Who Told You To Fool My First Love? - Chapter 6

When Qiao Muyu returned to the sports field, Du Jingfei was still sitting where he had left him, playing a game.

Qiao walked over and handed a bottle of mineral water to Du Jingfei. Taking advantage of the moment he was drinking, Qiao leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Let me tell you a secret: Qingyan Technology is a company owned by Lu Zhen’s family.”

“Pffft—!”

Sure enough, Du Jingfei was so shocked by this that he sprayed a mouthful of water out.

Seeing him frantically wiping his wet collar and phone screen in such a disheveled state, Qiao Muyu collapsed to the side, laughing.

Seeing his reaction, Du Jingfei asked suspiciously, “Are you pulling my leg?”

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

“Damn… So that’s why it’s called Lu’s Group,” Du Jingfei said, finally putting the pieces together. “I knew his family was rich, but I didn’t think they were that rich. That’s the Lu Group! They have a market capitalization of at least tens of billions!”

Qiao Muyu was confused: “The Lu Group?”

“Yeah, don’t you know? Their business spans many fields, and Qingyan Technology is just one of the game companies under their umbrella.”

“You know all this?”

“Because Qingyan is the game company I aspire to join the most. I’ve already investigated its background thoroughly.”

Du Jingfei stretched and looked up at the sky, imagining his future.

“I’ve already planned it out. After I graduate, I must work at Qingyan and participate in the production process of the games I love up close. Man, just thinking about it makes me excited.”

Qiao Muyu looked at him with some surprise: “You’ve even thought about your future career?”

“Planning ahead brings peace of mind.”

Speaking of this, Du Jingfei couldn’t help but sigh.

“Sigh, I guess a person’s fate is destined from the womb. Someone like Lu Zhen probably hasn’t had a single worry since the day he was born, right? Unlike me, I’m destined to be a wage slave for the rest of my life. My life feels like it was dealt by a shitty hand!”

Qiao Muyu took a sip of water and replied with self-mockery: “What’s the rush? You still have your Big Brother Yu here to anchor the bottom for you.”

Du Jingfei choked on those words, unable to refute them.

Because when it came to who had the worse hand dealt to them in life, he really couldn’t compare to Qiao Muyu.

Although Du Jingfei came from an ordinary family background and lived an unremarkable life, he still had his parents, a harmonious home, and he was an only child. How could he have the standing to compare his life to an orphan who had been adopted since childhood?

Du Jingfei could only pat his shoulder and offer comfort: “It’s okay, buddy. Worst case scenario, we’ll just try harder to have a better reincarnation in the next life.”

Qiao Muyu laughed it off and didn’t say much more.

But he had to admit that, when compared like that, the knot of melancholy in his heart tightened a little more.

However, regarding his family background, Qiao Muyu had already comforted himself with all sorts of excuses over the years.

If his starting point wasn’t as good as others, then he would just have to work harder, run a bit further, and run faster, striving not to lose to anyone in the areas he could control.

But since meeting Lu Zhen, he realized that Heaven really was biased.

Losing in the birth lottery was one thing, but was he going to lose in grades too? That was just unreasonable…

While he was lost in thought, someone called him from not far away: “Class Monitor!”

Qiao Muyu looked up and saw Xu Runcan running toward them, panting: “So you’re here! I finally found you!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Hu Jun got into a fight with a student from another class! I couldn’t find the PE teacher, you’d better go and take a look!”

Qiao Muyu was shocked: “Where are they now?”

Xu Runcan: “Right at the basketball court!”

“Let’s go!”

The three of them immediately headed to the basketball court to check the situation.

Qiao Muyu knew Hu Jun well.

He was the sports committee member of Class 1. His personality was straightforward and frank, but he was also easily provoked.

However, he wasn’t a bad person by nature and generally followed school rules. Even if he had a dispute with someone, it usually didn’t escalate to a physical fight. It would, at most, be a shouting match.

This was the first time there had been a physical fight. Plus, Hu Jun was tall and sturdy. If he lost control and accidentally hurt the other person, it would be difficult to deal with.

Qiao Muyu had a headache. He lengthened his stride and didn’t forget to ask Xu Runcan about the situation: “Which class is the other person from? How did they end up fighting?”

“Class 6. Their class has PE at the same time!”

