Chapter 45: "Yes, I also like the same sex."

Lin Jian, who doesn't have to be tough, has been a bit dull for two days in a row.

The conversation on the night he came back from the mountain was always in his mind, of course he could understand Shen Ke's meaning, maybe his whole state was too tense during this period of time, so no matter whether it was to comfort or pacify him, Shen Ke just wanted him to loosen up the string that had been tightly stretched for so long, to let it go. Let go a little bit.

But for Lin Jian, who was harboring extra thoughts in his heart, the words naturally changed the flavor in his ears.

How could he dare to "loosen up"? He hated to intensify those obscure and unspeakable thoughts to the bottom of his heart, and then use the coarse shield thatched tightly, as if in the soft and tender vegetation on a thick layer of gravel, do not allow others to pry into the half of the moist and vivid thoughts.

In this sense of self-pulling contradiction, the teenager's mood is particularly annoying and unpleasant.

This unhappiness lasted until the day he returned to school to get his report card, probably because the low pressure on his body was so obvious that all the students around him did not dare to come over and talk to him, even Qin Le, who had just asked Lin Jian about the key questions, cautiously nipped at Xu Yang's ear: "You're still not happy with this kind of result, wouldn't you say God Lin's happiness is based on getting perfect scores in all subjects? Is God Lin's happiness based on getting perfect scores in every subject?"

Xu Yang swept her eyes over Lin Jian's furrowed brows, and very wisely placed her index finger against her lips, and gave a "shhh" to Qin Le.

After the report cards were handed out and the classes listened to some more sage advice from the principal via the school's video system, it was finally time for school to end.

Lin Jian was going to go back directly, but Fruit called him to the office, took out a stack of materials from the desk, and pushed them in front of Lin Jian.

Lin Jian swept a few eyes, is the major universities in previous years, the early batch of enrollment briefings.

"Sit down." Fruit pointed to the chair next to him, and after Lin Jian sat down, he said in a serious tone, "Don't be nervous, I don't mean anything else, nor am I putting pressure on you, I just want to know what you think."

Lin Jian's downcast eyes took on a cold edge as he scribbled through the enrollment materials, then looked up and said, "Are you asking me if I'm going to go through the Early Bird?"

In the face of the favorite students, really not a little frame, sister in general with him pleading: "Yes, in fact, you gave up the competition before this road I think it's a great pity, but in recent years the key colleges and universities of the early batch have expanded the enrollment range of specialties, is also not a good choice."

Lin Jian pondered for a moment and said, "Sister Ran, I don't want to take such a shortcut."

"Shortcut?" Fruit froze for a moment, and then the fingertip poked the pile of materials on the table and said, "You take a good look at what grades and specialties are in the schools that have the qualifications to enroll in the early batch, a comprehensive assessment, merit-based admission, the difficulty of which can only be on top of the unified enrollment, where is the shortcut?"

"Uh-huh." Lin Jian pursed the corners of her lips and said in a faint voice, "Then it's so hard, I'd better take the college entrance exam."

Sure enough: "......"

Really, couldn't care less.

After some delay in the office, the returning students were almost gone when they came out.

Lin Jian through the silent and lengthy corridor, thinking about just now fruitful hundred questions: "Not ...... at the beginning is to withdraw from the competition, and now to do not consider the early batch of admissions, Lin Jian you can not properly with me to tell the truth, what do you really think? "

What do you think?

Lin Jian said I really have no idea.

Knowing that sooner or later I would have to leave, I was just trying to get through this last period in order, not wanting to hit the fast-forward button early for the foreseen separation.

Walking out of the gate of the administration building, the playground was already empty, and the wind was wrapped in heat waves in the July fire weather.

The cell phone in his pocket had been vibrating since he was in the office of Fruit of the Loom earlier, Lin Jian ignored it and just breathed a long sigh of relief, only to find that there was no way to get rid of the stagnation in his heart, which was adding to his irritation.

The cell phone vibrated one after another, relentlessly, Lin Jian finally took it out to take a look, flipping to the last message sent by He Zhou five seconds ago just as he walked out of the gate of the first middle school.

He was already in a bad mood, and receiving He Zhou's message was a great annoyance, and at this moment, a voice came from not far away, causing his slightly knitted brows to tighten again in a flash.

