All for Nothing

Chen Nan held his admission certificate in his hand, utterly delighted. This was what he needed most.

Everything that had happened over this long stretch of time had proven one thing: without strength, doing anything was incredibly difficult. Above all, he no longer wanted the weak to sacrifice their lives for him.

Even though Chen Nan had sincerely given the dogs who died in this incident a proper burial, it was nothing more than a hypocritical form of self-consolation.

They were already dead. A funeral held by the living only bought a prettier face for appearances' sake.

Chen Nan had not intended to do it. He did not want to fall into such conventions himself. But when he thought that if he could not even suppress his own distaste and do something for the dead dogs, that would be even more disgraceful, he went through with it anyway.

Now, he was going to enter Wu City Preparatory Academy and strive to join the ranks of the Transcendents. The sage was unkind, treating the common people like straw dogs. If he did not want to be manipulated by others, then he had to stand at the height of the "sage."

Such determination lay in the depths of his heart, though it was also the helpless result of being driven by life!

Unfortunately, fate seemed unwilling to let Chen Nan have it so easy. Before he had even warmed the certificate in his hands, he was sitting in the defendant's seat.

The plaintiff was naturally Wang Bodan. The two faced one another in court at a special tribunal, and Wang Bodan had even hired an excellent lawyer.

Chen Nan, meanwhile, had no connections whatsoever and could only use the lawyer appointed by the tribunal. The word "formality" might as well have been carved across that lawyer's forehead, and he thoroughly embodied those two words during the proceedings.

The courtroom debate made Chen Nan's head throb. When defending himself against the charges of murder and theft, he presented his evidence.

That evidence was the recording he had made before he began cutting down Ghost Head's gang of thugs.

Chen Nan argued forcefully that even a Transcendent could take defensive action when subjected to a lethal attack from ordinary people. This did not violate any law at all.

He also defended himself against the theft charge, saying that he had acted out of ignorance. As the saying went, those who did not know could not be blamed. He could also make appropriate restitution for the theft.

With favorable evidence, reasonable arguments from Chen Nan, and the fact that all his actions had been righteous, he originally should not have received much punishment.

But the lawyer Wang Bodan had hired truly deserved his professional reputation. Every move struck Chen Nan where it hurt. On the grounds that none of the ordinary people who had chased him had survived, resulting in the deaths of twenty or thirty people, he argued that this was, at the very least, excessive self-defense.

At the same time, Chen Nan's theft could not simply be waved away with the excuse of "ignorance." Otherwise, if everyone who committed a crime claimed ignorance, what would become of the law's dignity?

As for whether the money he had stolen was ill-gotten wealth, there was no room for distinction in the nature of his theft. Theft was theft. One could not lessen the punishment because the victim was a bad person, or increase it because the victim was a good person. Otherwise, what would become of the fairness of the law?

After that impassioned and stirring speech, even Chen Nan himself was beginning to feel that he deserved to die ten thousand deaths.

Fortunately, Chen Nan had already built up the image of a young hero who punished evil and upheld good. No matter how dedicated that lawyer was, he was still somewhat suppressed by Chen Nan's halo.

Thus, the tribunal's final ruling was: Chen Nan's reward of exempt admission to the Preparatory Academy, including free tuition, would be revoked. At the same time, he was to pay Wang Bodan fifty thousand yuan as compensation for the previous theft.

There would be no other punishment.

On the surface, this punishment was already quite light, but to Chen Nan, it was extremely severe.

He would have to take the entrance examination himself, and the condition of free admission was gone. More crucially, the fifty thousand yuan had passed through his hands like a god of wealth passing by. Now that he was penniless, how could he cross the threshold of the Preparatory Academy?

After the verdict was announced, Wang Bodan looked at Chen Nan from the plaintiff's seat and said, "Remember this well. I will never let you go. The disaster and pain you brought me—I will make you repay them a hundredfold!"

Chen Nan looked at him in silence.

In truth, after reducing the Wang Clan to this state, he no longer had any intention of uprooting them completely.

After all, he was not the protagonist from someone's story, the kind who never left anyone any room to breathe. He felt that things had gone far enough. Did he really have to make the Wang Clan die without descendants?

There was truly no need for that.

But now it seemed that while he could let the other side go, the other side would not let him go. There was a saying: Heaven's sins may yet be forgiven; one's own sins cannot be survived.

Since Wang Bodan chose to act this way, then he could not blame Chen Nan for being ruthless and vicious.

Yet Chen Nan still gave no response. He merely left in silence. Naturally, everything that needed to be handed over had already been handed over.

Although Li Yu and Xun Xin had not attended the hearing, they learned of the tribunal's situation through other means.

