Don’t Try To Corrupt Me

Chapter 63

Yu Zuojin seemed like an emotionless line-reading machine.

“You don’t need to get so excited,” he said.

Xia Zhiqi danced and displayed the acting skills required for the entertainment industry. “How can I not be excited? You actually took him out to eat strawberries!”

Sheng Yuan entered the scene: “What’s wrong with eating strawberries?”

“I’ve said it!” Xia Zhiqi roared to the sky. “Strawberries are expensive!”

Ji Minglai looked on in bewilderment and sniffled his runny nose.

Yu Zuojin’s arm was held by Sheng Yuan, and he stood there motionless, half of his body stiff.

Although his body was rigid, he enjoyed it immensely.

Xia Zhiqi persisted, “Tell me! Why are you two eating strawberries together?”

Yu Zuojin replied, “It’s romantic.”

“Eating strawberries is romantic, but eating pancakes is not? Is it considered tacky?!” Xia Zhiqi retorted.

Yu Zuojin asked, “What do you think?”

Who wants to eat your pancakes?

Xia Zhiqi threw a punch into thin air, but Yu Zuojin remained standing, unmoved.

Xia Zhiqi: ?

Why isn’t he following the script?

Seeing Xia Zhiqi suddenly collapse in front of him, Yu Zuojin: ?

Sheng Yuan rushed to Yu Zuojin’s side and covered his face.

“Oh no! Husband!”

Yu Zuojin held his breath and gazed at the person in front of him, completely infatuated.

He held the hand on his face.

“It’s okay.”

After putting on a complete act, Sheng Yuan turned around abruptly and pointed at Xia Zhiqi, saying, “Why did you hit my husband?”

“So what! I did it! I will fight him today!” Xia Zhiqi forcefully pulled Sheng Yuan away and pretended to fight with Yu Zuojin.

Sheng Yuan made exaggerated gestures and said, “Stop fighting! Stop fighting!”

Truly Ambitious: “…”

What a grand performance.

If it wasn’t floating in Sheng Yuan’s consciousness, it would have already looked away.

Ji Minglai blew in the river breeze as he watched the commotion over there, unaware that Sheng Yuan’s retreat was getting closer and closer to him.

“Husband! You can do it!!”

He retreated to the edge of the fence and quickly turned around while Ji Minglai’s attention was diverted. He hooked his neck, restrained his arm, and forcefully pulled Ji Minglai back.

Everything spun, and they both fell to the ground.

Thud—

Mission accomplished.

Yu Zuojin let go of Xia Zhiqi, who was deeply immersed in the drama, and strode toward Sheng Yuan.

Ji Minglai, saved from danger, desperately writhed on the ground. A carp on dry ground was worse than him. As he got up, he wanted to crawl back to the fence, but Sheng Yuan extended his leg, causing Ji Minglai to fall to the ground again. This time, before he could struggle, Sheng Yuan sat on his back.

“When you calm down, brother will talk to you.”

Ji Minglai flailed his limbs on the ground like a little turtle.

Tears mixed with snot smeared on his face.

“Please let me die. I really can’t go on.”

His voice was filled with despair. He was afraid of death but couldn’t bear to live anymore.

Sheng Yuan cursed under his breath and raised his hand, unceremoniously hitting his head.

He shouted angrily: “What’s the point of not being able to go on? Are you missing an arm or a leg?”

Ji Minglai was dazed by the blow.

“You’re the only child in your family, right? If you wanted to commit suicide because of your parents, I wouldn’t say anything. But if it’s not that…”

His tone was cold, as if he wanted to tear him to pieces.

Ji Minglai burst into tears. “No, I owe money. I owe 100,000 yuan. I can’t go on. I can’t repay it. It keeps growing, and I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry to my parents, I… I…”

He was just a bookworm, and he didn’t communicate much with his classmates. He is timid and didn’t like to talk.

