MNL Chapter 39
by Volare“What’s up with those two bastards?” Zhang Lan cursed as he walked into the office, angrily saying, “One moment they claim to be victims, the next they say their brains were damaged and they were talking nonsense. Do they really think we’re three-year-olds playing house here?”
An old police officer sitting in the innermost part of the office glanced over and said, “It’s common for cases to have twists and turns. Xiao Zhang, sit down, have some water, and calm down.”
Zhang Lan hadn’t felt thirsty before, but after hearing this, he realized he hadn’t had water all day. So, he grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the desk and gulped down more than half of it.
“I still feel like something’s not right.”
The police officer who had brought Shen Yan back to the station with Zhang Lan couldn’t stand it anymore and explained, “Don’t overthink it, Brother Zhang. During your interrogation, Yan Houjun already admitted that his memory was confused due to alcohol, and it was all a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?” Zhang Lan turned his head. “What about that high school student?”
“His grandparents are farmers. They said that when he was at home, he accidentally got pesticide on Zhang Dong’s water glass, which led to the poisoning. We did detect methyl parathion on the rim of the glass.”
Zhang Lan clicked his tongue, about to speak, but was interrupted by the approaching old police officer.
“Alright, they’re just students after all. Besides, even with normal logic, this matter doesn’t make sense. Bringing someone to the station based on just a few words is already against the rules. The flowers of the motherland are delicate these days. Don’t affect their schooling, okay, Xiao Zhang?” The old police officer’s expression wasn’t serious, but rather he patted Zhang Lan on the shoulder with a bit of a smile. “We police officers rely on evidence, not gut feelings.”
After speaking, the old police officer gently squeezed his shoulder.
If it were just a matter of superiors and subordinates, a hot-blooded young man like Zhang Lan would investigate to the end no matter who told him otherwise. But that wasn’t the case now. The old police officer didn’t use any commanding tone, but rather it sounded like a well-intentioned reminder from a senior colleague. Zhang Lan was impulsive, but not stupid, and he immediately shut up.
The lights outside the police station were lit early. Someone on duty brought hot coffee. Zhang Lan stared out the window in a daze for a while, then lowered his head and began to organize the documents piled on his desk in silence.
The night was as dark as ink. When Shen Yan came out of the police station, he received many glances from people. Some were surprised, some were curious, and most were simply filled with emotion. It was clear that they had already concocted a story based on appearances. The keywords of this story were definitely: young, troublemaker, appearances can be deceiving.
Xu Jing ignored it and eventually walked into a noodle restaurant.
That person was picky about food, and now that he was hospitalized, he had to be careful with his diet. Shen Yan thought for a long time and finally ordered a signature chicken noodle soup. The owner was an elderly woman who responded enthusiastically and went into the kitchen to get to work.
The chicken noodle soup was made quickly. Shen Yan left with the takeout bag. It was only two streets to the hospital, not far at all. But after looking around, Shen Yan didn’t take the shortest route, but instead headed down a secluded path.
Not long after he entered, a black Maybach steadily stopped at the entrance of the path, the headlights ostentatiously illuminating the entire narrow road.
Shen Yan paused, but didn’t turn around.
A sharp honk came from behind.
Shen Yan ignored it and continued walking.
A few seconds later.
The second honk sounded again.
Then a third.
A fourth.
…
On the sixth honk, Shen Yan finally stopped. It wasn’t that he didn’t know who was in the car, nor was he afraid of what harm that person could do to him. It was just that there were many people living nearby, and there were security cameras. Continuing to honk like this would be too troublesome.
Under the glare of the headlights, Shen Yan turned around and walked back, stopping two meters away from the car, expressionlessly looking at the closed one-way mirror window.
After a long while, the window slowly rolled down, revealing an extremely attractive face.
“Good evening, Xiao Yan.”
Shen Linzhi raised his hand to adjust his glasses, then revealed a gentle smile. He had excellent features, with standard sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, and a high, straight nose. Time hadn’t destroyed his appearance, but rather made his mature and steady temperament even more attractive.
Dressed in a suit and leather shoes, he exuded both elegance and temperament. If someone were to see this scene, they would definitely imagine a dramatic play of a kind father and an unfilial son.
However, Shen Yan knew exactly what kind of person he was dealing with, so he sneered inwardly.
What a show.
“Xiao Yan, Dad has something to discuss with you.”
“Don’t use that term to disgust me.” Before he could finish, Shen Yan cut him off, coldly saying, “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Don’t be like that, Xiao Yan.” Shen Linzhi’s tone carried a pleading tone, sounding somewhat sad. “Dad already knows he was wrong about what happened in the past. I and Ruozhao are worried about you being here alone. Come with Dad.”
Shen Yan felt like he had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
Although Zhong Yiqiu died from an illness, if it weren’t for what this man had done, how could she have lived so difficultly in her final days because of the worsening condition. And now, the perpetrator shamelessly said that he and his current wife were concerned about him.
Nice.
Then you should all go to hell.
Give him back his mother.
Shen Linzhi met Shen Yan’s eyes, and was stunned for a moment. Although the gaze was so plain, it involuntarily made people feel a chill. He had been working in the business world for nearly thirty years, from wealthy children to local thugs, and no one had ever given him this feeling, especially since it was just a tender teenager. Perhaps it was partly due to blood relations, but—
Shen Linzhi slightly curved his lips. Given time, this would definitely be a good sword.
