Chapter 24 Speech
Although it was a warm villa, Yu Bai felt as if he were in a frozen wasteland, with a bucket of ice water poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.
Yu Bai ran to Lin Yun's side, carefully checking her condition while trembling as he took out his phone to dial 120.
"My child! My child!" Lin Yun screamed, tears streaming down her face, her heart breaking.
"The child will be alright, Aunt Lin, the doctor will be here soon." Yu Bai could only try to calm her down for the time being to prevent the situation from getting worse.
Hearing the commotion, Uncle Jiang rushed into the bedroom. His face was deathly pale. He held Lin Yun in his arms, his shirt stained with blood. Lin Yun, weak and powerless, looked at Uncle Jiang with sorrowful eyes and said, "Jiang Jizhou killed our child!"
After saying that, she lost all her strength and fainted due to excessive blood loss.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Jiang looked up at Jiang Jizhou, who was standing on the second floor. Jiang Jizhou was expressionless, seemingly detached from the situation, with a faint, cold smile on his lips and a hint of mockery in his eyes.
"You beast, if anything happens to the child, you'll see how I deal with you." Uncle Jiang's tone was vicious, filled with hatred for his enemy.
This startled Yu Bai so much that her face turned pale. She looked up at Jiang Jizhou, only to see him with his eyes downcast, as if looking at trash, completely ignoring Uncle Jiang's words.
The ambulance arrived quickly, and Uncle Jiang, Yu Bai, and Aunt Chen helped the medical staff put Lin Yun into the ambulance.
Chen Ma told Yu Bai to stay home while she and Uncle Jiang took Lin Yun to the hospital. So, after putting Lin Yun in the ambulance, Yu Bai returned to the villa.
A large patch of blood remained where Lin Yun had fallen, a shocking sight. Yu Bai's hands and coat were also stained with blood, and the stench of blood filled her nostrils.
Yu Bai looked up at Jiang Jizhou with a puzzled expression.
Although Lin Yun said that Jiang Jizhou killed her child, Yu Bai didn't believe it. She knew that Jiang Jizhou wasn't that kind of person.
But what exactly happened back then?
However, Jiang Jizhou interpreted Yu Bai's gaze in a different way, just like Uncle Jiang and Aunt Chen, believing that he had pushed Lin Yun, causing her to bleed heavily.
Jiang Jizhou chuckled self-deprecatingly and turned to leave.
But Yu Bai spoke, calling his name, "Jiang Jizhou".
Then, Yu Bai said firmly, "I believe you. You wouldn't do such a thing."
Jiang Jizhou stopped, his thick, long eyelashes trembling slightly, but he remained silent.
After a while, he turned around to look at Yu Bai.
Yu Bai cried, her face streaked with tears, and Jiang Jizhou felt a pang of pain in his heart. "Why are you crying?"
I'm worried about you.
Yu Bai's voice was choked with sobs. Lin Yun could say whatever she wanted because she was the victim, but what about Jiang Jizhou? How could he prove himself?
Yu Bai was very anxious; she could only pray that Lin Yun's baby would be alright.
Jiang Jizhou leaned against the railing, watching Yu Bai's adorable crying because she was worried about him. The bad mood he had just been upset by Lin Yun's staged accident vanished, and a nonchalant smile appeared on his lips.
Seeing Jiang Jizhou's nonchalant and smiling expression, Yu Bai was furious. "How come you're not scared at all?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" Jiang Jizhou smiled lazily.
He wasn't in a hurry, but Yu Bai was extremely worried for him. What if Uncle Jiang really disregarded their father-son relationship and called the police? As Yu Bai thought about it, tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string.
But Jiang Jizhou told Yu Bai to put his mind at ease.
About two hours later, Yu Bai called Chen Ma to ask about Lin Yun's situation.
"The child is gone."
Upon hearing this, Yu Bai felt gloomy, not only because he was worried about Jiang Jizhou, but also because he felt pity and sympathy for an innocent life that had not yet been born.
“Your Uncle Jiang is very angry and wants to call the police to arrest Ji Zhou. You should quickly tell Ji Zhou to beg him and soften his stance, and not to be so cruel for the sake of father-son relationship.”
Before Yu Bai could even feel sad, Chen Ma's tone was very anxious.
Is Uncle Jiang really going to call the police to arrest Jiang Jizhou? Yu Bai felt as if his heart was being squeezed by an invisible hand, and for a moment he felt suffocated and unable to breathe.
