CH 101

Chapter 101 Surrender

Jian Chi crashed for a few seconds and didn’t understand what the sentence ‘I didn’t tell him’ meant, but looking into Shen Shuting’s eyes, he clearly understood it subconsciously, and couldn’t believe it.

“Why?”

Shen Shuting didn’t answer, his silence treated as an answer for this question. He turned his head and said to Bai Yinnian, who was sitting next to them, watching the play, “He needs to go back with me.”

The words were clear and eloquent, with indifference and decisiveness that cannot be rejected by the other party.

But this kind of resoluteness was greatly compromised here with Bai Yinian. He didn’t even get up, and raising his chin did not weaken his calm temperament at all, “I didn’t promise that.”

Jian Chi thought that Shen Shuting was probably rarely rejected so mercilessly, and his expression was comparable to that of a refrigerator. For the first time, Jian Chi saw that Shen Shuting was obviously angry but had to suppress it for some reason. He silently moved aside a little, not wanting to be affected by the cold air around him.

However, this action was somehow captured by Shen Shuting keenly, “Do you want to stay here?”

Jian Chi shook his head without hesitation.

“Come here.”

The feeling of these two words coming out of Shen Shuting’s mouth was not the same as that of Bai Yinnian. It was not like treating a pet casually, but coldly biting the ending word, making Jian Chi feel that if he didn’t go over, Shen Shuting was likely to find someone to carry him over, or use his eye knife to poke holes all over his body.

There should be no hostages worse than him. Jian Chi walked towards Shen Shuting while slandering him, not forgetting to leave a safe distance between them.

“I don’t want to repeat my words.”

Bai Yinian came and put a hand on Jian Chi’s shoulder, as if he was hugging him naturally, but Jian Chi felt that he was tightly clasped in place and could not move his legs. The warm temperature passed through Bai Yinian’s palm to his cloth revealed an obvious aggressiveness, like a transparent barrier; no one could see it, but it actually shrouded Jian Chi.

“Does your Bai family treat guests like this?” Shen Shuting said, “Let him go.”

“I thought you had no objection to our previous deal, it seems I was wrong.”

Bai Yinian’s expression was calm and steady from beginning to end, and he didn’t show any displeasure in the face of Shen Shuting’s orders, which was more like silent oppression than an answer. Jian Chi was not used to such an excessively close distance, and even Bai Yinian could clearly feel the slight tremor in his chest when he exhaled, so he couldn’t help but open his body sideways.

Under the silent confrontation, Shen Shuting stared at Bai Yinian’s face, took steps to pull Jian Chi’s wrist, then his expression seemed to freeze for a moment, but it was not obvious on his already cold face, “Jian Chi, let’s go. “

Jian Chi also wanted to leave. At this time, he didn’t even care how Shen Shuting overcame his mysophobia and came to touch him. However, the shackles on his shoulders suddenly became heavy and clear, making Jian Chi, who was already inconvenient to move, only take two steps forward. Forced to stop, one arm was pulled tightly by Shen Shuting, and the other shoulder was held down by Bai Yinnian, Jian Chi’s scalp was numb, and he felt that he would be split in half from the middle in the next second.

“Let go.” Shen Shuting said to Bai Yinnian.

“You should let go first.” This was Bai Yinian’s answer.

Jian Chi’s arm was sore from being pulled, and his injured foot had to hang in the air. He couldn’t bear it any longer: “Why don’t you all let go, I won’t be able to stand up.”

In the stalemate, Shen Shuting saw that Jian Chi’s left leg was indeed trembling slightly, he pursed his cold lips and let go of his hand. Jian Chi, who lost his balance, staggered back uncontrollably, and slammed his back into Bai Yinian’s chest. 

Hard, it hurts to hit it.

“I’m sorry…” After blurting out an apology, Jian Chi did not realize that he was the victim, so why did he become the one who apologized?

Bai Yinnian lacked focus for a moment, too fast to capture. Jian Chi couldn’t see his expression, but he could feel Shen Shuting’s dark eyes locked on him and Bai Yinnian, and he could feel the billowing low pressure.

“Let’s talk.”

Shen Shuting said.

Looking at the closed study door, Jian Chi felt a familiar scene. The short ten minutes was as long as ten hours. When the door opened again, the expressions of both of them were as calm as when they entered.

Shen Shuting was a little shorter than Bai Yinian, but walking together, it would not make people feel overwhelmed. They were two completely different types, one was mature and cold, the other was noble and quiet, like a prince described in fairy tales. When such a face was enlarged in front of his eyes, Jian Chi couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.

