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Twelfth Period
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
PingJiang was a small place, and right now, it was still dirt poor. It belonged to the type of backwater city where even if birds came, they won’t even bother pooping here[1].
That’s why, the arrival of those rich young masters and young ladies in Pingjiang First High boosted the overall GDP of Pingjiang City in the recent two years.
Those people stood in high positions and had great power. Even the principal didn’t dare to rashly offend them. That building that was solely dedicated to them was the most genuine token of goodwill offered by the school.
Although there were also rumors saying that the money for the construction of the building was donated by the parents of those students.
In fact, even the roads in Pingjiang that had been under construction for ten years, yet still hadn’t finished, also benefited from those young masters and young ladies.
For the sake of their convenience, the roads got completed in merely half a year, opening to traffic.
The rumors outside were shrouded in mystery, but Zhou Yanli was clear inside, the one that provided the money was his grandfather. The one that built the roads was also his grandfather.
In other words, the father of that ‘God of Wealth’.
The God of Wealth came very quickly. That stretch Lincoln parked downstairs. The God of Wealth also stopped downstairs.
He was a germaphobe. This entire hotel reeked of a moldy stench, making him not want to set foot in it.
Zhou Yanli grumblingly came down from upstairs, “Why are you this f#$%ing nitpicky.”
Zhou Jinwei ignored him, his gaze landing behind him.
Behind him was Jiang Huihui who’d slowly caught up.
After ending the call, he saw the number on there, recalling that this number had appeared before on the financial aid application together with Jiang Huihui’s name.
Zhou Jinwei slowly lit a cigarette and asked why they were here.
A guy and a girl alone together, of the same age, coming to a hotel in the middle of the night…..
These three conditions, as long as two were met, it was all very difficult for others to not have crooked thoughts, let alone the two of them meeting all three.
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
Jiang Huihui wanted to explain, but whenever she faced Zhou Jinwei, that innate fear just caused her to be unable to think properly.
Zhou Yanli had the entire cause and effect condensed into one line: “She got hit by her mom, so ran away from home, but had nowhere to go, so I just brought her here.”
Zhou Jinwei paused in flicking off the cigarette ash. He lifted his eyes, “Got hit?”
Jiang Huihui explained, “It’s not that serious, just smacked a few times through the clothes.”
Zhou Yanli didn’t understand what’s there to explain about, “What do you mean just got smacked a few times through the clothes? I could even hear the sound from downstairs.”
She lowered her head and didn’t continue to speak.
Seeing them interacting naturally, Zhou Jinwei strangely felt irritated. For him, it was a very unfamiliar feeling, so he put out his cigarette.
Just then, next to them, a completely drunken couple entered the hotel with arms around each other, passionately kissing the whole way, unwilling to separate.
He found a trash can and had the cigarette butt thrown in, deciding on the spot, “Then, let’s go to my place.”
Zhou Yanli was worried that Jiang Huihui will run into his paternal grandparents there.
“Forget it, it’s too far away.” He then recalled, “Don’t you also have a villa at Shuijiang Road? We can just go there.”
“That’s exactly the place I’m talking about.” Zhou Jinwei’s gaze towards him became complicated, “How do you know?”
When Zhou Yanli came down, he’d randomly put on a jacket over his sweatshirt.
His hair was a bit longer than when he first arrived here, going from a buzz-cut to choppy bangs. His bone structure and facial features were both very good. Aside his explosive temper, from top to bottom, one was unable to find the slightest flaw.
Broad shoulders, long legs, tall figure, and even handsome.
His hair wasn’t really groomed. Most likely disliking his bangs covering his eyes, he casually brushed it back, carrying a bit of nonchalant amidst the messiness.
There was less of a sharp edge, having more of a youthful feeling.
He kicked aside that piece of rock in front, sticking his hands in his pockets, standing in a casual manner, “I know a lot of things. Your birthday is September 13. Mildly color blind, unable to eat spicy food. You only attended kindergarten for half a year, because there were always kids peeing their pants in the classroom. You felt disgusted, no longer willing to go, so your mom separately hired teachers for you to attend class at home.”
He spoke of these as if he knew them by heart.
Each time he mentioned one, Zhou Jinwei’s brow would just furrow a little more.
These things, aside from his family, no outsider knew.
When Jiang Huihui heard the reason why he didn’t attend kindergarten in the end, she was somewhat shocked, but she didn’t dare to ask whether it was true or not.
Because she’d also peed her pants before in kindergarten.
However, Zhou Yanli was firing at everyone equally, asking Jiang Huihui, “How many times did you end up wetting yourself again? Four times or five times?”
Jiang Huihui complexion changed, hurriedly reaching out to cover his mouth, “You….you’re saying nonsense!”
There was panic in her eyes, her movements a lot more agile than usual.
In the past, she was like a sloth, doing everything in a slow pace.
She hurriedly covered Zhou Yanli’s mouth, even using the corner of her eyes to secretly observe Zhou Jinwei from time to time, still having a trace of hope inside.
Praying to the heavens that he didn’t hear.
But this time, the heavens clearly didn’t help her.
The two who were usually at odds surprisingly stood on the same side for once.
Zhou Jinwei clearly was also curious, calmly asking her, “How many times?”
Jiang Huihui helplessly let go, feeling as if she was getting roasted over a pile of fire, “My….my dad said it was six times, but I only remember four times.”
“Four times isn’t few either.” Zhou Yanli was like a doting parent. Regardless of what the child did, he was all able to praise.
He even clapped his hands, “Ordinarily, who can pee four times in kindergarten, it’s still our Huihui who’s impressive.”
