Chapter 6 — Journey of Love

"Didn't you say you were going to tutor me?" Lu Dinh Chu made no attempt to conceal his hostility toward Song Minh Xuyen. "Since he is here, tell him to leave."

"No."

"Why not?" Lu Dinh Chu glared first at me, then at Song Minh Xuyen.

I shot right back, "This isn't anyone's private territory. If he likes sitting here, what's it to you? Are you trying to chase people away?"

Lu Dinh Chu was momentarily at a loss for words. "..."

"Fine, then we'll go somewhere else."

"No," I stubbornly sat back down, "I like sitting here with him."

Song Minh Xuyen merely raised an eyebrow. "..."

Giving me the look of a deeply betrayed, unfilial sister, Lu Dinh Chu angrily dragged a chair over and slammed it down right beside me. Aside from listening to me explain basic concepts, his eyes remained locked onto Song Minh Xuyen, attempting to scorch him out of the room with sheer glare power. Yet Song Minh Xuyen remained entirely unfazed, acting as though my brother did not even exist.

Taking advantage of the moment while I let Lu Dinh Chu work through a problem on his own, I leaned over to consult Song Minh Xuyen about a particularly tricky question on our practice exam.

Lu Dinh Chu hissed, "If you're going to discuss academics, do you have to lean in so close?"

Song Minh Xuyen glanced at him coldly. "Would you like to try solving this instead?"

My poor brother stared at the problem set, then asked quite sincerely, "This is a math test, right? Why on earth does it look like ancient Greek?"

"..." I offered him a gaze brimming with long-suffering affection. "Just focus on your studies."

True to my prediction, Lu Dinh Chu was so terrified that I might be led astray by Song Minh Xuyen that he shadowed me relentlessly, giving me ample opportunity to hammer all the necessary knowledge straight into his head. Eventually, even his lackeys began to complain that their boss no longer had any time to hang out with them.

Then came a day in late October. Song Minh Xuyen was summoned by a teacher for an errand, leaving just the two of us in the empty classroom. My brother immediately put on a theatrical display of relief. "See? Remove a certain someone and the air instantly becomes much fresher."

The very next second, a severe voice boomed from the doorway, "Which class are you two from? What are the two of you doing cooped up here, a boy and a girl?"

I froze, turning my head slowly to find... the head of discipline.

At the exact same moment, the disciplinary teacher recognized both my face and my brother's, his expression instantly darkening into pure fury. "Lu Dinh Chu! It is you again!"

It was genuinely difficult to imagine a day when my older brother and I would be caught red-handed by a teacher under the heavy suspicion of teenage romance. Standing side by side in the disciplinary office, Lu Dinh Chu, who was already a seasoned veteran of such reprimands, remained remarkably unfazed. He turned to look at me before addressing the teacher, "Sir, we aren't dating at all. We're actually brother and sister."

"Brother and sister?" The disciplinary teacher pointed an accusing finger at me, then glared at him. "Where on earth did you suddenly pull such a grown-up sister from? Do you take me for a fool? You're always going around claiming every girl is your sister, my desk is already piled high with complaint letters about you, and you're still trying to lie?"

"Complaint letters?" Lu Dinh Chu blinked in genuine bewilderment.

The next second, he caught sight of the large manila envelope sitting on the teacher's desk, spilling over with photographs. Photographs of me and him. In the pictures, the two of us did indeed look rather intimate, walking with our arms slung casually over each other's shoulders.

"The evidence is right here in plain sight, and you still expect me to believe your excuses?" The teacher refused to entertain our explanations for a single second.

"..." Lu Dinh Chu had always been the sort of person who liked throwing his arms around people's shoulders casually. Since I was his biological sister, throwing an arm around me was the most natural thing in the world, yet here we were, dragged straight to the dreaded disciplinary office because of it. I raised my head, casting a reproachful glare at him.

Meanwhile, the teacher's furious voice rang in our ears, "This is a severe disciplinary matter! We are calling your parents in!"

Wearing the expression of a cornered beast, Lu Dinh Chu took advantage of the moment the teacher turned away to contact our homeroom teacher, letting out a bitter scoff under his breath. "Old Lu is never around anyway. If that man actually shows up, I'll eat my hat."

Coincidentally, my mother, Ms. Diep, was also tied up with work. The disciplinary teacher began dialing the emergency contact numbers provided in our school files, starting with my mother. True to form, she was still away on a business trip and utterly unable to return. Next came the remaining number. As the teacher dialed, he continued to lecture us relentlessly on the gravity of our offenses.

Just as Lu Dinh Chu was growing increasingly smug, convinced that our biological father wouldn't bother appearing, the phone on the desk was picked up. A calm, steady voice echoed through the receiver, "Understood. I will be right there."

Lu Dinh Chu froze mid-smirk. My mind went completely blank.

While we waited out the impending doom, the rumor that "Lu Dinh Chu and Diep Cam Hoa had been caught red-handed in a secret romance" spread like wildfire through the hallways. Before long, an uninvited guest appeared at the threshold of the disciplinary office.

Song Minh Xuyen.

He walked right in, stepping directly in front of the disciplinary teacher. "Sir, I usually study alongside Diep and Lu. I can personally vouch for them. They are not dating."

Yet the words of a star student held little sway over an incensed administrator at that moment. The teacher waved a hand dismissively. "Stop trying to cover for them. This has nothing to do with you, head back to your classroom right now."

Just outside the door, a cluster of curious students lingered, too cowardly to step inside, though they finally scattered in disappointment once the bell for self-study rang.

Song Minh Xuyen, however, refused to budge. He stood his ground, determined to serve as a witness for the two of us. Because of his stellar academic record, the teachers hesitated to treat him too harshly.

Finally, a neatly tailored suit appeared in the doorway. A tall, imposing man stepped inside, radiating an effortless, commanding presence.

The moment he walked in, however, Lu Dinh Chu sitting beside me let out a sharp, cold huff. I lifted my gaze to look at him as well.

In my memories, the image of my biological father was remarkably faint. The reason for my parents' separation had nothing to do with moral failures; it simply stemmed from irreconcilable differences in their life trajectories, neither willing to compromise. As the children, we had no right to cast blame. Yet the role of a biological father had indeed been absent for the vast majority of my life—much like how my mother had been absent during Lu Dinh Chu's early childhood.

The man whom Lu Dinh Chu frequently dismissed as "Old Lu" looked nothing like his age. Instead, he was a strikingly handsome, charismatic middle-aged man. Reflecting on it now, neither Lu Dinh Chu nor I were lacking in the looks department; clearly, we had inherited the very best genetic traits from both parents.

"Good afternoon, teacher. I am Lu Dinh Chu's father—Lu Kieu."