Some people, when overcome with emotion, can’t control their tears. Even when they’ve done nothing wrong and feel deeply wronged, their mouths seem to become clumsy, unable to find the right words.
What’s worse, their mouths may be clumsy, but their tears flow freely.
When faced with accusations and insults, they might only manage a few words before breaking down in tears, giving the impression that they’re already in the wrong.
During arguments, they’re even less likely to win, as they’re too busy crying.
Confronted by Li Wenxing’s shamelessness and his brazen behavior, Chu Yi trembled with rage. He gritted his teeth, desperately trying to hold back his tears.
Chu Yi glared at him. “You stole my tuition money. You’re no longer my friend.”
Li Wenxing laughed even louder, closing in on Chu Yi. “Do you have any proof? Are you saying all you college students just make things up? You had no proof then, and you have no proof now!”
“Chu Yi, we’re both at the bottom of the social ladder. Even if you went to university, you’d still be at the bottom.”
Back then, Chu Yi hadn’t been found by the Chu Family. He was still alone and struggling.
After the college entrance exam, he worked to earn money for tuition and living expenses.
It was at the club that Chu Yi met Li Wenxing, who worked there. Li Wenxing was a year older than Chu Yi, and at first, he treated Chu Yi well, often looking out for him during work.
Li Wenxing acted like an older brother to Chu Yi, even buying him a small cake for his birthday. At that time, Chu Yi genuinely considered Li Wenxing a friend.
But Chu Yi never imagined that Li Wenxing’s kindness and care stemmed from the assumption that Chu Yi was less fortunate than he was.
Some people can show kindness to those they perceive as inferior, but when the tables turn and the other person surpasses them, they’d rather trample them into the mud.
Li Wenxing was one such person.
He assumed that Chu Yi, like himself, hadn’t had much education and had been forced to fend for himself from a young age. Without qualifications, they were stuck in low-paying service jobs like waitering.
Moreover, Chu Yi was thin and wore the cheapest clothes, so Li Wenxing naturally came to this conclusion upon seeing him.
Feeling superior to Chu Yi, Li Wenxing showered him with kindness. He often told Chu Yi that they were the same kind of people and that no one else would be willing to be Chu Yi’s friend.
But Chu Yi just smiled and worked diligently every day.
Until that day, Li Wenxing watched Chu Yi receive a package from the post office—a square, official-looking document envelope.
Seeing Chu Yi’s face light up with joy and excitement as she opened the package, Li Wenxing felt a sudden, sharp pang of jealousy and unease.
The envelope was torn open, revealing a university acceptance letter—a beautifully crafted, luxurious acceptance letter from Lanchang University.
It was something Li Wenxing could never have in his lifetime.
He had always assumed Chu Yi was just like him, but he was utterly wrong.
Chu Yi was a student at a prestigious university, while he was just an insignificant waiter. Chu Yi had a bright, brilliant future ahead of him, while he could already see his own future stretching before him, dim and bleak.
Why did everyone around him seem to be better than him? Why was Chu Yi better than him?
Chu Yi had no idea that the moment he received her acceptance letter, a fierce wave of jealousy had surged through Li Wenxing’s heart.
*Then let’s make sure Chu Yi can’t enroll.*
At first, Li Wenxing considered tearing up Chu Yi’s acceptance letter, preventing him from enrolling on time. But he quickly dismissed the idea. He’d researched online and learned that even if the letter was lost, it could be replaced. In fact, it wasn’t even strictly necessary to have the original letter to enroll.
As Chu Yi’s reporting date drew closer, Li Wenxing grew increasingly jealous, but Chu Yi remained oblivious, assuming Li Wenxing was simply exhausted from work. To comfort him, Chu Yi bought Li Wenxing a lot of delicious food and two bottles of wine—treats he usually couldn’t afford himself.
“Brother Li,” Chu Yi said, “I’ll come visit you often from now on. We’re good friends, after all.”
Li Wenxing’s smile was ambiguous. “Good friends, huh?”
On payday, Chu Yi was overjoyed. He had earned enough for a year’s tuition and a semester’s living expenses. He was ecstatic—he could finally attend his dream university, Lanchang University.
But he never imagined Li Wenxing would target his university funds.
If Chu Yi ran out of money, wouldn’t he be unable to report on time? Missing the deadline would mean he wouldn’t be a university student after all—he’d be just like Li Wenxing.
When Chu Yi discovered his money was missing, his world crumbled. He frantically searched his dormitory from top to bottom. This was nearly his entire life savings. Without it, he couldn’t go to university.
As he paced in despair, a young man around Chu Yi’s age, consumed by guilt, secretly approached him. He confessed that he had seen Li Wenxing take Chu Yi’s money.
But he asked Chu Yi not to reveal his name, as he still needed to work here. Chu Yi assured him he wouldn’t.