“Xiao Yan, haven’t you always wanted to know where that jade pendant is?”
Shen Yan almost instantly stopped his movement to leave. After a moment of silence, he looked at Shen Linzhi and said affirmatively, “You took it.”
Before her death, Zhong Yiqiu, in addition to telling Shen Yan to live well, also mentioned a jade pendant.
This jade pendant had been passed down through the Zhong family for generations, and was extremely important to Zhong Yiqiu. Shen Yan searched everywhere, asked everyone he could, and tried every avenue he could, but still couldn’t find this suddenly disappeared jade pendant.
Shen Linzhi straightened up and said, “It’s cold outside, let’s talk in the car.” Then he closed the window, not caring how ugly Shen Yan’s expression was.
Shen Yan clenched his fists. After calming down outside for a while, making sure that he wouldn’t kill Shen Linzhi when he got in, he got into the Maybach on the other side with a dark face.
The door slammed shut, almost shaking the entire car.
The car had the heater on, and the air was filled with a faint lavender scent. Shen Linzhi seemed to be in a very good mood, lazily crossing his legs and even wanting to touch Shen Yan’s shoulder.
Shen Yan avoided him like the plague, quickly dodging away and coldly saying, “If you want to be beaten in front of other people, you can try.”
The driver, Liu Xiaoguang, was sweating at these words, and cautiously glanced at the rearview mirror, finding that his boss’s face was actually normal, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Tsk.” Shen Linzhi retracted his hand, his tone like he was coaxing a child. “Alright, alright, I won’t touch you, alright? You’re just like me when I was your age.”
Shen Yan didn’t want to listen to his nonsense at all, his beautiful peach blossom eyes filled with impatience.
“Xu Jing, sixteen years old, born on February 18th at Linhe City First People’s Hospital. His father, Xu Huaiyang, is the chairman of Fanxin Group, and his mother, Qin Xin, is an English teacher at Linhe Junior High School. He was admitted to Linhe No.1 High School this June and later moved to Qingcheng Apartment 601.”
Shen Yan’s face darkened even more after hearing this, and he almost gritted his teeth and said, “What the hell do you want?”
“Nothing, just curious about the people around you.”
“You’re monitoring me?”
Shen Linzhi shook his head. “I’m concerned about you. Also, the jade pendant is indeed with me.”
Sure enough, when Shen Linzhi came to him last time, he was so shocked and even somewhat saddened by Zhong Yiqiu’s death. It was all an act. In the eyes of this hypocritical gentleman, what could be more important than his own interests?
He just felt disgusted that such a person was actually his father. Although he had never admitted this point, it was still a fact, an undeniable fact.
Shen Yan suppressed his discomfort and said, “Give it back to me.”
“Of course, no problem.” Shen Linzhi said, “The jade pendant must be returned to you. After all, it was Yiqiu’s thing. It’s just that I happened to spend a lot of money to get this jade pendant by chance.”
“How much?”
Shen Linzhi was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly burst out laughing. Liu Xiaoguang carefully wiped the sweat on his forehead, thinking, how could a father and son chat like this? It was even stranger than strangers. Even he, an outsider, felt awkward listening to this!
“Xiao Liu, get out of the car first.”
“Yes.”
At these words, Liu Xiaoguang was simply moved to tears. Before getting out of the car, he even wanted to kneel down and kowtow twice to Shen Linzhi, shouting, thank you boss!
Although the perfume was very light, the temperature in the car was high and sealed, and Shen Yan was very uncomfortable. After staying for a short while, he felt a little stuffy in his chest and his whole body felt drowsy.
“Come abroad with me.”
The four words that came to his ear instantly brought Shen Yan back to his senses.
“How can you take good care of yourself living alone in this kind of place? Xiao Yan, listen to me, come with Dad—no, come abroad with me. I can give you the best life and the best conditions. The university you want to attend, the major you want to study, as long as you want, I can do it. And the assets in my name, as long as you come with me, these will all be yours in the future.” Shen Linzhi’s tone was very sincere, as if he really wanted to make up for the mistakes he had made in the past.
Shen Yan didn’t say anything, just looked up at Shen Linzhi.
“Let the past be the past. We always have to look forward, don’t we?” Shen Linzhi’s tone was getting lower and lower. “As long as you are willing to forgive Dad, as long as you are willing to come with Dad, I can give you everything I have.”
Time seemed to press the pause button in endless silence. There was no sound in the car, only breathing rising and falling in the ear, which seemed exceptionally heavy and depressing.
Finally, an extremely light laugh came to his ears, sounding very mocking. Shen Linzhi was obviously a little surprised, only to see Shen Yan didn’t leave any words, turned around and got out of the car.
Shen Linzhi opened the car window just about to call someone, but saw the back figure wearing a school uniform in the dim street light, like a wolfhound walking in the wilderness, looking exceptionally lonely.
For some reason, Shen Linzhi suddenly felt a slight obstruction in his throat, and he couldn’t make a sound until the figure disappeared from his sight.
Liu Xiaoguang looked around and got into the car, only to find his boss sitting motionless. He called several times without any reaction.
In the eyes of all employees, Shen Linzhi was a very easy-going leader, but it could not be ignored that such people often had more deterrence.
Liu Xiaoguang cautiously reminded, “Boss, you have a meeting to attend in an hour.”
Shen Linzhi tapped his fingers in an inconsistent manner until it began to drizzle outside.
“Let’s go.” Shen Linzhi said softly.