That night, Lu Luoluo could not fall asleep.
Anxiously wrapping herself into a cocoon with her small floral quilt, Lu Luoluo tossed and turned on the large bed like a pancake, over and over again.
Half an hour later, Lu Luoluo loosened the cocoon, rolled up, got out of bed, and turned on the computer.
The screen reflected a dim bluish glow, silently casting itself onto the dejected face of the sixteen-year-old girl.
She opened the browser and, cautiously, typed in the keywords 【bragging and covering up lies】, then pressed Enter.
The search results roughly fell into three categories:
Social news: “In a certain place, a man dressed as a woman to brag and cover up lies, and was sentenced and fined.”
Fictional stories: “Chapter 387: Bragging feels good for a moment, covering it up leads straight to disaster.”
Worldly jokes: “In ancient times, a master who loved bragging, with servants helplessly covering up his lies.”
The internet offered no remedies after the fact. It only issued warnings in advance about the consequences.
Lu Luoluo snapped the browser shut.
After a while, she frowned and clicked it open again.
This time, she typed in 【rapid improvement in studying】 and pressed Enter again.
Training center advertisements. Skipped.
Quantum therapy that implants knowledge. Skipped.
Ancestral acupuncture to improve memory. Skipped.
A qigong master teaches you how to counterattack and become top of the grade. Skipped.
English reading intensive enhancement brain-boosting oral liquid. Why does a brain-boosting oral liquid even specifically handle English reading?
The screenful of junk information seemed to be educating Lu Luoluo: young people should stop thinking about taking shortcuts.
Tired, Lu Luoluo closed the browser. After pondering for a moment, she clicked open the game interface.
Play a couple of rounds, relax a bit, then go to sleep.
As soon as she entered the game, Lu Luoluo caught sight of an ID lighting up in her friends list: “Qingshui Riverside.”
Lu Luoluo: …
Any mood to relax vanished instantly.
She shut down the computer and once again wrapped herself into a cocoon, tossing and turning on the bed like a pancake.
The consequence of flipping like a pancake for half the night was waking up the next morning with a pair of big dark circles under her eyes.
Lu Luoluo yawned as she sat down at the dining table and asked in confusion, “Where’s Lu Ran?”
Three breakfasts were laid out on the table, yet only Madam Lu Mingzhu was seated across from her. If Lu Ran had not gotten up, the aunt definitely would not have set the breakfast out.
Madam Lu Mingzhu raised an eyebrow and was just about to answer when the front door opened and closed. Lu Ran, dressed in sportswear, walked toward the dining table.
At a glance, the young man clearly had just finished a workout. His cheeks and forehead were flushed, fine beads of sweat clinging to his skin, brimming with youthful vitality.
“Morning, Mom, Grandma,” Lu Ran said with a smile.
Hearing that word “Mom,” Lu Luoluo still felt a slight sense of unfamiliarity.
Because it was only slight, she quickly overcame it. She even smiled and nodded with a rather parental air. “Morning exercise, huh? Not bad. It’s good for your health.”
Lu Ran spoke frankly. “Moderate exercise is good for both the body and the mind. You taught me that, Mom. I remember you used to get up early to run quite often back when you were in high school too. How about we go together sometime?”
Lu Luoluo promptly lowered her head to look at the small bread on her plate, using it to hide the look of astonishment on her face.
What did you say? Say that again?
What did I do back in high school?
Got up early to do what?
Who used to run regularly?
“That’s nice then. Running together makes it easier to keep at it.” Madam Lu Mingzhu’s smile stiffened slightly, then returned to normal in an instant. “I can’t get up that early. Luoluo is the diligent one.”
Lu Luoluo bared her teeth at the small bread on her plate. “Sure then. Together.”
Running? Is running really something a pretty girl should be doing? Pretty girls are supposed to get their beauty sleep!
“Eat breakfast,” Madam Lu Mingzhu said with a smile. “After breakfast, Luoluo will go to school. I’ll take Xiao Ran out for a walk.”
Fortunately, there were no more “surprises” during breakfast. Lu Luoluo ate one small bread after another, slowly calming herself down.
At this moment, Lu Luoluo felt immensely grateful that Lu Ran still had a week before starting school. Otherwise, she might not have been able to take the blow and would have collapsed on the spot.
Amid the rising and falling sounds of morning reading, Lu Luoluo walked into the classroom with dark circles under her eyes and sat down beside her friend, who was reciting classical Chinese.
Her friend was Lu Luoluo’s deskmate. She was also the one who, the day before yesterday, had been the first to spot Lu Ran at the gate of No. 1 High School, stepped in front of Lu Luoluo, and ended up being called “Auntie.” In a sense, she and Lu Luoluo could be said to be kindred spirits.
This deskmate friend was named Ming Nan, surname Ming, given name Nan.
