"I'm back."
The moment Lu Qiangqian stepped into the convenience store, she instinctively sniffed the air. Her fair, delicate cheeks—still faintly flushed from hiking—stood out beneath her brows, and her round eyes filled with confusion.
She smelled food.
That didn't make sense. Her brother didn't cook. In all these years, the height of his culinary skill was cracking an egg into a pot of instant noodles.
'Did he order takeout?'
'What a waste of money!'
Puffing out her cheeks in irritation, Lu Qiangqian stormed toward the kitchen.
But before the words at the tip of her tongue could come out, what she saw made her swallow everything back down.
Her brother, Lu Yang, was standing in the kitchen—both legs wrapped in bandages—stir-frying food.
Steam rose from the wok, filling the kitchen, and several finished dishes sat on the table, radiating an irresistible aroma.
Lu Yang… was cooking?
She froze in shock.
First came disbelief—since when did her brother know how to cook? Had he secretly practiced behind her back?
Then came guilt.
How could she have jumped to conclusions like that? Sure, Lu Yang had done plenty of stupid things before—but he was still her brother.
"Back from school?" Lu Yang said, glancing over with a calm smile while stirring the dish.
"Put your bag away. Dinner's almost ready."
Those familiar words hit her like a punch.
For a few seconds, Lu Qiangqian almost thought her late mother was calling her to eat.
Just those few seconds were enough to make her eyes well up.
She quickly turned away so Lu Yang wouldn't see, wiping the corners of her eyes with her wrist before opening the fridge and taking out a cold soda.
"It's hot. Drink something cold." She paused, then frowned.
"By the way… aren't your legs injured? Didn't the doctor say your left leg needed at least two more weeks of healing? And your right thigh was just hurt recently too."
She set the opened soda on the table.
"Thanks. I'm basically fine now," Lu Yang said casually while plating the stir-fried pork with peppers.
"That doctor's a quack. I looked it up online—no problem at all."
The words came out smooth and shameless.
As for how his injuries healed so quickly—there was no way to explain that. Lying his way through it was easier.
To avoid being too suspicious, he'd even deliberately kept some bandages wrapped around his legs.
Thankfully, Lu Qiangqian didn't press the issue, and Lu Yang quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Three dishes were placed on the table:
Tomato scrambled eggs. Stir-fried pork with peppers. Cola-braised chicken wings.
"Gulp—ahh." Lu Yang downed half the soda in one go.
"Alright. Let's eat."
"Okay, big brother."
Lu Qiangqian cautiously picked up a piece of egg, glanced at Lu Yang a few times, hesitated…then put it into her mouth.
Chew. Chew.
Her eyes lit up.
'It's good!'
(°Д°)
Surprised and delighted, she hurriedly picked up another bite—this time with tomato.
Seeing how much she liked it, Lu Yang felt the timing was perfect.
"Qiangqian, there's something I want to talk to you about."
"Mmph—go ahead—mmph."
"I want to sell the convenience store."
"PFF—cough—ACK!"
Lu Yang watched helplessly as a scene straight out of a crime movie unfolded across the table. He wiped rice off his face in silence.
Across from him, Lu Qiangqian's expression had already shifted from joy to pure fury.
"What did you just say?"
"You want to sell our house?!"
"That's not exactly it," Lu Yang said patiently.
"It's just… living here makes going to school a huge hassle, and the convenience store barely makes any money. If we sell it, we can rent a place at the foot of the mountain. The extra money can help with school expenses. As for a house, we can always buy another one later when things improve—"
He carefully explained the advantages, one by one.
But Lu Qiangqian clearly wasn't listening.
"This is our home!"
After shouting that, she slammed her chopsticks down and ran upstairs, her twin ponytails swinging wildly with anger.
Lu Yang was left sitting alone at the table, staring blankly.
Bang!
A heavy door slammed upstairs.
"She really didn't hold back," Lu Yang muttered with a wry smile.
He could list a hundred reasons why selling the old house made sense.
But Lu Qiangqian only needed one reason to refuse.
This is our home.
To Lu Yang, even with fragments of the original owner's memories, this place didn't mean much.
