Chapter 1084: Don’t Learn From Your Father, Guixin (Lu Guixin Part 8)
Lu Guixin picked up the phone and was just about to look at it when she heard someone tapping the table. She looked up and met Gu Si’s gaze.
Sitting in an arrogant manner with his legs crossed and his body leaning against the back of the chair, Gu Si stretched his arms out and placed his wrists on the table while arching an eyebrow. “Guixin, learn the good things and don’t learn from your father.”
“Aren’t Uncle Gu Hui and I handsome enough? Shouldn’t that be enough to build your immunity against good looks?” Gu Si leaned forward as he propped his face in his hand and smiled. “What, are you smitten by Zhou Fu’s good looks?”
“Exactly, am I not handsome enough?” Lu Jixing interjected while holding a rice ball in his hand. “How long have you known him? It’s too early for you to be in puppy love.”
“Uh? You guys believed what I said about liking him?”
“How can we not when you ditched us—your blood relatives—and left with the guy who threatened us?” Gu Si narrowed his eyes as he spun a bottle of yogurt in his other hand.
Lu Guixin fell silent before explaining in a serious manner, “Uncle, I think there’s a misunderstanding here. As you know, even though I don’t have any feelings for Zhou Fu. He was only trying to help me when he sparred with Lu Jilai.”
“Spar?” Lu Jilai blandly retorted, “He broke that gold-plated railing that’s the size of an arm. It was even made from special materials. He was obviously out to kill me.”
Lu Guixin had an incredulous expression on her face as she said, “It’s only been two months since we last saw each other, but your skills dropped so much that he could claim your life with a punch?”
Lu Jilai was speechless.?Lu Suiyi is right. She’s no sister to us.
“Heh.” Lu Jixing looked sideways at her. “You’re taking his side again, huh?”
Lu Guixin opened her mouth and wanted to say something in her defense when she suddenly realized something odd. She eyed the others skeptically. “You guys are behaving weirdly. Why are you saying so much when I just wanted to look at Zhou Fu’s information?”
“It’s nothing.” Lu Jilai lazily leaned against the back of the chair as he slowly said, “We just wanted to check if you really like him.”
“What if I do?” Lu Guixin asked.
“Although I’m not exactly happy about the fact that he had some nerve to threaten us…” Lu Jixing raised his eyebrows and sounded serious for once. “It’s best for you to stay away from him if you’re just looking for a fling.”
That made Lu Guixin even more curious. Her eyebrows went up, as did the corners of her lips. “Who exactly is he? Why are you guys being so careful?”
Lu Jixing replied, “Are you insinuating that you can toy with his feelings if he’s a nobody? Are you a sleaze?”
“I’m not,” Lu Guixin asserted in a firm manner.
Lu Jixing snorted.
There was an unfathomable look on Gu Si’s face as he stared at his niece. Two seconds later, he lifted his chin in the direction of the phone. “It’s not complicated, nor is there a lot of information. His parents were martyrs. He doesn’t have any relatives. He lives alone.”
‘His parents were martyrs. He doesn’t have any relatives. He lives alone.’ The last part caught Lu Guixin off guard and tugged at her heartstrings, and she couldn’t exactly describe the emotions she was feeling.
The image of Zhou Fu, full of mettle and dazzling like the sun, at the basketball court came to her mind, and she recalled how he had sent the audience into a frenzy when he defeated his opponent in the boxing ring earlier. Having been under the impression that Zhou Fu, like her brothers, was God’s favored one and a popular guy who had everything he wanted, she never thought that he would have such a background.
The relaxed atmosphere became tense for a split second before it went back to normal.
Lu Guixin grew up showered with love and was known to be an obedient girl. She was sweet-natured and highly adaptable, and she could get along with just anyone. However, she knew very well what her bad habit was.
Despite her cheery, gentle, and normal appearance in front of people, she was actually unable to empathize with people. She was so indifferent that she didn’t care about human life. Nobody had ever seen her dark and cruel side. She had a fair share of experience when it came to matters like fighting and killing.
Later on, she came across the term ’emotional detachment disorder’ while learning psychology on her own. All the test results showed that her condition was quite serious. This might be because her life had been too smooth-sailing and that she could get everything she wanted, so much so that she lost the ability to express the emotions that a normal person should have. Hence, all she had was indifference and pretense.
She had never told anyone about her psychological condition, although she felt that her parents, brothers, and uncles could probably somewhat tell. But since they didn’t ask her about it, she didn’t say anything, either.
That was how things had been for her all along, but for the first time in her life, she felt a ripple of emotion within her when she heard that Zhou Fu’s parents had passed away, leaving him behind alone.?What was this called in psychology again?
