Chapter 6

The two stood facing the tower pine below the teaching building, basking in the bright and comfortable sunlight. Lu Jing, wearing a brown jacket, took out a box of Xiao Xiongmao cigarettes from his pocket. Today, he had only managed to take two packs from the old man.

With a "click," he lit the cigarette with a lighter, blew a smoke ring into the air, and said, "What's up, Vice Chairman Lin?"

Lin Rong was the vice president of the student council at Dinghai No. 4 High School. By calling her "Vice Chairman Lin," Lu Jing was indicating that her position meant nothing to him. As for whether Lin Rong was the daughter of the vice mayor of Jingcheng City, that was even less of a concern for him.

Lin Rong slapped the stone railing with her left hand, "You—! Fine, if you don't know what you did, don't think I'm afraid of your reputation as Lu Ershao. If you want to bully Yang Wanting, you'll have to see if I agree."

Lu Jing smiled, flicking the ash from his cigarette, "You mean the love letter I wrote? It was just for fun, to practice my writing. Don't take it seriously."

Lin Rong's face showed a look of disdain. Lu Jing was too shameless, sending a love letter and then saying not to take it seriously.

Lu Jing took a puff of his cigarette and said sarcastically, "What, is my reputation as Lu Ershao so bad that I don't keep my word? Ask around, have I ever bullied any girls at No. 4 High School? Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

After saying this, Lu Jing put out his cigarette and turned to walk into the classroom. Lin Rong was speechless, looking at Lu Jing's tall back. Thinking about it, his reputation at No. 4 High School was all about fighting with boys, with no record of harassing or bullying girls. Compared to the rich kid in the senior class, the difference was stark.

But, she had come here in a rage, how could she be dismissed so easily with a few words?

"Hey, Lu Jing, you have to keep your word. I told your homeroom teacher this time, next time, I'll go straight to the principal."

Lu Jing stopped, turned around, and waved his hand, smiling, "No, I won't." It was likely that Lin Rong had told Ms. Shao Qiu Lan yesterday afternoon, when he had skipped two classes and gone straight home, so Ms. Shao's call had gone to his house.

He truly had no intention of纠缠 (entangling) Yang Wanting. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty, but he didn't have the time. Matters of the heart were best left to their natural course. In his previous life, he had experienced many women, but the one who truly left a mark on his heart was the silly Tang Yuyao, who wanted to have his child.

She was probably still in her first year at Jiangnan No. 1 High School.

Their conversation was not deliberately kept low, and the classmates in the class heard everything clearly. When Lu Jing walked past the podium and returned to his seat, the classmates were whispering to each other. Rumors were one thing, but Lu Jing's personal admission was another.

Compared to the students' frugal lives, news of romantic relationships was a great topic, especially when it involved well-known figures on campus. However, Lu Jing, with the mindset of an adult, didn't take it to heart.

It was just a love letter, far less scandalous than the content of Mr. Chen's text message in 2008.

"Quiet, quiet!" The class monitor, Zhang Hao, had to stand up and bang the table. He looked at Lu Jing with annoyance, truly a troublemaker.

Lu Jing tidied his backpack, put the unfinished letter inside, and left the classroom, leaving behind the teenage gossip. Checking his watch, he had been in the classroom for less than forty minutes.

The narrow, tree-lined path in the teachers' residential area was paved with pebbles, and walking on it gave a strange sensation. The needle pines rustled in the spring breeze, like a gentle and soothing song, making one feel extremely comfortable and lazy.

Lu Jing, with his black canvas backpack slung over his shoulder, walked through the teachers' residential area of No. 4 High School. He rented a room from a teacher, an old-style apartment building with two units per floor, each a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment. The teacher had moved to live with his son and rented out the school-assigned house, which was a significant income. Many of the rooms in the building where Lu Jing lived were in similar situations.

After starting high school, he had always lived on campus. Except for the first weekend of each month when he went home to get living expenses, he rarely went home, spending most of his time playing with a group of friends.

"Click—" Lu Jing opened the bronze security door in the hallway and was about to go in when a soft voice called from behind, "Wait, wait, that student, wait a moment."

Lu Jing turned around to see a woman in a white short-sleeved knitted shirt and dark green straight pants, with a graceful figure, waving and calling out.

The woman had a delicate face, a slender waist, and the knitted shirt accentuated her narrow waist, making her chest appear even more prominent. Her long, shapely legs were pressed together without a gap, quite alluring.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get the tricycle. I forgot to bring the key to this door."

Lu Jing smiled, recognizing the woman as his English teacher, Fang Qin. She soon came back, pushing a tricycle along the cement path. Two bags of rice were on the tricycle.

Lu Jing held the door open and went to help. Fortunately, the path to his building, C11, from Maple Avenue was flat, otherwise, it would have been questionable whether Fang Qin could have pushed the tricycle up any slopes. No. 4 High School had strict rules, and no small vehicles were allowed on campus. It seemed that Fang Qin had the goods delivered to the school gate by a delivery truck and then brought them in with the tricycle.

With Lu Jing's help, the tricycle moved much faster.

"Thank you, Lu Jing. If it weren't for you, I would have been exhausted today." Fang Qin panted, her prominent chest trembling slightly with her breath. She took out a white handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her face and opened the door with her key.

She lived in 502. Lu Jing helped her carry the two bags of rice upstairs. Lu Jing smiled, "Ms. Fang, I'm your student, it's my duty to help."

