Young Brave Hearts – CH 006

Chapter 6

—”I still owe you a hundred yuan.”

These words were like a “get-out-of-jail-free card,” instantly making her appearance perfectly reasonable.

Deng Zhe looked at Lu Rangchen with a puzzled expression. “You two know each other?”

“No.”

“No.”

The two voices, one soft and one deep, intertwined, speaking in perfect unison.

After saying that, Lu Rangchen looked at Zhu Yunque and said casually, “I almost forgot about her if she hadn’t mentioned it.”

Zhu Yunque’s expression inexplicably tensed up at his teasing gaze. She looked away and lowered her eyes to rummage through her pockets.

Meanwhile, another boy in Lu Rangchen’s group teased her maliciously, saying, “Hey, something’s up here. I’ve never seen Brother Rangchen lend money to any girl.”

Deng Zhe chimed in with a grin, “Yeah, right. You never lend money to anyone.”

Lu Rangchen laughed nonchalantly, first saying, “You son of a bitch,” then raising his leg as if to kick him, “You just fucking spend my money directly.”

Deng Zhe laughed both stupidly and happily.

Zhu Yunque’s cheeks flushed uncontrollably.

Not only because of their conversation, but also because of Lu Rangchen’s lack of explanation.

But the most embarrassing thing was discovering that the hundred yuan she had stuffed into her skirt pocket that morning was gone. It was the hundred yuan Zhu Ping’an had given her; she’d casually put it in her pocket and hadn’t paid much attention to it since.

Now she was certain it was gone.

Zhu Yunque looked at Lu Rangchen, bewildered.

Lu Rangchen was joking around with the two of them when he inadvertently caught her hesitant expression and looked at her with a slight smile.

Seeing the girl’s embarrassed expression, he raised an eyebrow slightly. “What’s wrong?”

Zhu Yunque pursed her lips and remained silent.

The two exchanged a few seconds of awkward, silent glances. She forced a smile and said, “Cash, I can’t find it.”

Afraid of being misunderstood, she added, “But I still have money in my WeChat account. Otherwise, I could send you a red envelope…”

That year, WeChat hadn’t yet developed the QR code payment function.

To send a red envelope, the two people had to be friends.

This also meant that Zhu Yunque’s words could very well have another meaning—she wanted to add Lu Rangchen on WeChat.

However, as far as she knew, none of the many girls in the school who were pursuing him had managed to get on his friend list, making her suggestion quite suspicious.

As it turned out, her worries were justified.

Deng Zhe, not one to miss a good spectacle, exchanged a knowing glance with another boy.

That boy, Zhou Chuang, was usually very straightforward, and now he spoke with even more admiration: “That’s a good method; you could even get a WeChat friend.”

He nudged Deng Zhe’s arm and chuckled, “I’ll do the same to my goddess next time.”

Deng Zhe laughed and said, “Damn, you’re quite the sneaky one.”

The two joked around, oblivious to everyone else, but the listener took it to heart.

Zhu Yunque’s cheeks quickly flushed red.

Her youthful pride made her feel ashamed, and she instinctively frowned, saying bluntly, “I didn’t.”

But her voice was too weak, having almost no effect on stopping him.

Lu Rangchen, standing to the side, unceremoniously threw the book he was holding at Deng Zhe, yelling, “Are you done yet?”

Deng Zhe cried out in pain.

Zhou Chuang dramatically caught the book before it fell to the ground.

Deng Zhe rubbed his head, grumbling, “Damn it, this is the new book I gave you! You just threw it away like that!”

Lu Rangchen chuckled irritably, “Serves you right. Who told you to be so talkative?”

Zhu Yunque’s heart skipped a beat.

She hadn’t expected Lu Rangchen to come to her rescue.

Her eyes flickered, and she opened her mouth. “Otherwise, I’ll give you the money, and you could delete me—”

The soft, clear words had barely left her lips.

Lu Rangchen suddenly stood up and strode out of the pavilion.

