Chapter 95
Although Zhong Zhiyan didn’t look up or say anything, she kept an eye on Ying Zidian.
When Madam Zhong went to look for Ying Zidian, she saw it too.
She naturally knew that Madam Zhong was there to back her up and warn her.
After all, Ying Zidian was only an adopted daughter, and her status was no match for hers.
But Zhong Zhiyan had never expected that Ying Zidian would not only not be threatened by Madam Zhong, but would draw fire on her.
She could not even think, her mind was blank and her ears were buzzing.
She then listened to the recording of Wei Hou’s furious ranting.
–This piece of writing, you gave it to me, which means you stole it, you can’t get away with it!
–it was you who told me to put my seal on that character.
Again, listen to her own words.
— I made you, and you did so? Master Wei Hou, are you ready to offend the Zhong family by slandering me like that?
— My grandfather dotes on my cousin, do you think he will listen to your explanation when he sees you? Will he believe me or will he believe you?
Zhong Zhiyan stood at the corner of the stairs, her hands and feet cold.
The blood was gone from her face, and the shame and embarra*sment was so intense that she almost cried out.
Mrs. Zhong was shocked and angry, and she snapped her eyes at the girl, “What are you doing? Take out the phone!”
Ying Ziyi’s fingers gripped and the phone naturally fell into her palm, “Madam Zhong, I didn’t make it public for Grandpa’s sake.”
She tilted her head slightly, and her voice was cold: “It doesn’t mean that you can mess with me.”
Madam Zhong’s face sank.
When people grew old, their greatest wish was for their children and grandchildren to be happy and enjoy their lives.
Master Zhong was no exception.
After all, Zhong Zhiyan was also the one he had grown up with, and after more than ten years of living as a grandfather and grandson, how could he not have feelings for her?
Although he had reprimanded Zhong Zhiyan last time, he was concerned about her health afterwards, and even sent a doctor to see her.
Mrs. Zhong was well aware of Master Zhong’s temperament.
He had always given rewards and punishments, and as long as he did something wrong, even if it was his own son, he would punish him as he saw fit.
“Zhong Zhiwei!” Elder Zhong was really angry now, more than anything else, he couldn’t believe it, “It was you who stole your cousin’s painting and gave it to Wei Hou?!”
“Grandpa ……” Zhong Zhiyan’s eyes were misting up, her eyes were hazy with tears, “Grandpa, I just, just ……”
It was just out of a little jealousy.
She didn’t mean anything else.
“Shut up!” Elder Zhong’s chest rose and fell violently, obviously furious, “Now, immediately! Go to the attic and reflect for me, when you know you’re wrong, when you come out again!”
This time, Zhong Zhiyan’s tears were literally flowing out, still stunned, “Grandpa?”
“Housekeeper!” Master Zhong didn’t even look, he roared, “Send Missy to the attic.”
Zhong Zhiyan couldn’t even argue before the butler “invited” her away.
“And you!” Master Zhong turned his head again, “Don’t think that I can’t see the little things you do in private, if you have the time, educate Evening properly, see what’s going on with her lately?”
Mrs. Zhong’s face stiffened with embarra*sment and embarra*sment, her face burning with pain.
There was no trace of her previous high-mindedness, and she lowered her head, “It’s my fault, old master, I’ve really neglected to discipline Evening for a while now.”
“Old man doesn’t want to hear such polite nonsense.” Master Zhong’s remaining anger was still fresh, “If your daughter is not taught, it is your mother’s fault, apologise to Ziji!”
Madam Zhong’s expression changed again.
In all the years she had married into the Zhong family, when had she ever been forced to apologise?
The person she was apologising to was also an adopted daughter of humble status.
Mrs. Zhong gritted her teeth and said, “I’m sorry,” as thin as a mosquito’s fly, and was ashamed to stay any longer.
“D**key, grandfather is ashamed.” Master Zhong took a deep breath, “Grandpa really didn’t think that Evening would do such a thing, it’s because grandpa didn’t teach her well.”
