Chen Zimo raised his phone and said loudly, “According to Article 138 of the Great Xia Nation’s law, repeated robbery involving a large amount carries a prison sentence of 8 to 15 years.”
“Zheng Qian, Wu Mei, I remember you both turned eighteen not long ago. You don’t want to spend the next fifteen years locked in a dark cell, do you?”
Chen Zimo’s sudden appearance startled the two girls. When they saw it was him, they immediately perked up.
“It’s you! Aren’t you Gu Xiaoxiao’s lapdog?”
“You want to stand up for Su Qing? What, did you fall for this bitch and want to play hero?”
“I think you just want to taste my fists!”
As she spoke, Zheng Qian rolled up her sleeves like a street thug, revealing the tattoo underneath.
Chen Zimo sighed. He had intended to scare them with the law, but these little delinquents were legally illiterate and simply did not care.
He switched off the camera and dialed 110.
“Hello, 110? We’re being robbed at the back gate of No. 11 Middle School…”
The moment Zheng Qian and Wu Mei heard that Chen Zimo had called the police without hesitation, they dropped the money and ran off in a flash.
Chen Zimo walked up to Su Qing. Seeing her crouched on the ground crying, he could not help but sigh inwardly. A beauty with a tragic fate.
This was the girl who had supposedly brought misfortune to her parents, then to her grandmother, and in the end had taken her own life after his firm rejection of her confession in his previous life. He felt both sympathy and helplessness toward her.
He could not understand. After dying in his previous life and becoming a spirit, he had met many other spirits and learned countless skills.
Yet not a single one of those damn geniuses had been good at chasing girls.
In both his lifetimes, Chen Zimo had either been trying to please his family or working nonstop. When had he ever had the mind for girls?
As for comforting them, if he had known how, he would not have been delivering breakfast to Gu Xiaoxiao every day only to be treated like a lapdog.
Still, he remembered that people usually comforted girls by patting their heads.
Chen Zimo reached out and gently patted her head.
“Don’t worry. They won’t dare bully you again.”
Su Qing’s body stiffened suddenly, like a frightened kitten.
She finally realized who was speaking.
She lifted her head abruptly.
The moment she saw Chen Zimo’s face clearly, she lowered her head again.
Chen Zimo was momentarily stunned by the purity in her eyes.
What kind of person could have such clear, transparent eyes?
He picked up the money from the ground and gently helped Su Qing to her feet. “Go on. Go home.”
“Go home without worry. If Zheng Qian and the others dare to bully you again, tell them I have video evidence. Let them try. If they bully you again, I can send them straight to prison.”
Hearing this, Su Qing mustered her courage and looked up at Chen Zimo.
This man, like her, had already finished all the high school curriculum long ago and deliberately controlled his scores in every exam.
He’s really handsome.
…
Chen Zimo did not know how to comfort her any further. He made up an excuse that he had something to do and left first.
As he walked away, he could not help but mutter to himself, “Why is it that other people can comfort girls as easily as drinking cold water, but me? I’m usually so slick with words, yet the moment I face a girl, I start stumbling.”
Soon after, Chen Zimo bought some fruit from a roadside stall and went to Grandma Li’s clinic.
“Grandma Li, I came to see you… uh!”
When he entered the clinic and found that Grandma Li was not in the front room, he walked directly toward the inner room.
The moment he stepped in, his unfinished words got stuck in his throat.
Inside sat two people: Grandma Li and Su Qing.
But Su Qing had completely transformed.
She had removed the large black-rimmed glasses that once covered half her face.
The unusual birthmark between her brows was gone.
Her loose hair had been tied into a neat ponytail.
At that moment, Su Qing looked like a fairy descending to the mortal world.
Her jet-black, deep eyes were lively, revealing a trace of barely noticeable cunning. When she looked at Chen Zimo, there was only gentleness in her gaze, along with a faint hint of surprise.
Her straight nose, her soft pink lips…
Her features combined like a finely carved work of art.
Chen Zimo’s heart began pounding uncontrollably.
