Chapter 100#
The Truth of the Past#
“Why such a big temper so early in the morning?”
Jian Yunchen gave a cold sneer. “Seeing this face of yours, of course my temper is going to be high.”
Qin Mu touched his own cheek, a smile spreading in his eyes.
“That shouldn’t be the case, right? Is this face not good-looking?”
Jian Yunchen choked on his words and looked at his face. Those flirtatious peach blossom eyes were slightly curved, their corners upturned, looking as if they were born with a hint of affection. His fingertips tightened slightly as he turned his gaze away.
“No matter how good-looking a face is, one gets sick of it after looking at it for too long.”
Qin Mu frowned as if troubled, tilting his head to follow his line of sight. “It’s only been this long, and you’re already sick of it?”
Jian Yunchen pushed his face away and said impatiently, “You pestered me in my dreams all night long. How could I not be sick of you?”
“Oh—”
As the words fell, Qin Mu let out a playful, long-drawn-out “oh,” the tail end of the sound lingering with a certain meaningful smile.
Jian Yunchen abruptly shut his mouth and turned to leave.
Qin Mu chased after him, his tone full of mirth: “How did I pester you? For how long? Where did it happen?”
Jian Yunchen frowned, unwilling to pay him any attention. The moment he pulled the door open, he found himself face-to-face with Jiang Yunhan, who happened to be passing by.
Qin Mu bumped right into him from behind, quietly swallowing his subsequent words upon seeing the second face.
Jiang Yunhan’s footsteps came to a sudden halt. His eyes widened as he watched the two of them walk out of the room side-by-side. Jian Yunchen’s hair was slightly messy, and Qin Mu was disheveled; both looked as if they had just gotten out of bed.
He looked at Jian Yunchen, then turned to glare at Qin Mu, as if asking with his eyes: What exactly is going on?
Jian Yunchen’s fingertips on the doorknob suddenly tightened. Feeling quite guilty, he shifted his gaze away, his eyelashes drooping to hide the momentary panic in his eyes.
Qin Mu, however, looked completely unbothered. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and curled his lips:
“I came to borrow toothpaste.”
“……”
The atmosphere froze for a second.
Jian Yunchen slowly turned his head to look at him and asked, unable to endure it any longer:
“Is there something wrong with you?”
After saying that, he didn’t care about anyone else’s reaction and headed downstairs first.
Watching that slightly flustered silhouette, Qin Mu’s lips slowly curled upward.
“Qin Mu.” Jiang Yunhan looked at him with a frown. “What kind of game are you playing?”
Qin Mu gave him a meaningful glance and said slowly, “Didn’t Qin Zheng call you to bail him out? He was calling your name all night long.”
Jiang Yunhan’s face turned pale, and he pursed his lips tightly, falling silent.
Qin Mu stood up and walked slowly past him. In the moment they were close, he whispered into Jiang Yunhan’s ear:
“I will help you keep… this secret.”
After saying that, he walked straight toward the stairs. Jiang Yunhan watched his back, his heart beating chaotically and rapidly. Help him… this was clearly a threat!
Having just finished a meeting, Jian Yunchen’s temples were throbbing. He closed his eyes and leaned against his desk, gently rubbing the corners of his eyes with his fingertips.
In the next instant, the door was pushed open.
Jiang Yunhan walked quickly toward him, his eyes bloodshot.
Jian Yunchen slowly looked up. Seeing his obviously distressed expression, he paused for a moment.
Jiang Yunhan was clutching a stack of documents tightly in his hand, interspersed with some photographs. His fingertips were even trembling slightly, causing the paper to make faint rustling sounds.
Jian Yunchen’s heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable premonition rose within him.
The moment Jiang Yunhan was about to speak, Jian Yunchen lowered his gaze: “Close the door first.”
Jiang Yunhan paused, his tearful eyes looking at the wide-open door. Outside, there were many inquisitive gazes peeking in. He suppressed the urgent thoughts in his heart and turned to close the door.
Having suddenly learned the truth, his agitated emotions regained a shred of rationality due to this interruption.
