Lu Luoluo noticed that the atmosphere at the table had grown stiff for quite a while.
Beside her, Lu Ran’s expression remained unchanged. He kept casting what he himself considered very restrained glances, though others could still easily tell, taking turns sizing up… Ming Bei and Shen Rong?
Ming Bei had definitely noticed Lu Ran’s gaze. He returned the look in what he believed to be an equally inconspicuous manner, though it was just as obvious to others. From time to time, he also glanced at Shen Rong, seeming to wonder what possible similarities there could be between himself and him.
Cousin Shen Rong glanced left and right. His gaze then turned slightly vacant, and he even shook his head once, completely failing to notice the exchanged looks between Lu Ran and Ming Bei.
As for Ming Nan… Ming Nan secretly, or what she thought was secretly, winked at Lu Luoluo.
Lu Luoluo winked back at Ming Nan, feeling that she truly lived up to the phrase “seeing in all directions.”
Lu Luoluo did not think much of Lu Ran’s behavior. When a small animal encountered two unfamiliar small animals, it was only natural to observe them for a bit.
However… had he been observing them for a little too long?
Lu Luoluo pushed a small pile of pistachios toward Lu Ran.
Lu Ran paused, then silently withdrew his gaze and instead pulled out a disinfectant wet wipe and opened it.
He carefully wiped his hands all over, then dried them with a paper towel. Taking an empty plate, Lu Ran picked up a pistachio and began shelling it.
Finally shaking off that strange feeling, Shen Rong came back to his senses and saw his younger cousin taking care of… the junior from his family.
This kid had only returned to the Lu family a few days ago, right? How was it that everyone in the Lu family, top to bottom, was already treating him with such consideration?
Just as a trace of displeasure surfaced, Shen Rong noticed Lu Luoluo pushing a small pile of peanuts toward him.
Shen Rong did not like peanuts, but for the sake of his cousin, he still grabbed a handful, shelled them, and stuffed them into his mouth.
Ming Nan suddenly understood and followed suit, pushing a pile of walnuts toward her brother Ming Bei. In the next second, however, she realized there was no nutcracker on the table and froze.
“Paper-shell walnuts,” Ming Bei said. Noticing his twin sister’s awkwardness, he smiled, picked up a walnut, and squeezed hard. Sure enough, it cracked open with a single squeeze.
He pushed a pile of already cracked pecans toward Ming Nan, then poured a glass of fruit juice for both himself and his sister.
Luoluo grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds for herself and shelled them as she ate.
If the elite guests, holding red wine glasses and weaving through the crowd in busy toasts, happened to glance over here in passing, they would find that every boy and girl at this table was quietly shelling nuts, eating nuts, and drinking fruit juice, as if they were holding some kind of large-scale secret gathering of rodents.
Lu Ran’s fingers moved deftly. He only shelled and did not eat, and before long, a small plate of nut kernels had piled up in front of him.
He pushed the plate filled with nut kernels toward Lu Luoluo.
“A day’s intake of nuts shouldn’t be too much. This amount should be just right.” He smiled at Lu Luoluo and said with concern.
Lu Luoluo was momentarily stunned before thanking him. Then she picked up a nut kernel and chewed it carefully, thinking to herself: How filial.
Shen Rong lowered his gaze to glance at the peanuts in front of him and thought: Pretty good at ingratiating himself.
Ming Nan had just finished shelling a pecan and was about to put it into her mouth.
Seeing this, her wrist stiffened. In an instant, she changed direction, and the nut landed in the plate in front of her brother.
Ming Bei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and returned the gesture with a freshly shelled walnut kernel.
Shen Rong’s expression remained blank. He thought to himself that his earlier feeling had indeed been correct. He really was an only child.
“Hungry, are you?” In the middle of meeting with business partners, Old Master Shen passed by the table of young boys and girls. Seeing everyone quietly gnawing on dried nuts, he quickly instructed someone to bring over some pastries, saying kindly, “Studying is tiring, and it’s easy to get hungry.”
Luoluo really was hungry. Time had been tight. As soon as school ended, she had to change into a formal dress, get her hair done, and attend the banquet, leaving her little time to fill her stomach. She had only eaten a sandwich.
