Chapter 42 Visit

Chapter 42: An Unexpected Visit

Yan Zhoubai hadn't anticipated the public apologies from the Ji, Rong, and Dai families to be scheduled for this Saturday. Even more surprising was that these three would actually come looking for him.

Yan Zhoubai didn’t have contact information for any of them. When he woke up on Friday morning, he found three friend requests waiting, each with a different verification message.

The first read: "Yan Zhoubai, you're not even coming to our public apology? I’ve staked my reputation—why aren’t you coming? Hurry up and accept my friend request!"

The second: "I'm Dai Jian. Please accept my friend request—there’s something important I need to discuss."

The third: "Rong Qian."

From just these three messages, Yan Zhoubai could easily identify each sender.

He wasn’t the least bit curious about how they had gotten his contact information. It wasn't as if he knew no one at school; some classmates had his contact information, so it wouldn’t have been hard for them to find out.

He didn't understand why they were contacting him now. Shouldn’t they be happy he wasn’t attending their public apology? They could even take the opportunity to cancel it. Yan Zhoubai didn't believe for a moment that the apology was voluntary; it had to be forced by their families.

Yan Zhoubai ignored all the requests, acting as if he hadn't seen them.

But to his surprise, the three of them persisted, continuously sending friend requests. Ji Yangwen’s behavior was to be expected—Yan Zhoubai knew he was shameless enough to do this. But he hadn’t anticipated Dai Jian and Rong Qian would keep it up too.

"Sweetie, are you really not going to go? Don't you want to see how pathetic they look?" the System asked.

"No, I don’t want to see them, and I won’t accept their apologies," Yan Zhoubai said firmly.

The past had indeed traumatized his young heart, but with time, those wounds had slowly faded. Still, he would never forgive them and had no intention of wasting any more energy on them.

"Besides, tomorrow I’m taking Huihui out to meet Zhan Jiayu. A smart dog like Huihui should be shown off to everyone."

Talking about taking Huihui to meet Zhan Jiayu clearly made Yan Zhoubai happy. He genuinely wanted to share his love for Huihui with others.

"Absolutely, Huihui is the best dog in the world."

At the mention of Huihui, the System immediately forgot about the other three. These days, the System had basically become Huihui’s digital caretaker. Lately, its conversations with its young host were filled with phrases like, "Huihui is amazing," "Huihui is so adorable," "I wish I could pet Huihui," and "It’s time to take Huihui for a walk again."

But Yan Zhoubai hadn't expected that on Saturday—the day Ji Yangwen and the others were supposed to issue their public apology, and the day Yan Zhoubai had planned to introduce Huihui to Zhan Jiayu—Ji Yangwen would appear alone at the front gate of the Yan family villa in the morning.

With him were various media crews that had originally planned to cover the public apology. Though not all media outlets were there—since the apology involved three families—quite a few had come.

The Western Hills Villa had tight security, but the sudden arrival of such a large crowd overwhelmed it.

The incident had already created an uproar online, with immense public interest and high traffic. No media outlet wanted to miss out on such a big story, so they had staked out near the Ji, Rong, and Dai homes early in the morning.

To their surprise, one of the main people involved in the incident, Ji Yangwen, had abruptly left his home early that morning and headed straight for the Western Hills Villa. Smelling a big story, a group of reporters followed him, resulting in this chaotic situation.

"Yan Zhoubai, come out! I’m here to apologize to you!"

Yan Zhoubai was dumbfounded when he saw the crowd gathered outside.

What was Ji Yangwen doing at his doorstep? And why were there so many reporters? Wasn’t today supposed to be the public apology? Were they going to apologize right at his doorstep?

Wasn't Ji Yangwen's leg injured? How did he even get here? Using crutches?

Only Yan Zhoubai and Bu Qiran were home at the time. The Yan parents and Yan Anxuan had left for the company early that morning to handle the public apology matter. No one had expected Ji Yangwen to show up at their doorstep.

"What's happening? Why all the noise outside?" Bu Qiran asked lazily as he came downstairs. He had planned to sleep in but was woken up by the commotion.

When he reached the living room, he saw the servants and Yan Zhoubai gathered by the entrance, staring motionless outside. As he approached, he heard Ji Yangwen shouting from outside:

"Yan Zhoubai, please come outside. I’m sincerely here to apologize. Bullying you before was my fault. I was wrong, and I’m not a good person. You can hit me or yell at me—I truly regret what I did. Please come outside."

