CH 32

“Drunk?” Jiang Chen looked him up and down, and asked calmly, “Are you sober now?”

“Yeah…..” He Qianmin was about to nod his head, but when he looked up and saw Jiang Chen’s expressionless face, he immediately changed his words: “No.”

Jiang Chen’s gaze shifted from his face to the corner of his clothes stained with blood.

Seeing that Jiang Chen only looked at him but didn’t speak, He Qianmin took half a step forward and took his arm, groaning, “It’s just a small injury, I’m used to it, there were a few times before that were much more serious than this, this one will be fine in a few days.”

“To now in the third year of junior high school, you’ve been drinking, you’ve gotten used to this?” Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows.

“No…..” Seeing Jiang Chen angry for the first time, He Qianmin was flustered and at a loss: “Big Brother, that’s not what I meant…..”

The several boys from Chenghua saw He Qianmin like this for the first time. After exchanging glances, they all came forward to smooth things over. A chubby boy smiled and said, “Big Brother, don’t scold him anymore, he just got stitches. He howled so loudly that people could hear it on the third floor, he’s quite pitiful, and he didn’t drink on purpose, it was…..”

Jiang Chen interrupted the boy, and said to He Qianmin, “Tell me yourself.”

He Qianmin pursed his lips tightly, still  grabbing his arm, and lowered his head without saying a word.

The chubby boy looked at Jiang Chen and He Qianmin, and gave the others winks.

A person stepped forward and said: “Big Brother, it’s really not what you think. We just had dinner together. I don’t know who changed Qian Min’s drink into wine. This guy stopped drinking after taking a sip, but he got drunk after one sip, and in a daze, he thought the fruit knife on the table was a cup, and then cut his hand.”

The other person also quickly said: “Yeah, Big Brother, it’s really not Qian Min’s fault, we were all surprised, there were only drinks there, don’t know who was that immoral to put the fruit knife there. When we go back to school the day after tomorrow, we must find that person and bring him out to show you!”

“You guys are saying——” Jiang Chen raised his eyes suddenly, “There was originally a drink, but without you knowing, the drink was replaced with a fruit knife?”

“That’s right!” The chubby boy quickly added: “Big Brother, you must believe us, we really didn’t lie to you, Qian Min was really unlucky this time, don’t know who put the fruit glasses. Even if one did not see wrong, one would be cut if accidentally taking the drink next to it. Besides, he was so dizzy after drinking alcohol, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the knife directly——” He angrily said: “If I know which idiot did it, I will definitely…..”

“Okay.” He Qianmin interrupted the chubby boy, glanced at Jiang Chen, turned his head to look at the ground, and laughed self-deprecatingly: “You don’t believe it right, it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me, I’m fine, you can now…..”

Jiang Chen: “I believe it.”

He Qianmin froze, looked up at Jiang Chen: “You believe what they said?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Jiang Chen hid the chill in his eyes and asked, “You said earlier that you were injured a few times more seriously than this time, and it was also because of this kind of inexplicable situation?”

He Qianmin nodded blankly, the tip of his nose turning red: “Big Brother, do you really believe me?”

Jiang Chen saw his clear and crystal-like eyes gradually misting over and his heart pulled painfully. He raised his hand and rubbed his head, “I’m your brother, of course I believe you.”

He Qianmin blinked, then quickly turned his head and said, “You, then that’s good.”

The chubby boy rushed forward and said to Jiang Chen with a smile, “Big Brother, I haven’t heard Qian Min mention you before. My name is He Yunlong, and I’m Qian Min’s classmate.”

Jiang Chen withdrew his gaze, nodded and said, “Hello.”

The several other people also came up to introduce themselves one by one, all of them were cheerful and friendly, and it could be seen that they had a good relationship with He Qianmin.

After Jiang Chen finished greeting, he said with a slight smile, “I’ll trouble you to take care of Qian Min today, and I’ll treat you all to dinner when I have a chance.”

“Don’t leave it to later!” The boys love to boo, seeing that Jiang Chen was not aloof they quickly treated him as one of their own. Hearing him say this, they all laughed and said, “Make it today! I was so scared that I didn’t have time to eat just now. I’m so hungry!”

Jiang Chen glanced at the time and agreed. He took He Qianmin and the group of young men to a nearby porridge shop.

“Qian Min is injured, so he can only drink porridge. Next time, I’ll treat you all to something else.”

He Qianmin sat next to Jiang Chen, curved his lips upward when he heard this, and said, “It’s already too nice of you to treat them to eat, how can there be so many complaints.”

The boys also responded with grins: “Yes, Big Brother, this place is good, we all like it.”

“That’s right, that’s right, my dad said, one must cultivate health at night, you need to eat these digestible things.”

“Big Brother, how old are you? Why haven’t we heard Qian Min mention you before?”

