Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 8 Su Xiaoqiang

This gym is fucking luxurious, and Senior Brother Chu is fucking rich!

Lu Mingfei stepped out of the Mercedes-Benz and looked at the stand-alone building, which looked nothing like a gym but rather like a global chain five-star hotel, and couldn't help but admire it.

After finishing his braised large intestine at a roadside stall, Chu Zihang received a phone call saying he had something to take care of. He asked Lu Mingfei what he needed to do next and then arranged for Uncle Chen to bring Lu Mingfei directly here.

Lu Mingfei initially wanted to refuse, but before he could even utter the words "This isn't quite right," he saw Chu Zihang frown: "Refuse?"

How can I refuse with that tone!

The feeling it gives is that if you refuse, you'll get shot in the head by a Desert Eagle that you don't even know where you'll find it!
As the saying goes, "Since you can't resist, then enjoy it."

Lu Mingfei has some experience in lying flat.

Just ...

"Isn't this place a bit too expensive?"

Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, having dealt with Chu Zihang for the past few hours, he had a general understanding of the man's style. There was no way he would let Chu Zihang pay for his own expenses after sending him here.

But the entire outfit he was wearing was already worth a fortune, not to mention the gym membership fee, which clearly couldn't have been cheap...

I can never repay Senior Brother Chu's kindness!

"Young Master Lu, this place is free."

Uncle Chen explained, "This gym is controlled by the young master's family and has the best and most complete equipment in the city."

"Huh... what the heck is Young Master Lu?" Lu Mingfei shuddered. "I'm just an ordinary poor guy, just call me Little Lu!"

"There aren't many people who can be friends with the young master... at least, I haven't met any yet."

Uncle Chen smiled and gestured invitingly, clearly not intending to change his mind, "Young Master has already given instructions; you can tell me if you need anything."

Lu Mingfei sighed helplessly and walked towards the gym entrance. He knew that Uncle Chen was just following orders, and there was no point in worrying about it. It would be better to talk to Chu Zihang tomorrow...

Anyway, according to Chu Zihang, he planned to make "teaching basketball" a regular part of his daily routine, and he even made an appointment with Lu Mingfei before leaving.

This suited Lu Mingfei's wishes perfectly. He was going to follow the schedule anyway, and now that he had a big spender like Chu Zihang providing teaching guidance and being able to keep eating for free, he couldn't be happier!

As Lu Mingfei stepped onto the soft red carpet at the entrance, he couldn't help but sigh. In the past, if he had come to such a place alone, he would have hesitated and shrank back, at most glancing at it from afar and guessing what kind of exorbitant price it was.

But now he can stand here without shrinking back or hunching over, and he's even thinking with interest about how much he'll get a good deal later...

All of this confidence comes from Senior Brother Chu!

Although he still doesn't know why Chu Zihang is treating him so well, Chu Zihang has said that he thinks Lu Mingfei is a basketball genius and that they can play together in the future, so he will treat this treatment as a training fee.

Even though I know it's unlikely, why think so much? Let's enjoy ourselves first!

With these thoughts in mind, Lu Mingfei stepped inside, and then—

His feet froze in mid-air, and after a moment's pause, he tried to pull them back.

"What's wrong, Young Master Lu?" Uncle Chen, who was accompanying him, asked.

The greeting made the pretty girl who was casually playing on her phone at the counter, about to follow the female coach inside, pause and turn her head.

Their eyes met.

"Su Xiaoqiang???"

"Lu Mingfei???"

……

"How did you get here?" Lu Mingfei asked, somewhat alarmed.

"I was already planning to work out and get in shape, I even mentioned it in the class group chat!"

Su Xiaoqiang's wide eyes were filled with disbelief. "And shouldn't I be the one asking you 'Why are you here?'?"

"Is it strange that I'm here? I work out too!" Lu Mingfei said, though he sounded a little unsure of himself.

"You? Heh..." Su Xiaoqiang sneered, as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

The two followed Uncle Chen and the female coach to the gym's specialty area—the VIP private rooms, which are said to be "single-use, disinfected and maintained daily, and allow for customized equipment replacement."

Su Xiaoqiang, Lu Mingfei's classmate, is nicknamed "Little Fairy".

If you had to describe the relationship between Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang in one word, it would probably be "enemies".

This "enemy" relationship is not the kind of lingering entanglement where "the man is in love and the woman is interested," but rather a genuine feud.

Speaking of this, Lu Mingfei was completely in the wrong—on the first day of high school, Lu Mingfei stood next to Su Xiaoqiang, pointed at Chen Wenwen and said, "This one will probably be the class beauty of our new class in the future."