When most people heard this name, they would think of a very beautiful classical line: “Cangshan bears the snow, bright candles light the southern sky.” In reality, Ming Nan was given this name because her biological father was called Ming Dong, and she had a pair of twin brothers who went missing, one of whom was named Ming Bei. It had absolutely nothing to do with classical literature.[1]The name Ming Nan (明南) literally means “south.” Because of this, many people associate it with the classical line “Cangshan bears the snow, bright candles light the southern sky” … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1509629_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1509629_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Ming Nan lifted her head from the textbook, revealing the same heavy dark circles as Lu Luoluo.
Lu Luoluo was startled. You had to know that, unlike her, this good friend always went to bed on time and never stayed up late.
She took out her Chinese textbook, flipped it open, propped it upright in front of her as a shield, tilted her head, and whispered to her friend, “What’s going on?”
Using the textbook as cover, Ming Nan let out a sigh, hesitating before speaking. “Family stuff. And you, the thing from the day before yesterday…”
Lu Luoluo also sighed.
“Let’s find a place to talk during the running break between classes,” Ming Nan whispered in agreement.
Lu Luoluo nodded. The next moment, a rough, calloused hand reached over and pressed the upright Chinese textbook flat on the desk.
Lu Luoluo looked up and met the gentle, kindly smiling face of the grade director.
“You’re holding the book upside down,” the grade director said gently.
Lu Luoluo nodded, calmly flipped the Chinese textbook over to the other side.
“Don’t talk during morning reading,” the grade director continued, still speaking gently.
Lu Luoluo kept nodding.
“You can read now. Don’t read silently. Read aloud. Louder.”
Lu Luoluo stiffened her face and read out loud, “Former commandery of Yuzhang, the new prefecture of Hongdu—”
The grade director clasped his hands behind his back and walked away with slow, light steps, having quietly achieved his purpose and departed without seeking credit.
After the grade director had gone far, Lu Luoluo continued reading. Suddenly, she felt a familiar touch on her back shoulder.
Lu Luoluo thought, It’s the genius’s pen cap.
The feel of the pen cap was easy to recognize, and sitting right behind Luoluo was the genius, Lu Qingjia.
With practiced ease, Lu Luoluo rummaged through her desk compartment for the newly released comics. Without turning her head, she extended her right hand and passed them to the desk behind her.
Between the underachiever Lu Luoluo and the genius Lu Qingjia existed a special transaction. Lu Luoluo shared comics with Lu Qingjia, and Lu Qingjia carried Lu Luoluo in games to rank up. Very fair.
What was unfair was this. Both slept in class and read comics, played games at night and on weekends, yet one was always at the very bottom, while the other ranked first year after year.
Otherwise, how would he be called a genius?
Lu Luoluo let out a long sigh. Once Lu Ran came to school, she would have to maintain the image of a mother and would never be able to read comics again.
No, that was wrong. Starting from today, she would never read comics again. She was going to study properly.
She might as well give all her remaining stock to the genius. Who knew, maybe for the sake of the comics, he would be willing to help cover up lies in front of Lu Ran?
She could talk to him later. A lot of people said the genius was cold, aloof, and solitary, but he actually was really quite easy to talk to.
A familiar touch came again from her back shoulder.
Lu Luoluo turned around in confusion, and what entered her eyes was the homely, kindly smiling face of the homeroom teacher.
Lu Luoluo was baffled.
Shouldn’t the homeroom teacher be up at the podium?
She lowered her head and caught sight of the fingers the teacher was withdrawing from her back shoulder.
So it was not the genius’s pen cap. It was the homeroom teacher’s finger. A sensory misjudgment.
The homeroom teacher smiled. In her other hand was Lu Luoluo’s beloved comic.
The genius’s face very clearly showed speechless resignation.
Ming Nan turned her head, saw this scene, then silently turned back around.
“I’ll take the book for now. I’m not against you exchanging extracurricular reading materials, but you still need to choose the right occasion,” the homeroom teacher said, giving Lu Luoluo’s shoulder a light pat. “You mispronounced a character just now. In qǐ jǐ yáo lín, the first word should be read with the third tone. Still, you read quite loudly, which is good. Keep it up.”
The old lady had come over specifically to correct the pronunciation, and had not expected to gain an extra harvest along the way.
“Falling clouds and a lone wild duck fly together, autumn waters share the same color as the vast sky.”
Lu Luoluo read The Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng[2]《The Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng》 is a famous piece of classical Chinese prose written by Wang Bo during the Tang dynasty. It is widely memorized and recited in Chinese schools. The … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1509629_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1509629_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); out loud, loudly and desolately, feeling that she herself was that lonely wild duck.
The genius Lu Qingjia was in an even more desolate state of mind than Lu Luoluo. The happiness of this day was gone.
After morning reading came two consecutive periods of physics.
In the past, Lu Luoluo spent the first two classes catching up on sleep.
Today was different.
Times had changed. A sense of urgency she had never felt before was closing in, and Lu Luoluo decided to strive upward.
How could she sleep at a time like this? How could she possibly fall asleep?
Under the surprised and reverent gazes of her deskmate friend, Lu Luoluo stared wide-eyed, pressing the book down with her left hand while holding a pen in her right, imprinting every single word spoken by the physics teacher into her mind. From time to time, she lowered her head to take notes.
Ten minutes later, Lu Luoluo’s eyes narrowed into a thin line.
Why was it so hypnotic?
Using a willpower on the brink of collapse to barely endure through half a class period, the physics teacher began handing out test papers.
The next ninety minutes were all quiz time.
Lu Luoluo perked up.
When Lu Luoluo got the test paper, she discovered that the questions knew her, but she did not know the questions.
Lu Luoluo spent twenty minutes writing down everything she could, then decided to check her work.
Her mind sank, and she fell asleep.
When the exam ended, Lu Luoluo woke up again.
At No. 1 High School, the between-class exercise was scheduled at nine thirty, after the first two morning classes. In spring and summer it was calisthenics, and in autumn and winter it was running. As for this, Ming Nan and Lu Luoluo had always followed the rule of skipping it whenever they could, since there was no roll call anyway.
The two of them went together to the rooftop.
The edge of the rooftop was enclosed with wire mesh. The sunlight was just right, and on the platform lay a lazy orange kitten.
After Lu Luoluo and Ming Nan confirmed that there was no one else around, they found a clean patch of ground, spread a few napkins, sat down side by side, and entered chatting mode.
As for the kitten, the kitten would not leak any secrets, so what did it matter if it stayed there?
With dark circles under her eyes, Ming Nan shared the upheaval in her family. Her twin brother Ming Bei, who had been lost since childhood, had come home.
Strictly speaking, when they were little, he had not actually been lost.
After Ming Nan and Ming Bei were born, Ming Nan’s father cheated multiple times. The most outrageous time of all was when he even had an affair with the family’s live-in nanny.
Out of jealousy, the nanny took Ming Nan’s twin brother, Ming Bei, to a park and abandoned him there.
The family called the police and searched, but they never found him.
After that, Ming Nan’s father and mother still did not divorce. Perhaps out of guilt, Ming Nan’s father stopped cheating for the first few years. Unfortunately, he later relapsed into his old habits. The relationship between Ming Nan’s parents deteriorated again, frequently falling into cold wars and arguments. Every time they argued, Ming Nan’s mother would bring up the son who had been abandoned by her husband’s affair partner, followed by another bout of tears and reproach.
Ming Nan hated her father. Toward her mother, she felt both pity for her misfortune and anger at her weakness. The words she said most often were why her parents still had not divorced, and the thing she regretted most was her brother who had gone missing.
Until the day before yesterday, when Ming Nan came home and saw her brother Ming Bei returning. Before she even had time to be happy for him, she learned that for more than ten years, her brother had not been unfound at all. Instead, her mother had entrusted him to another family and hidden him away to be raised.
That concealment had lasted more than a decade.
Ming Nan let out a low sigh. “I really can’t understand their business.”
Lu Luoluo gently patted her friend on the back in comfort.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
“And your family?” Ming Nan asked after a few minutes of silence, her voice low with concern.
“It’s my maternal grandfather’s great-grandson. His name is Lu Ran, one generation below me,” Lu Luoluo could only explain it this way. “He’ll be coming to school with us next week.”
“What a coincidence. My brother is enrolling next week too.” Ming Nan rubbed her eyes. “He should be coming to our class.”
“As long as that guy isn’t your brother. Wait, your maternal grandfather’s great-grandson… what’s going on here?” Ming Nan was confused. “Isn’t this generation gap a bit…” In her head, Ming Nan rapidly started doing mental arithmetic.
Lu Luoluo could only say, “A paternity test has already been done. As for what exactly happened, I’m afraid you can only ask my grandfather.”
Lu Luoluo’s maternal grandfather had already passed away, so there was no way to ask him.
Ming Nan nodded. “Then… your family has acknowledged him?”
“Yes. In a few days, at Grandpa’s birthday banquet, we’re taking him to meet my grandparents.” Lu Luoluo turned sideways and placed both hands on her good friend’s shoulders. “Right now, there’s a major problem in front of me, and I need your help.”
“Go on.” Ming Nan pricked up her ears, her attitude serious.
“I bragged in front of him. A huge brag. In what I bragged about, I’m great at studying, great at gaming too, and I have a top ten server-wide ID called ‘Qingshui Riverside.’ The game account is easy to deal with. I can get the genius to help cover it up. At worst, I just won’t touch games anymore. But how am I supposed to improve my grades?”
Ming Nan opened her mouth, then closed it again. You’re asking me? I’m an underachiever too, my friend. Wake up.
“Isn’t that very simple?” A faint, unhurried voice came from the bottom of the stairwell.
Lu Luoluo and Ming Nan both shuddered at the same time.
Lazy footsteps drew closer. The genius, Lu Qingjia, walked up the stairs with the comic book that had been confiscated from Luoluo that morning tucked under his arm. Sporting the same dark circles as Lu Luoluo and Ming Nan, he yawned. “I think I just heard my nickname? Cover up what, exactly?”
“You can hear us from that far away?” Both Lu Luoluo and Ming Nan were shocked.
The little cat sunbathing on the rooftop rolled over, lazily flicking its tail.
References[+]