The two exchanged glances, both secretly thinking, A biting dog bares no teeth! This Chen Nan is absolutely a ruthless man!

That "ruthless man," Chen Nan, left the tribunal looking somewhat dejected. When he reached the street, he saw his landlady waiting for him in a car.

His food, clothing, shelter, and daily needs were now all covered by this landlady. Therefore, we had no choice but to reveal her name; otherwise, it would have been too impersonal.

Her name was Jiang Lili. Since she owned several properties, having a car was nothing unusual.

After Chen Nan got into the car, Jiang Lili started it. Only after pulling onto the road did she ask with concern, "What's wrong? Was the verdict terrible?"

"It wasn't especially terrible," Chen Nan said, then told her the entire outcome.

Jiang Lili fully unleashed the bombardment-style verbal concern women displayed when others encountered misfortune.

Chen Nan said that this result was already acceptable. It was just that it had become an obstacle to his entering the Preparatory Academy, and that was rather frustrating.

Jiang Lili smiled. "What's so frustrating about that? With your strength, could getting into the Preparatory Academy possibly be a problem?"

Chen Nan replied weakly, "It's not a matter of strength. I have no money now. Just registering for the examination costs ten thousand yuan."

Jiang Lili could not help clicking her tongue, but quickly said, "Don't worry about that. Your big sister can still come up with ten thousand yuan. Just go take the exam. Leave all the expenses to me. At worst, I'll sell one building, and all the money will come out."

She had originally been called Auntie, but Jiang Lili had voluntarily lowered her seniority and changed herself into Big Sister. In truth, the title fit reality better, since she was only around thirty.

But Jiang Lili's whole performance made Chen Nan's hairs stand on end. Was this the rhythm of her keeping him? But then he looked back at himself—he was just a ten-year-old little brat. There was absolutely no way that was the case. He realized he had been using the heart of a petty man to measure a woman's belly.

Chen Nan tried to refuse the money, but Jiang Lili argued with him so fiercely that they nearly got into an accident. To let her drive safely, he had no choice but to agree.

Chen Nan actually still had some money on him. When he had rented Jiang Lili's place before, he had paid three months' rent in one lump sum. He was now living in another of Jiang Lili's houses, so it was not as though he was entirely taking advantage of her.

Of course, the accounts could not be calculated that way. Right now, she was essentially supporting him. Even though he was already something like a little hero, publicizing him and making a fortune in every direction was one thing; solving his living problems was another.

Besides, he had already been given a reward of fifty thousand yuan. As far as the government was concerned, it had fulfilled all the obligations it could toward him. What was more, the Prefecture Office did not want to hear another word about Chen Nan.

Soon, the two arrived at their residence. After Jiang Lili parked the car in the garage, she returned home with Chen Nan.

Once inside, Jiang Lili rummaged through boxes and cabinets, then tossed a card to Chen Nan.

Chen Nan took the card and saw the character "ten thousand" marked in its upper-right corner. He knew this was the kind of card used for deposits below one hundred thousand yuan.

Jiang Lili said, "This is my spending-money card. There's a little over ten thousand yuan in it. When you register for the assessment, just use it to swipe the fee. There's no password."

Chen Nan truly envied such wealth and boldness. A card holding more than ten thousand yuan was merely for spending money. Such a rich and kind woman—it was a pity the man before had not cherished her properly.

But perhaps that was the fate of all good things.

Chen Nan could not stand on ceremony anymore. Smiling, he said, "Consider this ten thousand yuan a loan. When I have money, I'll repay you the principal and interest together."

Jiang Lili sat across from Chen Nan and said indifferently, "Whatever. Give it to me whenever you have it. If you stay this poor forever, then you don't have to give it back."

Chen Nan was somewhat puzzled. Although he knew it was a foolish question, he could not help asking, "Why are you so good to me?"

Jiang Lili smiled and said, "Because I've fallen in love with you. Is that okay?"

Chen Nan's face instantly turned red, making Jiang Lili laugh until she bent at the waist. She pinched his cheek and said, "You're only ten, and you already know how to blush? But I wasn't lying. It's just that if you added another ten years to your age, the nature of this 'love' might possibly become that kind of love.

Right now, when I say I love you, I only mean that I cherish you.

You're a little hero, with the spirit of a true man. You did such a great good deed. Compared to that, what I'm doing for you is nothing at all.

Think about it. How many wronged souls did you allow to clear their grievances? How many shattered families did you reunite? And how many suffering people did you save?

All of those things should be remembered in people's hearts.

By helping you now, I also hope that my ordinary life can borrow your light and compose a brilliant chapter worthy of remembering in my old age."

Chen Nan smiled. "You're the truly kind person. I'm not entirely one."