"What the hell?" Bu Qiran uttered his first question of the day. "So, Ji Yangwen skipped the scheduled public apology, came here to apologize to you, and brought a bunch of reporters with him? The public apology should be starting right now. There’s probably a live broadcast online."

"Wasn’t he in the hospital a few days ago? The other two probably recovered quickly, but Ji Yangwen couldn't have recovered that quickly. Did he limp all the way here?"

Yan Zhoubai ignored Bu Qiran. He was furious. How could Ji Yangwen pull something like this? It seemed like he wouldn’t leave unless Yan Zhoubai came out. With so many reporters around, who knows what tomorrow's headlines will be?

"Let’s have someone escort him away. But he’s only making a scene outside—if he actually attempts to break in, that’s a different story."

Although Bu Qiran usually enjoyed drama, even he thought Ji Yangwen’s behavior was tasteless.

"I’m going out."

Yan Zhoubai started toward the door, but Bu Qiran grabbed his arm.

"Why go out now? It’s chaotic out there. What if you get hurt in the crowd? Your hand just healed. If you get injured again today, your brother will give me an earful when he gets back."

Bu Qiran saw Yan Zhoubai as fragile—like a delicate porcelain doll. The last time, a light push had sent him tumbling, and a minor scrape on his hand had taken days to heal. Someone with that kind of constitution shouldn’t be diving into a crowd.

"Leave me alone!"

Yan Zhoubai shook off Bu Qiran’s hand and stormed out of the living room. To Bu Qiran, he looked like an angry doll, puffing up with frustration but not knowing what to say or do—just charging forward with the desperation of someone pushed to their limit.

And wasn’t that exactly what was happening? Bu Qiran knew Yan Zhoubai used to stutter and had a soft personality, making it difficult for him to face the media. Charging out alone now was no different from grabbing a megaphone and shouting at his coming-of-age ceremony.

"What do you want?" Yan Zhoubai asked Ji Yangwen through the villa’s wrought-iron gate.

The reporters surrounding Ji Yangwen immediately turned their cameras toward Yan Zhoubai, snapping photos incessantly.

Two servants in the living room looked as though they wanted to step in and help. These were the same two who had been scolded by Yan Anxuan after Yan Zhoubai sneaked out to have dinner with Zhan Jiayu without their knowledge. But Bu Qiran stopped them.

"Don’t bother. Let them take pictures. Whether they have the guts to publish them is another matter."

Bu Qiran hadn’t been back long, and while the servants treated him politely out of respect for the Yan parents, some secretly looked down on him—the true heir who had been missing for 18 years and dressed eccentrically.

But in that moment, the servants sensed the same imposing aura from Bu Qiran that they saw in his parents and older brother. His cold expression carried an undeniable pressure, and there was an unsettling, almost sinister energy about him that made people wary.

Ji Yangwen, perhaps because he was facing the media, was dressed formally in a black suit, his hair neatly styled. Standing still, he showed no obvious signs of his leg injury.

"I have no ulterior motives. I just wanted to apologize to you in person. Since you didn’t show up to the public apology, I had to come to your home. I feel that an apology should be face-to-face to show sincerity. I don’t want it to seem like I’m just putting on a show for the media."

Ji Yangwen’s tone sounded genuine, and he meant every word.

Although his actions were less severe than Zhou Chengwen’s group, they were still far from innocent—especially since Yan Zhoubai had been soft-spoken and prone to stuttering back then. The more Ji Yangwen thought about it, the more he regretted his past behavior. He had wanted to apologize but couldn’t swallow his pride, telling himself it was all in the past.

When the bullying incident at Lixing High School exploded online, he and the others were thrust into the spotlight. His family had rushed to the hospital that day, berating him harshly, and his father had nearly hit him.

The scene at the hospital was chaotic, and Ji Yangwen panicked, never expecting things to escalate so badly. His father’s extreme reaction stemmed from fear that they might be implicated alongside Zhou Chengwen’s group, potentially facing legal consequences. It took a lot of explaining to avoid a beating.

Amid the shock and confusion, another thought crossed Ji Yangwen’s mind: maybe this was a legitimate chance to apologize to Yan Zhoubai.

And if he apologized, maybe there was a possibility of mending their relationship.

Reality, however, dashed his hopes.

"No need. I won’t forgive any of you. Even if you kneel here today, it won’t change a thing."