The next day dawned, clear and sunny.
Gentle spring light shone on the branches, bringing a touch of warmth to the chilly morning air.
Though morning study hadn’t started yet, the classroom was already quiet. With less than a year to the college entrance exams, the top students were racing to make the most of every moment, unwilling to fall behind.
In the back row, Sun Haoxiang glanced around furtively to make sure Sun Fuan was nowhere in sight. Sighing with relief, he pulled a steamed bun from his desk and elbowed He Mingjie. “What’s up with Brother Bo? He’s been smiling all morning.”
He Mingjie, still groggy after a late night battling a tough math problem, leaned against the wall, eyes half-closed. He glanced forward, indifferent. “Isn’t he always like that?”
“Bull!” Sun Haoxiang swallowed his bun and took a sip of water. “Look at his grin. It’s practically reaching his ears. There’s no way he’s not up to something.”
Interest piqued, He Mingjie took a closer look and found it was indeed as Sun Haoxiang said—Bo Jin looked unusually cheerful. He wasn’t even glancing at his favorite cookbook, and his gaze…
Yep, it was fixed on Xie Ruan’s seat.
He Mingjie, accustomed to this by now, turned away, yawning. “Probably got some sweet talk from Little Xie last night.”
Back when they first started sleeping over together, everyone would gossip. Now, though, they were used to it. After all, you can only consume so much “dog food” before you adapt.
“Oh.” Sun Haoxiang’s initial excitement died down in an instant.
After being subjected to Bo Jin’s antics for so long, it would’ve been strange if they hadn’t developed an immunity.
But they’d underestimated their Brother Bo. The truth was, when he wanted to show off, there was no escape for anyone in the room.
Sun Haoxiang stared blankly at the pile of red-wrapped candies on his desk, nearly thinking he’d stepped into a wedding hall instead of a classroom.
Even the usually composed Pan Yu looked thrown off, stiffly holding a handful of candies like he was holding a ticking time bomb.
“Th-this… what is this?”
“Can’t read?” Bo Jin sat there as calm as ever, casually unwrapped a candy, and popped it into his mouth. “Wedding candy, obviously.”
The big thing that had been weighing on his heart was finally resolved; he and Xie Ruan were officially committed for life. On a day as special as this, why shouldn’t he celebrate a bit by handing out wedding candy?
Pan Yu: “…”
It was wedding candy.
But why on earth are you handing out wedding candy?
He Mingjie blurted out without thinking, “Did you get married to Little Xie?” His head spun, already muddled by Bo Jin’s antics. In his daze, he added, “Does that mean… we should prepare wedding gifts?”
Pan Yu: “???”
Sun Haoxiang: “???”
Dude, what are you saying? Get a grip!
Bo Jin was delighted to hear that, giving He Mingjie a look of approval. “If you want to, I won’t stop you.”
Sun Haoxiang, finally unable to bear his smugness, threw away his plastic bag and retorted, “Look at you, all puffed up. Getting married, huh? Dream on. You think Little Xie would agree to that?”
Xie Ruan had just gone to the bathroom and hadn’t come back yet, giving Bo Jin plenty of room to act out. He raised an eyebrow, shifting the candy to the side of his mouth with his tongue, and said leisurely, “Why wouldn’t he agree? You don’t see us together much, but he cares about me deeply.”
He pointed to the half-eaten breakfast on the desk. “See that? He bought it for me. I said there were too many people in line, and I’d just eat whatever, but he insisted on getting it for me, worried I wouldn’t eat well.”
Sun Haoxiang: “…”
Sun Haoxiang was about to say something, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a figure next to them—Xie Ruan was back from the restroom and had been listening in for who knows how long.
Sun Haoxiang glanced at Bo Jin with schadenfreude, keeping his mouth shut and deciding not to give him any warning.
Lately, this guy had been getting more and more shameless; someone needed to put him in his place.
But Bo Jin knew him too well—one glance and he could tell when Sun Haoxiang was about to pull something. Discreetly scanning the area, he spotted Xie Ruan standing nearby with a growing look of irritation.
With a light cough, he ended the conversation. “Enough with the nosy questions. It’s between me and him—not something you guys need to worry about.”
Sun Haoxiang, He Mingjie, and Pan Yu: “???”
Who was being nosy? Where’s your sense of shame?
Xie Ruan kicked his leg, expression blank. “Move.”
Did he think he hadn’t heard? It was clearly all Bo Jin talking to himself!
Bo Jin didn’t mind the kick at all, shifting aside to make space and hooking a finger around Xie Ruan’s hand.