Under a class of thick-crowned banyan trees lining the canopied path outside the school gates, Wen Ning, dressed in an azure-colored, ice-silk dress, saw him come out with a look of both delight and nervousness on her face.

Lin Jian withdrew his gaze and lifted his foot forward.

Wen Ning seemed to have predicted that he would hit a nail today, so his mental soft armor had already been put on, and when he ignored him, he trotted straight over on his small five centimeter high heels and chased after Lin Jian.

"Little ...... Lin Jian, I know that the first middle school returned to school today, so I came over to see you." Wen Ning asked softly, "Did you do well on the exam?"

Lin Jian looked straight ahead, not even bothering to share his gaze with the others.

Wen Ning always followed him two steps behind the position, the boys tall legs, step like a meteor, she wore high heels also step, forehead has been dipped in a layer of fine sweat, gradually follow the effort.

"Lin Jian ...... you slow down a little bit, I just want to talk to you, I ......"

Lin Jian Suddenly stopped his footsteps, impatience surfaced under his eyes, "What in the world do you want to do?"

"I ......" Wen Ning hesitated a little, and asked tentatively, "I want to meet you ...... your current family, is that okay? "

Lin Jian looked at her with disbelief, realizing that he had heard the most ridiculous joke in his life, and he almost laughed in anger: "Who are you to say?"

"By virtue of the fact that I'm ......" Wen Ning glanced up at his face, his voice suddenly lowered, "I just wanted to simply express my gratitude, nothing more."

"Is that so?" Lin Jian's eyes sneered, nonchalantly tearing her down, "In what capacity are you expressing that? My teacher? Or an unknown but just a passerby who looks at me in a favorable light?"

"I ......"

"I'm telling you, kill the thought while you still can." Lin Jian's voice was cold and hard as he laid down an ultimatum, "I don't care how, in any way, in any capacity, in any way, as long as you dare to look for them, I'll-"

Wen Ning looked up in a panic and asked, "...... How are you?"

Lin Jian looked at her eyes with a sight so cold that it didn't have a trace of warmth, and after a few seconds, suddenly laughed softly and said, "Counting this piece of shit life of mine is also half of your credit, so I don't mind giving it back to you - don't, force, me."

Wen Ning covered her mouth in horror, unable to believe that the jade-like teenager in front of her could say such creepy words.

Lin Jian frowned in boredom, ignored the dumbfounded man again, and turned to walk into the residential neighborhood.

Wen Ning stayed in place for a long time, until the movement of the heart like a drum beating in her chest slowly calmed down, only then slowed down, she gazed at the residential building where Lin Jian's figure disappeared, raised her hand to re-stroke the broken hair on her temples, gritted her teeth, and finally chased after her.

Lin Jian took a detour through an old residential area to the alley where he had met He Zhou many times before.

Deep in the alleyway, He Zhou waited in a black short-sleeved T-shirt, his disheveled hair cut into an inch, adding to the menacing look.

Lin Jian walked into the alley, stood two meters away from him, and asked, "Something urgent?"

"Nonsense." This year Lin Jian almost always respond to requests, so He Zhou determined that he is a good to pinch the soft persimmon, has long been even the surface of the false do not bother to disguise, open the door to the point, "looking for you which is not urgent? Hurry up, I have no money."

Lin Jian raised his eyebrows and simply asked, "How much this time?"

I didn't expect He Zhou to ask for more: "Fifty thousand dollars."

Lin Jian laughed at the bottom of his heart. 50,000 dollars is enough to buy your life.

But when he raised his head, his face was a difficult look, "Fifty thousand ...... is too much, where am I going to find that much money?"

"Then I don't care." He Zhou took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, narrowing his eyes at him, "You don't have it and can't think of a way? Borrow from your classmates, ask for Shen's money, you can always come up with a lot, right? If you really can't, give me as much as you can!"

Lin Jian quickly estimated in his mind, in this nearly a year's time, he gave He Zhou's cash and transfers have added up to about 100,000, plus he holds two minor injuries and a light injury identification report, counting up to the final time.

He breathed a deep sigh of relief, and at the other man's urging, said grudgingly, "I have less than 500 ...... on hand at the moment"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the collar of his plain white T-shirt was caught, and He Zhou's menacing face was revealed, his voice sounding like it was coming out of his teeth, "You're looking for a fucking fight, aren't you?!"

