MCFEM C55

Chapter 55 – That Kind of Look, Like Staring at Garbage…

“Well, well. A rare guest.”

Gu Qingxu happened to run into Lu Ji as he entered, and chuckled softly.

The latest trending topic in their circle was none other than Nie Ying’s infamous multi-layer outsourcing of a hired beating—the target being the very person standing before him. Afterwards, Nie Yunhua had hurriedly put out a PR statement, claiming the real culprit was Lu Ran and that it had nothing to do with his son.

“What brings you here? Now doesn’t really seem like the best time for a social visit, does it?” Gu Qingxu and Lu Ji had little interaction, but with the victim right here, he didn’t mind snacking on a fresh piece of gossip.

Lately, gossip in their circle had been endless, each more outrageous than the last.

Lu Ji quickly sorted through what he knew about the man before him.

Second young master of the Gu family, Gu Qingxu. Very close with Nie Ying. Which basically meant he was cut from the same cloth—an idiot.

Having made that equation in his mind, Lu Ji immediately filed Gu Qingxu into his blacklist.

He completely ignored the other’s obvious “here for the drama” expression.

The servant had already announced him, and soon Gu Yang came down the stairs.

“You came looking for me?” Gu Yang asked. Since he was at home, he wore only a thin pajama shirt, wrapped in a black-and-white patterned knit blanket.

Lu Ji hesitated but finally nodded.

Though he had wandered here half-dazed, he did indeed have words he wanted to say.

“I see.” Gu Yang thought briefly, then gestured upstairs. “Let’s go to my room to talk.”

That was exactly what Lu Ji wanted—some private space for a conversation. He changed his shoes and was about to follow when Gu Qingxu gave a cold laugh.

“Addicted to bringing people back to your room, are you?”

Lu Ji froze mid-step, frowning in confusion at him.

“I didn’t know you and the new Lu family addition were so close. Or is it that you’ll bring just anyone into your room?” Gu Qingxu’s dissatisfaction, first sparked when Lu Ji ignored him, now spilled out fully.

Expressionless, Gu Yang replayed the moment in his head. He was fairly certain he’d said his own room, not bouncing on Gu Qingxu’s bed in shoes.

He lifted his gaze, giving Gu Qingxu a look reserved for idiots.

Lu Ji grew even more perplexed.

What exactly was wrong with him entering Gu Yang’s room?

Then he recalled this man’s ties to Nie Ying and relaxed slightly. Of course. Birds of a feather.

Still, he was Gu Yang’s brother. Lu Ji couldn’t let his own presence sow discord in Gu Yang’s household.

“It’s nearly dinnertime anyway. I’d like to invite you out to eat. Would that be alright?” He offered a compromise.

Gu Yang glanced at the darkening sky outside, pulling the blanket tighter.

He didn’t really want to go out, but after some mental bracing, he reluctantly nodded and went upstairs to change.

While Lu Ji waited, Gu Qingxu lingered as well.

At first, Lu Ji assumed it was mere dislike that prompted his invite to eat elsewhere.

But Gu Qingxu’s expression only grew more cutting, his gaze roaming over him with undisguised mockery, as though weighing him against someone else.

After the exhausting ordeal at the Lu household earlier, Lu Ji had little strength left to deal with Gu Qingxu.

Finally, unable to endure his look any longer, he lifted his head coldly to retort—when suddenly a thought struck him.

His expression turned strange. “Gu Yang doesn’t let you into his room, does he?”

Gu Qingxu’s face froze, then cracked into a wild, incredulous laugh. Leaning against the banister, he sneered several times, just about to speak—when Gu Yang, now dressed, came down the stairs and brushed past him.

“Let’s go.”

Lu Ji nodded, and the two left together.

He chose a restaurant with private booths. When the menu was brought, Gu Yang didn’t even glance, closing his copy and indicating for Lu Ji to order.

But that only made it harder—he had no idea what Gu Yang liked. Pretending to study the menu, he covertly messaged He Ming’an for help.

The reply was instant: “Anything’s fine (^_^).”

“Anything’s fine” was the phrase Lu Ji dreaded most. Exhaling slowly, guessing He Ming’an was teasing, he simply let the waiter recommend a few signature dishes.

When the server left, only the two remained in the booth.

