Back to the years when my father was in school - Chapter 18

Shu Mengfei was holding a corner of the long skirt in her left hand, a broom in her right one, the tail of the broom sliding gently on the ground.

    Even passers-by could see that she was absent-minded and that her work was sloppy.

    After finishing sweeping the garden path, Shen Kuo went straight to sweep the path leading to the statues of the sages.

    Although they were assigned to the same group, Shen Kuo basically did the entire group’s work alone, and Shu Mengfei was like a vase, only there to beautify and not to help.

    Shen Kuo still had things to do at night, so he cleaned quickly.

    Shu Mengfei’s female classmate in the same group leaned and whispered in her ear, “Shen Kuo must be worried that you are tired, so he did all the work by himself.”

    Shu Mengfei’s cheeks flushed slightly, “Stop talking nonsense..”

    “It must be. Otherwise, why is he working so hard?”

    Shu Mengfei looked at Shen Kuo, who was bowing and sweeping in the distance, shyness evident in her eyes, “I think he is very motivated, although his family is not good, but he works hard, I can actually…understand his situation.”

    “It seems that you are soulmates.”

    At that time, most of the girls were addicted to romance dramas produced in Hong Kong and Taiwan, so such cheesy words became a popular vocabulary for them.

    “I think he is much better than someone.”

    All her friends knew that the “someone” coming from Shu Mengfei’s mouth referred to every girl’s dream lover, Lu Zhen.

    “Fei Fei, when you were with Lu Zhen, how many girls at school were jealous of you, is it okay to break up with him without hesitation?”

    Shu Mengfei’s face was disdainful–

    “In my opinion, family background is not important. No matter how much money your parents earn, it is not your own. People have to work hard on their own, that’s what I believe in.”

    “The girls who worship gold, really should learn from Fei Fei .” 

“Fei Fei, Shen Kuo I’m rooting for you two!”

Shu Mengfei raised her head and saw Shen Kuo cast a brief glance at her.

Being watched by the person she liked, her whole body stiffened, and suddenly she didn’t know what to  do with her hands and feet.

    Shen Kuo didn’t look at her, he just saw Lu Zhen who was standing under the porch of the opposite teaching building.

    Dodging, cowering.

    A hint of mockery floated at the corner of Shen Kuo’s mouth.

    Too much affection has always been Lu Zhen’s weakness. Shen Kuo didn’t have to make any effort to rile him up. Just standing here was enough to make Lu Zhen go crazy with jealousy.

    “Fei Fei, Lu Zhen is still stalking you, and even Shen Kuo is about to become your admirer right now. I really envy you.”

    “What are you talking about?”

Although she denied it, the joy in Shu Meng’s eyes could not be concealed.

    “Hey? Why is that girl walking to Shen Kuo?” Someone suddenly exclaimed.

    Shu Mengfei looked up and saw Lu Yan walking with her hands behind her back, standing beside Shen Kuo with a smile.

    She was wearing blue denim overalls and a particularly beautiful scorpion-tail braid.

    The girls were actually quite envious of Lu Yan, not only because she was born with those beautiful peachy eyes, which were entrancing, but also because she was especially good at dressing, and she knew how to tie up her hair in all kinds of beautiful braids, which makes the school girls amazed every time.

    To come up with the idea of cutting holes in the pants and know how to make the uniform look better, in addition to the hair ponytail and braids, but also to compile so many tricks, ah!

    Shu Mengfei commented silently in her heart,”To sensationalize.” In her opinion, Lu Yan was trying to grab her limelight.

    However, it would be wishful thinking that she wanted to shake her position with just this little cleverness.

    Shu Mengfei’s ability to become the “it” school girl of No. 3 Middle School didn’t only depend on her pretty face, but on her talent in singing and dancing as well.

    She was the president of the association of Culture and Entertainment. At present, no girl in the school could match her in terms of talent.

    “She’s talking to Shen Kuo.” The girls around her whispered, “They stand so close to each other.”

    “What are they talking about, to laugh so happily?”

    “Doesn’t Shen Kuo not talk to girls? Why does he seem to be chatting with her?”

    “Fei Fei, let’s go and have a look.”

    “I just admire Shen Kuo.” Shu Mengfei pretended to be unfazed and smiled, “Besides, I believe Lu Yan and him are just having a normal conversation between classmates, so nothing to worry about.”

    However, just after she said this, Lu Yan actually took Shen Kuo’s hand.

    Shu Mengfei’s eyes seemed to be pricked by a needle.

    After Shen Kuo chatted with her for a bit, a sly look appeared in the eyes of the little girl, and she smiled and asked, “Uncle Shen, have you held hands with a girl before?”

