Jiang Yun sobbed softly.
The soft sobbing sound reached Chen Yuanwu's ears, making him feel distressed. He held Jiang Jun's shoulders with one hand and gently patted Jiang Jun's back with the other.
Jiang Jun cried for a while, then raised her head, stepped out of Chen Yuanwu's arms, took off her mask, wiped her face with it, and said sheepishly, "I'm sorry."
After arriving home, Chen Yuanwu waited behind the door. His eyes had completely adapted to the darkness in the room. With the faint light coming in from the window, he could clearly see Jiang Jun's increasingly thin face and the scars on his hands that looked like withered flowers.
Jiang Yun's crying made him feel heartbroken.
During this period of time, he had not heard any further news. He just called Jin Bu and asked Jin Bu to convey a message. However, Jin Bu was on a mission and went out after answering the phone before he could pass it on to Jiang Jun.
He thought Jiang Yun was crying out of anxiety.
"Let's go upstairs and talk." Chen Yuanwu grabbed Jiang Yun's hand tightly, turned around and walked upstairs.
After entering the study, Chen Yuanwu stood in front of the window. In the night light, he pulled Jiang Jun's hand in front of his eyes and looked at it carefully.
He still remembered pulling cactus thorns from Jiang Yun's body. They felt soft and boneless. Her once white and delicate hands were now thin and dry, with slightly raised scars covering the palms and backs of her hands.
Chen Yuanwu gently stroked her and whispered, "Xiaojun, I'm sorry it took you so long to come."
Jiang Yun felt a surge of grievances in his heart, and he choked out a low sob: "It's okay."
Chen Yuanwu apologized hastily, "As soon as I got the news, I immediately found a way to come out and tell you. I didn't mean to delay coming until now. Don't cry, it's all my fault."
Jiang Jun burst into tears. There had been no news from Chen Yuanwu for over twenty days. If He Zhenguo hadn't sent her another note saying, "Don't worry, stay calm," she would have been driven crazy waiting. "I thought you were angry and ignoring me!"
Chen Yuanwu was stunned. "Why would I be angry with you? The information is being strictly blocked right now. Uncle Jiang's name isn't even on the list of people under investigation."
He was eager to hear news about Jiang Yonghua even more than Jiang Jun, and he hoped that Jiang Yonghua was fine, so that Xiaojun could return to school and the two of them could see each other every day.
Jiang Jun nodded and tried to pull his hand back.
The light in the corridor outside the door suddenly came on, and a figure appeared at the door of the study: "Oh, how about it, I caught you!"
Chen Yuanwu was startled and quickly pulled Jiang Yun behind him. He looked towards the door vigilantly and saw that it was Chen Zhong. He still used his arms to protect Jiang Yun.
Chen Zhong turned his head and ordered the guard: "Go and wipe off the dust on the stairs."
Xiao Ding, a guard who had followed Chen Zhong for many years, held back his laughter and ran away quickly to get a broom and mop to clean the battlefield.
Chen Zhong glared at his son, annoyed: "Why don't you draw the curtains!"
What a shame, I've brought shame upon myself.
He actually took advantage of the fact that no one was at home to sneak out of school and have a tryst with a girl!
Chen Yuanwu agreed and turned to draw the curtains.
Jiang Jun looked at Chen Zhong awkwardly, picked up the mask in her hand and wiped away her tears. She took a step forward and smiled, "Hello, Uncle Chen!"
Chen Zhong looked in surprise at the girl in front of him who had grown taller, darker, and thinner. "Xiaojun? Why is it you?"
Chen Yuanwu was speechless: "Dad, who do you think it is?"
"Ah!" Chen Zhong sighed loudly and exaggeratedly: "I thought you had learned bad things! I felt sorry for you! Now you are doing well, very well! You are a teachable boy!"
Jiang Jun was so upset when he heard this. How could there be such a father who would play such a joke on his own son!
Chen Zhong pointed at the floor. "The guard told me someone had come to our house. I called back and asked, and your mother hadn't been there at all. Xiao Ding then spread a layer of coal dust on the stairs."
Two pairs of footprints, one big and one small, with black stains, were clearly visible under the light.
Chen Yuanwu was speechless.
The guard came over with a mop and quickly wiped away the footprints in the room, and asked Chen Yuanwu and Jiang Yun to wipe off the coal dust with the mop.
Chen Zhong took the lead and sat down on the sofa, greeting the two children: "Sit down, Xiao Ding will bring some water in a minute. Xiao Jun, do you want some tea? Uncle has some good tea here. I didn't know it was you, otherwise I would have brought you some more good tea."
Jiang Jun's embarrassment faded, and she sat down across from Chen Zhong confidently. "Okay, thank you, Uncle Chen. I love black tea the most."
She hadn't eaten properly for several days, so it would be good to drink some black tea to warm her stomach in the middle of the night.
Chen Zhong glanced at Chen Yuanwu and asked, "Do you know what kind of black tea Xiaojun likes to drink?"
Chen Yuanwu knew that his father was sending him away. He had something to ask Jiang Yun, so he just said, "I know. I'll go make some tea."
Chen Zhong looked at Jiang Yun and admired her magnanimity. Even though such a big thing happened in her family and her studies and military service were affected, she did not become timid. She was still calm and composed with a calm look.
"Xiaojun, the investigation team has already told me about your family situation. I happened to be busy with work and didn't have time to look for you. I thought you would come to my office to find me, and I specifically told my subordinates to tell me if they saw you."
Jiang Jun smiled and said, "It's because of something like this that I don't dare to trouble you."
Jiang Jun had a good sense of how to handle the situation. At such a sensitive time, the lower the position of the person who could get the information, the better. This would ensure direct and safe information. Asking someone of Chen Zhong's rank for information would likely alert higher-ups, leading to suspicions about Chen Zhong's career path and potentially implicating even more people.
Chen Zhong nodded in satisfaction: "You've lost weight! Are you worried? What's wrong with your hand?"
Jiang Jun extended the back of his hand and said with a double meaning, "I was accidentally injured. No bones or muscles were broken. I'm almost healed now."
She'd better not talk about going to the prairie.
Chen Yuanwu came in with two cups of tea, placed one in front of Chen Zhong and one in front of Jiang Yun, and then sat down next to Jiang Yun.
Jiang Jun lowered his eyelids and moved a little to the side without making a sound.
Chen Zhong asked his son, "You don't drink water yourself?"
Chen Yuanwu was stunned and looked at the teacup in front of Jiang Yun. He had never thought of pouring tea for himself.
Chen Zhong misunderstood. The two had become inseparable. He was very happy and praised them again: "Speed is the essence of war. Use it well!"
Jiang Jun looked at the conversation between the father and son with envy, and wondered when she would be able to interact with Jiang Yonghua like this, and then she would be content to be his daughter in this life.
Chen Zhong had enough of the jokes and got straight to the point: "Xiao Wu, what did you ask?"
Chen Yuanwu sat up straight. "I heard Uncle Jiang will begin his investigation next week. That's the news."
"Hmm!" Chen Zhong lowered his head slightly, his expression serious. "What do you think?"
Chen Yuanwu continued, "Based on the results of the investigations of those who have already been investigated, I have analyzed four clues."
Jiang Yun's heart was lifted again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com