Chapter 60 Spending a Fortune for a Beauty

Still fuming, Lu Er shot Song Jingmo a fierce glare, tossed out, “I’ll settle this with you later,” and stormed off.

Song Jingmo watched his resolute back. The hand he had half-raised froze in midair before finally dropping weakly. He rubbed his aching temple.

Holding back a belly full of anger, Lu Er returned to the old residence.

Lu Chen was sitting on the living room sofa, his expression stern.

When he saw him return, he didn’t ask anything—just stood up. “Come to the study with me.”

Though irritated, Lu Er followed.

The study was quiet. A large LCD screen was lit, playing an international news segment.

“Look carefully,” Lu Chen said coldly.

Not understanding, Lu Er cast an impatient glance.

The footage showed an international conference. A poised, distinguished middle-aged woman was calmly answering questions from reporters of various countries.

Her words were sharp, her logic clear, her presence powerful—clearly someone long accustomed to a high position.

But her face seemed familiar.

Lu Er suddenly recalled how, back in school, Song Jingmo used to watch this international news channel without fail every day. For a time, Lu Er had even thought his dream was to stand on the world stage like that.

Only later, when Song Jingmo firmly chose to study medicine, did he abandon that idea.

“Bro, why are you showing me this?” Lu Er asked, confused.

Lu Chen pointed at the woman on the screen, his voice calm but heavy. “Do you recognize her?”

Lu Er shook his head.

“She is Song Jingmo’s mother—Qu Suiwan,” Lu Chen said slowly. “As for his father, his rank is even higher. It’s classified.”

Lu Er felt as if struck by lightning. He froze on the spot, his mind going blank.

Wasn’t she… just an ordinary overseas scholar?

Seeing his brother’s stunned expression, Lu Chen let out a cold laugh, his voice icy. “Now do you understand?”

“Stop your wishful thinking. And stop provoking Song Jingmo.”

“A family like his would never allow any stain on their child. And they’re not someone a so-called wealthy family like ours can ever reach.”

Lu Er stood there blankly. In his ears was Qu Suiwan’s calm, steady French from the news. Before his eyes was his brother’s stern, unyielding face.

He had only known that Song Jingmo’s parents worked abroad year-round. He had never imagined that his true background was so far beyond reach.

No wonder the former mayor had lowered himself, going to such lengths just to introduce his precious granddaughter to Song Jingmo.

Even business marriages seek alliances of equals—let alone this…

A cold chill spread from his feet through his entire body.

All his grievances and anger were, in this moment, replaced by an even greater shock and helplessness.

He had always thought his own family was the biggest obstacle.

He had been utterly wrong.

He had naïvely believed that as long as he tried hard enough to get closer, there would be a result.

Only to discover that from the very beginning, they stood on entirely different clouds.

Like two parallel lines—no matter how hard they tried, they would never intersect.

After a long while, Lu Er finally found his voice. “Why… tell me this only now?”

Just when he had finally recognized his feelings, when he was completely caught up in them, when he was trying so hard to fight for them…

He was told there was an insurmountable gulf between them.

Lu Chen looked at his lost and broken expression, his gaze complicated.

In the end, he spoke in a low voice. “Before, I just thought you were unusually close brothers.”

He paused, his tone darkening slightly. “Six years ago, you came home in a daze and ran a high fever for a week.”

Lu Er’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Lu Chen’s gaze sharpened. “Your neck was covered in red marks, and you looked both guilty and heartbroken.”

“Back then, I already suspected the person you were fooling around with was Song Jingmo.”

If it had been anyone else, with Lu Er’s temperament, he would have made a huge scene. How could he have been so evasive and hesitant?

Having his deepest secret exposed, all color drained from Lu Er’s face.

“I originally planned to confront Song Jingmo,” Lu Chen continued with a hint of cold sarcasm. “But before I could, he left the country without a word—vanished without a trace.”

“And you changed too, throwing yourself into the entertainment industry. Seeing that you’d cut contact, I didn’t want to hurt you further, so I suppressed the matter.”

He had thought time would wash everything away.

A fleeting moment of youthful confusion would eventually fade as they moved on with their lives.

But things hadn’t gone as he expected.

Lu Chen sighed heavily. “What I didn’t expect was that the moment Song Jingmo returned, you two got entangled again. What am I supposed to do with you?”

Hearing his brother’s questioning, the grievances, longing, and the panic of just recognizing his feelings only to lose them immediately—all of it erupted at once.

Tears surged out without warning. Lu Er looked like a helpless child.

Crying, he shouted, “Yes! I like him! I like him very, very much! Tell me—what should I do? What can I even do?”

Seeing him like this, Lu Chen felt no better.

He stepped forward and gently pulled him into his arms, coaxing softly, “Listen to me. Forget him, okay?”

“Even if Mom agrees to you being together, Song Jingmo’s family would never allow him to be involved with someone from the entertainment industry—let alone a man.”

“Do you understand the position his parents are in? Their identity, their reputation—there’s no room for the slightest flaw.”

“Bro, don’t force me… please…” Lu Er shook his head, as desperate as a drowning man unable to grasp a lifeline.

“If you insist on being stubborn, you’ll only trap both of you in a dilemma. And what makes you think he would choose you in the end?”

Lu Chen spoke word by word, “Better short pain than long suffering. Besides, Mom herself is an insurmountable obstacle.”

The Leng Group needed Lu Er to take over, and Madam Leng would never allow her son to stray onto the wrong path.

“I can’t do it. I really can’t…” Lu Er’s tears poured down as his body trembled with emotion and despair.

Giving up Song Jingmo would be like carving a piece out of his heart—unbearably painful.

“You have to, whether you can or not,” Lu Chen barked sternly, carrying the authority of the head of the family. “You won’t give up until you hit the wall!”

“From today on, I forbid you from seeing Song Jingmo again. No contact whatsoever. Mom has already started to notice—don’t bring trouble upon yourself.”

Lu Er lifted his tear-filled eyes, confused. “How would Mom know? Back when we were studying, she even told me to learn more from Jingmo…”

“How could she suspect anything?”

Lu Chen let out a cold laugh. “Usually, spending money feels like it’s costing you your life—you save every bit for your ‘wife fund.’ Yet you casually spent 800 million on a gift for Song Jingmo.”

“And made it known to everyone—like you wanted the whole world to know that the young master of the Lu family would spend a fortune for a beauty.”