Chapter 209: Evil begets retribution, light in the eyes
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As you sow, so shall you reap.
“Jin Mingyu, you actually had the nerve to show up?” The chubby director’s fat fingers almost poked the man’s face.
The man looked up belatedly, but his expression was dull and dazed.
Feeling the weight of that gaze on him, the director felt a chill run down his spine. He remembered what he had seen online, and now he just wanted to get rid of this jinx as quickly as possible.
“We’ve packed up your things, and the car is ready. You can leave now.”
“Wait…” The man’s voice was hoarse with exhaustion, tinged with a hint of confusion. “Why did you move my stuff?”
“Why?” The director’s tone rose sharply. “Didn’t you receive the email? The HR department also called to inform you. You, Jin Mingyu, are no longer an employee of our company!”
The man suddenly recalled something.
Right, on the day the poisoning incident was reversed online, his personal information was dug up by netizens. Countless harassing calls flooded his phone, some cursing him as the murderer, others insulting his ancestors, and some even wishing him to get hit by a car when he stepped out…
Jin Mingyu was dumbfounded.
When he finally understood what had happened, he felt panicked and at a loss.
The video had been deleted long ago, and even his cloud account had been cancelled.
And Jiang Ke, wasn’t he a fugitive now? Since he had fled, why did he come back?
Everything happening before his eyes was beyond his control.
So, Jin Mingyu fled. He ran to the gambling den he often frequented and gambled wildly for two days and nights, not going to work, not answering calls, completely cut off from the outside world.
When he had lost everything and couldn’t borrow any more money because he had nothing left as collateral, he was directly thrown out by the security guards.
Only then did he come to the company in a daze.
But he never expected to be told…
“Why am I being fired?”
The director didn’t expect him to have such thick skin. “Why? Ha, it’s clearly stated in the ‘Termination of Employment Notice’—misconduct, violation of morality, damaging the company’s image! Don’t you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Jin Mingyu’s expression turned resentful, and flashes of anger flickered in his eyes. “What have I done? Murder? Arson? Why didn’t the police come to arrest me? The law hasn’t convicted me of any crime, yet a small power company dares to label me like this.”
“You’re firing me for no reason, it’s defamation, it violates the Labor Law! I’ll sue you!”
The director burst out laughing upon hearing this. “Jin Mingyu, where do you get the nerve? If I were you, I’d leave quietly and at least preserve some dignity.”
“Leave? Why should I leave?” His eyes reddened, “It’s not my fault! If you’re firing me because of that incident online, it’s completely unreasonable. It was just a moral mistake, I haven’t committed a crime… yes, I haven’t committed a crime!”
A look of disdain flashed in the director’s eyes as he snorted, “Who said you were fired because of the online incident?”
Jin Mingyu furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”
“You were fired because you have a gambling addiction, debt collectors have come to the company looking for you, it’s had a severely negative impact. According to current regulations, firing you is just a normal procedure. Ha, why are you still talking about violating the Labor Law? If you have the guts, go ahead and sue.”
“Now that you are here, you can take care of these things yourself.” After saying this, the director left with two young men.
Jin Mingyu stood under the sun, but he felt a chill all over his body.
The van driver was getting impatient. “Are you done packing? Overtime costs extra!”
Jin Mingyu mechanically loaded his belongings onto the van, then walked towards the bulletin board. Just one glance made his eyes sting, as if he had returned to five years ago, when the national team selection list was announced and he couldn’t find his name in it no matter how hard he looked.
But where was the need to look?
Four slots, four names, all clear at a glance.
But he couldn’t accept it. He had caused Jiang Ke to be sentenced to death, that was a living person’s life!
After doing so much wrong, in the end, he still couldn’t make it into the national team. How should he account for all the mistakes he had made, all the sins he had committed?
In vain?
For nothing?
“Hahaha…” He suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face. “I’m not wrong! I’m just fighting for what I want…”
Suddenly, he sensed someone behind him, and he turned his head sharply to look, only to see a man wearing a hoodie and a duckbill cap standing not far away.