But to Lu Qiangqian, it was different.
This was where she grew up. Every family memory she had was here.
To her, it wasn't just a house.
It was home—even if it was falling apart.
"Fine… I'll think of another solution."
Lu Yang rubbed his temples and temporarily gave up on the idea of selling the store.
Early the next morning, Lu Yang and Lu Qiangqian left for school together.
Still upset about last night, she didn't say a single word to him.
But as they exited the convenience store, she deliberately slowed her pace after glancing at the bandages on his legs.
"How are we getting down the mountain?" Lu Yang asked, locking the store door and staring at the road leading downhill with a headache.
"Why are you asking that?" Lu Qiangqian replied impatiently.
"Before you hurt your leg, didn't you walk down just fine? Look—there's a path right there."
She pointed ahead and led the way.
Lu Yang followed, spotting a stone stairway hidden between two trees that led down the mountain.
So that's how you get down.
"If your leg still hurts, just go home and lie down," Lu Qiangqian tossed over her hair as she headed down alone.
Lu Yang looked down at the bandages on his legs.
They'd healed long ago. The bandages were only there so he wouldn't worry her.
Going downhill?
No problem at all.
Half an hour later, at the foot of the mountain, Lu Yang was panting heavily, wiping sweat from his forehead. He glanced at Lu Qiangqian beside him, then looked back toward the distant convenience store perched on the mountaintop.
A decision hardened in his heart.
Damn it!
I'm selling that crappy store and moving down the mountain—no matter what!
They caught the bus shortly after. Lu Qiangqian got off at middle school; Lu Yang headed to high school.
Congao High School.
Entering the campus, Lu Yang lifted his head and scanned the buildings until he found the one with two large words hanging on it:
Teaching Building.
Seven floors.
There went his fantasy of a short building.
If someone fell from that height, they'd be done for.
Following his memories, he climbed to the fourth floor and entered Class 7, Grade 11.
The moment he walked in, he felt every pair of eyes turn toward him.
The looks were… strange. Hard to describe.
Since he'd only inherited part of the original owner's memories, Lu Yang had no idea what was going on.
Was I some kind of school bully?
He glanced down at his own weak-looking body and dismissed that idea immediately.
Then… looks?
The Lu family genes weren't bad. Both he and Lu Qiangqian were good-looking—not god-tier, but definitely the kind that stood out in a crowd.
Either way, it meant he had some presence at school.
That was a good thing.
Lu Yang sat down at his seat under everyone's gaze.
His deskmate was a girl wearing thick black-framed glasses, with a stack of books piled higher than her head.
"Good morning, uh… Xue—Xue something…"
Lu Yang tried to greet her, then realized he didn't remember her name at all. Luckily, his eyes were sharp—he caught her name on the textbook cover.
"Xue Suibai."
"You're back already?" she asked, pushing up her glasses and glancing at the bandages on his legs.
"Is your leg healed?"
"How did you know my leg was injured?" Lu Yang asked, confused.
"I only hurt it the night before last."
"Please," Xue Suibai said, looking at him like an idiot—with a hint of pity.
"You chased Ye Kener on a bicycle while she took a taxi, crashed, and broke your leg. The whole school knows."
Wait.
Hold on.
Lu Yang felt his brain short-circuit.
First—he'd misunderstood. She wasn't talking about the Longjing Mountain injury.
This happened earlier.
Second.
Who the hell was Ye Kener?
Why was he chasing her taxi?
And why did the entire school know about it?
After some careful probing, Lu Yang finally pieced it together.
Ye Kener was the original Lu Yang's dream girl in this parallel world.
One day after school, egged on by his so-called friends, the original owner's brain overheated—and he rode his bike after Ye Kener's taxi.
Then crashed.
Just thinking about it triggered a vague memory:
A taxi speeding away without even slowing down.
In that instant, another image surfaced in Lu Yang's mind—
A man in a comedy skit, running after a taxi while howling in heartbreak.
"Yanzi! Without you, how am I supposed to live—Yanzi!"
Lu Yang sat there, face pale.
'Oh no.'
'I've become the guy yelling Yanzi!'
No—wait.
'Crap! I've become a complete idiot!'