Ming Nan was in much the same situation.
So they started eating pastries again.
At first, everyone made awkward small talk while stuffing themselves with pastries. Later, it turned into nothing but eating pastries.
By the end of the banquet, while others had gone through several rounds of drinking, the few of them had simply filled their stomachs. The so-called social objectives were, for the most part, not achieved.
Fortunately, none of the boys and girls present cared about that.
At a single banquet, some people gained a hall full of blessings, some secured a major deal, some grew closer to family members they had not seen in a long time, and some felt lonely.
…And some believed they had noticed something amiss.
That night, after the banquet ended, Lu Ran lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
An hour later, he threw back the covers with his hair in a complete mess, stepped into his slippers, walked over to his desk, and opened his personal laptop.
Boot up.
Create a new Word document.
Name it… Lu Ran typed “20271112 Investigation Notes.”
Encrypt.
Enter password.
Confirm again.
Investigator: Lu Ran;
Investigation subject: the investigator’s direct relative, biological father; key individuals: the investigator’s direct relatives, mother, Lu Luoluo.
Investigation subject:
Gender: male;
Age: unknown (tentatively estimated at 12 to 24 years old);
Appearance: A (the possibility of beauty being in the eye of the beholder cannot be ruled out).
Suspect No. 1: Shen Rong;
Identity: the investigator’s mother’s cousin with no blood relation.
Abnormal factors: unreasonable absence, missing information;
Assessment of plausibility of suspicion: a relationship that does not fit into conventional society, opposed by relatives and friends; level of suspicion: Class A (tentative).
Suspect No. 2: Ming Bei.
Identity: the older brother of the investigator’s mother’s close best friend.
Abnormal factors: missing information;
Assessment of plausibility of suspicion: under investigation;
Level of suspicion: Class C (tentative).
Lu Ran glanced at the word count at the bottom of the document. 301. He lightly rubbed the space between his brows.
The information he had was insufficient, but fortunately… the process of narrowing down the targets was simple and direct.
He continued typing:
Screening method: paternity test;
Current progress: 0.
After staring at the Word document in thought for a moment, Lu Ran clicked the mouse and closed the file.
To obtain genetic samples, a certain degree of contact would be required.
Fortunately, there was plenty of time.
He had heard that Shen Rong and his mother were in the same class?
Aunt Ming Nan was also his mother’s desk mate, in the same class. Her older brother Ming Bei… what did it mean in tonight’s introduction that he had just returned?
He still had a few days before enrollment. It would be best if he could be placed in the same class as his mother. He wondered how the school would arrange it.
During morning jogging the next day, Lu Ran pretended to ask casually about Ming Bei.
Yes, despite having gone to bed very late, Lu Ran still dragged himself up and insisted on going for a morning run with his mom.
“His family situation…” Lu Luoluo slowed her pace, taking the chance to slack off a little. “It’s complicated and a long story. It’s not good to talk while running. Let’s walk and talk instead.”
Lu Luoluo did not try to hide anything. Lu Ran was not an outsider, and this matter had probably already spread throughout their social circle. It was just that people outside the circle did not know.
“…That’s basically how it is. The version told to the outside world is that Ming Nan’s older brother was lost, taken in by a kind family, and only recently found and brought back. Don’t tell anyone else about this,” Lu Luoluo reminded him.
“I know,” Lu Ran nodded.
He was a reliable person. If he said he would not spread it, he absolutely would not tell anyone else. He was nothing like those people who say, “I’ll tell you a secret, but don’t tell anyone,” and then proceed to let the whole world know.
“Mm, are you curious about Ming Nan’s brother and Cousin Shen Rong?” Lu Luoluo thought of the scene from last night and asked casually.
Lu Ran’s expression stiffened almost imperceptibly. He smiled and said, “A little. Just curiosity about… elders when they were younger.”
Lu Luoluo felt she understood. She did not ask about what happened to those two later on, only saying, “Once you enroll, you’ll be able to interact with them. You’ll all be in the same class, so you can get to know them slowly.”
Lu Ran’s long eyelashes fluttered slightly. “The same class? Has the school arrangement already been decided?”
“Mm, it’s been decided. You and Ming Nan’s brother are both in our class.”
