Chapter 040 Heart Disease
While netizens were arguing fiercely, Lin Chiran's investigation also came to a standstill.
Through the method provided by Shen Xun, he successfully contacted the school, but when he mentioned that he wanted Chen Chu's contact information, he was rejected.
If it was to protect the privacy of the bullied, Lin Chi Ran could fully understand it, but the school's attitude was very ambiguous, especially Shen Xun's class teacher, who kept silent about the noisy bullying incident, but instead hinted at Shen Xun's situation. Lin Chi Ran realized that there must be a problem.
"Teacher Li, when Chen Chu said he was bullied, you quickly contacted the school and both parents to deal with it. You are a responsible and good teacher." Lin Chiran changed the subject: "But there is something fishy about this matter. Shen Xun is also your student. Why do you trust Chen Chu more and not him?"
Teacher Li was silent for a while, then he said, "Chen Chu was bullied when he was in junior high school."
He thought for a long time and continued, "Chen Chu went to junior high school in another city. He transferred to our school because of his parents' job transfer. When he first enrolled, Chen Chu's mother specifically warned him that he was a weak child. He was bullied for a long time in junior high school but he didn't dare to tell anyone, and no one noticed. She was very worried that this kind of thing would happen again in high school, so she asked me to take care of Chen Chu more often."
"Did you notice anything unusual before it happened?" Lin Chiran asked.
"Chen Chu was not a talkative person and was not very close to other students until the bullying incident. His classmates were very concerned about him and he felt much better in those few days. But not long after that, he suddenly dropped out of school," recalled Teacher Li.
"When did Chen Chu drop out of school?" Lin Chiran asked.
"It was the day when Chen Xun's admission qualification was announced to be revoked..." Teacher Li still couldn't believe that Chen Xun, who was gentle, helpful, had good grades, and was very popular in the class, could do such a thing.
"That day I asked Shen Xun to come to the office to talk about this matter. Chen Chu happened to come over and heard it. He looked a little off. He went home and said he was not feeling well. He asked for leave and went home and never came back."
Lin Chiran noticed that Chen Chu seemed to care about Shen Xun's affairs: "Have you been in contact with Chen Chu since then?"
"I met him once." Teacher Li said hesitantly: "He said...why did I believe what he said at the beginning." It was this sentence that Teacher Li has been unable to let go for many years.
Chen Chu seemed to have struggled as well. Some things are hard to figure out without contacting the person himself. Lin Chiran asked again: "Chen Xun has been tortured for many years because of this incident. He has always insisted that he is not a bully. Chen Chu did not tell the truth. You should also have questions about what happened back then. Can you provide Chen Chu or his family's contact information?"
Teacher Li finally provided the contact information of Chen Chu's mother. Lin Chiran called her, but Chen's mother was evasive about what happened that year.
"Let the past be the past and don't bother us anymore." Mother Chen didn't want to continue this topic.
A male voice came from the microphone, getting closer and closer: "Who is it? Is it Shen Xun? Give me the phone!"
"Achu, calm down!" Chen's mother scolded.
"Let me tell him, I can't stand it anymore! It's all my fault!" Chen Chu shouted at the top of his lungs.
There was a beeping sound, and the phone was hung up. I called again several times but it didn't go through.
Lin Chiran learned from Teacher Li that Chen's mother opened a bakery in the city, and Chen Chu would occasionally help out in the store. He also met him there. I couldn't contact anyone at all, so I had to go to the store to look for someone.
When Lin Chiran arrived at the store door, Chen Chu just came out and hung up a sign saying that the store was temporarily closed.
"Are you Chen Chu?" Compared to the photo in Shen Xun's hand, Chen Chu looked much more haggard, and his large down jacket hid his entire body.
*
In the coffee shop on the corner, Lin Chiran ordered a latte for himself and asked Chen Chu what he wanted to drink.
"No, I can't drink coffee." Chen Chu's eyes were always on Lin Chiran.
"Is it because of illness?" Lin Chiran remembered the revelations on the Internet. Some diseases are not suitable for caffeine intake. For these patients, excessive mood swings are like falling from heaven to hell.
Chen Chu laughed at himself: "Heart disease."
"Can you tell me why you did this in the first place?" Lin Chiran went straight to the point, leaving no time for argument.
"Why?" Chen Chu's hands trembled when he heard the question: "I wanted to do this, so I did it."
"Why is it that he has a good personality, good looks, and good grades, and everyone likes him, but they just pity and laugh at me? Why is it that he can get recommended to the school I want to go to, but no one cares about my grades? Why does he have a happy family, his parents, sister, and classmates all celebrate his birthday, but no one remembers my birthday?"
Chen Chu was emotional: "Why did he bully and hurt me? No one believed it, but I still have to be blamed? Why?"
"Chen Xun didn't bully you." Lin Chiran affirmed.
"He bullied me! When I was in junior high school, he pushed me into the sink, made me kneel on the ground, and slapped me. He did all kinds of evil things just because I was a good student and a good child in everyone's eyes. Everyone believed in him, but no one believed in me!" Chen Chu became more and more excited as he spoke, and he almost cried.
Lin Chi Ran was silent for a long time before speaking: "As far as I know, you didn't go to junior high school in this city, and the person you are talking about is not Shen Xun."
