After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 91

Chapter 91: Don’t Touch Me!

With no other choice, the thought of worrying about Song Yucong’s injuries slightly gained the upper hand, so Tao Ning had to stay by the bedside.

But seeing him relent, the person on the bed immediately concealed the reluctance in his eyes and put on a hostile, stern expression. The way he looked at Tao Ning was as if his nose was not a nose and his eyes were not eyes, as if the person who had almost fallen off the bed to keep him there was not himself.

Unfortunately, the other party couldn’t see the rich emotions on his face. When Tao Ning reached out to help him, Song Yucong started throwing a tantrum, resisting while gnashing his teeth, “Don’t touch me!”

Thinking he had touched Song Yucong’s arm wound, Tao Ning paused and obediently let go. However, the glare that swept over him was even more furious. The deep phoenix eyes held various emotions, especially grievance, making him look exactly like an abandoned, resentful husband.

In the past, Tao Ning would not only have failed to read the emotions in Song Yucong’s eyes but would also have definitely not cared. But now… he silently reached out and placed his hand on Song Yucong’s bandaged arm again. Tao Ning looked at him, deliberately putting on a hurt expression, and said softly, “I will.”

Sure enough, he stopped resisting, but the eyes beneath the bandage instantly widened. “Country bumpkin, do you have no shame? You’re flirting behind my back, everything you say is a lie, and now you have the nerve to come closer? Get lost, let go of me…”

Tao Ning said, “No.”

The glaring phoenix eyes widened further. “You’re shameless!”

Tao Ning said, “Mhm.”

This completely unexpected response utterly silenced the man wrapped in bandages.

Although Song Yucong stopped saying harsh things, Tao Ning had prepared himself for continued torment. Unexpectedly, for the next period, Song Yucong didn’t engage in any impulsive behavior like cursing, throwing cups, or smashing bowls. He only occasionally bossed Tao Ning around to pour tea or water.

With the addition of the two caregivers, a man and a woman, hired by Gao Yu for Song Yucong, Tao Ning didn’t even have a chance to help Song Yucong with simple tasks like wiping his body or taking a bath. For five or six days, he only had to sit on the sofa like a mascot.

Nor did Tao Ning face the aggressive questioning about Zhao Jingqun that he had anticipated. Compared to Zhao Jingqun and Xu Jun’s relentless insistence on getting to the bottom of things, Song Yucong only accused him of being a liar and asked nothing else.

This made Tao Ning breathe a sigh of relief. After days of wrestling with the issues of the system and Song Heng, he no longer had the spare energy to face his tangled emotions.

He had already confirmed that the system and Song Heng were one and the same. Tao Ning speculated that the system turning into Song Heng might have been to help him capture Zhao Jingqun and the others. As for how the system transformed into Song Heng and modified other people’s memories, that was outside the scope of what Tao Ning wanted to understand.

Tao Ning only wanted to figure out four things: what those two nightmares meant, what he himself was, the identity of the system, and where the original system had gone.

But to know the truth of these four things, with no system present and everyone’s memories altered, trying to deduce them from a few meager clues was simply a tall tale.

So, slowly, Tao Ning stopped stressing himself out and instead focused on finding Zhao Jingqun. He desperately wanted to meet Zhao Jingqun.

The first method he thought of was to contact the person the nurse mentioned who had secretly called the police and find out which police station the officers who came to the hospital belonged to. The person who called the police was a plump, bespectacled doctor with a round face.

Tao Ning secretly went to inquire while Song Yucong was asleep. The plump doctor gave him an address. In the evening, Tao Ning deliberately softened his voice, adopting a somewhat pleading tone, and said, “I want to go back to school for a few days. I’ve missed a lot of classes.”

Song Yucong snorted coldly, saying sarcastically, “Trying to go behind my back and flirt with others again, are you? I don’t believe your nonsense.”

“Please.”

“…Get lost.”

“Young Master.” He called out softly. Tao Ning sat beside him, his bright brown eyes brimming with affection. He tucked the blanket around him. “Let me go.”

Unknowingly, Tao Ning had been in Haizhou for over three months. It was late November, and the weather was chilly. The asphalt road outside the hospital was littered with fallen ginkgo leaves.

Pulling up the zipper on his hoodie, Tao Ning recalled how Song Yucong had finally agreed, putting on an impatient expression after only a few moments of coaxing. He subtly curved his lips. Before leaving, he said he would definitely return, and the awkward man only reluctantly muttered, “Get lost.”

He wanted to send a text message to tell Song Yucong not to lose his temper and to go to bed early. Patting his clothes pockets, Tao Ning realized he had forgotten his phone again. He didn’t have the habit of carrying a phone. He only had the wallet Song Yucong had tossed him before he left, which contained several very expensive-looking cards and some cash.

Tao Ning took a taxi to the police station the plump doctor had mentioned. When he arrived, the receptionist at the window told him, “This case has been transferred. You’ll need to check with the Municipal Public Security Bureau.”

“Okay, thank you.”

He took another taxi and spent over an hour going to the Municipal Public Security Bureau. But as soon as Tao Ning explained his intention, the officer refused, saying that no one other than a lawyer had the right to visit. After going around in circles, he didn’t even catch a glimpse of him.

