Who Asked You To Deceive My First Love? - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Breaking Up a Fight: “He’s my brother.”

When Qiao Muyu returned to the playground, Du Jingfei was still sitting in the same spot playing games.

He walked over, handed the mineral water to Du Jingfei, and intentionally waited until the other was mid-sip to lean in and whisper: “I’ll tell you a secret: Qingyan Technology belongs to Lu Zhen’s family.”

“Pffft—!”

Predictably, Du Jingfei was so shocked he sprayed a mouthful of water.

Qiao Muyu watched him scramble to wipe his wet collar and phone screen, laughing so hard he leaned to one side.

Seeing his reaction, Du Jingfei couldn’t help but be suspicious. “Are you pulling my leg?”

“No, it’s true,” Qiao Muyu said. “He just told me himself.”

“Damn… so the ‘Lu’ in Lu Zhen stands for the Lu Group.” Du Jingfei realized belatedly. “I knew his family was rich, but I didn’t think they were that rich. That’s the Lu Group! Their market value is at least tens of billions!”

Qiao Muyu was confused. “The Lu Group?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know? Their group has businesses in many fields. Qingyan Technology is just a gaming company under their wing.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Because Qingyan is my dream company! I’ve researched its background inside and out.”

Du Jingfei stretched and gazed at the sky, daydreaming about the future.

“I’ve already decided: after graduation, I have to work at Qingyan. I want to participate in the production of the games I love. Just thinking about it gets me excited.”

Qiao Muyu looked at him in surprise. “You’ve already planned your future career?”

“Better to plan early for peace of mind.”

Speaking of which, Du Jingfei couldn’t help but feel emotional.

“Sigh, I guess fate is decided from the womb. People like Lu Zhen probably haven’t had a single worry since the day they were born. Unlike me, born with the destiny of a corporate slave. I really have the worst luck in the reincarnation lottery!”

Qiao Muyu took a sip of water and added self-deprecatingly, “What’s the rush? You still have your ‘Brother Xiao Yu’ to keep you company at the bottom.”

Du Jingfei choked, unable to argue.

If they were talking about who had the worst luck in the “reincarnation lottery,” he really couldn’t beat Qiao Muyu.

While his own family was average, his parents were alive, the home was harmonious, and he was an only child. How could he compare his life to an orphan who had been adopted?

Du Jingfei patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, buddy. Worst case, we just try harder in the next life.”

Qiao Muyu smiled it off and said nothing more.

But he had to admit, the comparison added another layer of frustration to his heart.

Regarding family background, Qiao Muyu had long ago comforted himself with various excuses. If his starting point was lower, he would just have to run a longer distance and run faster, striving not to lose in the areas he could control.

But since meeting Lu Zhen, he realized that the heavens really were biased.

He could accept losing the birth lottery, but was he going to lose in grades too? Where was the justice?

While lost in thought, someone suddenly called him: “Monitor!”

Qiao Muyu looked up to see Xu Rongcan running toward them, panting. “So you’re here! I finally found you!”

“What happened?”

“Hu Jun is fighting with a student from another class! I couldn’t find the PE teacher—come quickly!”

Qiao Muyu was startled. “Where are they?”

Xu Rongcan: “At the basketball court!”

“Let’s go!”

The three of them rushed to the court together.

…

Qiao Muyu knew Hu Jun well.

As Class 1’s Sports Representative, Hu Jun was straightforward but easily provoked. However, he wasn’t a bad kid and usually followed the rules. Even if he argued, it rarely turned into a physical fight—usually just a shouting match.

This was the first time it had come to blows. Since Hu Jun was quite big, Qiao Muyu worried he might accidentally hurt the other person, which would be even harder to handle.

Qiao Muyu felt a headache coming on. He lengthened his stride while asking Xu Rongcan for details: “Which class is the other guy from? How did the fight start?”

“Class 6! Their class has PE right now too.”