Chu Yi went to find Li Wenxing, but the money had already been lost at the poker table. Of course, Li Wenxing wouldn’t admit he had taken Chu Yi’s money.
When Chu Yi demanded the money back, tears streamed down his face in anger. Li Wenxing dropped his usual pretense and launched into a tirade, claiming Chu Yi had no proof to accuse him.
Li Wenxing had been working at the club longer than Chu Yi. The manager, wanting to avoid trouble, simply fired Chu Yi, since he was only a part-time employee.
If not for the marriage alliance with the Shen Family, the Chu Family wouldn’t have taken Chu Yi back, and he would have missed his chance to attend Lanchang University.
Yet now, Li Wenxing had the audacity to call himself Chu Yi’s friend. Chu Yi felt nothing but disgust and rage.
His arm trembled uncontrollably.
But he refused to shed tears in front of this man.
So much time had passed since the incident. Li Wenxing was confident Chu Yi had no evidence, so he acted without restraint.
Li Wenxing glanced around, saw no one nearby, and stepped forward to block Chu Yi’s path. “Even if I admitted I stole your tuition money, do you have any proof?”
Chu Yi said, “Since you admitted it, give it back.”
Li Wenxing laughed, whether at Chu Yi’s naiveté or his own success, it was hard to tell. “No, I already spent it all. Two thousand yuan—you must have saved for a long time, right? But I gambled it away in a single night. It’s gone.”
Chu Yi had never met such a shameless person. Why hadn’t he realized Li Wenxing was like this before?
He was both angry and furious, all his emotions choking him. He wanted to hit Li Wenxing, to curse him, but his mouth suddenly went numb. He knew what he wanted to say, but not a single word would come out.
After taking several deep breaths, Chu Yi finally managed to speak, but his tears still spilled over.
He quickly wiped them away. He’d rather cry in front of Shen Jin than let Li Wenxing see him cry.
Li Wenxing was disgusted by Chu Yi’s tears. He sneered, “Can’t you stop crying? It’s so annoying. All you do is cry, cry, cry. Do your classmates even know you’re such a crybaby?
“How did someone who cries so much even get into Lanchang University? Did you cry your way to those grades?”
Li Wenxing advanced step by step, forcing Chu Yi to retreat until he bumped into something solid.
Chu Yi looked back and saw a familiar face before him.
Shen Jin stared at him expressionlessly, frowning. “What are you doing here?”
Shen Jin’s voice was as cold as ever, his gaze as icy as before.
For some reason, seeing Shen Jin at this moment felt like grabbing a life-saving piece of driftwood while drowning. All Chu Yi’s pent-up grievances surged to the surface, and his tears flowed even more freely.
Chu Yi sobbed, “Mr. Shen…”
Perhaps because he was so overwhelmed with sadness, Chu Yi’s words caught in his throat, and he couldn’t utter a single sentence.
Shen Jin’s frown deepened as he glanced at the boy standing behind Chu Yi.
Someone called out to Shen Jin from behind: “What are you doing there? Come on up.”
The club was divided into two areas. One was the general area, open to ordinary people like Chu Yi and his friends. The other was the exclusive VIP area, accessible only to the club’s high-level VIP members. It was more private and quieter.
Though Chu Yi had been working part-time here for over two months, he had never been to the VIP area. As a summer intern, he wasn’t qualified.
Now, Chu Yi’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, his nose red and runny. A male server in uniform nearby watched them with a puzzled expression.
Shen Jin said, “Come with me.”
To Li Wenxing’s astonishment, Chu Yi followed the man upstairs.
When did Chu Yi get to know such a powerful person? And when that man looked at him just now, Li Wenxing’s eyelids twitched, and he felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
Shen Jin was out with friends today. As they were going upstairs, he caught a glimpse of Chu Yi crying, as if the waiter across the room was bullying him.
Shen Jin’s friends knew about the arranged marriage between Shen Jin and the Chu Family, and that Chu Yi was the recently found child. But this was the first time they were meeting Shen Jin’s arranged spouse, so they couldn’t help but steal a few glances.
However, after Chu Yi entered, he had been sitting on the sofa, silently shedding tears.
What surprised Shen Jin’s friends even more was that when faced with the tear-stained face of the young man, Shen Jin only frowned slightly and didn’t scold him.
Shen Jin’s friends were instantly bewildered.
Chu Yi had gone to the restroom, but he had been gone for quite a while. When a classmate went to the restroom, Chu Yi wasn’t there.
Even though Chu Yi hadn’t been drinking, Jiang Xu was still worried. He called Chu Yi.
Chu Yi realized he had been gone for too long. He told Jiang Xu on the phone that he had run into someone he knew and would be back soon, assuring him not to worry.
After hanging up, Shen Jin spoke. “Why were you crying?”
Thankyou for this chapter but when is new chapter coming out???