After arriving at the school, Ji Xu parked the car by the roadside and glanced out the window at the school gate.
The gate of Shi City No. 1 High School was grand and imposing, looking very serious.
“This school is so shabby…”
Cheng Yue peered out the window and complained, “What kind of uniform is that security guard wearing? It looks like he’s playing the role of Bald Strong’s older brother.”
Ji Xu chuckled at his description, then glanced at Cheng Yue’s outfit. He pointed at Cheng Yue’s earrings and said, “Take off your earrings. You’re not allowed to wear them to school.”
“Earrings?”
Cheng Yue was taken aback for a moment. He reached up to touch his ears and remembered that he had kept the ear clips on to annoy his dad. No wonder he had been feeling like his head was heavy these past few days.
Cheng Yue stretched his neck, struggled with the rearview mirror for a while, and finally removed the overly dramatic silver ear clip.
“You don’t have ear holes?” Ji Xu, thinking he must be seeing things, leaned in to look closer. Cheng Yue’s earlobes were indeed hole-free.
“No,” Cheng Yue rubbed his earlobes, which had been flattened by the ear clips. He was so afraid of pain that he would never get his ears pierced.
Ji Xu looked at his reddened earlobes and felt an urge to pinch them. Cheng Yue had quite nice ears, especially with the black hat on his head making them look almost translucent.
“What are you staring at…” Cheng Yue suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
“Nothing. Get out of the car,” Ji Xu said, clearing his throat and opening the door to get out.
Cheng Yue looked out of the car window again and, with great effort, opened the door and followed Ji Xu toward the school.
Before entering the school, they were stopped by the security guard at the gate, who verified their IDs several times before letting them in.
Ji Xu was fine, but Cheng Yue was repeatedly checked by the security guard before they were allowed through.
“What a crappy school. What’s wrong with my clothes?” Cheng Yue slightly lowered his head and tugged at his top, which had been scrutinized by the security guard for at least three minutes.
Ji Xu, walking ahead, glanced at Cheng Yue’s outfit, which looked like a rag, and then at the school uniforms worn by the students playing on the nearby field. The difference was striking.
“This school’s uniforms are really ugly,” Cheng Yue remarked, seeing the students on the field and squinting in distaste.
“They look like long tubes.”
Ji Xu was about to say something when his phone rang.
He checked the caller ID and saw it was Tang Jing calling.
“Hello?”
“Come over to the office quickly. I’ve made some progress on the Luo Fengxing case,” Tang Jing’s voice was cheerful. “I’m at my friend’s place right now. We’ve uncovered some important information, so come over and we’ll discuss it.”
After agreeing, Ji Xu ended the call, glanced at Cheng Yue, who had somehow ended up in front of him, and walked quickly to catch up.
“Those guys playing basketball are actually pretty good,” Cheng Yue said with a smile as Ji Xu approached.
Ji Xu, observing Cheng Yue’s smiling face, found it unexpectedly cute. He paused and said, “I have a bit of an urgent matter…”
“Oh, then you go ahead,” Cheng Yue quickly responded.
“Aren’t you coming with me?” Ji Xu asked with a frown.
“I’m just getting some fresh air. I’ll head home on my own later,” Cheng Yue said.
Ji Xu thought for a moment, then took out the house key from his pocket and handed it to Cheng Yue.
“This is the key to the house. When I come back, I’ll register your fingerprint, so you can just use it next time.”
Cheng Yue, eager not to delay Ji Xu, urged, “Okay, you go quickly.”
Ji Xu reminded him to stay safe, then walked towards the school gate.
As Ji Xu drove back to the office, he arrived in the underground parking lot and parked his car. Next to his parking spot, a flashy sports car quickly took the space.
The bright yellow color made him squint. It was Tang Jing’s car.
As expected, a portly man with a big belly got out of the luxury car, walking over and resting his belly on Ji Xu’s car door as a form of greeting.
Ji Xu got out of his car and, unable to help himself, gave the man’s belly a disdainful look, saying, “So dirty.”
“Come on, germaphobe,” Tang Jing said nonchalantly, wiping his hands on Ji Xu’s car.
“You probably wash this car more often than I wash my face. I could lick it and it might taste sweet.”
Ji Xu frowned at his car, then gave Tang Jing’s belly a heavy look, his expression complex. “What are you talking about? Don’t make the car disgusting.”
