Chapter 3

Chi Baichuan didn't believe him and looked him up and down.

Yangcheng No. 1 High School's uniform pants were shorts that only reached the knees.

Chi Ning's fair skin made the dark red bloodstains on his ankles especially conspicuous. The two Golden Needle Hoops he had originally worn to ward off evil were gone as well.

Chi Baichuan frowned tightly. "Why is there blood on your feet?"

Chi Ning immediately felt uncomfortable all over. "It's someone else's blood. I ran into someone injured in a fight at the night market today."

Chi Baichuan and Wang Quan, who had been sitting beside them without daring to speak for a long time, both let out a breath.

Noticing Teacher Wang's expression, Chi Ning shrank his shoulders awkwardly. "Teacher, have a seat. I'll go wash up first and be right back."

He wanted to take the needle rings off his ankles and set them aside, but his hand found nothing.

They'd fallen off?

When had they fallen off?

Afraid that he would blame himself, Chi Baichuan hurriedly said, "It's fine. If they're lost, they're lost. Just think of it as them warding off disaster for you. They weren't worth much anyway. I'll have another pair made for you another day."

Chi Ning paused. The strange feeling he had sensed when answering the phone earlier grew even stronger.

Back then, when his older brother had lost a watch, their father had cursed him viciously when he came home.

Today, Chi Ning had lost two pieces of gold, yet his father was being so pleasant that he had not even asked how they had gone missing.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

After washing his feet with soap, Chi Ning returned to the living room and heard his father say to Teacher Wang, "I know my own child. He's loved reading since he was little. There must be a reason he suddenly doesn't want to attend the competition. And seeing him like this when he came home today, it would be better to let him rest for a while first. Too much pressure isn't good for a child's health. Our family isn't short of money. Even if he just sits around doing nothing, I can afford to support him."

Chi Ning froze, growing even more confused.

He had already prepared himself to be scolded alongside his eldest brother, but his father did not seem to intend to blame him at all. Instead, he was asking the teacher to give him time off.

What was going on?

Could parents really play favorites between their two biological sons?

Chi Baichuan added, "The national competition training camp doesn't start for another ten days. Why not let him take ten days off first, then discuss it before the training camp begins?"

"That works too. With your son's ability, even after resting for ten days, he can still securely take first place in the country." Wang Quan had spent more than a decade navigating society and knew how to speak.

Everyone liked hearing others praise their own child.

Chi Baichuan beamed. "One can't be too certain. There's always someone better. Sorry for the trouble, Teacher."

He lifted his teacup and took a sip.

Wang Quan stood and said to Chi Ning, "It's getting late. I should be leaving soon. The notebooks you threw away were picked up by your classmates. They asked me to see whether you still wanted them. If not, could they take them to copy and photocopy? The class monitor said he could have everyone who copies them give you some money."

Chi Ning said, "Photocopy?"

Wang Quan was surprised too.

Could this little genius really not know how valuable those notes were?

He said tactfully, "Your notes are very well done. Everyone is competing to read them."

Chi Ning gave an acknowledging sound.

It had been too long. Who could remember what was written in their high school notes? In any case, he did not want them anymore. "Print them however you like. No need to pay me. Teacher, I'll see you out."

The moment he finished speaking, the doorbell rang.

The Chi family's doorbell was the pull-cord kind.

As long as someone grabbed the lever beneath the bell outside the front gate and shook it, the bell would ring, "Ding ding ding."

Chi Ning pulled open the front gate and saw his eldest brother, Chi Yang, with a motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm.

"Brother."

Chi Yang glanced at him, took out a warm fried shrimp cake from his pocket, and handed it over. "For you."

Chi Ning paused, then raised his hand and accepted it.

These old-style fried shrimp cakes were only sold in Taiguan District. In his previous life, he had always been able to eat a warm one after returning home from evening self-study.

He had always assumed the housekeeper bought them. He had never expected that his eldest brother was the one bringing them back.

Taiguan was the most chaotic area in Yangcheng, while Jiurong District was a well-known wealthy district. Even Jiurong had places like night markets where all sorts of people mixed together, so Taiguan's disorder went without saying.

It was home to Yangcheng's most densely populated old city pigeonhole apartments and comprehensive markets. Back in the 2010s, police had arrested many drug trafficking gangs and organ trafficking rings there.

It was clearly not worth it for an heir to make a trip there over a shrimp cake.

His brother might have been a playboy, but he should not have been stupid.

Chi Ning's thoughts were a mess. He instinctively said to Teacher Wang, "Let's go, Teacher."

After getting into the car, Wang Quan clung to the window. Even the reflection off his bald head seemed faintly pitiful. "You'll report to the competition advanced class in ten days, right? If you don't go, what will happen to No. 1 High School's competition slot?"

"I haven't decided yet." Chi Ning was vague as he said to the driver, "Thanks for the effort. Please get Teacher Wang home safely."

"Of course, Young Master."

The private car had barely driven away with Teacher Wang when the front gate in the distance was kicked open with a bang.

