He Qianjian followed behind He Qianyu, a still sleepy look on his face, and just when he was rubbing his eyes, Jiang Chen’s face came into his sight. After a pause, his sleepy expression tensed instantly, and the hatred in his eyes flashed and then faded again, turning into confusion when everyone looked over.
“Mom.” He Qianjian looked puzzled: “Did you ask me to come down?”
“It was him!” Xu Xi pointed at He Qianjian, raised his head and tugged at the corner of Xu Chang’s shirt, looking confident that he would get revenge after finding a backer: “Elder Brother, he was the one who hit me!”
He Qianjian looked down and saw the small, short boy standing among He Qianmin and the others. The little boy still looked the same as when he had seen him before. Not only did he not change his clothes, but he didn’t even wash his dirty hands. He Qianjian’s expression changed slightly, recognizing him at a glance.
“Qian Jian, do you know this child?” Yang Yun asked.
He Qianjian’s eyes flickered slightly, “I…..”
“He was the one who hit me!” Xu Xi rushed over like a small cannonball, stepped on He Qianjian a few times, leaving a few dirty marks on his slippers, put his fists on his hips after stepping, and looked up at him: “Bad guy! Bad guy!”
“You…..” He Qianjian gritted his teeth. The kid looked small and short, but he was actually quite stocky. He only stepped on his toe through a thin layer of slippers, but after having it stepped on the same spot several times in a row, he could feel the swelling on his toe.
“I’m sorry.” Xu Chang apologized expressionlessly: “My little brother is young and not very sensible. If He Qianjian is injured, our family will pay for the medical expenses.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Yang Yun blushed with shame. Looking at the situation, she already knew that He Qianjian might have indeed done something to the child. How could she have the nerve to accept the child’s older brother’s apology, moreover, it sounded more like sarcasm than actually apologizing, “How heavy can a child’s stomps be.”
“Qian Jian.” Yang Yun took a deep breath, and turned to look at He Qianjian: “You went out for a walk before, did something happen on the way, this child said you hit him.”
He Qianjian glanced over at Xu Chang, and cursed inwardly. During this period of time, his mood had been getting worse day by day, and Yang Yun’s attitude this morning made him even more angry but with nowhere to let it out. When he saw this child, it happened to be when he was most irritated, and he was wearing a rustic cotton jacket, his whole body was dirty and his nose was running, and without even thinking about it, he didn’t even think that the child could have been from one of the important families who moved here. So he vented his bad mood on him, but who knew that he was actually a child of some status.
If it was before, he would not spare a thought to the two illegitimate children of the Xu family at all, and would not even let them appear in front of him at all. But now it was different from the past, and his situation in the He family was already very difficult. There must be no accidental mistakes that would make his already difficult situation feel like walking on eggshells.
He Qianjian opened his mouth, but the kid had already brought someone to his door, and he was clearly identified. The situation in front of him simply did not allow him any chance to quibble. But if he admitted to it, what would the He family think of him in the future? He could already feel the recent change in the attitude of old Mr. He, He Yanfeng and He Yanjun towards him. Currently, the soft hearts of old Mrs. He and Yang Yun was the easiest and most important premise for him to continue staying in the He family in the future.
In any case, he would never let this premise be affected by such a trivial incident.
“It should be a misunderstanding.” He Qianjian pretended to be distressed and said, “I got a few sticky bean buns from a nearby auntie’s house in the morning. I haven’t eaten them before, and they were too cold. I knocked my teeth when I bit it. I even scratched the skin of my mouth, it was so painful at the time and I didn’t care about the frozen sticky bean bun, I just threw it out, maybe it hit the child at that time.”
Seeing the scratch on He Qianjian’s upper lip, Yang Yun’s face softened a lot. She didn’t really believe that He Qianjian could do such a thing, no matter what happened between him and He Qianmin before, she didn’t believe that He Qianjian would do such a thing as bullying young children.
“Could there be some misunderstanding here?” Yang Yun looked at Xu Chang.
Xu Chang said: “Mrs. He, my little brother never lies. Things are what they are. At his age, he doesn’t know how to add embellishments. I trust him.”
He Qianjian took half a step forward, met Xu Chang’s gaze, and a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes which then turned into helplessness in an instant: “Young Master Xu, your brother probably thought that my frozen sticky bean bun deliberately hit him. I really didn’t mean it, but no matter what, it is my fault that I hit him and hurt him, and I apologize to you.”
Xu Chang grew up being ridiculed and abused since he was a child, and he was most sensitive to other people’s emotions. So he naturally did not miss the disdain that flashed in He Qianjian’s eyes just now, not to mention that his apology did not at all hold any sincerity.
“You said you didn’t know that you hit my brother?” The pale and thin young man pursed his thin lips slightly, with a serious expression on his face: “Then how can you recognize him at a glance? If you can recognize him, how can you not know you hit him?”
“Well said!” He Qianmin clapped vigorously, shrugged his shoulders when the eyes of everyone moved to him, and did not forget to express his opinion while putting down his hands: “Maybe He Qianjian also has eyes on his back, how about you take off his clothes to see?”
Jiang Chen was so amused by his words that he couldn’t help but curve his lips upwards. Out of the corner of his eye, he unintentionally caught a glimpse of He Qianjian’s hidden cold gaze, and the smile on his mouth faded away. He moved slightly and blocked He Qianmin from sight before saying mildly: “Xu Chang’s words make sense, since you didn’t know you hit Xu Xi, how did you recognize him just now?”
Jiang Chen again. He Qianjian clenched his fists tightly, and from a distance of less than three meters, the gaze that fell on Jiang Chen’s face was very dark and sinister.