She immediately got up and prepared to go upstairs to call Jiang Jizhou.
The door behind him was pushed open, and Uncle Jiang stormed in angrily.
"That beast, I can't handle him, let the police handle him."
Uncle Jiang, followed by police officers, walked into the house with a serious expression.
Yu Bai's face turned deathly pale, and he stood frozen in place, unable to move.
"Uncle Jiang, you..."
Uncle Jiang interrupted Yu Bai, "Go back to your own bedroom and stay there. Don't get involved in this."
Yu Bai was stunned, not knowing what to do. A group of people swept past her, bringing with them the cold wind and snow from outside, which blew onto her body, turning her lips white.
Before they could go upstairs, Jiang Jizhou pushed open the door and came out.
Upon seeing him, Uncle Jiang's eyes immediately blazed with fury. He rushed forward to beat Yu Bai, but Yu Bai instinctively tried to run over to stop him. However, the police swiftly restrained Uncle Jiang, urging him to remain calm.
"You are suspected of intentional assault. Come with us to the police station to cooperate with the investigation." Several other police officers went up the stairs and detained Jiang Jizhou.
Yu Bai suddenly felt his body swaying and almost collapsed to the ground.
"I'm going too." A group of people were pressing Jiang Jizhou to leave, but Yu Bai quickly said that he wanted to go as well.
The police stopped her.
"No, no," Yu Bai murmured softly.
Jiang Jizhou, standing in the crowd, turned and glanced at Yu Bai. His handsome face was calm and clear-headed, and he gave Yu Bai a reassuring look. Looking into his eyes, Yu Bai felt her heart break.
Then, he was escorted out of the house by the police and put into a police car.
Yu Bai leaned weakly against the door frame, watching the blinding police car lights gradually disappear into the snowy night. Outside, everything was covered in a white expanse again, pale and cold, with heavy snow still falling.
Yu Bai stood under the eaves waiting for Jiang Jizhou to return, and the snowflakes fell on her, but she didn't feel cold.
As night deepened, only white snowflakes danced wildly in the pitch-black night, accompanied by the howling wind. Yu Bai's heart grew colder and colder, completely overwhelmed by despair.
Suddenly, a bright light drew ever closer, like a faint glimmer in the darkness. Yu Bai's heart was instantly ignited, and she rushed down the steps, running hurriedly towards it.
She saw Jiang Jizhou walking towards her.
He looked up at Yu Bai, who was so excited that she was in tears. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and snowflakes fell onto her face, making it wet.
Yu Bai looked him up and down, and seeing that he had returned unharmed, her heart was filled with unspoken joy. Her heart, which had fallen into despair during the long wait, started beating again, and she almost instinctively threw herself into Jiang Jizhou's arms.
Jiang Jizhou reached out and hugged Yu Bai.
Snowflakes fell softly, all was silent, and the world was empty except for them. They were pressed close together, and could hear each other's rapid heartbeats. Yu Bai's face was pressed against his cold coat, and she sobbed silently.
"It's alright, sweetie." Jiang Jizhou rested his chin on Yu Bai's soft hair, comforting her in a trembling voice.
Jiang Jizhou led Yu Bai home by the hand. Her hand was soft and cool, and Jiang Jizhou gripped it tightly.
The snow on the ground was already a thick layer, and when you stepped on it, it made a "squeak, squeak" sound and left two sets of footprints.
Upon returning to the villa, Yu Bai felt enveloped in warmth.
She quickly asked Jiang Jizhou what he had said.
Jiang Jizhou smiled slightly, "I was framed by the vixen that Jiang Feng brought home before, so I secretly installed surveillance cameras at home after that."
After saying that, Yu Bai saw a hint of contemptuous smugness flash in Jiang Jizhou's beautiful peach blossom eyes.
Jiang Jizhou then showed Yu Bai the surveillance video.
In the surveillance video, Jiang Jizhou was about to return to his room, but Lin Yun stopped him. Lin Yun held a grudge because Jiang Jizhou had hit her with a vase last time, leaving a scar on her forehead and kicking them out. So she deliberately provoked Jiang Jizhou and started arguing with him. Jiang Jizhou got impatient and wanted to leave, but Lin Yun reached out to hit him. Unexpectedly, she slipped and tumbled down the stairs.
"You reap what you sow," Yu Bai thought to himself after reading the story, his sympathy for Lin Yun's miscarriage completely gone.
