Chapter 15.015. Going to jail only requires you to say you were wrong.

Shen Jinghai seemed taken aback by his request, and asked the next second, "Have you done something wrong?"

Without even looking, he could guess that the man's brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes filled with distrust, suspicion, and sudden, deep anger.

Chen Zhoudu suddenly felt irritable and regretted making the call. He said, almost with great patience, "No."

He paused, "I don't want to tell you the specifics of what I'm going to do with it right now, but I need the 200,000 yuan, and I promise it's not for anything bad. Could you lend it to me first? I'll pay you back later..."

Shen Jinghai on the other end of the phone fell silent for a moment, then after a long while, he seemed to laugh faintly.

It seemed that he had already achieved a great victory by making this call, and his tone softened slightly when he asked, "How have you been feeling in Qingshui these days?"

Chenzhoudu pursed his lips and remained silent.

Shen Jinghai sighed, "Zhou Du, actually I never intended to punish you or exile you. Although I suspended your card, I didn't really disregard your life or death. I just wanted you to experience how your Uncle Guo and I got through it back then."

"Two hundred thousand is just a small amount. It's more than a season's worth of your extracurricular classes. As long as you realize you were wrong..."

"I did nothing wrong!" Shen Zhoudu suddenly interrupted him, his tone suddenly becoming sharp as if in response, his chest heaving slightly as he gripped his phone tightly.

Shen Jinghai suddenly fell silent again, then gave a cold laugh.

Hang up the phone immediately.

Hearing the busy tone on the other end of the phone, Chen Zhoudu took a deep breath for a long time before putting down his phone and closing his eyes heavily.

The next morning, before going to school, Shen Zhoudu stopped Xia Chan and claimed that he had raised 100,000 yuan and that he needed more time to raise the remaining 200,000 yuan.

Xia Chan looked down at him as he pulled out his mobile banking app, waiting for her to transfer money to his account. She remained silent for a long time, then lowered her eyes as if deep in thought. She looked up at him again and smiled calmly, "I was just teasing you yesterday."

The sunken boat ferryman was taken aback.

“I was just joking with you yesterday… I didn’t expect you to take it seriously. There’s no way we would accept money from just one customer like you. And don’t worry, Grandma has been saving up for her memory surgery for years, she’s just a little short, but we can definitely afford it. Keep your money safe, don’t just jump on the bandwagon and start doing charity work because of what anyone says.”

She pushed the phone back in front of him. Shen Zhoudu's eyes flickered slightly at the word "guest," but he still insisted on giving her the money first.

Hundreds of thousands is no small sum, and even if what she said is true, he thinks they would probably have lost everything.

To everyone's surprise, Xia Chan refused to accept it, and even warned him, half-jokingly and half-seriously, that if he brought it up again, she would kick him out of "Crossing".

The sudden increase in distance left Chen Zhoudu feeling momentarily bewildered. She, however, simply smiled at him as if nothing had happened and went off to school.

When they arrived at school that day, Vice Principal Liu and Director Niu asked them to come to the director's office first, presumably to inquire about what had happened the day before.

When the two students arrived, they exchanged glances, keeping their eyes down. Yesterday's incident had caused such a commotion that all their previous efforts had been in vain.

In the director's office, Vice Principal Liu and Director Niu indeed asked about yesterday's events.

In fact, after Lala and Panghu returned to evening self-study yesterday, they explained the whole story in detail. However, Panghu was still punished for keeping a cell phone during the exam and skipping class. The four of them also had to take the test that they hadn't finished yesterday again.

The school knew more or less about Xia Chan's family situation, and the main reason for calling her here was to inquire about the situation.

In the end, she was only given a few symbolic and simple criticisms.

When it was the turn of Chenzhoudu, Vice Principal Liu seemed troubled. After pondering for a long time, he asked Xia Chan to go back first and then spoke to him alone.

"Your dad... called us this morning," Vice Principal Liu said with a sigh after Xia Chan left.

The sunken boat made a stop at the ferry.

"He said you asked him for 200,000 yuan and asked us what happened to you at school. That's when we found out that your dad didn't know you were living at Xia Chan's house. He always thought you were living in the Tianhewan house!"

Vice Principal Liu became increasingly anxious as he spoke.

"We were afraid there might be some misunderstanding between you and your son, so we didn't dare say much. But Chen Zhoudu... what exactly are you doing right now? Did you ask for that 200,000 yuan to pay for Xia Chan's daughter's medical expenses? Do you even know what you're doing! We know your family is wealthy, but what is your reason for doing all this? Is it for Xia Chan? What exactly is going on between you and Xia Chan? You two..."

“Principal Liu,” Shen Zhoudu interrupted him, his gaze calm and unhurried.

He first expressed his sincere gratitude to them for not telling Shen Jinghai the truth, and thanked them earnestly.

As for other matters, he claimed to be fully aware of everything, repeatedly assuring them that it would not affect his studies and grades, and hoping they could trust him.

He would be more grateful if they were willing to keep this secret for him;

If they are unwilling or unable to withstand the pressure from Shen Ninghai and tell him the truth, he will not blame them.

I just hope that they can trust him and respect his choice at this stage.

Vice Principal Liu was extremely worried. He had been concerned that the girl would influence him, but now it seemed that he had already been affected, and there was nothing they could say about it.

