Chapter 309

Chapter 309

◎Involved in a Murder Case◎

For the parent-teacher meeting, Ji Nanxing's family sent his young mom. His sister even made a special trip back from the research institute to attend, but their parents shot down the idea, saying, "Why send our daughter when we’re both here?"

Then, Ji’s mom and dad settled the matter with a game of rock-paper-scissors—starting with best of one, then best of three, then best of five, until finally, after a best-of-seven showdown, the winner was decided.

Early in the morning, the Ji household was bustling. From hairstylists to beauticians, stylists to manicurists, Ji Yanting kept updating Ji Nanxing on their mom’s progress.

Your Sister Will Always Be Your Sister: "It’s just a parent-teacher meeting, but Mom’s treating it like a beauty pageant."

Ji Family’s Forever Xiao Bao: "She looks great. Thanks for all the effort, Mom. [soybean emoji laughing-crying]"

Ji Family’s Forever Xiao Bao: "Who changed my name?"

Your Sister Will Always Be Your Sister: "Yours truly, your big sis."

Big Bro Workaholic: "Change it back!"

Your Sister Will Always Be Your Sister: "Why? What’s wrong with the name? Xiao Bao is Xiao Bao."

Big Bro Workaholic: "I meant your name. This group chat isn’t just for your brother—it’s for me too. And who changed my name? Do you still want next month’s spending money?"

Ji Yanting scoffed. As if she didn’t have her own allowance.

But the next second, the siblings’ group chat name was changed again.

Your Brother Will Always Be Your Brother: "Much better."

Ji Family’s Forever Xiao Bao: "[fox wagging tail emoji]"

Ji Family’s One and Only Princess: "Everyone happy now? Good."

Fashion-Obsessed Third Brother Ji: "I’m not satisfied!! Why am I ‘Fashion-Obsessed’?!"

Ji Family’s One and Only Princess: "Mom’s already picking out shoes. Don’t worry, Xiao Bao, the stylist nailed it this time—Mom’s looking classy but low-key."

Ji Family’s Forever Xiao Bao: "Mom looks naturally elegant in anything."

Your Brother Will Always Be Your Brother: "Break it up, guys. Don’t distract Xiao Bao from class."

Fashion-Obsessed Third Brother Ji: "Lemme borrow that real quick? Can anyone see my request? Am I not worthy of renaming rights?"

After waiting half the day with no one changing his name, Ji Yuanting rolled his eyes and tried to edit it himself to something cooler. But Ji Yanting sent a message to the group chat.

Ji Family’s One and Only Princess: "Third Brother Ji, don’t you dare touch that setting!"

Fashion-Obsessed Third Brother Ji: "Try me and die, hmph."

Every family has someone at the bottom of the family food chain. In the eyes of the world, a fashion tyrant and a prodigy occultist, Ji Yuanting was undeniably the bottom of the Ji family ladder.

Amused, Ji Nanxing put away his phone. Xiao Ye, who had been waiting for him to finish chatting, leaned over. "Who’s coming from your family today?"

Ji Nanxing: "My young mom."

Xiao Ye nodded, then noticed a female classmate across the aisle fixing her hair in a mirror. He clicked his tongue to get her attention. "Lemme borrow that real quick?"

The girl handed over the small mirror propped on her desk. Xiao Ye gave himself a once-over—he’d showered and washed his hair that morning. His face was clean, no eye gunk, no food stuck in his teeth, and his clothes were spotless. Perfect. A clean-cut high schooler always left a good impression.

Ji Nanxing watched him finish preening before saying, "Since when do you care about your appearance?"

Xiao Ye: "Well, parents are coming. Gotta make a good impression."

Ji Nanxing: "Who's coming from your family today?"

Xiao Ye: "My sister-in-law. She usually comes for these parent-teacher meetings. My brother can't be bothered with these things. Lucky me having an awesome sister-in-law—without her, this family would fall apart."

After class, to prepare for the afternoon parent-teacher meeting, the class did a thorough cleaning. From the windows to the floors, even the ceiling fans were wiped down with cloths.

Someone rubbed their sore back and sighed, "The world I see isn't the world I live in."

Another asked curiously, "What world do you see, and what world do you live in?"

The first replied, "I see parents doing this kind of cleaning for students. Why do we have to do it ourselves?"

Zhang Yuan chuckled, "Don’t worry, you'll get to live that privileged life someday."