Because the brim of the cap was pressed too low, Jin Mingyu couldn’t see the upper half of his face clearly, and he instinctively became wary: “Who are you?”
He was afraid of encountering those crazy netizens.
But the man didn’t say anything and just turned and walked away.
Jiang Ke had originally wanted to “catch up” with him, but when he actually saw the person, he suddenly felt it was meaningless.
The Jin Mingyu of the past, who was humble and shy, had long since changed beyond recognition.
Dark circles, beer belly, balding—he had become the image of a typical member of society.
But Jiang Ke still wanted to continue being a genius.
So what if he lost five years?
His future was still long—
This was what Jiang Fuyue whispered in his ear.
…
After requests for interviews from major media outlets failed, Jiang Ke accepted an interview with an official platform.
Surprisingly, the interviewer who came that day was a very famous female journalist in the industry.
Her past interviewees were either diplomats or globally renowned scientists, and she was known in the industry for her “wide range of knowledge” and “extensive expertise.”
Jiang Ke knew her. He had seen her once during a live broadcast interview with a foreign correspondent.
She was very professional and sharp.
She said, “Hello, Jiang Ke. Do you know why I actively sought this interview?”
Jiang Ke calmly replied, “You’re interested in me.”
Today, he wore a suit. Even though he had been bent over for four years, as long as he wanted, he could still appear upright and dignified in front of the camera, facing the national audience.
But his face…
He didn’t do any concealment. When the lights came on, the scars on his melted skin were fully exposed, or rather, it couldn’t even be called “skin,” just a layer of charred flesh.
Even the experienced female journalist couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of it.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“I heard you did it yourself.”
“Yeah.”
Female journalist: “Doesn’t it hurt?”
Jiang Ke: “Compared to dying in vain, this pain is easy to bear.”
Female journalist: “Before coming here, I met some of your former teachers. The most common word I heard from them was ‘genius.’ Do you consider yourself a genius?”
Jiang Ke smirked, and the left lens captured his intact profile, the slight upward curve, reminiscent of youthful arrogance, unyielding pride.
“Yes.”
In the past, and now too!
…
This interview video was edited and uploaded to the official website in the early hours of the night.
In less than thirty minutes, it garnered a hundred thousand shares, fifty thousand comments, and nearly three hundred thousand likes.
The popularity was still rising.
And Jiang Ke’s current appearance was finally revealed.
Is it terrifying?
To be honest, it’s quite terrifying.
That was the most straightforward human perception of “beauty” and “ugliness.”
Some netizens even commented that when they clicked on the video, they screamed in their bedrooms, thinking they stumbled upon a horror movie.
Another netizen said that her husband was shocked at first sight and fell off the bed, then sat on the floor in a daze, watching her cry so loudly at the ugly man in the video, feeling like he had encountered an alien doing yoga in the gym (what a strange metaphor!).
The interview continued, and when the reporter asked him if he knew why she had actively applied for this interview, the youth’s answer was confident and bold, with a hint of madness.
The female reporter asked again, do you consider yourself a genius? The implicit meaning of this question was: Once upon a time, you were a genius, do you still think of yourself as one now?
With resounding confidence, the youth said yes.
“My God! There really are such proud people in the world.”
“Even though his face is ruined, his words, behavior, can still be the brightest label on him. Maybe this is the inherent temperament of a genius?”
“He went away for thousands of miles, but returned still a youth—this phrase seems tailor-made for him.”
“Now he’s like this, how amazing was he back then?”
…
Tonight, sleep was impossible.
Without pandering to the crowd, without seeking attention or sensationalism, Jiang Ke calmly completed an interview, unexpectedly touching the hearts of the entire nation.
As the female journalist was leaving, she suddenly asked, “I see light in your eyes. Can you tell me where it comes from?”
Jiang Ke: “From the person who reached out and pulled me up.”
“Is she your?”
“My mentor.”
That night, Jiang Ke stood at the door of “Dangui” and listened to the music pouring out from the bar.
Without hesitation, he plunged into the lights and colors of the night.
And he also plunged into his glorious and radiant future…
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