Chapter 270: Without my sister, I can no longer pretend

Mu Youyu lightly poked Jiang Liangjin's hand with her finger, dissatisfied: "Even so, you should put yourself first; there are many of them."

Jiang Liangjin let out a low laugh, his fingertips naturally taking hold of her small hand: "All right, from now on I'll also put our little princess first, okay?"

Mu Youyu blinked, feeling a little embarrassed—something she rarely did—and didn't know what to say.

She didn't mean it that way.

Classmates farther away could only see the two leaning their heads together, whispering and laughing; those who wanted to hear couldn't catch a word.

Bai Yun caught the gist.

She inwardly cursed those few boys, feeling indignant for little Youyu—just because she'd napped after class, she became the target of rumors.

Gu Xingnan guessed it had to do with Mu Youyu; with Jiang Liangjin's temperament, others wouldn't even dare to make up stories about him.

Just giving someone an extra glance, he could stare them down with a cold face until they felt creeped out, let alone those vile words.

Yu Ci wore an expression of "I see."

Halfway through the fourth period's practical class, Mu Youyu had slept enough, slowly sat up, and looked at Jiang Liangjin, who was doing exercises; he happened to look at her too.

Mu Youyu fell silent for a moment, pursed her lips, looked pained, gently touched his cheek, and said softly, "My A Jin is so pitiful."

Jiang Liangjin tilted his head, not understanding why, after she woke up, he'd suddenly become pitiful: "What's wrong?"

Mu Youyu sighed, then grabbed her phone and messaged Mu Xi: "Brother, are you back at school?"

Seeing no reply after ten seconds, she sent another: "Everyone in our class is saying you hit A Jin before because he stole the girl you like, stole the project, and was venting anger for you or Lujing brother."

Really? Really?

Seeing this, Jiang Liangjin gave a helpless laugh: "I already said it—definitely fake."

Mu Youyu let out a soft "hum": "I know; I sent that on purpose."

If she'd just asked outright, given her second brother's personality, he'd probably brush it off with a "forgot," and there'd be no fun in that kind of probing.

She wanted to fish for information.

Mu Youyu paused her typing, added another line, and attached a pitiful animated emoji: "If you keep ignoring me, you'll lose your cute little sister!"

Nan Feng, Grade 12 Class 1.

Mu Xi lay face-down on the desk, his black baseball cap pressed low, the brim almost touching the desk, covering most of his face.

A black scarf wrapped his chin.

His left elbow propped on the desk, his right hand stretched forward, fingertips barely touching the front row's chair leg, not an inch of his face visible.

When Ye Zeli in the front row stood up to grab something, he accidentally brushed his hand.

The faint coolness from his fingertips made the boy slowly lift his head.

Under the brim, his eyes half-lidded, his voice hoarse from just waking: "What are you doing?"

Ye Zeli's fingertips paused, then he chuckled: "Sorry, I didn't mean to move."

Mu Xi clicked his tongue, about to bury his head again for more sleep.

Beside him, Song Lujing was like a nonstop little motor, tapping his arm: "Hey Xi, hey Xi, hey Xi, don't sleep—you're up just in time."

Mu Xi didn't respond, not even moving a muscle, as if he hadn't heard.

"Hey Xi, hey Xi..." Song Lujing wouldn't quit, poking his arm again: "Stop pretending to sleep—I know you're awake."

"Shut up."

Song Lujing muttered: "You've been to B Shi twice this month—what were you doing there?"

He was dying of curiosity; Mu Xi rarely left C Shi, yet this month he'd gone to B Shi twice where Song Huaixian was—surely something was up.

Mu Xi didn't lift his head: "None of your business."

"Ah." Song Lujing sighed, his tone exaggeratedly aggrieved: "Poor me—I ask a question and nobody answers!"

"My poor little sister was just muttering to me, saying she wanted to find her dear second brother, little knowing he doesn't have her in his heart at all..."

He hadn't finished speaking when the hitherto still Mu Xi suddenly moved.

He raised his hand, snatched Song Lujing's phone from the desk corner, and entered his sister's birthday.

The screen lit up, his gaze falling directly on the top‑pinned chat labeled "Aaa Dear Sister," the chill in his eyes easing a little.

He opened it and saw that two minutes earlier Mu Youyu had sent: "Lujing brother, what's second brother up to? I messaged him and he ignored me."

Song Lujing had posted a photo of Mu Xi slumped over the desk: "Your second brother's out here playing Sleeping Beauty."

Mu Xi looked at the photo and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Song Lujing leaned over, saw the message, and reached to grab the phone back, his tone tinged with triumph: "Look, look—I told you! If you ignore your sister, she'll only come to me, and sooner or later she'll transfer all her love for you onto me."

Mu Xi flipped his wrist, dodging his hand, and retracted the photo and message: "Your second brother's thinking of you~【heart】【heart】"

Immediately, he picked up his own phone and unlocked the screen.

He saw several messages from his precious little sister.

They ranged from asking whether he'd returned to school, to listing those absurd rumors, and finally attaching a pitiful emoticon.

He read them all, let out a low chuckle, and replied: "I'm here."

Seeing this, Song Lujing gloated: "Yo, Youbao's coming to you to settle scores with Jiang Liangjin, huh!"

Mu Xi ignored him, his fingers tapping the screen, deleting and rewriting, as if weighing his words.

He knew his sister was intensely curious; if he didn't give her an explanation, she'd surely keep pressing.

If he stayed silent, she might even get angry, and for those days all he'd get would be a sulky sister who deliberately didn't smile.

Pretty scary.

The Mu Xin incident was basically a prior offense.

But Song Lujing kept pressing, ever more eager: "Come on, spill—what was the real reason back then? Were you really just venting for me? Or was it because I'd bad‑mouthed him several times?"

As he spoke, he recalled the incident: "Come to think of it, that day you ran so fast—I turned around and you were gone; I thought you had some urgent matter, but it turned out you were running to Lan Lin to 'send warmth' to Jiang Liangjin."

Mu Xi's fingertip stalled again; the text on the screen was deleted, revised, deleted again, until only one line remained: "Don't believe those people—I'll pick you up after school, and we'll talk."

After sending it, he threw his phone back into the desk drawer, lay down on the desk again, and the brim of his hat covered his Expression.

Song Lujing kept chattering on the side, asking about the reason from back then.

Several classmates around couldn't help but prick up their ears.

Mu Xi fell silent for a moment, his voice still light, with no discernible emotion: 'Is it because I dislike him?'

Song Lujing fell silent instantly.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then swallowed it back.

Back then, they started their second year of high school.

Song Lujing was boredly browsing the forum when he suddenly saw someone post a photo about Jiang Liangjin, with the caption:

Explosive! Someone's doing a live stream, Lan Lin, Young Master Jiang is fighting on the sports field, Gu Young Master and Yu Young Master can't hold him back—come watch quickly!

Song Lujing watched with relish, secretly thinking.

Jiang Liangjin had previously put on a well-behaved act in front of his sister.

Toward these brothers who 'had taken away his sister's place by her side,' he again showed a considerate, self-sufficient, non-competitive demeanor.

Although he had studied taekwondo, some brothers said they wanted to spar with him, yet he put on the act of a well-behaved student who wouldn't fight.

Now that his sister is gone, he can no longer keep up the act.