Tang Jing: “……”
Tang Jing knew he couldn’t joke around with Ji Xu. He sighed and said, “Alright, let’s get down to business. The information Zhang Mengmeng collected shows that Luo Fengxing has a son and a daughter. I’ve really hit a dead end with him, but two years ago, his son made the news for hitting someone with his car and killing them. He quickly paid off the victim’s family to cover it up and suppressed the news.”
“Where does the victim’s family live now?” Ji Xu quickly focused on the key point.
“Get in the car,” Tang Jing patted his belly, smiling as he opened his car door and gestured for Ji Xu to get in.
Cheng Yue was sitting on a bench by the street, holding a few bills in his pocket, trying to decide where to go next.
After Ji Xu left, Cheng Yue walked out of the school. He wasn’t interested in wandering around, so he turned back the way he came when he saw several security guards following him on patrol motorcycles, as if he were a fool.
He didn’t care to visit the rundown school, so he decided to head back.
As a car drove past him, Cheng Yue took all the money out of his pocket—just a few US dollars. Apart from these bills, he had nothing else.
Just as he was about to head to the bank to exchange the money for RMB, his phone rang.
Before taking it out, he thought it might be Ji Xu calling, but when he looked, it was an unknown number.
He barely knew anyone in China, let alone someone who would have his number.
Except for Ji Xu.
After the call had rung for at least 30 seconds, Cheng Yue finally answered, “Hello?”
“Is this Cheng Yue?” The man on the other end had a gruff voice with a strong note of impatience.
Cheng Yue was already in a bad mood, and the man’s rudeness made him roll his eyes and hang up the phone.
But the call quickly came through again. Cheng Yue ignored it and hung up without looking.
The caller was persistent and immediately called again after being hung up on.
“Damn it!”
Cheng Yue swore, answered the phone, and said, “What do you want?”
“You…” The man on the other end swore before getting straight to the point, “There’s a coffee shop in the west side. Find it and come over quickly.”
Cheng Yue frowned and looked around. What west side? He couldn’t distinguish directions well, so he shouted into the phone, “Why should I go? Who the hell are you?”
“Your dad owes us money!” The man shouted before hanging up the phone.
Cheng Yue stared at the phone, confused, then gritted his teeth and tried to find the so-called coffee shop in the west side.
After searching for a long time and getting frustrated, he threw his hat off his head in annoyance.
What west side? Did I offend your mother or something?
Cheng Yue stood there dazed for a moment, thinking about what the man said, then furrowed his brows and went to retrieve the hat he had thrown.
As he picked up the hat and looked up, he finally saw the black-sign coffee shop at the street corner.
Cheng Yue was speechless. Why didn’t he just say “ahead”?
He walked over and stopped in front of the glass door of the coffee shop, peering inside.
There were not many people in the shop. Three men in black vests were sitting in a booth inside.
Feeling uneasy, Cheng Yue wiped his nose and was about to turn and leave when one of the men, who had initially signaled him, stood up and waved him over.
With no other choice, Cheng Yue pushed open the door and walked in.
“Thought you could run?” The man who had waved him in sneered, “If you try to run, don’t think you’ll leave this door standing.”
“When did I try to run?” Cheng Yue said defiantly as he walked over and sat down across from them.
“Your dad still owes us money! Who knew he would die like this?” The man’s face darkened as he pointed at Cheng Yue, “A debt is a debt. Your old man owed it, so it’s only right you pay it.”
Cheng Yue’s brows furrowed tightly, his voice heavy, “How much does my dad owe?”
The man smiled and held up five fingers, “500,000!”
Cheng Yue’s heart skipped a beat at the amount. 500,000 was something he could have managed before, but now, he could barely scrape together 500.
“What, can’t pay?”
The man sneered, “Such a big boss, surely 5 million isn’t an issue? How can he not pay back 500,000?”
“Do you think I’m an idiot? My dad is dead; can he dig up from his grave and say, ‘Oh, I owe you money’?” Cheng Yue looked at him, trying to stay calm, but his hand under the table was clenched tightly.
“Stop dragging this out.”
The man in the black vest pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and tossed it on the table, “Look at this! It’s your dad’s signature. You should recognize your father’s handwriting, right? Don’t play games with me.”
Cheng Yue looked at the piece of paper on the table and, after a moment of anger, pinched his thigh under the table to calm down before reaching for the paper.
After reading the entire IOU, Cheng Yue’s face, which was already bad, turned even worse.
The name on the note was indeed signed by his father.
Which meant his father did owe 500,000…
Damn it.
Cheng Yue cursed inwardly and quietly took out the money from his pocket to count.
All his money combined was less than 500, and even giving away the spare change was a struggle.
