As Meng Ting ran into the residential complex, Shu Yang was about to leave, holding an umbrella.
“You’re back?” he asked.
Meng Ting nodded, “Where’s Father Shu?”
“Still in the lab. He called and asked me to pick you up at the hospital.” His eyes darkened slightly, “You went to see that person, are you alright?”
Meng Ting lowered her head, her voice soft, “I’m fine.”
The siblings walked back together. In the living room, Shu Lan saw them and sneered before returning to her room.
Ever since Father Shu discovered her early romance causing trouble, she had been in this sarcastic mood.
That night, no one in the Shu family knew about Chen Shuo being beaten. However, the next morning, Chen Shuo’s parents were crying and complaining everywhere. Their perfectly fine son was fine yesterday, but today he was beaten so badly that he was still unconscious in the hospital.
The first person they thought of was Shu Yang, so they reported to the police, intending to have Shu Yang imprisoned.
The police retrieved the hospital’s surveillance footage. The footage from that year was blurry, only vaguely showing that the attacker was a black-haired youth.
Chen Shuo’s mother wailed, “This murderous brat, not wanting to pay medical expenses and harboring resentment, actually beat my little Shuo like this.”
The police came to the Shu family early the next morning.
Meng Ting opened the door. She had just washed her face, with water droplets still on her eyelashes. She was stunned for a moment when she saw so many police officers, and her heart involuntarily started beating faster.
The police officers outside the door were also stunned.
They were all men in their thirties, and they couldn’t take their eyes off this incredibly beautiful young girl.
The youngest policeman, called Little Shen, was blushing terribly. Finally, the lead officer said, “Little miss, are your parents home?”
With such a commotion, Shu Zhitong quickly came over. Seeing so many police officers, he was very surprised and hurriedly invited them in, “Comrades, please sit down. May I ask what has happened?”
The police shook their heads, declining his offer, “We received a report today that your son injured someone yesterday.”
Shu Zhitong’s face involuntarily paled, but then he realized something was wrong. Shu Yang had beaten someone up several days ago, how could it be yesterday?
Shu Yang and Shu Lan had also dressed and come out.
The police saw Shu Yang and frowned, “Are you Shu Yang?”
The young man nodded. “We received a report that you injured Chen Shuo. Come with us.”
Shu Yang was stunned. Shu Zhitong quickly said, “Officer, my son did have a conflict with Chen Shuo before, but it was an accidental incident. After communication between our two families, we decided to reconcile. We have already paid some medical expenses. Is there perhaps a misunderstanding here?”
Meng Ting raised her eyes, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes.
The police said sternly, “Chen Shuo underwent surgery last night. His injuries are severe. What misunderstanding could there be? Shu Yang, come with us. If there’s a misunderstanding, we’ll clear your name.”
Shu Yang was, after all, just a youth who had never faced police questioning before. His face was somewhat pale, but looking at his father, sister, and stepsister, he nodded, “I’ll go with you.”
As they were about to leave, Meng Ting suddenly blocked their way.
The policeman called Little Shen tried to comfort her, “It’s alright, it’s just an investigation.”
The young girl shook her head, her voice very soft, “It wasn’t Shu Yang.”
The lead officer scowled, “Little girl, what do you know? We’ve checked the surveillance footage. If it wasn’t him, who was it?”
Meng Ting pressed her lips together, only repeating, “It wasn’t Shu Yang.”
She could see that Shu Yang was very scared. Although this youth usually had a cold demeanor, he was only seventeen after all. He had always lived diligently and abided by the rules, never showing his emotions outwardly. Because of the police cars outside, residents were craning their necks to look. If they took Shu Yang away, he would live under rumors and gossip for a long time.
But they asked who it was.
She thought of that unruly black-haired youth but remained silent.
The young girl’s delicate body stood in front of the police. Shu Zhitong watched, his heart aching. He pulled her aside and apologized to the police, “I’m sorry, officers. My daughter doesn’t understand. Please don’t take offense. My son is a good student. He wouldn’t beat a classmate like that. There must be a misunderstanding.”
The police waved it off, “Alright, alright. The investigation is necessary. If it’s him, he can’t escape. If it’s not, we’ll let him come back.”
Shu Zhitong said, “I’ll go with you. I’m his guardian.”
The police agreed.
In the end, the police still forcibly took Shu Yang away.
Shu Lan now also knew to be afraid, “Brother didn’t beat someone, did he?”
Meng Ting turned her head, “You’re only now scared?”
“You!”
They couldn’t possibly follow to the police station. Before leaving, Shu Zhitong instructed them to go to school.
Meng Ting rode her bicycle. The winter wind blew on her scarf, bringing a chill. It had rained just last night, and the air carried the fresh, cold scent of damp earth.
She arrived late, and class was about to start.
The Chinese teacher asked everyone to take out their books and read the classical Chinese text aloud.
Meng Ting couldn’t focus on the class all morning. It wasn’t until the second-period break that the class suddenly became lively.
“Police cars just came to the neighboring school. Guess what happened?”
Everyone gathered around, and the girl said, “Jiang Ren beat someone up and was taken away. I heard he reported himself this time.”
“Is that true?”
“Doesn’t he often get into fights? Why would he report himself this time?”
“Was he taken away by the police?”