Lin Jian tilted his jaw slightly, his eyes dropping from top to bottom, not breaking free or resisting, just quietly looking at him like that.

He Zhou back abruptly rise a cold, the young man's gaze cold and straight, as if looking at not a living person, but a dead thing in the way.

Anyone who was stared at by such eyes for a moment would be horrified, let alone a weakling like He Zhou, who was almost annoyed and swung his fist without realizing it.

And before the waiting fist could land, a sudden shriek came from the mouth of the alley!

Lin Jian's heart skipped a beat, and in a flash of light, he inclined his head to look, only to see Wen Ning standing at the entrance of the alley with a face of fear, and after shouting, he even rushed over to their side!

The branch - Lin Jian said in his heart, to be bad.

As expected, Wen Ning ran over with great strides, and without saying a word, went to pull He Zhou's arm, elegance and demeanor completely disregarded, screaming under her breath, "What's this about? Let go of him!"

"What kind of psycho is that?" He Zhou shoved Wen Ning away, "Mind your own fucking business!"

Wen Ning's slender figure, under the strong push and shove, her shoulder hit the rough wall, the cuff of her ice silk dress cut open with a sound, Lin Jian frowned unnoticeably, but she didn't expect Wen Ning to care about the cut cuffs, and rushed up again.

He Zhou was holding Lin Jian dead, Wen Ning was holding down He Zhou's arm with one hand and grabbing Lin Jian with the other, while Lin Jian was pushed and pulled between the two, causing a chaotic scene.

"Crazy bitch!" He Zhou, probably tired of being pestered, finally couldn't help but let go of Lin Jian's collar, raised his palm high, and flung it hard at Wen Ning!

In a flash of light, Wen Ning closed his eyes for a moment, and the slap didn't land on his face after all, as He Zhou's arm was cut off in the air--

The teenager's palm is thin and thin, but the five fingers are extremely powerful, He Zhou subconsciously resisted, and after realizing that he couldn't break free, he kicked his foot over in a nearly insane rage.

Lin Jian seemed to be on guard and dodged the kick, and the two men then wrestled!

Barely able to stand against the wall, Wen Ning, startled and gasping for breath, fumbles for his cell phone from his bag, his fingers trembling uncontrollably as he dials a string of numbers.

He said it was a struggle, but Lin Jian almost did not take the initiative to fight, he understood very well that this was never the best time to intensify the conflict, and only wanted to use the fastest speed to subdue He Zhou, who was about to lose his mind.

But it is clear that He Zhou is desperate to kill everywhere, Lin Jian face is a stormy cruel color, find the right time to twist one of his arms and hard don't, wailing sound suddenly resounded through the dark alley.

And just at this moment, messy footsteps from the mouth of the alley from far and near, Lin Jian abruptly raised his eyes, and saw three uniformed shirts wearing the police rushed over to this side!

"Did you call the police?" Lin Jian suddenly turned his head and asked Wen Ning, who was crouching at the foot of the wall, in a low voice.

Wen Ning was in a panic and only had time for a quick nod in response, and then got up holding onto the wall, shivering on his little legs to meet the police.

"Don't move! All separate and be honest!"

He Zhou looked up and saw a few people in uniform, subconsciously want to run, but before he could take a step, he was pressed against the wall by the nearest civilian police officer with an arrow step.

"What's going on?" One of the other police officers held Wen Ning, who was about to lose his footing, while the other walked up to Lin Jian and asked in a deep voice.

A farce so ended.

Lin Jian stood still with his breath held, only slightly out of breath, but in his heart there was a voice that said -

Done.

In the interrogation room of the precinct police station.

Wen Ning was sitting on a small single sofa against the wall, holding a cup of warm water in her hand, and draped in the jacket of a female logistic police officer, the whole person had calmed down, only her face was still shockingly pale.

He Zhou was crouched across the table from where the police were taking statements, a handcuff on one wrist and the other hanging off the leg of the table.

In fact, the original statement was not handcuffed, but he began to curse from the door of the police station, especially just heard Lin Jian said "long-term extortion and blackmail" a few words, but also like a fraud, like a corpse, leaped over to him, do a statement of the police repeatedly warned to no avail, which will hang him up.

