Chapter 48 Records
When Meng Chu put the file bag on the table, the doorbell rang. He opened the door and saw his brother smiling at him with an irrepressible tiredness in his eyes.
He pointed to a pair of slippers and said, "Come in and sit down."
This was the first time Meng Jining came to Meng Chu's new home. After all, he had been out of touch since Meng Chu got married. He rarely even called, let alone visited.
Meng Chu thinks there is nothing wrong with this model. He attaches great importance to privacy. When someone he doesn't like comes to his house, he still feels like he's intruding, even if he greets him in advance.
Meng Jining sat down politely without looking around. Meng Chu poured water while pointing at the file bag on the table.
"I compiled the job application materials."
Meng Jining said with surprise and joy, "Brother, you are so thoughtful." He took out the document and looked at it, and was slightly stunned.
"Brother, I'm not looking for a full-time job," he said. "I just want to ask if you have any part-time jobs around you, such as tutoring, accounting, and other odd jobs."
"You are looking for odd jobs, isn't it just to make money and keep your time free?" Meng Chu pointed at the application form, "Our college just needs an administrator. The work is not busy, and you get off work on time. The salary is not high, but it is stable. The five insurances and one fund are also paid according to the highest standard. You eat at school, and the three meals are very economical. You can write songs during work, and after work, there are still several hours before the bar opens."
Meng Jining looked embarrassed and frowned as he stared at the stack of documents. The college recruitment process is cumbersome. In addition to resumes and degree certificates, it also requires letters of recommendation, letters of commitment, letters of inquiry, certificates of no criminal record, and various ideological identification forms.
"With your ability and education, it's a bit unfair for you to work in administration," Meng Chu said, "but I think it's good to have a way out. Didn't you say you needed money urgently? Even if you need to borrow money, it's easy to get a loan if you have a stable job."
Meng Jining scratched his head, bit his lower lip, thought for a while, and then explained: "I don't think this job is bad, or not worthy of me..."
Meng Chu handed him the pen and said, "Then fill out the application form. I'm on my way to school. Once you're done, I'll hand it over to the human resources department directly."
Meng Jining opened his mouth. Under his brother's gaze, he took the pen hesitantly and wrote down the basic information on the form. Meng Chu told him the format from time to time.
The tables for colleges and universities were so vast that it took him a long time to finish them. He handed the document to Meng Chu, but the other party was in no hurry to put it in the bag.
"You missed one item." Meng Chu said.
Meng Jining looked up at him.
"Here," Meng Chu pointed, "you didn't tick it."
Where his finger was, there was a very ordinary line of words: Whether there is a criminal record.
“Just tick it and it’s done.”
Meng Jining's eyes dropped, and the veins on his hand holding the pen were clenched, but he was reluctant to move.
Meng Chu frowned, then froze. At this moment, it was as if lightning exploded in his brain, and he understood everything.
The loss of contact over the past year, the unreachable phone calls, and the reasons why I was unable to attend the wedding.
"What's wrong?" Meng Chu stared at him and suddenly felt cold all over. "What's so difficult about this?"
Meng Jining put down the pen, and it rolled and fell onto the tiles. He lowered his head and let out a short laugh, the sound of which pierced Meng Chu's eardrums sharply.
Meng Chu suddenly walked over and grabbed his brother's shoulders. He knew he had guessed right, and that fact sent a huge roar through his ears.
"Why haven't you been home recently?" He felt his heart drop like a heavy hammer. "Why did you quit your job? Where were you when Dad was in the hospital?"
Meng Jining was silent for a long time, so silent that Meng Chu wanted to go crazy. Isn't this person always very eloquent? Speak up!
"You are in the detention center," Meng Chu stared at him, "Are you?"
Finally, as if accepting a death sentence, Meng Jining lowered his head even lower, and his whole body went limp: "Yes."
Meng Chu felt a lump in his throat, his chest felt so stuffy it felt like it was going to explode in the next second.
"Why..." Meng Chu's mind was in a mess, "How could it be..."
Meng Jining slowly hugged his head.
Once you've said the first sentence, the following admissions will be much easier.
"Do you know Zhong Wenchu?" Meng Jining's voice was a little vague. "He is the director of Kexin."
Meng Jining met him after a charity dinner. Zhong Wenchu is notoriously difficult to approach in the private equity world, so in order to come out on top during the same period, he decided to take on this tough nut to crack. He began to pursue this second generation relentlessly and attack him indirectly.
Not surprisingly, he turned him into his client and later his boyfriend.
They lived happily at first, but not long after, the other party became more and more strange, constantly interfering in his life and work, as if if he said a few more words to the clients, he was flirting, and if they met on the weekend, there was a risk of cheating.
The two had a big fight. Later, the other party no longer made ridiculous accusations openly, but he always felt that his mobile phone and car were installed with surveillance cameras and he was under the other party's surveillance at all times and places.
He proposed breaking up, and Zhong Wenchu looked very calm, saying only one sentence: "You'd better be willing to come back on your own."
He said categorically that it was impossible.
The other person gave him a look that made his hair stand on end.
In just a few days, he understood the meaning of that look.
Someone reported that he had defrauded clients' funds through false transactions, but he just laughed it off. Unexpectedly, the police actually collected relevant evidence.
The funds were nominally invested in a Pre-IPO project, but in the end they were actually transferred to a shell company.
He is also the legal representative of this company.
After being arrested, Meng Jining spent some time in the detention center. He looked at the gray wall, ruminating over what had happened a million times, and came to a horrifying realization.
