“What is wrong, my young Master Cheng?”
He Yu leaned against the doorway of the cafe’s private room, watching with amusement as the person sprawled out on the long sofa refused to get up. “Who annoyed you?”
Cheng Shixu lay on his side with his head resting on his hand and his legs crossed over a small stool in front of him, looking despondent.
No one had actually annoyed him; it was just that he had suddenly realized Lu Jian had lied to him about so many things. It had left him feeling mentally overwhelmed. He did not want to stay at Experimental High School, but when he told his mother he wanted to return to No. 1 High School, she scolded him for being fickle and insisted that he make a well-thought-out decision.
He had thought about it back and forth but reached no conclusion.
He had called He Yu over the weekend to discuss it, yet he did not know what to discuss, as He Yu was still unaware of his situation.
He sat up. “Come in and close the door.”
He Yu was typing on his phone as he strolled in and sat down. “Speak.” He pulled a small box containing a doll out of his pocket and pushed it toward Cheng Shixu. For once, Cheng Shixu did not open it immediately, asking weakly, “If. I am saying, if…”
“If you suddenly found out that the person you like has lied to you about many things, what would you do?”
He Yu raised his eyes and pinched Cheng Shixu. “You have someone you like?”
Cheng Shixu brushed him off. “Answer me first. Answer me first. Hurry, hurry, hurry.”
He Yu seemed busy with something, typing endlessly. Now, he was looking down at his phone again. “It does not matter, I suppose. I might like someone today and not like them tomorrow. Lies do not really get to me.”
“That is like saying nothing at all.”
Cheng Shixu leaned back, speechless. He should not have asked He Yu. He Yu had no room for romance in his eyes; he was lukewarm to everyone, and only making money could keep him consistent.
In his past life, up until his death, he had never seen He Yu in a relationship. Aside from gatherings with the boys, He Yu was a workaholic the rest of the time; otherwise, he would not have been on such good terms with Lu Jian.
Just like now, he was surely handling business matters on his phone. As soon as they entered high school, Aunt He had let him start participating in company affairs. Even in his past life, He Yu often asked for leave to attend all sorts of strange meetings while in college.
Cheng Shixu had no interest in that, nor did he have the ability; he could not understand a word of it.
“Suppose you like him very much? You have been dating for a long time, and you are in the middle of a passionate romance. He says his family is happy and complete, but he is actually an orphan. He says he is a wealthy heir inheriting the family business, but he actually started from scratch. He says his grades are very good, but he actually attends a vocational school?”
He Yu turned to look at him and said nonchalantly, “That is impressive, is it not? So why would I care?” After sending his message, the waiter brought over two cups of coffee and two steaks. He pushed a plate toward Cheng Shixu and, once the waiter left, began eating his steak slowly. “Do you know how impressive it is to start from scratch?”
He was a third-generation heir; the He family had been quite wealthy since his grandfather’s time. He had heard his grandfather talk about how he started from scratch back in the day, facing countless hardships. “How large is the company of the person you are talking about?”
Cheng Shixu said, “The headquarters is an eighteen-story building.”
He Yu raised an eyebrow. “So, he lied to you? You are struggling with whether you should keep him or not, are you?”
Cheng Shixu said, “I do not know whether I should forgive him…”
“If you do not want him, give him to me.”
Cheng Shixu glared at him and lowered his head to cut his steak. “You are overthinking it. I am just considering whether to forgive him, not considering breaking up.” That was not right either; they were not even dating yet!
“Wait, then what are you struggling with? I do not really understand.”
“He lied to me! He lied to me about many things. He made me think he had grown up as well as I had.”
He Yu put down his fork, propped his chin on his hand, and looked at him. “After discovering that he actually had it very hard, you feel sorry for him?” Seeing the vacant look in Cheng Shixu’s eyes, he sighed helplessly. “Then what the hell are you struggling with? Aside from these things, has he lied about anything else?”
Cheng Shixu shook his head. “I do not know.” He used to think Lu Jian would not lie to him, but now he did not know if there were other lies.
“If there is nothing else, stop struggling.” He Yu chewed a cherry tomato and washed it down with coffee. “These are not matters of principle. If his ability to earn money is that strong, what else do you have to worry about?”
Cheng Shixu retorted, “Money, money, money. Are you obsessed with money? Do I lack money?”
He Yu said, “That is only because Aunt Cheng has ensured you have everything you need. If you had lived in poverty from a young age, you would know how important money is. If he is pretending to be rich to lie to you, then kick him to the curb.”
Cheng Shixu said, “That is not it. He is actually very rich.” He had an unlimited black card, and the bank had even assigned him a dedicated assistant, the 24-hour standby kind. You really could not get that limited edition black card without some net worth. Besides, it was not as if Cheng Shixu had never been to Lu Jian’s company. He had been many times and had even been intimate with Lu Jian in the office.
At the mention of this, Cheng Shixu began to feel restless. Images flashed before his eyes: a loose tie hanging over his chest, his shirt wide open, his leather shoes dropped on the floor, Lu Jian pinning him down onto a pile of documents, kissing him beside his ear.
Stop, stop, stop!
Now is the time to discuss the “Lu Jian Lying Incident.” Do not let your mind wander, Cheng Shixu!
“If he really is rich… and only lied about being a wealthy heir inheriting a fortune, and lied about growing up happy, then I think he might have a bit of a misunderstanding about himself.” He Yu analyzed.
Cheng Shixu looked at him. “How so?”
He Yu said, “Things he should be proud of, he turned into inferiority. You, always overthinking things since you were little. Thinking so much is useless. Just ask him directly why he lied to you.”
If he could ask, he would not be struggling like this. The problem was that he had died and been reborn; Lu Jian was only sixteen years old now, so he could not ask anything at all.