Lin Jian sat down on the chair behind the wooden table, his demeanor regaining its detached calm, "That's basically it."

"You mean ......" The young police officer making the statement wrinkled his brow, "that over the course of a year he has been practicing blackmail on you, violently beating you if you don't pay?"

Lin Jian: "Right."

He Zhou: "Bullshit!"

Civilian police: "Shut up!"

"......"

If that was indeed the case, it was a serious problem. The police turned their attention to the small couch off to the side and asked, "And you are, please?"

Wen Ning looked up at the sound, first glimpsed Lin Jian s icy cold eyes with a warning meaning, her lips moved, and finally answered with a hard voice, "I am his ...... teacher."

"Oh, then you may not be able to take charge of this matter." The police put down the pen, closed the transcript, and said to Lin Jian, "Contact your parents and ask them to come over immediately."

Lin Jian frowned and didn't move.

"This student, call." The police urged again, "If what you say is true, then this matter of yours is now a criminal case, and your parents must be contacted to come over and cooperate with the investigation."

After the death-like silence, Lin Jian long exhaled a breath, the police thought he was going to call, who expected this tall and thin teenager but to his teacher's side of the head inclined down, spit out two words: "You go."

Wen Ning put down his glass of water and stood up with a hasty face, "You ......"

"What happens next has nothing to do with you." Lin Jian frowned and gave an ultimatum, "Go."

Whether it was He Zhou or Wen Ning, he prevented anyone from seeing Shen Ke.

"Eh ...... can not ah." The police reminded at this time, "As one of the parties present, the teacher can not go yet, wait a while for the parents to arrive, let's make the basic situation clear, you can leave."

Lin Jian's cold, detached gaze shifted uncontrollably for a moment, and then the peaks of his brows furrowed more deeply.

"Call." After a long time, Wen Ning took a few steps closer to Lin Jian, seemingly pleading but also like a disguised guarantee, "I'll leave when your parents come, I won't say anything else."

The police present, including He Zhou, thought she was saying that she would not tell parents about the students' good or bad behavior at school, but Lin Jian was the only one who understood the meaning of the words.

Lin Jian gave her a deep look, then finally took out his cell phone and dialed Shen Ke's private number.

It was just after 2:00 p.m., which should be Shen Ke's busiest time of day, and sure enough, the first call made didn't go through.

After a few minutes, the cell phone in his hand suddenly vibrated, and Lin Jian's heart skipped a beat - it was Shen Ke calling back.

He stared at the string of phone numbers, and after a long moment passed, he slid the screen to connect.

On the other end of the line, Shen Ke asks, "What's wrong, calling at this hour?"

On this side, Lin Jian was silent for a long time, Shen Ke seemed to notice his abnormality, after two seconds, asked again: "Lin Jian, what happened, where are you now?"

"Street police station." Lin Jian voice raspy, with the briefest three or two sentences to recount the current situation, "The police said that parents need to come over, you ......"

Shen Ke was quiet for a few seconds before hanging up and saying, "Wait for me."

The window of the interrogation room was facing a big willow tree in the courtyard, during the waiting time, Lin Jian's eyes always fell on the thick and heavy willow branches, obviously it was the hottest time in July, but those golden spots of light jumping and flashing on the leaves made Lin Jian feel cold for no reason.

I thought Shen Ke would take a long time to arrive, but in fact it took only ten minutes for a police officer in charge of the window lobby to guide the person to the door of the questioning room.

Hearing the footsteps, Lin Jian subconsciously turned to look, but even more drastic than his reaction was Wen Ning, who was sitting on the sofa by the door.

Almost the first time Shen Ke entered the door, she stood up with a swish, her beautiful eyes like a torch, staring at the young man who pushed the door in, the look on her face gradually changed from shock to deeper shock.

The visitor's face is extremely handsome, tall, thin and white, but not a weak and dry body type, on the contrary, the body shape is extraordinarily upright, hidden in the dark shirt under the shoulders and back are implied in the sharp force.

What Wen Ning didn't expect was that he was so young, with an elegant demeanor hidden between his hands and feet, so he must have come from an extraordinary background, and no matter how I looked at him, I couldn't connect him with a child buyer or seller.

Shen Ke followed by two staff, not Song Zhi, should be his other assistants or subordinates, Shen Ke came in, one of them do not need to be instructed, will go directly to contact the work of the police to do formalities.