“According to psychology…” Gu Hui, who had been keeping quiet, suddenly spoke up in a low, cold, and collected voice. His eyes were fixed on Lu Guixin’s face as he tried to study the emotions on it. “Girls tend to easily have compassion for people with tragic backgrounds, and that compassion can become deeper feelings.”
It was then that Lu Guixin finally understood what they were going on about. The four men in front of her had a better understanding of psychology than her, so they knew very well that one would only develop that so-called empathy for a particular person if they like them and that empathy would affect one’s ability to think rationally. That was why they had been repeatedly confirming her feelings toward Zhou Fu.
She smiled and calmly shifted the focus of the topic. “You guys want me to stay away from him just because his parents were martyrs?”
They quietly cast her a deep look in unison.
Gu Si then said to her, “There’s more. Look at it yourself.”
Lu Guixin looked down and slid her finger across the screen.
Further below the information about Zhou Fu being an orphan was the name ‘The Gray Building.’
Seeing that, she immediately understood why Lu Jixing had said that Zhou Fu wasn’t simple. It was because her mother might be alerted to this matter.
Zhou Fu’s father was a secret researcher at an international biochemical research institute as well as a member of a huge drug organization that was responsible for researching new drugs. He held a very high position within that organization and was, in fact, the second-most authoritative person inside. However, the drug enforcement department somehow managed to incite him into assisting the joint drug enforcement department of four countries and Interpol eliminate the organization, and he ended up dying tragically during the mega operation.
Interpol, also known as The Gray Building, then took over the responsibility of keeping Zhou Fu and his mother safe.
The two led a relatively peaceful life for a few years, but information about Zhou Fu’s mother somehow got leaked. The remaining members of the drug organization took revenge on them by sending a time bomb birthday cake to them on Zhou Fu’s ninth birthday.
In order to protect Zhou Fu, his mother jumped off the balcony of the high-rise building with the bomb before it exploded.
He saw his mother explode into pieces right before his eyes. It was so traumatizing that he developed severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He was later taken away by someone from Interpol for treatment.
His condition improved after undergoing a long period of counseling. Under Interpol’s arrangement, he came to Ming City, started studying at Ming City High School, and infiltrated various places in Ming City.
He was tall with a height of 1.8 meters at the age of fourteen, and it was from then that he started to do underground boxing at Tian Que.
“That’s all we could find.” Gu Si drummed his fingers against his cheek in a nonchalant manner. “Your mother has some connections with Interpol, so we’ll spare him the detailed background check.”?Actually, we might not be able to find out anything even if we did. Their boss who likes to wear black dresses and high heels isn’t someone to be trifled with.
A very old memory surfaced in Gu Si’s mind just then.
A woman with even more stunning and alluring looks than Lin Shuang had a cigarette between her red lips and an arm around Gu Mang’s shoulders as she got the latter to light her cigarette for her and even playfully pinched the latter’s cheek after that. Gu Si had never met anyone who dared to do that to his sister, but his sister would still ask that woman for help at times.
It’s best not to mess around with Zhou Fu since he’s under that woman’s protection. Gu Si felt that Lu Chengzhou would pull two chairs over for himself and his sister to sit and watch the fight if he ever ended up fighting against the Interpol and that that woman might complain to his sister that he, being the older one, was bullying Zhou Fu, the younger one.
Gu Si’s eyebrows twitched as he suddenly felt unsure about his future.
…
After finishing their food at the convenience store, the five of them didn’t get into the car and leave. Instead, they walked along the road and headed toward Ming City High School’s east gate with two inconspicuous black modified cars following them from behind with their headlights off.
Gu Si pressed his hand on Lu Guixin’s head. “Do as you deem fit. I’ve already helped you check his background.”
What Zhou Fu had been through was indeed quite unfortunate and tragic. However, Gu Si and the others were used to seeing blood, so they were even more indifferent, cold, and heartless than Lu Guixin. Besides, they weren’t acquainted with Zhou Fu, so their moods weren’t exactly affected.
Lu Guixin, the one with the emotional detachment disorder, on the contrary, was a bit quiet.
It was midnight by the time they arrived at the school gate. As Lu Guixin had applied for leave until 8 am the next day, she was able to swipe her card and enter the school at this time.
Gu Si turned back and looked at her with a hand in his pocket. “We’re going back to Jijing Island, then.”
“Okay.” Lu Guixin nodded.
The four of them then took out their phones and each transferred an eight-figure sum to Lu Guixin’s bank account.
“This month’s pocket money.” Lu Jixing placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder and patted it. “We’re not poor, you know.”
Lu Guixin ignored the last part. “I have money. I won the bet at the casino just now.”
“Yep.” Lu Jixing nodded and said in a serious manner, “Pretty good harvest today. You made several hundred million yuan, and you got yourself an IOU for a million yuan.”