The words sounded a bit convoluted, and it took a moment for everyone to catch his meaning. Once they did, someone wailed dramatically, "Guess we're the suckers who got stuck doing all the work!"

While everyone was busy cleaning, Dong Qi nervously ran to the bathroom several times. Seeing his state, Zhang Yuan tried to comfort him, "Don’t worry too much. Later, we’ll go with you to the police station. With classmates around, your family won’t dare beat you to death on the spot. Once the initial anger passes, things might calm down."

Dong Qi shook his head, "It'll just buy me time, not get me off the hook."

As time passed, parents began arriving. Outside, Mrs. Ji naturally didn’t call her son "baby" like she did at home—this was school, and kids cared about their dignity. If she kept it up, she worried others might nickname him a "mama’s boy."

Still, seeing her son, she couldn’t resist her usual affection. She took Ji Nanxing’s hand and smoothed his hair, "I brought some afternoon tea for you and Xiao Ye. There’s plenty, so share it with your classmates later. Are your classes exhausting you? Want me to get you out of evening study hall? It’s just study time anyway—better to go home early and sleep. You’re at that growing age - need all the sleep you can get."

Ji Nanxing laughed, "No need. I can catch some Z's whenever I want. The teachers aren’t too strict with me."

Mrs. Ji couldn't help pinching his cheek. Ever since Ji Nanxing's health improved, the family had been making up for years of lost affection. They couldn’t help but hug, kiss, or pinch him whenever they saw him. "All I ask is that you eat well, stay healthy, and be happy. If anything goes wrong, big bro's got your back."

Ji Nanxing smiled, "Got it. My seat’s over there by the window."

This was Mrs. Ji’s first time in a senior-year classroom. Seeing his seat, she worried, "Isn't it too sunny? Won't it mess with your naptime?"

Ji Nanxing: "Not really. Besides, it’ll get cold soon—sunlight will feel nice."

Mrs. Ji nodded, "True. Where’s Xiao Ye? I don’t see him."

Ji Nanxing: "He went to pick up his sister-in-law. She’s coming for his parent-teacher meeting."

Just then, Xiao Ye returned with his sister-in-law, Fang Li.

Seeing Mrs. Ji, Xiao Ye hurried over to greet her, "Hi Auntie! It's Xiao Ye."

Mrs. Ji beamed, "I know! You came over for New Year's. I even held you as a baby. Not like this little crybaby of mine, you laughed whenever anyone picked you up—total social butterfly even back then."

Fang Li smiled, "That’s why he grew up so outgoing and mischievous. Nanxing's such a good boy—never gives anyone trouble."

Mrs. Ji sighed playfully, "Oh, don't let him fool you. All kids are worrisome. But he’s so quiet, I always worry kids will push him around."

Fang Li glanced at her brother-in-law, "With Xiao Ye around, who’d dare give Nanxing trouble?"

Xiao Ye chimed in earnestly, "Don’t worry, Auntie. If anyone gives Naonao trouble, I’ll make them regret it."

Mrs. Ji loved seeing her son surrounded by friends—the livelier, the better. Having a few true friends was even more precious. Young people should play and make noise—that’s what youth is for.

As more parents arrived, the classroom filled up. Students milled about outside, finding places to hang out. Zhang Yuan noticed the empty seat next to his dad and frowned, "Dong Qi, where’s your family?"

Dong Qi shook his head: "I don't know. My mom said she’d come to the parent-teacher meeting."

Zhang Yuan took out his phone: "Should I call your place?"

Dong Qi: "I already tried. No one answered. Maybe they're on their way."

After getting scammed in that online romance, Dong Qi wasn’t in the mood to play basketball with the others. He was totally adrift and instinctively stuck close to Zhang Yuan and Xiao Ye, finding them steady and reliable.

Soon, Jiang Tangtang and the other girls came over. Seeing the table full of bird’s nest soup (a luxury Chinese delicacy), they cheered: "Wow! What's this? Sweet soup?"

Xiao Ye handed them disposable bowls: "Nanxing’s mom brought it."

Jiang Tangtang gasped again: "I’ve never tried bird’s nest before!"

Noticing an extra person, she tilted her head and blinked: "Dong Qi? Why are you here? You look terrible. Flunk the test and bracing for a whipping?"

Dong Qi forced a weak smile: "Failing the exam would’ve been a blessing."

Before Zhang Yuan or the others could speak, Dong Qi recounted the entire scam himself. Maybe saying it out loud numbed the sting—he wasn’t as panicked as before. But with his parents missing the meeting, the axe hanging over his head felt even worse.