Lu Ji considered opening with small talk to warm the atmosphere, but after searching for words and failing, he sighed and cut straight to the point.

“Lu Ran has been expelled from the Lu family and sent back where he belongs.”

At those words, Gu Yang’s drifting gaze finally settled on him.

“Nie Ying testified that Lu Ran asked him to cause me trouble. Their plan was to cripple one of my legs.” Lu Ji’s eyes turned icy. “Fortunately, things went awry and they failed.”

“But even this won’t guarantee Lu Ran’s permanent removal.”

After all that had happened, he was numb to his parents’ coldness. Unless the whip landed directly, they never felt the sting.

Staring into Gu Yang’s eyes, he enunciated slowly, “If not for the records you gave me of Lu Ran’s secret dealings, I never could have toppled him so quickly.”

“But Gu Yang, why did you help me?” His voice faltered, eyes wavering.

He had long since ceased fearing malice, but unearned kindness left him defenseless.

Gu Yang leaned his elbow on the armrest, resting his cheek in one hand, eyes casually fixed on the teacup before him.

“No reason. Just convenient.”

Naturally, Lu Ji couldn’t accept that explanation.

He knew Gu Yang was no ordinary person.

That truth had been branded into him the first day he joined Class Eleven, when overhearing the other’s inner thoughts had shattered his worldview.

It wasn’t just hearing them—those thoughts contained things unknown to him, even glimpses of the future.

Through that, he had glimpsed his tragic fate, broken free of delusions about the Lu family, and seized the chance to act first.

In ways unseen, he owed Gu Yang greatly.

But those debts had all been passive. He couldn’t understand why Gu Yang would take the initiative to investigate for him, to strike at Lu Ran on his behalf.

Xie Wu had helped out of innate chivalry, but Gu Yang? Nothing about him fit that mold.

Did he simply not know him well enough?

As Lu Ji wrestled with his thoughts, Gu Yang’s inner voice drifted into his mind.

【Good, it’s resolved. Finally no more infuriating “fake heir roosting while the true heir gets pummeled” plotlines.】

【I remember in the original storyline, Lu Zhenxing eventually discovered Lu Ran’s leaks, but Lu Zheng covered for him and shifted the blame onto Lu Ji.】

【Lu Ji had just had his leg broken by Nie Ying’s men when Lu Zhenxing threw him out into the night without even a coat.】

【That night, Jiangcheng saw its first snow. Amid the swirling flakes, starving and freezing, his fractured leg screaming in pain, he trudged forward.】

【He didn’t even have a crutch. Losing balance, he fell into the snow, scrambling up again with nowhere to go, standing dazed and despairing by the roadside until dawn.】

Gu Yang even recited part of the original text.

Lu Ji: “…”

Even the Little Match Girl at least had matches. And he just… suffered it raw?

How did he not freeze to death?

It was so absurd he couldn’t even muster pity for himself.

But buried in the nonsense was something vital.

Lu Ran and Lu Zheng had dumped the blame on him.

During his stay at the Lu house, Lu Zheng had seemed the most rational. But Lu Ji sensed his so-called fairness was pure self-interest.

He didn’t truly care for Lu Ran, only went along with their parents to avoid hassle.

If he covered for Lu Ran, it was either to hold leverage over him or to suppress Lu Ji—because as a Lu child, he too had inheritance rights…

Wait.

At that thought, Lu Ji froze, clarity piercing the fog.

Even with Lu Ran gone, he’d already grown disillusioned with the Lu family. His instinct was to distance himself.

But that was wrong.

So what if he distanced himself? They’d still live comfortably, untouched. His withdrawal hurt no one.

He carried Lu blood. The Lu legacy was rightfully his. Why wait on his parents’ fickle conscience? Better to seize it himself, and never again depend on their pity.

The more he thought, the clearer his vision grew, light flickering in his eyes.

The dishes arrived, one after another.

Gu Yang picked up his chopsticks. Glancing at Lu Ji, he noticed the unusual brightness in his eyes—a vitality breaking through his hardened shell, radiating outward.

Like a seed long buried in the dark, finally sprouting.

That vigor even seemed to seep into him, warming his cold fingertips.

How wonderful.

Three words filled his mind.

The same words had risen before—when Ying Jiayi returned with a radiant smile, her fate altered.

