Jian Shen stepped out of the car with a tall, graceful stature, his long, powerful legs moving in a swift, decisive motion.
Before he could even enter the main gate, a wave of intense quarreling surged toward him, instantly shattering the quiet of the night.
From inside the house came his father’s furious rebuke: “It’s all because of the son you raised!”
This was immediately followed by his mother’s defiant retort: “And now you’re blaming me? I went out early in the morning to buy groceries and worked hard to prepare a whole table of food. Who could have expected something like this would happen…”
Standing guard at the entrance was a young soldier, his posture ramrod straight and unmoving as a statue.
Despite the relentless quarreling echoing from the small building behind him, he remained focused straight ahead, his expression impassive, as if completely detached from the commotion. He was solely dedicated to fulfilling his security duties, guarding the building.
Jian Shen strode past the dining room with long steps. The table, which should have been laden with steaming, sumptuous dishes, now stood deserted and untouched.
The food had long since cooled, a layer of greasy white oil congealing on the surface, making it utterly unappetizing.
The living room was thick with a stifling, heavy atmosphere. His mother, Men Lirou, was softly sobbing, while her sister, Men Lihua, whispered comforting words in a hushed tone beside her.
In front of the solid wood sofa, his father stood rigidly like a statue, hands clasped behind his back. His face, usually graced with a gentle smile, was now ashen, his brows tightly furrowed into a deep crease.
It had been a long time since Jian Shen had seen him like this.
Men Lirou noticed her eldest son Jian Shen’s return. She quickly wiped the tears from the corner of her eye, took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turbulent emotions within her, and tried not to let her distress show too plainly. Her voice slightly hoarse, she said, “You’re back.”
Jian Shen gave a slight nod. “There was something at the institute. I’m back late.”
From what Lin Wanwan had said when he drove her back earlier, Jian Shen already had a rough idea of what this was about. But was Jian Ming not back yet? He walked over and sat down beside his mother, gently patting her back.
Men Lirou’s health hadn’t been good these past few years; she couldn’t afford to get too agitated.
“On the way back, I happened to run into Miss Lin, so I took her back to the university first before coming home,” he quickly explained about encountering Lin Wanwan.
Men Lirou grasped her eldest son’s hand. “Yes, you did the right thing. After all, we were the ones who invited the young lady for dinner. We should see her safely back.”
In her anxiety, she had forgotten. Today was supposed to be a happy family dinner. She didn’t know what Miss Lin must think of their family now. However, hearing that her eldest son had taken her back to the university brought her a little relief. Her main worry was still her younger son, Jian Ming.
Sitting on the other side, Men Lihua also gave Jian Shen a look that said, ‘You’re the reliable one.’ After what happened today, she would truly feel embarrassed facing Lin Wanwan, her favorite student. If that boy Jian Ming did anything foolish again, she wouldn’t be able to help him much.
Jian Shen asked, “Where is Jian Ming? What exactly happened?”
“That Shen family girl ran into some hooligans trying to harass her when she went out today. As you know, her family hasn’t been peaceful lately. She actually went out alone carrying a knife, stabbed someone with it, and then—what a coincidence—bumped into your brother bringing Miss Lin back for dinner while trying to escape.”
At this point, Father Jian, who had been silent all along, let out a heavy “hmph,” looking quite furious.
What happened next was that when Jian Ming saw Shen Mingyue rushing out covered in blood, he got carried away with righteous indignation and wanted to help. But how far could two young people hide? Moreover, both their family backgrounds were extremely special—not only were the public security looking for them, even the military got involved.
This matter shouldn’t have been a big deal. After all, Shen Mingyue was the victim. If she had just gone back with the public security to cooperate with the investigation and proven it was self-defense, no one would have given her trouble considering Commander Shen’s reputation.
But unfortunately, when they were found, the weapon used in the stabbing was in Jian Ming’s hands. Shen Mingyue refused to go back to the station with the public security, and Jian Ming, while playing the hero, injured a police officer.
Resisting arrest plus assaulting an officer.
The nature of the incident immediately changed. Even Jian Guoqiang couldn’t directly use his power to get his son out first—that would have given others leverage against him.
After hearing this, Jian Shen frowned deeply. He was seven or eight years older than his brother and sometimes wasn’t as close with Jian Ming as other peers in the compound. But based on his understanding of Jian Ming, he didn’t think he was the type to be so impulsive and reckless, to do something so foolish.
Jian Shen had heard a few things about the Shen family’s recent troubles at home. Shen Mingyue had been hospitalized due to illness recently, and blood tests revealed she was completely different from the Shen couple—she wasn’t actually their child.
After much reflection and consideration, the couple could only think of one possibility: back when Aunt Shen gave birth locally, she took the wrong baby, mistakenly bringing home and raising a baby girl from a local family who gave birth at the same time.
The Shen couple had left Jingshi a few days ago to search for clues about their biological daughter. Shen Mingyue didn’t go. Aunt Shen was close with Jian’s mother and had long confided that Mingyue was the daughter they had raised with their own hands—bright and clever—and they absolutely couldn’t bear to send her back to live in some rural place.
Public security in Jingshi had always been quite good. How was it that as soon as Uncle Shen left, his daughter staying in Jingshi would suddenly encounter hooligans trying to harass her, and so coincidentally right on the path where Jian Ming was bringing someone back for dinner?
When all coincidences pile up together, they might not be coincidences after all.
The next day, Jian Ming didn’t show up.
Nor did he appear on the third day.
Lin Wanwen had been going about her usual life and studies these past few days. Today after class, she went to the classroom the department had set aside for several part-time students doing translation work. Just as she reached the door, she heard people inside discussing something—and heard her own name.
“I heard from my cousin that the department beauty’s boyfriend got arrested.”
“Really? I heard his family is supposed to be really powerful…”
“My cousin works at the public security bureau—he was the one who caught him. How could it be fake? Haven’t you noticed Lin Wanwan these past couple days—she just goes to class and the library, never leaves campus.”
Lin Wanwan stood outside the classroom door, not going in. She waited until they changed topics before putting on an expression of knowing nothing and pushing the door open to enter.
Someone asked, “Are you taking it home to translate?”
“Yes.”
“Then keep an eye on the deadline. It needs to be submitted by next Sunday. I still have to compile everything before handing it over to the professor.”
“Alright, I’ll be on time.” Lin Wanwan didn’t linger any longer. She took her portion and left. Recently, there had been quite a bit of gossip about her on campus. Even these classmates, who weren’t usually close, were discussing Jian Ming’s whereabouts, while she, who was supposedly his girlfriend, knew nothing about it.
To say she knew nothing wasn’t entirely accurate, because Lin Wanwan had dreamed again last night.