Chapter 16

Lu Yao never checked Moments, so he had no idea that his father had, for the first time in ages, subtly shown off his children on Moments last night.

At breakfast, Lu Yao was surprised when he heard that Lu Qi, who had always disliked milk, unexpectedly asked the housekeeper to replace the soy milk in front of him with milk.

When Lu Qi saw Lu Yao looking at him and remembered that they were still giving each other the cold shoulder, he stiffened his neck and said dryly, "W-what? Is there something wrong with me switching to milk?"

Lu Yao silently withdrew his gaze. How strange.

After breakfast, the two of them still went their separate ways to school.

Riding his bicycle, Lu Yao spotted Chu Jiaojiao from a distance. She had her backpack on, her face dark, and she looked like she was about to explode with rage as she walked toward him.

Thinking about how, in the car just now, her father had once again unthinkingly taken Xia Yue's side and scolded her for that illegitimate daughter, Chu Jiaojiao viciously kicked the wall beside her.

"Crack."

There was a crisp sound from the bone in her ankle. A sharp pain instantly shot through it, making Chu Jiaojiao grimace in agony. On the verge of tears, she muttered to herself, "Why am I so unlucky?! I just kicked a wall and somehow twisted my ankle!"

Lu Yao rode toward her from the opposite direction and happened to witness her entire series of changing expressions.

Once the pain eased, Chu Jiaojiao looked up and saw Lu Yao riding his bicycle toward her.

Their eyes met in the air, and heat instantly rushed to Chu Jiaojiao's face.

Damn it! Why did she have to run into the transfer student of all people?!

Chu Jiaojiao was on the verge of breaking down. He probably hadn't seen anything, right? Ahhhhh! She was really going crazy. Was heaven deliberately trying to make things difficult for her today?! She had only cursed him out yesterday, and now he had caught her in such an embarrassing situation!

An idea suddenly struck Chu Jiaojiao. She hurriedly squatted down, buried her head, and pretended to be seriously tying her shoelaces.

Seeing through Chu Jiaojiao's embarrassment, Lu Yao pretended not to notice and rode straight past her.

Only after hearing the sound of Lu Yao's wheels pass by did Chu Jiaojiao cautiously raise her head. She let out a long breath. He was finally gone.

Lu Yao had not ridden far when Chu Jiaojiao's sharp shout suddenly rang out behind him.

"What do you want? Get lost!"

Chu Jiaojiao glared furiously at the two punks blocking her path and refusing to let her leave.

The blond-haired man curled his lips into a sinister smile. "Looking at that uniform, you're some rich young lady from Huiying High School, huh? So, want to come out and have some fun with your big brothers? We'll show you something fun."

Chu Jiaojiao fiercely smacked away the blond-haired man's reaching hand with her backpack. Her voice was full of disgust and a faint, barely detectable unease.

"Get lost. Don't touch me! Or I'll call the police."

The blond-haired man exchanged a look with his lackey, and the two let out lewd laughter.

The blond-haired man said, "Call them! Let's see if you get the chance. Then I'll call over a bunch of reporters and have them report on the story between you, this rich young lady, and us two brothers. Once you're famous, don't forget to thank us."

It was Chu Jiaojiao's first time encountering hooligans like this.

When she saw the blond-haired man closing in on her, she involuntarily shrank back half a step in fear.

Out of the corner of his eye, the blond-haired man saw a bicycle charging straight at him. His face went pale with fright, and he stumbled back several steps in panic.

"Screech—" The piercing sound of bicycle brakes echoed through the entire street.

Chu Jiaojiao also widened her eyes in shock. Lu Yao made a sharp drift and stopped the bicycle right between her and the blond-haired man.

Looking at the bicycle that had stopped abruptly in front of him, the blond-haired man flew into a rage and cursed, "Hey, brat, what the hell are you doing? Do you know you almost hit someone?!"

Lu Yao tilted his head toward Chu Jiaojiao, who stood on the other side of the bicycle. Only after seeing that she was unharmed did he turn back to the blond-haired man and say unhurriedly, "Ah, sorry. The brakes suddenly failed."

Lu Yao's attitude made the veins on the blond-haired man's forehead bulge. He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked, then snarled, "You little punk, are you looking to die?!"

Seeing how terrifying he looked, Chu Jiaojiao was so frightened that she held her breath.

Lu Yao waved the phone in his hand and spoke calmly. "I suggest you leave quickly. I've already called the police. They'll be here in two minutes, so you'd better get going. You probably don't want to be arrested again right after getting out of detention."

The blond-haired man was furious and wanted to grab Lu Yao, but his lackey hurriedly pulled him back. "Boss, let's go first. It'll be trouble if the cops come."

The blond-haired man viciously pointed at Lu Yao. "Kid, you've got guts. I'll remember you. You'd better hope I don't run into you again, or you'll regret it."

With that, the blond-haired man turned and ran off with his lackey.

After watching them disappear from sight, Lu Yao turned around and saw Chu Jiaojiao standing there blankly. Thinking she had been frightened, he said, "If we don't leave now, we'll be late for class."

Chu Jiaojiao's ears burned red with embarrassment. She wanted to leave too, but her legs had gone weak from fear, and she could not walk at all.

Thinking about how she had offended Lu Yao just yesterday and afraid that he would notice her condition, Chu Jiaojiao awkwardly said, "You go ahead. I'll stay here and wait for the police." Thankfully, she could use the police as an excuse.