Jiang Huihui truly was speechless. The shame and embarrassment made her want to immediately find a hole and bury herself.
It was because she started school early and was still young, thus would……..
–
That stretch Lincoln was parked right behind them, but Zhou Yanli didn’t want to go over in the car. In any case, the place was nearby.
When he’d just transferred over to Pingjiang, his dad had given him several sets of keys, worrying that he won’t be able to get used to living there, thus can switch around in the different houses.
One of the properties was just by the river ten minutes from here, a detached villa with a river-view and its own garden.
Unfortunately, it has been left unused all this time, with no one living there. The last time he went was about two months ago.
The furnishings inside have remained exact same as before. Even the butler looking after the house was also the same one from twenty years ago.
When Zhou Yanli saw him for the first time, he was greatly startled, even thinking that he was seeing a dried-up corpse.
As soon as the other party saw him, he just said that he looked like his mom.
Hearing the other party mention his mom, he curiously asked, “You know my mom?”
That person smilingly nodded, “When your mom was pregnant with you, she’d stayed here to raise the fetus, together with your dad.”
Thinking to here, Zhou Yanli suddenly had the feeling of time and space overlapping.
It was as if he was retracing the path his parents once walked.
Midway, he got hungry and saw that there was a barbecue stand nearby.
Precisely the one from last time.
Zhou Jinwei and Zhou Yanli even fought here before.
Returning to this place again, Zhou Yanli pointed at the wound on his chin that still hadn’t fully healed and confronted Zhou Jinwei, “You really were too damn ruthless, f#%$, even when beating others, you’d probably never been this ruthless before.”
Zhou Jinwei’s expression was just as cold and indifferent as his tone, “I’ve never hit anyone else before.”
F#%$!
This time, Zhou Yanli was even more pissed—-so he’d only ever hit him?
Whose father is like this? Serves him right for having a son who’s in a rebellious phase all year round, and in a twenty-four hour day, aside from sleeping, spends the rest of his time causing trouble for him.
This grudge, he will remember and slowly settle in the future.
The owner lady saw that there were customers, so came over with the menu.
She still remembered them. Although the stall saw a large number of customers every day, people as good-looking as them were actually quite rare.
The owner lady even complimented Zhou Jinwei and Zhou Yanli last time, saying that they can directly debut as celebrities.
But this time, her mindset was different from last time.
After all, she’d witnessed them fighting before with her own eyes.
Even several of her chairs had gotten smashed.
Even though afterwards, when paying the bill, the money for the chairs also got added in, but what if they were to get into a fight again this time…….
Zhou Yanli, as the son, was still considered adequate in this aspect, perfectly clear towards what they didn’t eat.
He randomly ordered a few items.
The owner lady asked if they wanted to drink some beer, “In such cold weather, barbecue and warm beer are the best match.”
Zhou Yanli was just about to nod, when Zhou Jinwei casted him a glance.
…..
Dominance by bloodline was most likely innate, even if they were currently the same age.
Zhou Yanli obediently closed the menu and handed it back, “Just these.”
Zhou Jinwei soundlessly glanced around at the surrounding. Although he didn’t show it on his face, Zhou Yanli knew, this person’s old germaphobe tendencies were acting up again.
But, for better or worse, it has improved. At least, this time, he was willing to sit down.
“Alright.” He took apart a pair of disposable chopsticks and handed them to him, “Come a few more times and you’ll get desensitized. With you being like this, how are you going to change your son’s diapers in the future?”
This undoubtedly hit a nerve with him, even furrowing his brows. That pair of chopsticks, he naturally didn’t accept either. Zhou Yanli directly threw them in front of him, who cares if you want it or not.
Zhou Yanli was used to going again him. It was even quite interesting. Someone who was that authoritative twenty years in the future was actually cold and aloof twenty years ago.
However, he knew when to stop, not continuing to say more.
There was constant wind at night. Jiang Huihui shivered twice.
Zhou Yanli took off his own jacket and put it on her, “Still cold?”
Zhou Jinwei had half-taken off his coat, when he saw Zhou Yanli beating him to it. He stopped in his movement, that strange feeling of irritation rising up again.
But he couldn’t tell where the source of his irritation was.
Fortunately, his emotions very quickly died down. In the next second, he returned to an expressionless state.
Although it was cold at night, it was far from being this cold.
The color of her face became somewhat off.
“Fever?” Zhou Jinwei asked.
Jiang Huihui shook her head, “No, I’m fine.”
She shivered again.
Zhou Jinwei frowned, reaching out to check her temperature on her forehead, then placed his palm back on his own forehead to compare.
“You have a fever.” This time, it was a statement.
Hearing that she had a fever, Zhou Yanli’s complexion instantly changed, as if this was something a hundred times scarier than a beast of the apocalypse.
He spoke rapidly, becoming extremely anxious, “Then…then let’s quickly go to a hospital, is there a hospital nearby? Where’s the nearest hospital? Didn’t you come in a car just now? Let your driver quickly come over.”
His unusual behavior made Zhou Jinwei’s expression become somewhat complicated. He reminded him, “It’s just a low fever.”
Zhou Yanli’s eyes widened in anger. He was furious at Zhou Jinwei’s attitude, “At first, the doctor also said that she just had a low fever, but afterwards?”
But afterwards?
What became of her afterwards?
Within half a year, her health rapidly declined, even if Zhou Jinwei had found the most renowned doctors in the field and sponsored that many medical research institutes.
In the end, he wasn’t able to save her.
[1] This line is just a rewording of a similar expression, ‘even birds won’t poop’ (鸟不拉屎). It’s a very old expression to describe a place as remote and desolate, the idea being that not even birds will stop by here, thus having no signs of life.
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