He felt the same shock he had experienced in his previous life the first time he saw Su Qing after she put on makeup.
Stunning.
Beautiful.
This kind of natural beauty, without the slightest disguise, was even more comfortable to look at.
Not only would men fall for her, even women would be unable to resist her beauty.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Su Qing seemed to turn into a flustered little deer. Her raised arm froze midair, as if she had been struck by a paralysis spell.
Chen Zimo burst out laughing, his face blooming with a bright smile.
Seeing him still holding things, Grandma Li quickly said, “You came, that’s enough. Why did you bring gifts?”
She then untied the cloth wrapped around his head and began checking his wound. Taking advantage of the moment, Su Qing quietly slipped away without anyone noticing.
…
Lin Jiangxue returned to the Chen family villa in a fury.
Soon after, Father Chen Tinghao and the eldest daughter Chen Siyin came home as well.
Third Sister Chen Qingya said, “Fifth Sister has surgery today and can’t come back.”
“Fourth Sister is busy with a lawsuit and has no time.”
Lin Jiangxue nodded and said to Chen Tinghao, “Chen Tinghao, look at the son you raised. He called me by my name and treated our Chen family like a wolf’s den. He’s completely lawless. I’m furious!”
“I’m going to freeze his card and stop giving him any allowance.”
“He lives off the allowance we give him. Let’s see if he still dares to act so arrogantly once we cut it off.”
Hearing this, Eldest Sister Chen Siyin frowned, disbelief written all over her face.
“Mom, are you even stopping Chen Zimo’s 300 yuan monthly allowance?”
Only last night had she learned that the family gave Chen Zimo just 300 yuan per month. That amount was not even enough to cover the cost of one of her facial masks.
For skincare, she used at least three masks a day.
Although she did not like Chen Zimo either, he was still her biological younger brother.
Her mother’s own son.
How could they be so heartless?
Lin Jiangxue was momentarily stunned by the question. A flash of guilt crossed her eyes.
“Stop it. It must be stopped. I want to cut off his financial support completely and see how long he can stay arrogant.”
Third Sister Chen Qingya said, “Dad, Mom, that country bumpkin Chen Zimo has stolen quite a lot from us. That’s worth a considerable amount of money.”
“If he sells everything, even if he doesn’t know their value and gets cheated into selling them second-hand, he could still have over 100,000 yuan on him. With that money, he can live comfortably for quite a while.”
“But Zixuan’s illness…”
Her meaning was clear. Cutting off the allowance would not work.
Chen Zimo had money on him.
She then recounted what had happened earlier that day, how she and Lin Jiangxue had gone to pick Chen Zimo up and how he had refused.
Bang!
Chen Tinghao slammed the table in anger. “That rebellious son!”
Chen Qingya continued, “Dad, I heard that No. 11 Middle School will hold a Physics Competition commendation ceremony tomorrow.”
“That ceremony should have belonged to Zixuan, but Chen Zimo, that country bumpkin, cheated and took it. I can’t accept it.”
“Mom and I have already discussed it. We’ll ask Uncle Zhang to retrieve the video evidence of Chen Zimo stealing things. During the Physics Competition commendation ceremony, we’ll report him to the competition committee and revoke his qualification. If he still refuses to come home and treat Zixuan’s illness, then we won’t hold back. We’ll call the police and let the security officers deal with him properly.”
Lin Jiangxue added, “Exactly! He dared to treat me like that. He’s completely out of control. This time we must punish him properly and let him reflect in detention.”
“We must make him understand that without our Chen family, he is nothing!”
Chen Qingya said viciously, “When he comes back, I’ll make him kneel for three days and three nights until he admits his mistake.”
“I refuse to believe we can’t deal with a country bumpkin like him.”
Chen Tinghao fell silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
This son of his truly caused him no end of trouble. It would not hurt to discipline him.
Otherwise, as the head of a 10 billion yuan Chen family, constantly resorting to violence would damage his reputation.
And besides, even if Chen Zimo were ruined, so what?
After all, he still had a son who made him proud, who was filial, obedient, and sensible.