Chapter 28

The next morning, seeing Lu Qi eating breakfast while yawning his head off, Ms. Li asked with concern, "Lu Qi, didn't you say you were going to bed early last night? Why have you been yawning nonstop today?"

Lu Qi guiltily glanced at Lu Yao. If everyone found out that he had stayed up late studying but still couldn't beat Lu Yao, wouldn't that be utterly humiliating?

He gave an awkward laugh. "Maybe I just didn't sleep very well last night."

Ms. Li said, "Then I'll have someone deliver some aromatherapy to the house today. Try lighting it before bed tonight."

Lu Qi said, "Mm, got it."

Lu Yao raised his eyes and glanced at Lu Qi, who was sitting across from him. There was a faint extra layer of dark circles beneath his eyes today.

During morning reading class, Ye Muqing burst out laughing when he heard Lu Qi actually take out his textbook and start memorizing the lesson.

Lu Qi frowned in annoyance and raised a hand, giving Ye Muqing a sharp knock on the head.

"Laugh again and I'll knock your whole head off."

Lu Qi was strong, and the blow made stars dance before Ye Muqing's eyes.

He clutched his aching head and complained indignantly, "You already knocked me!"

Lu Qi said, "Quiet down. Don't disturb my studying."

Hearing Lu Qi say that, Ye Muqing couldn't help lying facedown on his desk, his shoulders trembling as he held back his laughter. It was just too funny. Brother Qi, who used to fall asleep the moment he opened a textbook, was now actually so enthusiastic about studying.

Ye Muqing lay on the desk and said, "Brother Qi, you're way too weird lately. You aren't studying this hard just to win that bet you made with Lu Yao a couple of days ago, are you?" After all, the exam was only a few days away.

Lu Qi rolled his eyes, his expression righteous. "Studying is a student's duty. What's weird about me studying? You're the one who spends every day fooling around. That's what's weird!"

Ye Muqing: "..." If he remembered correctly, this was Lu Qi's first day of serious studying too. What was this called? The pot calling the kettle black?

Ye Muqing looked toward the front row. Lu Yao had his head down on the desk and seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Ye Muqing said, "Brother Qi, you only need to put on a bit of an effort. Lu Yao isn't even studying anyway. He probably won't score better than you."

Thinking of how he had secretly burned the midnight oil last night, Lu Qi said, "How do you know he isn't studying? This could be a smokescreen. Look, he sleeps during the day, so he must be wide awake at night. He pretends not to study in front of me during the day, then studies hard at night, planning to beat me in the monthly exam."

Ye Muqing: "..." You two only made a bet. Did you really need to make it sound like some espionage drama? This was getting a little too theatrical.

Ye Muqing said, "Then shall I help you probe the enemy's situation later?"

Lu Qi said, "How?"

Ye Muqing leaned close and whispered a few words into his ear.

Lu Qi looked at him in surprise. "When did you become so smart?"

Ye Muqing: "..." He would endure it! Life was like a play; people gathered because of fate. Why get angry over trivial things? Looking back on it, what was the point?

Only after silently reciting his family's ancestral rule, the "Don't Get Angry Song," several times did Ye Muqing barely manage to suppress his anger.

When class ended, Lu Yao had just lifted his head from the desk and sat up when Ye Muqing walked over with an exercise book.

Ye Muqing said, "Lu Yao, our two desks used to be in the same study group. Now that you've transferred here, you're naturally a member of our study group too. As the group leader, I need to assess everyone's academic level so we can help each other better. This exercise book mainly contains math and science questions. Finish it today and hand it to me."

"Alright."

Lu Yao took the exercise book from Ye Muqing.

As soon as Ye Muqing sat down, Lu Qi hurriedly leaned over and asked anxiously, "Is that exercise book really useful?"

Ye Muqing's voice was full of confidence. "Of course. It's a placement test specially made by a tutor my mom hired before. According to him, the score on it can give a preliminary idea of what level a student's academic ability is at."

Lu Qi said, "That's good. But if you hired a tutor, why did you still come last in the class in the previous monthly exam?"

Ye Muqing: "..."

Damn it! Could they not have a proper conversation? What right did Lu Qi, who came second to last, have to mock him? He had only guessed one more question correctly than Ye Muqing!

Forget it. He would endure it again!

Why dwell on it? If he got angry, who would benefit?

The Ye family's ancestral rule, the "Don't Get Angry Song," began playing in Ye Muqing's mind on a 3D loop again.

