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CH 074 EATING TOGETHER
At the same time, the He family.
The auntie took He Yanfeng’s coat, hung it aside, and said with a smile: “Xiao Yang made soup, and it’s heating up in the kitchen now, auntie will bring you a bowl.”
He Yanfeng thanked her: “Where is she?”
“Reading upstairs.” The auntie thought for a while, and said worriedly: “Qian Jian locked himself in his room when he got home today, and didn’t come down for dinner. Xiao Yang knocked on the door a few times, but he said he wasn’t hungry. Do you want to go see him?”
He Yanfeng waved his hand nonchalantly: “Today is the day when the math competition results come out. He is likely in a bad mood, so don’t bother him.”
“But it’s not healthy to not eat…..”
“He’s already such a big boy, he’ll come down to eat if he’s really hungry.” He Yanfeng walked inside and said, “Where’s Qian Yu?”
“Xiao Bao is doing her homework.” The auntie said with a smile, “Maybe she misses Qian Min, so now after coming back every day she does her homework very actively, saying that she wants to study in Yan No. 1 in high school.”
He Yanfeng shook his head and laughed: “It’s not Qian Min she misses, auntie. I’m going up, you’ve had a hard day, so go to rest early.”
“Ai, I’ll bring you a bowl of soup and put it on the table to cool down before going to rest. So remember to drink it later.”
He Yanfeng knocked on the door of Yang Yun’s study room, opened a crack, and put his head in: “Honey, I’m back.”
Yang Yun, who was reading a book, looked up at him, and then returned to the book: “Aren’t you working overtime today?”
“No.” He Yanfeng walked up to Yang Yun and sat down, put his arms around her and turned to look at the cover of the book: “What are you reading——how to correctly deal with the unstable emotions of adolescent children?” He turned his head again and picked up a book from the pile of books next to it, “Adolescent Children’s Mental Health, Adolescent Troubles, Adolescent Depression…..”
He put the books back, and laughed, “What are you reading here?”
Yang Yun didn’t even raise her head: “Qian Jian’s mood has not been stable recently, I’m a little worried, so I’m trying to find a solution.”
“Boys are always like this at this time of growth.” He Yanfeng didn’t care: “Don’t worry about him, it’s not a bad thing to let him suffer some setbacks.”
“But his mood has become more and more unstable recently, and he has even started talking to himself.” Yang Yun closed the book, frowned, and said, “Today he locked himself in his room when he came home, and when I brought him some soup, not only did I hear him talking to himself, but I also heard the sound of things smashing. He hasn’t opened the door this whole time, and I can’t go in to see. Do you think Da Bao may have some psychological problems…..”
He Yanfeng also put away his nonchalant attitude, sat up straight and said, “Did you see him talking to himself?”
“More than once.” Yang Yun said: “Before I thought it was because he was under too much pressure from studying and he also has a strong self-esteem, but now the situation seems to become more serious. Honey, should we take him to see a psychiatrist?”
“It shouldn’t have reached this level…..” He Yanfeng stood up: “I’ll go and talk to him, and we’ll talk when I come back.”
……
He Qianjian refreshed the webpage over and over again, and after confirming that all the posts about him and Jiang Chen’s family background had been deleted from the post forum, he relaxed his hand holding the mouse. He let out a long breath, his expression becoming relaxed for only less than half a second, before becoming dark and gloomy.
“What’s the use of you?” He threw the mouse away, stood up and kicked the desk vigorously. He turned around, walked to the edge of the bed and sat down, gritting his teeth and saying, “During the math competition, you said that something interfered with you, something blocked your signal, that’s why you couldn’t help me with the questions, but this time? I just asked you to delete a post! Aren’t you a high-tech product that is thousands of years beyond the current technological level? But I have to contact hackers myself to delete a post? What can you even do?”
[This is the rule of the system, and all systems must follow the rules.]
“Rules, rules? F**king sh*t rules!” He Qianjian stood up abruptly, took three big steps, and kicked the chair next to the sofa: “When I asked you to delete the surveillance video for me, how come you didn’t say anything about the rules?”
[I can only help you make the best choice and exchange. Only when the host is using these two functions, I am qualified to delete all bugs that may expose the system and the host’s capabilities. If that incident where you replaced the blade is found out, there will be a danger of exposing the system. According to the rules, I can delete the video for you. However, the online post is not directly related to your use of the system. There is no risk of exposure, so I can’t help you delete the post.]
