Chapter 12: CH 12

In the auditorium lounge, Chen Zhiyu put on his gold-rimmed glasses and worked on his laptop. Xia Yubin pushed the door and walked over, calling out softly, “Mr. Chen, there are still ten minutes left before the presentation time.”

Chen Zhiyu didn’t even raise his head, always looking at the documents in his hand, Secretary Li hurried over and told Xia Yubin to leave, “Mr. Chen doesn’t like to be disturbed when he’s working.”

Xia Yubin knew Secretary Li, he was Chen Zhiyu’s right-hand man, he whispered, “I am the student representative, I am responsible for following Mr. Chen throughout the whole process.”

Only when he heard the words “student representative” did Chen Zhiyu raise his head and gave Xia Yubin a bland look, “Isn’t the student representative Xia Qing Shu? Who are you?”

Xia Yubin froze, he and Chen Zhiyu had already met, so why hadn’t he recognised him?

“Xia Qing Shu had something to do and couldn’t come, I came to help out on a temporary basis.” Xia Yubin said.

“What’s up with him?”

“I don’t know, he’s usually rather confused, I think he might have taken a wrong turn.”

“Secretary Li, you go and find out.” Chen Zhiyu finished speaking and returned his attention to the documents.

Secretary Li made a “please” gesture, indicating Xia Yubin to go out, Xia Yubin was a bit anxious and his voice was slightly higher, “Mr. Chen, don’t you remember me?”

Chen Zhiyu did not look up, nor did he say anything. Secretary Li stopped in the centre, “This student, please leave.”

He had seen this kind of person a lot, always thinking that if he had met with his boss once, he was an acquaintance. They would stick to him whenever they had the chance.

The boss abhorred this.

Xia Yubin: “Mr. Chen, I’m Xia Shan’s brother. I accidentally bumped into you at the hospital the other day and haven’t paid for your clothes yet.”

Only when he heard the name “Xia Shan” did Chen Zhiyu look up at him, his tone still impersonal, “Secretary Li.”

Secretary Li stepped forward, “Xia, just give me the money for the clothes, Mr. Chen doesn’t like to talk much.”

Xia Yubin stood unmoving, his insides rippling. Hearing Chen Zhiyu’s tone, he seemed to know Xia Qing Shu, although he didn’t say a lot of words, the concern revealed in his words was not fake.

What happened, the old Chen Zhiyu still knew Xia Qing Shu through him, didn’t he used to hate Xia Qing Shu the most?

The recent Xia Qing Shu, too, seemed different from before.

“Student Xia, just scan the code and pay.”

Seeing Xia Yubin frozen in a daze, Secretary Li gently touched him.

Xia Yubin came back to his senses, “Excuse me, I’ll be right there.”

After paying 100,000 yuan, Xia Yubin was “invited” out of the lounge.

There were a few students standing at the door, looking at him as he was invited out, with their lips curled down, probably gossiping about him behind his back.

Shortly afterwards, Secretary Li came out of the lounge and found a fellow volunteer, “Do you know the phone number of Mr. Xia Qing Shu? He is the student representative, Mr. Chen has something to ask him.”

The fellow volunteer gave Secretary Li the number, which he called, but didn’t get through.

“What a joke, thinking he could fill in if Xia Qing Shu couldn’t come, but it turns out Mr. Chen would rather send someone to find Xia Qing Shu than him.”

“If I were him, I’d have to find a pit and bury myself.”

“It’s a disgrace, and he gave the teacher the assurance that he would be able to do the job, and that he would be responsible for anything that happened, what would he be responsible for?”

“By the way, where’s Xia Qing Shu, why isn’t he here yet?”

Several students were discussing, when suddenly a teacher came in to inform, “Xia Qing Shu was beaten up by Zhou Qian and sent to the hospital.”

Xia Qing Shu was beaten up and Xia Yubin took his place, the two of them had previous problems, which inevitably made people suspicious.

“It can’t be that Xia Yubin found someone to do it, just to get close to Mr. Chen?”

“What, no way?”