Lu Jilai laughed. “If Dad finds out that Zhou Fu had humiliated you with an IOU, he’ll probably send him to Yu Zhongjing to get a brain check and treatment for free.”
Lu Guixin raised her eyebrows. “That won’t do. It can’t be for free. Make him pay for it.”
Gu Si snorted as he rubbed his fingers against the embossed metal lighter. Zhou Fu.?If it weren’t for the fact that Sis has some connections with that woman, I wouldn’t give a damn about Interpol.
They then bade farewell to Lu Guixin and watched her enter the school before they left. They weren’t exactly worried about Lu Guixin since she would deal with Zhou Fu herself, so they didn’t warn her too much.
…
At the girls’ dorm.
The room’s lights were off, and the computer screen’s light was shining on Lu Guixin’s face, which was cold unlike her usually gentle self.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and she clicked on the information she had found about Zhou Fu the other day and had only read halfway. While scrolling down, she noticed Zhou Fu’s birthday. “Twelve.”
She glanced at the date on the computer.?That’s today. His birthday is his mother’s death anniversary.
There was a cold and desolate expression on her face as she pursed her lips.
A few seconds later, she tapped her fingers on the keyboard quickly, and green codes started flashing across the screen. Soon, the convenience store’s surveillance video showing Zhou Fu putting on his helmet and riding his motorcycle to the main road appeared. It was followed by Ming City’s surveillance tracking system. Surveillance footage of all the roads Zhou Fu passed by was pulled out, and he eventually stopped at a cemetery.
After parking his motorcycle, Zhou Fu slung his black backpack on his shoulder and slowly walked up the long stone steps at the entrance of the cemetery. The darkness of the night shrouded him, and his tall and slim figure looked hostile in the cold wind.
Lu Guixin slowly leaned back against the chair as she stared at the computer screen with little expression.?So this is what he meant by he had something on. He was rushing to pay respects to his mother in the early morning.
…
The next day.
Lu Guixin was awake earlier than she usually did. It was the first time she had slept so poorly. Her dream was an awful mess, and she couldn’t remember anything upon waking up.
Seeing that it was still early, she sent a message to Tian Lu saying that she was going outside the school to buy breakfast and told her to head to the classroom first.
When the students got sick of eating the school’s breakfast, they would go outside to buy food if they had the time. Ming City High School was surrounded by all kinds of facilities, and the foot street had countless special snacks and breakfast items, which were popular among students.
Lu Guixin swiped her card and left the school to go to the food street.
After getting two sets of breakfast, Lu Guixin slowly made her way back to the school with her headphones in her ears.
There were three level heads of different grades standing at the entrance catching students who failed to follow the school rules.
“You there! Zip up your uniform! What’s with that look?!” The eleventh grade’s level head lifted a finger and rushed over such speed that he didn’t seem like a fatty.
Zhou Fu was wearing a black cap, a black thin sweatshirt, and school pants with his school shirt over his right arm and his black backpack hanging off his well-defined fingers. He was replying to a message on his phone as he walked further into the school.
Seeing that, the eleventh grade’s level head said, “Remove that cap, put on your school shirt, and put away your phone!”
Zhou Fu, whose eyes were bloodshot, looked up and nodded with a smile. “Sure, help me hold my bag while I put on the shirt.”
What the hell?! The smooth and natural way he said that made the level head go speechless. He angrily snatched the bag from Zhou Fu’s hand and frowned when he saw the latter’s reddish eyes. “What have you been doing last night? Why are your eyes so red?”
The level head was at a loss for words.
Zhou Fu nonchalantly replied, “I have too much homework, so I was working on them all night long.”
Working on your homework? Since when did you turn in your homework??If it wasn’t because of his identity, the level head really wanted to shout that to him. He nodded instead. “Fine, I want to see your physics homework today.”
The level head was responsible for teaching physics to the few best classes.
As Zhou Fu slowly put on his shirt, he looked up and down said regretfully, “Oh no, I forgot about my physics homework.”
The level head was at a loss for words.
Zhou Fu chuckled softly to himself when he saw the level head’s darkening face. He pulled his zipper all the way up before straightening himself and looking down at the level head—a fatty who was a whole head shorter than him. “Will that do?”
The level head threw the backpack back to him and waved his hand in disgust. “Go on.”
Zhou Fu slung his backpack on his shoulder and was just about to enter the school when he heard a familiar soft and gentle voice among the chatter.
“Good morning, teacher.”
He stopped in his tracks and looked over in the direction of the voice, only to see Lu Guixin walking over with her breakfast.
Lu Guixin, who was usually smiling, had no expression on her face today and was wrapped in coldness. Only her voice sounded the same as usual. It was clear that she was in a bad mood.
Zhou Fu frowned angrily.?She didn’t come back last night? Or did those guys go look for her after I left?