Chapter 7
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After listening to Lu Fenghan’s words, Xia Zhiyang vigorously wagged his eyebrows at Chen Mingxuan.
Hear, hear! How come we never thought of giving Jiang Qi such a practical and feasible suggestion before?
Tan Rui turned his head to look at Jiang Qi, who almost couldn’t hold back his expression.
He believed that there were no problems with his and Tan Rui’s plot!
As a member of the Qi family, he had the authority to temporarily disable all monitoring devices in the hall and activate the function to block the personal terminal recording function of all people.
And he was confident that, compared to Tan Rui, whom everyone was familiar with, most people would be more inclined to believe that Qi Yan, a stranger from a remote planet who had never seen the world, would steal something.
As long as everyone believed it, even if Qi Yan said he didn’t steal anything, it would be of no help.
What he wanted was for everyone to know that his own brother couldn’t be trusted and was even capable of stealing!
The only variable was that video recording.
Lu Fenghan chuckled, as if kindly addressing Tan Rui and Jiang Qi’s doubts. “Are you wondering why my personal terminal’s recording function is not blocked while everyone else’s is?”
Xia Zhiyang immediately pressed his personal terminal twice. “Huh, it’s actually been disabled, can’t record anything.”
His gaze shifted to Lu Fenghan’s wrist, then a sudden realization struck him. “No way! You, a bodyguard, are this wealthy? Are you using God Y’s creation, Peregrine? Peregrine bypasses the most powerful shielding systems in the Alliance, enabling recording anywhere! This gadget is hella expensive!”
Lu Fenghan nodded. “Indeed, it’s Peregrine.”
Xia Zhiyang, a fervent fan of God Y, glanced at Tan Rui again, deliberately casting a sidelong glance at Jiang Qi. “No wonder the Qi family’s shielding system didn’t work. It’s not that it’s weak, but that the opponent is too powerful, no, too godlike! Initially, Y developed Peregrine for the military to overcome rebel video jammers. But using it here, ah, what a waste.”
Qi Yan, upon hearing the words “Peregrine,” subconsciously glanced at Lu Fenghan’s personal terminal.
Meanwhile, Jiang Qi paid no heed to Xia Zhiyang’s mockery. Instead, he turned his gaze towards Qi Wenshao, who had remained silent.
A mere bodyguard couldn’t possibly afford equipment made by Y. Naturally, it was Qi Yan who footed the bill for it.
However, Qi Yan had always lived on the remote planet in the Messier Region, with grandparents of modest means. How could he possibly have so much money?
Adding to the mystery was the fact that Qi Yan could enter the second year of Turan Academy as soon as he returned to Leto.
In those moments unknown to him and his mother, just how much money did his father secretly give Qi Yan, and how many paths did he pave for him?
In that moment, a surge of uncontrollable anger and a sense of betrayal by the person he admired most overwhelmed Jiang Qi. His lower lip almost bled from being bitten so hard.
Tan Rui had pulled off many similar tricks since childhood. Never before, however, had he been caught red-handed like this.
He struggled to maintain his composure. “What I’m saying is, I saw Qi Yan pass by the table, right? Who knew someone would deliberately frame him!” Surrounded by countless stares, he felt a bit flustered, quickening his pace. “And he’s from a remote planet, so it’s only natural for me to suspect him first, isn’t it?”
Even Chen Mingxuan, who had been spectating, couldn’t bear it anymore. “Are you an idiot?”
Xia Zhiyang couldn’t help but wonder why he, only one year older than Tan Rui, seemed so much smarter.
He gestured towards the ring on Tan Rui’s finger from across the room. “Limited edition of fifty pieces worldwide. You should be the only one who is aesthetically trashy, wearing it daily and refusing to part with it. I mean, could you at least remove conspicuous accessories before committing a crime? Your obliviousness to your own stupidness is genuinely alarming!”
Tan Rui instinctively moved his hand behind his back.
Putting the ‘Voice of the Forest’ into Qi Yan’s pocket was a spur-of-the-moment idea.
He thought that by blocking surveillance and recording, it would be foolproof.
“I—”
“The truth of the matter is already quite clear.”
Speaking up, Principal Caroline stepped forward, emerging from the crowd. “I’ve heard that you’ve already received the acceptance letter from Turan Academy, which means you’re already a student of Turan Academy.”
Tan Rui suddenly felt panic surge in his heart, his throat tightening. “Yes.”
“Since you are a student of our school, according to Chapter Five, Article Twenty-Eight of the school regulations, students who deliberately frame their classmates, intentionally harm others’ reputations, and refuse to admit their wrongdoing shall be expelled,” Caroline paused. “This student, you won’t need to come to Turan Academy for classes when the school year starts.”