“How could it not be, you forget, he stole Xia Qinshu’s peanuts and was sent to the hospital to have his stomach pumped, how could he not hold a grudge?!”

～

In the hospital ward, Xia Qing Shu sat on the hospital bed. He was neatly dressed, with the corners of his clothes and school bag stained with mud and broken leaves. Because the police had brought him here, the emergency doctor came almost as soon as he arrived at the hospital.

The doctor asked, “Is there anything uncomfortable?”

Xia Qing Shu closed his eyes and said breathlessly, “My head hurts.”

“Why does it hurt?”

Xia Qing Shu opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling for a while, and after a while, he asked the doctor, “Why do you ask why I have a headache? I’ve been hit on the head.”

After saying that, he covered his mouth and vomited dryly. The doctor frowned and quickly wrote a checklist, holding out his hand and waving it in front of his eyes, “Is your head dizzy?”

Xia Qing Shu’s eyes were confused and he didn’t say anything.

The doctor took out a torch, flipped open his eyes and shone it on his pupils.

Only after shining it did Xia Qing Shu reply in a daze, “Dizzy.”

The doctor asked a few more questions and Xia Qing Shu became “unconscious” and passed out.

The doctor quickly wrote down on the medical record – [External blow to the head, pupil size normal, intermittent blurred consciousness, intermittent dry heaving, intermittent coma, suspected brain stem injury]

～

At the police station, Zhou Qian, ChangHao and Cuntuo are sitting in the interrogation room.

Cuntuo’s elbow was dislocated and the injury was bandaged.

“Brother Qian, what should we do?” The long-haired man Chang Hao crossed his legs, “These cops seem to be more serious.”

“Would you believe if I said, later on their chief will personally send me home and have to say sorry to me?!” Zhou Qian looked coldly at the female police officer who had arrested him, his voice not too loud, not too small, just enough for the other party to hear.

His eyes were sinister and spiteful, staring at the other party with contempt.

“Believe it, I believe it a hundred times.” Chang Hao hailed.

The three people sat for a few minutes before someone from the Zhou family arrived. Zhou’s father was a domestic media tycoon who had two sons in total. The eldest, Zhou Chuan, was twenty-five years old and was raised exactly as an heir. The younger son, Zhou Qian, had been spoiled since he was a child and his family expected nothing from him, as long as he was safe and happy.

After his family’s improper care of him as a child caused Zhou Qian to hurt his eye, the Zhou family spoiled him even more, fulfilling almost all his requests just to make up for their debt to him, thus nurturing Zhou Qian’s little bully-like personality.

The man who came was none other than Zhou Qian’s older brother Zhou Chuan. Zhou Chuan was well dressed, wore a pair of gold rimmed glasses and was well brought up, as soon as he arrived he went straight to Zhou Qian, “Brother, is everything alright with you?”

When Zhou Qian saw his brother, he was more restrained, “Brother, it’s nothing, it’s just playfulness between classmates.” He pointed to Chang Hao and Cuntuo, “Look, two of my brothers are still injured.”

Zhou Chuan breathed a sigh of relief and motioned his accompanying lawyer to deal with the aftermath, “It’s good that it’s okay, just wait a minute, we’ll be ready to go soon.”

Zhou Qian gave an “oh” and glanced at his two accomplices  smugly.

The long-haired man gave Zhou Qian a sneaky thumbs-up, while Cuntuo hung on to his injured hand, looking like he was lost in thought.

Zhou Qian smiled smugly and said to Cuntuo, “Xia Qing Shu has injured you, I will make him pay accordingly.”

Cuntuo stammered and answered “Oh”.

Zhou Chuan was followed by the company’s lawyer, who, with his briefcase in his hand, found the police on duty and wanted to take Zhou Qian away.

The lawyer had handled a lot of matters concerning the Zhou family’s youngest son, and he was very familiar with them. In the past, he had always gone to the school, and as long as he showed the name of the Zhou family and his identity as a lawyer, the other party would be afraid of him. This is the first time he had gone to the police station to get the boy. Anyway, so long as no one got killed, it won’t be too much trouble.