He Qianmin finally couldn’t bear it anymore, kicked the boy opposite him lightly and said: “This is my  Big Brother, what are you all doing calling him so familiarly, and also, do I have to report the eighteen generations of my family’s ancestors to you guys. “

The boy didn’t get angry when he was kicked, he dodged while saying: “Big Brother, you don’t know how domineering He Qianmin is at school, and he isn’t how he behaves in front of you at all normally, please teach us the secret! Let us also…..He Qianmin, your shoes are made of iron, right?”

He Qianmin warned him: “If you talk too much, I will kick you to death.”

“Big Brother!” The boy looked at Jiang Chen: “Did you see that! That’s how He Qianmin bully us weak classmates at school!”

“That’s right, that’s right!” The other people watched the excitement and only fanned the flames, all shouting to have Jiang Chen stand up for them.

Jiang Chen put a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs in He Qianmin’s bowl, curved his lips upward and said, “I’m his big rother, so naturally I only stand up for him.”

He Qianmin’s expressionless froze. When he turned his head and saw Jiang Chen’s smiling eyes, his ears turned red and he quickly looked away, but the corners of his mouth could not suppress their upward arc. He raised his chin and said: “You hear that, this is my big brother, so you guys can forget it.”

The others didn’t expect Jiang Chen to say that. After booing, a boy said enviously, “He Qianmin, I’ll trade my brother for your brother. Let’s switch.”

Another person also said: “I want to switch too!”

He Qianmin crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows: “Dream on.”

“He Qianmin, you’re gloating with glee!”

“He must be taught a little lesson!”

“Come on! Let’s get him together!”

As the boys fooled around, Jiang Chen looked at the porridge in the bowl, thoughtful.

It was getting late, and everyone dispersed when they were full.

Before He Qianmin got in the cab, Jiang Chen warned: “In the future, if this kind of thing happens again, call me as soon as possible, and also, come to my school to find me in a few days, and tell me about the situations that happened to you before.”

He Qianmin’s smiling eyes dimmed instantly, and he pursed his lips and said in a low voice, “There’s nothing to say.”

Jiang Chen looked at him sideways, but He Qianmin refused to meet his eyes, and looked forward expressionlessly, “You won’t believe it if I tell you, everyone thinks those things were just accidents. Without any evidence, no matter how many times I say it to anyone, the result will be the same.”

“He Qianmin.” Jiang Chen knocked on his forehead, and when he covered his forehead and glared over, he said, “I told you, I believe you.”

He Qianmin was startled, looking into his eyes: “Why?”

A smile appeared on the corner of Jiang Chen’s lips: “Because you call me Big Brother.”

……

The next day, Jiang Chen arrived at Yan City Second Hospital early in the morning.

Jiang Zhuo’s operation started at ten o’clock, and Shen Xu and Huo Bo also came. Jiang Chen sat on the waiting chairs outside the door with the two of them, watching Yang Si pace back and forth restlessly.

“Mom.” Jiang Chen walked up to her, pulled her and said, “Sit down.”

“I just ate too much, now I’m just taking a walk to digest.” Yang Si stopped and forced a smile as if to comfort herself: “Your dad’s operation will definitely be successful.”

Jiang Chen supported her: “There are still a few hours before Dad’s surgery is over, please sit down first.”

Shen Xu also came over, took Yang Si’s other hand and said: “Auntie Yang, Uncle Jiang must be fine, don’t worry, just sit down for a while.”

Yang Si took a deep breath, nodded and sat down with them.

Time passed by, and while everyone outside the operating room was waiting anxiously, the operating light finally went out.

When Shi Fengyue came out, Yang Si jumped up and walked over: “Dr. Shi, how is my husband?”

“The operation is successful.” Shi Fengyue said: “He will be sent to the ward later, but the effect of the anesthetic has not worn out yet, and it may take two hours to wake up.”

“Thank you Dr. Shi, thank you.” Yang Si thanked him again and again, her voice a little choked, but her face was full of smiles: “Thank you so much, Dr. Shi.”

Shi Fengyue said lightly: “This is my duty.”

Jiang Chen also came over and said sincerely, “Thank you, Dr. Shi, for your hard work.”

Shi Fengyue nodded, and left here together with the intern doctors who came out.

Shen Xu looked at the back of Shi Fengyue’s leaving figure, ran up to Jiang Chen and said, “Jiangzi, he was the one who came to our school last time, right? He can actually perform surgery at such a young age? So awesome.”

Huo Bo was curious: “He has been to No. 1 High School?”

“I saw him there once.” Shen Xu said, “It was the time when the results of the midterm examination came out. Did I tell you about the situation that day? You didn’t see it. When Jiang Chen and I appeared in a crowd of people, someone shouted ‘God Jiang is coming’, and everyone’s eyes were focused on us, their stares as eager as seeing a glass of water in the desert, a guiding light in the dark, and then a path opened up like the sea parting…..”

Huo Bo rolled his eyes at him, passed him and followed Jiang Chen and Yang Si.

Shen Xu jumped like a monkey and called, “Hey wait for me!”