    Shen Kuo shook her head, not understanding why she asked such a question.

    “Then I will let you try it.”

    Before he could respond, Lu Yan grabbed his finger.

    At the moment his finger was held in her hand, Shen Kuo obviously panicked and tried to pull his hand back, but the little girl clenched so tightly that he couldn’t escape her grasp.

    In Lu Yan’s era, it was not a big deal for boys and girls to touch their hands, but in that era when men and women were drawing the 38th line between them, holding hands was almost as exciting as kissing.

    Shen Kuo’s face turned a little red, but Lu Yan didn’t notice because all her attention was on Shu Mengfei, who was opposite them.

    Shu Mengfei pretended to lower her head and sweep the floor, but Lu Yan knew that she must be angry.

    “Lu Yan, let go.” His Adam’s apple rolled, and his throat was dry and itchy.

    She laughed, took his hand and said, “Uncle Shen, I treat you as my uncle so continue to act with me.”

    “…”

    Who the hell wants to be your uncle?

    Lu Yan grabbed his little finger and said in a serious manner, “That girl, I want to piss her off.” Her palm was cold and soft, and Shen Kuo’s fingers felt comfortable against her palm.

    However, Shen Kuo was Shen Kuo after all. He took his hand back with restraint, and murmured, “boring.”

 The little girl didn’t care, and said to him in a negotiating tone, “Shen Kuo, don’t care about Shu Mengfei, okay?”

    “Why?”

    “She is my dad’s ex-girlfriend. As you know, the ex-girlfriend likes the enemy and it hurts one’s self-esteem.If you don’t have any idea about the girl, don’t take care of her or pay attention to her, okay?” 

The little girl’s tone was soft, almost begging him.

    Shen Kuo looked at Lu Zhen, gnashing his teeth then raised his chin arrogantly, “Why would I want to maintain his self-esteem?”

    Lu Yan blinked her black shiny eyes, looking pitiful, and pleaded, “Shen Kuo..”

    The word “Kuo” was purposely elongated and articulated with a coquettish tone, making his heart soft all over.

    Lu Yan was a squeamish bag grown up indulged and pampered by Lu Zhen since childhood. She has no ability other than to act like a spoiled girl. As long as she is close to people, she can say all kinds of sweet words and butter up to people.

    Sometimes, Shen Kuo quite envied Lu Zhen, he had such a person who is willing to unconditionally protect him and not let anyone hurt him.

    If one day, she could treat him like this…

    Shen Kuo immediately cut off this absurd idea.

    “Please, really, help.”

    Shen Kuo looked at Shu Mengfei, and said blankly, “I don’t know her.”

    Except for the task of sweeping the floor, he had hardly spoken to Shu Mengfei.

    “I promise you, I won’t be with her in the future, are you satisfied?”

    Lu Yan smiled, she was really satisfied.

    Everyone said that Shen Kuo was narrow-minded and cold-hearted. She really didn’t expect that he would listen to what she said.

    “You are so kind to me, I want to recognize you as godfather!”

    Shen Kuo twitched the corner of his mouth.

    What the hell, was this girl mentally retarded in her past  life? Who the hell wants to be your godfather?!

    Shen Kuo stretched out his hand and patted the back of her head and murmured, “Go away.”

    “No, I have to act. We already held hands, so I can just do the whole set.”

    “What else do you want to do…”he said. Before he finished his question, Lu Yan suddenly stood on her tiptoes and slowly moved closer to his cheek.

    A faint sweet scent of milk mixed with the freshness of flowers and plants, slowly sneaked into his nose.

    Shen Kuo’s hand clenched suddenly.

    She stopped a few centimeters from his face, and their eyes met.

    Shen Kuo lowered his eyes, his long and thin eyelashes trembling slightly, and his dark eyes reflected the little girl in front of him, and the expression between his eyebrows was soft, extremely gentle.

    Lu Yan was agitated and said to him softly, “I will pretend to kiss you, don’t move!” 

After she finished speaking, she let out a “mua” sound on his face.

    From Shu Mengfei’s perspective, Lu Yan proactively kissed Shen Kuo’s cheek  while standing on tiptoes.

    The girls around were shocked, and said in surprise, “Lu Yan… how could she be like this…”

    The act of actively kissing a boy was simply shocking!

    Shu Mengfei’s gentleness and goddess character finally couldn’t hold on, she gritted her teeth and looked at her angrily.

    In this era, no girl dares to do such a bold thing!

    Shen Kuo looked at the girl’s shiny lips that were so close to me, and in his eyes came across a trace of lingering, saying lightly, “Too fake”

     “Ah?”

    Before she could react, his hands reached to grab her tiny waist and he pressed her tightly against his abdomen.

