Chapter 14#
Bullying#
Qin Qiaosen moved fairly quickly. Within a few days, he had already gathered all of Jian Yunchen’s information.
He came in from outside, first taking a large gulp of water before slamming the documents in his hand onto Qin Mu’s desk.
“You knew all along, didn’t you?”
Qin Mu shifted his gaze from the computer screen, landing on the one-inch blue-background photo at the top of the file.
The person in the photo looked 15 or 16 at most, his hair slightly long, drooping over the corners of his eyes and obscuring his features. His small face was gloomy; back then, he wasn’t as good at hiding his emotions as he was now. His eyes no longer shimmered with a watery light, but were instead icy and pitch black.
Qin Mu let out a long “Oh,” leaned back, and casually flipped through the documents.
“What are you ‘oh-ing’ about?!” Qin Qiaosen was practically going crazy. God knows how shocked he was when he saw what this Jian Yunchen looked like. “What exactly is his relationship with Jiang Yunhan?”
Qin Mu’s eyes didn’t move; he only raised an eyebrow slightly. A few thin pages of data summarized more than ten years of Jian Yunchen’s life. “You didn’t find anything?”
Qin Qiaosen shook his head: “I could find information about his past, but the line regarding his relationship with the Jiang family is completely clean.”
“He has nothing to do with the Jiang family.”
Qin Mu couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing this conclusion. He looked up. “Can you really say that while looking at Jian Yunchen’s face?”
“Maybe… some people just look alike…” Qin Qiaosen found an excuse, though his voice lacked conviction.
Qin Mu didn’t say anything more. He slowly flipped through the records. Previously, he had made guesses about the scars on Jian Yunchen’s body—perhaps an unknown mother, or perhaps he had been a victim of school bullying.
In the files, information about Jian Yunchen’s childhood was limited, but within those limited materials, there was one particular photo. A kind-looking lady with a gentle smile was squatting next to Jian Yunchen, half-embracing him. A young Jian Yunchen was wearing a brand-new school uniform, his mouth puckered, looking like he was about to burst into tears. Behind them were the gates of an elementary school.
He stared at it for a long time. This mother’s love for Jian Yunchen was evident before he started middle school, but afterward, due to health reasons, her presence became much scarcer.
Qin Mu withdrew his gaze and continued flipping. Qin Qiaosen’s voice rang in his ears: “However, do you know what they’re spreading at A University right now?”
He asked absentmindedly, “What?”
Qin Qiaosen didn’t keep him in suspense. He slid his chair closer and lowered his voice: “Don’t let Jian Yunchen’s refined and clean appearance fool you. It turns out he actually bullied people back in high school.”
“Bullying?” Qin Mu’s fingertips paused.
“Yeah. The victim just happened to test into the same university as him. Because his leg was broken, he arrived a full month late.”
Qin Mu let out a “Ha.” “A broken leg?”
“Yeah,” Qin Qiaosen said with great certainty. “His left leg was broken, it’s still in a cast. That guy is apparently called…”
“Tang Qi. Tang Rong’s youngest son. Speaking of which, he’s technically a relative of yours.”
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow, scouring the original host’s memory, but he had no impression of this Tang Rong or Tang Qi.
Seeing Qin Mu’s expression, Qin Qiaosen knew he must have forgotten and quickly explained: “The child of your mother’s cousin’s family. You should call him your younger cousin.”
With Qin Qiaosen’s introduction, Qin Mu finally unearthed the memory of Tang Qi from a corner of his mind.
What kind of relative was that? Calling him a relative was already giving him too much face.
Never mind Jian Yunchen bullying Tang Qi; given Tang Qi’s lawless and reckless personality, it would be much more believable to say he was the one bullying Jian Yunchen.
Qin Mu stood up with the documents in hand and headed for the door, preparing to go see how his “partner” was bullying people.
The early autumn weather was cool in the mornings and evenings, but still somewhat muggy during the day.
“Yunchen!” someone shouted on the basketball court.