Upon entering, Shen Ke's eyes flicked over everyone in the interview room and finally landed on Lin Jian.

Lin Jian quietly stared at him for a moment, his lips moved slightly, but in the end he said nothing, but gently averted his gaze.

He didn't know what to say, what he could say, so he had to wait for the other side to ask for a trial.

Shen Ke frowned slightly the second he moved his eyes away, his eyes measured the man from top to bottom, realizing that apart from the pure white T-shirt stained with some stains, there were no injuries on the surface, but he pondered for a moment and still asked, "Is it hurt anywhere?"

He was afraid that he would hide his injuries from himself again, like he did when he was a child.

Lin Jian's drooping eyelashes quivered, and he pursed his lips and shook his head.

At this point, the police came around from behind the desk, approached Shen Ke and asked, "Are you the parent of this student?"

"Yes." Shen Ke said, "What exactly is the situation?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated." The police officer handling the case tried his best to explain the current situation in simple professional terms, "If it's true that you've been extorted for a long period of time, you need direct evidence, and there's also violent injuries, which are not just a matter of talking about it, and the criminal case needs to be reported to the precincts, which will carry out deeper investigations based on the relevant evidence, and finally determine that the facts of the crime are correct before the case can be transferred to the Procuratorate, you see ......"

"Bullshit!" He Zhou, who had been silent since Shen Ke entered the room, was once again furious, "Who said I was blackmailing him? He gave me the money voluntarily, and I'm his cousin! I'm his cousin! There's no such thing as blackmail between cousins!"

"Watch your mouth!" The civilian police reprimanded.

It was only then that Shen Ke glanced sideways at the man hanging at the foot of the wall, his eyes sweeping condescendingly over the withered, dark, thin face for a few seconds before he spat out two words softly, "It's you."

The police were surprised, "You know him? Cousin? Then you're really family, huh?"

It should be recognized - Lin Jian A heart suddenly lifted to the top of his head, this was already the worst scene he could imagine.

Shen Ke immediately withdrew his gaze and said in a faint voice, "No, I'm not familiar with it."

"Surname Shen! Do you say you don't know me again?" He Zhou was completely enraged and said, "You're the one who took him away from our family nine years ago! Not long after, people from our county's Civil Affairs Bureau even found our home and made my parents sign a foster care agreement! Now you're saying you don't recognize me? Are you fucking blind or have amnesia!"

These words of his can be described as stone-cold shocked everyone present, only Shen Ke, look at him unchanged for a few seconds, and then suddenly asked the police an irrelevant question: "How much did he extort?"

"...... a lot, your child said nearly 100,000, and the object is a minor, belongs to the amount of huge and the circumstances are particularly serious type." The police officer handling the case also felt more and more things are tricky, did not expect him to an ordinary police station police actually can run into this kind of confusing "case in the case", after answering and couldn't help but interrogate, "not ...... you in the end what The relationship, you really this student's parents?"

"Yes." Shen Ke replied briefly, "There is a formalized foster care agreement between him and my parents that has been reviewed and stamped by the Civil Affairs Department, and I'm his uncle from a family relationship standpoint."

"Oh ...... so ah." The police suddenly realized, but this is people's own family matters, and has nothing to do with this case, naturally no need to ask more questions.

"One hundred thousand ......" Shen Ke whispered to himself without comment, crossing the police next to him and throwing his eyes over Lin Jian, who raised his head when he felt his gaze.

Shen Ke asked, "You have proof."

Although it was a question, his tone of voice was certain, as if he had recognized the fact that Lin Jian must have made some preparations.

In front of him, since she was a child, Lin Jian had never been able to hide anything, any thoughts or ideas would be pierced through, and this moment was no exception.

Lin Jian exhaled deeply, nodded, and took his cell phone out, flipping to the very beginning of his and He Zhou's chat logs, and tapping the photo album again before handing it over to the police.

The young civilian police officer cautiously took over to check it out, gradually turning pale as the screen slid.

Coercion, verbal intimidation, transfer records, and even a video of the beating of the person concerned, as well as three photos of the certificate of injury appraisal issued by the city center hospital, all the events of the past year have been carefully recorded and preserved, and all the evidence is clear and unambiguous!

