Chapter 2: Bullying the Young Lady?
Lu Qingyue could not recall ever seeing such a pair of legs before, and naturally, she had no idea who this person was. The legs were extraordinarily long—at a glance, almost longer than her own life.
Tilting her head, Lu Qingyue gazed up for a long while, squinting against the sunlight until she finally made out the newcomer’s face, blurred and indistinct through the sun filtering past leaves above. The shifting interplay of light and shadow fell softly across his features. From where she lay, she couldn’t distinguish his features clearly, but his jawline was taut and narrow, leading down to a sharp Adam’s apple.
He emanated a chill, distant air, yet sunlight pooled around him, muddling that coolness with an indefinable gentleness.
Lu Qingyue blinked. In that split second, her mind wandered, and she suddenly remembered what Hu Qiuyue had just said—one of those impossibly handsome upperclassmen from the medical school?
All around the track, chaos reigned—footsteps pounding, whistles and reprimands from instructors echoing, youth and vitality brimming everywhere.
Only this patch of lawn remained hushed, shaded by trees, with just the three of them: one standing, one squatting, and one lying down.
The one sprawled flat looked utterly bewildered, her gaze fixed blankly on the standing man, as though she already knew he was her last hope.
The man whose mere presence inspired such hope—Cheng Xingye—didn’t seem inclined to linger. He squinted slightly against the sun, looking down at the girl pressed to the ground, and let out a low, indifferent chuckle.
“What are you doing? Bullying a little girl?”
A simple, unremarkable attempt to defuse the situation. Yet the way he drew out those words—‘little girl’—made them hook into the air, subtle and alluring, as though tempting one into his gentle snare.
Lu Yi seemed surprised that the chief instructor would interfere in his disciplining of his own sister. But even so, he remained unmoved, snorting coldly.
“She was late. Isn’t it only right she’s punished?”
Lu Qingyue had every reason to suspect he was taking revenge!
Just because she’d said that morning that he was fast and heartless?
Thinking about how she’d have to survive under her brother’s watchful eye for the next week, Lu Qingyue decided to be sensible and tried to defend herself.
“Brother, I’m sorry. When I said men are fast and heartless, I didn’t mean you specifically. I just thought ten seconds was a little too quick.”
Cheng Xingye: “???”
Ten seconds?
Lu Yi: “......”
From the corner of his eye, Lu Yi caught the incredulous expression on Cheng Xingye’s face. Scowling, he redirected his embarrassment toward the culprit lying on the ground.
“When you speak to an instructor, you must ask permission!”
Lu Qingyue immediately raised her voice. “Permission to speak, Instructor! When it comes to men being fast and—”
Lu Yi cut her off. “Enough. No need to say it again. Backtalking earns you twenty more push-ups. Don’t get up until you’re done.”
Lu Qingyue: “...”
The girl lay sprawled on the ground, her face ashen. Her expression was hard to see, but her paper-thin frame alone was enough to evoke pity.
Cheng Xingye watched the siblings’ bickering with interest. Seeing Lu Qingyue at such a disadvantage, he finally intervened.
He folded his arms lazily, sunlight making his eyes look clear and bright, almost like translucent glass beads. Yet his gaze was direct, fixed on the girl lying prone.
“Enough. With arms and legs this thin, do you really think she can manage it?” His tone was light and offhand, as though he were bestowing a little sympathy or pity on a stray puppy by the roadside.
Given this opening, Lu Yi knew to let the matter rest. Besides, with Lu Qingyue’s frail build, expecting forty push-ups would be a task for the ages.
He braced his knees, stood up, and with a cold snort, made his point, “Fine. Go run five laps around the track instead.”
Lu Qingyue: “...” So petty.
She rolled her eyes but dutifully picked herself up and headed off to run.
...
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Qingyue finally finished her laps and returned, panting, to her class formation.
Class One was resting in place. As soon as she sat down, she overheard her classmates excitedly discussing the instructors who’d come from Jiang University that day.
“I thought Instructor Lu was already incredibly good-looking, but then I just ran into the chief instructor—now that’s what I call a man among men!”
“I heard the chief instructor is also president of the student council! So handsome and capable—several girls have already asked for his number this morning!”
