Chapter 18#

“Brother”#

“Jian Yunchen.”

“Don’t keep making mistakes.”

Jiang Yunhan’s brows furrowed tightly. He stepped forward, grabbed Jian Yunchen’s hand, his eyes pleading, his tone sincere: “Go surrender, as long as you genuinely repent…”

“Repent?”

With a “bang,” Jian Yunchen shook off his hand and couldn’t help but sneer: “Why should I repent? I have the evidence of him buying test questions, he can’t pull any tricks.”

“I won, why should I admit defeat?”

Jiang Yunhan’s heart constricted, his voice dry: “But, what you’re doing, it’s not right…”

Jian Yunchen took a sudden step forward, walked in front of him, looked at that face so strikingly similar to his own, and couldn’t help but feel a surge of malice: “Then go report me.”

The voice was very soft, scattered by a gentle breeze.

Jiang Yunhan almost thought he had misheard.

He widened his eyes, and involuntarily took half a step back.

Jian Yunchen, however, pressed closer, bringing that face identical to his own close to him, his voice echoing in his ear: “Why don’t you dare?”

“Oh…” He let out a long ‘oh,’ an undeniable wickedness in his tone: “Do you think there’s some connection between us?”

“What connection could there be between us, Jiang Yunhan?”

He chuckled, and an icy smile instantly enveloped Jiang Yunhan’s entire body: “Or perhaps, ‘brother’ is a more suitable address?”

“Hello.” Qin Mu’s slightly hoarse voice came from the other end of the phone, carrying an undeniable weariness.

Jian Yunchen walked alone by the roadside. After his brief confrontation with Jiang Yunhan, he had fled in disarray upon hearing the word “brother,” leaving the conversation unresolved.

The endless night conceals all sorts of human emotions in the shadows.

Whether it be resentment, destruction, jealousy, or any other negative emotion, all are amplified in the darkness.

But after venting emotions, what followed was only hollow fatigue and numbness occupying every corner of his heart.

As he walked back to the dorm, for some reason, he suddenly dialed Qin Mu’s number.

Half a minute had passed, Jian Yunchen still hadn’t said a word, and Qin Mu had no intention of rushing him. The two quietly listened to each other’s breathing.

“It’s nothing…” Jian Yunchen said: “Wrong number.”

He was about to hang up.

Qin Mu’s voice suddenly came from the other end: “Where are you?”

Jian Yunchen paused, subconsciously answering: “Dorm.”

“Come out, I’m at your school gate.”

Jian Yunchen: “……”

A few minutes later, Jian Yunchen opened the back door of the conspicuous red car.

He sat straight down. Qin Mu sat on the other side, only raising his eyes when Jian Yunchen arrived, then exhaling a puff of smoke out the car window.

He didn’t know how long Qin Mu had been sitting there, or how long he had been smoking. The smell of smoke in the car was so strong that Jian Yunchen instinctively frowned.

Qin Mu wasn’t a heavy smoker; he only smoked occasionally and had never seen him smoke so intensely.

Jian Yunchen pressed down the car window, and with a gust of wind, the smell inside the car dissipated considerably.

Cars passed by on the roadside. He stared at Qin Mu for a while. Qin Mu’s eyes were half-closed, light and shadow played across his face, his three-dimensional features appearing particularly profound. He just kept smoking, silent.

Stripped of that layer of inscrutable concealment, Qin Mu at this moment resembled a trapped beast, shrouded in an invisible layer of agitation, and beneath that, a deeper unease.

Jian Yunchen’s heart stirred, and a sudden, inexplicable thought arose in his mind: Qin Mu might disappear at any moment.

But where would he go?

Qin Mu was right here.

He leaned forward, his clothes draped, his lower back arching into a beautiful curve. The zipper pull clinked against Qin Mu’s hand, causing a chill. Qin Mu remained still, quietly watching his movements.

Jian Yunchen naturally snatched the half-smoked cigarette. His crimson lips parted slightly, a pale pink tongue flickered out, gently biting the filter.

He only tried one puff and was immediately choked, trembling as he held the cigarette, coughing uncontrollably.

Qin Mu was amused.

He took the cigarette and dropped it into the cup in front.

“Can’t smoke, yet you still try?”

“I saw you smoking so enthusiastically.” Jian Yunchen’s eyes were red from coughing.

When he looked up again, Qin Mu had returned to his original composure, no longer revealing a trace of agitation.

Qin Mu’s hand was placed gently on Jian Yunchen’s back, patting him. He didn’t rush to withdraw it after Jian Yunchen recovered, instead still leaning against the backrest, head slightly lowered, looking at him.

Jian Yunchen’s arm rested between them; the distance was already a bit too close, but neither of them seemed to notice.

“Hey… what’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” Qin Mu raised his eyes.

Feeling a source of warmth close by, Jian Yunchen leaned in and huddled beside him. His tone was as indifferent as ever, yet a hint of worry could be discerned upon closer listening: “You don’t seem right. Weren’t you fine this afternoon?”

Qin Mu recalled his experience at the old house that afternoon.

As he was leaving, he was held back. He turned to look, and it was a girl.

She looked seven or eight years old, named Qin Zhao.

She was the original owner’s sister.

And also Qin Mu’s sister.

Exactly like Qin Mu’s sister in his original world, even the name was identical.

However, the age difference between them was not that significant.

In the original world, Qin Zhao was only five years younger than him and very healthy.

Here, however, she was born with a disability, unable to hear any sound since childhood.

At that moment, many conjectures arose in Qin Mu’s mind, but after he questioned the system, all results were fruitless.

No matter how much he didn’t want to admit it.

Qin Zhao in this world would not be his Qin Zhao.

His sister had long since turned against him.

Became strangers to him.

Severed all ties with him.

Even in his memories of his last life, it was Qin Zhao who cried as she shot him, then cried and threw herself into the protagonist’s arms.

Protagonists and villains are irreconcilable.

Even if that person was his sister whom he had loved and cherished since childhood, it was still true.

But in this world, it was completely the opposite; “Qin Mu” disliked his sister the most.

Qin Zhao was born with a disability, had a low presence in the old house, was not well-liked, and even servants could secretly bully her, sometimes even with “Qin Mu’s” tacit approval.

“Qin Mu” hated her.

Bullied her for being a stutterer, bullied her for being deaf.

When Qin Mu took over this body, memories of Qin Zhao seemed to have been deliberately sealed away. Only when he saw her again did all memories of his sister flood back.

He remembered that when Qin Zhao was still young, “Qin Mu’s” lies made Qin Zhao search for the hearing aid he had hidden in the rainy night, after which she had a high fever for three days.

He remembered “Qin Mu’s” deliberate difficult acts, making Qin Zhao face that group of people alone, listening to their incomprehensible taunts and insults, and then hiding and crying for three days.

There were too many incidents, innumerable.

Yet Qin Zhao seemed to be missing a natural emotional “string.”

She ignored such bullying, and would always gravitate towards her brother when she saw him.

Gently tugging at him.

Her little face again flushed slightly, she called out that phrase:

“Brother.”