Shen Xu chased after them, insisting on telling Huo Bo that wonderful and glorious moment. Huo Bo walked around from Jiang Chen to Yang Si’ side, and then from Yang Si to Jiang Chen’s. But Shen Xu was still always chirping next to him incessantly.

Seeing them like this, Yang Si couldn’t help laughing and said, “It’s been a long time since you three had fooled around together, Xiao Xu is still so lively.”

Jiang Chen also chuckled: “He hasn’t seen Huo Bo for a long time.”

“I remember when you went to summer camp when you were a child, you were away for an entire summer vacation. After you came back, Xiao Xu missed you as well and stuck to you like this, telling you what happened when you were not here during the summer vacation.”

That was a memory too long ago, and Jiang Chen only had some vague impressions in his mind, but just hearing his mother talk about it, he couldn’t help but curve the corners of his mouth upwards.

After seeing Jiang Zhuo, Yang Si took Jiang Chen and the others to have a meal near the hospital. After the meal, she went back to the hospital, and Jiang Chen and the others went to a cat cafe not far from the hospital under Shen Xu’s strong suggestion.

This kind of cafe was relatively rare at this time. As soon as Jiang Chen and Huo Bo walked in, they felt as if cat fur was flying all over the sky. Huo Bo frowned and stepped back in disgust, but Shen Xu forced him to go in.

The three sat in the booth by the window. After Shen Xu ordered their things, he looked around excitedly and said, “I saw this place on the forum before, and I’ve wanted to come here for a long time. There are so many cats here!”

Huo Bo gave him an eyeroll and said: “There is also a lot of fur.”

Shen Xu also rolled his eyes back, and said, “What do you know?” After speaking, he began to imitate meowing, grabbing the dried fish and coaxing a Garfield-like cat who was lying on the sofa not far away: “Come on, I have a small dried fish for you.”

The Garfield cat lazily buried its face without raising its head. Shen Xu could only divert his target after teasing with no success for a while. He grabbed the dried fish and coaxed all the cats nearby, and one cat finally took his dried fish only to run away fast, not letting him even touch a single hair.

“Are these cats afraid of strangers? They don’t seem to like strangers.” Shen Xu asked in frustration.

Jiang Chen lowered his head. A round orange cat sat on his shoe, as if it had decided to use him as a sofa.

“Or maybe it’s because the two of you don’t speak, especially Huo Bo, with a dark face, scaring away the kitties.”

Another chubby blue-gray cat came pacing over, lay next to Jiang Chen and nudged his hand, meowing twice coquettishly, and then purring.

Shen Xu said in amazement: “Jiangzi, how did you coax that cat here? Help me coax one too. It’s all because Huo Bo is sitting next to me, so not even one cat likes me.”

A cat jumped down from the cat climbing frame at the back, landed directly on Huo Bo’s lap, and rubbed against him affectionately, causing Huo Bo to lean back and freeze in place.

Shen Xu’s eyes widened: “What’s going on! Where did that cat come from! Why is it crawling on you!”

Jiang Chen rubbed the cat next to him, and Huo Bo also adjusted his posture, and carefully touched the cat on him. He was a little surprised at the feel under his hand, and couldn’t help petting it a few more times.

Seeing this, Shen Xu was even more annoyed: “Why didn’t one come towards me!”

The waiter who happened to be wearing a coffee apron brought the coffee and juice they ordered, and Shen Xu quickly asked: “Do your cats have any quirks, why do they only crawl on the two of them, or do they not like yellow because I’m wearing a yellow T-shirt.”

The waiter looked at Shen Xu coldly and said, “These are all female cats.”

Shen Xu didn’t understand: “What do you mean?”

“Look in the mirror.”

Shen Xu: “???”

“You, what do you mean?” Shen Xu slapped the table, “You mean I look…..Huh? It’s you?”

The thin and fair boy glanced at Shen Xu, nodded to Jiang Chen, and left with the tray.

“That’s…..” Shen Xu looked at the boy’s back and said, “Is that the lower year boy we saw in the stairwell before?”

Jiang Chen hummed lightly. Shen Xu clicked his tongue, shook his head and said, “Although his eyes are not very good, he looks livelier than before.”

Huo Bo raised his eyes: “You know him?”

“Yeah.” Shen Xu said: “When we saw him before, he was bullied by Sun Zhi in the stairwell on the second floor. If Jiangzi and I hadn’t rescued him, he would have been miserable.”

Huo Bo withdrew his gaze and said calmly, “He doesn’t look like one to be bullied in vain.”

“How do you know?” Shen Xu curled his lips, paused, and said, “But speaking of this, I forgot to tell you that during the time you were not at school, that boy Sun Zhi was instigated by someone, and he has been wanting to find trouble for Jiang Chen. I have been having people keep an eye on him every day these days, and I don’t believe that I can’t dig out the person behind him. I want to see who is so stupid, hiding in the stinky sewers and looking for trouble.”

“By the way, didn’t you catch Sun Zhi when we were in the second or third year of junior high school? You said that he stalked Jiang Chen at that time. How did you find out and did you find out anything from him?”