    Lu Yan felt that something was wrong.

    Shen Kuo watched her face slowly panic, and said in a low-melt voice, “I never play fakes.”

    “!!!”

    Lu Yan widened her eyes, looking at the young boy’s aggressive facial features up close. Her heartbeat started to speed up frantically, her head kept leaning back, and his words “I never play fakes” played in a loop in her head.

    Although Shen Kuo’s appearance was not as refined as Lu Zhen, he had a tough breath, white skin and dark eyebrows, making his face particularly three-dimensional.

    At this moment, Shen Kuo’s eyebrows were full of youthfulness.

    But Lu Yan knew that after many years, Mr. Shen would be able to command clouds and rain and that his eyes would become cold and vicious, and that no one would dare to approach him.

    Lu Yan’s lips and teeth slightly opened, and her voice was a little trembling—

    “You are going to do a fake show with me!”

 It is easy to indulge your desires, and restraint is the hardest.

    Shen Kuo loosened his hold on her waist, and his fingers clenched, feeling empty.

    “Scared?” He smiled playfully.

    Hearing his joking tone, Lu Yan heaved a sigh of relief, “I was really scared, I thought you were going to kiss me.”

    Lu Zhen, who had been hiding behind the corridor wall, finally couldn’t stand it anymore and came  over to stop Shen Kuo, but he didn’t expect that the speed was too fast, and accidentally tripped Shu Mengfei on the side of the road.

    Lu Zhen paused for a while, then looked back at her.

    Shu Mengfei fell on the grass, looking at Lu Zhen in disbelief.

    Delicate and charming.

    Lu Zhen frowned, only hesitated for two seconds, then stopped looking at her, rushed towards Shen Kuo, and punched him with his fist.

    “Remove your pig hands off her!”

    Shen Kuo backed away quickly, avoiding Lu Zhen’s fist.

    Lu Zhen dragged Lu Yan behind him, like a hen protecting her nest, staring at Shen Kuo fiercely, “Your mother!”

    Shen Kuo sneered and ignored him.

    Lu Yan pulled the corners of Lu Zhen’s clothes again and again, and whispered to him, “I was acting with Shen Kuo. It’s not true.”

    Of course, Lu Zhen didn’t believe it, because he saw Shen Kuo holding his girl’s waist and saw that there was a flame in his eyes when he looked at her.

    There is only one reason why a man will have such a hot look for a woman, he wants her.

    “Stay away from her, otherwise I will kill you!” Lu Zhen was really angry to the point of going crazy, and even Shu Mengfei didn’t see him so angry before.

    “Kill me, just try it.” A faint smile broke out at the corner of Shen Kuo’s mouth, but his eyes were extremely cold, and he turned to leave unhurriedly.

    Lu Yan patted her dad on the back, giving him comfort.

    “You die and live at every turn, child.”

    Lu Zhen tilted her head and wiped her mouth with his sleeves roughly, “Did the bad guy kiss you just now?”

    “Oh, no, no, no, no. I said it was acting!”

    Lu Yan disliked it and pushed away his sweaty sleeves, “I sacrificed myself to give you a sigh of relief. You should thank me.”

    “Who wants you to help me? Fool!”

    “Is this how you treat good people?”

    Shu Mengfei stood up on her knees with difficulty, watching the siblings quarreling in the garden, resentment and unwillingness in her eyes.

    Lu Zhen had completely ignored her, and now he only saw his mentally retarded sister.

    At this time, several of Shu Mengfei’s best friends walked out and comforted her, “It must have been fake just now, Fei Fei, don’t take it to heart.”

    Shu Mengfei looked at the back of the siblings and pinched her clothes tightly, to the point that her knuckles became white.

    Of course she knew that Lu Yan and Shen Kuo were pretending, but…

    The cold boy who never contacted girls in school, but when he looked at her, he looked at her with such fervor and restraint, and he couldn’t hide it at all.

    A girl walked up to Shu Mengfei and patted her shoulder lightly, “Fei Fei, I’ll tell you the good news. I heard that Lu Yan also signed up for the Rookie Cup talent competition. Then teach her a lesson.”

    Shu Mengfei’s eyes were cold, “She knows how to sing too?”

    “No, I heard that she went to the stage to sing in junior high school, and she was blasted off by the host. She was a laughing stock at that time. Why’d she sign up?”

    “Why else? Obviously it’s because she’s a fool.”

    “Don’t say that, she is Lu Zhen’s younger sister. Anyway, I just hope she doesn’t make a fool of herself.”

    “Fei Fei, you are too kind.”

    Shu Mengfei’s expression finally relaxed, although she still kept a front of kindness, but she had secretly planned to humiliate Lu Yan in the rookie cup talent competition.