“How is there no risk of exposure?!” He Qianjian’s voice instantly increased in level, and when it reached the peak, it was instantly suppressed: “If the identities of me and Jiang Chen are discovered, won’t you be at risk of exposure?”
[According to my analysis, it is not uncommon to bring home the wrong child in this world. Even if you and Jiang Chen switch back to your original identities, no one will be able to guess the existence of the system. You are still my host, and this will not change.]
“But if I am switched back, I will fall from heaven to hell, hell! Do you understand?!” He Qianjian paced back and forth, and when he reached the desk, he swept all the things on the table to the ground. With his hands on the table, his chest heaving violently, he muttered: “If I hadn’t deleted it quick enough, this post might have been seen by the He family, and it would be a matter of time before my identity was exposed, no no no——there is a problem already, I must find a way to solve the problem completely before things get out of control…..”
[How does the host want to solve this problem?]
“I want…..” He Qianjian’s eyes were dark and cold, suppressing the smoldering anger in his chest, he squeezed out a hoarse and cold voice from his throat: “I want Jiang Chen to——”
——Knock knock knock.
He Qianjian’s voice stopped abruptly, and he looked towards the door.
He Yanfeng’s voice came from outside the door: “Qian Jian, open the door, let’s talk for a bit.”
[Did he hear me?] He Qianjian hurriedly helped up all the fallen chairs and stools, and picked up the books and pens that had been swept to the ground, [What should I do?]
[The sound insulation of this room is enough to isolate the volume of your voice just now, so you can rest assured.]
The knock on the door sounded again, and He Qianjian quickly tidied up the books, took a deep breath, and walked towards the door: “Dad.”
He Yanfeng walked in and said, “I heard from your mother that you haven’t eaten?”
“I don’t have any appetite.”
“Because you got the results in the math competition today?”
“…..That is also a reason.”
He Yanfeng sat down on the sofa, pointed to the sofa seat next to him, and said lightly: “Forfeiting the competition was your own decision. I told you when you were very young, that your mother and I will not interfere in any of your decisions, but you must take responsibility for them, and also, you must think about the consequences before making a decision.”
“I know…..” He Qianjian sat down, lowered his head and said, “All of this is only temporary, I’ll be fine after a while…..”
He Yanfeng frowned slightly, and said: “You have been emotionally unstable during this period, is there any other reason besides this reason?”
He Qianjian’s hands on his knees trembled, he shook his head and said, “It’s all because of my study load.”
He Yanfeng crossed his legs, crossed his arms and said, “Since when did you like to talk with your head down?”
He Qianjian hesitated for a moment, then looked up at He Yanfeng with flickering eyes.
“What’s going on?” He Yanfeng’s eyes were sharp, and he put away his smile.
He Qianjian froze, maintaining the posture of looking at He Yanfeng, digging his nails into the palm of his hands hard, his whole body tensing up.
[Your demeanor right now is very strange, it will easily make He Yanfeng suspicious, I suggest you change the subject, and don’t let He Yanfeng focus on what’s wrong with you.]
He Qianjian’s mind was in a mess, he didn’t know what to think of but suddenly, a cunning light flashed in his eyes. He looked at He Yanfeng, and said with a disappointed expression: “Dad, I just feel that I am a failure.”
“Since last semester, my grades have never returned to the top spot. If it’s just this…..I can persuade myself to work harder, but apart from my grades, the relationship between me and Qian Min has gotten worse and worse. Now when he sees me, it’s like he is seeing an enemy…..And Qian Yu, she always liked to cling to me but now I don’t know when it started but she doesn’t talk to me anymore, and even with homework she doesn’t need my help…..”
He Qianjian propped his elbows on his knees, buried his head in his palms, tone puzzled and sad: “I don’t understand why it has come to this…..”
He Yanfeng raised his hand and patted his shoulder, saying: “Don’t think too much, Qian Yu is just growing up, it’s normal not to cling to her older brother like she did when she was a child.”
He Qianjian smiled wryly, shook his head and said, “She just doesn’t like to cling to me anymore…..”
