Chapter 24

Jiang Bai stared darkly at Lu Yao's newly changed profile picture. This profile picture was a famous couple's icon across the entire internet.

He had once seen a couple among his WeChat contacts using this same set of profile pictures.

He opened Lu Yao's Moments and saw that someone who never posted there had actually made a rare post today: "Holding your hand, growing old with you."

Jiang Bai's eyes became so gloomy that they seemed to swallow all light.

Hearing the sudden sound of a glass shattering outside, the housekeeper hurried out of the kitchen.

"Auntie: What happened? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Jiang Bai's eyes were filled with coldness as he suppressed his voice. "It's nothing. Sorry for the trouble, Auntie, but please clean this up."

With that, he went up the stairs and returned to his studio upstairs.

Grandpa Jiang, who had witnessed the scene from the living room, frowned in confusion.

That boy had seemed rather strange lately. Ever since he returned from Mountain City after gathering inspiration, his moods had fluctuated far more noticeably than before.

Second floor, studio.

Jiang Bai slowly raised his long, slender fingers, his warm fingertips gradually brushing over the cold drawing paper before him.

The painting before him was one he had completed in one go last night, spending nearly half the night on it.

In the painting, a boy with a sky-blue headband and strikingly cold features leaped high into the air. He held a basketball overhead with both hands, his deep gaze fixed tightly on the hoop.

Though there were other people on the basketball court, Jiang Bai had deliberately blurred all their faces. The boy's figure was the most dazzling part of the entire painting.

Not far behind him were many more exquisite, beautiful paintings with delicate brushwork. Although the scenes differed, the subject of every painting was always the same person.

Looking at the boy in the painting, Jiang Bai's eyes were filled with tender affection.

But when he thought of what he had just seen, his gaze instantly darkened again.

Before meeting Lu Yao, Jiang Bai's life had seemed shrouded in layers of gray gauze, with neither joy nor sorrow visible beneath them.

Perhaps it was his naturally detached nature, or perhaps it was because of his childhood. Other than his grandfather, who could occasionally stir the faintest ripple in his heart, Jiang Bai had always shut everyone else—even his biological parents—out of his world. His smile always carried a gentle but distant air.

He was like a cold deity, untouched by the warmth of mortal life.

Jiang Bai had always believed that even if he remained this way until death, he would never change.

But the instant Lu Yao appeared in his world, all that dense darkness seemed to have been forcibly split apart by a sharp, gleaming sword.

Lu Yao was the only light in his dark world. But just as the sun always rose in the east and set in the west, this beam of light seemed poised to leave his world today as well.

The moment he realized this, bone-deep cold flooded his organs. Jiang Bai's heart seemed to be torn apart, and his eyes grew as dark as an icy deep sea.

Meanwhile, Lu Yao had only recently gotten his phone back from You Yu when it rang. Seeing that the call was from Lin Gejie, his former deskmate at Mountain City No. 1 High School, Lu Yao answered without much thought.

The moment the call connected, Lin Gejie's shocked voice came through. "Yao, are you taken? Congratulations, congratulations!"

Lu Yao: "..."

Why couldn't he understand what Lin Gejie was talking about?

Lu Yao: "That's not true. Who told you that?"

Lin Gejie scratched his head. "Didn't you change to a couple's profile picture? And doesn't that 'Holding your hand, growing old with you' post mean you were announcing your relationship?"

Lu Yao shot You Yu a cold look. This guy had actually forgotten to set that Moments post to private!

Lin Gejie spoke loudly, and You Yu, who was seated nearby, widened his eyes in shock upon hearing him.

Lu Yao took a deep breath and explained helplessly, "You've misunderstood. One of my classmates has an ex-girlfriend who has recently kept bragging in front of him about how loving she and her current boyfriend are. He got annoyed and wanted to show off in return. He used my account just now, pretending to be his new girlfriend, then used that couple's profile picture and the Moments post to flaunt things in front of that girl."

Lin Gejie: "..."

Did students in Sea City think differently from them in Mountain City?

What was there to compete over in something like this?!

Because You Yu had not set viewing permissions for the Moments post, the few people in their class who had both Lu Yao and You Yu added on WeChat noticed something strange about them.

When someone in the class group actually mistook Lu Yao and You Yu for a couple, Ye Muqing, who had watched the entire process from behind them all afternoon, laid out everything about You Yu.

As one of the few people who had both of them added, Chu Jiaojiao had been startled when she first saw it too. Only after seeing Ye Muqing's explanation did she breathe a sigh of relief.

And after Jiang Bai had brooded in his studio for a long time, he finally worked up the courage to reopen WeChat and tried to find some clue in Lu Yao's profile picture and Moments post. When he noticed Ye Muqing's explanation in the class group, as well as that Lu Yao had switched back to his previous profile picture and deleted the post, he let out a low laugh. His formerly cold, gloomy eyes instantly softened.

After that day, You Yu found himself seemingly entering an unlucky streak. Nothing went right for him, and only after several miserable days did his luck gradually begin to improve.

That evening, at the Lu family home.

Lu Yao looked at Lu Qi helplessly. "If you have something to say, just say it."

