6 Warning

“Huh?” Zhou Mingze scratched his head, as if amused by his own anger. “What, did Lu Yu even complain to you?”

He thought he must have misheard. He had heard that the Song and Lu families were on good terms and that Song Jianli and Lu Yu had grown up together. But Song Jianli meddling in this matter seemed far too extensive!

Just thinking about it made Song Jianli’s heart tighten.

He hoped it was Lu Yu who complained to him, but the truth was, if it weren’t for Xu Chen telling him, Lu Yu might have kept this secret forever.

“If he had come to me with complaints, it wouldn’t have been just a simple apology you owed him,” Song Jianli said.

After all, since Lu Yu hadn’t told him, he couldn’t make too big a fuss about it; otherwise, Lu Yu would be put in a difficult position.

Zhou Mingze sneered, his tone growing more contemptuous. “Song Jianli, you really think calling yourself Young Master Song makes you some big shot? Who do you think you are, telling me to apologize to that woman?”

“I’m telling you, don’t you dare threaten me,” Zhou Mingze said, his tongue pressing against his cheek as he spat out harsh words.

As expected, a deep and impenetrable chill appeared between Song Jianli’s brows.

Upon hearing Zhou Mingze’s description of Lu Yu, Song Jianli merely glanced at him, then slowly lifted the corner of his lips.

“Zhou Mingze, you know my surname is Song.”

Zhou Mingze whistled, kicking the grass beside him and tilting his head. “So what?”

“Do you remember the lavish banquet your father threw last month?” Song Jianli suddenly said, his words abrupt and out of nowhere.

Zhou Mingze frowned, probably unable to understand why Song Jianli suddenly brought up that matter.

He was somewhat informed about it—it seemed his father had spent a considerable sum to host that banquet to discuss leasing office space. Even his mother had borrowed money from her family to help organize it.

This showed how important his father considered the client.

Seeing Zhou Mingze was somewhat in the know, Song Jianli took the initiative to explain.

“Let me tell you. Your father wanted to lease one of our Song family’s office buildings. But that building was a gift from my grandmother when I came of age, a start-up gift. I never planned to start a business in Linqi City, so it has remained unused. Your father wants to lease it.”

Song Jianli continued calmly, without hurry.

“In other words, whether your father can sign the lease depends on me agreeing to it. Just a few days ago, I contacted him to discuss the contract over the weekend. Unfortunately, it seems I’ll only bring bad news then.”

“Zhou Mingze, you should know that offending Lu Yu won’t do you any favors.” Song Jianli never minded settling matters by force, but Lu Yu never wanted him to resort to that, so he chose to handle this with his status.

Song Jianli always remained calm, his tone steady, yet it made Zhou Mingze’s back chill.

His expression turned grim; he understood the importance of this property.

Because of this office building, his family’s business had already suffered a significant blow.

His father had always looked down on him. If he lost this leasing deal, he wouldn’t just lose pocket money anymore.

Zhou Mingze didn’t doubt his father wouldn’t break his legs.

“You’re bluffing, right?” Zhou Mingze’s arrogance was gone, and his voice lacked confidence.

Song Jianli smiled slightly, his demeanor noble and refined. His smile was not warm, yet not unkind.

“Want to try?”

Could it withstand a test? If it were true, he was finished!

“Are you really willing to sever the friendship between the Zhou and Song families over Lu Yu?” Zhou Mingze gritted his teeth, his fists clenched tightly.

Song Jianli’s eyes were calm, cold, and detached, with an aloofness that seemed almost inhuman.

He was slightly taller than Zhou Mingze but less robust. Yet, the innate pressure he exuded made Zhou Mingze realize Song Jianli wasn’t the gentle, polite scholar people said he was.

“Yes,” Song Jianli replied succinctly, his attitude clear.

Zhou Mingze clenched and unclenched his fists, struggling within himself before finally asking, “Just an apology, right?”

“Do you think an apology doesn’t require forgiveness?” Song Jianli countered.

---

“What if he never forgives?” Zhou Mingze’s temper flared again.

Song Jianli disliked such sudden outbursts. Anyone or anything that upset Lu Yu made him grimace with disgust.

“That’s your problem. Show some attitude. Lu Yu can’t keep secrets; I’ll know all about it.”

With that, Song Jianli left, leaving Zhou Mingze alone in the garden, furious and powerless. He stared at Song Jianli’s retreating back until he disappeared, then let out a low growl.

Frustrated, Zhou Mingze glanced at the surrounding grass and, in anger, trampled the lawn flat. He also skipped the first class.

He returned for the second class. Wei Qin had been waiting at the classroom door for a while, so Zhou Mingze didn’t even enter the classroom before she dragged him to the office.

Zhou Mingze was in a foul mood, and Wei Qin’s reprimands barely registered. He would fiddle with his ear, bow his head, or kick the desk leg. After enduring the scolding, he returned to class halfway through the second lesson.

He didn’t report to anyone and ignored the chemistry teacher’s exhausted lecturing, going straight to his seat.

Zhou Mingze was notorious for his rebelliousness. He feared no one except his father. The subject teacher glanced at him but said nothing and continued teaching.