He Yanfeng paused, and a boy’s face appeared in his mind. He frowned slightly, and said mildly: “No matter what, you are her blood brother, and this will not change. What you have to do is not to feel sorry for yourself, but to think about solutions.”
He Qianjian put down his hands, raised his head and said, “I know, Dad, I won’t let you down.”
“That’s my son.” He Yanfeng patted his shoulder, got up and walked out the door: “Don’t skip dinner in the future, don’t make your mother worry.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“Then go to bed early, I’ll be going now.”
He Qianmin finished the test questions, and by the time Jiang Chen finished checking them all, it was almost ten o’clock.
“Now you can basically see from the geometry test questions what the teacher wants to test you on. In the future, you can reduce your practice on geometry questions, just maintain your answering speed.” Jiang Chen stood up while talking: “It’s getting late, I’m going back first, and you go to bed early too.”
He Qianmin cleared the table, and looked up at Jiang Chen, hesitant to speak.
Jiang Chen paused, looked sideways at him, “Say what you want.”
“Big Brother, if, I mean, if you are really my brother, what will you do?”
Jiang Chen asked back, “What do you want me to do?”
He Qianmin opened his mouth and said: “Of course it is to…..” But he couldn’t say it.
He very much hoped that Jiang Chen would be his blood brother, but thinking about it carefully, except for changes in blood relationship and name, it seemed that nothing else would change. Just like what Jiang Chen said, no matter whether they were related by blood or not, they both regarded each other as true brothers.
He Qianmin was discouraged, and the corners of his mouth pursed slightly: “I don’t know…..”
Jiang Chen let out a sigh, rubbed his head and said, “As long as a person knows who he is, his identity won’t change anything, whether it’s feelings or other things, so you don’t need to worry about it. I will always be me, and our relationship will not change in any way because of a change in identity.”
He Qianmin nodded with a half understanding. Jiang Chen smiled: “I’m leaving, go to bed early.”
“Good night, Big Brother.”
“Good night.”
……
Chenghua Private High School’s post was deleted when it was at its most popular, which once again triggered heated discussions within the school. However, there was always something new happening everyday. So within a few days, no one was discussing whether the post was deleted by He Qianjian or not.
A week passed under the calmness with hidden undercurrents, and at noon on Sunday, Jiang Chen showed up in Li Nanfeng’s office on time.
Shi Fengyue was chatting with Li Nanfeng, when he saw him coming in, he got up and said, “Let’s go.”
“You two won’t invite me along?” Laying on the sofa, Li Nanfeng grabbed a hold of the corner of Shi Fengyue’s clothes and said, “I’m currently heartbroken, yet you have the heart to let me eat alone?”
Shi Fengyue pulled his clothes out of his grasp and said condescendingly, “What does it matter to us whether you are heartbroken or not?”
“Are we good brothers or not?”
“Not.”
Li Nanfeng raised his hand to point at Shi Fengyue, his finger trembled a few times before he finally put it down. Leaning close to his ear, and gnashing his teeth he said: “You are tearing down the bridge behind you after crossing the river.”
Shi Fengyue pushed his head away and said with disgust: “Get away from me.”
Li Nanfeng turned to Jiang Chen: “Chen Chen!”
Jiang Chen took half a step back, raised his hand to stop Li Nanfeng’s approaching footsteps, and looked at Shi Fengyue: “Let him come together, I just happen to want to discuss some work matters with him later.”
Shi Fengyue glanced lightly at Li Nanfeng, and said expressionlessly, “I’m not used to eating together with more than one person.”
Li Nanfeng sneered: “You might as well say that the two of you are going on a date, and you don’t want me to be a third wheel. That would be more believable.”
Shi Fengyue walked up to Jiang Chen’s side, grabbed his wrist and lifted it up, and said unhurriedly: “We’re going on a date, and we don’t want you to be a third wheel, so don’t follow us.” He then pulled Jiang Chen out.
Jiang Chen let him pull him, and only pulled his hand away when they walked out of the office, chuckling lightly: “It seems that you really don’t want to eat with Brother Li.”
Shi Fengyue looked back and said, “What do you think is the reason?”
Jiang Chen thought for a while, then his lips curved upwards: “Because you’re not used to eating together with more than one person?”
Shi Fengyue paused, then laughed out loud.