Lu Xingheng’s fingertips trembled, and he quickly let go, though a burning pain still lingered in his palm.
He turned his palm over—it was perfectly smooth, without a single scratch. Was it just another illusion?
Looking closely, he saw that there were no scratch marks on the back of Lu Yun’s hand either.
Last night must have been a dream—he’d just crossed over and was overreacting, letting his imagination run wild.
His younger brother’s unusual behavior made Lu Yun furrow his brow as he turned to look at him critically.
“Is there something else?”
Lu Xingheng laughed it off. “Nothing, nothing. I just wanted to tell you to be careful on the road, big brother, and take care of yourself—don’t overwork yourself.”
A cold glint flashed in Lu Yun’s eyes as he lowered his gaze onto Lu Xingheng, his stare growing so sharp that the younger man’s voice involuntarily grew softer.
Suddenly, Lu Yun reached out and lifted Lu Xingheng’s chin, forcing him to look him straight in the eye.
From this angle, Lu Yun’s dark pupils seemed bottomless.
“My patience is limited. Don’t give me any more trouble.” Lu Yun patted his younger brother’s cheek, issued the warning, and turned to leave.
Lu Xingheng’s gaze swept over Lu Yun’s right hand, noticing a scar running across the back of his hand and extending down to his wrist. It appeared to be an old injury—now barely visible, reduced to a faint brown mark.
A scar that long—how severe must the injury have been at the time?
For some reason, Lu Xingheng found himself particularly fixated on this scar.
Strangely enough, after combing through the original host’s memories, he couldn’t find a single memory related to this scar.
Lu Xingheng strolled back to the dining table. Adhering to the principle of not wasting food, he decided to eat a little more and picked up a steamed crab filling bun, popping it into his mouth.
“Second Brother, you’re still here? Were you waiting for me?”
A voice as clear and crisp as a nightingale’s song came from the stairs.
Lu Xingheng looked up, still chewing the steamed bun, and saw a face as delicate and beautiful as a jasmine flower.
The girl’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she jogged down the stairs, the hem of her skirt swaying gently with each step.
“Let’s have breakfast together.”
She sat down across from him, looking at Lu Xingheng expectantly.
“Second Brother, can we walk to school together today?”
“It’s such a rare chance to run into you.”
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation, yet held a barely perceptible hint of caution, as if she were afraid her older brother might get angry.
Lu Xingheng swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded. “Sure.”
Seeing that he had actually agreed, the girl paused in surprise, then broke into a smile, looking like a soft, sweet marshmallow.
Lu Xingheng, however, suddenly lost his appetite and sighed quietly to himself.
This girl, who bore four or five parts of a resemblance to the original host, was Lu Xingrou, the third child of the Lu family.
Compared to their eldest brother, Lu Yun, this brother and sister—who were only a year apart—looked even more alike; standing side by side, their blood relation was immediately apparent.
Unfortunately, the original host had believed since childhood that Lu Xingrou’s birth was the reason his parents didn’t value him, and he harbored deep resentment toward his younger sister.
Even though Lu Xingrou went out of her way to please him, their relationship remained awkward and strained.
Even though they attended the same school, the original host never once agreed to go to school with his younger sister—he wouldn’t even speak to her.
Lu Xingrou had extended countless invitations to go to school together, only to be coldly and firmly rejected every single time.
Lu Xingheng sighed, but not because of the original host.
Rather, he was reminded that in the novel 《I’m the Boss in the Seventh Bureau》, Lu Xingrou was a female supporting character who took up a significant portion of the story.
A love-obsessed, malicious female supporting character who, disregarding all opposition, lavishes the male lead with money and resources in the early stages, loving him to the point of madness, only to resort to every underhanded tactic to frame the female lead later on, ultimately meeting a tragic end.
Yet right now, Lu Xingrou was just a harmless little girl, flashing a soft, sweet smile simply because she’d been granted permission to walk to school together.
