Chapter 24: Is This the Man Pursuing You?

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lu Qingyue’s head suffered another blow from her own brother. She yelped, about to leap up in anger, when someone casually wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her back.

Cheng Xingye, half amused and half exasperated, held down the feisty little quail, lazily pulled out his phone, and swiftly transferred her twenty yuan.

“Next time someone asks you to deliver this, you know how to refuse, right?”

Lu Qingyue, having received the money and thereby warded off disaster, immediately smiled and flashed an OK sign. “Got it!”

Seeing Cheng Xingye solve this little troublemaker with money, Lu Yi said nothing more. He pressed her shoulders, spun her around, and gave her a gentle push forward. “Alright, off you go.”

Sure enough, kids are nothing but trouble. Lu Yi felt his head ache as soon as he saw her and couldn’t help wanting to send her away as quickly as possible.

Lu Qingyue staggered two steps from his push, nearly falling flat again.

But with the freshly earned twenty yuan nestled in her pocket, she found it hard to stay angry.

She didn’t hold it against Lu Yi; instead, she waved magnanimously over her shoulder and called out sweetly, “Bye, Xingye! Bye, Shujie!”

Lu Yi: …Bye, my ass!

He couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

So she just refuses to call him brother? Fine. Let her regret it later.

…

Clutching the thirty yuan she’d just earned—a small fortune to her—Lu Qingyue cheerfully entered a roadside shop selling pan-fried buns.

This old eatery had stood here for over twenty years, a childhood memory for many in the neighborhood. Its pan-fried buns had even been featured on television. Delicious as they were, fame had brought rising prices. The plain pork buns that once cost only eight yuan a serving now sold for twelve, and the crab roe buns that used to be twenty had soared to thirty.

Usually, if Lu Qingyue craved a treat, all she could afford was the plain pork. But today, with cash in hand, she ordered the crab roe buns without hesitation.

It was just past six on a Monday evening. The street bustled with office workers freshly off duty and students out in search of food.

The little shop quickly filled up, the small tables crowded with diners.

As Lu Qingyue waited for her order, someone behind her suddenly called her name.

“Lu Qingyue?”

The voice sounded familiar. She turned and, to her dismay, saw the last person she wanted to meet.

Xiao Qingrong stood behind her, another boy from Class 2 at his side. Both of them still carried the obvious scent of sweat—likely just finished with a game and out looking for food.

Lu Qingyue eyed them warily. “What do you want?”

Xiao Qingrong shamelessly plopped down in the empty seat across from her. “What a coincidence! Let’s eat together!”

Lu Qingyue had no desire to share a table with them, so she made an excuse. “Sorry, this seat’s taken.”

Xiao Qingrong scoffed, then joked to his friend with a laugh, “Oh? Who’s taken it? An invisible guest?”

He reached for the menu, but just as his fingers touched it, a slender hand appeared, deftly pulling the menu from his grasp.

A pale shadow fell over him.

Instinctively, Xiao Qingrong looked up and met a pair of cold, indifferent eyes.

The man towering beside them exuded a quiet, unspoken pressure. Even though Xiao Qingrong stood at a respectable one-eighty, he could tell this newcomer was half a head taller.

A little annoyed at having his order interrupted, he refused to back down. Even if the guy seemed older and more intimidating, Xiao Qingrong demanded impatiently, “And who are you?”

Cheng Xingye, holding the menu between elegant fingers, showed no expression. His lowered gaze was laced with a certain contemptuous arrogance, though his words were perfectly polite: “Excuse me, but you’re sitting in my seat.”

Lu Qingyue hadn’t expected to run into him here, but at his words, she caught on quickly and chimed in, “He’s my brother! I told you this seat was taken!”

Xiao Qingrong paused, unsure if she was telling the truth or just looking for a way out.

But the young man across from him, polite as he was, clearly wasn’t someone to trifle with.

Xiao Qingrong hesitated for a few seconds, feeling that leaving the table so meekly would be a blow to his pride. But the other boy with him nudged his arm and whispered, “Rong-ge, why don’t we go have teppanyaki across the street? I’ve been craving it for ages!”

Given the chance to save face, Xiao Qingrong grudgingly stood and left.

Once they were gone, Cheng Xingye took the seat opposite Lu Qingyue, pulled out a napkin, and meticulously wiped down the table.

The shop’s glaring fluorescent lights shone down on him.

Only after he’d cleaned the table did he look up and ask casually, “Is that the guy chasing after you?”

Lu Qingyue understood what he meant and didn’t bother to hide it, nodding. “Yes, that’s him.”

Cheng Xingye tossed the napkin in the bin and let out a soft laugh, his tone light and dismissive. “He’s rather ordinary.”

Whether in looks or character, he didn’t deserve this spirited, clever girl.

Lu Qingyue thought for a moment. While Xiao Qingrong was a bit arrogant, he wasn’t entirely without merit. So she offered a fair assessment: “But in our year, he’s considered pretty good. I’ve heard several girls like him.”

That’s the nice thing about high school—liking someone is pure and rarely tainted by material concerns.

But Cheng Xingye only gave a low, unimpressed hum, his tone cool. “That’s just because you’re young and haven’t seen the world.”

Lu Qingyue studied his sharply defined features, curiosity lighting her eyes. “Who’s ‘the world’? Is it you?”

She sounded almost provocative, yet her delivery was so earnest that no fault could be found.

Cheng Xingye crossed his arms, gazing at her with lazy insolence, his voice as languid and arrogant as ever. “Why wouldn’t it be me?”

Streetlights flickered on one by one outside, the traffic flowing past in a blur. Yet here, hidden in a quiet pocket of the busy city, their eyes met, and something light and tingling seemed to stir between them—a subtle emotion slowly spreading.

He was as confident and unruffled as always, which didn’t surprise Lu Qingyue at all.

She smiled softly, taking a long, appraising look at his handsome face.

Whatever else could be said, Cheng Xingye was flawless in appearance. If a perfect score was a hundred, she’d give him a hundred—without the slightest fear of making him conceited.

So she praised him sincerely, “But you really are the most handsome person I know. If I set your looks as the standard for finding a boyfriend, I’ll probably be single for life.”

The man across from her had spoken offhandedly, but upon hearing this, the corners of his pale lips curved up, as if genuinely pleased.

He’d grown used to her candor over the time they’d known each other. Still, her words caught him off guard, and he lowered his eyes to hide a smile, replying, “You won’t.”

She deserved the best.

But Lu Qingyue didn’t believe him. Tilting her head, she asked seriously, “How do you know I won’t?”

There were plenty of boys at school who pursued her, but she knew in her heart it was just adolescent hormones at work—a fleeting fondness, nothing real.

She truly wondered if, in the future, there would ever be someone willing to love her.