“Come on! You’re all gossiping about him behind his back. Where’s your morality? Where’s your bottom line? And most importantly—where’s his contact info?!”
Lu Qingyue, just back from her run, had no idea who the chief instructor was. She listened in a daze until a girl suddenly squealed in a low voice, “Hey, the chief instructor is looking at us!”
In an instant, every head in the class turned toward the rostrum beneath the flag.
Only about ten meters away.
The man stood tall in his simple, casual camouflage, an easy magnet for attention. A girl passing by paused to speak with him. He raised an eyebrow, tilted his head lazily, his expression nonchalant yet impossibly captivating.
Whatever he said, the girl smiled shyly before turning and leaving.
Once she left, his relaxed, careless air returned. His narrow eyes lifted just slightly, and as if by accident, he glanced in Lu Qingyue’s direction.
That single glance sent the entire class of girls into a frenzy.
“Aaaaah—”
“He’s looking at me!”
“No! He’s killing me with that look!”
Lu Qingyue: “...” This man really is shameless.
And yet...he seemed oddly familiar.
...
“Brother Lu, was it really just ten seconds?!”
Inside the cafeteria next to the track, Chen Shujie’s loud exclamation drew the attention of half the people present.
Lu Yi had just walked in and immediately heard his aggravating voice. His face darkened at once; he pulled off his cap, tossed it on the table, and sat heavily in the seat across from the other two, his words sharp.
“Cheng Xingye, are you out of your mind?!”
Training had just ended for the morning, and the cafeteria was abuzz with voices. Since the second-year students were training in this area, the cafeteria was open for them as well. Usually crowded at mealtimes, today it was packed to the brim.
As chief instructor, Cheng Xingye didn’t have to chaperone the students’ training, so he’d arrived early to snag a seat. Amid the bustle, girls occasionally cast shy glances his way, but Cheng Xingye, ever nonchalant, sprawled comfortably, legs stretched out, acknowledging none of it, the hint of a playful smile on his lips.
“That wasn’t me,” he replied. “I don’t dish out gossip—I’m just the messenger.”
Lu Yi: “...”
He pressed his tongue to his cheek, exasperated into a reluctant chuckle.
He was about to say more when his gaze caught a slender figure entering from outside.
The girl wore an oversized training t-shirt, its hem tucked into her waistband, the tightened belt accentuating her slender waist. At the moment, she was chatting animatedly with her classmates, her fair, delicate face alight with energy.
“Diandian.”
Lu Yi called out to the source of all his troubles, just as she was about to head for the food line.
Diandian was Lu Qingyue’s childhood nickname. The youngest in the family, she had an older brother six years her senior and a cousin just a few days older. Being a girl and the smallest of the three, the elders affectionately called her “Little Dot.” Over time, everyone simply called her Diandian.
Lu Qingyue was in the middle of discussing the latest trending variety show with her friends when she heard her brother’s voice. She scanned the crowd and immediately spotted their table—not because she was particularly close to her brother, but because sitting opposite him was a man whose good looks were almost excessive.
His pale skin made him stand out even more among the crowd.
Because he was sitting, Lu Qingyue didn’t notice his attire, and with her angle, she didn’t connect him at all with the “legs longer than life” man from earlier.
Seeing her brother eating, she excused herself from her friends and made her way over to their table.
Chen Shujie, still hung up on the previous topic, was pestering Lu Yi about whether he truly was a “fast man.” But when he saw the slim figure approach, he finally stopped mid-sentence.
“Brother Lu, this is...?”
Lu Yi sat sprawled, his expression indifferent and words brief. “My sister.”
Lu Qingyue paid no mind to his coldness—they’d interacted like this since childhood—so she slipped into the empty seat beside him, her gaze puzzled as it swept over the two across from her.
Chen Shujie, ever the social butterfly, immediately brightened. “You have such a pretty sister? Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Lu Yi stretched out his leg and kicked him under the table, letting out a soft laugh, his tone mocking.
“You call that pretty?”
Lu Qingyue: “...” Such a petty man.
She couldn’t be bothered to argue, and as her gaze shifted, she accidentally locked eyes with the dark, gleaming eyes of the man across from her.