Perhaps seeing that Tao Ning had rushed over, his beautiful face looking unwell and seemingly sickly and sensitive to stress, the police officer’s heart softened. He quietly told him, “Are you his family member? Don’t worry, he should be released in a few days.”

“…Really?” Tao Ning’s eyes brightened.

“Shh, keep your voice down. It looks like it. It’s getting dark outside, you should head back quickly.” The police officer escorted Tao Ning to the door, giving him a kind smile.

Since coming to Haizhou, Tao Ning had encountered all sorts of people—some rude, some mocking and disdainful—but more often than not, they showed kindness. The exhaustion from the continuous travel dissipated because of the stranger’s smile. A warm current flowed through his heart. Tao Ning said a solemn “Thank you, sir,” and left the police station.

After dark, Tao Ning returned to Ockstent. There were student union members in front of the dorm. They didn’t recognize him, and because he wasn’t wearing a uniform, the student union members ruthlessly docked his conduct points.

Tao Ning meekly accepted the penalty and used the opportunity to ask about Xu Jun: “…Did your president formally take a leave of absence?”

The student union member was confused. “Our president is fine. Why would he take a leave of absence? Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Then will Xu Jun still come to school?”

“Ah, you mean the previous president. Senior Xu Jun hasn’t been at school for a long time. We have a new president now. Are you looking for the president for something?”

“…Thank you, it’s nothing.”

Although he knew the possibility of Xu Jun staying at school was low, the light in Tao Ning’s eyes dimmed little by little when he learned that even the president had changed.

That night, Tao Ning slept alone in the dorm. In the darkness, he stared at the empty bed in front of him, suffering from a rare bout of insomnia. The faces of Zhao Jingqun, Song Yucong, and Xu Jun kept appearing in his mind. His heart felt bloated, like it was soaking in a jar of sweet and sour honey. If any one of the three were to gently poke it, it would burst.

Early the next morning, Tao Ning went to the apartment Zhao Jingqun had bought, the place Zhao Jingqun had called “home” despite only living there for a few days, which was near the school. Since it had a password lock, Tao Ning wanted to try to get in.

To his surprise, Tao Ning ran into Sun Lao Er there. As soon as Sun Lao Er saw him, he said excitedly, “Heavenly Sister-in-law, why are you here? How is your body? Speaking of which, I was so worried. Young Master Zhao told me to protect you from now on, but that bastard Song Yucong sent people to guard the hospital entrance. Our people were chased out as soon as they went in. You haven’t suffered any grievances at his place, have you…”

Selectively ignoring the title “Sister-in-law,” Tao Ning shook his head. “No… why did he say to let you protect me from now on? Is he not coming to see me?”

“Uh, about that.” Sun Lao Er hesitated, wondering whether he should tell Tao Ning. The things Zhao Jingqun had done were shocking even to him, a subordinate.

Not long after they found Tao Ning, Zhao Jingqun had sullenly told him to buy a school district apartment. Sun Lao Er thought that was the end of it, but a few days later, Zhao Jingqun, with a smile on his face, told him to buy another one. So, Zhao Jingqun had him buy two apartments in total.

When Sun Lao Er received the call and rushed over, he found that Zhao Jingqun had moved Tao Ning into the second apartment. He didn’t think much of it, assuming the first one was just left empty. Only now did he realize that the first apartment was the cage Zhao Jingqun used to lock up Tao Ning! He was actually engaging in illegal detention… After the police took Zhao Jingqun away, only he and a few other subordinates were left to clean up the mess. Besides blood, there were all sorts of things that made people blush, which was terrifying to see.

Before leaving, Zhao Jingqun instructed him to continue protecting Tao Ning. “Protect” was the nicer word; in reality, it meant twenty-four-hour surveillance. At the time, Sun Lao Er felt that Zhao Jingqun’s obsession and control over Tao Ning were too terrifying, not like a normal person. He tentatively asked, “Then what should you do when you get out?”

Across the interrogation room glass, Zhao Jingqun was expressionless. His deep, thuggish face quickly turned ashen. Sun Lao Er could even clearly see his eyelashes slightly trembling from disappointment. He said hoarsely, “…He hates me and doesn’t want to see me again… You watch over him for me. Don’t let anyone else approach him.”

What is the meaning of love in this world, that it makes people pledge their lives to each other? Sun Lao Er looked at the pale-faced man behind the glass. He was completely different from the shrewd and cynical businessman with a ruthless temper who was uncompromising at the negotiating table. Sun Lao Er felt that his boss’s relentless obsession with a man had reached a point of life-or-death madness, making him both hateful and somewhat pitiful.

Sun Lao Er sighed and agreed.

Zhao Jingqun didn’t say whether he would personally keep an eye on Tao Ning in the future. Although his words implied that they wouldn’t meet again in the short term, as a subordinate who understood his intentions, Sun Lao Er said, “Young Master Zhao will come looking for you soon.”

“How soon is ‘soon’?”

The police also said a few days, but how many days was “a few days”?

Cold sweat broke out on Sun Lao Er’s forehead. “This, this… You’ll know when the time comes.”

Tao Ning was silent for a while. “I understand. Thank you.” After speaking, he turned and left the area, not having the strength to respond to the calls behind him, even though he knew Sun Lao Er was secretly following him.

But Tao Ning hadn’t expected that for the next two months, from the end of the final exams until the beginning of the winter break, he had not seen Zhao Jingqun, nor had he seen Xu Jun again.

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