Xu Rongcan explained the backstory rapidly.

“They were just playing basketball for fun. But Hu Jun got blocked several times by a guy from Class 6 and couldn’t grab any rebounds. Hu Jun got frustrated and said the guy fouled him. The guy said he didn’t, neither would back down, and well… it turned into a brawl!”

When they reached the court, a crowd had gathered. People were either trying to break it off, shouting insults, or just watching the drama.

“Stop fighting! The Monitor is here!”

Du Jingfei announced loudly, like a head eunuch managing affairs.

The noisy crowd quieted down instantly as Class 1 students turned to look at Qiao Muyu.

Before Qiao Muyu could speak, Hu Jun broke free from the two boys holding him back and pointed indignantly at his opponent. “Monitor, he started it! I just said a few things, and this ‘mad dog’ almost punched my nose out of place!”

Qiao Muyu saw the red and purple bruising on Hu Jun’s face. It looked painful and a bit comical, showing just how hard the punch had been.

He hadn’t expected Hu Jun to be the one on the losing end. “Who hit you?”

Someone immediately called out: “I did.”

Qiao Muyu looked over. In the center of the Class 6 group stood a tall teenager with his chin tilted up.

He was very tall, at least 1.85 meters, with dyed yellow hair that stood out. Under his sweat-dampened fringe, his eyes looked like those of a wild dog—stubborn and fierce. He was staring dead at Hu Jun. “I’m just curing your ‘foul-mouthed’ habit!”

“Damn you!” Hu Jun flared up again. “Zhou Shengyuan! So what if I called you parentless and uneducated? Try hitting me again if you’ve got the guts!”

Zhou Shengyuan was already fuming. Hearing the provocation, he pushed aside those blocking him and charged forward, only to be caught by the arm.

Zhou Shengyuan turned to see that the person stopping him was Lu Zhen. His expression soured even further.

He struggled, but couldn’t break free. He glared at Lu Zhen. “Let go! Stop meddling in things that aren’t your business!”

Lu Zhen didn’t let go. He said coldly, “Don’t hit people.”

“Surname Lu, do you want a beating too?”

Zhou Shengyuan didn’t waste another word. He wrenched his arm away and swung a punch.

Lu Zhen didn’t dodge. He took the punch squarely. His lip was cut against his teeth, and a bit of blood began to seep out.

It happened so fast that the onlookers gasped in unison.

“Lu Zhen!” Qiao Muyu was terrified and rushed forward to check the injury. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Lu Zhen casually wiped his lip and looked calmly at Zhou Shengyuan. “Are you satisfied now?”

“…”

Zhou Shengyuan froze, speechless. He looked dazed, as if he hadn’t expected to actually land the hit. He stared at Lu Zhen with a complex expression, his fist clenching and unclenching.

“Sh*t!”

He cursed under his breath and walked away, looking defeated.

Hu Jun spat at his retreating back. “Bah! Psychopath!”

Seeing that the show was over, the crowd began to disperse.

Qiao Muyu and the others took Hu Jun to the shade to rest. When he turned back, Lu Zhen was already gone.

Qiao Muyu was debating whether to go find him—and perhaps buy some band-aids at the supermarket—when a girl walked up and handed him a shopping bag. “Take care of the wounds first.”

Qiao Muyu looked inside. The bag contained band-aids, tissues, and antiseptic.

“I just bought these at the supermarket. Let me know if you need anything else,” the girl said.

“Thanks, this is enough. It’s not a major injury.” Qiao Muyu didn’t recognize her. “Are you from Class 6?”

“Yes, I’m Xu Anxue, the Monitor of Class 6,” she said. “I’m really sorry our classmate hit yours. I apologize on his behalf.”

Hu Jun chimed in: “It’s not your fault. That Zhou Shengyuan is a mad dog biting people for no reason!”

Du Jingfei and Xu Rongcan agreed: “Yeah, he looks like a total delinquent.”