Jiang Qi immediately wanted to speak up, but his hand hanging by his side was firmly grabbed by Jiang Yunyue.
He quickly realized.
Indeed, the evidence was clear. Tan Rui’s expulsion was already a foregone conclusion. Pleading would be futile and might even leave a negative impression on Principal Caroline.
He remained silent.
For a moment, Tan Rui thought he was experiencing auditory hallucinations, even suspecting that everything before his eyes was an illusion.
Otherwise, why would so many people look at him with astonishment, sympathy, schadenfreude, and mockery?
Branded by Turan Academy as a student of ill conduct, he would immediately become the laughingstock of the entire social circle without even waiting for tomorrow!
His gaze slowly shifted towards Qi Yan standing by the door.
Against the backdrop of the gilded carved doors and the light streaming through the dome, Qi Yan standing alone there seemed as chilling as frost.
Tan Rui wondered, why wasn’t it Qi Yan who was deemed of ill conduct and expelled from Turan?
Why not him?
It should have been him, Qi Yan!
At this moment, Qi Yan observed Tan Rui’s expression, then turned to Lu Fenghan and Xia Zhiyang. “Let’s go, it’s stuffy in here.”
They exited the Qi residence and settled into the hovercar. Xia Zhiyang laughed heartily, feeling relieved from head to toe. Curiously, he leaned forward in his seat and asked Lu Fenghan, “Did you really keep the recording on all this time?”
Gripping the black control lever, Lu Fenghan pressed the accelerator button, and the obsidian vehicle shot forward like a shadow onto the express lane.
Leaning his elbows on the bulkhead window, Lu Fenghan chuckled. “Just making up nonsense, and you believed it?”
Chen Mingxuan, holding his gaming terminal, asked, “When did you and Qi Yan notice their little scheme?”
Lu Fenghan: “When the recording function of personal terminals is blocked, Peregrine alerts us. As you know, the so-called blocking of recording function does not actually block it, but rather emits interference waves, rendering the footage blank. Peregrine can instantly capture these interference waves.”
Xia Zhiyang exclaimed excitedly, slapping his thigh. “When God Y intervenes, even trivial gadgets are incredibly powerful!”
Lu Fenghan: “When someone deliberately approached and slipped something into Qi Yan’s pocket, Qi Yan also sensed it. Since so much effort was made, it was only natural to see what those two were up to.”
He didn’t hold back in his critique. “However, it wasn’t worth watching, barely even a sideshow.”
Xia Zhiyang slouched back, brushing against the metal ring on his earlobe, then tilted his head. “Today was truly enjoyable! Chen Mingxuan and I have long had issues with Jiang Qi and his crew. That Tan Rui is a bastard child, only brought back from outside when he was in his teens. His character is like… mop water? As for Jiang Qi, he entered the Qi family with Jiang Yunyue, not a legitimate member, yet always seeks the limelight, putting on airs, afraid others won’t know his father’s surname is Qi. And he’s always playing the victim, it’s been nauseating for years!”
Lu Fenghan listened, casting a sidelong glance at Qi Yan.
The affairs of the Qi family seemed to have passed over him.
He sat with a loosened black bowtie against his crisp white collar. Light streamed through the car window, casting a stark contrast across his face, divided by the sharp line of his nose. His expression remained utterly indifferent, betraying no hint of emotion.
Suddenly, Lu Fenghan felt a hint of irritation. Not wanting Qi Yan to hear any more about the Qi family’s affairs, he naturally interrupted Xia Zhiyang, “Give me an address, I’ll drop you off first.”
It was already late when they reached home.
Qi Yan, wrapped in a cloak of steam after his shower, leaned against the bed. Absentmindedly, he browsed through the surveillance system of the Qi residence, ensuring that all incriminating evidence was erased.
When he exited, his personal terminal prompted him with a new document.
The source was not displayed.
Qi Yan clicked it open, and what came into view was a familiar psychological assessment form, consisting of nearly three hundred meticulously detailed questions.
Qi Yan read through the entire test from beginning to end. Then, starting at the end, he began to write down his answers from memory. He finished in less than five minutes.
After selecting submit, Qi Yan got off the bed and waited for a response. He opened the bedroom door and aimlessly walked downstairs, stopping at the bottom step as if contemplating something.
The icy floor chilled his bare feet. After lingering for a while, he went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water before returning upstairs.
As soon as the bedroom door opened, there was a response to the submitted psychological assessment form.
A cyan light reflected into Qi Yan’s eyes.
The other party only asked one question—
“How often do you experience reality distortion?”
Lu Fenghan was in the bedroom, reading recent news.
