Lu Huaizheng felt like he was about to puke up last night's dinner. He kicked out a foot. "Get lost."

——

(Yu Hao)

The third time Yu Hao ran into Lu Huaizheng was in a small alcove on the rooftop. She had PE that period and wanted to go up for a smoke, when she bumped into Lu Huaizheng and Hu Siqi sitting on the rooftop stairs. One was looking down, playing a game, the other had her head tilted back, smoking. The rooftop wind slowly blew the girl's hair up, right into Lu Huaizheng's face.

He frowned and shifted away a bit. "Move farther away from me, the smell of smoke on you is suffocating me."

Hu Siqi offered him the cigarette. "Wanna try? Seriously, it's super relaxing after you smoke."

Lu Huaizheng turned his face away directly, sitting sideways far away from her. "Don't smoke."

Hu Siqi, feeling snubbed, listlessly took the cigarette back and changed the subject:

"Hey, are you familiar with that Yu Hao from Class Five?"

"Not familiar."

"Then why does she come looking for you so often? I've already seen it twice." The girl was slightly dissatisfied.

"Delivering something for someone."

"Does she like you? Otherwise, who in Class Five could get her to deliver something to you? Haven't you heard? She's the type who doesn't even have to sweep the floor in Class Five."

"You get that kind of treatment just for being pretty?" Lu Huaizheng's focus was on his game, answering absently.

"Is she pretty?"

Lu Huaizheng said, "Pretty."

Hu Siqi pressed on relentlessly, "Is she prettier or am I prettier?"

Without hesitation, Lu Huaizheng said, "Her."

Hu Siqi insisted he say otherwise, snatching his phone and pretending she was going to throw it off the balcony. Lu Huaizheng panicked and changed his tune.

"You, you, you—happy now?"

Only then did Hu Siqi satisfyingly toss the phone back to him. Then, after he was engrossed in his game again, she abruptly blurted out:

"Lu Huaizheng, let me ask you a question."

"You've already been in my spot for fifteen minutes. Can you let me play in peace for a bit?"

"I'll leave after I ask."

The teenager held back his anger. "Ask!"

"Have you ever had a woman?"

At that time, during puberty, any guy would probably be curious about these things and would have secretly watched some on their phone. He just didn't expect Hu Siqi to ask so directly.

"Is it what I think you mean?"

Hu Siqi nodded.

"What's wrong with you, discussing this with me?"

"Last night, my boyfriend got me drunk, and then..." Hu Siqi said fiercely through gritted teeth, "Damn it, he drugged me..."

Only then did Lu Huaizheng stop playing his game. He picked up a bottle of water, twisted it open, took two gulps, and then said:

"Didn't I have Jiamian remind you before? Your boyfriend's crew...yeah, their methods aren't very clean."

——

(Lu Huaizheng)

The third time Lu Huaizheng met Yu Hao was also in that alcove.

He thought his secret base was quite magical. After being followed by Hu Siqi that day, it had now been discovered by a second person.

He was a bit mesmerized, because Yu Hao was smoking.

He thought smoking was something bad students like Hu Siqi did. He never expected a good student like Yu Hao to be so melancholic.

Lu Huaizheng put away his game console, walked over with his hands in his pockets, and sat down on the steps beside her. He stretched out his long legs, rested his elbows on his knees, and leaned over to look at her, smiling brightly, "Is the academic pressure that great?"

Yu Hao was very petite. Lu Huaizheng guessed she was 160cm at most. She had a round face, and her wide-open eyes looked especially innocent.

Hu Siqi smoked purely to look cool.

Her smoking, he could tell, was to unleash her true nature.

Yu Hao wasn't embarrassed, nor was she the least bit displeased at being disturbed. Instead, she looked at him sideways and said, "We're not that familiar, are we?"

"You're a classic example of burning the bridge after crossing it, killing the donkey after it's done grinding."

Yu Hao took a drag from her cigarette and smiled. "Even if it's time to get rid of it, it's not my turn. Shang Qing hasn't said anything."

After speaking, she stubbed out the cigarette butt on the ground, stood up, and took out a piece of gum from her pocket to chew. "I'm off, donkey."

Lu Huaizheng took out his game console and waved at her without turning his head.

"Don't come empty-handed next time."

Normally, no one went up to that small alcove in the summer because it was too hot and stuffy. But the two of them weren't afraid at all. It went from one person smoking and one person playing games to two people smoking and playing games together.

The records on Lu Huaizheng's game console were basically all set by Yu Hao.

To thank her.

Lu Huaizheng specially prepared a surprise for her on September 20th.

It was his first time buying a gift for a girl. He even dragged Jiamian all over the mall. After much deliberation, he finally chose a necklace. On the way back, Jiamian saw a cake shop and wanted to go buy a cake. You have to eat cake for a birthday. He said this excitedly and was about to rush off.

But he was dragged back by a dark-faced Lu Huaizheng.

Absolutely no buying a cake.

Whatever you do, don't buy a cake.

On the 20th, he put the necklace in his school bag, and for some reason, his bag felt like a time bomb that day. He kept glancing at it from time to time, and he'd never felt so cowardly before.

During the lunch break, he dashed up to the rooftop. While running up the stairs, he felt like he was becoming Usain Bolt. But, conscious of his image, he changed his style right before arriving and stopped. He slung his bag over his back, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and strolled in leisurely.

"Ahem."

He even coughed twice on purpose, cool and casual. "Got something for you."

And then.

The girl asked him with a bewildered look on her face.

What for?

Huh?

Isn't it your birthday?

Who said that?

——

Author's Note:

Because of the word count edits earlier, I could only insert a high school extra chapter for now~

It's a few scenes from within the first month of the first year of high school. Read it if you like, skip it if you don't. It doesn't affect the main story, haha.

The Yu Hao from back then was still a bit cool.

Because the last part describes the scene of Young Master Lu's first awakening of love, a young boy's first awakening seems quite pure. But he hasn't realized it himself yet. When he does realize it, it'll be terrifying. I'll finish this extra chapter when I have time in the future. For those who don't want to read it, just follow the present timeline~

The next chapter will return to the main storyline.