In the original host’s memories, Lu Xingrou had always approached her prickly older brother with great caution since childhood.
With a sister this adorable, how could she possibly be a villainous female supporting character?
Lu Xingheng slammed his hand down on the table.
Lu Xingrou flinched in fright, nearly dropping her chopsticks.
She looked up timidly—had her second older brother changed his mind again? The little girl pursed her lips, frustrated at having done something wrong.
She always messed things up; she couldn’t do anything right. Maybe—
“Xingrou, starting today, we’ll walk to and from school together,” Lu Xingheng said, his gaze intense.
The plot hadn’t even begun yet. As long as he prevented his younger sister from coming into contact with the male lead, he could stop the “love-obsessed” plotline from triggering.
Lu Xingrou’s eyes widened in shock; she didn’t understand why her second older brother had suddenly changed so much.
Just yesterday, he hadn’t even let her get close to him—he’d even said he’d never treated her like a little sister.
Sure enough, that was just something he said in the heat of the moment.
After hesitating for just a second, Lu Xingrou broke into a smile, revealing two tiny dimples.
Soft-hearted as she was, she immediately accepted her brother’s olive branch.
“Okay, it’s a deal. Second Brother, you can’t go back on your word.”
“Absolutely not,” Lu Xingheng said, raising his hand in a smiling oath.
When he smiled, two faint dimples appeared on his face as well; sitting across the dining table, the brother and sister smiled in perfect unison.
“Second Brother, why are you wearing this watch today?” Lu Xingrou asked with a smile.
Lu Xingheng paused, recalling the watch’s history—it was a gift from his eldest brother on his twelfth birthday.
That day, their parents and eldest brother had all been busy and couldn’t attend the birthday party. The original host had been angry and upset, so Lu Yun had sent this diamond watch worth ten million as a gift to appease her.
The original host felt his brother was just throwing money at her and had never worn it.
No wonder Lu Yun had given him that strange look earlier.
Lu Xingheng rubbed his nose, thinking to himself how great it was to be showered with money—he liked it: “I just suddenly felt like switching it up.”
Lu Xingrou smiled and didn’t press the issue.
After finishing breakfast, the two got into the car and headed to school.
Lu Xingrou glanced sideways at her second older brother sitting beside her, and the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily: “Second Brother, you seem a little different today.”
—Oh no, did I give myself away?
Lu Xingheng kept a straight face: “What’s different? Am I especially handsome?”
“Ha.” Lu Xingrou couldn’t help but laugh out loud, then immediately covered her mouth, afraid that the sound might annoy him.
“Second Brother, I’m not making fun of you. I just—”
Lu Xingheng cleared his throat lightly and leaned back in his seat. The original host really had brought this on himself—look how scared he’d made his little sister.
“Little sis, I’ve finally figured it out. Life’s too short to be so hard on myself. Starting today, I’m going to take it easy.”
“Struggling to the death? No. Eating, drinking, and having fun? Yes.”
Lu Xingheng spread his hands in a gesture of resignation: “I’ve finally realized what suits me best.”
Lu Xingrou’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared at him, her gaze flickering back and forth.
Her gaze was so intense that it sent shivers down Lu Xingheng’s spine.
Lu Xingrou burst out laughing again: “That’s great—the Second Brother from when we were kids is back.”
When I was a kid?
Lu Xingheng raised an eyebrow and scrolled through the original host’s memories, only to be surprised to find that everything before the age of ten was a blank.
He wondered to himself: The original host had a normal IQ, so how could he have no memories before the age of ten? Did his cognitive development start so late?
“Do you remember anything from when I was a kid? What was I like back then?” Lu Xingheng asked, seemingly offhandedly.
Lu Xingrou’s gaze flickered briefly; she averted her eyes and looked out the window. “Actually, I don’t remember much either. Mom always said we were late bloomers.”
