Chapter 31. 031. Mistake. You and Zhou Du, stop contacting each other. ...
Chenzhoudu once had a friend named Chen Xingyue.
He was Shen Zhoudu's classmate at the international high school in Shanghai.
The international high school where Shen Zhoudu attends has a policy and quota for sponsoring students from impoverished backgrounds every year. Chen Xingyue was one of the students who received the sponsorship. He studied so hard that even Shen Zhoudu was in awe of him.
He also excelled academically, often competing with Shen Zhoudu for first place in middle school. Shen Zhoudu admired him greatly and wanted to surpass him. The two were the perfect rivals, partners, and friends in school.
However, their relationship ran into trouble during a robotics programming competition this summer.
"Was there a problem with that match?" Xia Chan asked from the rooftop of the courtyard on a winter night.
"Mm," Chen Zhoudu replied, his eyes slightly lowered.
Winning the National Olympiad in Informatics (NOIP) can guarantee admission to Tsinghua or Peking University.
It is also an Olympiad that his international high school attaches great importance to every year.
Robot programming is expensive and has many requirements. Since Chen Xingyue first got involved, his studies have been almost entirely funded by his school, and his family has also practically sold everything they own to support his dream.
He was extremely cautious in every match, unable to lose, unwilling to lose, and unable to afford to lose.
In the final qualifying match before the finals, Shen Zhoudu and Chen Xingyue were placed in the same qualifying group, meaning that only one of them could advance to the finals.
Actually, Chen Zhoudu would be happy no matter who advanced, and even wished Chen Xingyue success. However, Chen Xingyue responded with a cold laugh, marking the first time they had publicly broken ties.
"I can't win... Sunken Boat Crossing, I can't win. Against you... how could I possibly win?"
Chen Zhoudu was puzzled by his words. Chen Xingyue laughed even more sarcastically, "Don't you know?"
"Why don't you go back and ask your dad what he's done!"
Chen Zhoudu's heart pounded wildly for a moment, vaguely guessing what was going on but unable to believe it.
Chen Xingyue: "Thirty thousand yuan... Thirty thousand yuan is just a brick in the foundation of your bright future, an insignificant stepping stone, yet it can buy out the last and only path for an ordinary person. How amazing you are! Chenzhoudu."
"Do you know how much I value this competition? Do you know how long I've worked towards this day? And what about you? You have equipment ten or a hundred times better than mine, and instructors a hundred or a thousand times better, yet you still want to cut off my last path! 'Wishing me success'? How can I succeed! Don't you think what you're saying is incredibly 'let them eat cake'? It's so good to be rich and powerful! You can crush someone in a minute and still put on airs and cry at their grave. How could I possibly succeed with you in the same group? Your bright future is all built on the foundation laid by ordinary people like me! I can never surpass you, and I can never win!"
Shen Zhoudu was shocked and couldn't sleep all night. In the end, he couldn't help but confront Shen Jinghai.
When Shen Jinghai learned that he knew all this, he remained unusually calm, only saying that the reason he had bribed people behind the scenes was simply because he could win on his own, and it was just to be on the safe side.
“Zhou Du, he is different from you. You have the most advanced equipment and the best teachers guiding you, which means you are destined to win this competition.”
"Focus on the competition and don't think too much about anything else. If it weren't for me, he might have lost the competition and wouldn't even have gotten this 30,000 yuan. This is my mercy."
The story of the sunken boat crossing is both shocking and perplexing.
So during that competition, when it was Shen Zhoudu's turn to present his work, he suddenly stood up, his fingertips taut, and said, "I'm not competing anymore!"
He resolutely told the crowd, "I'm going to report to the competition organizers that Shen Jinghai, chairman of the Asia Ocean Group, and the competition organizers during the preliminary and semi-final rounds engaged in bribery and match-fixing. These results are inflated, I'm not participating anymore!"
The entire arena erupted in uproar, and the entire referee team began whispering amongst themselves. The match was abruptly stopped, and Chen Xingyue stood up in shock, staring at him in disbelief.
Shen Jinghai was also stunned. He immediately contacted the public relations department to suppress the news and prevent it from spreading. However, this matter naturally became the deepest obstacle between the father and son, which they could never reconcile.
"Wow!" Xia Chan was almost surprised by him as well, and even couldn't help but clap her hands, looking at him with amazement and exclaiming.
"Sinking Boat Crossing... I take back what I said before. I always felt like I didn't really know you, but now it seems I only know the tip of the iceberg. I even asked you before if anything wrong was more wrong than stabbing someone three times? Now it seems we're about the same. It's just that I stabbed you directly with a sharp knife, while you slowly chipped away at your flesh. Either way, it all boils down to 'trapping someone,' so neither of us can really say anything about the other..."
Even Chen Zhoudu was amused by her analogy, and he turned to look at her with a slight smile, jokingly asking, "'Cool'?"
"That's awesome!" Xia Chan made a gun gesture as if she were shooting him, then asked, "So, what about you and Chen Xingyue?"
