After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: One Million, Five Years

Xu Jun didn’t ask any more questions and continued to clean up as if nothing had happened. Tao Ning, who was holding his phone, gradually calmed down. The system was also startled and said: Dummy, you absolutely cannot let Xu Jun see what’s in this phone.

Tao Ning was stunned and put the phone back under the pillow: Why?

…You don’t know why?! Then why were you so nervous just now?

Tao Ning slowly patted the pillow: [I don’t know. Maybe it’s… the only thing Zhao Jingqun left me. I have to protect it.

The name ‘Zhao Jingqun’ had not been mentioned for a long time. Tao Ning suddenly felt a little unfamiliar with it, and his heart felt as if it had been lightly touched by a strange emotion. He couldn’t quite understand what these emotions were, but he was following his intuition to guard this phone that had never been opened.

The system took a few seconds to say: Okay, I understand. You’re a dummy.

Then why can’t Xu Jun see what’s inside?

The system said: I don’t know either. In the secret manual The Beautiful Wife and Her Ten Husbands, there’s a scene where one of the husbands sees a piece of evidence of his wife’s previous affair with her last husband and goes crazy, fighting with his wife for three days and three nights. I’m afraid the same thing will happen to you, so I’m warning you.

Tao Ning was silent. After a long time, he said: System, you should read fewer secret manuals.

The system’s mechanical voice whined: Dummy, you’ve really become bad! You used to be very obedient and well-behaved. Now you don’t even believe me anymore!

Tao Ning: “…”

After cleaning, Xu Jun went to the kitchen to cook. Tao Ning was buried in his studies, doing practice problems. Several books of previous years’ Olympiad math problems were piled up next to his desk. Some were in English, some in Chinese, and there was even one in German. Oksen College had a professional competition class, but it required closed-door training. Tao Ning had to prepare for the Olympiad and also take care of his final exam grades, so he didn’t join the professional competition class and entered a regular class as a transfer student.

There were others who made the same choice, like Xu Jun. Tao Ning had asked him why he didn’t go. Xu Jun replied that doing practice problems and participating in the Olympiad was because he was bored. Then Xu Jun looked at him, and there was a faint, almost inaudible smile on his cold face: “But now that I have you, it’s not because I’m bored anymore.”

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

The small alarm clock on the desk rotated a few times until a cold scent like a cedar tree surrounded him from behind. “It’s time to eat.” Xu Jun had made three dishes and a soup, all of which were dishes that Tao Ning had used his chopsticks on many times at the Xu family’s house.

After dinner, Xu Jun poured him warm water and watched Tao Ning finish his medicine. This time, he gave him a bag of lemon-flavored biscuits as a reward and changed his clothes, planning to go out.

Tao Ning was confused: “It’s almost dark. Are you still going out this late?”

Xu Jun stood at the door, turned around, and his gentle gaze fell on the boy in the dorm. Outside the door, the night wind was rustling. The dorm was as warm as the boy himself. There was an innocence and clarity like that of a child in his beautiful eyes, which made Xu Jun feel a moment of trance. This scene couldn’t help but give him the feeling of ‘keeping a beautiful woman in a golden cage.’

But he was not satisfied with this golden cage at all. In addition, Song Yuceng might be a good-for-nothing, but the debauched wealth behind him might one day trap a certain lemon. Most importantly… Tao Ning’s illness.

This gave Xu Jun an unprecedented sense of crisis, and many of his plans were moved up.

But Xu Jun didn’t say anything. He just said blandly: “I’ve found a few part-time jobs recently. I’m going out to work.” After a moment of thought, he looked at Tao Ning’s bare ankles. “It will be cold at night. Remember to cover yourself with the blanket.”

The boy nodded blankly.

“Come back early.”

“Yes.”

The sound of the door closing echoed. Tao Ning didn’t think much of it and continued to do practice problems. But because of the travel fatigue during the day, he went to bed very early today, so he didn’t know that Xu Jun came back in the early morning.

Using his privilege as the class president, almost no one could deduct points from him except for Xu Jun himself.

Therefore, Xu Jun could come and go freely at Oksen College at any time. Xu Jun was in a secret basement, writing programs, rewriting papers, and solving all kinds of knowledge problems for people from all over the world. He was also getting in touch with the field of computers, which he had a premonition would become a global sensation in the future.

His codename was “poem,” and his fees on the dark web were extremely high, three to four times the market price. But because the quality of his work was so high, the people who sought Xu Jun out were endless.

He closed the dorm door very lightly. Xu Jun went to take a shower to wash away the smoke smell he hated that he had picked up in the basement. Then he went to Tao Ning’s bed to cover him with the blanket. He quietly looked at his sleeping face for a while before going back to his desk.

He turned on the small night light, took out his black notebook, and wrote with a pen—

“One million, will take five years.”

He turned the page and began to practice his handwriting. His ‘Slender Gold’ calligraphy had actually won an award, but if he was going to write a love letter to his little lemon, Xu Jun wanted to be perfect.