Fang Qin opened the door and smiled gratefully, "Did you get a haircut yesterday? I didn't recognize you at the stairs. Come in for a drink, I need to talk to you." She stepped aside to let him in.

Lu Jing helped her put the rice bags in the kitchen, then walked to the living room, took the wet towel Fang Qin handed him, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "Thank you!"

"Sit down, my place is quite simple, I don't have much to offer you." Fang Qin, while speaking, poured a glass of cold water into a disposable cup and handed it to Lu Jing.

Lu Jing looked around the living room. The walls, painted a light pink, looked old and worn, with various marks and stains. However, the living room was equipped with a TV, sofa, refrigerator, and air conditioner. The cement floor was spotlessly clean. In the morning light, the quiet, semi-lit living room gave Lu Jing a sense of looking at an old photograph.

"Sit down!" Fang Qin, who had cut two oranges and placed them on a fruit plate, put the plate on the bright coffee table and invited Lu Jing to sit.

Lu Jing sat down and smiled as he drank. Ms. Fang was probably going to talk about his exam results.

Sure enough, Fang Qin elegantly sat on the sofa, her long, shapely legs crossed to the left, and pointed to the fruit plate, "Help yourself! Lu Jing, your English exam results this time were terrible. It really affected my performance. You need to work harder. How about this, I'll give you an hour of tutoring on weekends, and we'll aim for 50 points on the mid-term exam."

Lu Jing touched his nose. His English had always been poor, but now, with a 35-year-old soul, passing high school English should not be a problem.

"Thank you, Ms. Fang. I might be a bit busy recently, but I promise that I will score over 50 points on the mid-term exam."

Fang Qin smiled, a clean and bright smile, and lightly tapped Lu Jing with her slender fingers, "Look, there you go again, trying to placate me. You've made this promise many times, but your English scores haven't improved."

Lu Jing felt embarrassed and said with a bitter smile, "This is the last time, Ms. Fang. I promise, this time I won't let you down."

Although No. 4 High School had a performance-based evaluation system, it was up to the teachers to enforce it. Few teachers were willing to push students like Lu Jing to study, as some students could be excluded from the performance evaluations.

Lu Jing was genuinely ashamed. Facing the dedicated Ms. Fang, he had indeed broken his promises many times.

"Knock, knock!" The door was suddenly knocked on.

"Who is it? I'm coming!" Fang Qin walked over and opened the door to see Zhang Li. Her mother was a distant cousin.

"Aunt Fang, I'm here to see you again." Zhang Li, wearing a white short-sleeved lace blouse, hugged Fang Qin and kissed her smooth, rosy cheek, "Ha, I've already received offers from two American universities today."

"Oh, stop it, there are guests here," Fang Qin playfully pushed her niece away. Zhang Li looked into the living room and saw a student sitting on the sofa, wearing a white shirt and black pants, with a brown jacket draped over his arm. He looked somewhat handsome, with a tan complexion, a chiseled face, and large, bright eyes, drinking water.

"It's you!" Zhang Li and Lu Jing said simultaneously.

Lu Jing hadn't expected to see the beauty he had encountered at the No. 4 High School gate yesterday, getting out of a taxi.

Zhang Li hadn't expected the student who had stared at her intently to appear in Aunt Fang's living room.

"Do you know each other?" Fang Qin asked, her eyes darting between the two.

Lu Jing put down his cup and said, "No, we don't." He stood up and smiled, "Hello, I'm Lu Jing, Ms. Fang's student."

"Oh—, so you're in your second year of high school." Zhang Li thought, "So young, yet so lecherous." However, she was in a good mood and extended her hand generously, "Hello, I'm Zhang Li, and I'm about to go to university in the United States."

"Congratulations, congratulations!" Lu Jing lightly shook her warm, soft hand and immediately let go. Zhang Li had changed her outfit, wearing a white lace blouse and black tight pants, exuding youthful vitality. Her long, shapely legs, encased in the tight pants, seemed to be bursting with energy. She stood there, looking graceful and pleasing to the eye.

Beauty is a sight to behold wherever she goes. Lu Jing smiled and said to Fang Qin, "Ms. Fang, I'll be going now. Goodbye."

"Don't forget your promise, Lu Jing." Fang Qin reminded him as she saw him to the door.

Lu Jing touched his nose and smiled bitterly. A too-dedicated teacher was also a burden to him at this moment.

Back on the first floor, Lu Jing opened the door to 101, walked in, kicked off his sneakers, and put on a flip-flop, tossing his backpack onto the black leather sofa.

He went to the bathroom to wash his face, sat on the sofa in the living room, and silently smoked. If he compared his brother's crisis to a task, he had completed 60% of it, just passing the qualifying line.

He had confidence in his brother, but that didn't mean everything would go according to their plans.

Moreover, now that he had calmed down to think, most of his confidence came from his future knowledge of his brother. Whether his brother, who had not yet experienced painful setbacks, could handle this crisis smoothly remained to be seen.

Additionally, he needed to figure out where the 2 million yuan had gone. Otherwise, his brother might still be seen as a problematic official. This wouldn't affect his current career, but if his brother aspired to the highest levels of power, this issue would be used against him in the future.

Lu Jing would not allow such a flaw to exist.

The sunlight outside the window was blocked by thick curtains, making the living room very quiet. Lu Jing stubbed out his cigarette, and the disposable cup on the glass coffee table already held several cigarette butts. He looked at the time; it was already 11:45 AM, and he had 15 minutes before his meeting with Liu Bing.

Lu Jing put on his sneakers and walked to the school gate.

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End of the page.