As soon as Yu Xian got the call, she rushed over from the convenience store in Shangxiajiu.
After leaving the Inner Ring Road, she ran straight into a traffic jam. When someone was worried about something, they had to do something; otherwise, sitting helplessly in a taxi only let their imagination run wild.
So Yu Xian simply got out and jogged the rest of the way, praying that Chen Zhu wasn't badly hurt.
At the intersection across from the police station, she also ran into Wu Yu, who had been waiting there.
But!
When the two of them rushed anxiously into the service hall, they found Chen Zhu chatting with Huang Bohan, all smiles.
"???"
If her legs hadn't still been trembling, Yu Xian would have marched straight up, stared Chen Zhu down, and demanded, "Director Chen, what exactly is going on?"
Actually, the moment Chen Zhu saw Yu Xian appear, he was surprised too. Then he suddenly realized that mixed into that surprise was an inexplicable flicker of panic.
As though some secret of his had been exposed.
This is fucking ridiculous. We're just classmates! Classmates!
Chen Zhu emphatically repeated that to himself.
"Chen Zhu."
Big Huang frantically disclaimed responsibility beside him. "I didn't tell Yu Xian anything. If you two start fighting, don't blame me."
Fuck!
Chen Zhu cursed inwardly. Even that bastard Huang Bohan had sniffed out something amiss.
And the others present could fairly be described as crafty old foxes with a thousand years of experience.
Just look at who was there:
Song Zuomin, Chen Peisong, He Yong, Cao Jingjun, Mao Xiaoqin, Yin Yanqiu, Bian Ying, Xu Chaocai, Wang Changhua's parents...
The first three alone had enough cunning for a hundred people.
Chen Zhu decided he couldn't just sit back and wait. Things hadn't reached that point yet, but if he let Yu Xian speak first, he had a feeling he might lose control of the situation.
So he probably needed to take the initiative.
"Ahem... Dad."
Chen Zhu suddenly coughed and called out to Chen Peisong.
Chen Peisong turned and quietly looked at his son.
Ignoring whatever lay behind his father's gaze, Chen Zhu continued, "That girl is Yu Xian, the one I mentioned to you before. She works at a convenience store to earn her university tuition. One day, someone was harassing her, and I happened to be there, so I stepped in to help..."
"Oh, Bohan was there too."
After finishing, Chen Zhu added that detail.
Huang Bohan genuinely thought Chen Zhu had told Chen Peisong about it before. He nodded and said, "Right, it was the convenience store beside the Yishion clothing shop in Shangxiajiu..."
At first, Chen Peisong said nothing, remaining silent for about two seconds.
For one of those seconds, he observed Yu Xian.
At a glance, this pretty young girl was clearly worried about his son, which was why she had rushed over so desperately.
For the other second, he studied his own supposedly "honest" son, Chen Zhu.
Two seconds seemed very short, but for someone like Chen Peisong, they were enough to work out a great many things, make a decision, and even choose what expression to show.
Then Chen Peisong nodded as though understanding had dawned. "So that's her..."
"Hm?"
Mao Xiaoqin asked in puzzlement, "Why haven't I heard about this?"
From Chen Zhu's perspective, his own mother was undermining him.
"It was only a minor incident. I'm so busy with work, how could I remember to report every little thing to you?"
In the end, his father stepped in and casually brushed it aside.
In fact, Chen Peisong knew nothing about the circumstances. The only thing he could be certain of was that his son had never mentioned a girl named Yu Xian.
Chen Zhu's behavior suggested he was worried Yu Xian's appearance would seem too abrupt, so he wanted to introduce her beforehand and establish some context. Put plainly, he was asking his father to provide cover on the spot.
Chen Peisong didn't quite understand who this "cover" was meant for.
Could it be Song Shiwei?
But none of that mattered. Stay calm when something happened, and deal with the immediate problem first.
Once Yu Xian had recovered a little, she let out a long breath and slowly straightened up.
Completely unconcerned by all the eyes on her, Yu Xian walked straight up to Chen Zhu and asked in confusion, "Didn't they say you were hurt?"
Chen Zhu chuckled inwardly. Beneath Yu Xian's alluring, fiery exterior, she seemed to possess an innate, headlong courage. He wondered if it came from her love of chili peppers.
Rather than answering her question first, Chen Zhu openly introduced Yu Xian... no, Yu Xian and Wu Yu to his parents.
"Dad, Mom, these are Yu Xian and Wu Yu. They go to our school, and they're also... my friends."
Yu Xian had been too far away to hear earlier, so only now did she realize Chen Zhu's parents were there. She sheepishly poked out her tongue and hurriedly greeted them. "Hello, Uncle and Auntie!"
"Hello, hello..."
Mao Xiaoqin was still struggling to take it in. Song Shiwei was already beautiful enough, and now another very pretty girl had arrived, with an entirely different style and bearing.
What exactly does Chen Zhu get up to at school?
Empress Dowager Mao began wondering too.
Chen Peisong was much calmer and even asked gently, "Did you get stuck in traffic on the way here? Yuecheng's traffic planning really does have some problems..."
"It wasn't too bad. I usually take the subway."
Her eyes curving into crescents, Yu Xian said cheerfully, "Running once in a while just counts as exercise."
Through this gentle, unobtrusive small talk, everyone gradually accepted that Yu Xian was "Chen Zhu's friend."
Actually, when Yu Xian first appeared looking so anxious, several of the adults had felt there was something unusual about her relationship with Chen Zhu.
Even Song Zuomin had thought so. He had assumed she was Chen Zhu's girlfriend at school and had privately marveled that she was only a little less attractive than his own daughter.
But Chen Zhu had first laid the groundwork with his explanation, then openly introduced her, so Chairman Song decided he might have misunderstood.