Father Xu told him that he had written hundreds of love letters to Mother Xu to express his love back then.

Xu Jun made a note of it.

So eighteen-year-old Xu Jun wanted to emulate his father and write many, many love letters full of affection for Tao Ning, only hoping that the lemon would willingly belong to him.

…

The next morning, Tao Ning was supposed to go to class with Xu Jun, but he received a phone call. His usually indifferent face frowned. He hung up the phone, looked at Tao Ning, and after sending him to the classroom door, his tense tone softened: “I have something to take care of and won’t be able to come to class for a while. Can you handle it on your own?”

A rare look of worry came into Xu Jun’s cold eyes. Tao Ning didn’t notice and just nodded: “I can.” When he was studying in the mountains, he was also on his own, so it was no problem to just attend class alone.

But Tao Ning didn’t expect that when he walked into the classroom with his backpack, the noisy classroom instantly fell silent. All eyes were on him—

“Another transfer student?”

“Tsk, what era is this that someone is still wearing such old-fashioned glasses?”

“He looks so timid, but his skin is quite fair.”

“I heard he transferred from a remote mountainous area. I bet he’ll be kicked out in less than half a semester.”

“Hehe, I bet one month.”

The number of students in the classroom was not like in the mountainous area, where there would be fifty or sixty people. It was small. Nor were the desks and chairs as old as in the mountainous area. This classroom was clean and tidy. There were only about thirty people, with Chinese, Caucasian, and African faces. The desks and chairs were not only of good quality but also brand new. The central air conditioner was on all day. Even the blackboard was not a traditional one that required chalk to write on but a dust-free whiteboard that could project presentations.

Tao Ning had never seen any of this.

From the poor mountainous area to the Song family, then to Oksen College, and finally to this modern classroom, it had taken Tao Ning eighteen years. He felt the shock and timidity of an ephemeral seeing a mythical Kun fish.

But he was also more curious.

At the same time, malicious, curious, and indifferent gazes fell on Tao Ning. He was stunned for a moment, lowered his head, and didn’t pay any more attention to them.

Because it was the first day of school, there were no assigned seats. Everyone was sitting wherever they wanted. Tao Ning chose a seat by the window in the back row. But before he could sit down, a man with slanted eyes kicked the chair under his feet. His school uniform was loose, and his tone was unfriendly: “Hey, this spot is mine. Go somewhere else.”

The people in the classroom stopped talking because of the commotion in the corner, but no one came forward to help. They were just watching the show. Tao Ning didn’t want to cause trouble on the first day and was about to give up his seat, but a hand held his shoulder. A slightly hoarse boy’s voice said with contempt: “I’m telling you, Liu Mang, what kind of skill is it to bully a new student? You like to find trouble so others can watch you act like a monkey, huh?”

“Did you eat dynamite, Lu Jue?!” Liu Mang glared at him. His family was considered wealthy, but compared to the vast majority of students at Oksen College, it was like a drop in the ocean. Now that a poor student from the lowest class had transferred here, he couldn’t help but take out his anger on him.

But once he met a student with a higher ‘status’ than him, he wouldn’t dare to be so presumptuous. For example, the person who intervened in front of him. His family was not rich, but he had a deep background. He had a nationally renowned doctor for a father and a young genius biologist for a brother.

So Liu Mang didn’t dare to be presumptuous. He just cursed and then walked away grumbling.

The pressure on his shoulder faded. Tao Ning turned his head, and what he saw was a handsome, sunny face. The boy’s hair was yellowish, and he was very tall. He was carrying his backpack with one hand, and when he smiled, he had two dimples: “Are you okay? Don’t mind that good-for-nothing. He’s an idiot.”

Tao Ning shook his head and said softly: “I’m fine. Thank you.”

Lu Jue smiled and left without saying anything.

Tao Ning didn’t see Xu Jun even during class. He heard people whispering that Xu Jun’s awards were obtained through cheating and that’s why he was taken away. Tao Ning knew Xu Jun’s strength and of course didn’t believe these rumors. He was just a little worried about him.

Tao Ning thought that if he still didn’t see Xu Jun after school, he would go find him.

Because of this momentary distraction, Tao Ning was called on by the teacher to answer a question. This class happened to be English. The foreign teacher was from the UK. He asked Tao Ning to understand and answer the question about the feelings between Romeo and Juliet in English.

Tao Ning had only read the Chinese version, and the book only excerpted a few passages from this great play. He thought for a moment, organized his words, and spoke with a stutter.

But as soon as he finished, a loud burst of laughter erupted in the classroom.

“Hahahaha, is this country bumpkin speaking English? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was Martian.”

“This is it? Didn’t someone say he was really good?”

“Nowadays, just anyone can come to our school.”

“His spoken English is so country and terrible. I don’t know where he gets the courage to speak it out loud.”

In the end, the foreign teacher sternly criticized them, and the students finally shut up. But the looks in their eyes toward Tao Ning were filled with undisguised contempt and disdain.