From the military’s explanation of the massive defeat at the Southern Cross Region frontline to the ceremony for promotions held by the Central Army two days ago.
From the discovery of rare mineral deposits on a mining planet in the Kepler Region to the disruption of space lanes near a planet in the Southern Cross Region due to a cosmic storm.
He scrutinized each piece of news carefully, seemingly extracting a hidden thread from these brief and superficial reports.
Like a spider weaving its web by the river, he displayed remarkable patience.
Until suddenly, a heavy object fell outside the door.
Agile as a lurking cheetah, Lu Fenghan swiftly got up and strode to the door.
He pulled open the door, and the next moment, he saw Qi Yan standing in front of the bedroom door opposite, wearing a loose white silk nightgown. His hand was still in the position of holding a cup, and at his feet, there were many sparkling and fine shards of broken cup.
Qi Yan, barefooted, had a small cut on his naked calf, red as if drawn meticulously on porcelain, resembling a dot of vivid cinnabar on white jade.
A situation like spilling a water cup would earn ridicule for fifty years if it happened to one of Lu Fenghan’s subordinates. But Qi Yan’s lack of stability in handling the cup didn’t strike Lu Fenghan as surprising at all.
It was just a bit unusual.
This time, Qi Yan didn’t ask him to bandage the wound but instead inquired, “What’s the date today?”
As if confirming something.
Lu Fenghan had a gut feeling that something was off with Qi Yan. “It’s the seventeenth of August, year 216 in the Star calendar. Why?”
Qi Yan shook his head.
He realized that he had indeed frightened himself just now.
There was no reality distortion. The date he perceived was correct.
Glancing at the transparent shards scattered on the floor along with a puddle of water, Qi Yan casually remarked, “I went to the kitchen to pour water just now and saw you downstairs watching the news.”
Lu Fenghan looked at Qi Yan inquisitively. “I didn’t go downstairs just now.”
Qi Yan was taken aback.
After a moment of thought, he quickly came up with an answer. “I must have remembered wrong. You were in the bedroom all along.”
Lu Fenghan’s gaze swept over Qi Yan’s suddenly pale face and the trembling fingertips hanging by his side. Suppressing the doubts rising in his heart, he stepped forward. “Water spilled?”
Qi Yan nodded. “Yes, it spilled.”
Lu Fenghan instructed, “Don’t move.” Then, he reached out and lifted Qi Yan horizontally, stepping over the shards on the floor. He added, “I don’t want you to injure your feet.”
The sudden lift made Qi Yan instinctively grab the fabric of Lu Fenghan’s shoulder. His voice was somewhat soft. “Could you pour me a glass of water,” he paused, “I need to… take some medication.”
Placing Qi Yan on the bed, Lu Fenghan went downstairs to pour Qi Yan another glass of water. Since there were no household robots, he personally cleaned up the water stains and shards on the floor.
By the time the cleanup was done, Qi Yan had finished consuming the colorful pills, leaving half a glass of water untouched on the side.
Lu Fenghan didn’t inquire further about what medication Qi Yan had taken or what illness he was suffering from. He simply said, “You sleep, I’ll be in the next room.”
“Next room” referred to the room across the hall.
Qi Yan’s response was delayed by a few seconds. He seemed lethargic as he looked at Lu Fenghan. “The contract states that you’re responsible for my safety, at any time in all places.”
Leaning against the wall, Lu Fenghan asked, “So?”
His tone carried a slight upward inflection.
Qi Yan gestured towards the empty space on the other side of the bed. “Sit here until I fall asleep.”
With graceful strides, Lu Fenghan complied with Qi Yan’s request and sat on the bed.
The pure white bedsheet slightly sagged under the added weight of another person.
Meanwhile, Qi Yan took a slow, deep breath.
The trembling fingertips gradually calmed down.
Moving slowly towards where Lu Fenghan sat, Qi Yan adjusted his position by a couple of inches, as if finding an appropriate distance. He curled up, knees bent, and closed his eyes.
An hour later, when he was certain that Qi Yan had fallen asleep, Lu Fenghan retrieved the healing gel and returned to the bedside. Leaning over, he applied the gel to the wound on Qi Yan’s calf.
The bleeding had long ceased.
Only leaving behind a conspicuous line.
After hesitating for a few moments, Lu Fenghan wrapped a couple of turns of bandage around Qi Yan’s calf and effortlessly tied a neat bowknot.
Throughout Lu Fenghan’s actions, Qi Yan remained asleep, showing no signs of awakening.
Removing the glass of water and the emptied medicine bottle, Lu Fenghan’s gaze lingered on Qi Yan’s slender white calf, now wrapped in bandages.
A soft tsk—
Little Delicate.
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Thanks for the update