He Qianminâs expression was blank for a moment, and after a few seconds, he squeezed out word by word: âHe Qianjian?â
Seeing his disbelieving expression, Sun Zhi smiled even wider. Just as he was about to say something more, he inadvertently met Jiang Chenâs cold stare from the corner of his eye, and he suddenly came back to his senses: âGod JiangâŚ..â
Jiang Chen looked at him, and said calmly, âAre you finished?â
Sun Zhi met his gaze and unconsciously took half a step back. After he realized his timidity, he was startled. Even if Jiang Chen was the first in his year, even if behind Jiang Chen stood Huo Bo, he had never feared him. During the four years of following Jiang Chen, he had a better understanding of what kind of person Jiang Chen was than most people. To put it nicely, he was upright and kind. To put it bluntly, he was not someone to be feared. This kind of person often stuck to their meaningless bottom line and principles, but in this society, principles and bottom lines were actually the most useless things. They would only become a personâs weakness and a weapon for others to hurt them unscrupulously.
Therefore, Sun Zhi was afraid of offending Huo Bo, disobeying He Qianjian, or even offending He Qianmin, but he was never afraid of Jiang Chen, because he knew very well that he could not suffer the revenge of the first three. But as for the latter, no matter how angry he was, it would not bring him any deep harm.
But now, looking into Jiang Chenâs eyes, he realized that he was so very wrong. There was no harmless gentleman in this world who would have such eyesââmajestic, oppressive, and inspiring uncontrollable awe in oneâs heart, such that one could only kneel at his feet.
Sun Zhi felt a little short of breath, and his knees felt uncontrollably weak, âIâŚ..â Only when he opened his mouth did he realize that his throat was so tense that he couldnât speak.
Jiang Chen looked away, and He Qianmin also came back to his senses. He stepped forward and grabbed Sun Zhi: âYou said just now that the person who has been trying to harm my brother is He Qianjian, and since the second year of junior high school, he has been sending someone to follow him. What evidence do you have?â
Being caught by He Qianmin and putting all his attention on He Qianmin, Sun Zhi finally heaved a sigh of relief. He secretly wondered in puzzlement in his heart, but he was so terrified that he didnât even dare to secretly look in Jiang Chenâs direction out of the corner of his eye.
âOf course I have evidence.â Sun Zhi thought that He Qianmin did not believe that He Qianjian had done these things. In order to prove that what he said was true and to win Jiang Chenâs trust, he revealed his hidden cards: âI have text messages for every contact with He Qianjian, if you want to read them, I can show it to you right now.â
He Qianmin: âShow it now.â
Sun Zhi subconsciously glanced at Jiang Chen, and seeing that he had no objection, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket, called up the text message interface, and said, âStart here, you can see for yourself.â
He Qianmin took the phone and scrolled down one by one. The more he read, the more ugly his expression became. In the end, it was completely iced over.
âAre these all the text messages for four years?â He Qianmin said coldly, âBut this is not He Qianjianâs mobile phone number.â
Fearing that He Qianmin would not believe him, Sun Zhi hurriedly said, âThis is his other number. You donât know that He Qianjian has several mobile phones?â
He Qianmin was noncommittal, and asked, âWhy did He Qianjian ask you to follow my brother?â
âI donât know.â Seeing He Qianminâs unfriendly expression, Sun Zhi took a step back: âI really donât know. In the past four years, He Qianjian asked me to help him with things a few times, and the rest of the time he just had me follow Jiang Chen and report his every move.â
He Qianmin: âWhat did he ask you to do?â
Sun Zhi recalled for a moment, and said: âWhen I was in junior high school, I was asked to stop Jiang Chen from going to the hospital once, and once I was asked to find a way to make Jiang Chen postpone his physical examination. In high school, the only time was when he asked me to find a way to take Jiang Chen out of school, and then break his handâŚ..No, it should be to stab him, and break his hand while at it.â
He Qianmin frowned a little when he heard âphysical examinationâ, and asked in puzzlement, âWhy did he ask you to postpone my brotherâs physical examination.â
âI donât know.â Sun Zhi said, âBut I noticed one thing. I think it should have something to do with the reason why he asked me to follow Jiang Chen.â
He Qianmin asked almost in the next second: âWhat?â
Sun Zhiâs Adamâs apple bobbed. He looked past He Qianmin, and at Jiang Chen behind him. The corners of his mouth twitched for a long time before he said in a tight voice, âIâll tell you about this, and you go to the school to plead for me.â
Jiang Chen said indifferently: âWhy do you think that I would agree with this?â
Sun Zhi: âDonât you want to know why He Qianjian keeps sending me to follow you?â
Jiang Chen pursed his lips: âDo you know?â
Sun Zhiâs face turned pale, and he said after a while, âAlthough I donât know, butâŚ..â
Jiang Chen interrupted him: âSince you donât know, how can you negotiate terms with me?â
âQian Min, letâs go.â
He Qianminâs hand grabbing Sun Zhi paused, a little hesitant: âBig Brother, arenât we going to ask him what he knows?â
âI guarantee that this will be useful to you!â Sun Zhi hurriedly said: âI donât need you to promise to do something, as long as you just go and tell Director Liu that I have no choice but to do what I did, that I was instructed by others. Even if Iâm expelled in the end, I wonât blame you.â
Jiang Chen paused in his footsteps, looked back and said in a mild voice: âEverything you did was done by you, whether you were ordered or forced to do it, you still did it. How the school handles you is the schoolâs business. I can only promise you not to add fuel to the fire, but thereâs no way I can help say a word for you.â
Sun Zhi paused, unable to figure out what Jiang Chen meant by this.