Tao Ning pursed his lips. Behind his dull black-rimmed glasses, there was a look of disappointment, as well as the pride and unwillingness of a young man. After class, he went to find the foreign teacher and asked him how to improve his spoken English.

When he was studying in the mountains, Tao Ning only started learning English in middle school. His teacher’s spoken English was quite unstandard, with a strong rural accent. Tao Ning had to teach himself all his English classes. He memorized thousands of words, and he could recite every article in the English textbooks from his first year of middle school to his second year of high school. His English writing and expression were extremely fluent.

But only his spoken English and his Chinese reading comprehension had always been his weaknesses. And Oksen College happened to have a spoken English assessment for the final exams. Tao Ning had a very clear plan for his future—to make something of himself.

So he would never allow his hard-won sponsorship to go to waste. Every point on his final exam was precious.

The foreign teacher was very appreciative of this somewhat dazed but very resilient student. He told him kindly in English: “Tao, our school has students from all over the world. You can make friends with them, preferably kids from Europe and America. They can help you correct your pronunciation habits. Of course, you can also buy an English radio. I hope these two methods can help you.”

Tao Ning made a note of it. After thanking the teacher, he began to think about how to make friends with foreign students. He was walking down the hallway with his books. Because he was distracted, he almost bumped into the person in front of him.

“Country bumpkin, don’t you look where you’re going? You hurt me.” A familiar, surly voice came from above his head. Tao Ning looked up. Song Yuceng’s narrow, phoenix-like eyes looked down on him. His hands were in his pockets. When he saw him look over, his gaze awkwardly moved away.

“I didn’t hit you.”

Song Yuceng’s face instantly soured. “I said you did, so you did. You figure out how to compensate me.”

Tao Ning was not in a good mood, but since he was his target, he patiently asked: “How should I compensate you?”

Song Yuceng harrumphed: “Follow me.”

It was lunchtime now, and they had two hours to rest. Tao Ning followed him. It was still the top floor of the office building from last time. The office was spacious and bright. Song Yuceng leaned back on the sofa, his legs crossed. With a sullen, handsome face, he questioned him: “Where were you this weekend?”

He felt that it would make him lose face to ask why the country bumpkin wasn’t answering his countless calls, so he changed his way of asking.

Tao Ning was stunned. He didn’t expect him to ask this. He said honestly: “I went to Xu Jun’s place.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the person in front of him stood up with a “whoosh.” His face turned from awkward to ugly. His tall body came at Tao Ning, and a shadow enveloped him. He felt a little unsafe and took a step back. But this movement seemed to have angered the man in front of him again. His cold hand instantly grabbed Tao Ning’s shoulder. He gritted his teeth and asked: “Did you sleep with him?”

The man’s eyes were like ice, as if he would eat him alive if the person in his hands said the wrong thing.

His cold hand was like an iron hoop. Tao Ning felt a little pain and couldn’t break free. He was unknowingly confused. What was “sleep with him”? Does that mean they slept together? Why did Song Yuceng care about that?

Tao Ning shook his head honestly: “No.”

Xu Jun was a germaphobe, so of course, he wouldn’t sleep in the same bed as him. Song Yuceng was indeed very stupid. The questions he asked were also very strange.

Song Yuceng’s face clearly softened. He let out a cold harrumph and took his hand back. He crossed his arms and said: “If I find out you slept with him, you’re dead.”

Tao Ning: “…”

Before he could think about it, someone knocked on the door and came in. He respectfully put down a stack of English books and left. Song Yuceng sat back down on the sofa and said sarcastically: “Your spoken English is so bad, and you still dare to answer questions in public. You’re overestimating yourself.”

Although he didn’t know where Song Yuceng got the news from, Tao Ning tolerated it for the sake of his health. But he still lowered his head and retorted in a low voice: “It’s none of your business.”

The voice was very soft, but the man on the sofa still heard it. He said with a sullen face: “You’re a country bumpkin sponsored by the Song family now. If you lose face outside, you’re losing face for the Song family, and you’re losing face for me. How is it none of my business?”

Tao Ning frowned slightly: “I’m sorry. I’ll practice my spoken English well.”

Song Yuceng coughed a few times in a low voice. His gaze moved elsewhere, and he suddenly said out of nowhere: “I was born in London.”

“Oh.”

The boy was wearing the tacky glasses that he despised so much, but his body was very thin, and his skin was dazzlingly fair. He wasn’t gaining any weight, like an evergreen bamboo standing in place, with his head down and his eyes obedient. But when he put on the school’s tailored suit uniform, he had a hint of coldness and aloofness.

In Song Yuceng’s eyes, all of this was just a tacky and silly country bumpkin who didn’t understand what he was saying. He was furious and repeated: “I said I grew up in England.”

Unexpectedly, the country bumpkin looked confused. He raised those beautiful eyes, a little dazed: “Oh, you’re very amazing then.”

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