Seeing the foolish expression on his lackey's face, Qi Muyang moved further away in disgust: "I told you that you wouldn't understand, so stop asking!"
"...No, who could understand this?" The lackey came to his senses, staring at him in disbelief. After a long moment, he finally managed to say, "Didn't you say your parents had a great relationship and were the envy of the whole county?"
"Yes." Mentioning his parents, Qi Muyang's eyes filled with even more gloom.
Lackey: "Then isn't that enough? If their relationship is so good, how could they both be cheating? Maybe you've misunderstood."
Qi Muyang opened his phone's photo album with a tense face, scrolled for a bit, then clicked on a somewhat blurry photo. "This was taken when my parents were 21. Do you think I'm misunderstanding?"
The lackey craned his neck to look. When he saw the two people holding hands in the photo, his mouth dropped open in shock: "This... this... Even twins don't look this alike!" Except for not being as mature as the two in the photo, the pair in the classroom looked exactly the same.
"You see it too, right?" Qi Muyang took a deep breath, barely resisting the urge to throw his phone.
The lackey pondered for three seconds: "Could they be your parents' younger siblings? I heard that when they opened up the two-child policy over twenty years ago, many people had second children at an older age. Is it possible..."
"It's not possible. Would you give your second child the same name as your first?" Qi Muyang cut him off.
The lackey was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean?"
"Those two from earlier, the girl is called Chu Qing, and the boy is Qi Weichen," Qi Muyang said, then paused before adding with a disgusted face, "The same as my parents' names."
After he said this, silence fell over the rooftop. The sun at noon had already started to show its power, baking the air and the concrete surface.
"...You mean your parents gave their illegitimate children the same names as themselves," the lackey tried to summarize, then asked with a sincere face, "What were your parents thinking?"
"How would I know what they were thinking," Qi Muyang said impatiently. "I guess they felt guilty about their illegitimate children, so they gave them their own names. Doesn't this happen often in foreign countries?"
"Your parents are really something... But it's also possible they just wanted to annoy each other," the lackey added, but quickly backtracked when he received a dissatisfied look from Qi Muyang, "Of course, your parents' relationship is already so good that they don't mind each other's affairs, so we can rule that out."
Qi Muyang gave him a sidelong glance.
The lackey smiled sheepishly, trying to lighten the mood: "Actually, there's another possibility."
"What?" Qi Muyang frowned.
The lackey gathered his courage: "Your parents didn't have affairs, they just became young again, and now they're waiting for you in the classroom. I mean, look how similar they are..."
Noticing Qi Muyang's death glare, his voice got quieter and quieter until it disappeared completely. In his heart, he silently declared—
Attempt to lighten the mood: Failed.
Qi Muyang's face was wooden. Not only did he not want to talk, but he also wanted to throw the lackey off the rooftop.
Unaware of how many times he had died in Qi Muyang's mind, the lackey kept sighing beside him. After a while, he suddenly thought of a question: "They sent their illegitimate children here at the same time, so they must have planned it together, right? They've been hiding it from you all your life, why suddenly be so high-profile?"
"They just happened to send them here while they're in quarantine. I don't believe for a second this is a coincidence." Qi Muyang felt stifled, with a sense of being set up. These two must have calculated that he wouldn't be able to confront them, so they chose this time to reveal everything. They probably wanted him to figure it out himself and then voluntarily acknowledge the relationship.
The lackey looked at him sympathetically: "So what are you going to do?"
"Until they give me an explanation, don't even think about me acknowledging those two. From now on, I'll just pretend I don't know anything and treat them as ordinary classmates. When my parents explain it to me, we'll talk about it then." Qi Muyang gritted his teeth, feeling increasingly angry the more he thought about it.
The lackey nodded repeatedly, not knowing what else to say. He just sat with him on the rooftop, but as the sun got higher and hotter, Qi Muyang's face grew darker. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore: "Boss, why don't we go back to the classroom?"
"No." Qi Muyang flatly refused.
The lackey wailed inwardly: "If we stay out here any longer, we'll be dried up like jerky. Besides, they're the newcomers. Why should we be the ones hiding from them?"
"Who said I'm hiding?!" Qi Muyang frowned.
The lackey immediately said: "That's right! We're not hiding. We should go back and enjoy the air conditioning. We need to let them know who's really in charge here!"
Qi Muyang looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, causing the lackey to instantly become timid: "W-what's wrong?"
"You have a point. Let's go." With that, Qi Muyang stood up and headed downstairs.
The lackey: "..." If he had known it would be this easy to persuade him, he would have used this tactic from the beginning.
Qi Muyang walked quickly back, and as soon as he reached the classroom door, he locked eyes with Qi Weichen. He let out a barely audible snort, strode past him, and went straight to the back row, sitting down brazenly next to Chu Qing.
Chu Qing glanced at his wilted rooster-like hair from the sun, then at his handsome, sunny face with well-defined features. She thought to herself that it was a waste for someone so good-looking to have such a poor mind and bad taste.
Qi Muyang had actually noticed her looking at him, but to stick to his decision, he kept a cold face and didn't even give her a glance. Chu Qing couldn't be bothered to deal with this non-mainstream guy either, so the result was that the two of them didn't speak all morning.
When it was time for lunch break, Qi Muyang immediately swung his backpack over his shoulder and left. Chu Qing gave him a disdainful look and waited until almost everyone had left before slowly walking out. However, after just a few steps, she saw Qi Weichen. She paused, feeling a sense of foreboding.
"Let's go," Qi Weichen looked at her.
Her premonition came true. Chu Qing smiled awkwardly: "I'm not going to the cafeteria. You can go by yourself."
Qi Weichen just kept looking at her silently, showing no intention of leaving.
Chu Qing felt overwhelmed by his gaze. She glanced around to see that everyone else had left, then walked over with her head lowered: "Um... Although we're in the same situation now and need to help each other, we've broken up after all. I think unless there's a special circumstance, we shouldn't be together often."
After all, it was thanks to the 41-year-old Qi Weichen's help that she avoided ending up on the streets, so she didn't have much confidence when saying these words. If he insisted on staying with her... oh boy, it would be hard to refuse. Although she would pay him back after returning to the future, she still owed him a favor.
She didn't dare look at his expression, just kept her head down and worried to herself. But after a long time without a response from him, she had to look up... Where was he? Chu Qing looked at the empty corridor in confusion, then couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
The weather was too hot, and she didn't have much appetite, so she went directly to the supermarket to buy yogurt and grilled sausages, along with a bunch of snacks. She queued up to pay with her ID card, and just as she was about to enter the PIN, she saw that the card only had a balance of 1,000 yuan. She was immediately shocked.
If she remembered correctly, the 41-year-old Qi Weichen had said this was her living expenses for a year, right?
She looked at the yogurt that cost 2 yuan per pack and the grilled sausage that cost 3 yuan each, confirming that the current prices were similar to those in 2019. Then thinking about this small balance... She silently put back all the other snacks, only keeping the yogurt and the half-eaten grilled sausage. She walked towards the dormitory while nibbling on the sausage, her mind full of thoughts about how this little money could sustain her for a year.
At this time, most students were still eating in the cafeteria, with only a few scattered people on the road. She ambled along, munching on her sausage. When she reached a shaded, less populated area, she suddenly sensed a malicious gaze. She frowned but continued walking.
At this point, there seemed to be fewer people heading towards the dormitories. The fewer people there were, the stronger that gaze felt, sticking to her like glue. She pretended not to notice and continued to walk lazily forward.
Not far from her path, at a corner, several young men were sitting in the shade of a tree eating takeout. Qi Muyang, who was facing this road, noticed her and was about to look away when he spotted the person following her. His brows immediately furrowed.
The lackey beside him glanced at him, paused, then followed his gaze. He exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't that Bad Monkey? And the one he's following is... Chu Qing?"
"Bad Monkey? Why does that name sound so familiar?" someone asked puzzled.
Lackey glanced at him sideways: "He's that pervert who nearly got expelled for harassing girls."
"Him? That wasn't just harassment, it was clearly attempted rape. He later used money to settle it. He's an especially disgusting person. Whoever he fixates on is in for bad luck," another informed person mentioned with disgust.
As they were talking, Chu Qing and Bad Monkey had already turned a corner and disappeared from view.
Lackey looked worriedly at Qi Muyang: "Boss..."
Qi Muyang wanted to pretend he hadn't seen anything, but couldn't resist for even three seconds before putting down his takeout box with an irritated expression and walking towards the dormitory. Seeing this, Lackey quickly signaled the others to follow.
By the time they caught up, Chu Qing was already cornered against a wall, still holding a grilled sausage with only two bites left. She was now pressed against the wall, staring at the unfamiliar man getting closer: "Don't come any closer, stay away from me."
Her voice actually conveyed deep disgust, but to the ears of these young men, it sounded like a helpless, weak, and pitiful plea. Plus, she was beautiful, with watery eyes, brows slightly furrowed, cherry-colored lips lightly pursed - one look at her aroused an infinite desire to protect.
Then looking at Bad Monkey in front of her, he lived up to his name, looking like a rotten monkey - ugly and sleazy. Even if he wasn't doing anything bad, just his appearance made people want to beat him up. With this comparison, the young men cracked their knuckles, just waiting for Qi Muyang's command to go rescue the damsel in distress and serve justice.
As Bad Monkey became increasingly inappropriate, Qi Muyang spoke coldly: "Chu Qing, come here."
His voice made both people in the corner look over. Bad Monkey was startled upon seeing him and immediately stopped moving.
Chu Qing looked at him puzzled, while stuffing the rest of the sausage into her mouth: "You need something from me?"
"...I told you to come here." Qi Muyang had never met someone so oblivious, repeating himself while suppressing his irritation.
Chu Qing frowned slightly and reluctantly replied: "Fine, you stand there and wait. I have something to take care of here first."
Qi Muyang completely lost his temper: "Can't you fucking..."
He had barely started cursing when he saw her punch Bad Monkey in the jaw. Then, taking advantage of his reflexive backward motion, she kicked his knee. Before Bad Monkey could react, he was already falling backward. Chu Qing followed with an elbow strike to his stomach. Her moves were steady, accurate, and fierce. Bad Monkey let out a miserable cry and curled up on the ground like a large shrimp, no longer able to fight back.
However, Chu Qing didn't stop. She continued kicking him while cursing: "Didn't I tell you not to come closer, you fucking wouldn't listen! Don't you know how bad you stink?! Playing the hooligan? With me?! Your grandpa Chu was already a gang leader before you were even born!"
Qi Muyang: "..."
The crowd of young men waiting to play hero: "..."
By the time Chu Qing was tired of beating him, Bad Monkey had turned into a dead monkey, lying curled up on the ground, looking somewhat... pitiful. The young witnesses of this violence began to reflect on how they could have sympathized with trash like Bad Monkey.
Chu Qing, having just finished her physical labor, was breathing a bit heavily. She leaned lazily against the wall to rest for a moment before looking at Qi Muyang and asking: "What did you want me for anyway?"
"...Nothing."
