At the gates of Huiying High School, amid a sea of luxury cars, Lu Yao on his bicycle was like a breath of fresh air. The moment he appeared, he drew everyone's attention.
As soon as Lu Yao's unfamiliar face appeared at the school gates, people immediately began talking about him.
"A new transfer student?"
"Why have there been so many transfer students lately? Didn't Xia Yue just transfer here a few days ago? And now there's another one."
"He's pretty handsome. His looks can rival my idol Jiang Bai's."
"Hehe, he's exactly the cold, aloof type I like."
"Hahaha, why is his bicycle so cute? There's even a little kitten logo printed on it. What an adorable contrast."
Ms. Li had specially commissioned a renowned designer to custom-make this bicycle exclusively for Lu Yao. During the design process, she had thoughtfully incorporated elements of the little kitten Lu Yao kept. However, Ms. Li had never told Lu Yao about these considerate details, so he assumed the bicycle he was riding was truly as ordinary as Ms. Li had claimed.
"Did you notice his long legs? They're incredible!"
"Does no one else think he looks like one of those cold, aloof school heartthrobs straight out of a Japanese anime? His bone structure is just too perfect!"
"Hmph, what's the use of being handsome? One look at the way he's dressed tells you his family background is probably nothing special. Do any of you even recognize the brand of that bicycle he's riding? He can't even afford a decent bike. I really don't know why the school would admit such a poor nobody."
"Those who transfer in at this point are either among the very few returning from abroad, or they're illegitimate sons and daughters. Wasn't Xia Yue, who transferred here a few days ago, the Chu Family's illegitimate daughter? This guy is probably some family's illegitimate son who can't be shown in public."
"Has some family found another illegitimate son recently?"
"There are plenty of things like that, but unless it becomes common knowledge at school like Xia Yue and Chu Jiaojiao's situation, who would openly tell you? At most, the people around them might know."
Lu Yao had no idea about the various speculations being made about him at the school gates. He was currently waiting in the office for the homeroom teacher of Class 7, Year 2, to take him to class.
The buzz around Ms. Li's Weibo post had still not fully died down even after the National Day holiday ended. As soon as the students of Class 7, Year 2 returned, they began discussing the photo. Since Lu Qi was their classmate, they naturally recognized that the person in Ms. Li's Weibo photo was not him. But if it was not Lu Qi, then who was it?
"It must have been Li Guigu. That day, when we went shopping with him, we happened to run into Lu Qi and his mom. Li Guigu is pretty close to his aunt, and after seeing them that day, he ditched us to go find her."
"Oh, right. It must have been Li Guigu. That guy really stole the spotlight this time."
"But..."
Someone hesitantly opened his mouth, wanting to voice his doubts. He remembered that Ms. Li seemed to have posted that Weibo before meeting Li Guigu.
Unfortunately, before he could finish, someone beside him interrupted, "What's there to 'but' about? Who else could it be besides Li Guigu?"
Seeing that everyone had already decided it was Li Guigu, he did not want to make trouble and said nothing more. In any case, they would know once Li Guigu arrived and they asked him.
The moment Li Guigu entered the classroom and sat down, the people around him crowded over, all talking at once.
"Brother Li, you really became completely famous this National Day holiday."
"Hahaha, impressive, impressive. You made the trending searches with just a back view. Are you some kind of show-off genius?"
"Li Guigu, your legs looked so long in that back-view photo! Did your aunt take it for you?"
Realizing that they had mistaken him for Lu Yao, Li Guigu initially wanted to deny it. But when he saw the envious admiration on everyone's faces, he opened his mouth, then ultimately only replied vaguely, "Maybe it was just the angle that made my legs look longer."
Anyway, he had never said from beginning to end that the person in the photo was him. They had misunderstood it themselves, had they not? He was under no obligation to explain so much to them.
"I'm so jealous. You're actually so close to your aunt."
After hearing Li Guigu, who sat behind her, admit that the person in the photo was him, Chu Jiaojiao turned around and said to him, "Didn't you say a few days ago that you wanted to buy that limited-edition watch Nava released before? I'll ask my mom to check with the people in Country F when I get home and see whether she can get one."
Li Guigu could not hide his delight.
That limited-edition watch from Nava was practically impossible to buy now, no matter how much one was willing to pay. Chu Jiaojiao's mother happened to be Nava's Asia-Pacific president, so if Chu Jiaojiao was willing to help him, he could easily obtain that watch through internal channels.