Back then, because the story had diverged, he had called to check on her and casually asked what prompted her to investigate her father.

Her serious reply: it was his offhand remark about worthless sons-in-law that made everything click.

So his throwaway line had sparked such a change?

At the start, it was only amusement.

He’d looked down from an observer’s seat—or rather, from a god’s view—watching each character’s fate. Too detached to feel anything real.

But something had begun to shift.

Both ate absentmindedly. With his new resolve, Lu Ji’s heart no longer wavered.

He still didn’t understand why Gu Yang helped him, nor had he gotten an answer.

But he no longer needed one.

As long as he clawed his way upward, seized the Lu Group’s power, one day he could repay the debt.

Afterward, he intended to escort Gu Yang home. Too much had happened lately, and he couldn’t shake the sense that Jiangcheng’s streets were unsafe.

And indeed, he wasn’t wrong.

For as soon as they left the restaurant, they ran straight into Nie Ying.

He irritably lit another cigarette.

He was waiting for someone.

His biological mother.

Fresh from the Lu household, Nie Yunhua hadn’t spared him a shred of kindness. Already under crushing pressure from his wife’s insistence on divorce and his brother’s schemes at the company, his useless son had chosen this moment to create a scandal.

Now the Nie family was once again the laughingstock over tea.

Of course Nie Ying couldn’t empathize with his father’s troubles. Spoiled rotten, he only felt his temper spike whenever scolded, even by his own father.

He wasn’t going back home to be a punching bag.

But the less he received love, the more he craved it.

Nie Yunhua couldn’t give it. Neither could his mother, nor the obsequious servants.

Unconsciously, he wandered to the gates of a shabby residential compound.

Realizing where he was, he laughed bitterly at himself. His pride forbade him from calling her, but he couldn’t leave either.

So he slouched against the wall, smoking one cigarette after another.

He didn’t know how long he’d waited when a figure appeared at the gate.

At once, his eyes locked on her, brimming with a hope he didn’t notice.

He brushed off ash, straightened, neatened his clothes. He’d pretend to bump into her casually, then maybe take her to dinner—somewhere fancier than the dingy diner she’d once brought him to.

Convincing himself, he stepped forward—then froze.

Behind the woman skipped a little girl, about four or five, hair in pigtails.

The woman held her hand, her face lit with a tenderness and indulgence he had never seen.

“Mama,” the girl chirped, her voice ringing clear in the night, shattering his last illusion.

Blood vessels burst in Nie Ying’s eyes.

Why.

Why would even his own mother betray him?

Consumed by rage, he lunged forward, blocking her path.

The girl had paused before a toy stall, gaze longing for a glowstick.

A shadow loomed over her. Before she could react, the stall was kicked over, glowsticks scattering as the vendor shrieked.

She turned, dumbstruck, to see a towering, demonic figure.

She burst into terrified sobs.

The sound did nothing to soften Nie Ying’s face. If anything, his rage darkened further. Coupled with his size, the sight was enough to chill onlookers.

Hu Xian was terrified, rushing to block him. In her agitation, her nails dug into his flesh. “What are you doing?!”

Gone was the anxious gentleness of their last meeting. Her eyes now were sharp with fury.

It only made Nie Ying’s heart sour more. With one shove, he threw her off. She crashed against a lamp post, but staggered back to him.

While the two struggled, the little girl, still bewildered, backed away until she bumped into something.

Gu Yang crouched, catching her before she could fall.

She was truly petrified, clutching his neck and burying her face against him.

Gu Yang stiffened, movements awkward. He had always viewed human children—so energetic and uninhibited—with wary awe, and had never been so close before.

Now he could only hold her carefully. At least she was light.

Nie Ying, shaking off Hu Xian, turned bloodshot eyes toward him.

Lu Ji steadied the woman, positioning himself partly in front of Gu Yang.

If his instincts were right, Nie Ying was about to go berserk.

Gu Yang adjusted his hold gently, but his expression toward Nie Ying dripped with contempt.

He tugged his lips into a mocking smile, eyes cold and utterly disdainful—like looking at trash.

Nie Ying met his gaze, face dark.

And suddenly, he understood why he hated Gu Yang so much.

That sneering expression, born of contempt…

It was just like Madam Nie’s.