The same ebony and sandalwood scent as that evening.

A rich, alluring fragrance.

Like a sweeping wind, it once again engulfed her world.

Zhu Yunque felt a lump in her throat, as if something was stuck there. She watched helplessly as he stood before her, looking down at her, and took out his phone. His clear eyes glanced at her. “QR code, show it.”

–

That noon, Zhu Yunque got Lu Rangchen’s WeChat.

His WeChat name was as simple as she had imagined—Chen.

His profile picture was a photo of his back.

White shirt, black hair, a gray bag slung across his shoulder, gazing at the golden sunset in the distance—broad shoulders, long legs, vibrant, unrestrained, and arrogant.

Besides that, his Moments were empty.

Her turbulent emotions surged like undercurrents, silently and secretly washing over the reefs of her heart.

She suddenly had the illusion that she was a little closer to Lu Rangchen.

But it was just an illusion.

Until the end of the second period in the afternoon, she hadn’t received any notification from Lu Rangchen about sending her a red envelope.

Zhu Yunque stared at their chat window, wanting to check several times if he had deleted her, but before she could send the message “Remember to receive the money,” Xu Linda, returning from the restroom, suddenly called her name.

Zhu Yunque snapped back to reality, turned off her phone screen, and placed it on her desk, feigning composure as she looked at the startled Xu Linda. “What’s wrong?”

Xu Linda sat down excitedly. “I know why Gao Ge cried at noon.”

She lowered her voice. “I heard it from the people in Class A. They said she went to see Lu Rangchen again at noon, wanting to question him about why he returned the gift, but unexpectedly, Lu Rangchen simply explained things to her.”

Zhu Yunque’s brow twitched.

She couldn’t tell if it was from hearing Lu Rangchen’s name or because Gao Ge had gone to see him again.

Xu Linda, completely oblivious to the subtle shift in Zhu Yunque’s eyes, continued talking, saying that Lu Rangchen had completely rejected Gao Ge and that he only accepted her gift in public to avoid embarrassing her.

“They were right outside Class A; several people heard it.”

“Gao Ge was incredibly embarrassed; she turned around and left with red eyes.”

Xu Linda scoffed, “I thought she was crying because of your argument, but it turns out she brought it on herself.”

Zhu Yunque remained silent.

Her thoughts wandered for a few seconds before she suddenly asked, “Is he very considerate of girls?”

“Of course.”

Xu Linda took out some snacks from her desk, opened them, and handed her a bag of dried plums. “Don’t you know? A lot of girls in our school admire him, not just because he’s handsome, good at studying, plays tennis, or is rich, but because of his good character and how much he respects girls.”

“There was a fat girl in Class A who was constantly bullied by the students in his class. Lu Rangchen couldn’t stand it and stood up for her, and afterwards, no one dared to bully her in class anymore.”

“Like those nasty boys, they like to make low-class jokes, and he’ll mess with them one by one.”

“He seems really intimidating, so the nasty boys in his class are much more well-behaved.”

“And no matter what kind of girl pursues him, gives him gifts, or confesses her feelings, he won’t embarrass her in public. Even if he rejects her, he does so gracefully and tells her to focus on her studies.”

“But he isn’t a ‘player.’ He’s quite aloof with people he doesn’t know well.”

“Normally, if anyone needs his help, he generally won’t refuse.”

“He’s generous too, always treating those around him to food.”

“Even with so many girls wanting to date him, he’s completely uninterested. Hardly a womanizer.”

“Tell me, who wouldn’t like someone handsome, charming, manly, and upright? Isn’t he better than that stingy, sleazy school bully?”

The school bully Xu Linda mentioned was considered the most handsome boy at Nancheng No. 3 Middle School before Lu Rangchen arrived.

He was usually lazy and irresponsible, changing girlfriends like clothes because of his wealthy and powerful family, yet even so, he had a considerable number of girls chasing after him.