Praising another girl's looks in front of her is not only unwise, but in a way, it can even be called "humiliation"!
The problem is, if Su Xiaoqiang were truly inferior to Chen Wenwen, that would be one thing, but Su Xiaoqiang is really not bad at all.

The nickname "Little Fairy" is well-deserved. She is of mixed race, with a Portuguese mother. Her clear European features are perfectly combined with the gentleness of an Eastern girl. She comes from a wealthy family and has excellent grades. She is better than Chen Wenwen in every aspect.

But that's the kind of irrational thing I like.

Whoever you like is the most beautiful. Lu Mingfei thought Chen Wenwen was beautiful, and he said it directly.

That day, Su Xiaoqiang stepped on Lu Mingfei's foot and stormed off in a huff, and that's how they became enemies for almost three years.

As time went on, Lu Mingfei realized that there was a problem with what he said. However, he still liked Chen Wenwen. If he bowed his head and apologized to Su Xiaoqiang, wouldn't that be admitting that Chen Wenwen was not as good as her?
Then all we can do is ignore it completely.

"With your skinny physique, you probably couldn't even beat me in an arm wrestling match!" Su Xiaoqiang bluntly poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"Don't talk nonsense, I'm a proper boy..."

Lu Mingfei was anxious. These words were extremely malicious. If it were just that the heavy tanks couldn't compare, that would be one thing, but Su Xiaoqiang was tall and slender. If these words got out, how could he ever hold his head up in front of others again?

Although I haven't really looked up much in the past...

"Shall we have a competition?" Su Xiaoqiang seemed confident of victory.

"...No comparison."

After quickly assessing the strength of both sides, Lu Mingfei decisively adopted a delaying tactic, grumbling, "I've been training for too long today and am not in good condition. Let's fight again another day!"

“Okay, you set the time.” Su Xiaoqiang was not about to let Lu Mingfei off the hook, and immediately pressed her advantage.

“One month later!” Lu Mingfei replied without hesitation.

He had his reasons – since he could level up his proficiency by studying or playing basketball, he figured he could do the same with fitness.

Even if your proficiency in fitness doesn't increase as quickly as it does in basketball, it's not impossible to gain dozens of points or even level up within a month.

At that time, Su Xiaoqiang will be easily suppressed!

“Sure,” Su Xiaoqiang raised an eyebrow slightly, “You mean what you say?”

"It's hard to chase a horse!"

After this bet, Su Xiaoqiang and Lu Mingfei didn't seem to feel anything, but Uncle Chen and the female coach, who were leading the way, listened to about seven or eight parts of it and roughly figured out what it meant. The two exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly, as if everything was understood without being said.

"Hey, you haven't answered the question from before," Su Xiaoqiang glanced at Uncle Chen and the female coach in front of her, and said to Lu Mingfei in a low voice, "What are you doing here?"

"Why...why can't I come here?" Lu Mingfei lowered his voice, feeling a little guilty.

"Hmph, this place is ridiculously expensive, you'd better know that! Also, what the hell is 'Young Master Lu'? And your clothes, they're all authentic but from different brands, who dresses like that?..."

Su Xiaoqiang spoke softly, her expression growing increasingly strange.

"Have you been scammed? Or did you take out some huge loan? If so, it's not too late. You can report it to the police and they might be able to help you. If all else fails, I'll cover the cost for you first!"

"Hmm...from now on you'll be my little brother, so you don't have to pay the interest!"

Lu Mingfei looked at Su Xiaoqiang with a slight twitch at the corner of his eye. Where did this young lady's mind wander to?
However, at the same time, he was also struck by a thought. He realized that although the little fairy usually teased him a lot, she was still kind-hearted and worried that he might fall into a trap.

And Su Xiaoqiang is still holding a grudge about calling Chen Wenwen the class beauty back then. Is he still thinking of poaching him from Chen Wenwen's team and declaring a unilateral victory?

"Why don't we not have to pay back the principal and interest?" Lu Mingfei decided to tease Su Xiaoqiang and simply went along with what she said.

"Nonsense, who knows how big a hole you fell into? This down jacket you're wearing alone costs tens of thousands of yuan, okay?"

Su Xiaoqiang rolled her eyes. "Giving you an interest-free loan is already a favor. You expect to not have to pay back the principal... You'd only be worth this much if I sold you!"

"Huh, so you're after my body?" Lu Mingfei hugged himself tightly.

"Yue!" Su Xiaoqiang pretended to gag, then suddenly smiled sinisterly, "That's not wrong. Guess if my family, who are in the coal mining business, know anyone in the black market organ trade?"

"I was wrong."

Lu Mingfei promptly gave the French military salute.

This is someone you really can't afford to offend! These days, it's almost impossible for someone with a family fortune and a large corporation to not have some involvement in organized crime.

"So what exactly happened!" Su Xiaoqiang urged.

She was indeed very curious about what had happened to Lu Mingfei.

The previous claim that Lu Mingfei was deceived was just a random guess; upon closer examination, it's highly unlikely.

What would someone like Lu Mingfei gain by scamming him? Loan sharks aren't brainless; they need to consider whether they can recoup their investment!

Then there are only other possibilities: either Lu Mingfei became a nouveau riche overnight, or Lu Mingfei has been hiding his identity as a rich kid all along.

If you're talking about nouveau riche... although the brands of Lu Mingfei's clothes were quite mixed, the style of the clothes complemented each other well, and it didn't seem like the result of him buying things indiscriminately after suddenly becoming rich.

But to say that Lu Mingfei has been hiding all along...

How can this be? !
What's he after?!

Su Xiaoqiang's curiosity was understandable, but Lu Mingfei's considerations were much simpler; it was simply a matter of whether or not to tell the truth.

“I don’t think you’d believe me even if I told you,” Lu Mingfei said in a low voice.

"You go first," Su Xiaoqiang said, listening attentively.

"I went to the basketball court to play basketball today and ran into Senior Brother Chu Zihang. He was playing basketball by himself and said I was a basketball genius and that I should play with him in the future."

Lu Mingfei finished speaking in one breath, patted himself off, pointed to Uncle Chen in front of him, and boasted, "Look, that's Uncle Chen, the driver for Senior Brother Chu's family. This treatment of mine is all for future sparring fees!"

Su Xiaoqiang: "..."

"It must have been tough for you. It's not easy to escape and move around freely while you're having delusions, is it?" Su Xiaoqiang looked at Lu Mingfei with a "pity" in her eyes.

"See, I told you you wouldn't believe me even if I told you," Lu Mingfei said, shrugging.

"You were the one who joked with me first, okay?"

Su Xiaoqiang chuckled coldly.

"How about I record it so you can hear what you said? You met 'Senior Brother Chu,' who praised you as a 'basketball genius' and spent so much money to make you his future 'sparring partner'?"
Please, putting aside the fact that Senior Brother Chu has already gone abroad to study, I've never seen you touch a basketball, okay? Every basketball class you just lie on the grass pretending to be so profound!

"I disdain getting involved; otherwise, the scene would become too ugly and boring." Lu Mingfei waved his hand, looking like a master who feels lonely in the cold.

Having already put himself on such a pedestal, he'll naturally keep bragging about it.

As for when it will break... as long as my basketball skills improve quickly enough, it won't!

"Ha ha……"

Su Xiaoqiang was so angry at Lu Mingfei that she laughed.

"you……"

"Sorry to bother you."

The bickering between the two was interrupted by Uncle Chen, who came over with a cell phone in his hand. He handed it to Lu Mingfei and said, "Young Master Lu, it's the young master's call."

"Um... Senior brother?" Lu Mingfei took the phone, glanced at Su Xiaoqiang who was leaning in to listen, but ultimately didn't push him away, and even made room for him.

"Are you at the gym yet?" Chu Zihang's voice sounded strange; he was panting and seemed unable to speak.

"We've arrived. Uncle Chen has made excellent arrangements!" Lu Mingfei praised him sensibly, then subconsciously asked, "Senior brother, are you... exercising?"

"Do you exercise?"

Chu Zihang looked around.

The remaining flames were burning the polymer, and the scalding heat carried an unbearable stench.

There was a severed arm on the ground in front of him. It was unclear what kind of creature the severed arm belonged to. It was extremely ferocious, yet it also had a strange, beautiful curve. It was covered with scales and had some bone spurs protruding.

"That's it."

"Oh... So, what's the matter that you called, senior brother?" Lu Mingfei's intuition told him that Chu Zihang probably wasn't telling the truth again, but he didn't think about it too much.

"I have something to do tomorrow, so I'll be a little late."

Chu Zihang looked down and saw a simple wound on his waist and abdomen. Transparent tape had roughly sealed the wound together, which could almost be described as a ripped-out abdomen.

"The basketball court has been booked; you can go anytime."

"Okay, okay..."

The phone hangs up.

Lu Mingfei scratched his head, thinking to himself, "Brother Chu took time out of his busy schedule to call just for this?"
Just to say he'd be late?

"It really is Senior Brother Chu!"

Su Xiaoqiang was also stunned. She looked at Lu Mingfei and suddenly had a bold guess in her mind.

"But Senior Brother Chu treated you like this... Lu Mingfei, you wouldn't happen to be Senior Brother Chu's father's illegitimate child, would you?"

The last part of the previous chapter has been slightly revised.
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(End of this chapter)