The basketball traced an arc through the air and landed in his hands. The two players guarding Jian Yunchen immediately moved to block him. The girls sitting around the court followed him with their eyes. The score of this friendship match between Finance and Computer Science was neck and neck, 42:45—just a few baskets’ difference.
His movements were agile. With a feint, he disrupted his opponent’s focus and quickly stepped back to take a shot. His body seemed to hang in the air for a few seconds before a “thump” sounded as the ball went through the hoop.
The court erupted in cheers. The score of 45 changed to 48 in the blink of an eye.
Jian Yunchen stood in place, panting for a few breaths.
He was decent at sports, but his physical stamina wasn’t great. Usually, he couldn’t play a full game. If it weren’t for the sudden lack of players today, he wouldn’t be out here shedding blood and sweat on the court under the scorching sun.
On the other side, Jian Yunchen’s sharp eyes noticed that the other team had quietly swapped a player.
Qin Zheng.
During this period, the rumors about Jian Yunchen had been intensifying on campus.
This had caused Qin Zheng to take notice of him one step ahead of the rest.
As soon as he took the court, the atmosphere reached its peak again. No one knew why even a senior about to graduate would join this friendship match, but everyone’s focus on the game intensified.
Fouls happen easily in basketball—some intentional, some accidental. Qin Zheng bumped into him several times and received a warning.
“Tweet—” a sharp whistle blew, and the basketball hit the ground.
Jian Yunchen was holding the ball when he was hit hard. His body stumbled, and he fell toward the ground, letting out a muffled groan.
The others stopped what they were doing and gathered around.
“Are you okay?”
“Where are you hurt?”
The ball in his hand rolled to Qin Zheng’s feet. He also approached: “Sorry about that, used a bit too much force. I didn’t expect you to just fall over.”
The skin on Jian Yunchen’s arm and calf was badly scraped and red. He sat with his leg half-bent, looking up with a gloomy gaze.
Qin Zheng reached out a hand: “Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Jian Yunchen gave him a cold look and ignored the outstretched hand.
He slowly stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.
Qin Zheng withdrew his hand, the smile on his face unchanging. He leaned in a step closer and lowered his voice, speaking in a tone only the two of them could hear: “Who exactly are you?”
“I don’t care what your motive is for getting close to Yunhan, I advise you to drop the idea.”
Jian Yunchen let out a cold laugh. His tone was icy, and his gaze shifted past Qin Zheng’s shoulder to catch sight of a familiar figure. He tilted his head slightly, his warm breath grazing the other man’s ear as he spoke: “Oh my, I’m so scared…”
Men usually have a certain scent after exercising, but Jian Yunchen didn’t; he was clean, only his breath was hot. Before Qin Zheng could react to the tingling sensation in his ear, he suddenly heard the sound of a water bottle hitting the ground behind him.
He whipped his head around, only in time to see the bottle on the ground and a figure hurrying away in panic.
When Qin Zheng turned back again, a look of schadenfreude had risen in those familiar eyes.
The voice was still swirling in his ear: “They ran away… aren’t you going to chase them? It couldn’t be a misunderstanding, could it, Senior? Do you need me to go explain it for you?”
Facing that brilliant smile and the deliberately mimicked tone, Qin Zheng’s face suddenly turned cold and dark. He took off to give chase.
Jian Yunchen watched the departing figure and let out a cold snort.
In the confusion, the basketball rolled to Peng Yu’s feet. Peng Yu picked up the ball and bounced it repeatedly on the ground, his voice dripping with ill-intent and mockery: “If you ask me, you’re way too weak. When you were bullying others, wasn’t your strength quite great?”
Peng Yu was Tang Qi’s roommate. Boys this age often had an overflowing sense of justice.
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell silent. Jian Yunchen didn’t argue; he just slowly turned his head to look at him, his expression turning cold.
He looked at Peng Yu, and spoke word by word, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present: “That’s right. Be careful, yours might be the next leg that breaks.”
Having said that, he ignored everyone’s reaction and limped out of the basketball court.
Behind him came the sound of the basketball being slammed down and Peng Yu’s exasperated cursing.