Shen Shuting… Was he this close before?

“I will explain your injury to the school and approve that you do not have to go back to class for the time being,” Shen Shuting said. “When you recover, I will come to pick you up again.”

“What? Wait…”

Jian Chi didn’t understand how Shen Shuting’s decision had changed so much in just ten minutes. Just as he was about to speak out, Shen Shuting had already seen through his thoughts, a dim light flashed in the depths of his emerald’s pupils, and he said slowly: “I won’t break my word.”

Somehow, such a Shen Shuting revealed a softness that had never been seen before, and it was revealed very quickly for a moment and then was re-wrapped by a hard shell. Jian Chi seemed to be strangled by his throat, so he couldn’t open his mouth to continue asking.

A warning glance at Bai Yinnian who closed the door with his backhand, Shen Shuting pulled the corner of his lips, and whispered with a hint of irony: “Be careful of Bai Yinnian, he is not a good person.”

Jian Chi, who had already understood this point, nodded without rebuttal, and his ears were slightly numb.

It’s very strange, everything was very strange, why did Shen Shuting, who never used to look at him, find him first? Why didn’t he want to tell Ji Huaisi the truth? What deal did Shen Shuting make with Bai Yinnian? While thinking about it, Jian Chi finally remembered where the familiar scene came from.

On the night of the birthday, the conversation between Shao Hang and Wen Chuan at the door of the dormitory made Jian Chi unable to tell whether it was a dream or reality. 

Unconsciously, there were many things around him that he was not clear about, what was it this time?

“Morning.”

When he pulled out the chair and sat down, Jian Chi paused when he heard these words. It had been two days since Shen Shuting left, and he still couldn’t let go of his grudge against Bai Yinnian. The breakfast in front of him was different every day, but today there was an extra plate of fried dumplings that appeared yesterday. Jian Chi remembered that he ate a lot yesterday.

Bai Yinnian wasn’t annoyed when he didn’t get an answer, “Are you still angry?”

This question sounded like he was making a fuss, but him making trouble for Bai Yinnian, this feeling was strange no matter how he thought about it. Jian Chi could only say, “No.” But he didn’t conceal his half-hearted harsh words.

“I wanted to tell you to go out with me later, but if you are in a bad mood and want to stay at home, I have no problem.”

When Jian Chi heard the word ‘go out’, he raised his head abruptly, with half a fried dumpling stuffed in his mouth that he didn’t have time to swallow. When he met Bai Yinian’s eyes mixed with a leisurely smile, he lowered his head to cover up the embarrassing stance, his ears warmed slightly because of annoyance, “Are you serious?”

Bai Yinian didn’t want to answer meaningless questions. He placed down the empty coffee cup, put on the suit jacket on the back of the chair, turned around and when he walked to the entrance, he couldn’t tell whether he was joking or saying the truth: “Do you want me to carry you over?”

Jian Chi got up quickly and followed with the fastest speed.

Although he still didn’t know where the destination was and why Bai Yinnian did it, nothing could be more tempting than ‘going out’ right now.

When the car was parked in front of the towering building, Jian Chi realized from the icon above that the place Bai Yinian brought him turned out to be the company.

To be honest, Jian Chi didn’t know much about this circle, and only heard a thing or two from Zhang Yang’s usual gossip. The Bai family dabbled in a wide range of fields. At first, they made their fortune by relying on the industry in the dark zone. Later, they got on the right track and began to do business. Bai Yinian’s father, Bai Shengying, was a romantic playboy when he was young. This was not Jian Chi’s evaluation, but a fact that everyone recognized when talking about the Bai family. This old man, who was over 50 years old, had more media gossip in his youth than his own career achievements.

If one wanted to go back a little deeper, thanks to the rich family background left by Bai Yinnian’s grandfather, the young and vigorous Bai Shengying did not lose his family business. Later, it was the familiar drama of the prodigal son. After having a family, he began to study company management seriously. The Bai family continued to expand in the hands of Bai Shengying, and climbed steadily. At the peak of its prosperity, almost everything everyone used for food, shelter, had a part of it’s investment from the Bai family. Over the past few decades, it had already earned an astronomical amount that ordinary people can’t imagine.

The information about Bai Yinnian was far less abundant than that of his father, which was one of the reasons why Jian Chi can’t see through Bai Yinnian. Thoughts drifted away, Bai Yinian’s voice came from the front, and dropped two short words: “Follow along.”

After regaining consciousness, Jian Chi walked up slowly, passing men and women in business attire. The air was filled with fresh perfume. Jian Chi felt that he was out of place when he was dressed in casual clothes and injured.

