121 Past

◎Cause and effect◎

"Gone?" Qi Qiuxue frowned. "What happened?"

"I don't know either." Su Wen roughly explained the whole situation over the phone. "Xia Jian was still in a very bad state that morning. He cried and made a fuss for a long time. Even when the crew came to visit him, he still didn't calm down."

"He seemed to have trouble recognizing people, and even had a bit of paranoia. He'd tell everyone he saw was a ghost trying to harm him, and he wouldn't let anyone get close. With no other options, we had to temporarily back off and wait for him to calm down."

"When the room finally quieted down, the director pushed the door open again. This time, he didn't let anyone follow him. Through the glass window, I saw him whispering something to Xia Jian."

"Did you hear the content clearly?" Qi Qiuxue asked.

"No, he was too far away, and the sound was too low. I couldn't hear anything clearly." Su Wen sighed and continued, "After the director had a one-on-one conversation with him, Xia Jian's condition was obviously much better."

"After that, everyone on the crew left. The assistant entered the ward to check on Xia Jian. I quickly went to the bathroom. It was only a few minutes, and when I came back, the ward was empty. Both Xia Jian and his assistant had vanished without a trace."

"I asked the medical staff who were passing by about the two's whereabouts, but they were completely unaware of their departure. Later, I specifically called the director to explain the situation, but he simply told me to return and didn't say anything else."

Qi Qiuxue: "It sounds like he wasn't surprised at all that Xia Jian left the hospital without permission."

Su Wen nodded: "Yes, so I guess Xia Jian's departure is probably related to him. During the time when the two of them were whispering, the director probably gave him some instructions."

"But where exactly he went, I have no idea."

"It doesn't matter." Qi Qiuxue paused for a few seconds and then said, "I think there's a good chance Xia Jian will show up again."

"Let's go back first. It's been hard staying in the hospital for so long."

"Okay." Su Wen responded and hung up the phone.

Qi Qiuxue thought silently for a while, then switched her phone interface to the social platform. The girl who claimed to be classmate Xia Jian replied to her private message. Perhaps she thought she was a fan who came to cause trouble, and her tone was a little unfriendly at first.

But after hearing Qi Qiuxue's explanation and carefully checking her profile, the girl immediately returned to her normal tone: "Sorry, so many people have sent me private messages cursing me, it's made me a little nervous."

Girl: [What do you want to know? I can tell you anything I know about Xia Jian.]

Qi Qiuxue: [Thank you so much, please tell me everything you know.]

Girl: [Okay.]

She quickly began to tell her story: "About twelve or thirteen years ago, Xia Jian and I attended the same junior high school. We happened to be assigned to the same class and group, and even sat at the same desk for about a year and a half."

He was a good student, good-looking, and well-educated. Many people at school liked him, and I had a good impression of him. But after witnessing him doing so many shameful things behind the scenes, my opinion of him changed significantly.

Qi Qiuxue: [What kind of scandal is this?]

Girls: [For example, secretly putting chalk dust in the teacher's cup, deflating the bicycle tires of people you dislike, and secretly taking something you like while shopping.]

[There are many similar things. I'm a very curious person. Ever since I discovered his hypocrisy, I've been consciously paying attention to his actions, and thus noticed many things that others don't notice.]

But I was rather timid at the time, and even if I had noticed it, I wouldn't have dared to speak out, fearing retaliation from Xia Jian and his supporters. Later, he escalated his behavior and made a truly extreme move.

He seemed to have always been jealous of the student council member who was better at studying than him. After being surpassed by her scores countless times, he began to harbor evil intentions. He deliberately made tricks to frame the student council member during a major exam and reported her for plagiarism.

After receiving the report, the school quickly launched an investigation. However, before the results were released, he instructed his followers to post and spread rumors on the school forum, hoping to completely suppress the incident and nail the student council member to the pillar of shame. He himself sat on the Diaoyutai, pretending to be completely unaware of everything, allowing his followers to bully the student council member on a large scale.

Eventually, I couldn't stand it any longer and mustered up the courage to expose his true colors in front of everyone. However, he was so good at acting that no one was willing to believe me no matter what I said. In response to my accusations, he deliberately acted innocent and forgiving, saying that even if I had prejudices against him, he would try to tolerate and forgive me.

[So after that incident, I got a new nickname: Crazy.]

No wonder Xia Jian became an actor when he grew up, it turns out he was a good actor when he was a child.

Qi Qiuxue sent a hug emoji in response to comfort him, then asked, "Has the student council issue been resolved?"

