Chapter 88 (o^^o)
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“An Lan! An Lan! Look quickly! The financial director of KWS Group is suspected to be a member of ‘Eden’! Oh my god, I was still thinking of working at KWS after graduation! D*mn, even the president of DN Bank… is actually a member of ‘Eden’! They are secretly raising funds and laundering money for ‘Eden’!”
An Lan turned his face and exchanged a glance with Xu Xingran.
The purpose of making public the network of contacts arranged by the Han family for “Eden” was to give those allies of “Eden” a more powerful blow. If they still didn’t cut ties with “Eden,” the next family on the hot search list would be unknown.
“Eden” was accustomed to sucking the blood of those alpha families. What Song Kelan did was to cut off the food supply to “Eden.”
At this stage, An Lan had to admit that in terms of strategy, they were far behind Xu Zhongshuang and Gu Yunli. Xu Xingran also happened to look at An Lan.
“You are just like your dad,” An Lan said.
“What do you mean?”
An Lan pointed at his head, “Both so clever.”
“I’m far worse than my dad,” Xu Xingran replied.
“You haven’t lived half as long as your dad yet,” An Lan subconsciously touched the USB flash drive around his neck.
At this moment, Bald Qiang walked in. Seeing the whole class making a commotion, each person holding a phone and madly refreshing social platforms, he coughed loudly, but everyone continued discussing.
Xu Xingran tugged on An Lan’s sleeve, and An Lan immediately stuffed his phone into his backpack.
Bald Qiang coughed again, but everyone couldn’t resist the temptation of hot searches and continued scrolling. Bald Qiang couldn’t bear it anymore, took out a cardboard box from under the podium, and walked all the way through.
“Caring about current affairs is a good thing, but studying is what you should be doing.”
Bald Qiang walked from the front to the last row, and soon the cardboard box was filled with phones. Even Qiao Chuluo could only hand over his phone. When the cardboard box was moved to An Lan, An Lan didn’t want to hand it over. What if Gu Liyu sent him a message during class? He looked at Xu Xingran on the side, and Xu Xingran calmly put his phone into the box. But that phone was definitely not the one Xu Xingran usually used for internet browsing!
“This guy has two phones!”
Does Bald Qiang know that you’ve hidden another phone?
An Lan suppressed the desire to expose Xu Xingran and lowered his head, pretending that nothing had happened.
Until the break between the second and third classes, Xu Xingran suddenly received a call. It was from an unknown number, and the voice on the other end was altered, thin and indistinguishable between male and female.
“Tell Xu Zhongshuang not to continue exposing information that is harmful to everyone. Without him back then, there would be no ‘Eden’ now.”
Xu Xingran replied with a laugh, “The media reports are not manipulated by our Xu family.”
“Go back and ask your father. Isn’t the Gu family’s network his network?”
“Oh, I didn’t know the Gu family trusted our Xu family so much. Why haven’t the two families had a meal together during the holidays?”
“Stop talking nonsense. If everything about ‘Eden’ cannot be debunked by the end of today, I will send Xiao Chen’s body to you.”
After saying that, the call was hung up.
An Lan happened to be leaving the classroom to find Xu Xingran and saw him going all the way to the end of the corridor.
Xu Xingran knew that An Lan was listening, but he didn’t stop him. Instead, he slowed down and waited for An Lan to come to him.
Xu Xingran sent this recording to Xu Zhongshuang, and the fingers holding the phone trembled unnaturally.
“Dad… I don’t want to see anything happen to Xiao Chen. I don’t have many ‘friends.'” Xu Xingran closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
An Lan understood the meaning behind Xu Xingran’s words. He was born into an alpha aristocratic family, and most of the people around him were related to interests. Even if it seemed like “mutual assistance,” it was often just an exchange of benefits. Even becoming friends with him was more about the connections of the Xu family.
But Xiao Chen was different. Xiao Chen never cared about the unspoken rules of interest alliances within the alpha families. He made friends based on preferences. It was because of this that Xu Xingran treated him differently.
Xu Zhongshuang’s voice came from the other end, “Xingran, let me teach you a lesson. The lesson is, the more you care about something, the less you should let the other party feel that you care immensely. Analyze with the information you already have. If you compromise today, do you think Xiao Chen will come back?”
This question from Xu Zhongshuang fell heavily on Xu Xingran’s heart, and he stood there in a daze.
“Think about it and answer me when you’ve figured it out. I’ll let you make the choice this time—compromise or stand firm.”
The bell for class had already rung, and all the students had gradually returned to their seats.
What they cared about was whether the next class was a math class. There was no way to doze off or fly in the classroom again, or maybe they hadn’t finished the math mock exam and needed to rush back to copy the answers.
Only Xu Xingran and An Lan, they worried about a more profound and heavy choice.
Choose wrong, and Xiao Chen might never come back.
There might not even be a right option.
“Compromise or stand firm?” Xu Xingran smiled bitterly at An Lan.
Under normal circumstances, when faced with such a dilemma, An Lan should have said, “I don’t know,” as if not knowing could free him from responsibility after the pain occurred. However, An Lan remained silent, looking at the math teacher entering the classroom. An Lan spoke, “Uncle Xu’s hint is—analyze with the information you already have. So what information do we already have?”