When they saw Bai Yinian, everyone stopped and said ‘Greetings Chief Bai’. Eyes fell on Jian Chi, but compared to the undisguised look at Sainston, it can be regarded as friendly and restrained, more of a curiosity. Jian Chi found that some people even smiled at him.

It was probably because of Bai Yinian’s face, but this really relieved Jian Chi’s nervousness.

After coming out of the special elevator, he was greeted by a man also wearing a suit. His hair was meticulously combed, a pair of black-framed glasses were on the bridge of his nose, and he was holding a tablet and talking to Bai Yinian about today’s itinerary. Jian Chi originally wanted to slow down and step back, but after listening to it, he realized that it didn’t matter if he didn’t, because he couldn’t keep up with the man’s speech rate and the professional terms in it.

This should be the most common job content for Bai Yinnian. After replying a few words, he stopped at the door of the office, then as if he finally remembered Jian Chi after getting up, he looked at him, “Han Zheng, make arrangements.”

He didn’t clarify the arrangements, but Han Zheng already answered yes and put on a polite smile at Jian Chi, “Mr. Jian Chi, come with me.”

Jian Chi followed without a choice. On the way, he remembered something, “Are you… Assistant Han?” Jian Chi had an impression of this voice.

“Yes, I answered your call at the time.” Han Zheng replied politely.

At that time, Bai Shuyun had an accident. Bai Yinnian gave him a business card with a phone number on it. Jian Chi dialed it and talked with Assistant Han for several minutes. In the end, because the other party was too restrained, he didn’t ask anything.

Although the beginning was not very good, it was better to have an someone we have crossed paths with before than a stranger. Jian Chi asked, “Where are we going?”

Han Zheng gave him the same polite smile as before.

His mouth was still as tight as last time.

The destination was actually not far from Bai Yinian’s office. There were several pots of orchids for decoration in the spacious reception room, which was empty. Han Zheng left after saying ‘please wait a moment’, not giving Jian Chi a chance to talk.

Holding the slightly hot paper cup, Jian Chi looked at the room, lowered his head and took a sip of hot water, then suddenly there was the sound of the door being pushed open behind him.

“I don’t have much time, sit down.”

Jian Chi almost sprayed out hot water in his mouth, looking blankly at Shen Shuting who walked in front of him, wearing a windbreaker to cover the suit and uniform inside. Apparently he just came out of school as he took out his laptop in his bag and placed it on the long table in the reception room.

“How are you here?”

Shen Shuting raised his eyes, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary here, “Just because you don’t go to school, doesn’t mean you can drop the course. I applied with the school and will help tutor you for two hours a day.”

After speaking, without waiting for Jian Chi’s response, he sat down and put on the pair of rimless glasses. When he looked up again, he felt a little more bookish and said to Jian Chi, who was still in a daze: “Come here.”

Something is wrong with Shen Shuting – such a sentence emerged in Jian Chi’s mind.

Full of doubts and anxiety, Jian Chi sat over and watched Shen Shuting take out his computer, books… Everything was normal, and it seemed like he was really ready to give a lecture to him. However, it was this kind of normality that made Jian Chi’s heart flutter, “Shen… President, why are you doing this? I thought you hated me.”

Shen Shuting paused, then said, “I do hate you.”

Although he had been prepared for a long time, Jian Chi’s heart still felt as if he had been pricked by a needle.

Shen Shuting said the second half of the sentence: “This does not conflict with what I am doing now.”

“Then why did you come find me?” Jian Chi couldn’t help asking, “What did you and Bai Yinian talk about that day?”

He didn’t want to be self-indulgent, but it was obvious that the conversation was about him.

Shen Shuting’s eyes were on the computer screen, but there was nothing else on it except the power-on password input box. Shen Shuting frowned slightly, and there was a silence as if he couldn’t answer it himself. After entering the password, his slender fingers pressed ok, and the keyboard made a crisp sound, and his voice flowed into Jian Chi’s ears.

“I really do hate you, so I don’t know why I’m doing this. Jian Chi, I’m looking for answers.”

Under the lens, those gem-like eyes were filled with a dark color that Jian Chi had never seen before, as if breaking his long-standing coldness; walking slowly from a high place to the front, with every twitch of his eyelashes and making him tremble.

“After I found out that you were gone, I thought I could stand by and watch them be in chaos, but in fact, I was no different from those people.”

Shen Shuting lowered his eyes and evoked a self-deprecating smile.

“I’ve laughed at you so many times, now, it’s your turn to take revenge.”