Her evasive answer made Lu Xingheng frown.
He thought of the scar on Lu Yun’s hand. “Then do you remember how Big Brother got that scar on his hand?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Lu Xingrou shuddered.
“Stop the car!”
“Second Brother, look—that person outside is wearing our school uniform. He must be a classmate. He’s fallen down. Let’s get out and help him.”
Lu Xingheng couldn’t spare a thought for the scar; alarm bells were ringing in his mind.
As mentioned in the plot, Lu Xingrou’s ill-fated relationship with the male lead began when she happened to come across him injured on her way to school. Her heart softened, she got out of the car to help, and from then on, she was on a path of no return.
Lu Xingrou was already reaching for the door handle to get out.
“Wait, let me handle this.” Lu Xingheng quickly pushed his sister back into her seat, leaped out of the car in a flash, and hauled the man to his feet.
He was just an ordinary-looking guy—definitely not the male lead—and Lu Xingheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside the car, Lu Xingrou quietly watched her brother’s back, a faint, complicated glint flashing in her almond-shaped eyes.
“Classmate, watch your step,” Lu Xingheng said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder.
Suddenly, a strange expression flashed across Lu Xingheng’s face, and he instinctively sniffed the air.
This classmate—why did he have such a strange smell about him?
“Th—thank you,” the boy said, taking two steps back to avoid him, bowing quickly before running off as fast as he could.
Lu Xingheng frowned, watching his retreating figure thoughtfully.
“Second Brother, what’s wrong?” Lu Xingrou rolled down the car window and asked in confusion.
Lu Xingheng turned and got back into the car: “Do you know that student?”
Lu Xingrou shook her head slightly and tilted her head, asking, “No, I don’t. What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing,” Lu Xingheng laughed it off, then changed the subject. “Our family is so rich—why do we still have to go to school? I don’t like school. Can’t I just go home and chill?”
“Big Brother wouldn’t agree to that,” Lu Xingrou reassured him. “Luckily, schoolwork isn’t that hard. If you don’t understand something, Second Brother, you can ask me.”
“But Second Brother, don’t worry. Even if you don’t do well on the exams, Big Brother will find a way.”
Lu Xingheng sighed wistfully, recalling that the original host had been a poor student—not as good as his older brother, nor as good as his younger sister. Just the sight of a book would make him feel restless; getting into this high school was entirely thanks to his family’s financial support.
Maybe he could try a little harder, improve his grades, and then have his older brother transfer the sponsorship money directly to him.
Thinking of the long string of zeros in his bank account, Lu Xingheng felt that studying wasn’t so tiring after all.
“As long as I’m willing to work hard, I’m sure to get good results. I’ll do my best.”
Lu Xingrou’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she encouraged him, “Go for it, Second Brother. You can definitely do it.”
Watching her second brother’s confident figure walk away, Lu Xingrou, carrying her backpack, slowly made her way into the school building.
Strangely, she didn’t head to her classroom; instead, she turned into the storage room.
The girl opened her backpack, and there, right inside, was that physical examination report.
She skimmed through it quickly, pausing for two extra seconds on the words “Lu Xingheng.” Lu Xingrou frowned in disappointment and casually burned it.
Just then, her phone rang. The caller ID read: Ning Tianyi.
If Lu Xingheng were still here, he would surely have screamed in horror—Ning Tianyi was none other than the male lead of *I’m the Boss at the Seventh Bureau*.
Lu Xingrou answered the call, her voice as soft, sweet, and melodious as ever: “Brother Tianyi.”
Whatever the person on the other end said, Lu Xingrou’s eyes crinkled into a smile, her dimples faintly visible.
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a play of light and shadow across her delicate, beautiful face and revealing a dark gleam in her eyes.
Her voice grew even gentler: “You know, for you, I’d do anything.”
The girl’s gaze fell to the pile of medical test results on the floor, now reduced to ashes.
“Including—killing my own brother.”