"Oh, right!"
As they chatted, Yu Xian nearly forgot the important matter. She hurriedly asked, "Chen Zhu, you still haven't told me what happened!"
At this point, Chen Zhu decided he ought to separate Song Shiwei and Yu Xian. After all, stunning beauties had magnetic fields of their own, and putting them together could easily create repulsion.
Nobody had taught Chen Zhu any of this, but instinctively, he felt that was what he should do.
"You're sweating after running all the way here. I'll go buy you some water."
Chen Zhu deliberately added, "I'll explain when I get back."
"No!"
Yu Xian wasn't about to wait that long. Immediately pouting, she said, "We'll go buy water together. You can tell us on the way."
"Then... let's go."
And so Chen Zhu, Huang Bohan, Yu Xian, and Wu Yu, four high school students in uniform, left the service hall.
Song Shiwei didn't join them. She and Yu Xian had seen each other at school and passed each other in the cafeteria.
They even knew their classmates were constantly arguing over which of them was prettier.
But they had never exchanged a single word.
Having successfully separated Yu Xian and Song Shiwei, Chen Zhu explained the story of how he had "been beaten up" as they walked.
There was another subtle detail here.
When explaining things to his parents earlier, he had emphasized how Wang Changhua, driven by curiosity, had gone over to watch the commotion and been beaten up after being mistaken for him.
But when explaining it to Yu Xian, Chen Zhu focused instead on why he had gotten on Li Jianming's bad side.
In effect, he was also indirectly explaining why Song Shiwei had been there tonight.
"...During evening study that day, Li Jianming was celebrating his eighteenth birthday and making a racket outside our classroom..."
"...I was working on some questions, and having my concentration disrupted really irritated me, so I discussed it with Huang Bohan-whether we should go over and drive him away..."
"...Right, Big Huang?"
"Huh? Oh, yes."
Huang Bohan felt he had rather a lot of "screen time" tonight. Chen Zhu had asked him several times already, as though wanting him to corroborate his statements.
"After I discussed it with Big Huang, he was angry too."
Chen Zhu said, "So I stood up and drove Li Jianming away."
Without making it obvious, he had once again dragged Big Huang out to use as a prop.
Huang Bohan remained glumly silent. That was broadly what had happened, true, but Chen Zhu hadn't really discussed much with him, had he? He had just invented the title "Director of the Class Public Hygiene System Management Committee" and gone for it.
Still, those details didn't matter anymore, Big Huang thought.
"No wonder the whole school was spreading rumors about you and Song Shiwei tonight..."
Understanding dawned on Wu Yu.
Chen Zhu glanced at her. "Did those rumors also say we'd added each other on QQ?"
"Yes, exactly!"
Wu Yu nodded hurriedly. "They said Song Shiwei hasn't added anyone in her class on QQ, but she accepted your friend request."
"Nonsense!"
Chen Zhu led the other three straight to a small internet café nearby.
In 2007, some internet cafés didn't even require ID verification. An access card was all you needed to get online. Chen Zhu bought a five-yuan card and, in front of Huang Bohan, Yu Xian, and Wu Yu, personally logged into a new QQ account he had registered a little while ago.
There was only one avatar on his friends list.
Without a word, Chen Zhu opened the other person's Qzone. Every post was about the "Fireflies" computer club. This was clearly a university student.
"A senior from SYSU,"
Chen Zhu said. "I met her at the Appointment with Prestigious Universities event last time. I'm really interested in their club."
Only then was Wu Yu completely reassured.
Yu Xian had never heard those rumors and felt nothing about them at all.
Huang Bohan even thought Chen Zhu was making an unnecessary fuss.
He didn't know what Chen Zhu was worried about. After tonight's incident, people at school would definitely associate him with Song Shiwei.
By proving his innocence now, even if Yu Xian heard something at school later, she wouldn't believe it.
"While you're here, add me on QQ."
Yu Xian suddenly spoke.
"You have QQ?"
Chen Zhu sounded surprised.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Yu Xian smiled. "There's a computer with internet at the convenience store. When I have nothing to do, I stay logged in to level up."
"Sure."
After entering her number and adding her, Chen Zhu discovered that Yu Xian's QQ nickname was "Fishy Fish."
"What does that mean?"
Chen Zhu asked curiously.
Yu Xian tossed her long hair with a proud little flourish and said in her Sichuan-Chongqing dialect, "It's... a dialect word from back home!"
After shutting down the computer and buying water, they returned to the police station just as Song Zuomin, Song Shiwei, and the others were preparing to leave.
Song Zuomin's purpose in coming was simple. First, he wanted to visit the injured Chen Zhu. Since Chen Zhu wasn't injured, all that remained was to put pressure on the school to deal with Li Jianming.
From the look of things, he had succeeded.
Song Zuomin was shaking hands with Chen Peisong in farewell. A brand-new S600 sedan sat in the police station courtyard.
The driver had already gotten in and started the engine. Its brilliant white headlights shone in the night like the eyes of a fierce beast, adding a touch of dominance to the S600.
"We're off!"
Seeing Chen Zhu return, Song Zuomin nodded to him as well.
Mao Xiaoqin was still reluctant to part with Song Shiwei and told her, "Shiwei, come over to Auntie's for dinner when you have time."
In the darkness, Song Shiwei seemed to have returned to her cool, distant self. She only softly said, "Goodbye, Auntie," to Mao Xiaoqin, then got into the car without looking at anyone else.
Only after the big Mercedes sped away did Chen Peisong's furrowed brow gradually relax. He was just about to have a word with Chen Zhu when he heard his wife approach Yu Xian.
"Dear, what's your name? Where's your hometown..."
(One more chapter tonight. Please vote, please vote.)
(End of chapter)
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