The young man stood upright, his fingers flying over the piano keys. The girl, in her elegant long dress, sang with a sweet, flowing voice. It was the most beautiful scene of youth.
The audience below was utterly mesmerized. When the performance ended, many still hadn’t snapped out of the moment.
As Su Panyue let out the final note, she gently turned and happened to meet a pair of gentle eyes. At that moment, the world fell completely silent. Only her heartbeat thundered, as if it might leap out of her chest.
The rides to school, the romantic delivery of KFC flown in from abroad, and this exquisite dress—all those moments of heart-stirring emotion surged like waves in Su Panyue’s heart, making it impossible for her to suppress the feelings growing within her.
In fact, even if Chen Luo had done nothing, she had already chosen him in her heart.
Standing on the tall stage, Su Panyue wanted to boldly confess to Chen Luo in front of everyone at Qinghe High School. But she was afraid he would think she lacked reserve. In relationships, the one who falls first is often the one who ends up humble.
“What are you spacing out for? The performance is over. Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Su Panyue forcibly held back her urge to speak out. The two walked down from the stage together under the gaze of the entire school.
“Kewei.” Xu Yi, noticing that Jiang Kewei’s gaze had been fixed on Chen Luo the entire time, felt a surge of sourness in his heart. “I heard this term’s final exam is a joint test among nine schools. The principal will personally present awards to the top three students next term.”
He deliberately brought the topic back to academics. At this point, the only area where he could compete with Chen Luo was in studies.
“With your midterm scores, getting first place should be easy,” Jiang Kewei replied casually.
“You’re not bad either, Kewei. Let’s work hard together. We’ll stand on that award stage side by side.”
Yes, studies were the most important thing now. As long as she became more outstanding and eye-catching, Chen Luo would return to her sooner or later.
“There’s a physics topic I don’t understand. Can you help me with it?”
“Sure, let’s go back to the classroom now.”
The two walked side by side, and this scene happened to be seen by Chen Luo, who was standing outside the girls’ dorm waiting for Su Panyue.
So he really felt nothing at all…
“Jiang Kewei, I really don’t feel anything for you anymore.” Chen Luo murmured softly, then suddenly smiled. Finally, he was free.
“Chen Luo!”
Seeing Chen Luo downstairs at the girls’ dormitory, Xia Qing ran over to him.
Chen Luo quickly composed himself, “Teacher Xia.”
Xia Qing took a few breaths, her ample chest rising and falling as she tried to calm herself. Because of the midday heat, she had sweated quite a bit. Her clothes clung to her shapely figure.
“This term’s final exam is the joint test of nine schools. If everything goes well, Xu Yi and Jiang Kewei from our class should get excellent scores.” Xia Qing gave Chen Luo a meaningful glance. “Originally, I had the highest expectations for you.”
“The top three scorers of this joint exam will be awarded personally by the principal next term. If I remember correctly, Jiang Kewei is your ex-girlfriend, right? Won’t it sting to see her on that stage with Xu Yi?”
Xia Qing was young and could easily understand the emotions of students.
But she didn’t truly understand Chen Luo.
Chen Luo only smiled without explaining much. “Teacher Xia, don’t worry. I promise you, when next term begins, I’ll be on that stage receiving an award.”
“Oh?” Xia Qing looked skeptical. “The joint exam is next week. Can you really prepare in such a short time?”
Chen Luo just smiled silently.
No matter how hard Xia Qing stared at him, he remained indifferent and calm.
Xia Qing had no choice but to give up, “Alright then, I’ll believe you this once. But tell me, if you don’t make it to the award stage, what will you do?”
“Then I’ll stand for every one of your classes from now on, how about that?” Chen Luo joked.
“You said it!” Xia Qing covered her mouth and laughed. The usual seriousness in her expression gave way to a trace of girlish charm. “Also, you have to promise to study properly until the college entrance exams. Don’t cause any more drama like taking time off.”
“Okay. But… Teacher Xia, what if I really do make it?”
“What do you think?”
“If I make it, then you’ll excuse me from all future homework. How’s that?”
Xia Qing laughed out loud. Thinking about how Chen Luo had just promised to stand for every class, she didn’t hesitate, “Alright, I promise you.”
“Okay, my mom’s calling me home for dinner. Goodbye, Teacher Xia.”
“Goodbye.”
Watching Chen Luo walk away, Xia Qing’s beautiful eyes shimmered slightly.
This Chen Luo seemed different from every other student she had ever taught. It felt like he was hiding many secrets.
…
Walking out the school gate, Chen Luo finally let out a long sigh of relief.
That’s why he would never date a girl studying to be a teacher. Su Panyue also couldn’t major in education!
After sending Su Panyue a message, Chen Luo went to take care of business.
Now that the demolition compensation had been received, the next step was to acquire those unfinished buildings. From his past life experience, Chen Luo knew that real estate was the most profitable industry in the current era. Those who started in real estate around 2010 all became wealthy giants within a decade. Given this second chance, he couldn’t afford to miss out.
Moreover, the real estate scene around 2010 was chaotic. To make a name for himself, going it alone wouldn’t work.
Chen Luo headed to the casino where Zhou Tian was based.
After the incident with Zhu Wenwu, Zhou Tian feared Chen Luo more than he respected him. The moment Chen Luo walked in, Zhou Tian immediately had a chair brought over and personally offered him a cigarette.
“Brother Luo, have a smoke.”
Seeing their usual boss show such respect to a young man, the other underlings were all stunned.
Sitting down, Chen Luo took a puff and exhaled before asking, “Why didn’t you go to the tailor shop today?”
“Brother Luo, I’ve always been at the casino. I only helped out at the tailor shop earlier because one of the workers was on leave.”
“Mm.” Chen Luo gave a lukewarm reply. “How’s the task I gave you coming along?”
Zhou Tian’s eyes flickered.
He remembered the day Chen Luo approached him, asking him to unify all the local thugs in Jiangcheng and become the top boss of the underworld.
That had always been his goal. But Jiangcheng’s underground forces were deeply rooted and intertwined. On his own, it would have been nearly impossible.
Now that Chen Luo was backing him, everything had become much easier. He had agreed without hesitation, fully aware that Chen Luo had powerful backing. Otherwise, how could he have killed Zhu Wenwu and walked away unscathed?
“Everything is going smoothly, except in the North District where there’s a bit of trouble. There’s a guy named Jiang Biao who opened the Golden Sands Casino there. He’s got a lot of men and he’s ruthless. Not easy to deal with.”
Jiang Biao…
After thinking for a moment, Chen Luo recalled everything about the man.
“Leave him for now. I’ll deal with it when I have time.”
“Understood!” Zhou Tian’s eyes lit up. He knew Chen Luo would definitely have a way!
That night, Chen Luo drove straight to Golden Sands Casino.
To avoid attracting attention, Jiang Biao had hidden the casino in a small alley. Right across from it was a residential building, with dirty water collecting at the bottom, stinking to high heaven. The pedestrians passing by all looked miserable.