Chapter 12

At Huiying High School's gate, amid a sea of luxury cars, Lu Yao rode in on a bicycle like a breath of fresh air, drawing everyone's attention the moment he appeared.

The unfamiliar face of Lu Yao immediately sparked discussion as soon as he showed up at the school gate.

"A new transfer student?"

"Why have there been so many transfer students lately? Didn't Xia Yue just transfer here a few days ago? 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'm into."

"Hahaha, why is his bicycle so cute? It even has a little kitten logo printed on it. The contrast is adorable."

This bicycle had been custom-made exclusively for Lu Yao by a famous designer at Madam Li's request. During the design process, Madam Li had thoughtfully incorporated elements of the kitten Lu Yao kept. However, she never told Lu Yao about any of these considerate touches, so he assumed the bicycle he rode was exactly as Madam Li had described it—a perfectly ordinary bike.

"Did you notice his long legs? They're insane!"

"Does no one else think he looks like one of those cold, handsome school heartthrobs straight out of a Japanese anime? His bone structure is way too good!"

"Hmph, what's the point of being handsome? You can tell from the way he's dressed that his family background is probably nothing special. Does any of you even recognize the brand of that bicycle? He can't even afford a decent bike. How did the school even admit such a poor nobody?"

"At this time of year, aside from the rare few transferring back from overseas, the rest are usually illegitimate sons or daughters. Wasn't Xia Yue, who transferred here a few days ago, the Chu Family's illegitimate daughter? This one is probably another illegitimate son who can't be shown in public."

"Has another family found an illegitimate son recently?"

"There are plenty of things like that, but unless it causes as much of a stir at school as Xia Yue and Chu Jiaojiao did, who would openly tell you? At most, people's close friends might know."

Lu Yao had no idea about the many speculations being made about him at the school gate. He was currently waiting in the office for the homeroom teacher of Class 7, Year 2, to take him to class.

The buzz around Madam Li's Weibo post still had not 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 could naturally tell that the person in Madam Li's post 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 mother. Li Guigu is pretty close to his aunt, so after he saw them, he ditched us to go find her."

"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 Madam Li seemed to have made that post before she ran into Li Guigu.

Unfortunately, before he could finish, the person 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 stir up trouble and said nothing more. Besides, once Li Guigu arrived, they could just ask him.

The moment Li Guigu stepped into the classroom and sat down, the students around him crowded over, all talking at once.

"This National Day holiday, Brother Li, you really became famous."

"Hahaha, impressive, impressive. You made the trending searches with just a back view. Are you some kind of legend?"

"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 only replied vaguely, "Maybe it was just the camera angle that made my legs look longer."

After all, he had never said from beginning to end that the person in the photo was him. They were the ones who misunderstood, were they not? He had no obligation to explain so much to them.

"I'm so jealous. You're actually that close with your aunt."

After hearing Li Guigu, who sat behind her, acknowledge 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 the limited-edition watch nava released before? I'll ask my mother to check with the people in F Country when I get home and see whether they can get one."

Li Guigu could not hide his delight.

That limited-edition nava watch was practically impossible to buy even with money now. 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 did Miss Chu suddenly change so much today? So many people asked her for help before, and she ignored every one of them. Yet today, she actually offered to help you?"

Li Guigu smiled without saying anything. Of course he knew why Chu Jiaojiao had suddenly offered to help him. Although she had never openly admitted that she liked Lu Qi, her crush on him had not escaped Li Guigu's notice. She was helping him for no other reason than to use him to get closer to Lu Qi and Madam Li.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the teaching building, Lu Qi and Ye Muqing were also discussing this matter.

Ye Muqing looked at Lu Qi, who had been in a foul mood since early morning, and teased, "Brother Qi, what's wrong? Why do you look constipated first thing in the morning?"

Ye Muqing had known Lu Qi since middle school. They had always been close and were often inseparable at school.

Lu Qi kicked him. "Get lost. You're the constipated one."

Ye Muqing grinned. "Hahaha, I don't have a grandpa. I do have a grandaunt, though, and she's good friends with your Madam Li. Want to send her your regards? I can call her right now."

Lu Qi raised his brows and shot him a sidelong glance. "Do you really have a death wish today?"

Ye Muqing said, "Hahaha, no. I just saw that you were in a bad mood, Brother Qi, so I made a joke."

Seeing Lu Qi's grim expression, Ye Muqing wanted to change the subject. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Brother Lu, who was the person in the photo your mother posted during National Day?"

Lu Qi had already been angry that Lu Yao, his younger brother, did not want to get close to him. Now Ye Muqing had brought up exactly the wrong subject. "Go ask him yourself. Why are you asking me? Are we even that close?"

If 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 utterly baffled. Was Brother Qi all right? That answer had nothing to do with the question.

He had asked because he did not know who it was. He did not know that person at all, so who was he supposed to ask?

Fine, Lu Qi was acting like a resentful middle-aged man right now. It was better for Ye Muqing to keep his mouth shut.

***

Lu Yao had not waited long in the office before Teacher Tang, the homeroom teacher, appeared before him.

Teacher Tang said, "Hello, Lu Yao. I'm the homeroom teacher of Class 7, Year 2, and I mainly teach mathematics. Just call me Teacher Tang. I'll take you to the classroom now."

Since morning reading had not yet begun, the classroom was currently a noisy mess.

Lu Yao followed the homeroom teacher into the classroom.

At the sudden appearance of the transfer student, the students below immediately began whispering among themselves.

"Is he the transfer student Lin Mei and the others were talking about at the school gate just now? With a face like that, I'm in!"

"As long as they're handsome, you're in. How many young hearts have you destroyed already?"

"This time is different. This one is especially handsome. Hahaha, with looks like that, maybe it actually could last."

When Xia Yue saw Lu Yao appear on the podium, her eyes flickered as the system's cold mechanical voice sounded in her mind.

[System: "Xia Yue, you were too impatient in the last world. Although you completely seized Lu Yao's fortune, you moved against him too quickly, causing the male lead to become suspicious of you. That was why your mission failed. If you fail the mission in this world as well, 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 gained the Heavenly Dao's fortune by conquering pivotal figures in different worlds. In this world, she only needed to conquer Lu Qi, the male lead, and gain his love for the Heavenly Dao to 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 of them began plotting to seize Lu Yao's fortune as well.

Because Lu Yao was not a pivotal figure in this world, they could only continuously target him and make him lose everything he possessed. Only then could the system use its methods to steal his fortune.

[Hearing the system's threat, Xia Yue sneered. "Last time was a mistake. It won't happen again. Since I could make Lu Yao fall head over heels for me in my previous life, this life will naturally be the same."]