If this was a setup, Zhong Wenchu would have planned it long ago. That shell company was founded when they were in love. He didn't know what was wrong with him at the time and signed it in a daze. The person in charge of the Pre-IPO project, his friend, claimed that he was the main culprit in defrauding funds.
Zhong Wenchu had been digging a hole from the beginning, waiting for himself to walk into it unknowingly.
Meng Jining looked at the fence of the detention center, at the suspects around him with unfriendly faces, hugged himself, and felt cold all over.
Later, when the lawyer met with him, he sat in front of tempered glass and listened to the other party explain the legal terms. He felt unbelievable: "Compensate for all losses and obtain a letter of forgiveness from the victim? I didn't do anything, why do I ask for others' forgiveness?!"
The lawyer sighed: "The amount is already extremely huge. If you want to reduce the sentence, these two things are necessary."
"Where can I find so much money?"
The lawyer looked at Meng Jining, hesitated for a long time, and said, "Mr. Zhong's assistant found me and said he was willing to help you."
Meng Jining's face first turned pale, and then turned into an angry red. "Even if I have to sell my organs," he gritted his teeth, "I won't take his money."
"Let's calm down," the lawyer said, "your father is sick and in the hospital, and your family is anxious to contact you."
Meng Jining stood up suddenly, and the prison guard behind him issued a warning.
His mobile phone was confiscated as evidence, but in order to prevent his relatives from becoming suspicious, he asked his lawyer to log into his social media account and reply to some necessary messages on his behalf.
"Don't worry, it was lumbar surgery. It was successful, but your brother really wants to talk to you."
Meng Jining clenched his fists, trying his best to restrain himself from going crazy.
"What should I tell them?" the lawyer asked.
Meng Jining was trembling, not sure whether it was out of despair or anger. After a while, he was able to speak: "Just say I'm busy with work and don't have time, I'll go back to see him later."
The lawyer said, “Okay.”
Meng Jining looked at him, feeling a dull pain in his chest. "He said he would pay...what are the conditions?"
As the story progresses, Meng Jining's voice becomes lower and lower.
He finally uncovered the truth of this year.
His working ability is not that strong, he can't even see such a simple trap.
He didn't resign voluntarily to pursue his dream. He could never return to the financial circle. Who would hire someone who embezzled client funds?
He chose to sing in that shabby bar, not because he was content with poverty, but because that was the only place he could go.
Any company that is even slightly more formal will not hire someone with a criminal record.
Be a famous singer? This kind of thing is just talk. As long as Zhong Wenchu exposes his criminal record, his reputation will be ruined immediately. How can he be famous?
The qualifications and connections he was proud of are now worthless. His life is ruined, his future is ruined, his dreams are ruined, and he can only be a person struggling in the cracks.
He is not free and easy at all. He hates the cramped rental house and himself now. He drinks every day and cannot sleep unless he is drunk.
He narrated all this as if reopening a wound that had not yet healed.
Meng Chu remained silent until the end, then he suddenly spoke.
"How could you do this?" Meng Chu said.
The sound was like a wound-up spring, with countless emotions mixed together.
Meng Jining was stunned, not knowing what this question meant: "I..."
Meng Chu stood up suddenly. "How could you do this?" He stared at his brother. "How could you not tell the family? Not tell me anything?"
Meng Jining opened his mouth.
"How can you handle such a big thing by yourself?!"
"I..." Meng Jining said, "I'm sorry to bother you..."
After that kind of childhood and so much past, he didn't seem to be qualified to ask his brother for help, and such a big help.
"Sorry?" Meng Chu clenched his hands tightly. "Sorry? From childhood to adulthood, you have always been justified in doing everything. Now you are embarrassed?!"
"You don't know Zhong Wenchu," Meng Jining said, "this person is really scary..."
"It's fine if you didn't tell me at the time, but you've come to Lincheng and we've met so many times, why didn't you tell me?"
Meng Jining looked at him, and that look seemed to tell him that the current situation was the answer.
His brother, a pushover who makes all kinds of excuses for himself, would feel pain even when he sees someone he doesn't like suffering.
"Actually... you have already done a lot." Meng Jining said.
Even though he said such an absurd dream, his brother still supported him. Even though he did not ask for help, his brother still came to take care of him.
Meng Chu didn't know how much redemption Meng Jining had gained the moment he handed the lamp to her.
He had nothing left, but he still had his family.
He didn't expect that the reconciliation he had been seeking for so many years would actually be obtained at the moment when he hit rock bottom.
Without asking for reasons or seeking anything in return, the other party just extended a hand.
He looked at Meng Chu, who was the only ray of light in his dark life recently. If it weren't for those occasional visits and gifts, he didn't know if he could have survived until now.
He wanted to hold Meng Chu, but the other party squatted down, as if he was knocked down by something.
"How could you lie to me?" he questioned Meng Jining, "How could you pretend to be so cool? In order to hide it from me, you even made up some Bible story and said something about becoming yourself... What gives you the right to..."
Meng Jining wanted to help him, but he pushed her away.
"How could you become like this..." he said, "When...when will it be your turn to grow up?"
He covered his face. "You shouldn't live like this. You shouldn't have to carefully write a script before doing everything. You shouldn't keep everything in your heart and pretend that you are not sad or upset..."
Meng Jining approached his brother in panic, wanting to say something. But he squatted on the ground, crying as if the whole world had collapsed.
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