Chapter 13

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After school, Lu Yan ran to Lu Zhen’s class carrying a schoolbag and handed him two hundred yuan, “Take it, and pay back all the money you owe!”

“Where did you get the money?”

Lu Zhen knew that all the pocket money that Lu Yan had saved in the past was given to him to pay back the money of the burned house owner. Now her pockets were tight, and there was no money left for him.

Lu Zhen looked towards the bike lane and did not see Lu Yan’s bike. He asked with a calm face, “Did you sell the bike I gave you?”

“Our home is very close to school.” Lu Yan looked at him sheepishly, “I think It’s totally unnecessary to ride a bicycle.”

Lu Zhen didn’t know where the evil fire came from. He stuffed the money into Lu Yan’s arms, turned around, and walked a few steps, then turned back angrily, and grabbed the banknotes.

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“Who did you sell the bike to?” He said with a sullen face, “Buy it back!”

“I can’t. The store said it has changed hands.”

Lu Zhen turned and kicked the tree trunk, furious. He roared, “Who is letting you make your own decisions? I’m not so downtrodden that I want you, little girl, to sell the bike and pay me back!”

Lu Yan blinked, her eyes watered, and she was very aggrieved.

Liang Ting couldn’t stand it anymore. He walked over and pulled Lu Yan behind him, and blamed Lu Zhen, “What are you doing, being so mean to her? She is just trying to help you!”

“You, like Shu Mengfei, also think I am a worthless loser, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t!”

Even if everyone said that Lu Zhen was a waste who was raised in vain, Lu Yan had never thought about it that way.

She had witnessed the hardships of her dad’s entrepreneurial days, and she understood better than anyone else how far this man could push himself when he was ruthless.

Liang Ting came over and pulled Lu Zhen, “Even if your heart is broken, you shouldn’t vent your anger on her.”

“He is always like this.” Lu Yan gasped, eyes blushing, and said muffledly, “He is always like this, leaving the worst for the closest person.”

If Lu Zhen’s bad temper hadn’t chilled his grandfather’s heart, no matter how Shi Xuexian played his tricks, he wouldn’t have caused father and son to leave their hearts and stop seeing each other.

Grandpa only has one son, ah.

Lu Zhen calmed down, and when he looked at the aggrieved appearance of the little girl, his heart suddenly softened, and his temper was gone.

He looked at the two hundred yuan crumpled in his hand, distressed and anxious.

Who told her to sell the bicycle to help him pay back the debt, even if he was down, he wouldn’t let this little girl smash the pot and sell the iron to raise money for him.

(T/N- To smash the pot and sell the iron: to be willing to sacrifice everything one has.)

“It was sold for two hundred yuan?”

Lu Zhen patted Lu Yan’s head angrily, “I bought it for a thousand yuan, you can only sell it for two hundred, right?”

“Woo…”

Although he disliked it, he accepted the two hundred dollars, and circled her shoulders with his arm, “A lot of them have gone out. What a prodigal.”

“It’s because I was in a hurry.”

“When I have money in the future, I’ll have to buy you a new one.”

Lu Yan leaned against him affectionately, “Dad, no matter what difficulties you encounter, don’t give up, even if everyone don’t understand you. Yan Yan will always be by your side.”

When Lu Yan encountered difficulties in her growing years and couldn’t hold on, that’s what Lu Zhen told her—

don’t give up, even if the whole world doesn’t like you, dad will always be by your side.

Lu Zhen moved his arm away, and said disgustingly, “It’s too corny.”

Lu Yan smiled, wrapping his hand around her shoulder. Lu Zhen was the one to raise her. He played the role of both a father and a mother, so Lu Yan stuck to him since she was a child.

Liang Ting smiled and said to Lu Zhen, “Shen Kuo can make money, so can we, we can even earn more than him!”

Lu Zhen looked at the sunset in the distance, and suddenly stood up like he was injected with chicken blood. He shouted, “I want to earn millions!”

Qin Hao was also infected by him, and shouted with him against the sunset, “Earn 10 million!”

“I want to hug left and right! Let Shu Mengfei cry!”

“I want to marry ten wives!”

Lu Yan and Liang Ting looked at each other, feeling the weird glances from the people around them, they felt too embarrassed!

Lu Yan knew that when her father was young and frivolous, he had done a lot of stupid things, and he was a complete chūnibyō.