“It’s not your fault.” Ying Zigui’s brows loosened as she brought over a cup, “Grandpa, drink some water.”
When Grandpa Zhong finished drinking, he forgot what he was going to say.
“Grandpa, I’m going back to my father’s side first.” Ying Ziyang nodded slightly, “I’ll come and see you whenever I can.”
It was also thanks to Zhong Zhiyan that Elder Zhong had gotten all the depressed qi out of his body.
She then added the pills to regulate his health, and he was now completely fine.
“Fine, fine.” Master Zhong immediately lost his temper and smiled, “Ziji, your father ……”
Still not going on, he changed the subject, “Remember to tell grandpa if you lack anything.”
After Ying Zidian left, Master Zhong took another gla*s of water and muttered.
How strange.
Why did he feel that his body had relaxed instead after this tantrum had been issued.
Master Zhong scratched his head, not coming up with a rationale, so he leisurely went to water the flowers.
**
In the attic.
Zhong Zhiyan had been kneeling for an hour.
She wiped her tears desperately, aggrieved to the core.
Didn’t nothing happen in the end?
Moreover, Ying Ziyang had stepped on Wei Hou and gotten Sheng Qingtang’s appreciation.
After another half an hour, Madam Zhong came up to bring hot milk to Zhong Zhiyan.
She put the cup on the table, raised her hand and slapped Zhong Zhiyan, saying coldly, “Do you know what’s wrong with you?”
Zhong Zhiyan covered her face, and her tears flowed even harder: “I shouldn’t have gotten carried away.”
“Slap!”
As soon as she finished her sentence, she received another slap on her face.
“Wrong thing to say.” Mrs. Zhong shook her head, disappointed, “You were wrong for not having your hands clean and clear of all traces, and for getting the call recording taken away.”
“Also wrong for being jealous of an adopted daughter and lowering yourself to strike.”
Zhong Zhiyan froze.
“Zhiyan, you are the grand young lady I have carefully cultivated, how can you be inferior to an adopted daughter?” Madam Zhong half squatted down and sighed, “Your grandfather is right, you do need to reflect on it.”
“Your rivals are those famous ladies in the imperial capital, not that adopted daughter.”
“She’s not worth taking seriously, do you understand?”
Zhong Zhiyan pursed her lips, “Mom, but Grandpa’s side ……”
“Your grandfather is old and confused now, and is deluded.” Mrs. Zhong suppressed her anger, “But you were raised by him, he can’t really punish you, you kneel for a while longer, I’ll go beg for mercy.”
Zhong Zhiyan sullenly responded.
“There’s more.” Madam Zhong stood up, “Your aunt doesn’t want that adopted daughter to impinge on the young master of the Mu family, so she’s letting him come and live on our side, just next month.”
“What does the Imperial Mu family stand for, Zhiyan, there’s no need for mum to say more, right?”
Zhong Zhiyan wiped her tears, “I know.”
Only then was Mrs. Zhong satisfied and went out.
**
Within a few days, the students of Cla*s 19 also learned of what Zhong Zhiyan had done.
They all agreed that they should pocket her in a sack some dark and windy night and let Jiang Yan blow her head off.
“Ying Dad, you’re just going to let Zhong Zhiyan go?” Xiu Yu frowned, “If you want me to say so, you should put this recording on the school forum, so that others can see what kind of face she has.”
This, and a goddess?
A group of boys were blind.
“No need.” Ying Ziji looked down, still taking the bounty task on the nok forum, “Ignore it.”
She didn’t care what Zhong Zhiyan did.
The Zhong family, she only cared about Elder Zhong alone.
“Tch.” Xiu Yu turned his head, “Jiang Yan, how about this, you go scold Zhong Zhiyan and break her heart.”
Jiang Yan’s face darkened, “You’re crazy.”
He had the time to do that?
Xiu Yu shrugged, “Father Ying, where are we going to eat today?”