"Two minor injuries and one minor injury ......" The police returned the phone to Lin Jian, asked with a grave expression, "Do you still have the original of the injury appraisal?"

"Keep it."

"Good, the things in your cell phone we need to extract and retain." The police said, "The original also need you to hand over to the police station, we will all the physical evidence ready, together with the report to the precinct ...... By the way, you need to leave a contact information for me, and this person-- "The police pointed to He Zhou, who has been dumbfounded, "detained today."

The attention of all the people in the room was attracted by the police in this paragraph, no one noticed Shen Ke heard the words "injury identification", the complexity of the flash of emotions in the eyes.

"Trouble." Shen Ke signed the materials handed over by the police, filled out the contact information again, and asked, "Can I take the person away?"

"Yes." The police officer said, "But keep your cell phone open and we'll be in touch."

Shen Ke nodded his head and didn't say anything more, only nudging Lin Jian with his gaze a second before he turned around.

Lin Jian paused for a moment and lifted his step to follow.

It was only when he reached the doorway that Shen Ke seemed to notice the woman who had been standing in front of the couch staring at him for an instant; he paused in his steps, nodded politely, and asked, "And you are?"

Wen Ning had already roughly understood what was going on back then from the conversations of several people and He Zhou's yelling, she roughly connected the past, and finally pieced it together to get a vague outline that made her heart sour and hurt to the extreme---

Lin Jianghe accidentally died, Lin Jiangyue's family naturally will not for him to raise a child for nothing, so nine years ago, Lin Jian through the civil affairs department was fostered in the home of this young man's parents, although there are still some unclear details in the middle, but basically this is the whole thing of the vein of the no difference.

Wen Ning couldn't keep from breaking down, but she snapped out of it when she met Lin Jian's icy gaze from behind Shen Ke's back.

"I'm ...... Lin Jian's teacher from when he played the competition before" Wen Ning paused and said in a mute voice, "I happened to bump into him today when he was... ...I didn't expect things to be this serious." She spoke with difficulty, and her eyes reddened once again even as her words fell slightly.

Shen Ke nodded and said "Thank you", then instructed one of his subordinates to send Wen Ning back, while he took Lin Jian out and got into another car.

The sun was still shining outside, but the air conditioning in the car was on full blast. Shen Ke got into the car and said only the word "home" to the driver in the front row, and then fell silent.

Lin Jian sat with him in the back row, with a small distance between them, and saw the sunlight coming through the window of the car, condensing into a bright point of light that fell on the tip of Shen Ke's finger at his side.

As the car started moving, Lin Jian withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes.

On the way, both of them were silent. After getting off the bus and entering the courtyard, Shen Ke walked straight ahead to the first floor door and pressed the fingerprints to enter the house, Lin Jian always followed him three steps behind the position, his eyes fell on Shen Ke's back, no need to remind anyone, but also can be clearly perceived - that person is angry.

According to the past custom, when coming back from outdoor in such weather, the two of them will definitely go to shower and change clothes first, but Shen Ke entered the house and went straight to the sofa and sat down.

What's meant to be, can't be avoided.

Lin Jian changed his shoes and came over, didn't sit down, just stood on the seat beside his legs and looked at him with downcast eyes.

Endless silence spread and fermented between each other, and the air around them was like glued and twisted silk, wrapping people up inch by inch, choking their throats and preventing them from breathing.

After a long time, Lin Jian finally spoke up and said in a quiet voice, "Ask whatever you want."

Shen Ke sniffed and still did not look at him, but the crease between his eyebrows gradually became obvious, after a long time, he sighed deeply and said in a tone of voice that Lin Jian could not distinguish what kind of emotion he was feeling, "One year, he has been looking for you for a year, but you have not mentioned it once."

"Intimidation and blackmail, violent assault ......" Shen Ke said here paused and slowed down before continuing, "If this matter had not been exposed today, have you thought about what might have happened next? You have not said anything, and what do you want to do?"

A rare hint of sulkiness mingled in his low, deep voice, but what alarmed Lin Jian even more was a disappointment that was hard to ignore.

And the fact that Shen Ke would be disappointed in him just kills the teenager.

"I ......" Lin Jian said as his throat rolled, "I can fix myself."

"...... solve it yourself." Shen Ke smacked those four words, feeling more and more bitter in his throat, "You solve it by dragging it out as long as you can, preferably until you're an adult, and report it to the police on your own with evidence you've been preparing for a long time, don't you?"