Unfortunately, after Lu Rangchen arrived at No. 3 Middle School, all the previous treatment vanished like smoke.

Zhu Yunque, clutching the snack wrapper, fell completely silent.

Xu Linda took a few bites, then suddenly said, “Oh, right, you definitely won’t like it.”

Zhu Yunque: “…”

Zhu Yunque’s voice was indifferent. “I’m not talking to you anymore; I’m going to continue doing my problems.”

With that, she picked up her pen again and turned a page of her workbook, seemingly calm, but her mind was already in turmoil.

She thought, so she wasn’t the special one after all.

He simply respected every girl equally.

…

On the other side of the teaching building, in Class A’s classroom.

The September weather was unpredictable.

It was pouring rain in the morning, but by the second period in the afternoon, it had cleared up from cloudy to sunny.

The large classroom was brightly lit by the sunlight. Most of the students in Class A had gone outside for some fresh air, leaving only a few in the classroom.

Deng Zhe had already become a familiar face here, and as soon as class ended, he came over to chat with Lu Rangchen.

The two tall, muscular boys leaned against the windowsill.

Lu Rangchen, with his long legs propped on the ground, casually picked up a poetry collection and read it idly.

Deng Zhe, on the other hand, was completely different. He immediately started talking about something interesting he had just heard.

He said that two girls in Class B had gotten into a fight that morning because of Lu Rangchen.

Lu Rangchen had heard plenty of stories like this, but what was interesting was that one of the girls was the one he had just added on WeChat that day.

“Damn, you had no idea how arrogant she was when she said that.”

“She just calmly looked at Gao Ge, and suddenly she said, ‘So, are you going to bully me?’ Hahaha, it’s unbelievable!”

“My friend said the whole class was stunned.”

“Who would say something like that?”

“And what happened? It hit the nail on the head. Gao Ge’s face turned bright red, like she’d done something wrong.”

“She didn’t dare utter a sound afterward and just turned around and sat back down.”

“You know, Gao Ge wasn’t right. Why blame her for nothing? She was just helping out.”

Deng Zhe said with great relish.

Lu Rangchen lowered his thick eyelashes, his deep eyes seeming to hold an entire ocean.

Suddenly, he remembered the girl’s wet eyes when she looked at him—timid, soft, and cautious.

Her appearance was also the kind that looked so frail, like a gust of wind could knock her over, easy to manipulate. So, this girl, despite her personality, was quite stubborn.

She managed to subdue someone like Gao Ge with just a few words.

Perhaps she found the contrast amusing.

Lu Rangchen inexplicably twitched his lips.

He stopped turning the pages, turned to look at Deng Zhe, and raised his chin. “What’s her name?”

Deng Zhe was speechless. “Seriously, are all men in the capital this heartless? This young girl just cried for you, and you don’t even know her name?”

“…”

Lu Rangchen chuckled irritably, “If you’re brain-dead, you might as well donate it.”

Deng Zhe then realized who he was asking, “You mean Zhu Yunque?”

Hearing those three words, Lu Rangchen’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

Good brothers were so in sync; Deng Zhe directly told him, “Zhu is the Zhu of blessing, and Yunque is the Yunque in the book you’re holding.”

His narrow eyes narrowed slightly.

Lu Rangchen lowered his neck slightly and flipped back to the book’s cover—”To a Skylark.”

So.

Her name was Zhu Yunque.

After a moment of silence, Deng Zhe, replying to his sister’s message, chimed in, “So, you’ve got your eye on someone?”

Lu Rangchen then raised an eyebrow and lazily straightened up.

He grinned and said arrogantly, “Yeah, I fucking had my eye on you.”

Deng Zhe laughed and said, “Damn.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the wind outside the window unconsciously turned a new page in his poetry collection.

Lu Rangchen looked down again, his gaze inexplicably lingering on the last stanza of the poem—

“Teach me half the gladness
That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow,
The world should listen then, as I am listening now!”
—To a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley