Chapter 33: Torrential Rain

Chapter 33: Torrential Rain

"How can that be?!" Meng Liangping immediately darkened his expression, reacting even more strongly than Xie Guiluan. "Old Hou, this isn't funny!"

The Qingyue Cup chemistry competition is a big deal, with strict exam supervision. Each exam room has three cameras running and invigilators present. The chance of cheating is almost zero.

Besides, someone like Xie Guiluan wouldn't need to cheat. The person he might have copied from probably didn't score higher than him.

Hou Zhong raised his hand to calm Meng down. "Teacher Meng, relax for a moment. I'll have a few words with him alone." He then pointed at Xie Guiluan. "Follow me to the office."

With a cold expression and no emotion in his eyes, Xie Guiluan followed him into an empty office.

Hou Zhong didn't beat around the bush. "In the written exam, your last analytical design question is identical to another person's. The competition committee is still investigating."

The Qingyue Cup chemistry competition is scored out of 100 points, and the analytical design question is worth 30.

The question provides one or more chemical principles and experiments. Candidates must create a major question based on these, then write out the process and answers.

Designing questions is much harder than answering them; this section has always been the most differentiating part of the competition.

"I wrote it myself," Xie Guiluan said.

Hou Zhong advised him, "I believe you, but the fact that the answers match is undeniable. My belief doesn't matter; the committee has to believe you."

Xie Guiluan's dark, cold eyes stared at him, paused for a few seconds, and then suddenly interrupted, "Only you have seen it."

The competition questions are always strange every year. Although the analytical design questions are difficult, they're based on the chemical principles and experiments high school students have encountered, so there's at least a scope.

So this part gets a lot of attention during competition prep. Each student prepares at least ten questions, submits them to the teacher for review, and might be able to use them in the exam.

Hou Zhong's expression stiffened. "What do you mean?" He had just picked up a teacup, and his hand trembled, spilling tea onto his legs. He hurriedly wiped it off and frowned. "Are you saying I leaked your question?! As a teacher, I can understand your emotions, but you need evidence to back your words."

Xie Guiluan continued to stare at him, his tone indifferent. "So where's the proof that I cheated?"

"Why don’t you get it?" Hou Zhong met those dark, cold eyes and felt an inexplicable chill. Xie Guiluan was too sharp; there was no point in trying to maneuver around him.

With a wrinkled brow, Hou Zhong had no choice but to be more direct. "Does it really matter how this question came to be? What's important is that you're not admitting it. The more the investigation goes on, the more it will work against you. If you admit your mistake nicely, I can try to keep it off your record. The worst that can happen is you won't be able to participate in this competition again."

Hou Zhong spoke lightly, but the Qingyue Cup also includes math and physics competitions. Once labeled as a cheater, Xie Guiluan would be barred from participating in any competition under the Qingyue Cup.

He was the top scorer in last year's math competition as well. Based on these results, he would lose at least 100,000 yuan in prize money leading up to the college entrance exam. The competition had high value, and the school took it seriously. Besides the prize money given by the competition committee, the school also offered additional rewards.

Without that 100,000 yuan, Xie Mingcheng wouldn't pay for medical bills anymore, and Song Lingwei would have no chance.

Xie Guiluan didn't say another word. Hou Zhong stood in silence with him for a few minutes, gradually breaking out in cold sweat.

Having no choice, Hou Zhong checked both the office and Xie Guiluan for any recording devices. Finding none, he continued, "Do you know who the other candidate is?"

The investigation wasn't complete yet, and the candidate whose answers matched Xie Guiluan's also had a temporary score of zero.

Xie Guiluan lifted his thin, cold eyelids.

"You've surely heard of Feng Rong Jewelry? Since you bear the Xie family name, you should have seen the chairman of Feng Rong Jewelry, Liao Shengrong. His son is called Liao Bin. Do you really think he would let his son carry the reputation of cheating in a competition? Think carefully. It doesn't matter what you wrote; what matters is that he's surnamed Liao, and he can clear any hurdle."

Hou Zhong didn't intend for things to turn out this way. Accusing someone of cheating in a competition was a serious matter. He wouldn't dare frame Xie Guiluan; what benefit would that bring him? He was a distinguished teacher every year and the head of the second-year group. In a few more years, he might even become the vice principal.

Liao Bin was from the affiliated high school, a key high school in Huai Jing, though slightly less competitive in these contests. The Liao family had asked him to tutor Liao Bin for the competition.

He wrote down the questions Xie Guiluan had prepared and showed them to Liao Bin. Based on those, he designed a few better questions, or at least what he thought were better.

He then had Liao Bin write one as well, to compare the three side by side and try to give Liao Bin some ideas.

Who would have thought that Xie Guiluan would get the question right.

He had originally thought that Liao Bin would write down his version, after all, as a teacher, he is considered more authoritative, but Liao Bin copied Xie Guiluan's answer word for word.

Hou Zhong got a call from the Liao family last night that scared him half to death. Liao Shengrong even asked him to come and persuade Xie Guiluan.

Liao Bin was ruthless, and Hou Zhong felt a chill run down his spine. Liao Bin didn’t trust him, figuring that even if he wrote his own answer, at most he would just get first place, and maybe not even that.

But if their answers matched, Xie Guiluan would definitely be disqualified from the competition, increasing Liao Bin's chances of winning first place.

After all, Liao Bin is capable. He was the second place in last year's chemistry competition, and in a competition during his first year, he was also second, always just two or three points behind Xie Guiluan.

Hou Zhong had no choice. The Liao family could prevent him from being a teacher again, and any dream of becoming a vice principal would be shattered. He could only explain things clearly to Xie Guiluan, hoping that Xie Guiluan would understand his good intentions.

It wasn’t an exact match. Because Xie Guiluan made some changes during the exam, we can only say there's 70-80% similarity, and in fact, Xie Guiluan's question was closer to perfection.

But what's the point?

The Xie family won't care about Xie Guiluan. Xie Guiluan's backbone is so strong, but what good would it do to go against Liao Bin?

"..." Xie Guiluan was silent for half a minute. It had started raining heavily again in the middle of the night, and outside it was still dark. His eyes sank into the thick darkness, filled with coldness, and he said, "I don't care, you can investigate."

He then turned and walked out of the office.

Hou Zhong wanted to stop him but sighed quietly and didn't reach out in the end.

Cen Wu hadn’t heard what the head teacher said to Xie Guiluan. Thirty minutes later, Xie Guiluan returned to the classroom, showing no signs of abnormality, which made Cen Wu feel relieved.

First period English was canceled because Ms. Luo was out sick for three days. They had to do English papers on their own during the class.

Cen Wu picked up the paper and began reading the passage. As he leaned slightly on Xie Guiluan's desk, he suddenly felt a cold, hard large hand grip the back of his neck, making him shudder.

Then he heard Xie Guiluan chuckle softly.

Xie Guiluan was tall, and his hands were a bit larger than most boys’. It was more than enough to hold the back of Cen Wu's neck, and he didn’t let go, just pinching the back of his neck. The neck and throat are vulnerable and sensitive parts of the human body, and being controlled would instinctively make one want to break free.

Cen Wu couldn’t help but shrink his neck, trying to get away, but as soon as he moved a little, Xie Guiluan's cold, white, slender knuckles brushed against his neck, inexplicably giving off a sense of uncontrolled descent.

Cen Wu: "..."

What's wrong again, brother.

Cen Wu had no choice but to lean back, resting against Xie Guiluan's palm. Xie Guiluan didn’t do his paper. He just lay on the desk, occasionally pinching the soft back of Cen Wu's neck, not letting go for several minutes before finally releasing him and then starting to work on his problems.

The news of the competition was kept very secret. No word leaked out in the school, and since Xie Guiluan didn’t say anything, Cen Wu had no idea.

He just noticed that Xie Guiluan hadn’t been working part-time much recently, rarely going to Blue Night or doing other side jobs. He was almost like a normal high school student, staying in school every day.

He asked Ji Changyu, but Ji Changyu shook his head, saying, "Probably because he's not short of money after receiving the prize money."

Cen Wu always felt something was off.

By Wednesday, the class was restless all day. In the afternoon, during the long break, they had to go to the school's auditorium for rehearsals.

Each grade had its own performance, and while there were plenty of places to rehearse, the school only had one auditorium. The school arranged for each class to take turns going to the auditorium to check out the venue and practice entering and exiting.

When Cen Wu went to rehearse, he didn’t notice anything unusual about Xie Guiluan. But right after the rehearsal, just as the class bell was about to ring, he couldn’t find Xie Guiluan anywhere.

He went back to the auditorium to look for him. The place was already empty, but the lights were still on. Xie Guiluan hadn’t left yet—he was sitting by the piano bench. Cen Wu listened for a moment and realized he was playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Cen Wu walked over, grabbed a stool, and sat next to him, watching him with wide eyes.

Xie Guiluan could only play with one hand, and he wasn’t sure which fingers should press which keys. His playing was halting, with occasional sudden pauses and wrong notes.

But Xie Guiluan’s hands were beautiful—pale, cold, with long, defined knuckles and prominent veins. Even though his playing wasn’t smooth, just sitting there, his hands gave off the impression of someone who could make beautiful music.

When Xie Shangjing was young, he took piano lessons, and Xie Guiluan would go with him, though not to study. His job was to carry Xie Shangjing’s things.

Xie Shangjing loved to play so much that he always dragged things out, practicing for long stretches without finishing.

By watching Xie Shangjing practice, Xie Guiluan picked up a few things as well.

Xie Guiluan pressed a few keys and then stopped, turning to ask Cen Wu, "What do you need, Cen Wu?"

"I just… wanted to find you," Cen Wu said, poking a few keys. "You didn’t… come with me."

Xie Guiluan’s dark peach-shaped eyes curved slightly, and he stood up, following Cen Wu out of the auditorium. Cen Wu was heading to the school’s small supermarket, a trip that usually felt like losing half his life because of the crowds. But with Xie Guiluan, it was much easier.

As Cen Wu looked for snacks on the shelves, Xie Guiluan bent down and asked, "What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you."

Cen Wu was stunned.

Xie Guiluan really had no money and often skipped dinner to save. The candy he had given Cen Wu before was from Blue Night.

Blue Night was a high-end bar, and even the free candies they gave guests were expensive, not the cheap artificial kind. Otherwise, Xie Guiluan wouldn’t have brought them. He could just grab a few, and the manager wouldn’t say anything.

Even the cheapest candies, the ones with glass wrappers, would have been appreciated by Cen Wu if Xie Guiluan had brought them.

He remembered when he was young, his parents were always filming on set. Because he was too young to be left alone, they stayed at the nearest studio city, which was a one-and-a-half-hour drive from home.

His parents would bring him small snacks from the set or fun little desserts from industry parties.

People often found love—or something close to it—in small gestures like these.

Of course, he wasn’t so self-absorbed to think Xie Guiluan liked him. After all, brothers could bring snacks too.

When Xie Guiluan offered to buy something, Cen Wu didn’t stand on ceremony, but he only took a bag of dried plum candies, choosing the cheaper brand. Xie Guiluan grabbed a few bags of chips for him too.

Cen Wu grabbed Xie Guiluan’s wrist, suddenly overwhelmed by a deep sense of separation anxiety.

The night his parents passed away, they had just finalized a deal. If they finished the film they were working on, they could have solved most of their family’s debt. After leaving the party, his mother texted him, asking if he missed them.

They hadn’t come home for almost three months, leaving Cen Wu alone.

Of course, they knew he was just putting on a brave face, so they decided to head home early that night—only to get into a tragic accident along the way.

Cen Wu couldn’t sleep that night and finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, only to be woken up by Lu Jian. For years afterward, Cen Wu couldn’t shake the image of Lu Jian’s tearful face.

Xie Guiluan didn’t say anything, but on Thursday, he suddenly didn’t come to school. Lu Wang noticed Cen Wu’s anxiety and asked worriedly, "What’s wrong? Why do you look so bad?"

Cen Wu shook his head. He messaged Xie Guiluan. A powerful typhoon had hit, and the rain hadn’t let up. The clouds were gray and flowing. Thunder rumbled outside the classroom, stirring an uneasy feeling in his chest.

Hou Zhong had only come to notify Xie Guiluan that, regardless of whether Xie Guiluan admitted to cheating or not, the investigation results would be announced Thursday night, and his score would be cleared.

The school hadn't taken any action against Xie Guiluan yet, but word spread since other students from the school had participated in the competition.

Meng Liangping couldn't wrap his head around the result. He knew one of the directors from the competition committee—they were college buddies. As soon as he entered the office, he quickly dialed his friend, putting on a friendly tone: "Hey Director, long time no see. About that competition..."

But once the director realized Meng Liangping was asking about Xie Guiluan's score, he gave some vague responses, said he had a meeting, and promptly hung up.

Meng Liangping's smile faded instantly. He slumped into a chair and quietly sipped his tea.

"He seems to have been disqualified from the competition. It's caused quite a fuss... What could he have been thinking?"

"The school might give him a demerit or some sort of punishment. It'll probably be quite severe."

"I mean, do you think he cheated in previous exams too?"

Cen Wu and Lu Wang went to the cafeteria for dinner and, upon returning, sensed that the whole school atmosphere had become strange. The class felt off too.

They didn't understand what people were saying until Cen Wu shook the rain off his umbrella and overheard someone remark, "Crazy, right? How could he have cheated every time? Xie Guiluan was the top student in middle school. How could he have cheated for so many years without being discovered?! I can't help but feel something's off about this competition."

Cen Wu's hand stiffened, and his mind went blank for a moment. He headed toward the classroom, but Xie Guiluan still hadn't shown up.

He immediately went to find Meng Liangping.

Meng Liangping, a man in his forties or fifties who had been at the school for many years, had seen a lot, but he had never been this frustrated. He searched his office for quick-acting heart medicine. It amazed him how someone could so easily ruin another person's life.

He wanted to talk to Xie Guiluan but had no idea where to begin. He had discussed it with Teacher Wang Qiang, the head teacher, and the other class teachers. In the end, they figured their last resort was to petition the competition committee for a re-investigation.

But the principal rejected the proposal outright.

He had been at the school for nearly thirty years, and although he and the principal had a superior-subordinate relationship, they were also on good personal terms. Since the principal had already tried and failed, there was no point in further efforts.

If they couldn't go to the competition committee, it would be better to approach Xie Mingcheng. The competition prize and trophy hadn't been awarded yet, but first place had already been announced. Seeing the name made everything clear.

The Liao family was a jewelry tycoon, famous both domestically and internationally. Unlike the Cen and Xie families, who were involved in multiple fields, the Liao family only dealt in jewelry but still held a place in Huai Jing.

Liao Shengrong had always been proud of his son's academic achievements.

If it ever came out that his son had cheated, Liao Shengrong would be humiliated in Huai Jing and would do everything to shield Liao Bin.

Meng Liangping knew that Cen Wu had been close to Xie Guiluan recently, and Lu Wang was also easy to talk to.

But even though he hadn't done business, he wasn't stupid. Getting the Cen and Lu families involved would certainly create animosity with the Liao family. Even if he and Xie Guiluan were close, there was no point in going to such extremes for no clear reason.

Cen Wu kept pressing, leaving Meng Liangping no choice but to explain. Cen Wu was silent for a moment before saying, without stuttering, "Teacher, I'd like to request a leave of absence and go home for a while."

Late at night, Xie Guiluan sought out Ji Changyu. Ji Changyu had been staying at the school lately, and No. 13 High School was quite chaotic, with lax dormitory management, so he walked in without being noticed by the dorm supervisor.

Ji Changyu had just fallen asleep after finishing his night shift when Xie Guiluan pulled him out of bed. Anyone who knew him would understand—being woken up by Xie Guiluan’s icy stare was truly unnerving.

If Xie Guiluan weren't so aloof, one couldn't even imagine the shock his girlfriend would experience every day.

-

"What... what are you doing?" Ji Changyu stammered, clutching his blanket as he sat up.

"Xie Guiluan didn't mince words and directly asked, 'Can you still get tickets to that racetrack?'

Ji Changyu was a bit of a troublemaker and had raced cars before. People who could afford to race were usually well-off. He had met a few rich second-generation kids in Huai Jing and, through introductions, had been to a racetrack.

It wasn't formal, more of an underground race, but the prize money was high. To be honest, it was a dangerous game where lives were at stake.

Ji Changyu's casual demeanor faded, and he frowned, asking, 'Why do you want to go there? If you need money, I can lend you some. How much more do you need?'

'Give it to me,' Xie Guiluan told him.

Ji Changyu hesitated, but he couldn't win against Xie Guiluan and eventually gave him a contact number. The 'ticket' was actually just a contact number to call if you wanted to sign up for the race.

As soon as Xie Guiluan had it, he left. Ji Changyu felt increasingly uneasy and chased after him, but couldn't find him.

Xie Guiluan hadn't been to the hospital for several days, and Song Lingwei had been struggling to sleep. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the elderly lady in the next bed was recovering well and was allowed by the doctor to go home and stay with her family for a few days. The ward was left with only Song Lingwei.

She was naturally timid and too scared to sleep alone. At night, she clutched her phone, wanting to call Xie Guiluan but also fearing him.

After much hesitation, she finally decided to call, but Xie Guiluan suddenly showed up at the hospital.

Song Lingwei's heart settled down again.

When Xie Guiluan came, he brought dinner for her. While eating and watching TV, she saw news reports about a car accident at an intersection. The images were blurred, but the scene was still bloody and disturbing, sending chills down her spine.

Song Lingwei frowned and asked Xie Guiluan, 'Xiao Lan, can you change the channel?'

She was naturally timid, and since falling ill, she couldn't bear to see such bloody scenes. Xie Guiluan didn't change it, as if on purpose. Song Lingwei wanted to lose her temper but didn't dare to, so she held it in.

Xie Guiluan looked down and said to her, 'I'm planning to go to that racetrack in the east city. If I die, you won't have to worry anymore.'

Song Lingwei, who had been fixing her hair, froze. Her hair fell loose as she looked at Xie Guiluan in disbelief.

Before having her child, she had spent ten years in Huai Jing, working as a hostess and occasionally going out with clients. Huai Jing hadn't changed much over the years, and she understood what Xie Guiluan was talking about.

When she first learned that Xie Guiluan was working at Blue Night, she had actually been quite disappointed. Blue Night had been open for twenty or thirty years, and she had been there before. A bar was already chaotic enough, let alone Blue Night.

With Xie Guiluan being so at odds with the Xie family, she thought he had a plan, but it turned out to be this. What good were his good grades if he ended up following in her footsteps?

But she didn't stop Xie Guiluan. After all, Blue Night paid a lot, and both she and Xie Guiluan needed the money.

She had also been to this racetrack. It had been shut down once but had reopened at a different location. The rules probably hadn't changed: win, or die, and you get the prize money.

If Xie Guiluan went, he could win 200,000 yuan—enough not only for her surgery but also to give her a few more years to live.

After Xie Guiluan finished speaking, Song Lingwei fell silent and didn't say anything. Xie Guiluan didn't say anything more either.

As the heavy rain grew worse that night, Xie Guiluan waited for a minute. Song Lingwei's face was pale, but she remained silent. Xie Guiluan didn't wait any longer and got up to leave the ward."