn’t help but vent to his friend Du Jingfei about Lu Zhen.

“Whoa, this guy is pretty arrogant!” Du Jingfei swallowed his food. “It’s the first time I’ve seen someone reject the kindness of a top student—especially a Rank 1 genius as gentle and proactive as you.”

Qiao Muyu chewed on some rice, feeling equally bewildered. “Maybe he just has his own way of doing things?”

Though he didn’t understand, he would respect it.

“Then just leave him be. Let him sink or swim,” Du Jingfei said dismissively. “That kind of overconfident jerk will learn his lesson once the exam scores come out!”

Qiao Muyu nodded in agreement. He didn’t want to keep “pressing his warm face against a cold butt” anyway.

Just then, Xu Rongcan pushed through the crowded cafeteria, carrying a meal tray. “What are you two talking about?”

Du Jingfei: “What else do two miserable seniors talk about? Exams and scores.”

“Speaking of exams, how are you guys preparing for the back-to-school test tomorrow?” Xu Rongcan asked.

Du Jingfei slapped his thigh. “I don’t care about the rest, but I have to be first in the class for math this time!”

Xu Rongcan: “Are you ignoring everyone else in our class?”

Du Jingfei glanced at Qiao Muyu, hesitated, and corrected himself: “Well, top three at the very least! You don’t know—on the last final, my math score didn’t hit 135, and Teacher Ma [the math teacher] nearly poked a hole through my spine with her finger. She called me to her office again this afternoon to scold me, saying I’m the most embarrassing Math Class Rep she’s ever had!”

“You deserve it,” Xu Rongcan gloated before turning to Qiao Muyu. “What about you, Xiao Yu?”

Qiao Muyu wiped the corner of his mouth and replied without a change in expression: “If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten there was a test tomorrow. I haven’t prepared at all. I’ll just have to do some quick review during self-study tonight.”

This, of course, was not the truth.

Qiao Muyu never slacked off for a unified grade exam. Even though the back-to-school test was just an unimportant diagnostic, he had already spent a week at home grinding problems and reviewing thoroughly.

“Hmph, cut it out. As if I don’t know you?”

As a long-time friend, Du Jingfei saw through his act immediately.

“You, Qiao Muyu, could probably score well with your eyes closed. Since the start of tenth grade, when has the top spot ever not been yours?”

“Exactly. I even heard the teachers in the office joking that the top rank is so immovable that there’s no suspense anymore,” Xu Rongcan added with a bit of regret. “It would be much more fun if a dark horse suddenly appeared halfway!”

Du Jingfei put down his chopsticks and struck a pose with his fist against his forehead. “Do I look like I have the aura of a legendary dark horse?”

“Pfft—you look like a donkey!”

“Xu Rongcan!”

“Haha!”

Qiao Muyu watched them play-fight with a smile, but his inner thought was:

A dark horse?

Forget it. I’m not looking forward to meeting one at all.

…

As the target score sheet circulated, the news of Lu Zhen’s world-shaking “700 points” quickly spread throughout Class 1.

Everyone treated it as a joke and gave the newcomer the nickname “700-Bro.”

Of course, there were kind classmates like Qiao Muyu who advised him to rethink his “flag” before Old Wan called him to the office for a lecture, but the party involved ignored them all.

However, everyone was busy with the back-to-school exams for the next two days, so other matters were temporarily set aside.

Qiao Muyu figured that once the exams were over, Wan Qianghai would have a “deep talk” with Lu Zhen, or Lu Zhen would simply face reality himself.

The two days of exams flew by. On Friday, it was the turn of Qiao Muyu’s group to perform cleaning duties.

He arrived at school early to clean the classroom inside and out. After wiping the windowsills, he went to the water room to wash his cleaning cloth.

As he entered, he saw Du Jingfei and Xu Rongcan leaning against the windowsill, eating breakfast and whispering mysteriously.

Qiao Muyu drifted behind them and suddenly spoke: “What ‘shameful’ topic are you two hiding here to discuss?”

“Whoa! Monitor, you scared me!” Xu Rongcan patted her chest in relief.

Du Jingfei was so startled he choked on his bun, coughing until he downed some water. Finally, he gasped out, “We were talking about ‘700-Bro’.”

Qiao Muyu paused for half a second, realizing the weird nickname referred to Lu Zhen. “What about him?”

Xu Rongcan couldn’t wait to take over. “I saw Lu Zhen at the school gate while I was buying breakfast. He got out of a luxury car! There was even a professional driver opening the door for him! The driver was so respectful, it was like he was about to roll out a red carpet for him right then and there!”

“…” Qiao Muyu felt a chill of cringe at the exaggerated description.

Du Jingfei instinctively marveled: “Damn, this guy really is a ‘Rich Second Generation’!”

“Exactly. And I heard he transferred because of some family reasons,” Xu Rongcan continued to gossip.

Qiao Muyu couldn’t help but speculate: “Maybe his parents got a divorce?”

“I don’t know the specifics,” Xu Rongcan shrugged. “Usually these wealthy families have some sort of internal drama. A divorce isn’t exactly rare.”

Qiao Muyu couldn’t help but laugh. “What kind of prejudice do you have against rich people?”

Xu Rongcan grinned. “That’s how it’s always written in web novels—fake vs. real young masters, corporate marriages, stepmother drama…”

Du Jingfei: “Tsk tsk. I told you, stop reading those braindead web novels. They’ll ruin your values.”

Xu Rongcan: “I’ll read them if I want to! I enjoy it!”

Qiao Muyu turned on the faucet to scrub his cloth, no longer participating in the conversation.

A rich second generation, huh? No wonder he’s so dismissive of everyone.

The guy actually has the capital to afford offending people.