(T/N- Chūnibyō is a Japanese colloquial term typically used to describe early teens who have grandiose delusions)

In the past, Lu Yan could only imagine through the verbal narrations of her uncles, but now that she sees it in person, Lu Yan finds it quite interesting.

That night, Lu Yan came home from school and saw a pink bicycle parked under the drooping green branches in front of the house.

She stepped forward and found that the bike was exactly the same as the one she had sold before!

Lu Yan looked around curiously, there was no one else in the neighborhood.

Damn! Why is it back again? And how?

Lu Yan hurriedly got on her bicycle and drove a few laps on the grass, making sure that this was the one she had sold. She very much cherished this bike, and it was a pleasant surprise to recover it.

She simply rode the bike directly, rushed to the dealership, and asked the shop owner what was going on.

The shop owner was very familiar with this car, and said, “A handsome guy bought this before, how come it’s in your hands?”

“Who bought it?”

“I only sold the bike, how can I know? I don’t know who the buyer is, but he looks as old as you.”

“As old as me?”

Lu Yan pushed the car home, very puzzled.

It couldn’t be Lu Zhen. Lu Zhen was so poor that he was eating free soup and rice in the cafeteria to survive.

The tall young man stood in front of the non-staple food store, lowered his head and lit a cigarette, looking at Lu Yan’s petite back from a distance.

Shen Kuo was definitely not a living Lei Feng who does good deeds without credits, on the contrary…he is sophisticated and sleek, and when he does a good deed, he will surely let others know and make others feel sorry.

(T/N: a living Lei Feng: a selfless model citizen, just like Lei Feng.)

In this world, the path of the poor is very narrow. If he wants to make the path wider, he must accumulate contacts and relationships.

But this time, it is different.

Thinking back to the beginning of the school year, his desk inexplicably had an extra math tutorial exercise book, the one he had been copying questions from in the bookstore, but could never afford to buy. Lu Yan bought it for him and secretly put it on his table.

Shen Kuo didn’t understand why Lu Yan did this. Maybe… the rich lady was feeling sympathy for him, like feeding a stray dog on the road. She might even have forgotten that she had helped him.

Shen Kuo also knew that he shouldn’t think too much, shouldn’t be happy over one’s own strength, and shouldn’t think that there might be girls in this world who care about him or even…like him.

Shen Kuo never owes anyone anything, this time he will…repay her unintentional kindness.

He pressed the cigarette butt out on the trunk, turned and left.

That afternoon, Lu Yan took a leaflet and ran to the door of Lu Zhen’s class enthusiastically, and he had important news to tell him.

Unexpectedly, she just passed the corner of the stairs and ran into a man head on.

The man’s chest was very hard, and it was that kind of hard muscle that made Lu Yan’s head hurt.

She clutched her forehead, raised her head dazedly, and met Shen Kuo’s long and narrow dark coffee-colored eyes.

When he is not smiling, his five senses have a unique indifferent temperament, which always gives people a feeling of alienation.

“Oh, it hurts, it hurts!”

As soon as she saw it was Shen Kuo, Lu Yan immediately entered the movie queen state, clutching her head and shouting, “It hurts!”

Shen Kuo seemed to have just finished physical education, and the bangs on his forehead were slightly wet, and Lu Yan could feel his body exuding a manly scent that constantly invaded her senses.

“I didn’t hit you, what are you pretending for?” Shen Kuo broke through her act mercilessly.

Lu Yan stopped pretending, lowered her head, pursed her lips and smiled.

Anyway, before Shen Kuo, she must be “as fragile as porcelain”, and rely on him to be able to grow up without worries and raise her hands high in the future.

Shen Kuo couldn’t understand the thoughts of this girl, and asked casually, “What are you running for?”

“I’m looking for my brother, I have important news to tell him.” Lu Yan raised the promotional paper in her hand and smiled at Shen Kuo.

There was a dark surge in Shen Kuo’s eyes, and the tips of his slender fingers suddenly touched her lips. Lu Yan immediately seemed to have been struck with a light bolt, not daring to move, nervous and on guard.

His eyes were peaceful and gentle, and he gently wiped off a crumb of cookie sticking to the corner of her mouth.

Lu Yan could even feel his rough fingertips grazing her lips, and a tingling current passed through her heart.