Girl: [Yes and no.]

[At that time, surveillance cameras had only been widely used for a few years. Our class had them installed, but they were basically just for show, rarely used, and never repaired when they broke. Perhaps Xia Jian knew all along that the cameras were broken, which was why he dared to brazenly frame the student council. After all, there wouldn't be any evidence left.]

After several days of investigation, the school couldn't find any useful information, so they simply had the student council retake the test to prove she hadn't plagiarized. The matter was then dropped. Even so, prejudice against her had already formed, and there were always ten thousand reasons to slander and insult her.

Fortunately, the student council member was a very strong woman who tried her best to ignore the humiliation from others. She was very grateful that I stood up for her. After a while, we became good friends. We kept each other company and were not afraid of any difficulties.

Gradually, Xia Jian and his followers lost interest in bullying us and began pursuing other excitement, such as smoking, drinking, and even gambling.

I've heard a lot of this from others. Xia Jian often hangs out with hooligans, picking up bad habits. He's also incredibly good at pretending, always playing the part of a top student in front of his parents, teachers, and classmates, making it completely unclear who the real him is.

Why does this kind of personality form?

Qi Qiuxue believed that the environment would greatly influence a person's character, but this was not entirely correct, because some people were born bad, and meanness was engraved in their bones without any reason.

But in line with the idea of not letting go of any clues, Qi Qiuxue still deliberately asked: [How much do you know about Xia Jian's family situation?]

Girl: [He was born into a very happy family. His mom and dad are both very qualified and kind workers. I've heard from insiders that they often make charitable donations. Over the years, they have been supporting impoverished children in mountainous areas, helping them complete their education and escape the mountains.]

Unlike Xia Jian, I genuinely feel that both of them are very good people. They seem to be unaware of Xia Jian's true character and have been kept in the dark by his portrayal of a good boy.

But good things don't last long. A couple of years ago, I heard that Xia Jian's mom and dad died in a car accident. It seems the cause was brake failure, and they accidentally hit the guardrail nearby and died on the spot.

This incident went viral at the time, with some media outlets even releasing videos and photos of the accident scene. However, these videos and photos were quickly removed and vanished without a trace. A week later, Xia Jian posted a statement on social media, briefly mentioning the death of a family member and taking the opportunity to go on a lengthy rant about her plight, stating that she now had nothing but fans.

【In my opinion, it's all just a show.】

Car accident.

Qi Qiuxue frowned, the more information she dug about Xia Jian, the more she found out: [Excuse me, what do you two look like?]

Girl: [It was so long ago, I can't remember exactly. Both of them were very low-key people and didn't like to reveal their appearance to the public, so it's hard to find clear photos online. But in my memory, Auntie had long hair, almond-shaped eyes, a gentle smile, and a noticeable black mole above her right eyebrow...]

[My uncle is very tall, has dark skin, one eyelid and one eyelid, and a scar on his left cheek from childhood. I don't know how it happened...]

Based on the characteristics given by the girl, Qi Qiuxue roughly restored the appearance of the two in her mind.

Girl: [I told you everything I know.]

Qi Qiuxue quickly thanked her for her kindness: [Thank you very much.]

Anyway, no matter how much money there was in the copy, he couldn't take it out, so Qi Qiuxue gave the girl a red envelope and subscribed to her membership for several years.

The girl was a little surprised when she saw this: [No need to be so polite! ]

Qi Qiuxue sent a smiling face: [It’s okay, take it.]

She was somewhat concerned about the student council member. Before ending the conversation, Qi Qiuxue deliberately asked, "How is that student council member doing these days? Do you know?"

The girl's message came back quickly: [You said she's very good.]

We've been by each other's side all these years, venturing out from a small town to a big city together. We've endured a lot of hardships and difficulties, but thankfully, everything is gradually getting better.

We are getting engaged soon.

She generously showed Qi Qiuxue their engagement ring and said, "Until now, I am still very glad that I bravely stood up. Otherwise, I would have missed such an outstanding girl."

I believe that karma will always work its way back to reality. From now on, we will reap countless happiness and joy.

【And Xia Jian will eventually get his due retribution.】

【Author’s words】

Coming

The climate changes are huge, everyone must take care of their health. I haven't been feeling well recently, so the updates are not very stable. I'm really sorry QAQ

Special thanks to Yinza and Xiaoyu for their deep water. It was so expensive that it made me cry. QAQ Thank you so much, love you guys! Thank you also to all the babies who support me and stay with me. Lots of kisses!