Xie Ruan started, wanting to tell him to keep it down. With so many people in the classroom, what if someone saw? But when he turned and met Bo Jin’s smiling eyes, his heart suddenly softened.
Oh… whatever. It wasn’t like he minded it anyway.
Blushing slightly, Xie Ruan took a book from the shelf and began flipping through it, the hand Bo Jin was holding remaining still.
Everyone loves a bit of gossip, especially when it’s happening right in front of them. Taking advantage of the few minutes before the morning bell, classmates gathered around, snacking and teasing.
“Hey, Bo Jin, what’s the occasion for the candy?”
“Yeah, Bo Jin, what’s the big news? You can’t just hand out wedding candy without an explanation.”
They even threw a few suggestive glances at Xie Ruan, who pretended to look serious but was clearly flustered.
Everyone in the class knew there was something going on between Bo Jin and Xie Ruan, even if it wasn’t openly talked about. And with Bo Jin handing out candy today, how could they not understand what it meant?
They didn’t know why it took so long for him to hand out candy, but… maybe it’s just something about the study god. Different from the rest of them bookworms, perhaps?
Bo Jin was more than happy to flaunt his relationship, but under Xie Ruan’s death stare, he reluctantly held back. “Oh,” he lied smoothly, “I stepped into the classroom with my left foot first this morning, so I’m celebrating.”
Classmates: “???”
Everyone looked at him, perplexed. Really, Bo Jin? Even if you’re lying, couldn’t you come up with a more believable reason? Stepping with your left foot—what’s that supposed to mean?
Bo Jin, utterly shameless, let them stare and even unwrapped a piece of candy for Xie Ruan, demonstrating the power of his thick skin.
The entire class: “…”
We give up.
Gossip spread quickly in school, and before morning classes were over, the story had hit the school forums.
After all, wedding candy wasn’t unusual, but handing it out in school definitely was—especially when one of the people involved was Bo Jin.
[“OMG, he’s actually handing out wedding candy! Are they really together? I thought it was just a rumor.”]
[“Probably just messing around, right? No way they’d be so open about it.”]
[“True, but Bo Jin really is a bit of a tease, hahaha.”]
[“You people… Of course it’s real! Have you ever seen him treat anyone else like that? And the way they look at each other, it’s pretty obvious!”]
[“Aren’t they afraid of getting in trouble with Director Zhao?”]
[“So what? What could Director Zhao do? He’d probably just forgive his best student!”]
[“LOL, you’re right! With grades like Bo Jin’s, Director Zhao would probably let him hand out marriage certificates if he wanted to!”]
[“Hahahahaha!”]
…
High school life was too mundane, so when a juicy story appeared, everyone jumped in to discuss. Students, whether they knew Bo Jin or not, quickly joined the discussion.
The forum buzzed with activity, its popularity rivaling the first days of school.
Even the teachers were bound to notice soon, but before that could happen, a much bigger news event swept across the school, and everyone’s attention shifted away from Bo Jin and Xie Ruan.
The Shen family’s company is under investigation!
As one of the first companies to enter the internet sector, the Shen Group has been a well-known enterprise in this city. Although its glory has faded in recent years, it’s still a household name, and many college graduates take pride in joining the Shen Group.
So, no one expected that the Shen family would be investigated so suddenly.
At first, everyone thought it was just a rumor—after all, in these times, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. However, in just two days, the official announcement came out.
The Shen Group was not only involved in tax evasion but also had connections with foreign entities. They were ordered to suspend operations for a month and fined 7.9 billion.
The news shocked everyone.
Tax evasion isn’t that unusual; if you dig deep enough, few companies are entirely clean. But foreign connections? That’s treason!
At seventeen or eighteen, people are passionate, and they couldn’t tolerate this. They turned into crusaders, condemning the Shen family with vicious words.
“D*mn, I thought all the charity work Shen did was genuine, but it was all a front!”
“It’s disgusting; I can’t even look at Shen Xingyun the same way…”
“The Shen family is like this, so Shen Xingyun can’t be any better.”
“They’re profiting off dirty money—it’s a light punishment; they should shut them down entirely!”
“The Shen family must be having a hard time now.”
“Of course. Shen Xingyun hasn’t even shown up at school these days.”
“…”
The Shen family was indeed in a tough spot. Even if they emptied their coffers, they couldn’t come up with 7.9 billion!
They had some money left, but it was all invested in their facial recognition project.
Father Shen smoked one cigarette after another, baffled by how things had escalated to this point. He hadn’t done anything egregious—he’d only secretly sold the collected user information.
Not many people do this? He just had the bad luck of getting caught.