Xu Runcan explained the context in a fast-paced tone.

“They were originally just playing a friendly game of basketball. But Hu Jun got blocked by a boy from Class 6 several times, and he couldn’t grab any rebounds, so Hu Jun got agitated and claimed he was fouling. The other guy said he wasn’t, and neither would back down. Anyway, they ended up arguing!”

When Qiao and his group arrived at the basketball court, a crowd was gathered there. Some were pulling people apart, others were trading insults, and many were standing around to watch the show.

“Stop fighting, stop fighting! The Class Monitor is here!”

Du Jingfei shouted the news like a palace eunuch.

The noisy crowd suddenly quieted down significantly, and everyone from Class 1 turned to look at Qiao Muyu.

Before Qiao could speak, Hu Jun shook off the two boys holding his arms, pointed at the other side, and complained with grievances: “Class Monitor, he was the one who hit me first! I just said a few things to him, and this mad dog almost smashed my nose in!”

Qiao Muyu saw that his face was red and bruised, which looked quite comical and must have been painful. He could see how much force the other person’s punch had carried.

He didn’t expect Hu Jun to be the one on the losing end, and was quite surprised: “Who hit you?”

Immediately, someone shouted: “I hit him.”

Qiao Muyu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall youth in the center of the Class 6 group, lifting his chin as he looked over.

He was very tall, estimated to be 1.85 meters, and dyed his hair a yellow color that looked out of place with everyone else. His eyes, visible under slightly sweaty bangs, looked like a wild dog. Stubbornness and ferocity radiated from them as he stared fixedly at Hu Jun: “I was just fixing that foul mouth of yours!”

“Damn!” Hu Jun was infuriated again. “Zhou Shengyuan! So what if I said you have no dad, no mom, and no upbringing? If you have the guts, hit me again and see what happens!”

Zhou Shengyuan was already furious. Hearing Hu Jun dare to provoke him like that, he shoved away the people trying to hold him back and charged forward aggressively to throw a punch, but he was grabbed by someone and stopped.

Zhou Shengyuan turned his head to see that the person stopping him was actually Lu Zhen, and his expression darkened even more.

He struggled forcefully but failed to break free. He glared at Lu Zhen: “Let go! Stop sticking your nose in other people’s business!”

Lu Zhen didn’t let go, saying coldly, “Stop hitting people.”

“Hey, Lu, are you looking for a beating too?”

Zhou Shengyuan didn’t bother with nonsense anymore. He violently shook off Lu Zhen’s hand and swung his fist.

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

It happened so suddenly that the crowd watching all sucked in a breath of cold air.

“Lu Zhen!” Qiao Muyu was startled and rushed over to check his injury: “Are you okay?”

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

Zhou Shengyuan stood there, stunned, and didn’t answer. It looked like even he was taken aback after hitting someone. He stared at Lu Zhen with a complicated expression, his fists clenching and unclenching.

“Fuck!”

He cursed under his breath before walking away, looking deflated.

Hu Jun spat at his back: “Bah! Psychopath!”

Seeing that the show was over, the onlookers gradually dispersed.

Qiao Muyu and the others took Hu Jun to a shaded area to rest. When he turned around, he realized Lu Zhen was already gone.

Qiao Muyu was debating whether to go find him, and perhaps buy some Band-Aids at the supermarket on the way, when a girl walked over and handed him a shopping bag: “Handle the wound first.”

Qiao Muyu took it and saw that in addition to Band-Aids, there was tissue paper and disinfectant in the bag.

“I just went to the supermarket to buy these. See if you need anything else, and I’ll go buy it,” the girl said.

“Thank you, these are enough, it’s not a serious injury.” Qiao Muyu didn’t recognize her, so he asked, “Are you from Class 6?”

“Yes, my name is Xu Anxue, I’m the Class Monitor of Class 6,” Xu Anxue said. “I’m really sorry, a student from our class hit your classmate. I apologize to you on his behalf.”

Hu Jun said: “This isn’t your fault. That Zhou Shengyuan was just biting people like a mad dog!”

Du Jingfei and Xu Runcan agreed: “Exactly, he acts like a total hooligan.”