The girls gasped: "Scammers can pull that off? With AI tech this advanced, if someone gets your ID number and makes a deepfake video for a loan, couldn’t they borrow as much as they want?"

Zhang Yuan: "First, high-interest loans are illegal. Second, if someone uses that tech to borrow money, the victim can report it and won’t have to repay. Loan sharks are in it for the payout—no repayment means they’re screwed. So they’ll verify carefully, or they’ll go bankrupt. As tech improves, so do anti-scam measures. Keep up with cases and updates to avoid being tricked."

After hearing Dong Qi’s story, Chen Shiyi thought it was nearly impossible to guard against. Even if you don’t date early, you can’t avoid video calls with friends.

As he muttered, Zhang Yuan said: "Since when do friends ask you to strip on camera?"

Chen Shiyi had an epiphany: "Right. Anyone who asks you to undress is definitely shady."

Dong Qi, now branded 'shady,' hid his face. Though revisiting the topic helped him cope, it still felt like public humiliation.

By the time the parent-teacher meeting ended, his family still hadn’t shown up. After the meeting, parents could take their kids home. Thrilled to ditch night study hall, most students happily skipped toward the school gate—except those who did poorly or got scolded, who dragged their feet, bracing for the lecture at home.

Only then did Dong Qi get a call from his family—they rushed his grandmother to the hospital after she fell and hit her head.

Dong Qi went pale. His hands shook when he ended the call.

Zhang Yuan nudged him: "Move it! Get to the hospital!"

Dong Qi stumbled on his way out of the shabby building. If Xiao Ye hadn’t caught him, he would’ve fallen. Seeing how shaken he was, the others decided to accompany him and explain the scam to his family—the longer they waited, the worse it’d get.

The girls didn’t join. Too many people wouldn’t help. Watching the boys leave, they sighed: "Dong Qi’s so unlucky. Talk about ‘when it rains, it pours.’"

Chen Shiyi nodded: "Yep."

The girls turned: "Why aren’t you going with them?"

Chen Shiyi looked baffled: "I’m not close to Dong Qi. Why would I go? For fun?"

The girls nodded: "True. You’d just be dead weight."

Chen Shiyi: "…Gee, thanks."

Since the next day was the weekend, Ji’s mom planned to pick Nanxing up. With his sister back, the family could have a nice dinner. But with this situation, Nanxing told his stepmom to head back without him while he checked on things with the others.

Ji’s mom just said, “Be careful,” and had the family driver take them.

Fang Li said: "I’ll drive you."

Mrs. Ji smiled and took Fang Li's arm: "Thank you so much. These kids are really a handful."

Fang Li replied with a smile: "Youthful friendships are the most precious."

Xiao Ye and the others accompanied Dong Qi to the hospital. As soon as they saw his parents, before Dong Qi could even speak, his father slapped him across the face—so fast neither Xiao Ye nor Zhang Yuan could react in time to stop it.

The loud *smack* rang out as it landed on Dong Qi’s face. Xiao Ye immediately shielded Ji Nanxing behind him, afraid he might get caught in the crossfire, then stepped between Dong Qi and his father: "Uncle, what are you doing? Let’s talk this through calmly."

Zhang Yuan also moved to block them, preventing further aggression.

Dong Qi’s father, eyes red with anger, pointed at his son: "You’ve always been irresponsible, but at least you listened. Now look at what you’ve done! Were you fooling around and got into debt? Did you borrow money? What exactly did you do out there? Tens of thousands in debt? You’re a student—all you do is go to class every day! How could you possibly owe so much? Did you get involved in something you shouldn’t have? Gambling? Drugs? Huh?!"

Zhang Yuan quickly intervened: "Uncle, please calm down. It’s not what you think. Dong Qi didn’t borrow money—he was scammed. He didn’t owe anything. Scammers stole his info to take out loans under his name. Your family won’t be liable for this debt. Just report it to the police and explain the situation clearly."

Dong Qi’s father was livid, face red and veins popping. Only when Dong Qi’s mother heard his classmate’s explanation did she step in to restrain her husband: "What happened? Who scammed him?"

Zhang Yuan glanced at Dong Qi, who was still dazed from the slap, huddled off to the side, crying quietly. He sighed: "Uncle, Auntie, let’s discuss this step by step. But how did you find out about the debt?"