Lu Yao said, "There are no police. I lied to them."

The moment Lu Yao heard Chu Jiaojiao scream, he had rushed over. He had not had time to call the police at all.

No... no police?! Chu Jiaojiao's eyes widened.

Lu Yao glanced at Chu Jiaojiao. Noticing that the muscles in her legs were slightly weak, he guessed that she had probably been scared badly.

Lu Yao's voice was cool. "Get on. I'll take you to school."

Lu Yao's bicycle had a rear seat, so carrying one person was not a problem. If he left Chu Jiaojiao here alone, there was no guarantee those two men would not come back later.

Chu Jiaojiao quickly sat on the rear seat, but she still stubbornly said, "You offered to give me a ride. I never asked you to."

Lu Yao said, "..."

The breeze lifted Chu Jiaojiao's fine hair. Thinking back on what had just happened and remembering Lu Yao's words, she could not help asking curiously, "How did you know those two had just gotten out of detention?"

Lu Yao said, "Their clothes."

Huh? What was wrong with their clothes? Chu Jiaojiao recalled what those two bastards had been wearing, but she could not find any clue.

"You can tell from their hairstyles that they care a lot about their appearance, but their clothes smelled greasy, and the oil stains had likely been there for at least five days. Besides, there's a detention center nearby."

Chu Jiaojiao could not help looking astonished. In that brief moment, he had analyzed so much?

Lu Yao said, "There's a downhill stretch ahead. Sit tight and hold on."

A downhill stretch? Hold on? Hold on to what, his waist?!

Chu Jiaojiao sat sideways on the rear seat, pressing her lips together in hesitation.

But wrapping her arms around his waist would be far too intimate! But if she did not hold on...

Chu Jiaojiao leaned forward to look at the downhill road not far ahead.

The slope was so steep! If she did not hold onto something, it really felt like she could fall badly.

Lu Yao was wearing his summer white school uniform shirt today. Looking at his lean waist, Chu Jiaojiao lightly bit her lip. Her heart pounded so hard that it felt as though it might leap out of her chest.

She secretly took a deep breath and was just about to carefully raise her hand when Lu Yao suddenly spoke. "We're about to go downhill. Why aren't you holding onto the bottom of the seat?"

H-hold onto the bottom of the seat?

Heat instantly rushed to Chu Jiaojiao's face, and she flushed red in embarrassment!

If she only had to hold onto the seat, why had he not said so sooner?!

Chu Jiaojiao was so embarrassed that her hands and feet nearly curled up. She stammered, "W-what are you talking about?! I knew that even without you telling me."

Lu Yao said, "..." Was it just his imagination? Why did Chu Jiaojiao seem inexplicably angry?

When the students saw Lu Yao riding up near the school gates with Chu Jiaojiao on the back of his bicycle, their eyes nearly fell out of their heads.

Was today some kind of magical day? Chu Jiaojiao, that rich young lady, would rather ride a bicycle than take a luxury car?!

Noticing everyone's stares, Chu Jiaojiao was wondering how to ask Lu Yao to let her off. But if she brought it up herself, would Lu Yao think she was looking down on him?

At that moment, Lu Yao suddenly stopped the bicycle and braced one long leg against the ground. "We're here. You can get off."

Hearing Lu Yao so ruthlessly tell her to get off, Chu Jiaojiao gritted her teeth. Damn it, why did it feel like she had lost?!

The moment Chu Jiaojiao got off the bicycle, Xia Yue's haunting voice sounded behind her again.

Xia Yue said, "Sister, why did you suddenly get out of the car just now? And you didn't even call to tell us where you went. Dad and I were so worried about you. We were afraid something had happened to you."

Chu Jiaojiao had been in a fairly good mood, but the instant she heard Xia Yue's affected voice, she became irritated. Would Xia Yue die if she did not speak in that fake, sugary tone?

Liu Hao could not stand seeing his deskmate Xia Yue looking so wronged. He indignantly said, "Chu Jiaojiao, can't you think about other people before you do things?! Do you know how long Xia Yue waited for you at the school gates?"

After hearing their conversation, the nearby students also began whispering among themselves.

"Xia Yue really does seem to have been waiting here for quite a while."

"Chu Jiaojiao has always been spoiled and willful. It's not like you don't know that."

Listening to the people around her pointing fingers, Chu Jiaojiao clenched her hands and bit down hard on her lip.

Here it was again. Every time she argued with Xia Yue, whether it was her father or these people, everyone took Xia Yue's side. The only person who believed her was her mother!

Lu Yao had originally intended to leave, but after hearing their conversation and thinking of what Chu Jiaojiao had just gone through, he could not help raising an eyebrow. His voice was icy. "So this is what you call worrying? Leaving her alone there without caring what happened? If she didn't call you, couldn't you have called her first?"

When Xia Yue heard Lu Yao speak up for Chu Jiaojiao, she stared in shock. Wasn't Lu Yao supposed to hate Chu Jiaojiao just like he had in her previous life?

Xia Yue flushed red in embarrassment. "I... we..."

Lu Yao coldly interrupted her. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. I don't care what you think. The person you should really explain yourself to is Chu Jiaojiao."

With that, he pedaled away on his bicycle and sped straight through the school gates like the wind.

Xia Yue stared at his mercilessly departing back. She was so furious that she felt like exploding, yet she had to suppress her anger and remain there awkwardly, trying to salvage her reputation.