Rebirth begins with studying hard

Chapter 44 Blind Date

Childhood sweetheart?

The term was a bit new, and Lu Jie paused for a moment before realizing what it meant.

He couldn't help but give the other person a strange look.

This boy named Wang Zhe claims to be Zhong Muqing's childhood friend. Combined with his attentive attitude towards Zhong Muqing, it can be seen that this boy likes Zhong Muqing and has known her since childhood.

However, judging from Zhong Muqing's rather cold attitude towards this boy, the two of them probably can't be considered childhood sweethearts.

After all, only those who have been close since childhood and like each other can be considered childhood sweethearts.

If one person likes the other, but the other person doesn't like them back, it can only be considered unrequited love.

However, he roughly guessed that this unrequited love was special.

Since they knew Zhong Muqing's itinerary in advance, they must have obtained the information from Zhong Muqing's elders.

Furthermore, considering what Wang Zhe said, it was Zhong Muqing's father who sent him to receive her.

This means that Wang Zhe's pursuit of Zhong Muqing is approved by both sets of elders.

In his previous life, Lu Jie had seen many business families who would find suitable partners for their children at a young age, allowing them to get to know and interact with each other beforehand.

If you both accept each other, then get married.

This can be considered a powerful alliance, making the business bigger and stronger.

Therefore, Wang Zhe's self-introduction was probably to let him know that Zhong Muqing belonged to someone.

However, judging from Zhong Muqing's reaction, she seems to be quite opposed to this arrangement.

Upon hearing Wang Zhe refer to himself as her childhood friend, Zhong Muqing's expression immediately turned cold, and her tone became rather unpleasant.

"What childhood sweetheart? Who are you talking about as a childhood sweetheart? Don't talk nonsense!"

"Is there something you need? If so, please say so quickly. If not, please don't bother me."

Although there weren't any harsh words in her words, compared to Wang Zhe's enthusiastic attitude, this reaction was already embarrassing.

Wang Zhe, however, remained unperturbed.

He first said to Zhong Muqing, "My uncle asked me to pick you up, so I must make sure you are well taken care of."

"Qingqing, I'll take care of your schedule today."

He then politely asked Lu Jie, "May I ask how I should address you, classmate?"

Lu Jie had some respect for Wang Zhe's attitude.

To maintain composure despite being so humiliated by Zhong Muqing, one must either have a very good temper or be very shrewd.

He's definitely not a simple person.

But one shouldn't hit a smiling face. Since the other party was so polite and had introduced himself, he certainly couldn't embarrass them like Zhong Muqing had done.

He then politely replied, "Hello, my name is Lu Jie."

Wang Zhe nodded with a warm smile: "Hello, Lu Jie."

"Did you come to the competition with Qingqing?"

"Do you have any plans for today? If you're free, I'd like to show you and Qingqing around Shanghai?"

Lu Jie simply said, "We're classmates, we came here together."

He didn't respond to anything else.

He didn't care about Wang Zhe hosting him and Zhong Muqing on a tour of Shanghai; in fact, he thought it would be quite convenient if Wang Zhe had a car to take them around the city.

But judging from Zhong Muqing's reaction, she didn't want to pay any attention to Wang Zhe.

If Zhong Muqing simply disliked the marriage arranged by her father, which was essentially a political alliance, that would be fine.

If the two of them have some private grudges, wouldn't it be embarrassing for Zhong Muqing if he agreed to let them take them around Shanghai?

He wouldn't get involved in something like that.

After hearing Lu Jie identify himself as Zhong Muqing's classmate, Wang Zhe's barely perceptible wariness dissipated considerably.

Lu Jie's guess was basically consistent with the facts: Wang Zhe was indeed the marriage partner arranged and approved by both families' elders for Zhong Muqing.

Although Zhong Muqing was not interested in Wang Zhe, Wang Zhe was very concerned about this matter and had already made up his mind to win Zhong Muqing over.

When he saw Zhong Muqing arrive at the hotel with a man her own age, he assumed the man was Zhong Muqing's boyfriend, and he felt somewhat displeased.

Although he remained confident he could handle the situation, it was somewhat troublesome.

He was relieved to hear that things weren't as he thought.

Since they are just classmates, they are probably both here to participate in the competition, but they both chose to fly, so they arrived at the same time.

He became a bit more enthusiastic towards Lu Jie: "I've already made arrangements. Shall we go sightseeing in Shanghai together?"

Lu Jie didn't respond, and Zhong Muqing's patience was clearly running out:

"Wang Zhe, this is the last time I'm saying this to you."

"First, stop calling me Qingqing. We're not that close."

"Secondly, I have plans for today, so please don't disturb us."

After saying that, she ignored Wang Zhe's words.

After checking in, I went straight to my room.

"I'll be waiting for you in the lobby." Wang Zhe didn't press his way up anymore, but he still called out to Zhong Muqing with enthusiasm.

"You can be wherever you want, it's none of my business," Zhong Muqing said with a pout without turning her head.

Before entering the elevator, Lu Jie glanced curiously into the lobby and saw that Wang Zhe was indeed sitting on the sofa. He then said to Zhong Muqing:

"It seems like he really is waiting for you."

Once inside the elevator, and only the two of them were in the elevator, Zhong Muqing said:

"Ignore him, he's annoying."

I really dislike him.

Lu Jie could tell that her words didn't seem fake; she genuinely disliked this person.

He was actually a little curious about what had happened between the two, but then thought better of it and decided not to be so gossipy.

It would be bad if she accidentally mentioned something she didn't want to talk about.

But after a brief pause, Zhong Muqing spoke up:

"He is the son of my father's business partner. He is involved in tourism and trade in Southeast Asia and has a lot of collaborations with my father."

"We used to go to the same elementary school. He was two years older than me and took good care of me. I also treated him like an older brother when we were little."

"But later I clearly felt that his care and concern for me was somewhat deliberate and had other purposes."

"After I started junior high school, my father began to clearly try to match me with him, but I really didn't like this... blind date feeling."

"Originally, I just hated the feeling of blind dates, but he was quite nice to me after all. I can't say I like him, but I don't dislike him either."

"But later we found out that he had said some... very unpleasant things in private."

As she spoke, a clear look of disgust appeared in her eyes:

"Being two-faced is really annoying."

Although Zhong Muqing did not elaborate on the matter, Lu Jie could roughly guess some of it from her reaction.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Are you your father's only child?"

Zhong Muqing nodded silently.

Lu Jie then understood.

Wang Zhe clearly comes from a good family, yet he still shows such patience and humility towards Zhong Muqing. Perhaps there is an element of affection involved, but it is more likely that there are other motives at play.

This kind of ingratiating behavior, which is tinged with ulterior motives, might indeed be disliked by someone Zhong Muqing's age.

But he didn't say anything more and made no comments.

Since Wang Zhe was able to gain the approval of Zhong Muqing's father, he must have some extraordinary abilities.

Zhong Muqing may not like Wang Zhe now, but that doesn't mean she will dislike him in the future. The future is unpredictable.

The hotel's floors 5 through 10 were all booked. Zhong Muqing stayed on the 10th floor, while he booked a room on the 11th floor.

As the elevator approached the 10th floor, Zhong Muqing said:

"Oh, never mind him. I just saw that this hotel has a back door, so we can go out directly through the stairs."

"Let's go straight there in a bit."

"Let's go to the Bund!"