Ying Zidian looked up after finishing the last D-rank task, “The canteen.”
Hearing these two words, Jiang Yan’s feet, which were about to leave the school, gave a pause.
The little brother bumped into his back and almost cried in pain, “Brother Burn, why aren’t you going?”
Jiang Yan smiled and followed behind Xiu Yu: “I’m not going out, I’m going to the canteen.”
The Qingzhi canteen had the eight major cuisines of China, as well as Western food.
The prices were cheap and the taste was okay, so the students basically ate in the canteen, even if they were the sons and daughters of the four great families.
But not including Jiang Yan.
When Zhong Zhiyan saw Jiang Yan walk in, her expression paused and her back subconsciously straightened.
But when she saw Ying Zigui, she furrowed her brows.
“Zhiyan, it’s been a long time coming.” The girl next to her was surprised, “Jiang Yan actually came to the canteen to eat, but it’s not surprising that Ying Zigui is here too.”
Everyone knew that since Ying Zidian had gone to cla*s 19.
Qingzhi’s male and female school bullies were all following her.
Zhong Zhiyan’s nails pinched her palm and she smiled faintly, “She, ah, she just likes to hook up with men.”
The girl froze.
“At first, she hooked up with Teacher Ying’s fiancé, and then she got close to Fu Yunshen.” Zhong Zhiyan said carelessly, “Now, even Jiang Yan doesn’t let her go.”
The girl didn’t expect this, but after hearing this, she immediately became disgusted: “That’s quite disgusting.”
“There are even more disgusting ones.” Zhong Zhiyan put down her chopsticks, “You are not aware that just a while ago, she ……”
The words that followed didn’t finish.
It was because Zhong Zhiyan noticed that Ying Ziji looked at her in this direction.
She lifted her head and wiped her lips with a tissue, quite at ease.
From such a distance, she couldn’t hear what she was saying.
Even if she did, there were so many people in the canteen, what could Ying Zidian do?
Zhong Zhiyan threw the tissue away and was ready to leave the cafeteria.
But she hadn’t even stood up yet.
The girl’s long, slender fingers turned and the chopsticks between her fingers flew out abruptly.
“Pop!”
It just plunged hard into the dining table in front of Zhong Zhiyan.
Chapter 96
Half on top, half on the bottom and the middle section in the table.
There were even wood chips falling in droves.
“……”
The whole canteen was silent in an instant, as if all the noise had been taken away by this one chopstick.
Jiang Yan had been paying attention to Ying Zidian, so naturally he couldn’t have failed to see it.
His hand loosened unconsciously and the plate he was holding fell with a clang.
The food on the plate fell all over the little brother.
Little Brother didn’t scream this time, because he was already dumb.
Not only was he dumbfounded, but all the students who saw this scene were dumbfounded.
It was as if they had gone mad.
Zhong Zhiyan looked at the chopsticks that were only half an inch away from her plate and her mind buzzed: “……”
She looked at Ying Zidian incredulously, her lips trembling.
If the chopsticks had flown just a little bit off, they would not have been stuck into the table, but ……
Zhong Zhiyan didn’t even dare to think about it, her school uniform was already completely soaked with cold sweat and her breathing was disordered.
Her body kept trembling and she didn’t even have the strength to stand up.
The girl next to her was also terrified, tugging at Zhong Zhiyan’s sleeve.
No one saw how the chopstick flew out of the girl’s hand at all.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was how Ying Ziji had managed to stick a wooden chopstick into the table.
The canteen was still dead silent, all eyes were on the girl.
Ying Zidian took a new pair of chopsticks, found a seat by the window and sat down.
“What are you looking at?” Jiang Yan’s eyes swept and he sneered, “Haven’t you seen enough? Do you want me to pluck your eyes out and stick them to your heels to see?”
The students immediately withdrew their eyes and began to bury their heads in a frenzy of food.
Jiang Yan lifted his chin, finally feeling a little better.
It seemed that his authority as the school bully was still there.