Before another class period had passed, Lu Yao turned around and placed the exercise book on Ye Muqing's desk.

Lu Yao said, "Finished."

With that, he got up and left the classroom for the restroom.

Lu Qi hurriedly moved closer to Ye Muqing. "Stop dawdling. Open it and take a look."

After Ye Muqing opened the exercise book, he froze for a moment. "Why did he only write one answer for every question? And not just the fill-in-the-blank questions—even the big questions are like that."

Lu Qi said, "Yeah. Did he skip the steps because he thought they were too much trouble? Don't worry about that first. Check the answers and see what his accuracy rate is."

Ye Muqing said, "Wait a second. Let me find where I put the answer key."

After rummaging through his backpack, Ye Muqing suddenly slapped his forehead. "My goldfish brain! I forgot to tear out the answer key. It's attached to the back of the exercise book."

Ye Muqing and Lu Qi carefully compared Lu Yao's answers with the standard answers.

After checking them, the two looked at each other in confusion.

Ye Muqing suddenly said with complete certainty, "Now you can relax. Lu Yao definitely can't score better than you. He probably didn't know any of the answers, gave up on himself, and just copied the answers from the back."

The answer key provided by Ye Muqing's tutor only gave the final answers without any working process. Since Lu Yao's answers were exactly the same as the tutor's, Ye Muqing assumed that Lu Yao had simply copied the answers from the back.

After considering it for a while, Lu Qi said, "You have a point. Then if Lu Yao does too badly on the exam, should I comfort him?"

If he acted too happy after winning, wouldn't that be a little inappropriate?

Lu Qi began contemplating the happy troubles that would come after winning the bet.

When he saw Lu Yao return from the restroom, Ye Muqing asked, "Lu Yao, what do you think of the difficulty of this exercise book?"

Lu Yao said, "It's a little difficult."

Ye Muqing patted Lu Yao on the shoulder, looking as if he deeply understood. "I understand how you feel. We're birds of a feather. That was exactly what I thought when I first saw these questions."

Unlike Lu Yao, he had chosen to hand in a blank paper back then. That was why the exercise book could still be so clean now.

A trace of confusion appeared in Lu Yao's eyes. Why couldn't he understand what Ye Muqing was talking about?

Forget it. Ever since Ye Muqing and Lu Qi got together, there had been no end of things that made no sense. If he tried to ask about each one, he would probably exhaust himself to death.

Lu Yao simply ignored the little incident.

After school.

Seeing Lu Yao ride his bicycle out of the school gate, Li Guigu, who had been waiting outside, said to the elegantly dressed middle-aged woman beside him, "Auntie, that one riding over is Lu Yao."

This middle-aged woman was Chen Rong, the wife of Li Hai, the current head of the Li family.

As she watched Lu Yao draw closer, Chen Rong said disdainfully, "As expected of some shabby nobody from a backwater place. Even after returning to the Lu family, he still rides a bicycle to school. Clearly, he was born without the fate to enjoy luxury."

After going through such a drastic change, Li Guigu had become much quieter. Seeing that no one echoed her, Chen Rong shot Li Guigu a disgusted glare. What a useless piece of trash.

Chen Rong imperiously ordered the bodyguard beside her, "Go. Stop him for me."

When a burly man suddenly rushed out and blocked his path, Lu Yao quickly hit the brakes.

He looked calmly at Li Guigu, who was walking toward him, and asked in a low voice, "What is it?"

When she reached Lu Yao, Chen Rong gave him a fake smile. "You're Lu Yao, right? I'm your eldest maternal aunt. You've been back in Sea City for so long, so why haven't you visited your grandmother's home? Your grandmother talks every day about wanting to see her youngest grandson."

Lu Yao vaguely knew that his mother had a strained relationship with her natal family. Ms. Li was someone who valued her relationships and would not easily burn bridges, so the problem was most likely with the Li family.

Lu Yao's expression instantly turned cold. "I have something to do. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first."

Chen Rong said, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Seeing Lu Yao place his foot on the pedal and prepare to ride away, Chen Rong feared that if he left now, it would be even harder to find another chance to see him. She hurriedly shrieked, "Do you really think the Lu family is genuinely good to you?"

"Scrreeech—"

The sound of sudden braking rang through the area.

Lu Yao had only ridden two steps when he heard Chen Rong's words. He turned, his gaze as cold and sharp as ice blades.

Chen Rong was startled by the sudden force of his presence. Why was that little bastard's gaze so frightening?