Chen Chu was stunned for a moment, with a bewildered look on his face: "It's not Chen Xun, it's not... Chen Xun... What did I do..." Tears rolled down his cheeks, Chen Chu had no reaction, and fell into his own world.
*
When Shen Xun heard the truth brought by Lin Chiran, he didn't know how to describe his feelings.
Is it hatred? He hated Chen Chu for making him bear the consequences of being bullied by others even though he had done nothing.
Is it pitiful? It is true that Chen Chu was bullied. He was unable to let go of the hurt he suffered and was tortured by illness and hallucinations for several years.
Are you regretting it? If I had not helped Chen Chu out of compassion, would my life have been completely different?
Too much information and emotions impacted his cognition. The best four years of his life were all destroyed because of such a pitiful and hateful reason. Should he hate it? Is there any meaning in hatred? Should he let it go? Who can understand his pain?
"He has a confused memory due to illness, and what he told you was part true and part false. Chen Chu's biological father died when he was a child and left a debt. His mother was busy working for a long time and could not take care of him. However, when he was in elementary school, his mother remarried and solved the financial problem."
Wu Wen continued to talk about the information he later found out: "He dropped out of school because of a mental illness. He realized that you were not the one who bullied him, but the situation was irreversible. He has been receiving treatment and his condition has been up and down. At the worst, he had a tendency to commit suicide. Chen's mother was worried that the matter would be exposed and it would be worse, so she didn't tell the truth."
"The truth of the matter has been notified to the school, and your punishment has been withdrawn. It will be announced soon." Lin Chiran looked at the out-of-touch Shen Xun: "These can't erase the pain you suffered in the past. If you want to get it back through legal means, we will provide you with help. Even if he is a mental patient, it is impossible for people around him not to care."
Should he get back what he deserves, or retaliate in the same way? After a long while, Shen Xun said, "Forget it."
“You won’t hold anyone accountable?” Wu Wen thought that if he encountered such a thing, he would be even more devastated than Shen Xun. Even if it was useless, he didn’t want to let it go so easily.
"Let it be." Shen Xun was not without hatred or resentment, but he was fed up with the constant twists and turns in his life. All choices pointed to the past. Let time take it all away, escape for the last time, escape from the judgment of guilt and conscience, and truly be reborn.
*
The reversal of public opinion came unexpectedly, and overnight Shen Xun went from being an unforgivable sinner who aroused public anger to a victim who had a rough life and was criticized by everyone.
[Chen Xun is so pitiful. He clearly had good intentions, but he was treated like this. Good people really don't get rewarded these days. 】
[How did he get through all these years? He was only seventeen or eighteen years old and was deserted by his friends... I heard from a friend before that Shen Xun worked in a bar before his debut. Some people even mocked him for his low education and poor family background. I regret it so much. It must be very difficult for him to survive such a miserable experience...]
[Alas, I really don’t know what to say. Please support Wax&Wane’s debut single to express your gratitude. I hope that you can live a better life in the future that has been stolen from you in the past few years. 】
Netizens offered suggestions, hoping that Shen Xun could seek justice for his past experiences, but he did not seem to have this intention. He did not even buy into the marketing of selling sympathy. Instead, the people who once scolded him were spontaneously whitewashing him with sympathy.
[The award that Chen Xun received in high school was very valuable. If it weren't for this incident, he would never have entered the entertainment industry. His future was bright, but he was disqualified for admission. Didn't the school and teachers investigate at all? It's so irresponsible to ruin a student's life so easily. 】
[This classmate is really not a human being. Is being sick a reason for him to frame others? There won’t be so many opportunities to make trouble in the Guan family! 】
[Sue him!] We can’t let this kind of person continue to stir up trouble. He does such things at such a young age. Who knows what he will do in the future! ? What about those classmates who called Shen Xun a scumbag? Why are you all silent? They are all accomplices! 】
The fierce reaction of netizens triggered waves of discussion, and some people even dug out Chen Chu's real information and sent the words that had cursed Shen Xun to Chen Chu's various private accounts intact.
He did not respond and let netizens curse him, but Shen Xun was concerned that he was a patient and it would be very difficult to deal with if something happened to him. He could not bear it any longer and diverted the topic to Wax & Wane's debut warm-up.
Lin Chiran and Wu Wen have long been accustomed to the entertainment industry's practices. Public opinion can be reversed in an instant, and what was said can be forgotten within just seven days. True and false, real and fake, and whether the person sitting behind the screen is a human or a dog is another matter.
This was the first time for the members to have direct contact with each other. Although they had been prepared, the atmosphere still became depressing. Wu Wen looked at Lin Chiran.
Seeing this, Lin Chiran smiled and said, "By the way, let's go camping and have a picnic next week." The depressing atmosphere was swept away.
Jing Xing suddenly remembered something: "I said before that everyone has no objection to me cooking. What do you want to eat? Let me learn first."
The members were all stunned, and Jiang Hechu spoke with difficulty: "Jingxing, when did you say you wanted to cook...?"
"Didn't we say before that we would reward the captain well? I'll cook while he rests." Jingxing touched his head.
Shen Xun was silent, having a bad feeling. How could he remember that Jingxing's cooking skills were still limited to scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
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