CH 68

TL: Hua

As Shen Boyan’s past was constantly revealed, Xia Shu’an was the first to be affected.

He ushered in another peak call period.

“Hey, Big Brother Xia, don’t listen to that nonsense on the Internet. Boss never acted like that. Although he fought, he never bullied the weak!”

Xia Shu’an: “I know, I know, so do you know what he was like when he was a student?”

The young man on the other end suddenly became depressed.

“Me? When I followed the boss, he had already left high school.”

Xia Shu’an: “Well, don’t worry too much; go to bed early and don’t stay up late.”

Next is Zhang Mingpei.

“Xiao Xia, don’t listen to the nonsense on the Internet. Shen Boyan definitely didn’t bully his classmates, let alone extort them. The most he did was get into fights and skip classes. The only time he had a fight with a teacher was because the teacher accepted gifts from parents and taunted the students who didn’t give gifts. That’s why he got angry and started fighting with that teacher. This incident was very famous in our school at the time, and everyone praised him for his righteousness.”

Xia Shu’an: “What about his parents?”

“….” There was silence, and after a while, the voice on the other end of the phone suddenly cleared up. Zhang Mingpei’s voice was a little hoarse, as if he were smoking.

“The story about his parents is indeed widely spread in our small county. His dad is a jerk. He beats him and his mom all day long. His mom couldn’t stand it anymore and left. Then his dad put all his dissatisfaction on him. He was the only target of violence. Shen Boyan often went to school with injuries on his face and was also a thorn in the side of the school.”

“But he wasn’t as bad as what was said on the Internet. He has never bullied others, and he will even stand up for the weak. In the past, there were a few people in our school who mixed up with society and often extorted passing students after school.”

“Shen Boyan got into a fight with them after encountering them. It was quite a spectacular scene. After a few attempts, our entire class and other boys followed him and rushed forward until the teacher and police arrived.”

“Shen Boyan also received disciplinary action for this matter, but the school considered his original intention to protect his classmates and only gave him a demerit. After that, those people dared not wander around the school anymore.”

Xia Shu’an recalled his personality. He was a “If you love somebody, you want them to live forever, but if you hate somebody, you want them dead1A proverb: 爱之欲其生，恶之欲其死。” type of person. Combined with the primitive instincts in his bones, it’s not surprising that he would do such a thing.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that I was considered a good student in the class at that time. It should have been hard for me to get along with Shen Boyan, but strangely enough, neither the boys nor the girls in the class were very afraid of him, because even though he’s a ‘lone wolf’, he was more often than not immersed in his own world. If you don’t offend him, he will not pay attention to you and even defend you against injustice when necessary.”

“I was one of the people who was extorted by those people at that time. You don’t know how scared I was when I was surrounded by several people who were much taller than me. When Shen Boyan stood up and walked towards me, I was so moved.”

“He’s a righteous man, and because of what happened to his dad, he hates drinking and gambling. Of course, drinking is something that a mature social animal has to succumb to. In short, I believe he won’t do anything illegal. I don’t believe a word of the bullshit that’s said on the Internet.”

Xia Shu’an laughed: “I don’t believe it either.”

“Hahaha, that’s great. Although I don’t know what’s going on with Old Shen, he definitely hopes that you won’t be affected or worried. Xiao Xia, you don’t know how self-conscious Old Shen is. Except for old friends like us, he has always kept a distance from others, and his private life is equivalent to nothing. That’s why, just two months ago, we were drinking together and lamenting the single life. In the blink of an eye, he brought you out and moved in with you. You don’t know how shocked we were at the time.”

The man said solemnly, “He must value you very much and must have made up his mind to be with you. Therefore, although work is important, it’s also important not to let you misunderstand and to live happily with you.”

A warm current slowly flowed through Xia Shu’an’s heart.

“I know, and I believe him too.”

“Okay, I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Ah, by the way…”

Xia Shu’an suddenly said, “Have you ever heard him talk about his high school life? Especially what happened after he transferred to another school in his senior year.”

“Uh, not really.”

“Is that so?”

After hanging up the phone, Xia Shu’an clicked on Weibo again. In less than half an hour, the new trending search was at the top of the trending list. As various “old acquaintances” of Shen Boyan appeared, the following topics gradually became outrageous. From how unruly Shen Boyan was in his student days to his private love life.

Several people spoke as if they had seen it with their own eyes: [Don’t you know that Wenhui Boss is gay? It’s a well-known fact in the circle!]

[Who doesn’t know that Wenhui Boss likes to play with little boys? But he isn’t exactly gay. He isn’t averse to men and women, though he does prefer men. ]

[He must have supported several celebrities. Nowadays, the popular kids have a close relationship with him. Many people have seen it with their own eyes.]

[He often goes to some special places and especially likes to go to love hotels. Rich people spend more money on fun. ]

Xia Shu’an remembered the hotel they’d been to before and thought that it wasn’t exactly a slander.