“Hitting people is wrong,” Qiao Muyu said as he applied a band-aid to Hu Jun, pressing down slightly on the wound. “But you shouldn’t have been so foul-mouthed. Consider this a lesson.”

“Ouch!”

Hu Jun winced. “I just provoked him a little without even using swear words. Who knew he had such a short fuse?”

Xu Anxue stood nearby, clutching a water bottle. After some hesitation, she finally spoke up: “You really shouldn’t have said that to him… because he really doesn’t have parents.”

Everyone froze and looked at her.

Hu Jun stammered, “Is… is that for real?”

Xu Anxue nodded softly. “Yes. Many in our class know. His parents never show up for parent-teacher meetings; it’s always his grandmother. Apparently, she adopted and raised him. His family situation is poor, but he used to study hard. In tenth grade, he was in our top ten. But after his grandmother passed away in eleventh grade, he started giving up on himself. He just loafs around now, and his grades have plummeted. Our homeroom teacher has talked to him many times, but it’s useless. He could have gone to a good university… it’s a real shame.”

The group felt a pang of guilt. They looked at Hu Jun, who rubbed his nose awkwardly and muttered, “I didn’t know about his family…”

Amidst the silence, Xu Anxue spoke again: “So, I want to ask you not to tell the teachers about the fight. I don’t want him to get another demerit. Is that okay?”

Qiao Muyu had no objection and glanced at Hu Jun.

Hu Jun waved it off. “What’s the point in telling? It’s embarrassing enough. If the teacher asks about my face, I’ll just say I fell while playing basketball.”

Xu Anxue breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

…

This PE class was the last period of the morning.

A few minutes later, the bell rang, and waves of students burst out of the buildings toward the cafeteria.

After all the chaos, Qiao Muyu was starving. He led Du Jingfei and Xu Rongcan toward the cafeteria as usual.

As they neared the entrance, they saw two familiar figures standing in the distance: the tall, yellow-haired Zhou Shengyuan and Lu Zhen.

Zhou Shengyuan had one hand in his pocket, looking arrogant and impatient as he held out his palm. Lu Zhen was obediently taking his wallet out, pulling out several hundred-yuan bills and handing them over…

This was—

Extortion!!!

The word flashed through their minds simultaneously, sparking instant indignation.

Qiao Muyu frowned. He had just been moved by the story of Zhou Shengyuan’s orphaned background, and now he was witnessing him being so delinquent. It was a classic “hating that the iron won’t become steel” feeling.

He couldn’t stand it. He rushed forward and shielded Lu Zhen behind him. “Zhou Shengyuan, have you no shame? You hit Lu Zhen and didn’t even apologize, and now you’re extorting him! Do you think Class 1 students are easy targets?”

“I’m extorting him?”

Zhou Shengyuan’s face turned red, then black. He looked like he was about to explode from anger.

“I wouldn’t stoop to extorting anyone’s money! Especially not this guy’s!”

“Ha? Still lying? We saw it with our own eyes!” Qiao Muyu pointed at the money in his hand. “Caught red-handed!”

“Piss off! He forced this money on me! It’s not like I asked for it!” Zhou Shengyuan angrily shoved the five bills back at Lu Zhen. “Take your stinking money back! I don’t want it!”

Qiao Muyu didn’t expect him to be so stubborn. Just as he was about to argue further, a light chuckle came from behind him.

Qiao Muyu turned to look at Lu Zhen, completely baffled. Here he was, playing the hero, and the victim was laughing? Was his attempt to help that funny?

“Monitor, I think you’ve misunderstood.” Lu Zhen stopped laughing and pointed at Zhou Shengyuan with a subtle expression. “He’s my brother.”

Qiao Muyu: “……”(⊙.⊙) Du Jingfei: “……”（°ο°） Xu Rongcan: “……”(⊙口⊙)

What was going on?!