Li Guigu's deskmate nudged his arm and whispered, "Why has this young lady Chu Jiaojiao suddenly changed so much today? Before, so many people asked her to help them buy things, and she always ignored them outright. Why did she actually offer to help you today?"
Li Guigu smiled but said nothing. Of course, he knew why Chu Jiaojiao had suddenly offered to help him. Though Chu Jiaojiao had never openly admitted that she liked Lu Qi, her crush on him could not escape Li Guigu's notice. She was only helping him because she wanted to use him to get closer to Lu Qi and Ms. Li.
Meanwhile, Lu Qi and Ye Muqing were also discussing the matter on the rooftop of the teaching building.
Ye Muqing looked at Lu Qi beside him, whose expression had been awful since early morning, and teased, "Brother Qi, what's wrong? Why do you look constipated so early in the morning?"
Ye Muqing had known Lu Qi since middle school, and the two had always been close. At school, they were practically inseparable.
Lu Qi kicked him. "Go screw yourself. You're the one who's constipated."
Ye Muqing laughed. "Hahahaha, I don't have an uncle. I do have an eldest aunt, though, and she's good friends with your Ms. Li. Do you want to send her your regards? I can call her for you right now."
Lu Qi raised his brows and shot him a sidelong glance. "Are you really trying to die today?"
Ye Muqing said, "Hahaha, no. I just saw that you were in a bad mood, Brother Qi, so I made a little joke."
Seeing Lu Qi's dark expression, Ye Muqing decided to change the subject. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Brother Lu, who was the person in that photo your mom posted during National Day?"
Lu Qi had already been angry that Lu Yao, his younger brother, did not want to be close to him as his older brother. Now Ye Muqing had hit exactly the sore spot. "Go ask him yourself. Why are you asking me? Are we that close?"
Since Lu Yao would not acknowledge him as his older brother, then he would not acknowledge Lu Yao as his younger brother either!
Ye Muqing was completely baffled. Was Brother Qi all right? That answer was completely unrelated to the question!
He was asking precisely because he did not know who it was. He did not know that person, so who was he supposed to ask?
Fine. Lu Qi was acting like a resentful middle-aged man now. It was better for Ye Muqing to keep his mouth shut.
***
Lu Yao had not waited long in the office before his homeroom teacher, Teacher Tang, appeared before him.
Teacher Tang said, "Hello, Lu Yao. I'm the homeroom teacher of Class 7, Year 2, and I mainly teach mathematics. You can call me Teacher Tang. I'll take you to the classroom now."
Since morning reading had not begun yet, the classroom was currently a noisy mess.
Lu Yao followed behind his homeroom teacher and entered the classroom.
Seeing the transfer student suddenly appear, the students below immediately began whispering among themselves.
"Is he the transfer student Lin Mei and the others mentioned at the school gates just now? With a face like that, I'm in!"
"As long as he's handsome, you're in no matter what, aren't you? How many young sprouts of the motherland have you already harmed?"
"This time is different. This one is especially handsome. Hahahaha, with looks like his, maybe I could actually stay loyal for once."
Seeing Lu Yao standing on the podium, Xia Yue's eyes flickered as the system's cold mechanical voice rang out in her mind.
[System: "Xia Yue, you were too impatient in the previous world. Although you had completely seized Lu Yao's fortune, you acted against him too quickly, causing the male lead to become suspicious of you. That was why your mission failed. If you fail this world's mission again, you will no longer be able to exchange points to restart this world. At that time, your soul will be erased directly."]
Xia Yue was a strategist. She and her system obtained the fortune of the Heavenly Dao by conquering key figures in different worlds. In this world, she only needed to conquer Lu Qi, the male lead, and gain his love for her. The Heavenly Dao would then regard her as the daughter of fortune and grant her fortune.
However, the system discovered that Lu Yao's fortune was also exceptionally strong, so the two began plotting to seize Lu Yao's fortune as well.
Because Lu Yao was not one of the key figures of this world, they could only keep targeting him and make him lose everything he possessed. Only then could the system use its methods to steal fortune from him.
[Hearing the system's threat, Xia Yue sneered. "Last time was a mistake. It won't happen again. Since I was able to make Lu Yao fall head over heels for me in my previous life, this life will naturally be no different."]