He sat opposite Jian Yunchen. When he looked up, the whites of his eyes were entirely red, and that usually gentle face was shattered. Jiang Yunhan asked in a trembling voice:
“Xiao Chen,” he took a deep breath, as if the question he was about to ask was extremely difficult to voice: “Were we… children born through surrogacy?”
Jian Yunchen’s face turned cold. He frowned at the stack of reports being clutched and asked coldly:
“Who gave this to you? Did you investigate this yourself? Who told you to investigate?”
Words like these were undoubtedly a confession.
Jiang Yunhan’s heart was in turmoil. In an instant, his tears fell.
Jian Yunchen’s gaze grew colder as he reached out toward him. “Give it to me!”
Jiang Yunhan clutched the documents tightly to his chest, his tone still filled with disbelief: “Why?! Why did you never tell me?”
Jian Yunchen’s brow was dark, his jawline tightly set.
He stood up abruptly, extending his arm to grab the documents Jiang Yunhan was shielding in his arms.
Jiang Yunhan dodged to the side. His wrist was caught, and with a forceful pull, his grip was forced to loosen.
The snow-white papers fluttered down like snowflakes.
Photos scattered all over the floor, clearly and faithfully recording the chaotic and miserable first half of Jian Xin’s life.
The air suddenly stagnated.
Jian Yunchen stared blankly at the photos on the ground. The woman in the photos was haggard, her face sallow, her eye sockets deeply sunken, her body so thin there was almost no flesh left. She was being dragged by a group of men. The man beside her had a cruel smirk, and a greedy glint flickered in his eyes.
It was nauseating.
He suddenly snapped out of it, his eyes filled with red capillaries.
He stared at those photos, his pupils contracting slightly. Those chaotic images were like shards of glass stabbing into his eyes, into his very bones.
That wasn’t just about Jian Xin’s past; it was also the embarrassment he had desperately tried to cover up.
Jian Yunchen gripped Jiang Yunhan’s wrist forcefully. He gritted his teeth and shot him a piercing look, his eyes a frantic shade of crimson: “Who told you to investigate? What do you know?”
Jiang Yunhan’s lips were pale. His voice trembled, yet he remained firm:
“I know everything.”
“I know all of it.”
Jian Yunchen violently flung his hand away, lowering his brow as he glared at him. “So what if you know everything? Do you think knowing all this allows you to threaten me? I’m telling you—”
“No!” Jiang Yunhan’s eyes widened as he grabbed the hand Jian Yunchen hadn’t yet pulled back. “Xiao Chen, I didn’t want to threaten you. I only want to ask one thing of you.”
Jiang Yunhan’s fingertips tightened slightly, his eyes carrying an unconscious vulnerability and plea.
Jian Yunchen stared into his eyes, his own fingertips curling slightly.
The rusty iron gates slowly opened, making a heavy, piercing sound. The white stone steps on the ground were covered in thick moss, emitting an eerie green glow under the sunlight.
This was a small, long-abandoned nursing home.
Ever since Jiang Sheng noticed Qin Zheng’s investigation into Jian Yunchen, he no longer kept Jian Xin in a fixed location.
Even Jian Yunchen would only know the specific address half an hour before a meeting.
Jian Yunchen walked forward, his footprints leaving a trail of wet marks on the moss.
He slowly pushed open the second door. The interior had clearly been cared for and looked much cleaner.
A small white bed was placed right in the center. The sunlight behind the bed streamed through the glass window, casting a warm-colored silhouette around the woman lying there.
The woman’s eyes were closed, her features relaxed. She looked gentle and kind. Standing beside her was a doctor wearing a mask. He looked up to inspect Jian Yunchen and said in a low voice: “Watch the time. You only have half an hour.”
After saying that, he turned and walked out.
The heavy door slowly closed with a dull thud.
Jian Yunchen slowly walked to the side of the woman.
He stared at her blankly, his eyes gradually turning red.
There was a “click” from the glass window.
A youth with the exact same appearance as him leaped lightly into the room from outside.
He landed without a sound.