The unattainable beauty was driven to depravity and madness by a wicked seed.

"Seeing you all reminds me of..." Jiang Xiu shuddered and rubbed his face vigorously to shake off those bad thoughts.

Chen Jingmo kicked him, and angrily retorted, "Are you fucking crazy?!"

Lu Sui, drinking his milk, asked, puzzled, "What are you thinking about?"

Jiang Xiu looked up at Lu Sui, then shuddered again. "I didn't think about it! I didn't think about anything!"

"You're being a bit strange."

Chen Jingmo said, "He's not just acting strangely, he's completely out of his mind! He needs a brainwashing! I'm going to drag him to the water pipe in a bit and poke a hole in his forehead! I'll pour water in!"

Jiang Xiu: ...There's no need to be so ruthless.

"Brother Chen, how can you blame me? You didn't come all day yesterday—"

"Can't I just have a fever?!"

"A fever? He just...developed a fever?"

"...Get the hell out of here, thank you."

Chen Jingmo was about to return to his classroom when he suddenly heard someone mention Lu Sui and Shen Qinghuai's names. He slowed down and listened carefully. Hearing that they were offering blessings instead of insults, he quickly returned to his classroom.

He ran into Chen Ziqiu at the stairwell and greeted him politely, "Hello, Second Uncle."

"Where's your brother?"

"Who?"

"Shi Qianqiu".

Chen Jingmo stopped, his hands still in his pockets, and leaned against the wall looking at him with no expression in his eyes. "Shi Qianqiu is not my brother. We are not related by blood, and we are not on the same household registration. At most, we are neighbors who grew up together."

Chen Ziqiu's face darkened. "How dare you speak to me like that!"

"What's wrong with what you said? Is it wrong that we're not related by blood, or that we're not on the same household registration?"

"You! I won't argue with you, I need to see your brother—"

"I'll say it one last time, he's not my brother!"

Chen Ziqiu put one hand behind his back and pointed at Chen Jingmo with the other, saying he was as stubborn as a mule, then said he wouldn't argue with him, and finally said, "The Wen family's youngest daughter has taken a liking to your brother, and to your son. Your father said he couldn't get through to him on the phone today. You're staying with him, so go back tonight and talk to him about it—"

"What did you say?"

"Of course, it depends on whether he has that idea! He's twenty-four this year, almost twenty-five, and in the prime of his career. If he could marry the youngest daughter of the Wen family..."

Chen Jingmo could no longer hear what was said after that, and his throat seemed to be suddenly blocked, unable to make a sound.

"Didn't you hear me?" Chen Ziqiu frowned, seeing his cold face. "I'm talking to you. Why are you always so rude?"

Is he rude?

How was he being rude?

Chen Jingmo sneered, "If I were really rude, I wouldn't call you Second Uncle when I see you. I really wonder why you're always so hostile towards me? I greet you with a smile, and you roll your eyes at me. You're over forty years old and you're arguing with a junior."

The bell had already rung, and the senior students passing by all looked over. Chen Ziqiu couldn't save face, so he lowered his voice and said, "How have I been nitpicking with you? You're always studying badly, and your grades are terrible."

Chen Jingmo laughed in exasperation, realizing that all of Chen Ziqiu's prejudices against him stemmed from his grades.

Are grades that important?

Are grades the only standard for judging what kind of person someone is?

That's fucking ridiculous.

"So this is how you treated the underachieving students in your previous class?"

"They don't smoke or drink like you!"

"Does smoking, drinking, and poor grades mean I'm a bad person?"

"Otherwise what?" Chen Ziqiu retorted.

Chen Jingmo clenched his fingers, his dark eyes fixed on Chen Ziqiu. After a long while, he said, "Yes, I'm no good, but you're no good either. You're not fit to be a teacher at all. I'll pass on what I need to tell Shi Qianqiu. From now on, let's pretend we're strangers when we meet. I won't talk to you, and you shouldn't talk to me either, so we don't both get angry."