His seat was at the back row. He kicked his chair back, sat on it with his back against the wall, and stretched his legs forward, looking like a young lord.

Several of his friends in the back row turned to ask, “Zhou, where were you? Didn’t sneak off to the internet café, did you?”

“What did Wei Qin say to you?”

“Did some girl confess to you again?”

One after another, they bombarded him, causing a headache.

“Go away, don’t bother me,” Zhou Mingze snapped, kicking the desk to make them turn away.

Seeing his bad mood, they wisely fell silent and looked elsewhere.

Zhou Mingze scratched his hair and instinctively glanced toward Lu Yu.

Lu Yu’s seat was diagonally ahead of him, a perfect angle for observing him.

Damn.

How should he approach this? Maybe wait after school to block him and apologize?

No, no. Zhou Mingze scratched his head. There was no evening study session now; school dismissed at 5:30 PM.

If he blocked Lu Yu then, passersby would see everything.

That would be too... humiliating.

The young master was so annoyed he wanted to kick the desk again, folding his arms while casually watching Lu Yu.

Lu Yu’s seat was one person away from the window. The breeze flowing through stirred the strands of hair on his forehead. He sat upright.

Because of the heat, he wore only the white short-sleeved shirt from the school uniform set. The wind pressed the shirt against his back, letting Zhou Mingze faintly see his slender spine.

His hair was neatly cut. His slender, fair neck resembled that of a swan.

Why had he never noticed before that this guy was quite easy on the eyes, even delicate-looking?

Zhou Mingze was startled by his own sudden thought. He grabbed the bottled water on the desk and gulped it down. The cool water sobered him up quite a bit.

He wasn’t close to Lu Yu, but Lu Yu didn’t seem the grudging type. As long as he blocked him to apologize and gained his forgiveness, that would be enough.

Besides, the next class was P.E. He just needed to find a moment to get rid of the two hangers-on beside him.

Thinking this, the young master was once again impressed by his own cunning.

—

Finally, the much-anticipated bell rang.

“I’m going to fall asleep.”

“Goodness, Sister Fang’s hypnosis class truly lives up to its reputation.”

“I can’t take it anymore. I’ll nap for five minutes first. Call me when you go down.”

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a pop quiz? But she spent the whole lesson going over problems. Ridiculous...”

...

When class ended, except for a few boys at the back excited for P.E., the students in the front rows all slumped onto their desks.

Even Lu Yu, who usually didn’t nod off, struggled to keep his eyes open.

He lowered his gaze, pulling out a pack of wet wipes from his desk, tearing one off to wipe his face. The dampness stuck the stray hairs on his forehead to his skin.

Just then, a breeze blew in through the window, refreshing Lu Yu considerably.

He tidied his desk quickly, grabbed his uniform from inside, and prepared to leave the classroom.

He was used to being alone and didn’t wait for anyone to accompany him.

Passing by Song Jianli’s classroom on the first floor, Lu Yu glanced instinctively at Song Jianli’s seat but didn’t see him.

He didn’t notice the faint disappointment stirring inside.

Lowering his head, he was about to leave the teaching building when suddenly a hand shot out, grabbing his collar.

“Lu Sansang, why aren’t you watching where you’re going?”

The familiar scent of soap pods filled his nose. Lu Yu looked up at the person in front of him. Song Jianli must have washed his face; water droplets clung to his skin, and wet hair stuck to his face.

Even his eyelashes held tiny beads of water.

Song Jianli wore only his undershirt, the collar of his short white shirt unbuttoned. Whether from sweat or water, stains ran down his throat, revealing a pale, delicate collarbone.

His eyes smiled gently at Lu Yu, a lasting warmth at the corners of his lips.

Lu Yu couldn’t help but smile back, baring his sharp canines.

“Brother Jian, my next class is P.E.!” Lu Yu said, looking up into Song Jianli’s eyes.

Song Jianli nodded. “I know.”

Lu Yu had been sleepy last class; a lingering weariness still hung in his eyes. Before he could speak further, Song Jianli suddenly said,

“Open your mouth.”

“Huh?” Though puzzled, Lu Yu instinctively parted his rosy lips. From Song Jianli’s angle, one could even see his pink tongue, delicate as a rabbit’s.

His eyes were large and bright.

“So obedient,” Song Jianli thought.

He smiled, producing a mint candy from somewhere and popped it into Lu Yu’s mouth. The coolness spread through Lu Yu’s mouth, causing goosebumps to rise on his arm.

“Wake up,” Song Jianli said after feeding him the candy.

Lu Yu pushed the mint to the right side of his cheek with his tongue and mumbled, “I wasn’t about to doze off…”

“Mm-hmm,” Song Jianli chuckled softly. “Go to class. See you later.”

He urged Lu Yu toward class. Just as he finished speaking, the warning bell rang.

Lu Yu didn’t have time to ask what “see you later” meant before Song Jianli returned to the classroom. He was forced to follow his classmates downstairs to the sports field.

As far as he knew, Song Jianli should have had biology class this period. If he had class, how could they “see each other later”?

Lu Yu shifted the mint candy to the other side of his mouth, thinking quietly.