Shen Zhoudu may appear refined and obedient, but in reality, he is quite a character. They were extremely worried that if they said too much, it would provoke his rebellious spirit, and if something really happened, it would be disastrous. They could only sigh repeatedly and tell him to focus on his studies and think things through carefully before sending him home with a worried expression.

When I returned to "Du" at noon, my maternal grandmother was not there; she must have already gone to the county hospital. Aunt Chao was taking care of everything at "Du".

Chen Zhoudu and Xia Chan quickly prepared lunch, and in the middle of it, they also had a video call with Grandma and Siyi.

Siyi was awake, but there were still some tubes inserted into her body.

She was pale and weak, but her spirits were still relatively good. She smiled and waved to the other end of the video call, telling them not to worry about her.

She didn't see Huang Mao and couldn't help but ask where he had gone.

Grandma didn't tell Xia Chan about Huang Mao because she was afraid she would worry. Xia Chan also lied and said that Huang Mao was rushing to the hospital to see her that day and accidentally lost his phone. He said he was working outside and couldn't contact her recently, and he would call her next time he was there.

Before going to school in the afternoon, Chen Zhoudu and Xia Chan went to Qingshui Police Station to inquire about Huang Mao's situation.

Huang Mao has not returned since he was taken to the police station yesterday. According to the police, they originally thought that both parties were at fault and would try to resolve the matter through normal civil mediation. However, the parents refused to mediate and insisted on conducting a medical examination to determine Huang Mao's injuries and criminally detain him.

Two parents who weren't working even agreed to take turns guarding the police station entrance, fearing that a family member might come and take Huang Mao away.

After Chen Zhoudu and Xia Chan arrived, they almost got into a fight over whether Huang Mao could be released on bail, which gave the police a real headache.

In the end, Chen Zhoudu negotiated with the police and agreed to comply with the regulations, and helped to pay a deposit of 20,000 yuan to get Huang Mao out.

As they were leaving the police station, the group struggled again. In the end, the police stopped the two parents and threatened to detain them if they continued to disrupt public order, which finally made them give up.

"Depend on!"

After coming out, Huang Mao was furious. He barely slept all night, and his face was full of hostility.

"This is outrageous! I've never seen anything like it! They insist that it wasn't bullying of Siyi, but just an accidental hurt during play! They won't pay for all the medical expenses, since those little brats are still minors, so whatever they say goes!"

"Then they said I committed intentional assault and insisted on putting me in jail... Jail it is! I'll just take advantage of these few days to sneak around and break one of those little brats' legs each! Anyway, I'm going to jail, so I'm not afraid of a few more years! I'm not afraid of anything... Ah!"

Xia Chan suddenly raised her hand and shoved him on the back of the head.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Her eyes turned cold and sharp, solemn, carrying the coldest and most severe warning.

The blond-haired man rubbed his head sheepishly and immediately admitted his mistake.

Shen Zhoudu silently followed beside the two of them, neither of them saying much.

Yellow Hair glanced at him and realized he didn't want to lose face in front of him, so he puffed out his chest and was about to speak.

"He's the one who paid your deposit," Xia Chan said coolly first.

The words Huang Mao hadn't said caught in his throat, and he felt deflated, but he really couldn't bring himself to say thank you to Shen Zhoudu.

With a sullen face, he could only change the subject, "Memories..."

"You're out of danger, but you'll need to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation," Xia Chan said casually.

The blond-haired man pursed his lips tightly, lowered his head, and kept his expression unreadable. After a while, he said in a low voice, "Sis, I paid a lot of money as a deposit this time, didn't I..."

Xia Chan didn't reply, so he continued, "Sister Chan, don't worry, I'll cover Siyi's medical expenses and deposit this time. If we have to pay those brats money, I'll pay that too! As long as I don't end up in jail... I'll sell my kidney to pay! I'm sorry to Siyi and Grandma this time; I want them to focus on their treatment and not worry about money..."

Xia Chan glanced at him, scoffed at him, and pushed his head. "It's better for you to behave yourself and not cause them any more trouble."

But soon, some bad news came about the matter concerning Huang Mao.

A few days later, a young man with blond hair came to the door, claiming that he had found out that the parents of those students were looking for him all over the county and city, and wanted to give the young man a heavy sentence.

The matter of Huang Mao can be considered a big deal or a small deal. The most troublesome issue is that the two boys who were beaten were underage, while he was already over eighteen.

School bullying cases are always difficult to determine, but intentional injury is a clear-cut issue.

If those parents really take this seriously, they'll probably be the ones who suffer.

If the parents were willing to mediate privately, perhaps both sides could compensate each other and the matter would be settled.

But right now, those parents are determined to refuse mediation, and seem confident that they can get their hands on them this time. It's said that two of those families actually have some money and connections, and both live in Tianhewan. Recently, they haven't even been answering phone calls to discuss things, only saying they'll see them at the police station.

"Damn it! You think you're so great just because you're rich and powerful? This is blatant bullying!" The blond-haired guy was furious. He wished he could block the entrance of Qingshui Middle School that very night and beat those kids up again. He also felt guilty because he was clearly in the right at the beginning.

Xia Chan frowned and remained silent. The matter could no longer be kept secret, and Grandma and Siyi finally found out.

-----------------------

Author's Note: I'll be giving out red envelopes (cash rewards) for new readers who purchase VIP chapters! There are two chapters today, and I'll be giving out red envelopes for both! [Let me see!] Don't forget to leave a comment!