When he scrolled down, he saw a few familiar IDs. When he clicked on them, they were indeed crying, some shouting that the house had collapsed and some saying that their stocks were gone.

After Xia Shu’an quit these people’s Weibo, he returned to the big V homepage, where he first broke the news. The latest entry listed Shen Boyan’s life history in detail.

At 7 years old, his mother ran away from home.

At 14 years old, he entered the police station for the first time.

At 17 years old, his father died in a drunken accident. He left Gaoping and transferred to a high school in Changning.

At 18 years old, in March, he was found lying in an alley covered in blood. He was seriously injured and admitted to the hospital. Half a month later, he was discharged from the hospital and completed the procedures for dropping out of school.

Line by line, word by word, they are all the journeys of his life.

Xia Shu’an stroked the class photo of Shen Boyan that those people had found somewhere, put down the phone again, and walked into the study room next door.

He turned on the lamp in the study room, took out a German book from a certain compartment on the bookshelf, and quickly opened it to reveal a photo inside.

That was the photo Duan Yiyou left for him before leaving.

In the photo, the young man with sharp eyebrows and an indifferent expression is wearing a blue and white school uniform. School uniforms in China are generally the same. It’s difficult for the general public to figure out their school from the uniform alone. However, in order to help everyone distinguish this point, the school emblem is specially drawn on the chest of the school uniform.

Although the style of the school’s emblem wasn’t very clear, Xia Shu’an was very familiar with it because he also had an identical school uniform.

That was the school he enrolled in when he transferred to Changning City in his second year of high school.

Shen Boyan may have known him a long time ago.

Xia Shu’an took a deep breath, put the photo back, and walked to the window. The phone in his pocket vibrated, and Xia Shu’an picked it up. It was the latest hot topic on Weibo. A Weibo account with the name of Shen Boyan’s ex-boyfriend appeared, crying out about Shen Boyan’s violent behavior towards him during their relationship.

That person spoke in a convincing manner and also sent photos of his injuries and hospital certificates from three months ago, causing Xia Shu’an to laugh out loud.

However, the angry comments from netizens below ruined his good mood.

Shen Boyan’s current image will probably receive a greater impact tomorrow morning when more people wake up.

He lowered his head and stared blankly at the home screen of his mobile phone. After a while, he entered a string of numbers he knew by heart and pressed call.

“Hey, Dad.”

It was now eleven o’clock in the evening, but Father Xia didn’t seem surprised by his call, and his tone was unusually calm.

“What’s wrong, An An?”

“Dad.” Xia Shu’an said in a childlike tone with a bit of whining, “I can’t stand those people bashing Shen Boyan. I’m not happy.”

“Silly boy, it’s normal because you’re lovers and family, so you care about his reputation and don’t want to see him misunderstood.”

Xia Shu’an said, as if muttering to himself, “I wonder how Wenhui’s share price will fluctuate when I wake up tomorrow morning.”

Father Xia continued in a very natural tone: “That’s probably a big slippery slope.”

“Actually, I thought I could face this matter calmly. I know that many people on the Internet are led by public opinion and don’t know the truth. I shouldn’t have emotions towards unrelated people, but I just suddenly felt so angry.”

Father Xia: “When your father’s business became big, some people said that I was probably raking in women and keeping several wives. I was also very angry when they said that your mother was really pitiful.”

“So you spent 10 million to buy a ring for mom, right?”

“Yes, your mother really likes it!”

The two of them laughed at the same time. After a while, the laughter gradually subsided. Xia Shu’an was silent for a while and said, “Dad, I’m wondering if, as Shen Boyan’s partner, I stand up and publicly support him, can I restore his public image, and most importantly, can I buy time for Wenhui to deal with emergencies?”

This time, Father Xia was silent.

About ten seconds later: “Although you’re not in the business industry, you have learned many business courses since childhood. In theory, your idea is feasible. The stock price fluctuations after the scandal broke out were originally based on the collapse of the company’s reputation and the uncertainty of shareholders about the company’s future. A large number of capital withdrawals triggers panic among the remaining people, thus creating a vicious cycle. If you can stop this tendency from the beginning and make them hesitate, teether, and indecisive, you can buy valuable reaction time for Wenhui and Xiao Shen, which is backed up by many examples.”

Father Xia said gently, “As a father, I don’t want to see you get hurt, but as a father, I also support your decision.”

Not knowing what was going on over there, Father Xia quickly changed his words: “Your mom and I support you.”

Xia Shu’an couldn’t help but smile: “Thank you, mom and dad.”

When Xia Shu’an put down the phone, he had already made a decision in his heart. Contrary to Father Xia’s understanding, he and Shen Boyan’s involvement isn’t just emotional. They are now a community of interests, sharing the same goals and determination.

He didn’t want to feel ashamed after the fact that he had been blindly shielded in one way or another.

He turned and walked out of the room. “Aunt Qiao, please give me a cup of coffee.”