The Cannon Fodder Doesn't Want to Return to the Rich Family (Translated)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

During the summer in Mountain City, the weather was unpredictable, with sudden rain showers.

In the evening, pedestrians rushed to get home before the downpour began as the sky darkened abruptly. Even those who noticed the situation in the narrow alleys paid no heed and quickly hurried away.

Lin Gejie glared angrily at Huang Li and his group blocking the alley's exit. They were all smug because they had finally managed to injure Lu Yao.

After finishing their work, Lin Gejie and Lu Yao had planned to take a shortcut through the alley to go home. As they were walking, Huang Li and his lackeys came towards them from the opposite direction.

Lin Gejie was talking to Lu Yao and, not paying attention, accidentally bumped into Huang Li's group.

Lin Gejie, Lu Yao, and Huang Li were all students in Class 8 of the second year at Shancheng No. 1 High School.

Everyone at Shancheng No. 1 High School knew that Huang Li had gotten in through connections to this top high school in Shancheng. Despite being in such a prestigious school, he did not tone down his arrogant behavior. On the contrary, he often caused trouble, relying on his family's wealth and power.

Although they were classmates, they usually kept to themselves and had never interacted much.

When Lin Gejie realized he had bumped into someone, he instinctively apologized. Unexpectedly, Huang Li and his gang started attacking without a word. Caught off guard, Lin Gejie was punched hard by Huang Li.

Lin Gejie, with his fiery temper, couldn't take this lying down and immediately started fighting back against Huang Li's group.

Huang Li's group had the numbers advantage, and Lu Yao, unable to watch his deskmate being ganged up on, naturally joined the fight.

Feeling guilty, Lin Gejie looked at Lu Yao standing beside him and said, "I'm sorry, Yao Ge. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been dragged into this."

Earlier, when Huang Li saw that his group still couldn't beat Lu Yao, he angrily pulled out a small knife and started waving it around.

To protect Lin Gejie, Lu Yao got a cut on his face from Huang Li's knife. Fortunately, he dodged in time, so it was just a superficial wound, seeping a thin line of blood.

Hearing Lin Gejie's apologetic words, Lu Yao casually wiped the blood off his face with his index finger and said indifferently, "It's not your fault. They were targeting me. You don't need to feel guilty."

In fact, Huang Li had heard of Lu Yao's name back in their first year but had never met him in person.

When they were reassigned to classes in the second year and Huang Li saw Lu Yao's cold and handsome face, he couldn't help but feel a sense of jealousy, especially when he compared it to his own ordinary looks. This jealousy reached its peak when he was rejected by the second-year beauty.

Huang Li had been pursuing the second-year beauty loudly and openly, and it was well known throughout the school. But the girl directly rejected him, saying she liked Lu Yao.

Feeling humiliated, Huang Li, in a fit of rage, decided to target Lu Yao to prove his worth to the girl.

A couple of weeks ago, after school one day, he suddenly blocked Lu Yao's way, saying he wanted to teach Lu Yao a lesson for stealing his girlfriend.

When Lu Yao heard this, he found it ridiculous. Without even looking up, he walked past Huang Li.

Huang Li, angered by Lu Yao's dismissive attitude, rushed forward to attack but was easily dealt with by Lu Yao.

Unable to beat Lu Yao alone, Huang Li had resorted to bringing some backup today.

Lu Yao felt today's incident had nothing to do with Lin Gejie and said to Huang Li, "This is between us. Let him go, and I'll stay."

Lin Gejie, hearing this, became anxious and said, "Yao Ge, what are you saying! How could I leave you to fight these scumbags alone?"

Seeing so many people on Huang Li's side, Lin Gejie couldn't leave his friend to fight alone. That would be despicable.

Huang Li laughed arrogantly at their conversation and said, "Neither of you is leaving! Lu Yao, I want to see how cocky you can be now!"

Huang Li had no intention of letting Lin Gejie go. He thought that with Lin Gejie there, he could hinder Lu Yao. The only reason he managed to injure Lu Yao earlier was that Lu Yao was protecting Lin Gejie.

As the clouds gathered and the sky grew darker, a heavy rain seemed imminent.

Lu Yao glanced at the sky, impatiently clicked his tongue against his cheek.

"Enough talk. Let's get this over with."

He wanted to finish the fight quickly.

Seeing Lu Yao's impatient expression, Huang Li, remembering some rumors, laughed mockingly, "Lu Yao, your house is empty. What's the rush to get home?"

Huang Li's lackeys laughed loudly at his words.

Huang Li's words had a double meaning. He was not only saying that no one was home but also mocking Lu Yao for being an orphan.

In such a small town as Shancheng, everyone knew each other's business.

Lin Gejie, having been Lu Yao's deskmate since their first year, naturally knew about Lu Yao's family situation. Hearing Huang Li's hurtful words, he felt a surge of anger, "What's it to you about his family! Did you fall into a cesspool? Because all you do is spew crap!"

After cursing Huang Li, Lin Gejie worriedly glanced at Lu Yao beside him.

Lu Yao remained calm and said in a low voice, "It's okay."

Lu Yao had heard worse at the funeral.

Lu Yao's parents were notorious gamblers in the area. One night in spring two years ago, after winning some money, they got drunk...

Late at night, the two drunkenly stumbled onto the road. During a red light, they lay down on the sidewalk in a daze.

Just then, a truck turned the corner. Due to the blind spot and poor lighting, the driver didn't see the two lying in the middle of the road and ran them over.

Even though it was their drunken behavior that caused their deaths, Lu Yao was blamed and labeled as a bringer of misfortune, cursed to cause the death of his parents.

"I knew the Lu family shouldn't have taken this kid in. Look at him, not shedding a single tear, like a monster."

"It's bad luck. I think this kid is a jinx, destined to bring disaster to his parents. Why else would his biological parents abandon him?"

"Old Lu adopted him because a fortune teller said a boy would bring gambling luck. But instead of bringing fortune, it brought them death."

At the funeral, Lu Yao knelt in front of the shrine with his head bowed and back straight, seemingly unaffected by the gossip and strange looks.

Lu Yao had always known he was adopted. When he was young, his foster parents would beat and scold him viciously whenever they lost money, blaming him for not bringing them luck.

This mistreatment only improved in recent years as Lu Yao grew up and could fight back.

Bullies fear the strong, and the strong fear the fearless. After Lu Yao fiercely resisted his foster father once, his cowardly foster parents never dared to provoke him again.

The truck driver who killed his foster parents offered Lu Yao compensation of a few thousand yuan. But this amount was only a small fraction of the gambling debts they had left behind.

All Lu Yao inherited from his gambling-addict foster parents was a dilapidated house and a huge debt.

To pay off these debts, Lu Yao had been working various part-time jobs non-stop for the past two years, outside of school hours. One of his main sources of income was playing the game "Honor of Kings" for others.