Sheng Yuan stood up from him and grabbed his nose and mouth, causing him to breathe heavily.

“Breathe in slowly, exhale slowly.”

Ji Minglai’s eyes were swollen, and his messy black hair covered his eyes. He looked wretched and nodded tremblingly.

Once he had calmed down, Sheng Yuan asked, “Why do you owe so much money?”

He didn’t know much about Ji Minglai, but he remembered that Ji Minglai had won a second prize in the tri-school joint knowledge competition last time and received 3,000 yuan. He was happy that his family could have some good food that month.

He was a considerate and caring student who took care of his family. It didn’t seem like he would borrow money and not repay it. First, he wouldn’t borrow, and even if he did, he wouldn’t borrow that much.

Ji Minglai cried and hiccupped, “Wuuuu… Last month, my phone… my phone broke. I didn’t tell my parents because I didn’t want them to bear the burden. I wanted to use my pocket money to buy… buy a new one, but I was short by 500 yuan. I borrowed it from someone, but later I returned the money. They said the interest wasn’t paid off and claimed that I owed 100,000 yuan. I only then realized that I had borrowed from loan sharks.”

“They… they said they would go to my parents if I didn’t pay. My family is struggling, how could they come up with 100,000 yuan at once? I… I’m sorry to my parents.”

Sheng Yuan asked, “Where did you borrow it from?”

Ji Minglai took out a small advertisement.

Sheng Yuan looked at the slogan on it. “Are you an adult?”

Ji Minglai shook his head.

“Then why are you afraid of them?”

Ji Minglai said, “Ah?”

“They should be afraid of you.” Sheng Yuan brushed off the dirt from his pants and casually remarked, “It’s illegal to lend money at high interest rates to minors.”

Tears hung on Ji Minglai’s face.

Sheng Yuan continued, “A single phone call could put them in jail.”

Ji Minglai was timid, and at that time, he never thought about all this.

His phone was hanging on the edge of his down jacket pocket, and Sheng Yuan directly took it and dialed 110. “Let the police handle the rest.”

He placed the phone next to Ji Minglai’s ear.

“This classmate, help is on the way.”

With these words, a voice flowed through the receiver.

“Hello, this is 110. Do you need assistance?”

The evening breeze dispersed the thick fog that obscured the lost boy’s vision, and the main road lay ahead.

Tears welled up in Ji Minglai’s eyes. “I… I need help.”

“I need help.”

“Please… please help me.”

Once Ji Minglai held the phone, Sheng Yuan left and continued to eat the strawberry candied hawthorn skewer that the old man had just given him.

Soon, the police car arrived, and Ji Minglai’s parents rushed over. On seeing their disheveled and haggard child, they ran over and embraced him at the bridge.

“You scared mom to death! You scared mom to death!!”

His mother couldn’t control her emotions. Her fear was the loss of life, a lifetime of regret, but fortunately, her son had survived.

Only one candied hawthorn skewer remained. Sheng Yuan picked it up and brought it close to Yu Zuojin’s mouth. He gave his own skewer to Xia Zhiqi, who hadn’t eaten much.

Yu Zuojin looked at him and ate the last strawberry.

Perhaps it was his illusion, Sheng Yuan clearly sensed that the other person’s mood at this moment was much better than before.

After they finished eating the candied hawthorn skewers, they each went their separate ways. Yu Zuojin headed towards the school.

When he reached a deserted place, a smile finally appeared on his lips.

It was a joy and excitement rarely seen on his cold face.

He could still recall Sheng Yuan’s voice when he held his arm and called him “husband”.

Perhaps he would wake up with a smile from his dreams tonight.

Sheng Yuan rode his bike to an internet cafe instead of going home. After receiving the mission, he found time to contact Sheng Chenggong via WeChat and informed him that he wouldn’t be returning home tonight. Sheng Chenggong always desired for his child to live rebelliously and didn’t ask for the reason.