Seeing him leave, Chen Ziqiu felt a surge of anger. As soon as Chen Yunting called, he said, "Brother, I really don't want to talk about your son. I told him to tell Xiaoshi that the Wen family's daughter had taken a liking to him, but he insisted that Xiaoshi wasn't his biological brother, just a neighbor at most, and even said that I, an elder, was being petty with a junior like him!"

Chen Yunting hung up the phone and then called Chen Jingmo.

"You and your second uncle—"

"Dad, do you always think it's all my fault if someone complains to you?" Chen Jingmo stood expressionlessly at the end of the third floor, looking down. "Second Uncle said that my poor grades mean I'm a bad person, but I clearly think about you every day. Last time the company had trouble, I gave you all the money I had saved."

At this point, Chen Yunting chuckled awkwardly, "When did I ever think it was your fault? How was class today?"

"Great, Dad, don't worry, I definitely won't fail and embarrass you."

Snapped.

Chen Jingmo hung up the phone first.

I will no longer listen to the fake concern of the person on the other end.

That's just how Chen Yunting is. Whenever he hears bad things about Chen Jingmo, he'll immediately berate Chen Jingmo without asking why, or rather, he doesn't care about the reasons at all. He just wants to get back the face he lost in front of outsiders from Chen Jingmo, and if he can't get it back, he'll just vent his anger.

To put it another way, it's all just to vent his anger. Chen Jingmo is his son, so it's only natural that he becomes his punching bag, and he can curse at him without any qualms.

Even when Chen Jingmo retorted, he would think, "How did I end up with such a son? I should have never had one."

After venting his anger, Chen Yunting thought the matter was over. When he saw Chen Jingmo again, he still asked him if he had eaten, just like a crazy father. If Chen Jingmo ignored him and didn't say anything, Chen Yunting would get angry and say how tired he was, morally blackmailing Chen Jingmo.

He will never feel guilty, and will always give himself a pitiful identity, exaggerating his contributions to the family in order to make all his actions seem reasonable.

They act one way in front of people and another way behind their backs. How can adults be so good at pretending? What exactly is this so-called "face"?

It's disgusting.

Can't we all just die?

Living is so tiring.

It's been a long time since I last thought about it.

"Hey student, what are you doing!" The principal was on patrol when he saw Chen Jingmo standing motionless in front of the railing, looking down. He was terrified, his legs went weak, and he trembled as he reached out his hand, "You're still young, don't do anything foolish!"

Chen Jingmo's eyelashes fluttered as she looked back at the principal, then back down at the ground floor. She reached out and gripped the railing, beginning to lift her leg.

"No!" The principal pulled out a string of pink lollipops and a few hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and ran toward Chen Jingmo.

When he reached Chen Jingmo, his somewhat cloudy eyes were red. He grabbed Chen Jingmo's wrist to prevent him from making any further moves, and with trembling hands, he hung a lollipop around Chen Jingmo's neck and stuffed money into his pocket. "Hey, you student, Chen... Chen Jingmo? What are you trying to do?!"

Chen Jingmo sighed, his voice low and deep, "I feel like there's no point in living."

"Why is it boring? Look how beautiful our school is! It has flowers, grass, and trees."

The principal tugged at Chen Jingmo's arm, trying to pull him away, but Chen Jingmo clung tightly to the railing. His voice trembled with anxiety, and his rough hands rubbed Chen Jingmo's arm raw, his palms sweaty. "Eat some candy! Candy is so sweet!"

"It wasn't bought for me."

"I bought this for you! I bought it especially for you."

"You knew all along that I was going to jump off the building?"

-

The side stories about Chen Jingmo and Shi Qianqiu will be written by the beginning of next month, and the story should be finished around that time. Please don't leave the book unfinished, ladies. There are fewer people around lately, the snow is so heavy, and it's so cold, everyone please wear warm clothes! ♡