“Him hitting someone is wrong.” Qiao Muyu said as he put a Band-Aid on Hu Jun, pressing his fingertip on the wound: “But who told you to open your big mouth first and insult someone? This is the consequence.”

“Sss!”

Hu Jun felt the pain and retorted unhappily, “I was just provoking him, I didn’t even use any swear words. Who knew his temper was so explosive that he would start a fight at the slightest disagreement.”

Xu Anxue stood to the side, gripping a mineral water bottle. She hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn’t help but interject: “You really shouldn’t have said that to him, because he really has no parents.”

Everyone was stunned and turned to look at her in unison.

Hu Jun choked: “Re-really? Is that true?”

Xu Anxue nodded gently: “It’s true. A lot of people in our class know because his parents have never appeared at any parent-teacher meetings. His grandmother always came instead. It’s said he was raised by his grandmother. His family conditions aren’t good, but he studied quite hard. In his freshman year, he was in the top ten. But ever since his grandmother passed away in his sophomore year, he started giving up on himself, drifting through his days, and his grades plummeted. Our homeroom teacher tried talking to him many times, but it was no use. He could have gotten into a good university, but now… it’s such a pity.”

After hearing this, Qiao Muyu and the others felt a heavy weight in their hearts. They turned to look at Hu Jun, who rubbed his nose awkwardly and muttered: “I didn’t know about his family situation…”

As everyone fell silent, Xu Anxue spoke again: “So, I’d like to ask you not to report the fact that Zhou Shengyuan hit someone to the teacher, so he doesn’t get punished or receive a demerit. Is that okay?”

Qiao Muyu had no objections, so he gave Hu Jun a look.

Hu Jun waved his hand dismissively: “Why would I bother telling the teacher about this nonsense? It’s embarrassing enough. If the teacher asks how I got the bruise on 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 session of the morning.

A few minutes later, the bell rang through the campus, and wave after wave of students rushed out of the teaching building toward the cafeteria.

After all the commotion, Qiao Muyu was starving. He pulled Du Jingfei and Xu Runcan along and headed to the cafeteria as usual.

Just as the three of them reached the entrance of the cafeteria, they saw two familiar figures standing there from a distance: that tall, yellow-haired boy, Zhou Shengyuan, and the other was Lu Zhen.

They saw Zhou Shengyuan, one hand in his pocket, looking arrogant and impatient, extending his palm toward Lu Zhen. Lu Zhen obediently took out his wallet from his pocket and pulled out several red banknotes, handing them toward him…

This is—

Extortion!!!

The word flashed through their minds simultaneously, and they were instantly filled with indignation.

Qiao Muyu frowned. He had just been touched by Zhou Shengyuan’s miserable background, which was similar to his own, but now he had caught him being so unprincipled and degenerate. He felt a sense of disappointment, as if he were a teacher seeing a student go astray.

He really couldn’t watch this any longer. He rushed over and pulled Lu Zhen behind him: “Zhou Shengyuan, aren’t you done yet? It was one thing that you didn’t apologize after hitting Lu Zhen, but now you’re actually here extorting him! Do you think everyone in Class 1 is easy to bully?”

“I’m extorting him?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shengyuan’s face turned bright red and then black. He looked like he was about to die from anger.

“I’m not that desperate to resort to extorting someone for money! Let alone this guy named Lu!”

“Ha? You’re still denying it? We saw everything just now!” Qiao Muyu pointed at the money in his hand and said with firm conviction: “Caught red-handed!”

“Get lost! He was the one who insisted on shoving this money at me, I wasn’t the one begging him for it!” Zhou Shengyuan pushed the five banknotes back at Lu Zhen in a fit of rage: “Take your damn money back, I don’t want it!”

Qiao Muyu didn’t expect him to be so stubborn. Just as he was about to say something else, a soft chuckle came from behind him.

Qiao Muyu turned to look at Lu Zhen, feeling baffled. Here he was, acting as a hero for justice, so why was the victim laughing? Could it be that his act of defending him was amusing?

“Class Monitor, I think you’ve misunderstood.” Lu Zhen stopped smiling, pointed at Zhou Shengyuan with a subtle expression, and said, “He is my younger brother.”

Qiao Muyu: “……” (⊙.⊙)

Du Jingfei: “……” (°ο°)

Xu Runcan: “……” (⊙口⊙)

What is going on?!