If it was before today, he absolutely believed that Jiang Chen would not be able to do such things like add fuel to the fire behind others backs, but after today, he did not dare to be so sure. If Jiang Chen never planned to do this, why would he specifically bring thing up in the first place?
But what if Jiang Chen just wanted to trick him with these words? Sun Zhiâs fingers resting on his side twitched uneasily. It took an unknown amount of time before he made up his mind. It was better to finish it all at once. Regardless of whether what Jiang Chen just said was a trap or not, he believed that as long Jiang Chen made a promise he would follow through.
Sun Zhi lowered his voice: âIâll tell you.â
He Qianmin looked at him instantly, staring at him closely and waiting for his next words.
Sun Zhi looked around carefully, and said quickly: âI found out that He Qianjian would have his physical examination on the same day as you every year. If there was a time that must be postponed or advanced, he would be very anxious and irritable, and would definitely make it so that your physical examination would also be postponed or advanced.â
âAlso, He Qianjian had been preventing you from meeting all the He family members including He Qianmin. The reason He Qianjian asked me to prevent you from going to the hospital at that time was because He Qianmin was there. Later I found out that he not only wanted to prevent you from going to the hospital, but also asked me to prevent you from showing up in any areas where you might meet the He family.â
Jiang Chen said indifferently, âThatâs all?â
Sun Zhi was taken aback: âArenât these things very strange?â
Jiang Chen didnât answer him, but turned around and said, âI will do what I promised. Qian Min, letâs go.â
He Qianmin was still digesting what Sun Zhi said just now. Hearing this he followed along obediently, and when he was about to say goodbye to Jiang Chen at the entrance of his apartment floor, he suddenly came back to his senses: âBig Brother, why doesnât He Qianjian want you and me as well as my parents to meet? Also, why did he want to have a physical examination on the same day as you, just what is his purpose?â
Jiang Chen paused, narrowed his eyes, and said calmly, âYou need to ask him this question.â
He Qianmin frowned tightly. Sun Zhiâs words just now were circulating in his mind. He tried to catch some clues, but he only felt that his thoughts became more of a mess.
âItâs almost eleven oâclock, you have to continue your military training tomorrow, so go to bed early.â Jiang Chen rubbed his head and said with a smile, âIâm going back too, good night.â
He Qianmin nodded absently: âGood night.â
Back home, after taking a shower and lying on the bed, He Qianmin couldnât fall asleep even after tossing and turning.
He went through all the words Sun Zhi said over and over again in his mind, but not only did he not find any clues, more doubts emerged.
If it was said that because of the car accident He Qianjian was only afraid of Jiang Chen going to the hospital would expose his actions, then why did He Qianjian send someone to monitor Jiang Chenâs every move after he was discharged from the hospital? Also, Jiang Chen was just a passerby who saved him, and didnât know the rest of the He family at all, so wouldnât it be superfluous for He Qianjian to prevent Jiang Chen from meeting everyone in the He family?
He Qianmin tried his best to find the reasons behind everything He Qianjian did and his purpose for doing so. If the long-term monitoring of Jiang Chen and preventing him from meeting with members of the He family was just in case, and the reason for hurting Jiang Chen and wanting to break Jiang Chenâs hand was because he did not do as well on the final exam. Then what about scheduling the physical examination at the same time as Jiang Chen every year?
He Qianmin could barely find a reason for the first two matters, but no matter how he thought about the latter, he couldnât find the reason why He Qianjian had to have a physical examination on the same day as Jiang Chen.
He Qianjian had always only done things with a motive and profit to reap, if there was no important reason, it was absolutely impossible he would send someone to follow Jiang Chen for four years. He Qianminâs intuition told him that He Qianjianâs every move against Jiang Chen might be hiding a huge secret.
âŚâŚ
When Jiang Chen returned home, Yang Si and Jiang Zhuo had already fallen asleep, but left a lamp on for him.
He simply took a shower and returned to his room. He closed the door and put on the earphones. His fingers settled on the keyboard for a while, but didnât move.
Changjiangâs voice rang in his ears: âDylan, you have a message on Wingnet, do you want to open it?â
Jiang Chen came back to his senses, âWhose message?â
â196.â
âOpen it.â
âDo you need it to be read to you?â
âNo.â
On the computer screen, the message displayed in the small chat box:
[196: Oh Great God! The results of the Security Bureau are out! God C made it to the secondary examination! I failed!]
Only then did Jiang Chen remember that when 196 and C returned from taking the Security Bureau assessment in August, he told him that the results would be released on September 1st, and that if he passed the exam, he would not consider going to graduate school.
[D: Donât be discouraged, you are only a junior, and you still have other opportunities.]
196 quickly replied:
[196: Iâve expected this outcome a long time ago, so itâs quite easy to accept, but still thanking God D for your concern.]
[196: By the way, God D, I heard God C said that you are also in Yan City?]
[196: Which district of Yan City do you live in? If you live nearby, we can even have a face-to-face meeting!]
After sending three messages in a row, Mo Xi slowly withdrew his hand on the keyboard and crossed his fingers in a prayer gesture. He squatted on the chair, staring at the screen and muttering under his breath: âPlease, please, please donât be what I think it isâŚ..â
[D: Zhonghai District.]
Mo Xiâs voice stopped abruptly, and he stared at the words on the screen with wide eyes. After a long time, he took a deep breath, and still holding his breath he typed on the keyboard:
[196: Hahaha, it turns out that God D lives in Zhonghai District. There are quite a lot of schools there. Is God D still a student?]
[D: Yes.]
Mo Xiâs pent-up breath dissipated in an instant. He laid spread eagle on the chair, looked up at the ceiling, and felt that there was nothing to miss in life. After a few seconds, he suddenly sat up, grabbed his hair and slammed his head on the table: