GBT Chapter 18

Jiao Bai sat in his seat, eating lunch.

The stir-fried garlic sprouts with pork had cooled down, forming a layer of oil. The bok choy was buried in the rice, still a little warm. He picked them out one by one, arranging them next to his beloved pickled garlic.

It had been several minutes since that scene by the wall.

Thinking back on it now, it was still embarrassing.

At the time, Shen Er An had simply taken his sketchbook and left without saying anything. Jiao Bai thought he would wait until he was gone before speaking, but who knew he would stop after walking away? Jiao Bai had no choice but to follow.

They walked in silence for a while before parting ways.

Jiao Bai was grateful that Shen Er An was taciturn and didn’t talk nonsense, and wouldn’t ask him about Qi Shuang. In any case, there was no way Jiao Bai would take the initiative to explain. The only thing he could do was pretend nothing had happened.

Playing dumb, he was good at that.

In any case, Qi Shuang was temporarily settled, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Jiao Bai mixed the vegetables and rice together and ate it in large mouthfuls.

“Bai Bai, you’re not finished eating yet? You’re so slow,” his female deskmate said, entering the classroom through the back door, her voice bright and clear.

Jiao Bai turned his head, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over her friend beside her. The girl had both hands in her school uniform pockets, a bag of candied peanuts hanging from one pocket, swaying as she walked.

“Only your deskmate is in the class, Shen Er An isn’t here,” the friend muttered softly, a hint of disappointment in her darting eyes.

“I saw them walking together at the small shop,” his female deskmate whispered in her ear. “I’ll ask.”

His female deskmate leaned close to Jiao Bai: “Bai Bai, why are you the only one here? Where’s Liang Dong? Where did he go?”

Jiao Bai swallowed the food in his mouth, unscrewed his cup, and took two sips of hot water: “Isn’t Liang Dong playing basketball on the playground? You can see him if you stand by the window.”

His female deskmate coughed, and her friend blushed.

Jiao Bai muttered, “I just don’t know where Shen Er An went.”

“He doesn’t know either,” his female deskmate chattered to her friend.

The friend tugged at her sleeve: “Why don’t we just forget it? I’m going back to the classroom.”

“Didn’t you want to find out his college application choices? Hang out with me for a while, maybe he’ll be back soon…”

Jiao Bai didn’t pay attention to the two girls’ little actions. He scratched his neck, found a spray in his desk and sprayed it on the itchy area. He couldn’t even stand the sunlight these days, it was impossible to live.

Jiao Bai took a few bites of rice and glanced at the window inside the classroom. Shen Er An had probably found a quiet place to play with origami.

In the comic, Shen Young Master was still folding dragonflies when he was as old as his father, one every day, specially placed in a storage room, which even Li Jue couldn’t enter.

On the other side, Shen Er An sat on the stairs outside the computer room, holding a small pair of scissors, cutting down from the top along the center line of the dragonfly’s two wings.

“An Brother, why did you come up here?” Liang Dong said, hugging a basketball and walking up the stairs, his jersey sticking damply to his already broad shoulders and back.

Last night, his family had invited people to dinner, and the whole time they were talking about the situation in South City. After returning, his dad even called him into the study to ask for his opinion. What bird brain opinion did he have?

If his dad insisted on letting him take over the family business, then he would definitely lead the entire Liang family to join An Brother. Did he even need to say it? It was obvious.

In junior high school, he was a fat, weak chicken who was mocked and bullied. An Brother had helped him, and from then on, they were brothers, brothers for life.

However, An Brother was mature beyond his years, without desires or wants. He didn’t have any of the blood and passion of their age. He only liked to read and fold paper. Money, power, interest disputes, and deceit were not things that existed in his world. They wouldn’t have a day of fighting side by side in the business world.

“An Brother?” Liang Dong called out again after not getting a response for a long time.

Shen Er An ruined the wings of the paper dragonfly.

Liang Dong closed his eyes in disbelief, then opened them again. The broken wings had already been torn off by his An Brother. He swallowed a large mouthful of saliva with difficulty.

Something was wrong. An Brother was not right.

Liang Dong couldn’t figure out why. He held the ball with his feet, his arms stretched across the railing, trying to find a topic to talk about: “An Brother, have you noticed that Jiao Bai looked like a wronged, resentful woman who had been played by a heartless man a few days ago, but today he is radiant and full of energy? He’s even humming a tune like the eighteen bends of a mountain road while taking a leak, he’s floating. I feel like I’m too naive. What I told you on the phone last night was wrong.”

Shen Er An took another square piece of blue paper from the sketchbook and began to fold it carefully.

“I thought he had a full blood revival overnight because he saw your dad at Good Place building last night. So, he wasn’t abandoned by your dad, he came to seduce you,” Liang Dong looked around, making sure it was safe before lighting a cigarette, “he’s still not giving up.”

“I really didn’t expect that. He’s looking for you for your dad, to use you,” Liang Dong said, watching An Brother fold the paper, thinking that An Brother’s nails were trimmed cleaner than many girls’, he really didn’t know what kind of person his future wife would be.

“From beginning to end, it’s all for your dad,” Liang Dong shook his head while smoking.

Shen Er An pinched the edges of the rhombus on both sides, casually folding them inward.

“Let’s not talk about how your house has your grandma, that great Buddha, guarding it, specializing in treating demons and ghosts who want to get close to your family’s door. Your dad is about to get married, and he still wants to push himself up, to be a third party?” Liang Dong couldn’t understand. In fact, the people kept around in their circle were basically like this. He didn’t care about others, he just particularly despised Jiao Bai, everything about him was unpleasant. “Do you think he has a screw loose?”

Shen Er An folded the wing part again: “Last night, you took him there?”

The cigarette in Liang Dong’s mouth trembled: “Huh?”

Meeting An Brother’s eyes, which were darker than ordinary people’s, Liang Dong felt a tense oppression like he was standing on a judgment stand, receiving judgment: “That,” Liang Dong’s head heated up, and a lie popped out, “he begged me!”

Shen Er An looked at him silently.

“Really, An Brother, that kid can say anything with those two lips, all kinds of ghost stories and myths, one moment this, the next moment that, you don’t even know which sentence is true and which is false, you must not be deceived by him,” Liang Dong turned his head, avoiding An Brother’s gaze. He flicked the ashes of the cigarette outside the railing, “Last night, he disguised himself as a waiter to serve you food and take the opportunity to see your dad. It didn’t end there, he also begged me to call Qi Shuang out, saying he had something to say to Qi Shuang, who knows what tricks he was going to play. I didn’t agree, so he said he would touch me, I thought it was disgusting and refused. In the end, I couldn’t stand being annoyed by him, so I agreed. Although I can’t stand Qi Shuang rushing to be your little stepmother either, compared to Jiao Bai, Qi Shuang is okay, at least he doesn’t cause trouble.”

Shen Er An stood up.

Liang Dong was on the same step as Shen Er An, a few centimeters shorter than him. The sense of oppression from his height came from the top of his head, and he kicked the ball down in guilt.

Shen Er An opened his mouth after a long pause: “Dongzi, you hang around in the circle, you haven’t picked up those bad, things, have you?”

Liang Dong’s face turned red. His dad was an uncultured nouveau riche, An Brother was a scholar, at a realm he couldn’t see through, making him admire and respect him. So, he could be happy and carefree even if his dad scolded him all day, but if An Brother said a word, he would be ashamed and want to hide.

“Okay, I admit that I took him there last night, and I also let him sneak into the waiter ranks, I just wanted to watch the show and eat some melon,” Liang Dong raised his voice, “but it was indeed him who asked me to call Qi Shuang to the lounge, you can ask him to verify it if you don’t believe me!”

Shen Er An turned around and went down the stairs, holding the dragonfly wings he had ruined once again.

Liang Dong leaned against the railing, panting heavily. An Brother was just sticking up for that kid. What did that mean, did he really consider him a friend?

What was An Brother thinking? Jiao Bai had been kept in Qin Lin Garden for two years as one of the candidates for his dad’s future wife, almost becoming his stepmother. Could someone with that kind of identity be friends with him? Wasn’t it too melodramatic?

It was simply melodramatic to the extreme.

Liang Dong said to himself, “An Brother, putting aside everything else, just based on the fact that Jiao Bai has a thousand faces, I can’t let him into our circle.”

That guy was not an honest and law-abiding person at all. The smiling face was only used to make people lower their guard. He was evil and bad in his bones, not a good thing. Liang Dong always felt that the other party had the potential to become a scourge, and would screw people over.

Tomorrow was Sunday, and as soon as school was over, Jiao Bai went to the farmer’s market to buy pig trotters, beef, sea bass, and shrimp, and went home to cook a big meal. He neatly threw the pig trotters into the pot to stew, washed his hands, and rummaged through his schoolbag for homework, shaking out a tableful.

It was only one day off, why bother.

Jiao Bai casually picked up a test paper and spread it on the table, took a photo of a question, and sent it to Zhang Zhen.

J: Sister, the homework is so hard O_O

When the WeChat message rang, Zhang Zhen was driving. He looked at the person in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

Qi Yi Liao’s suit jacket was placed on his lap, his eyes were closed, his dark tie was slightly loosened, his Adam’s apple was half-exposed, and his brow couldn’t hide his fatigue.

“Third Brother, should I still have Xiao Ji come over tonight?” Zhang Zhen asked in a low voice.

“Yes.”

Zhang Zhen didn’t say anything more. He first sent Third Brother back to Lan Mo Mansion, and then went to the Academy of Fine Arts to pick up Xiao Ji.

Third Brother’s people were replaced monthly, and each time Zhang Zhen would create a group in his phone to place the other party’s contact information.

The 202308 group had recently been deleted by Zhang Zhen, and the 202312 group had been newly created.

The reason they weren’t consecutive was because the lead singer Jiang Yan, nicknamed Little Pepper, in the 08 group had been by Third Brother’s side the longest, directly spanning from August to mid-to-late November.

Xiao Ji, who took over, was much worse than Jiang Yan in terms of appearance, with a face full of acne, flat facial features, and a timid posture, but his conditions in that aspect surpassed everyone who had been with Third Brother so far. It could be said that God had blessed him with a natural advantage.

He didn’t know how long the 202312 group could lie in Zhang Zhen’s phone before being deleted.

When they arrived at Lan Mo Mansion, Xiao Ji, who had been well-behaved all the way, bowed to Zhang Zhen, his very ethereal voice carrying a few points of restraint and fear: “Thank you, Mr. Zhang, for bringing me here.”

“Go in, don’t anger my Third Brother,” Zhang Zhen waved his hand.

Xiao Ji timidly went to the quiet castle. The big shots in there were gentle devils to him. He prayed that he wouldn’t make any mistakes today. Not even one.

Zhang Zhen rubbed his sore neck. He hadn’t finished the last job of the day. It was 7:40 now, and in an hour he had to send the person back the same way.

Of course, if Xiao Ji had the ability, he might be able to stay at Lan Mo Mansion for another half an hour.

That was the new record set by Jiang Yan. An hour and a half.

Zhang Zhen smoked a cigarette by the car before going to Lan Mo Mansion. Aunt Liu brought him the hot soup she had prepared long ago, and tiptoed away.

At this time, Zhang Zhen had time to look at WeChat.

His brothers would call if they had something to do, and there was only one person who looked for him on WeChat.

The first thing Zhang Zhen saw when he saw the question was: Was this a physics question, a chemistry question, a math question, or a biology question? What question was it?

He couldn’t understand it, so he turned around and sent it to the group.

A group of brothers in the group exploded.

After they exploded, no one could answer it. It didn’t matter.

-As long as you’re handsome, your wife is in middle school?

-Real name envy.

-Is it a girl? Our Brother Zhen isn’t gay like the boss, is he? Is he?

-Your faces are really disgraceful, what’s the point of booing like this, a bunch of bachelors! @Zhang, Brother Zhen, you’re tutoring your wife with her homework? Did you accidentally send it to the group?

Zhang: ………………

Zhang: Just a little friend I met online, asking me about homework, how would I know? So, I’m asking you guys for help.

The group was filled with the sound of lemon trees.

-Online dating.

-Awesome.

Zhang Zhen couldn’t drink the soup anymore. He could understand his brothers’ desire for him to get out of singlehood, but they couldn’t drag a high school student down with them either. He explained for a long time before letting the matter pass. Zhang Zhen wiped his sweat, thankfully Third Brother wasn’t in the group, otherwise he would have received another greeting from his brother.

Zhang Zhen only sent the solution steps after Jiao Bai had finished the entire test paper, and they were still wrong.

It was indescribable.

Jiao Bai was busy for a while and realized that Shen Er An, who had told him after school that he was going to the bookstore, hadn’t returned yet. It was only now that he remembered that it had been so long, and he didn’t even have Shen Er An’s phone number!

There was no way, Jiao Bai had no choice but to find Liang Dong’s phone number from a male student in the class group and call it, but the other end was not answering.

Liang Dong was at home, his phone was thrown on the bed. He cursed at the messy hall. His sister was originally going to marry Qi Zi Zhi, and had even formulated ABC three sets of plans, who knew that after seeing An Brother’s father up close last night, she became fascinated, and was determined to be with that big shot, even if it was as a mistress, which made his mother run away.

His sister didn’t know where she went, and he was the only one left at home.

Liang Dong overturned the delicate fruit plate. If his sister’s matter was known by An Brother, his face would be ruined.

When Liang Dong entered the room, the phone was ringing. He answered it casually, his tone explosive: “Which grandson is looking for your dad?”

Jiao Bai got straight to the point: “Is Shen Er An with you?”

Liang Dong: “…” How did this guy have his number? What the hell was going on?

Jiao Bai asked again: “Is he or isn’t he?”

Liang Dong laughed: “Who do you think you are? Why should I tell you?” It was about An Brother, how could he answer? He wasn’t a fool.

Jiao Bai’s voice became cold and deep, with impatience and irritability: “Is he or isn’t he?”

Liang Dong subconsciously told the truth: “He’s not.”

The phone hung up, and Liang Dong was inexplicable. When he saw a string of missed calls, his eyeballs were about to pop out.

What kind of wind was blowing, how could it taste like an official wife checking on her husband?

Liang Dong slapped himself, sober up.

The sky was dim and dark. Jiao Bai left the residential area, his mind filled with the general plot of the entire comic, various small details, and Shen Er An’s eyebrows and eyes. His age and experience were very immature, so at this time, he didn’t have his father’s captivating coldness and majesty, only a clear handsomeness wrapped in youthful spirit and an infinitely spreading calmness.

Jiao Bai couldn’t remember if there was a plot tonight in the comic. He hoped that Shen Er An was just absorbed in reading at a bookstore and forgot the time, or that he temporarily received a call from home and went home to eat dinner, but he felt uneasy in his heart.

This uneasiness caused Jiao Bai to not be able to stop.

The street scene became more and more unfamiliar. Jiao Bai didn’t know where he had run to. He suddenly retreated backward, retreated a little further, stopped, and straightened his back.

In Jiao Bai’s field of vision was a group fight, and the blue veins on Shen Er An’s hand.

He remembered.

There was this part in the comic, not in the adolescent chapter, but many years later, in Liang Dong’s memories after he had been selling his life for the family business.

This fight was initiated by the few boys who had torn Shen Er An’s dragonfly earlier. After they “dropped out” of Three Middle School, they didn’t go to school anymore, because all the middle schools in South City didn’t accept them.

Not only that, they couldn’t go to other cities to go to school. Although they couldn’t study anyway, not wanting to study and not being able to study were two different things, it was too suffocating.

This was the power of the Shen family, covering the sky with one hand, not giving people a way out.

Several boys didn’t listen to their families’ advice and secretly found a group of people from society to block Shen Er An. The rich were lawless, killing everyone, right? Then they would see how many lives he had?

Shen Er An was alone, he couldn’t beat them.

In the original book, Liang Dong had come and taken a stick for Shen Er An, breaking a rib.

This incident made their friendship at the time even stronger, and also laid a dramatic foundation for their later break.

Jiao Bai also remembered something unrelated to the current situation.

In the adolescent chapter of “Broken Wings,” there was a plot about Shen Er An changing roommates. Not long after the same grade student moved out, the person who moved in was… Liang Dong.

So,

The person who was originally Shen Er An’s roommate until the college entrance examination was Liang Dong, but now it had become him.

Jiao Bai’s breathing quickened, his head was swelling, and the blood in his body rushed straight to the top of his head. Was he going to replace Liang Dong’s position and become Shen Er An’s best friend?

Shen Er An was stunned when he saw Jiao Bai running into the alley. This daze put him in danger.

Jiao Bai saw the iron rod swinging towards the back of Shen Er An’s head. Even at this time, he was still thinking, was it the same in the original plot? Liang Dong’s arrival made Shen Er An stunned, causing his opponents to have an opportunity to take advantage of him, and then…

Liang Dong (Jiao Bai) pounced on him.

The difference was that Jiao Bai slapped Shen Er An on the head with a resentful palm, and then pressed him hard in front of himself, completely protecting him.

When the stick came down, Jiao Bai screamed and fell to the ground, pressing on Shen Er An.

Shen Er An looked blankly at the person lying on top of him, the rapidly rising and falling chest connected to the other person’s heart.

Jiao Bai curled up in pain. He struggled to put his pale, trembling lips to Shen Er An’s ear and said something in a broken, breathy voice. It wasn’t a sentimental “Younger Brother, remember Brother’s kindness,” but,

——The person who hit me, remember him… two, no, four, break four of his ribs for me.