Xiu Yu took a bite of his apple and sat down after him.
As if she hadn’t returned to her senses either, it was a few seconds later that she said in a difficult voice, “Ying Dad, you just ……”
“It’s nothing.” Ying Zidian picked up the vegetables with his chopsticks and said indifferently, “I forgot to withdraw my strength.”
The hand was too strong, she needed to change.
Xiu Yu instantly felt that the apple in her mouth was tasteless.
Forgetting to gather strength, she stuck a chopstick into the table.
If this was really strong, it would be easy to break a hammer, right?
She was suddenly a little scared.
Xiu Yu looked at the girl, pondering.
Those who could bring their strength to such a level would be a*sociated with ancient martial arts, even if they were not orthodox ones.
However, after the arrival of the twenty-first century, ancient martial artists rarely appeared.
Xiu Yu wondered if it was related to the telling development of technology.
The few ancient martial arts families that once flourished and prospered in the imperial capital had also basically all receded.
Jiang Yan could only be considered a beginner in ancient martial arts, and not an ancient martial artist.
It was because of the improper method of cultivation that the internal energy in his body became disordered, which in turn affected his temper and emotions, hence the need for drugs to supplement it.
There are too few true ancient martial artists.
The ancient martial arts world, which not everyone can enter, is even more mysterious than the ancient medical world.
Xiu Yu could be sure that their Ying Dad must have something to do with ancient martial arts.
Maybe there was a master from the ancient martial world.
But she didn’t ask.
She was happy just to see Jiang Yan get defeated, and she could still chat with her sister Painting Screen.
Thinking of this, Xiu Yu had an appetite again and ate an extra large apple.
**
It was half past three in the morning.
It was late at night, even the nightingale was quiet.
Fu Yunshen opened his eyes and woke up in the bed of his single flat.
He lay in silence for a good five minutes before slowly getting up.
A pale bloodshot look floated in his demonic peach blossom eyes.
He didn’t know how many times he’d had this nightmare, and even after three years of deep hypnotherapy, he still couldn’t escape it.
Every time he closes his eyes, it’s a bloodbath.
The sound of explosions, gunshots and hisses that haunted his ears.
It was also a past that he could not escape.
Fu Yunshen poured a gla*s of water and walked over to the balcony.
In the distance was a cluster of brightly lit buildings; Shanghai had always been a city that never sleeps.
At that moment, his mobile phone rang.
The caller was Nie Yi.
Fu Yunshen raised his eyebrows and picked up anyway: “Hello?”
“Yun Shen, I’ve already returned to Datu.” Nie Yi’s voice was low, “Things are still unresolved, so please take care of Nie Chao for a while longer.”
“Mm.” Fu Yunshen pressed the corners of his eyes, a little helpless, “This kind of thing, you have to call me at night too?”
Nie Yi was silent for a moment before speaking again, “No, it’s because Xuesheng told me that you had too much of a mood swing and was afraid that you would do something drastic.”
Yu Xuesheng, the psychologist he had specially hired for Ying Ziyi, was also second on the nok hypnotist list.
Fu Yunshen responded indifferently.
His emotions were under monitoring.
This was at his own request, to prevent anything from changing.
After all, he had almost lost control once.
“Yun Shen, you-” Nie Yi paused, “Is everything alright?”
“Nothing, I’m used to it.” Fu Yunshen let out a low laugh, “I just think that living is quite tiring sometimes.”
Nie Yi was silent.
He didn’t know how to answer.
“It’s okay, I’m hanging up.” Fu Yunshen didn’t say much, “Remember to pay for your brother’s food, he’s really quite a good eater.”
Without waiting for Nie Yi to say anything else, he cut off the call.
After a few more seconds of contemplation, Fu Yunshen opened WeChat.
The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you want to eat for breakfast, and I’ll bring it to you.
The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you want.
It’s four in the morning, normal people are sleeping.
The answer came just a few seconds after he had sent this WeChat.
[No picky eating.
After a few more seconds, a second message came.