Mother Shen had lost her usual dignified composure, spending her days in tears, her eyes red like a rabbit’s.
The atmosphere in the Shen family’s villa was filled with gloom.
Shen Xingyun was in shock. He was born into wealth and had always been a pampered young master. He never imagined his family’s company would face such a crisis.
The relentless online criticism, his classmates’ strange looks, his father’s sighs, and his mother’s tears—all left Shen Xingyun at a loss.
He looked at his father, hesitated, and finally asked in a low voice, “Dad, is there no way out?”
By now, even he understood that his family couldn’t come up with that much money, so…
Seeing his son’s troubled expression, Father Shen felt a pang in his heart. His son had always been bold and carefree—he had never seen him so uncertain. For his son’s sake, he needed to pull himself together!
It was just 7.9 billion; there had to be a way.
Taking a deep breath, Father Shen said, “Xingyun, don’t be afraid. It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”
Shen Xingyun’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Really.” Father Shen explained to him in detail, “Remember our facial recognition project?”
Shen Xingyun nodded eagerly.
“We recently submitted it for bidding. Our technology is the latest in the country; we’ll definitely win the bid. Once we do, the money problem will be solved.”
Though the funds wouldn’t come in immediately, Father Shen had built up connections over the years. With a profitable project like this, he could surely borrow the 7.9 billion.
Father Shen had intended to comfort Shen Xingyun, but in explaining it, he ended up reassuring himself as well.
He had already reviewed the other facial recognition companies bidding, and none of them could compare to theirs. It was just 7.9 billion—he’d make it back eventually. Still…
He clicked his tongue, feeling a painful sting, as though giving up years of income.
But as long as the mountain remains, there will be wood to burn. With this golden goose, he could earn multiple 7.9 billions.
While father and son talked, Mother Shen listened closely from the side. Seeing her husband’s confidence, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled for the first time that day.
“Old Shen, as long as you’ve got a plan. Come on, let’s eat. Food is as important as iron, and there’s a tough battle ahead; you can’t afford to let your health fail first.”
Father Shen, feeling much better, laughed, “Alright, let’s eat.”
Reassured by Father Shen’s words, the Shen family no longer looked as dejected as before. But Shen Xingyun still didn’t go back to school; he planned to wait until they won the bid so he could shut up all those who’d badmouthed them.
With this in mind, Shen Xingyun watched the government website’s bid announcements more closely.
At home, he usually spent his time gaming or chatting, but now he was refreshing the website every half-hour to catch the news first.
Father Shen found it amusing to watch.
“What’s the rush? If it’s meant for us, it won’t escape.”
He glanced at a message just sent by his assistant. “It should be around ten this morning.”
“No way,” Shen Xingyun glanced at the time on his phone, refreshed the page unconsciously, “It’s already ten twenty…” His gaze froze on the screen, and his voice stopped abruptly.
Father Shen didn’t notice his son’s strange reaction, sitting comfortably on the sofa with a calm expression. “It’s the government’s website; the timing is usually off.”
Seeing Shen Xingyun’s face go pale, he reached out worriedly to feel his forehead. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
This was his only son, the future of the Shen family; he couldn’t allow anything to happen to him!
“Dad…” Shen Xingyun’s hands shook, barely able to hold his phone. He stammered as he looked up at his father, “It’s… it’s not us…”
His words were disjointed, but Father Shen understood immediately.
His heart sank to rock bottom, and he quickly grabbed the phone.
On the website’s announcement page, a few words were glaringly displayed—
Winning Company: Yangguang Technology Co., Ltd.
How could this be?! Father Shen’s eyes widened—this couldn’t be!
He practically clawed at the screen, as if he could somehow scrape off the words and replace them with his own company’s name.
“No, it can’t be right, there must be a mistake,” he muttered, his hands trembling as he searched for information on Yangguang Technology.
He knew this small company; its technology was clearly inferior to theirs. How could it have won the bid?
After tapping the screen several times, Father Shen finally hit the search button.
The page immediately displayed Yangguang Technology’s latest research achievements, the high praise nearly making Father Shen choke.
How could this be? How could this be? Father Shen’s face turned even paler than Shen Xingyun’s—how could Yangguang Technology have developed more advanced technology than theirs in such a short time?
“Impossible…”
He mumbled as he unintentionally clicked on another page. Scanning it absentmindedly, he froze when he saw—
Yangguang Technology Co., Ltd., subsidiary of Shiguang Technology, legal representative: Bo Jin.
Legal representative: Bo Jin!
Bo Jin!
Everything went black for Father Shen, and he collapsed onto the floor next to the sofa.
