Chapter 14 Filth, East, West?

Cheng Xingye knew exactly what he was about to say. He shot him a languid glance, unfastened the dog's leash, and couldn’t be bothered to explain. But Lou Zhao was relentless, holding on and refusing to let go.

"Flirting with girls is one thing, but two at once? No wonder they call you the king of the sea..."

Cheng Xingye crouched down, fed the dog a sausage, his tone icy, "What nonsense are you thinking?"

He hadn’t wanted to flirt with two girls.

...Actually, not even one. He hadn’t intended to flirt with anyone.

That girl was only sixteen, probably hadn’t even had her awakening yet; otherwise, how could she stare so openly at his lower half?

At that age, falling in love usually meant getting fooled. Only Lu Yixin was old enough not to realize he should be keeping a close watch.

Cheng Xingye took the dog’s leash in hand and absentmindedly ran his fingers through its fur. His long, elegant fingers disappeared into the white fluff, pale veins and tendons faintly visible beneath the skin. The Samoyed was so comfortable it rolled onto its back, exposing its belly for more.

Seeing him so intent on petting the dog, Lou Zhao crouched beside him, chattering incessantly, "You really aren’t flirting?"

Cheng Xingye clicked his tongue, not even looking up. "She’s Lu Yi’s sister."

How depraved would he have to be to go after his friend’s little sister?

Lou Zhao was half convinced, glanced back at the convenience store, and noticed now that Lu Qingyue did somewhat resemble Lu Yi. They really were siblings.

Suddenly enlightened, he threw an arm around Cheng Xingye’s shoulders, adopting an all-knowing air. "Oh, that’s it. You’re afraid he’ll kill you if you go after his sister, right?"

Cheng Xingye: "…"

…

Once the two seniors had left the store, Zhou Tingting finally found her voice and howled, "Ahhh! Where did my mouth go just now?"

Lu Qingyue, licking her ice cream, glanced back and said in surprise, "You’re still here?"

Ignoring the teasing, Zhou Tingting’s eyes sparkled with infatuation as she gazed after the men outside. "That senior was so handsome! And he even has a dog. A caring man like that is the ultimate sweetheart!"

Lu Qingyue: "…" There’s really no need to whitewash him that hard.

She found a trash can, tossed her ice cream wrapper, and suddenly noticed Cheng Xingye hadn’t left but was crouched outside, playing with the dog.

His long fingers disappeared into the Samoyed’s white fur, blue veins faintly visible on the back of his hand. To be touched by hands like those must feel wonderful. Even the Samoyed was so relaxed it rolled over, completely defenseless, for him to pet.

Lu Qingyue found herself staring at his hands, lost in thought, when Zhou Tingting suddenly howled, "...I wish I were that dog in his hands!"

Lu Qingyue: "???"

That’s certainly… ambitious.

She was about to retort when she noticed her backpack zipper was undone, and her math test paper was half falling out, the glaring "96" on display.

Lu Qingyue: "…"

He couldn’t have seen that… right?

...

Three days into her alliance with Lu Ming, an unexpected incident struck.

Friday afternoon, just as Lu Qingyue returned home from school, she was startled to find Lu Yi, who was rarely home, sitting on the sofa playing with his phone.

At this hour, their parents weren’t back from work. Even if Lu Yi came home to scrounge a meal, he was never this early.

Such odd behavior could only mean trouble.

Lu Qingyue instinctively felt his presence spelled nothing good and tried to slip past. But as soon as she crept through the door, Lu Yi, without looking up, asked casually, "How did you do on the monthly exam?"

Lu Qingyue froze mid-step.

She’d been trying to block out any mention of the exam recently. Her face flushed as she mumbled, "It was… okay…"

Lu Yi responded with a calm "Oh" and held out his hand. "Let me see your papers."

Lu Qingyue’s heart sank, but she kept her expression neutral. "...I already turned them in."

She couldn’t help but avert her eyes when she lied.

Lu Yi narrowed his eyes at her evasive gaze. "What did you get in math?"

Without thinking, Lu Qingyue replied, "About the same as usual…"

…Just twenty or thirty points lower than usual, but who hasn’t had a bad test? she tried to justify to herself.

But Lu Yi chuckled, a knowing smile on his face as he exposed her, "Didn’t you get a 96? And that’s ‘about the same as usual’?"

Lu Qingyue: "…"

Had Cheng Xingye snitched again?! Otherwise, how would Lu Yi know she only got a 96?

Why couldn’t that guy keep anything to himself?

Fuming, she mentally added another tally to her grievance list against him, grumbling under her breath, "So what if it’s 96? Passing is 90, that’s six points over! You can’t even count them all on one hand!"

Before she could finish, a finger jabbed her forehead.

Lu Yi gave her a withering look. "Impressive. With grades that bad, have you decided which street you’ll beg on in the future?"

Lu Qingyue barely had time to retort before he jabbed again, "Oh, right. I think Pingxi Road would suit you. Lots of rich people there. Cheng Xingye walks his dog there often. If he sees you begging, maybe he’ll toss you a few extra coins for old times’ sake."

Lu Qingyue: "…"

She grew even angrier at the mention of that person.

Shame and frustration mingled, and she snapped, "Who wants his money!"

Even if she starved to death, she’d never touch a thing from Cheng Xingye!

Lu Yi clicked his tongue wickedly. "You’d better cherish anyone still willing to give you money. But don’t worry, you’ll still get your 600 yuan living allowance on time. We can’t have you starving to death so young."

Lu Qingyue was shocked. "...Wait, I thought you said boys get raised poor and girls get raised rich?"

"Do you still look like a girl?" Lu Yi cut her off coldly. "A 96 in math, faking a parent’s signature—giving you an allowance is charity at this point."

Lu Qingyue finally lost her patience and shouted, "Get lost!"

Lu Yi laughed. "Fine, I’m gone! But don’t come asking me for money next month. If you have any pride, stick to it—don’t let me down!"

With that, he headed upstairs without a backward glance, leaving Lu Qingyue frozen on the spot, like a statue.

…

But Lu Qingyue was young and didn’t understand one simple truth—

The more adamant your words, the faster reality will slap you in the face.

The next day, Saturday, she slept in and didn’t come downstairs until nearly eleven.

Rubbing her eyes, she opened the fridge, hoping to find something for breakfast, and was surprised to see the shelves packed with ice cream—each one costing over ten yuan.

She immediately grabbed a chocolate one, digging in as she called out, "Where did all this ice cream come from? It’s really good!"

From the living room came Lu Yi’s lazy voice, "Cheng Xingye bought it."

Lu Qingyue: "???"

A mouthful of ice cream stuck in her throat; she couldn’t swallow, but she couldn’t spit it out either.

Just yesterday, she’d sworn never to eat anything from him—and here she was, face burning from the speed of her own hypocrisy.

After choking down the ice cream, she stormed out of the kitchen, incredulous, "Wait, why do we even have ice cream he bought?! What is this trash doing in our fridge?"

She stopped short, only then noticing that besides Lu Yi, there were two others seated on the sofa.

The one near the window stretched his long legs lazily, glanced at her with a hint of insolence and amusement in his eyes, and slowly echoed her words:

"Trash. In. The. Fridge?"