“Such a big kid standing there, of course I could see it.” He Qianjian’s voice was not as calm as before, and the accumulated emotions rolled with his heaving chest. He told himself to calm down over and over again, that there would be ways to deal with Jiang Chen in the future. After imagining Jiang Chen kneeling down and begging for mercy repeatedly in his mind several times, only then did he open his mouth to defend himself: “My mouth hurt so much at the time that I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings. Now that he showed up, I remember that I seemed to have indeed heard the voice of a child. Since he said it was me, and I have indeed seen him before, I can only admit to it.”
“Mom.” He Qianjian turned to look at Yang Yun, the corners of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to show a smile, but in the end he couldn’t hold back the helplessness and grievance of being wronged: “I hope you believe me, I am your son, you should know that it is impossible for me to intentionally bully a child. I have no reason to do so, and it is impossible for me to do so.”
If it was more than a month ago, Yang Yun would never have believed that He Qianjian might bully children, but thinking of the video He Yanfeng showed her, and thinking of He Qianjian’s increasingly unstable emotions and seemingly increasingly unfamiliar character, she couldn’t help becoming a little dubious. However, she was still partial to the belief that He Qianjian didn’t do it on purpose.
Yang Yun put aside the repeated doubts in her mind, suppressed the emotions in her heart, and sighed softly: “No matter what, Xu Xi was injured because of you, please apologize to him first.”
He Qianjian nodded, lowered his head to look at Xu Xi and said, “Little friend, I’m sorry, this big brother accidentally hit you.”
Xu Xi frowned, looked at He Qianjian suspiciously, then turned to look at Xu Chang.
Xu Chang nodded slightly.
Xu Xi pouted, and looked up at He Qianjian with his hands behind his back, putting on the look of a grown-up: “Alright, I forgive you. I hope you will not bully children in the future.”
He turned around and went back to hold Xu Chang’s hand. Before Xu Chang came over, he really thought about retaliation, but the He family, except for He Qianjian, had a very good attitude in apologizing, so good that he couldn’t find a reason to keep holding on to a grudge. And thinking of what he had just heard, he glanced at Jiang Chen and felt that it was best to leave first.
Xu Chang said to Yang Yun: “Since the matter has been settled, Xiao Xi and I will leave first. Goodbye Granny He, Auntie Yang, sorry for the trouble.”
Xu Xi’s words of forgiveness were childish, and quite adorable. Normally, it would definitely make the adults laugh, but at this moment Yang Yun only felt very guilty, and she called out to Xu Chang: “Little Xu, there are many medicines for treating bruises upstairs, which can also be used by children, wait a moment, and Auntie Yang will get them for you.”
Xu Chang turned around and said, “No need.”
Old Mrs. He didn’t speak the whole time, but at this moment she held onto Xu Chang: “Go on, Xiao Xi’s face is tender at this age, and if you don’t apply the medicine, it will turn into a purple patch of bruises. It will be the spring festival soon, and it would not be a pretty sight to have such a big bruise on his face.”
“Then thank you Granny He and Auntie Yang.”
“Thank us for what.” Old Mrs. He bent down, took out a lot of candies and biscuits, put them in Xu Xi’s pocket, and said kindly: “Xiao Xi, come often to granny’s house to play.”
“Okay!” Xu Xi agreed in a high sweet voice: “This biscuit is my favorite!”
“Aren’t you afraid that big brother will hit you again?” He Qianmin squatted down, put a piece of candy into his already stuffed pocket, and made faces to scare him as he said that.
“I’m not afraid.” Xu Xi clutched his pocket: “I have my elder brother to protect me.”
“Your elder brother can’t beat He Qianjian.” He Qianmin lowered his voice, creating a terrifying atmosphere: “Look at your elder brother, he is much shorter than He Qianjian, and he will beat up your elder brother along with you.”
“I’m not afraid!” Xu Xi walked to Jiang Chen’s side, took him by the hand and said, “This big brother is a good person, and he will also protect me.”
Jiang Chen was amused and surprised, he knelt down and asked Xu Xi, “How do you know that I will protect you?”
“Because your mom is a good person, she applied medicine on me, and asked you to send me home, and you know my elder brother, so you are a good person. Good people will protect young children, bad people will bully young children, our kindergarten teacher taught us this.”
When Jiang Chen first spoke, Yang Yun happened to come down with the medicine. After listening to Jiang Chen and Xu Xi’s conversation, she paused slightly, hiding the sadness in her eyes, and said with a smile: “These medicines are all good for children. You can take them all back.”
Xu Chang took the bag from Yang Yun, thanked her, and left with Xu Xi.
When Xu Chang left, Jiang Chen was also about to leave, but Yang Yun held him back and said, “It’s time for lunch, stay and eat with us.”
Jiang Chen considered his words, and refused, “I just moved here today, and they are not very familiar with the kitchen utensils at home. I’m worried, so next time.”
Yang Yun knew this would be the answer, but she still couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed. She smiled and said, “Then I’ll see you off.”
“You should keep Grandma company, it’s just a few steps away, and Qian Min can see me off.” Jiang Chen said to old Mrs. He, “Grandma, I’ll be leaving first.”
“Wrap your collar tightly, so you don’t catch a cold.” Old Mrs. He said with a smile, “You’ve moved here, so come over to see grandma often.”
After Jiang Chen agreed, He Qianmin went out with him.
Walking to an open space, Jiang Chen took out a metal cube in the shape of a miniature audio system, and handed it to He Qianmin: “This is a signal tracking and location catcher. Put it in your room later.”
He Qianmin looked at it curiously for a while, but didn’t see anything, and asked curiously: “Brother, what’s the use of this.”
“Catching abnormal signals.” Jiang Chen didn’t explain too much: “It’s part of my current experiment.”
He Qianmin didn’t ask any more questions, put away the small cube, and nodded: “Okay.”
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