[Are you having a nightmare?
Fu Yunshen was stunned.
After a long time, he replied lazily.
[Kids are so smart, huh? You’re still up so late? Although you have a lot of hair and are naturally beautiful, you still need to take good care of your body.
As soon as this sentence was sent, a video call came in.
Fu Yunshen gave his hand a beat, and then clicked to connect.
The girl’s plain face appeared on the phone screen.
She was wearing a nightgown, her long hair falling over her shoulders, her eyebrows tinted pale gold by the hazy moonlight outside the window.
Obviously just woken up too, the girl’s voice still had a knock-fly low tone to it.
“You don’t sleep well, I’ll bring you some medicine tomorrow, take it every morning, noon and night before dinner, seven days for a course of treatment.”
After a pause, Ying added: “If you have nightmares, it’s best not to stay alone.”
Fu Yunshen’s eyes were fixed.
He hadn’t really thought that his little friend had called him on the video just to say this.
In the past, there had never been a person who would tell him not to be alone because of his nightmares.
“Brother knows, go to sleep, little friend.” Fu Yun Shen leaned back, his eyelashes moving, smiling, “If you don’t sleep, I’ll have to go over to your side now and tuck you in.”
The video call was hung up straight away.
Not even half giving him time to react.
Looking at the blacked out phone screen, Fu Yunshen raised his eyebrows, the corners of his lips curved up, the bottom of his eyes tinged with a few smiles.
As expected, it was still the same heartless little friend.
** The next day.
The next day.
Qingzhi Middle School.
The headmaster’s office.
The headmaster is going over the recent happenings in the school.
As a headmaster, he wants to know the truth about the students, not just listen to the words of the director or teachers.
The door was opened at that moment.
The person who walked in was He Xun.
He Xun nodded his head in greeting, “Headmaster.”
“Teacher He is here.” The headmaster pushed his gla*ses, “Sit down.”
He Xun sat down.
“It’s the beginning of April.” The headmaster flipped the calendar, “The first interview at Norton University is at the end of May.”
He Xun nodded, “Good.”
To get into Norton University, one needed an invitation letter from the university itself.
Without an invitation letter, the top student in the entrance exam could not get into Norton University.
But this was external.
Internally, Norton University will organise three interviews.
The qualifications for the interviews are only available to students who have graduated from Norton University.
This is why, Qingzhi will hire He Xun at a high price.
Because with He Xun, Qingzhi has the qualification to Norton University.
If even one student gets into Norton University, Qingzhi will immediately be in the ranks of the world’s top high schools.
In total, He Xun has three interview qualifications.
Although they were very few, the headmaster was already satisfied.
“I’ve thought about it for a while, like this.” The headmaster pondered for a moment and said, “Two interview qualifications are reserved for the international cla*s, and the remaining one is for the age first, Mr. He, what do you think?”
“The headmaster’s decision, naturally, is very good.” He Xun had no objection, “But Norton University doesn’t just look at grades.”
Actually, he didn’t know much about it, after all, his college only had a D grade.
According to his tutor, students from S-ranked colleges were considered true Norton University students.
If he went to ask, his tutor would again say that it was confidential and he wasn’t qualified enough to know.
Even now, He Xun didn’t know what level he had reached to be able to enter an s-level academy.
“That’s it then.” The headmaster nodded, “I remember that Mr. He knows someone from the Royal Academy of Arts in O Continent.”
He Xun understood, “The headmaster is asking me to drop by the top students in the senior art cla*s when I go to Norton University?”
“Not bad.” The headmaster said, “But you might need to take another one, Ying Zigui has done very well in this art festival, I think she can give it a try.”
o the Royal Academy of Arts on the Continent, which is also a top university in the world.
He wanted every student to have the best possible future.
He Xun didn’t even think about it and refused, very coldly: “Sorry Principal, I don’t think it’s necessary.”
The Royal Academy of Arts in o-continent also required a grade in culture, and what could Ying Ziji do if he went there?