An Lan gently pulled Xu Xingran, and the two of them returned to their seats, one after the other.
Xu Xingran frowned, still pondering. Even when the math teacher called his name, he didn’t react.
On the other hand, An Lan, who was next to him, used his elbow to nudge him. Xu Xingran then realized that the math teacher was looking at him.
Xu Xingran stood up, and An Lan, with his index finger and thumb forming a half circle, signaled Xu Xingran. Xu Xingran calmly answered, “I choose c.”
The math teacher nodded, “Sit down. I thought, Class Monitor, you were daydreaming during class.”
“Don’t worry, teacher. I haven’t zoned out.” Xu Xingran answered with a gentle smile.
After Xu Xingran sat down, he whispered, “Thank you.”
An Lan smiled, “I seem to have experienced the feeling of a hero saving the beauty in a youth novel.”
Xu Xingran was amused by him, revealing a rare hint of a smile.
Next, it became An Lan’s turn to be absent-minded. He took out his own draft paper and wrote something, not knowing what he was writing, like a short essay.
Xu Xingran leaned over to take a look and found that An Lan was writing about their current understanding of “Eden.”
The first point: “Eden” originated from the charity fund “Yunshuang Fund” established by Gu Yunli and Xu Zhongshuang. The purpose was to cultivate elite talents, establish a network for the next generation, and provide assistance. However, for some unknown reason, Gu Yunli was controlled by this “network,” and Xu Zhongshuang also lost control over this network.
The second point: The real reason for Song Kelan’s disappearance was to create public opinion pressure for “Eden.” She had now hidden in the dark, and Gu Yunli, after breaking free from the control of the alpha management committee, was probably with Song Kelan. After all, with Song Kelan causing such big news, “Eden” would definitely look for her everywhere. How could Gu Yunli not be by her side protecting her?
The third point: Jiao Yun, as expected, joined “Eden” and took away the pocket watch. The person behind Jiao Yun… or rather, the “contact” of “Eden,” sent someone to the safe indicated by the pocket watch. This safe had already been swapped by Xu Zhongshuang, and the semi-real and semi-fake information successfully lured out the “contact” behind Jiao Yun—Xiao Nan from the Xiao family. This also explained some inexplicable and unreasonable details on the day Xiao Chen went missing.
The fourth point:…
Xu Xingran rested his chin on his hand, seemingly looking at his mock exam, but in fact, he was looking at what An Lan wrote.
Unfortunately, An Lan was spotted by the math teacher.
“Classmate An Lan, this class is a math class. Please don’t do your Chinese homework during my class.”
The math teacher stepped down from the platform step by step, heading towards An Lan.
An Lan’s heart suddenly jumped to his throat. He was too anxious to distance himself from the information as per Xu Zhongshuang’s guidance. He had forgotten that their math teacher had the title of “Hawk Eyes.” This was really a disaster.
There was an eighty or ninety percent chance that the math teacher would read his “Chinese homework” aloud in class. It could range from him joking about An Lan being addicted to online trends to something unimaginable.
An Lan slowly moved his draft paper down. At this moment, Qiao Chuluo in the front suddenly exclaimed, “Oh!”
The math teacher immediately turned around. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… I just suddenly realized that I might have made a mistake in the next question…” Qiao Chuluo touched the back of his head.
The math teacher immediately shifted his attention back to An Lan. He lifted An Lan’s exam paper, revealing a stack of draft papers underneath. The math teacher didn’t believe it, lifting each page of the draft paper, only to find pure drafts and a few doodles of popular manga characters.
The math teacher wasn’t ready to give up. He checked An Lan’s drawer and the floor, finding nothing hidden. He could only awkwardly say, “While I was teaching, you should listen attentively.”
“I understand, teacher.” An Lan nodded with a meek appearance.
The math teacher returned to the platform.
An Lan subtly breathed a sigh of relief and leaned forward, “Thanks.”
“For lunch, I want to try the newly released hamburger combo.”
“I’ll definitely fulfill your request.” An Lan replied.
Meanwhile, his draft paper laid quietly in the drawer next to Xu Xingran. The class monitor, who appeared to be attentively listening to the lesson, was sneakily reading An Lan’s summary notes.
An Lan gestured to him, but Xu Xingran shook his head, indicating that he had no intention of returning it. Instead, he lightly tapped on the third point in An Lan’s notes. At first, An Lan didn’t understand what Xu Xingran meant. Upon closer inspection, he saw that Xu Xingran’s finger was pointing at the name “Xiao Nan.”
An Lan suddenly realized. If it was Xiao Chen, he might be in the hands of Xiao Nan. In addition, the person who called just now didn’t contact Xu Zhongshuang but contacted Xu Xingran, likely because they knew he wasn’t a match for Xu Zhongshuang in negotiations, and Xu Xingran would give them more confidence… It was very likely that the person who called was Xiao Nan.
Assuming it was Xiao Nan… his purpose for joining “Eden” was not difficult to guess.