Recalling back then, forty-year-old Shen Kuo rarely looked at her with such a soft and hot gaze. He seemed to stand in the shadow out of the sun forever, watching her calmly and indifferently.

When he was a teenager, Shen Kuo was a bit less sophisticated and gloomy, but more enthusiastic.

“Um…”

Lu Yan stepped back, slightly defensive.

“He’s in the playground, maybe he’s not in a good mood.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Lu Yan instinctively felt that Shen Kuo might have messed with him again, because every time he spoke lightly, Lu Zhen would erupt in anger.

Shen Kuo gave a light smile, did not respond, loosened the button of his shirt, and revealed his collarbone.

Lu Yan said softly, “Don’t bully him.”

He raised his eyebrows, “And if I do?.”

“If you bully Lu Zhen, I’m gonna show you what it means to be bullied!”

Lu Yan in no way compared to him. She beat her fist, but her little fist was white and tender, not threatening at all.

The corner of Shen Kuo’s eyes smiled even more. He stretched his tone and punctuated every word, “Oh, then show me.”

Lu Yan realized that she was a little stupid, so she quickly retracted her fist and said softly, “Just, as long as you let it go, I will repay you.”

Shen Kuo discovered that this little girl was really afraid of him.

But he didn’t seem to have done anything particularly terrible to Lu Zhen, even if he did, it was not now.

He lowered his head and came closer to her, his thin lips fell on her ear, his voice low and mellow: “How are you going to repay me?”

“I haven’t thought about it yet, let’s talk about it later!”

Lu Yan staggered away from him and ran down the stairs to avoid letting him see her burning face.

Shen turned back and gazed at the little girl’s thin and slender back, the corners of his mouth pursed shallowly.

Most of the time, his smile was not sincere.

At least, he was genuinely happy to face her.

…

Lu Yan found three dejected teenagers on the side of the playground.

Lu Zhen was wearing a red basketball uniform and threw the basketball out unhappily. The basketball rolled a few times before it fell to Lu Yan’s feet and was stepped on by her.

At first glance, these guys were beaten by the true pros.

“I won’t play basketball anymore, not in this life.”

“Brother Lu, don’t give up. Although we can’t beat others in basketball and we can’t beat him in fights, our results are not as bad as others…”

Lu Zhen said angrily, “That’s not as good as him in everything, right!”

Qin Hao hastily deflected, “But we will become big bosses in the future! We’ll crush him on all fronts!”

Lu Zhen rubbed his nose and said reluctantly, “When I become a big boss, he’ll have it really good.”

Lu Yan actually wanted to say, in fact, when you become a big boss one day, Shen Gu still twists you to death with one finger, just as easy as twisting an ant.

Lu Zhen tilted his head to ask Lu Yan, “What are you doing?”

“Oh!” Lu Yan quickly took out the crumpled promotional paper in her hand, “Rookie Cup Campus Talent Competition!”

Lu Zhen took the promotional paper, and looked at it casually, “What the hell?”

“It’s a talent competition for singing and dancing. I heard that the school organizes every year, and there is a 1,000 yuan prize for the winner!”

“Are you going to sing?”

“That’s right!” Lu Yan looked at him expectantly, “I will definitely win the prize, and then we will be able to pay back the money we owe, and grandpa will be happy too.”

Lu Zhen and Liang Ting looked at each other and laughed.

“What are you doing?” Lu Yan frowned, “What are you laughing at?”

Lu Zhen patted Lu Yan on the shoulder, “Daughter, when you were in junior high school, you went on stage to sing Grasshopper’s “Broken Love Front Alliance”. How tragic the scene was, have you forgotten?”

Lu Yan looked at them in disbelief.

She is not her aunt, so she won’t be out of tune! She is a woman who almost made her debut! How many brokerage companies were scrambling to sign her.

“Humph, don’t look down at me!”

Liang Ting said, “It’s really not that Lu Zhen looks down on you. From junior high school until now, Lu Zhen’s ex-girlfriend Shu Mengfei has participated in this competition every time. She won two times in a row. She is confident she can win three consecutive championships. If you want to get her down, it would be a daydream…”

“If you say that, then I must participate.” Lu Yan said smugly, “I will get her down this year and make her three consecutive championships an unachievable failure, as a revenge for my dad!”

Although Lu Zhen and his two uncles were not optimistic about Lu Yan, Lu Yan still signed up, which would surely surprise them by then.

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