Lin Jian's throat was sore as hell, and he knew that he couldn't hide anything from him.

"Yes."

Shen Ke sighed, "When you first came here, you had a confrontation with a classmate at a private school and cut your palm with a pocket knife, and it looks like you've forgotten everything I taught you back then."

"No." Lin Jian frowned in denial, "I haven't forgotten, I remember everything."

"Is that how you remember it?" Shen Ke gasped at that and even laughed a little, "Dare to turn the knife on yourself as a child, dare to drag your little life as a bargaining chip as an adult, is that what I taught you?"

"I ......" Lin Jian had no defense but to say, "You also said that I have a measure."

"More than that." The temperature under Shen Ke's eyes faded, "It looks like I underestimated you after all."

Lin Jian only felt that the words hurt more than a slap on his face.

I didn't expect Shen Ke to have a more ruthless blunt knife: "I asked for 100,000 dollars before and after, but I haven't received a single debit record here ......" Shen Ke paused for a long time, "Lin Jian, you probably don't think of me as your family, or you've never really trusted me. Lin Jian, you probably don't think of me as your family, or, you've never really trusted me."

"I didn't!" The young man who had never been cold and indifferent was really pushed to the brink, he could accept all the reproaches but not this one, he couldn't stand it, "I didn't think of it that way!"

"So this is how you treat your family?" Shen Ke's brow furrowed deeply, "If you really believed me, you should have told me the first day you ran into that guy, the first time he asked you for money, the first time he took a swing at you, you should have talked to me and let me deal with the problems, but what about you, what were your options- Money, take care of it yourself, take the beating, take it?"

Who would have thought that from a childish toddler to a green and green teenager, this person whom he had raised for nearly ten years, when encountering such a difficult and serious and even life-threatening major incident, his subconscious choice would actually be to take it on himself.

Shen Ke heavily closed his eyes for a moment, saying that it is false to say that he is not heartbroken, but it is also false to say that he is not ...... chilled.

"And, those three reports of your injuries, you left them on purpose, didn't you?" Shen Ke stated bluntly.

Lin Jian can't refute it, but can only acquiesce.

After a long time, he mumbled, "I just don't want you to bother with all the crappy things and people from your past because of me."

"The Shen family doesn't owe them anything, nor does it owe the Lin family anything, whether it's what you gave them back then, or what you've given me over the years, enough is enough."

Shen Ke finally turned his eyes toward him, the sunken amicable eyes seemed to be separated by a layer of mist, making it difficult to distinguish the implied emotions: "Shen family Lin family, they you and I -- so what, you are drawing a line?"

Lin Jian heartbeat suddenly missed a beat.

It was only then that he finally realized, with hindsight, where Shen Ke was really angry, and what a stupid mistake he had made.

He divides the past right and wrong too clearly, thinking that he should carry the karmic debt of his past by himself, that it is his karma alone, and that he should not involve anyone else in it anymore.

But Shen Ke is different--

He had been on his side from the beginning, both family and what was the difference between them.

He didn't try to draw a line on purpose, but did reach out and push him away.

Lin Jian only felt like there was a thousand-pound boulder on his chest, so stuffy that he couldn't breathe. But now, there is no point in saying more, not to mention that he has never been good at explaining himself.

"In the end, it's me who didn't teach you well." After a long, dead silence, Shen Ke's weary voice rumbled heavily in his ears, "To have the audacity to take such a thing upon yourself and not say anything about it - I wonder what other, more startling thoughts you've had over the years that I haven't detected."

"No more." Lin Jian closed his eyes for a moment, almost compromisingly, giving up his resistance, like a patient with a morbid taste for pain, wanting nothing more than to get his hands up and pluck out the mass of rotting flesh that had been clogging his heart for so long, and be done with it.

He said, "Didn't you guess all the things you least wanted you to know."

With an unpredictable line of dissection, Shen Ke's brow heaved, "You ......"

"I'm paranoid, extreme, and cold." With his throat rolling like coals of fire and his breath raw and hard, Lin Jian's knuckles slid and he finally raised his blade at himself in self-loathing--

"Yes, and I like the same sex."

Bloodied and battered, he let loose a cold shot towards his heart.