"So how were you framed last time? Are you alright in the end?" Yu Bai asked Jiang Jizhou with eyes full of heartache.
Jiang Jizhou forced a smile, "It's all in the past, it's alright."
Yu Bai stared intently at Jiang Jizhou, "You have no idea how worried I was just now. If he hadn't come back, I was about to run to the police station."
"Thank goodness, you're alright." She gave a sweet smile.
Jiang Jizhou looked at her smiling face, which was like a spring breeze, and smiled quietly in return.
Yu Bai called Chen Ma to let her know he was safe.
"So that's how it is. Lin Yun is truly a vicious person, and your Uncle Jiang is also blinded by greed."
After hearing Yu Bai recount the truth of the matter, Chen Ma angrily scolded him.
"I don't even want to serve her here anymore."
Hearing this, Jiang Jizhou said, "Aunt Chen, come back."
Although Jiang Jizhou said that, Chen Ma was still worried about Uncle Jiang and decided to take care of Lin Yun, who had miscarried.
After learning the truth, Uncle Jiang was distraught and wanted to say something to Jiang Jizhou, but Jiang Jizhou remained silent and left without saying a word.
Yu Bai felt extremely sorry for Jiang Jizhou. His own father didn't believe him and even wanted to send him to jail. How was this any different from being an enemy?
Jiang Jizhou had long been disappointed in Uncle Jiang, and nothing he did could hurt him.
Jiang Jizhou was listless and quite tired from all the commotion. He glanced at his watch and said to Yu Bai, "Go to sleep early, we have to go to school tomorrow."
It's already 3 a.m., and I only have about four hours left before I have to go to school.
When Yu Bai saw the time, he exclaimed "Ah!" and quickly finished washing up before going to bed in his bedroom.
-
The next morning, Yu Bai struggled to get out of bed after the alarm clock rang twice.
She hurriedly dressed, washed up, ate, and then went to school with Jiang Jizhou.
There was a mobilization meeting for the final exams in the morning. Yu Bai had been memorizing his speech the whole way, while Jiang Jizhou leaned lazily against the car window, resting his chin on his hand, looking at the street scene outside. It had snowed all night, but now the snow had stopped, and the outside world was covered in a blanket of white.
Even before going on stage, Yu Bai was still silently reciting his speech.
"Next up is Yu Bai from Class 17 of Senior Three, who will be giving a speech. Please welcome him with applause!" The host's gentle yet loud voice rang out, and enthusiastic applause immediately filled the auditorium.
Yu Bai took a deep breath and prepared to go on stage. Jiang Jizhou next to her gave her an encouraging smile, and Yu Bai smiled and walked onto the stage.
Facing the sea of students and teachers below the stage, Yu Bai began her speech. Having prepared the speech many times beforehand, she was already familiar with it. She spoke with great emotion and composure.
"I used to think I was like moss in the shadows, only able to wallow in self-pity. But someone told me, 'Yu Bai, you are actually a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.' Before becoming a butterfly, one must always experience the pain of breaking free from the cocoon. May each of us persevere through the pain and eventually be able to bear the beauty of spreading our wings."
This passage wasn't part of the previous rehearsals. When Jiang Jizhou heard it backstage, his expression was complicated, and his heart was pounding like a butterfly flapping its wings.
The speech ended, and the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.
The timid girl who often dared not look people in the eye was now dressed in a neat high ponytail, revealing her hearing aid, with a determined look in her eyes and a radiant glow.
After bowing, Yu Bai walked off the stage and returned to her seat. The students around her all smiled at her with admiration and kindness.
"Yu Bai, your speech just now was really cool."
"Ahhh, Yu Bai is my goddess, the embodiment of perfection!"
"Yu Bai, you are so versatile. You play the piano so beautifully and your speeches are so inspiring."
...
Listening to the praise from his classmates, Yu Bai sat quietly, listening to Jiang Jizhou's speech that followed.
Jiang Jizhou abandoned his laziness and delivered a serious and earnest speech.
At the end of his speech, a smile spread across his charming eyes, exuding a roguish charm that drew cheers from the audience.
He said his last words.
"Your difference is not a deficiency, but your uniqueness. I wish every student can live their own life."
Even at the very end, he continued to encourage Yu Bai.
Applause erupted, and Yu Bai stared intently at Jiang Jizhou, clapping vigorously.
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