“Understood. I won’t wait up for you tonight.”

After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.

Sheng Yuan entered the internet cafe and arranged for an overnight stay with the internet café manager. He then sat down at an empty computer terminal.

He had just lost 300,000 Delinquency Points.

His points had dropped below one million, and Chu Weitian’s bad score was once again higher than his.

[System: Host, your situation is not optimistic.]

Losing 300,000 points did indeed hurt.

Sheng Yuan: “You’re right.”

That’s why he didn’t go home tonight and came to the internet cafe instead.

[System: Fortunately, no one in the crowd saw you saving someone just now. Otherwise, the positive impression from the crowd would have been enough to erase your delinquency points.]

Saving a person’s life, raising awareness of the law, helping someone report a crime—Sheng Yuan didn’t just save Ji Minglai, he saved an entire family.

When it comes to saving lives, who could think about anything else?

But even though he lost his delinquency points, he had no regrets. There was no point in regretting things that one didn’t regret. Sheng Yuan opened the browser and entered a keyword.

A serious and solemn voice resounded in the internet cafe.

–“Welcome to watch the news broadcast.”

Internet cafe netizen: ?????

Truly Ambitious: “…”

Sheng Yuan plugged in his headphones and listened to the news broadcast all night. The chairs in the internet cafe weren’t comfortable to sleep on, and when he woke up the next day, his back was sore and his waist was in pain. His disrupted biological clock caused him to oversleep, and he was already fifteen minutes late for the first class.

“Ah!”

Sheng Yuan inwardly cursed. He grabbed his backpack and ran towards the school. The young man’s outstanding figure darted through the streets and alleys, attracting frequent glances.

Some stared fixedly, some it was just a passing glance.

Some people wore suits, while others walked unsteadily.

Perhaps they were looking at the youth, or perhaps they were seeing their younger selves through him.

The most precious things in life are fleeting, just like the reflection in the mirror and the blossoms on the trees.

The cycle of youth never ceases.

It may leave you, but it remains in the world.

Sheng Yuan rushed all the way to the school gate, and from afar, he saw the headmaster who was catching late students. He sternly reprimanded the students who were late until he noticed Sheng Yuan trying to quietly slip past.

“Sheng Yuan!!!”

Bowing forward, Sheng Yuan closed his eyes and resignedly straightened himself. “Here!”

“Why are you late?”

“I woke up late.”

“Go stand over there!”

Carrying his backpack, Sheng Yuan walked into the latecomers’ group, intending to listen to the headmaster’s sermon.

Just then, Ji Minglai appeared at the school gate.

Sheng Yuan raised his hand. “Teacher, I report that Ji Minglai is late.”

Ji Minglai: !!!

Sheng Yuan ignored his shocked expression.

This was the price he had to pay for self-harm last night.

Truly Ambitious suddenly emerged.

[System: Host, I suddenly feel anxious.]

Sheng Yuan was puzzled. “Why are you anxious?”

[System: I don’t know either, but there’s a sense of foreboding.]

Ji Minglai walked up to the headmaster and said something that made the headmaster wide-eyed and he got a pleased expression. Then he glanced at Sheng Yuan.

Sheng Yuan read his lips.

“Really?!”

What was real?

Two minutes later, five vehicles stopped at the entrance of No. 1 Middle School—two police cars and three media vans.

Yesterday, the incident involving students being targeted by illegal loan organizations was exposed. Not only did the police department pay attention, but the local education bureau was also highly concerned.

Those who got out of the police cars were not only police officers but also Ji Minglai’s parents. Ji Minglai’s father was holding a piece of red brocade.

The doors of the media vans opened, and media personnel with microphones and cameras came out one after another.

Truly Ambitious seemed to have guessed something.

[System: Run.]

Sheng Yuan: “What?”

[System: Quickly! Host!!!!]

[System: Run! Sheng Yuan! Run quickly!!!!!!]