Chi Baichuan's furious roar came from inside the house. "Get out! Don't let me see you! I don't have such an unfilial son! If you won't admit your mistake, don't come back tonight!"

Chi Ning jumped in fright.

The old-style fried shrimp cake in his hand was still warm. What had his brother done this time to make their father so angry?

"You think I care?" Chi Yang sneered. He put on the helmet hanging from his motorcycle handlebar, gave a cold laugh, then finally mounted the bike without another word. He twisted the throttle and roared toward the garden gate. Yet as he passed Chi Ning, he slowed down and said coldly, "Eat it while it's hot."

Chi Ning watched his eldest brother's retreating figure, his mind filled with his father's roar.

Honestly, wasn't his brother pretty good? Why did their father always get so worked up?

Chi Ning wandered back into the living room in a daze and saw Chi Baichuan sitting on the sofa watching financial news. There was not the slightest trace of anger on his face as he said kindly, "Ningzai, go to bed early and get plenty of rest. Look how dark the circles under your eyes are."

His attitude could not have been more different from before.

Holding the fragrant shrimp cake, Chi Ning unwrapped the oil paper and took a bite. A wildly disrespectful guess surfaced in his mind.

Oh no. Could his father really be playing favorites?

Chi Ning went along with his father and asked, "Where's Mom?"

"She's on a business trip." Chi Baichuan smiled. "What do you want for breakfast tomorrow? I'll have the housekeeper make it for you."

"I want tangyuan."

The next day.

Chi Ning slept until he woke naturally. When he looked at the clock beside him, it was exactly nine o'clock. The first class had already started.

But both his father and teacher had agreed to give him ten days off, so it did not matter if he did not go to school during those ten days.

He drifted downstairs for breakfast, catching sight of a small stack of newspapers on the table from the corner of his eye.

They said that playing the financial market meant playing with information.

The Chi family subscribed to nearly every newspaper from major publishers on the market, not even overlooking entertainment tabloids.

Among them, the headline of one entertainment tabloid caught his attention. It read—Chi Family's Eldest Young Master Street Races Late at Night, Causing Jiu Pharmaceutical Transport Truck to Overturn.

The subheading read—Chongning Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Plunges at Opening, Does Chongning Have a Future?

Half a page of the newspaper was filled with photos of Chi Yang angrily leaving the Chi residence and passing by him. They were a little blurry, but judging by the distance, the photographer seemed to have been not far ahead of the garden gate.

Strange. He had not seen anyone there yesterday...

Just as Chi Ning was about to turn the page, a thump came from the mailbox.

The Chi family's mailbox was connected to the milk box. Both faced the side balcony near the small street. The small street was meant for milk delivery workers and postmen. The boxes connected the outside to the inside and were close to the housekeeper's room, so anything put in from outside could be retrieved from inside.

Letters and newspapers could not make such a solid sound. Curiosity piqued, Chi Ning immediately put down his bowl and went over to retrieve it.

Inside was a plain envelope without a stamp, along with a glass bottle of chilled bayberry juice.

The center of the envelope bulged slightly. When he tore it open and poured it out, two Golden Needle Hoops rolled out with a newly braided red cord. There was also a yellowed note inside that read:

The cord broke. The items fell by the west gate of the night market.

The bayberry juice bottle was new and had never been used.

Chapter 3

The letter had no signature, and the crumpled note gave no clue as to where it had come from.

Chi Ning turned the red cord over and over in his hands. The more he looked at it, the more familiar its braiding pattern seemed.

But there were only so many ways to braid a cord. He could not remember where he had seen it, so he simply bent one leg and placed his foot on the chair, tying the red cord back around his ankle.

The length was exactly right, as if someone had measured it with a ruler.

Chi Ning flicked the two Golden Needle Hoops resting together, producing a faint clinking sound.

He dared to wear the Golden Needle Hoop, but he definitely could not drink the bayberry juice without finding out where it came from.

In his previous life, he had fallen unconscious in the laboratory after drinking water handed to him by a colleague. By the time he woke up, the experimental data on his computer had been completely stolen.

That data had been intended for a patent application. Later, someone else registered the patent first, forcing Chongning Pharmaceutical to abandon a new drug it had been developing for a long time.

From then on, he never drank anything of unknown origin again.

Fortunately, the Chi family had surveillance cameras. He could check whether the little unlucky guy had delivered the bayberry juice.

That person had an injured leg and would definitely walk with difficulty, making him easy to identify.

Chi Ning walked into the home surveillance room and said to the person inside, "Uncle, help me check the camera by the mailbox at around nine-thirty."

In 2001, surveillance cameras had not yet become widespread. They were extremely expensive and required regular maintenance. If someone installed high-definition color cameras in every corner of a house, the cost would be enough to buy a luxury car.

So the Chi family only had two installed, one at the entrance and one by the mailbox.

The security guard in charge of surveillance was the housekeeper's son and also worked part-time as a driver. Chi Ning had heard that he had studied overseas and was an honest man.

With a toothpick in his mouth, he tapped rapidly on the equipment, turned the screen toward Chi Ning, then pulled over a chair. "Young Master, sit."