Lu Ran looked a little pleased and smiled.
Lu Luoluo thought to herself: Silly kid. This wasn’t the school’s arrangement, it was arranged by Madam Lu Mingzhu.
But the Lu family’s instinct to protect each other’s dignity was ingrained. In front of her son, Lu Luoluo would not undermine her mother, Madam Lu Mingzhu.
“Ah, let’s stop here for today. We’re at the front gate,” Lu Luoluo said as if casually. “I think I smell breakfast. I’m a little hungry.”
Lu Ran nodded and did not think much of it. Or rather, it never crossed his mind that his mother had painstakingly calculated the timing of the conversation and the length and pace of their steps, all just to run a few minutes less.
A few days later, on Monday morning during early reading, the homeroom teacher of First Year Class One stepped into the classroom in high heels.
“Sorry to interrupt early reading. We have two new students joining the class. Everyone, please give them a warm welcome.”
All eyes turned toward the podium, hands clapping.
“I invite the two students to introduce themselves.”
“Ming Bei. Ming as in bright lamp, Bei as in north.” The young man wore a gentle smile, his voice warm and mild.
“Lu Ran.” Lu Ran first glanced in the direction of his mother, then smiled at everyone.
He wrote his name on the blackboard. After giving everyone time to read it clearly, he picked up the eraser and lightly wiped the writing clean.
A flurry of glances flew around the classroom.
Both transfer students were exceptionally good-looking. Not just good-looking, but the kind of good-looking that felt very familiar.
Those faces, those names. Were they siblings? Both of them?
Everyone had an ocean of gossip in their hearts. Once minds connected, it was enough to brew an enthusiastic discussion.
“From now on, everyone should get along well,” the homeroom teacher said, sweeping her gaze around the classroom. Spotting signs of restlessness, she unconsciously revealed a dangerous smile.
“Next, I’ll arrange seats for the new students. Early reading continues. Please read aloud. In the third period, we’ll leave twenty-five minutes for a silent dictation of ‘The Song of the Pipa.’”
For students who had not memorized the text properly, forget about other people’s brothers or sisters. Even their own brothers or sisters were hard to spare a thought for. In an instant, the gossip-laden atmosphere vanished, replaced by a chorus of reading voices.
There were two transfer students. According to No. 1 High School’s usual practice of seating two students per desk, adding one desk and having the two sit together seemed only natural.
However, Class One still had two empty seats. One was beside the top student Lu Qingjia, and the other was beside Shen Rong, who frequently skipped classes.
At first, the class had an odd number of students, leaving only Shen Rong sitting alone.
Later, one student transferred out, and Lu Qingjia ended up sitting alone as well.
Just as the homeroom teacher was about to seat the two of them together, she received the notice that two new students had come to register.
Well then, no need to make it complicated. One spot for one person.
Lu Ran was assigned to sit with the top student Lu Qingjia, while Ming Bei was assigned to sit with Shen Rong.
Uh, speaking of which, Shen Rong’s seat happened to be directly behind Lu Qingjia, and Lu Qingjia was seated directly behind Lu Luoluo.
So the seating arrangement was:
Lu Luoluo | Ming Nan | wall
Lu Qingjia | Lu Ran | wall
Shen Rong | Ming Bei | wall
Lu Ran sat down in his assigned seat and thought to himself that this position was really convenient. Could it be fate?
Lu Luoluo also felt that this seating arrangement was extremely convenient.
Just look at the people surrounding her son.
In front of him was herself, and her good friend Ming Nan, who knew the truth.
His desk mate was Lu Qingjia, who also knew the truth.
Behind him sat Shen Rong, who hardly ever came to school and knew little about her situation, and Ming Bei, who had just transferred in.
The chances of keeping the secret and saving face had greatly increased.
At present, what was needed was… heightened vigilance, and diligent studying.
An orange kitten had somehow appeared on the classroom windowsill at some point. Its beautiful eyes carried a lazy curiosity, occasionally turning toward a certain direction in the classroom. Its fluffy orange ears edged with white twitched from time to time.
At first, everyone had been busy looking at the new students. Now, under the homeroom teacher’s urging, they were reading the text aloud. For a while, no one noticed that an extra little cat had appeared on the windowsill.