After leaving the cafe, Cheng Shixu walked back to the school in deep thought. When he reached the main gate, he looked toward the road leading to the vocational school on the other side. Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure rushing past several trees. From a distance, he saw Lu Jian biting into a piece of bread, wondering where he was going.
He followed him on an impulse.
He followed him to the playground and hid behind a tree, watching Lu Jian sitting by the side wearing his autumn school uniform, eating his bread. His eyes were not looking at the playground, but toward the high school division not far away.
A playground separated the high school division and the vocational school. Usually, they used it at different times and would never meet unless it was intentional.
Why was he eating bread at noon?
He stared at Lu Jian’s gaunt profile. His stomach is bad, yet he cannot even eat his meals properly.
His eyes hesitated for a moment. So, Lu Jian’s bad stomach is not some kind of “CEO illness.” It is because he was poor since childhood and could not eat his three meals properly.
He looked at the dessert he had originally brought for Ning Shen. After thinking it over, he walked over. Upon getting closer, he surprisingly saw that Lu Jian had a small piece of paper in his palm with many English words written on it, as if he were memorizing them.
Should he forgive Lu Jian?
He struggled for a long time without finding an answer.
But…
“Lu Jian.”
Hearing the voice, Lu Jian turned his head and saw him. He cast him a cold look and looked away. “What are you here for?”
Cheng Shixu walked to his side and sat down. “Nothing.” He threw the dessert into his lap. “For you.”
Lu Jian looked at the beautifully packaged small cake and sandwich. “Do you take me for a dog to be fed?”
“If you do not want to eat it, throw it away.” Cheng Shixu’s gaze landed on the two school teams playing basketball in front of them. The high school division also often had after-class basketball games, but he never participated; he had no interest.
“What a waste.” Lu Jian set the bag aside and continued to look at the English words in his palm, reciting them softly. “If you have nothing to do, then leave.”
Cheng Shixu turned his body to look at him. “Why did you lie?” Once the question was out, he saw the irritation color Lu Jian’s brows. He had asked for trouble, so he looked back at the playground. “Forget it.” He took out the necklace. “Put it on.”
Lu Jian: “?”
“Put it on!” Cheng Shixu felt depressed and had little patience. He pulled him over and pressed him against his chest. “Do not move!” In a few seconds, he put the necklace on him. Since the necklace was so important to Lu Jian, even if Lu Jian had lied to him, he still did not like seeing Lu Jian’s life trajectory go off course. At the very least, he could ensure that in the future, Lu Jian would not have to live so miserably.
“From today on, you will be my follower. I will give you as much money as you earn from your part-time jobs. You will be my errand boy.”
Lu Jian looked down at the ‘s’ pendant on the necklace. “No need to pay me. I already promised you.” That 300,000 yuan—let alone being a follower or errand boy, he would even give up a kidney. “I will still continue to work; business is business.”
Seeing how serious he was, Cheng Shixu looked at him for a moment and saw the Lu Jian of his past life. His nose felt sore. What a fool, why lie to me? I would not have discriminated against an orphan, nor would I have looked down on someone who is not a wealthy heir.
If Lu Jian had told him these things earlier, he would not have changed his mind. But Lu Jian had insisted on lying to him, leaving him with a knot in his heart, not knowing what was true and what was fake.
“Lu Jian. Do you want to go to the high school division to study?”
Lu Jian lowered his head and did not speak.
“I will do the same as before. I will give you the problems, and I will teach you after school. You can accept or refuse. I will not force you.”
Lu Jian said, “I refuse.”
Cheng Shixu: “?”
In his past life, Lu Jian had never refused him even once; whatever he said, it was always “Okay.” He had been rejected by the young Lu Jian for no reason, and rejected many times at that. Cheng Shixu felt extremely unbalanced. He had not even pursued the matter of Lu Jian lying to him, so what was with Lu Jian pulling away the distance first?
“Why can I not refuse?” Lu Jian heard the question that had slipped out of his mouth, stood up, and brushed off his bottom. “Cheng Shixu, get this straight. You and I are just strangers, or at most, classmates. Being a follower is fine, but please do not try to dictate my life.”
He took a stack of money out of his bag on the ground. “This is 15,000 yuan. I will pay you back first.”
Cheng Shixu saw he was about to tug at the necklace. “Keep the necklace on!”
“Do not think about putting a collar on me.” Lu Jian quickly took it off, grabbed Cheng Shixu’s hand, and stuffed it into his palm. “I am grateful for your help, and I have indeed imagined high school life, but I will not be controlled by you.”
Cheng Shixu said angrily, “What collar? That is called a necklace! What do you take me for?” He clearly had it hard, I was helping him, so what? He also felt heartache for Lu Jian’s experience in his youth. Although he had not forgiven Lu Jian yet and did not know whether they would be together in the future, the five years of feelings from his past life were not fake.
He truly liked Lu Jian, the kind who had thought about spending a lifetime together.
How could he have the heart to watch Lu Jian go hungry, working who knows how many jobs?
Recently, Cheng Shixu’s changing attitude had left Lu Jian very confused. If Cheng Shixu had first approached him and said so many messy things that left him being laughed at by his buddies, he actually had not felt that much resentment.
Later, Cheng Shixu had firmly stated that he had mistaken him for someone else because of his tattoo, and his attitude had done a one-eighty. He still held onto a desire to interact with Cheng Shixu. Now, Cheng Shixu was back, saying he was the person he was looking for.
He felt as if he was gradually being pulled into a very dangerous trap by Cheng Shixu, a trap named “Cheng Shixu.”
Just like earlier, when Cheng Shixu helped him put on the necklace, his fingertips touched his skin from time to time, and he felt his heartbeat accelerating.