“I don’t know.” Chen Zhoudu sighed again and looked at the sky. “It’s just that… once a friend has come to this point, we probably can’t be friends anymore. Even if he knows he doesn’t blame me, he probably can’t be completely without resentment.”
After Chen Xingyue withdrew from the competition, his work advanced directly. During that time, he was always at home and no one saw him.
Later, when he returned to school to pick up his final report card, he happened to run into him.
Chen Zhoudu originally intended to pretend he hadn't seen him and walk past him, but Chen Xingyue asked him at that moment, "Why?"
Chenzhoudu stopped and looked at him in confusion.
"Why? Shen Zhoudu... why did you do this? Why did you withdraw from the competition in public?" Chen Xingyue stared at him with complicated eyes. "I really wanted to beat you properly, in the competition arena, in the college entrance examination hall... but it shouldn't be like this. It's as if all my honors are given to me by you, as if I'm being given charity by you. Shen Zhoudu, in the end, what I got was still something given to me by your family. I still didn't beat you."
"So what do you want me to do?" Chen Zhoudu sighed deeply, as if he had no other choice. "If I compete as usual, you will be in great pain regardless of whether I win or lose."
"If I win, you'll forever dwell on that 30,000 yuan, wondering if you're the real winner, and you'll never be able to reconcile with me or with yourself."
"If I lose, my dad's underhanded tactics might still result in the referee awarding me the win, and you'll still be upset."
"Chen Xingyue, I don't want anything fake. This isn't charity; it's my attitude. This time, I truly wish you success."
...
"Xia Chan." The night was deep and the fog was cold. The hot almond milk in Chen Zhoudu's hand had turned ice-cold. He looked at her and asked the question that had been on his mind the most, "Do you think I was wrong?"
"I don't know." Xia Chan sighed softly and said, "I know that many things in this world are not black and white, but rather fall into the gray area."
"But... since human eyes are black and white, there must be moments when we need to stay alert."
-
Because of Shen Jinghai's arrival, the atmosphere at "Du" became somewhat strange in the following days. Shen Jinghai and Shen Zhoudu's stepmother often came to visit, making Huang Mao and Siyi feel particularly uncomfortable.
Shen Jinghai always has a personal driver and even bodyguards when he comes. His Mercedes-Benz parked in front of "Du" is particularly eye-catching, which has caused a lot of rumors to circulate in Shanfeng Lane recently.
When Lala, Panghu, and Aunt Chao's family heard about Chen Zhoudu's family background, they were also stunned. Like Siyi and Huangmao, they have been treating Chen Zhoudu with some caution lately.
Although Chen Zhoudu instructed them to treat him as usual, the moment he uttered those words, it foreshadowed a subtle shift in things. A hidden distance was gradually and imperceptibly widening.
Xia Chan seemed quite comfortable with Shen Jinghai and her stepmother's frequent visits, continuing her studies and daily life as usual, occasionally helping Huang Mao with chores.
Xia Chan apologized to Ah Jiang for not being able to sing at the Sunken Boat Crossing Bar anymore.
Fortunately, school is about to start, and Ah Jiang was also recruiting new singers during this period anyway, so he generously didn't blame her.
She could sense that Shen Zhoudu was also engaged in a tug-of-war with Shen Jinghai, but she didn't ask what the tug-of-war was about, nor did she want to.
That's ultimately his family matter, and he'll have to resolve it himself. But his increasing absences lately seem to indicate the ultimate winner of this tug-of-war.
That day, Chen Zhoudu was out for a walk with Xia Chan as usual after they were tired from studying, when they saw Chen Jinghai's Mercedes-Benz waiting across the alley.
He has caused a lot of trouble for the entire "Crossing" recently. Chen Zhoudu clenched his fists and said to Xia Chan, "I'll go take a look first."
Xia Chan anticipated that the father and son would probably have another argument or "heart-to-heart talk," so she said she would go for a walk first and he would come back later.
But on this day, he didn't return home all night.
Gradually, the time he disappeared became one day, then two days...
Three days...
After he didn't return for five whole days, Siyi couldn't help but ask Xia Chan privately, "Sister Xia Chan... is Brother Zhou Du not coming back anymore?"
"No," Xia Chan calmly continued with her work. "His things are still here."
Looking up, the door to the room on the west side of the third floor hadn't been opened for a long time, and the lock seemed to be covered with a thin layer of dust.
But for some reason, she always felt that there should be a clean-cut young man standing there looking downstairs, meeting her gaze and smiling gently.
Xia Chan thought that this time, the sunken boat would disappear for a while like the previous times, then return in silence, silence... and then disappear again at some unknown time.
But this time, Xia Chan was met with Shen Jinghai instead.
Xia Chan was somewhat surprised when she received Shen Jinghai's invitation to sit in the most luxurious coffee shop in Qingshui and face him.
Shen Jinghai ordered coffee and dessert for her. The man sat upright, still with that dignified and aloof demeanor, and got straight to the point, "Miss, I hope that you and your friends will no longer have any contact with Zhou Du."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you so much to the fairy "Moonlight Brings Wealth" for the nutrient solution! [Sprinkling flowers]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