Dong Qi’s mother wiped her tears: "This afternoon, a group of people came to our house, saying Dong Qi owed them money. They had some kind of loan document with his personal information. We couldn’t understand it, but they claimed he owed tens of thousands and demanded repayment. We wanted to wait for Dong Qi to come home and ask him about it, but they got violent—shouting threats, pushing us around. In the struggle, they knocked his grandmother down, and she hit her head on the ground."

The elderly are fragile—even a minor fall can be life-threatening, let alone a forceful shove that caused her to hit her head. When the thugs saw what had happened, they hurled a few more threats about repaying the debt and left. The family rushed the grandmother to the hospital, where she was still in the emergency room.

That was why Dong Qi’s father had lashed out the moment he saw his son.

Dong Qi stared blankly at the operating room doors, utterly lost. His grandmother didn’t just fall—she was hurt because of him. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Who would’ve thought that what seemed like a typical online fling, where the worst-case scenario was losing some cash, would spiral into such a disaster?

Dong Qi dropped to his knees, sobbing: "I’m sorry… Mom, Dad, I was wrong. I know I messed up. It’s all my fault. Will Grandma be okay? Mom, will she be alright?"

His mother hugged him tightly: "She’ll pull through. She has to."

Xiao Ye turned to Ji Nanxing, who shook his head slightly: "No death aura."

Relieved, Xiao Ye exhaled in relief.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan was still explaining to Dong Qi’s father: "The most important thing now is to report this to the police and file a case. The thugs who attacked your family need to be tracked down—they can be held liable for medical expenses."

Dong Qi’s father stayed quiet, taking it all in. His mother asked anxiously: "If Dong Qi never signed anything or personally took out a loan, this kind of fraud—where scammers use fake videos to borrow money—has nothing to do with the victim."

His own father was a police officer, so he knew more about these procedures than most. He gave them detailed advice on what to emphasize when reporting the crime and what evidence to preserve. Once they were sure Dong Qi’s parents wouldn’t resort to violence again, Xiao Ye and the others didn’t linger at the hospital.

After all, the grandmother’s condition was still uncertain, and the family couldn’t leave to file a police report just yet. There was no point in the guys sticking around.

September was bringing cooler weather. Though they were still in summer clothes, the breeze carried a slight chill.

Xiao Ye glanced at Ji Nanxing: "Cold?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head: "The temperature’s just right—not too hot or cold."

Zhang Yuan sighed: "These are the most comfortable days. It’ll only get colder soon. Nan Xing, last time you said Dong Qi had signs of financial loss. Do you still see that now?"

Ji Nanxing: "I didn’t look closely at his finances this time, only his family ties. There were no signs of severance, meaning no one in his family is in danger of passing away."

Zhang Yuan sighed again: "Scammers are truly despicable. One fraudster can ruin so many families."

Xiao Ye: "Hopefully Dong Qi learns from this. After what happened, he’ll probably never trust strangers online again. A tough lesson, but at least the financial loss is settled. Naonao, your fortune-telling’s still spot-on."

Ji Nanxing: "Thanks for the compliment."

Xiao Ye grinned, showing his white teeth: "You're welcome."

That evening, Dong Qi sent them a WeChat message to let them know everything was okay. Although his grandmother was elderly, the fall wasn’t serious—just some bone fractures due to her fragile bones, requiring hospitalization for recovery. His parents had also taken him to the police to report the situation, though it would take some time to investigate the people who had shown up at their door.

Dong Qi’s situation was now out in the open with his family. Everyone figured things wouldn’t get worse since the police were involved. If those guys showed up again, they could just take them straight to the station and sue them for the medical costs from their attack.

But then, a week later, on Monday, Dong Qi didn’t come to school. Zhang Yuan, using his dad’s police connections, learned that one of their classmates was involved in a homicide case. When he asked around, he was stunned to learn it was Dong Qi.

Everyone was stunned.

Zhang Yuan hung up the phone and looked at Ji Nanxing: "Didn’t you pick up any signs he was mixed up in a murder?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head: "I only saw financial loss. When it comes to murder—whether as the perpetrator or victim—there’s usually some ominous red aura. Dong Qi didn’t have that."

Xiao Ye: "No way Naonao got this wrong!"

Zhang Yuan: "If his face didn’t show it, then Dong Qi might be falsely accused."

Ji Nanxing: "Where is Dong Qi now? Can we go see him?"

He wanted to figure out what was going on—how, out of nowhere, Dong Qi had gotten tangled up in a murder case.

Zhang Yuan: "I’ll let you know after I find out more about the situation."