Besides, even if it was a human life taken, the Zhou family could afford to compensate for it .

“Officer, can my client go now?”

The policewoman who was answering the phone, glanced at the lawyer and gestured for the other party to sit down.

The lawyer was a little impatient and stared the policewoman down with a scowl. Zhou Qian came over and prodded, “What’s going on? How much longer do we have to wait? I have business later.”

The lawyer said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, young Zhou, you will soon go right away.”

The policewoman hung up the phone and looked very serious, pointing at Zhou Qian and the other two, “You can’t leave, take them into custody immediately.”

Then several police officers came over next to them and handcuffed Zhou Qian and the two of them and prepared to take them to the detention room.

The police took the campus surveillance and also interrogated the classmate who tricked Xia Qing Shu out, and also got the short video taken by Xia Qing Shu, which confirmed that it was Zhou Qian’s intentional injury.

Once the sentence was handed down, it would be a minimum at three years.

Zhou Qian questioned the lawyer, “What’s going on?”

The lawyer frowned, “Isn’t it just a fight between classmates?”

Zhou Qian had done more outrageous things before, and there was no custodial situation. The policewoman said in a businesslike manner, “We just received the victim’s medical records, it’s a suspected brain stem injury.”

The policewoman had dealt with many fights and brawls as well as car accidents and had encountered many injured victims with brain damage. While brain stem injuries and concussions are both brain injuries, brain stem injuries are immediately fatal.

In such cases, the suspect must be taken into custody.

With cold handcuffs and being pushed forward by the police, fear appeared for the first time on the face of the young bully, Zhou Qian: “Brother, brother, I want to go home.”

Such a situation was completely unexpected by Zhou Chuan, who questioned the lawyer, “Didn’t you say he could leave right away?”

The lawyer was someone who had seen a lot of things, and immediately analysed the situation calmly, “Mr Zhou, I have dealt with this kind of situation before, and as long as the victim’s understanding is obtained, Mr Zhou will be able to come out within two hours.”

Zhou Chuan looked at his brother’s wretched back and was a little impatient, “Go to the hospital now!”

~

Xia Qing Shu was lying on the hospital bed, sometimes unconscious, sometimes awake, sometimes dry heaving, sometimes blurred in consciousness.

He couldn’t remember whether Zhou Qian had hit him on the head or not, but he was just very dizzy anyway.

He was very angry at Zhou Qian’s behaviour.

Before he crossed over, Xia Qing Shu’s father was a big man in the medical field, and XiaQinshu knew some of the symptoms that would occur if his brain stem was damaged. Although there was an element of deliberate acting, he was really dizzy and wanted to vomit.

He lay in bed for a short nap, and when he opened his eyes, he saw two men in suits standing in front of his bed, one in a high-fashion suit, presumably from the Zhou family, and one in a Helix, most likely a lawyer.

The first moment Zhou Chuan saw Xia Qing Shu, he knew what his brother was thinking. He knew every one of the ridiculous things Zhou Qian had done in the past. A soft beauty like Xia Qingshu, leave alone Zhou Qian, even he would look at the boy a few more times if he met him.

Such a beauty, lying on a hospital bed, would not make people think of sickness, but would instead remind people of certain restricted scenes, such as hospital bed role play……

Seeing Xia Qing Shu open his eyes, Zhou Chuan gestured for the lawyer to come forward.

“This student,” the lawyer glanced at the name tag on the hospital bed and changed his tone, “Student Xia Qing Shu, I am Zhou Qian’s lawyer and I would like to talk to you about compensation.”

The lawyer’s aim was simple, the sooner the better, after all, young Zhou was still being kept in a detention cell. The conditions in the detention cell were not very good, a small room, crammed with several large men, with a toilet in the corner of the room, where they ate, drank and shit.

It was hot and muggy in the city, about thirty-three degrees these days, and the detention room didn’t even have a fan, so it was hard enough to stay there.

Xia Qing Shu did not expect the other party to get straight to the point as soon as he arrived.