Xiao Nan wasn’t a high-quality alpha, and in the end, the Xiao family might fall into the hands of Xiao Chen. So, Xiao Nan would do everything possible to eliminate Xiao Chen. The purpose of the call was not for an exchange of benefits or to make Xu Zhongshuang compromise. Instead, it was Xiao Nan finding an excuse to get rid of Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen’s death could ultimately be blamed on Xu Xingran’s wrong choice.
This was truly disgusting.
An Lan was so angry that he trembled and gritted his teeth. “We can’t compromise. If we compromise, Xiao Nan will become more arrogant. But if we don’t make him feel threatened, he will immediately get rid of Xiao Chen.”
“Leave it to Old Man.” Xu Xingran replied.
In other words, Xu Xingran chose to trust Xu Zhongshuang’s judgment.
“Okay.” An Lan nodded. He also wanted to know what Xu Zhongshuang would do in the current situation. If he compromised, Xiao Chen would be finished. If he didn’t compromise, Xiao Chen would still be finished. What should he do?
Xu Xingran sent a message to Xu Zhongshuang: [Dad, it’s up to you.]
Xu Zhongshuang only replied with: [Focus on your studies.]
Focusing on studies was easier said than done.
The unbearable math class finally ended. Xu Xingran took out his phone, and the headline on social media had changed again: “My younger brother’s heart is mine.”
This title made An Lan’s heart skip a beat. When he clicked to open it, it was indeed about Xiao Yun. The news also linked it to the previous news about the Han family.
The netizens were once again in an uproar. It meant that after the Han family, the prestigious Xiao family in the business world had also fallen.
The public’s curiosity about “Eden” was not only out of curiosity but also fear.
If this organization continued to grow and spread, one’s closest people might become members of this organization. People might go to great lengths to take their lives.
Even students who had not yet entered society were afraid of this organization.
“Oh my God, it turns out the school bully has been targeted for his heart by his own elder brother! How terrifying!”
“The math class representative hasn’t attended class. Could something have happened?”
Several classmates who were concerned about Xiao Chen couldn’t help but send messages to An Lan. An Lan didn’t know how to reply.
The bell for the next class rang. It was English class.
Xu Xingran made a gesture to An Lan, indicating that he needed to go out to answer a call. An Lan nodded.
As usual, Xu Xingran walked to the end of the corridor. Once he answered the call, the voice on the other end spoke.
“If you don’t care about Xiao Chen’s life, then I’ll…”
Xu Xingran laughed, “What will you do? Kill him? Or dismember him?”
“Do you really think I…”
“Do you really think we don’t know who you are?” Xu Xingran mimicked the tone of the other person.
“You’re trying to deceive me. You don’t really know me.”
Xu Xingran’s voice remained calm, “If you think I don’t know you at all, it means you’re a completely insignificant person without any presence. Keep in mind; I, Xu Xingran, have an excellent memory. I remember everyone, whether they are passersby A, B, C, or D. Since you made this call, let me be straightforward.”
“Straightforward about what?”
“Now, you’ve only seen Xiao Yun making headlines. But if something really happens to Xiao Chen, like if he loses a strand of hair, or more severely, loses his life, then the Xiao family has absolutely no value for our Xu family.”
“Are you threatening me?” There was evident anger in the other person’s voice. The previous sense of superiority had disappeared, replaced by an almost imperceptible panic.
“I’m stating facts. Many people should be interested in taking the position of Xiao Chen’s father, Xiao Hongwen. After all, Xiao Hongwen doesn’t have much ability, and there are many ambitious people among his cousins. We already have evidence that two of his cousins have beneficial dealings with ‘Eden.’ What do you think would be better to expose before dinner today, which cousin of his?”
“You dare!”
“Why not? When negative news about the Xiao family keeps spreading, the stock will plummet, and they might end up in heavy debt. With the Xiao family in such a state, whoever wants it can take it. I guess Xiao Chen won’t care.” While saying this, Xu Xingran’s fingers holding the phone were secretly trembling.
Every threat he made, every word, walked on a tightrope. If his judgment about the other party was wrong, it wouldn’t save Xiao Chen but would push him into hell.
“Xu Xingran, you are too arrogant! I will…”
“What will you do? Like in the movies, send me a part of Xiao Chen? His fingers or maybe…”
Xu Xingran chuckled lightly, “I know Xiao Chen’s personality too well—better to be shattered than intact. What he wants is for scum like you all to perish.”
“What did you say?”
“Why are you angry? It seems like you are really from the Xiao family.”
The other party suddenly realized that they had fallen into Xu Xingran’s logical trap.
Under his father’s education, Xu Xingran had mastered the control and judgment of other people’s emotions, all while maintaining a calm demeanor.
“Give you some time to consider. Call me before six o’clock this afternoon, informing whether you want to fight with us until the Xiao family collapses, becomes heavily indebted, and completely ruined, or if you want to bring Xiao Chen back. Pay attention, bring him back intact, or else, with our means, the whole Xiao family will go to h*ll. Little friend, the Xiao family is already on the verge of collapse. The only one who can help is our Xu family. Decide whether you want to play with fire or stop before you get burned.”
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