Chapter 32#
Read fewer novels and dream less.#
It happened just a few days ago.
“Jian Yunchen!” Tang Qi had waited for several days before finally catching sight of Jian Yunchen. Ignoring the gazes of the other students around them, he suddenly rushed forward and gripped Jian Yunchen’s arm tightly, as if terrified he might run away.
People were coming and going below the dormitory building. Jian Yunchen suppressed his voice and said coldly, “Let go.”
“I won’t!” At this point, Tang Qi couldn’t care about anything else. Instead, he gripped even tighter. “It was only because you said you wouldn’t do anything to my dad that I told you!”
“You lied to me!” Tang Qi’s eyes were bloodshot, and his voice rose uncontrollably. “My dad… my dad has been fired from the company now, and he’s in the hospital. I was a bastard back then, but harm shouldn’t befall one’s family… What exactly do you want before you’ll let me go!”
Jian Yunchen suddenly took a step forward, grabbed Tang Qi by the collar, and slammed him against the wall. Caught off guard, Tang Qi’s shoulder blades hit the white lime surface of the wall hard, and the back of his head struck it with a dull thud.
He hadn’t expected that Jian Yunchen, who looked so thin and weak, would have the strength to subdue him so easily.
“I lied to you. What can you do about it?”
The deliberately lowered voice sounded cold and damp, ringing in his ear like a warning.
Jian Yunchen’s arm was pressed across Tang Qi’s neck. He looked down at the obvious humiliation and rage on the other’s face and suddenly smiled. “You believed whatever I said. If I didn’t lie to you, who else would I lie to? Who could be stupider than you?”
Tang Qi’s pale lips trembled for a moment. His face quickly turned ashen, and his eyes stared fixedly at Jian Yunchen, stubbornly wanting an answer: “Why…”
“I clearly apologized to you for what happened back then, and you’ve already had your revenge. Is that still not enough?”
“Still not enough?” Jian Yunchen chuckled and threw the question back at him. “What makes you think that just because you said sorry, I have to forgive you?”
His eyes were sinister, and the strength in his hand increased, pressing down until Tang Qi could hardly breathe. “Harm shouldn’t befall one’s family? Tang Qi, what right do you have to say those words? Have you forgotten why you started all this in the first place?”
“Have you felt, from beginning to end, that as long as you humored me and said sorry, I should cry and say it’s okay? Why should I?”
Tang Qi was stunned by the questions.
The interrogation continued in his ear.
“Do you think I went through all that trouble just because a ‘sorry’ would be enough?”
“Tang Qi, read fewer novels and dream less.”
“Only when I watch you go to hell will this matter be considered finished.”
A crowd slowly began to gather, forming a small circle around Jian Yunchen. Fights and friction were common at the boys’ dormitory, but Tang Qi’s expression was so incredibly hideous that the onlookers couldn’t help but feel a bit curious.
When Jian Yunchen finished his last sentence, Tang Qi felt as if he had been dropped into an ice cellar in the middle of winter. Despite the temperature being in the twenties and the residual warmth of the sun still lingering outside the building, he felt a chill rapidly spread from his limbs to his brain.
It was like the whisper of a demon, carrying unmasked malice and sincerity.
Jian Yunchen let go. Tang Qi clutched his neck, gasping for breath with a pale face. Looking at the surrounding crowd, the feeling of shame from being gawked at surged up. He shouted in embarrassment and rage, “What are you looking at? All of you, get lost!”
There were a few murmurs from the crowd, and they slowly dispersed.
Jian Yunchen sneered, bent down to pick up his bag from the ground, patted off the conspicuous white dust, slung it over one shoulder, and prepared to leave.
“Wait!” Tang Qi grabbed Jian Yunchen’s trailing arm. Jian Yunchen turned slightly, his cold eyes fixed on him.
Tang Qi gritted his teeth, his grip unconsciously tightening. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose the fact that you set me up? If you won’t let me have a good life, don’t think you’ll get away unscathed either.”
Jian Yunchen’s gaze calmly swept over Tang Qi’s left leg, which had yet to heal. He wasn’t in a hurry to leave and said calmly, “You’d have to have the opportunity first.”
“I sent the principal a big surprise gift. Otherwise, why don’t you guess what it might be?”
Tang Qi’s pupils shrank suddenly, and his hand unconsciously loosened. He immediately shook his head. “Impossible. You gave me your phone, how could you still have…”
Jian Yunchen smiled faintly. The brilliant smile dissipated some of the stagnant, gloomy aura around the young man. He gently brushed Tang Qi’s hand away, his tone rising playfully: “That’s why I told you to guess. If you guess wrong, you’re finished.”
After saying that, he ignored Tang Qi, who was frozen in place, and left the area with brisk steps.
Once out of the school gates, he headed straight for the Qin Group building. Upon arrival, he was stopped by security because he had no identification.
He made a phone call.
Soon, someone appeared and signaled for him to follow.
Jian Yunchen touched the mask on his face. Once he confirmed it was secure, he followed.
Pushing open the office door, the person inside clearly hadn’t expected Jian Yunchen to contact him.
The man had a faint, lingering smile on his lips. He raised his hand slightly and said in a calm tone, “Sit.”
Jian Yunchen took off his mask and sat opposite the man.
“Jian Yunchen…”
Qin Zheng’s tone was playful as he softly spoke his name.
“Qin Mu isn’t in this office.”
“I’m looking for you.”
Jian Yunchen quietly raised his eyes to meet his gaze.
Qin Zheng gave a short laugh. He still had a vivid memory of the scene Qin Mu and Jiang Yunhan had performed together in the meeting room two days ago.
He didn’t think that Jian Yunchen coming here could mean anything good.
“What is it?” Having realized this, Qin Zheng quickly lost interest. He leaned against the back of his chair and lowered his eyelids, his face gradually showing signs of impatience.
“You were the one who found those photos. Therefore, you are the one who knows best—the person in the photos is me.”
“Heh.” Qin Zheng sneered and raised his sharp eyes to scan him.
So what if he knew? Qin Mu had persuaded Jiang Yunhan, and with the Jiang family acting as his backing to guarantee Qin Mu’s lies, no matter who was in the photos, it could only be Jiang Yunhan now.
“Show him out.” He had no interest in listening to the repeated provocations of Qin Mu and Jian Yunchen. It was childish and low-class.
The secretary soon pushed the door open and entered.
Jian Yunchen smiled and pulled a USB drive from his bag. “Don’t be in such a hurry. I might have something you want.”
Qin Zheng’s expression went cold as he contemplated for a few seconds.
A few seconds later, he waved the secretary away.
The silver USB drive was exchanged between their fingertips.
In the quiet office, the voices of Jian Yunchen and another person slowly flowed out.
“Do you like it?” “I do.”
……
“Him, I want. You, I also want.” “That’s not for you to worry about. Just say whether you’ll give it to me or not.”
……
“Put your clothes on.”
The audio ended there.
Qin Zheng pulled out the USB drive and twirled it gently between his fingers. The corners of his mouth hooked up slightly. “It’s been edited. Where is the original? Name your price.”
Jian Yunchen’s expression remained unchanged, a pure and innocent smile hanging on his face. That sense of familiarity made Qin Zheng squint his eyes slightly, finding it somewhat piercing.
He shook his head. “I don’t want money.”
“I can step forward and expose my relationship with Qin Mu, proving that what Jiang Yunhan said was a lie.”
Jian Yunchen smiled slightly. “But I have one condition.”