His original intention was not to ask for money, but to punish Zhou Qian, preferably after this, Zhou Qian would never come after him again, he was really scared today.

Of course, a financial compensation would be even better.

Xia Qing Shu gave a weak “hmm” and after a pause, looked at the lawyer and asked, “Who are you?”

The lawyer cleared his throat and repeated, “I’m Zhou Qian’s lawyer, and I’m here to talk to you about compensation.”

“Oh.” Xia Qing Shu reached up and put his hand against his forehead, as if he understood, but then closed his eyes in exhaustion.

Five minutes later, he opened his eyes again, looked at the lawyer suspiciously, and asked, “You are?”

The lawyer patiently said it several times, and Xia Qing Shu was very nice, saying “hmm” and “oh” in agreement, “forgetting” who the other party was again in the blink of an eye.

Lawyer: “……”

This guy, is it deliberate?

Xia Qing Shu struggled to pick up the medical record and handed it to the lawyer, clicking on the words “blurred consciousness”.

See, I’m sick.

Don’t provoke me hehe

The lawyer had to swallow his anger, fearing that the noise would make Xia Qing Shu die, and that Zhou Qian would not come out anytime soon.

Zhou Chuan had smoked half a pack of cigarettes on the balcony, and the compensation negotiations were still at the stage of the lawyer’s self-introduction.

“Hello, I’m Zhou Qian’s lawyer ……”

“Hello, I’m here to negotiate compensation ……”

“Classmate, those who know the time are the best ……”

“What food? It’s not food, it’s people who know the right time ……”

“You want to eat?”

“Classmate, it’s not mealtime yet ……”

“……”

“Student Xia, we all have a hard time, I also have an old man and a young one, I will give you a bottom line, under a million, the Zhou family will not even blink an eye.”

Zhou Chuan waited for more than an hour and couldn’t stand it any longer, he walked in and told the lawyer to go out, “I’m Zhou Qian’s brother, you can tell me if you have any claims.”

Xia Qing Shu struggled to lift his eyelids and gave him a look.

Zhou Chuan looked at Xia Qing Shu in a condescending manner, he was suave looking but his words were not very pleasant, “Xia student, I hope you will take it as it comes, I think we both know very well what the Zhou family does, we have the best team of lawyers in China, if you let go now, the Zhou family will guarantee to provide you with the best medical treatment, and you will also get a generous amount of money. If you want to delay the best time for treatment, you’ll be the one who suffers when the time comes.”

As if stunned, Xia Qing Shu struggled to half sit up and blinked, seemingly sick again, asking breathlessly, “What did you say? Can you speak more slowly? I didn’t understand you just now.”

After saying that, he closed his eyes again and lay back down.

The corners of Zhou Chuan’s mouth twitched as he looked coldly at the frail and white teenager on the bed.

Zhou Chuan had grown up following his father and was used to seeing people in the business world who spoke like human beings but acted like ghosts.

Even if they were perfect victims, when they heard the name of the Zhou family, a look of shock and surprise would appear on their faces to a greater or lesser extent.

Xia Qing Shu had absolutely none. Not only was he not worried that he was dying, nor was he afraid of the Zhou family, nor did he ever waver at the temptation of money, he really looked like a confused and comatose patient.

He was not a little white lotus. On the contrary, he is very good at judging the situation and using his advantages to protect himself. It was the first time he had met such an interesting person.

“Qing Shu, Qing Shu, what’s wrong with you?” Li Xiao daughter-in-law’s eyes barred tears as soon as she entered the ward. Xia Lao Er followed behind his wife and rushed to Xia Qing Shu, grabbing the doctor for a moment to shake him.

After learning what had happened, Xia Lao Er changed his image of cowardice at home and cursed at Zhou Chuan.

“Who the hell are you? You beat my son up like this! Aah! Aah! Aah!”

“I don’t want any money from you, so get out of here! I’ll make the man who beat up my son go to jail!!!”

Xia Qing Shu: Dad is awesome, I have to use him to squeeze out lot of money!