“That’s not fake. I have photos sent by my friend from next door, just sent over. They say he was just taken from their class.”
She opened her phone, and everyone gathered to look, then sighed in amazement.
“He’s too bold, right? Is it very serious this time?”
“Does Jiang Ren have violent tendencies? I said he’s not a good student. He’ll commit a crime and go to jail one day. I didn’t expect it to come true so quickly.”
Meng Ting pressed her lips together, then suddenly ran out.
Several people in the class asked, “Where is Meng Ting going? Class is about to start!”
Several boys’ eyes followed her retreating figure.
The cold wind blew on her face. Meng Ting could only hear her heavy breathing.
When she ran out of the neighboring school, the police car hadn’t left yet. Red and blue lights flashed alternately on top of the car. Among the noisy crowd, she saw Jiang Ren.
His short black hair was neat. Many people around were watching the commotion, whispering and pointing. However, his gaze was cold and wild. When he glanced over lightly, people couldn’t help but take a step back.
All the ice in his body melted when he saw Meng Ting.
His gaze lingered on her for a second.
Then he looked away. He didn’t show any sign of recognizing her in the crowd. However, the expression on his face had already changed from cold indifference to casual nonchalance, as if going to the police station wasn’t a big deal.
He Han frowned, following behind the crowd, muttering, “What’s up with Brother Ren this time?”
He wasn’t surprised that Jiang Ren had beaten someone, but rather that Brother Ren had reported himself.
He Junming didn’t speak.
Last night, Jiang Ren had asked him to have someone watch the Shu family. When they came to school in the morning, people from there ran over in a panic, saying the police had taken someone from the Shu family away.
Then Brother Ren took out his phone, his tone very calm, saying he was the one who beat the person.
Meng Ting pushed through the crowd, “Jiang Ren!”
Among the noisy voices, he still heard her, chewing gum with his hands in his pockets, but not turning back. He frowned and urged the police, “Hurry up and open the car door, let’s go.”
The police looked at him with a strange expression, then pushed him into the car and left.
Meng Ting had finally squeezed to his side, but could only watch as the police car left.
He Junming also saw her. He walked over, “Meng Ting.”
The young girl turned around.
Her scarf had come loose, her small face pale, her big eyes soft and misty, brimming with tears. He Junming had originally wanted to comfort her and say it was nothing but ended up staring, blushing.
Fang Tan slapped him on the head, “Do you want to die?”
He Junming shuddered, blushing and stammering, “Classmate Meng Ting.”
Meng Ting asked him, “Will Jiang Ren be in trouble?”
He Junming was about to say it wasn’t a big deal, the Jiang family was wealthy and powerful, and even if Jiang Ren was kicked out, few people would dare to touch him. However, Fang Tan grabbed his neck, putting on a worried expression and telling Meng Ting, “It’s hard to say. What if he has to go to jail?”
After Meng Ting left, He Junming jumped up, “F*ck, Tan, what are you doing? You nearly twisted my neck off just now.”
Fang Tan shrugged, “You idiot if you don’t understand, forget it.”
When Meng Ting rushed to the police station, Shu Yang had already been released and sent home.
She walked in, and several police officers were writing at their desks. They looked up and saw the anxious young girl. Even the female police officers looked at her more than once.
Understanding her intention, a kind police officer told her, “Sit here and wait a while. Your friend is inside giving his statement.”
When Jiang Ren was released, he saw this scene.
Outside, the strong wind was blowing, and in the cold weather, she sat in the hall. Two female police officers were chatting with her. She looked confused at times, nodding at others. A cup of tea was beside her hand, and several young male police officers were looking at her.
In such an environment, she was, after all, just a teenage girl, with unease in her eyes.
He walked over in a few steps, anger bottled up inside, “F*ck, what are you all surrounding her for?”
The police officer escorting him out choked, thinking this young Jiang had quite a temper.
Jiang Ren grabbed Meng Ting’s wrist and led her out.
His face looked unpleasant, “Are you stupid? What if people saw you? How would you explain?”
He was referring to Meng Ting coming to the vocational high school and calling his name.
That was the first time she had called his name in front of everyone, but he, who feared nothing in heaven or earth, for the first time didn’t dare to turn back.
Seeing his scowling face, Meng Ting didn’t mind his bad attitude, “Are you alright now?”
“What could be wrong?”
“But your friend said you might…” She frowned, changing her words, “be detained.”
Jiang Ren said carelessly, “It’s not a big deal, anyway, my reputation is already bad.” He said this so naturally, yet it somehow made people feel a bit sad hearing it. She remembered her classmates’ discussions about him, and her eyes became a bit hot.
After all, Jiang Ren had beaten someone up for her sake.
Jiang Ren lowered his eyes and saw her looking up at him with her small face, her eyes glistening.
He suddenly felt a bit agitated, “What are you sad about? Didn’t I get your brother out?”
He had already investigated; the one with Meng Ting that day was her stepbrother.
She blinked, her eyelashes wet with tears.
Jiang Ren panicked a bit, and after a while, he gently wiped the corner of her eye with his fingertip, softly coaxing, “I promise, I didn’t say a word about you. Don’t be afraid, okay?”
He always thought Meng Ting was afraid of this.
Students are the most naive and cruel. His reputation was so bad; if she was associated with him, Meng Ting’s entire high school life might become unpleasant.