The moment Lu Yao walked out of his room, Lu Qi had suddenly called out to him. Yet he kept hesitating and mumbling, refusing to say what he actually wanted.

Hearing Lu Yao urge him on, Lu Qi took a deep breath and abruptly shoved out the watch box he had been hiding behind his back.

"Here. Didn't your watch break? Th-this was a free gift someone gave me when I bought something before. I don't like wearing watches anyway, so it'd just be a waste sitting around. You can have it."

Lu Yao glanced at the watch box. What shop would give away a Nava watch as a free gift? Were they not afraid of going bankrupt?

Lu Qi's excuse was truly far too clumsy.

Lu Yao: "I don't—"

Before Lu Yao could finish, Lu Qi forcibly stuffed the watch box into his hands.

"I'm giving it to you, so take it. Stop dragging this out. I have things to do, so I'm going back to my room first."

With that, he quickly turned around and returned to his room, as though afraid Lu Yao would give it back.

Lu Yao quickly looked through the manual in the box. After checking the watch's price, he directly treated it as an art collectible meant for display and locked it away in his room.

After secretly observing for several days, Lu Qi noticed that Lu Yao had never worn the watch he had given him. Finally unable to hold himself back, he stopped Lu Yao one evening as he was about to return to his room to rest.

Lu Qi pursed his lips, unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes. "How come I've never seen you wear that watch? Don't you like it?"

Lu Yao explained, "No, it's too valuable. I'm afraid I'll break it like the last one."

Remembering Lu Yao saying before that he would be upset if something he had bought with his own money broke, Lu Qi pressed his lips together. "This one wasn't bought with your money. Even if it breaks, you won't need to feel bad about it."

He had bought this watch because he thought it suited Lu Yao and would look good on him. If it only made Lu Yao feel burdened instead, he might as well not have bought it at all.

Seeing Lu Qi's downturned lips and dejected expression, Lu Yao spoke in a calm voice tinged with softness. "Then I'll start wearing it tomorrow."

Lu Qi: "Now!"

Lu Yao: "...Fine."

As summer gave way to autumn, the weather gradually turned cooler. After one night, the temperature dropped considerably again.

Seeing Lu Yao and Lu Qi about to leave for school in short sleeves, Ms. Li hurriedly stopped them. Only after making each of them put on an autumn school uniform jacket did she let them go out.

Seeing the school uniform jacket cover the watch on Lu Yao's wrist, Lu Qi pursed his lips.

Seriously, why did it have to get colder today of all days?

When Lu Yao rode his bicycle through the school gate, Li Guigu, who was standing there, noticed that the new watch on his wrist was Nava's latest release. He lowered his gaze to conceal the intense jealousy in his eyes.

He had gone through so much trouble to get something like that, yet Lu Yao did not even need to ask before someone eagerly handed it to him.

The moment Li Guigu entered the classroom with his backpack, he heard Lin Xiang, who had always been at odds with him, loudly holding forth about something.

Lin Xiang raised the watch on his wrist. "My cousin, who works at Nava headquarters, went through so much trouble to get this for me."

"Lin Xiang, can you ask your cousin to help me buy one too?"

Lin Xiang waved his hand. "That's beyond me. If my cousin and I weren't so close, he wouldn't have agreed to do me this favor."

When he saw Li Guigu, whom he disliked, appear, Lin Xiang called out smugly to him as he headed toward his seat. "Li Guigu, didn't you used to really like Nava watches? Want to come take a look at their new release?"

Li Guigu's expression stiffened for a moment. "No need. I have something to do."

At that moment, a boy casually asked, "By the way, Li Guigu, did you manage to get the one you asked Chu Jiaojiao to buy before?"

Lin Xiang gave a disdainful snort. "With this new model out, why bother buying that old one?"

Li Guigu smiled. "I mainly like its more classic appearance. I have something to do, so I'll go back to my seat first. You all keep chatting."

After Li Guigu left, the boy who had spoken earlier asked with some dissatisfaction, "Lin Xiang, you're all classmates. Why do you always pick fights with Li Guigu?"

Lin Xiang: "Do I need a reason to dislike a sinister little schemer like him?"

The boy said, "He's not that bad, is he? He seems pretty friendly to everyone normally. You're the only one in our class who doesn't get along with him."

Lin Xiang rolled his eyes but said nothing more.

After returning to his seat, Li Guigu glanced at Lin Xiang, who was fooling around with others, and a trace of barely perceptible hatred surfaced in his eyes.

At lunchtime, Li Guigu had little appetite and felt unable to eat much, so he returned to the classroom early.

When he got back, the classroom was completely empty.

As he passed Lin Xiang's desk, he inadvertently glanced over and discovered that Lin Xiang had actually left his watch on the desk.

When Li Guigu returned to his own seat, he pressed his lips together. No, there were surveillance cameras outside the classroom. If something went missing, he would be the first person suspected.

At that moment, Lu Yao suddenly entered the classroom through the back door. He took what he needed from his desk, then left again.

Thinking of how he had inadvertently caught sight of the watch on Lu Yao's wrist that morning, which was identical to Lin Xiang's, Li Guigu slowly curled his lips into a smug smile.