Chapter 100: I Know Your Secret!

Chapter 100: Chapter 100: I Know Your Secret!

"Thank you, thank you so much. The rice wine your mother-in-law brews is excellent." Zhang Fu smiled warmly and took it from her. "I’ll go transfer this and return your bowl. Zhang Yun, take Xiuxun inside for some tea."

Xiuxun hurriedly waved her hands. "No need, no need. I’m heading back right away."

When Zhang Fu went into the kitchen, Zhang Yun and Xiuxun were left standing alone in the courtyard. For a moment, Zhang Yun didn’t know what to say.

"You’re going on blind dates now, Zhang Yun? I could introduce you to some girls, too," Xiuxun said, not pretending she hadn’t overheard their previous conversation.

Zhang Yun looked into Xiuxun’s large, watery eyes. He didn’t know if he was overthinking it, but he thought he saw a hint of relief mixed with a touch of regret in her gaze.

"Haha, I’m in no rush. It’s my dad who’s anxious. I even told him he should find me a stepmother first."

"You didn’t, did you?" Xiuxun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Zhang Fu poured the fermented rice wine from the large bowl into his own basin. He gave the bowl a quick rinse and brought it back out. He had noticed something brewing earlier and didn’t want his son spending too much time alone with Xiuxun.

"You silly boy, you can’t just spout nonsense like that! What do you mean *I’m* anxious? I’m anxious for *you*! People are going to misunderstand and think an old man like me is still looking for romance..." Zhang Fu chuckled as he emerged from the kitchen, making himself the butt of the joke.

"Wait a moment, Xiuxun. Zhang Yun’s classmates brought a lot of fruit earlier. The two of us could never finish it all, so take some home with you." After handing Xiuxun her bowl, he hurried back into the living room. Xiuxun would have stayed to chat for a bit longer, but the offer of a return gift made her hastily decline and hurry home.

"Where did Xiuxun go?" By the time Zhang Fu came out carrying the fruit, she was already gone.

Zhang Yun looked at his father with a half-smile. He thought, "You deliberately acted overly enthusiastic to scare her off, and now you’re playing dumb!"

Zhang Fu felt a little embarrassed under his son’s gaze and lowered his voice. "We’re neighbors; we see each other every single day. Don’t go getting any wild ideas. You’re making a name for yourself now, so what kind of great girl could you possibly fail to find?"

"Dad, I’m not..." Zhang Yun was speechless and ready to launch into a rapid-fire string of denials.

"I know, I know! It’s not love. It’s just an excess of testosterone, or a mating season of sorts. Find a woman to help you sort it out, and you won’t be itching like a cat in heat every day."

"..."

His father’s words almost made Zhang Yun cough up blood. Was he really in that kind of state? Besides, humans were creatures capable of being in heat all year round; it wasn’t his fault! Was he supposed to apologize for being born a human with year-round raging hormones?

As father and son were chatting and laughing in hushed tones, someone suddenly dashed through the courtyard gate! The person charged straight at them, giving Zhang Fu quite a fright. If Zhang Yun’s eyesight hadn’t been so sharp lately, allowing him to instantly recognize Yang Bo, he would have treated it as an attack and kicked the intruder right back out.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Yun grabbed and pinned him down.

Fueled by liquid courage, Yang Bo shoved Zhang Yun as hard as he could, but Zhang Yun didn’t budge an inch.

"I have something to tell you. You must lend me the money! Not one hundred thousand, but three hundred thousand!" Yang Bo wore a somewhat sinister smile.

Zhang Yun sneered. "Why? Because your skin has grown even thicker?"

"Let’s talk inside!" Yang Bo grabbed Zhang Yun and dragged him toward the house.

Zhang Yun didn’t want to make a scene in the courtyard for outsiders to hear, so he nodded at his father, signaling him to head to the kitchen first. He then dragged Yang Bo inside.

"Yang Bo, don’t think I won’t hit you just because we used to be classmates! I still haven’t beaten you up for talking trash about me in the class group chat the other day!" Zhang Yun thought, "If we weren’t in my house right now, I would have kicked you into the next week!"

"You killed someone!" Yang Bo began to laugh bizarrely.

"You’re out of your mind!" Zhang Yun smacked him across the face.

"Hit me! Hitting me just proves you’re feeling guilty! Because I know your secret!" Even though his face stung, Yang Bo seemed to be high on adrenaline. He craned his neck stubbornly and leaned in closer. "Tsk, tsk. It seems you’ve already forgotten, haven’t you? You sure have a lot of conscience. It’s just a shame your conscience was completely eaten by dogs!"

Baffled and afraid his father might hear and worry, Zhang Yun grabbed Yang Bo by the hair and lowered his voice. "Forgotten what? You better explain yourself clearly, or I’ll throw you in the river to sober you up!"

"Teacher Cao’s son!"

"What about Teacher Cao’s son?"

"Teacher Cao’s son died of food poisoning! What kind of food poisoned him? Heh! There were rats in the dorms back then, and you brought rat poison from the countryside. You soaked a batch of steamed buns in it to poison the rats!"

Zhang Yun remembered. Something like that had indeed happened, and he was the one who brought the rat poison.

"Back then, your poisoned steamed buns were distributed to a bunch of different dorm rooms. And then... Teacher Cao’s son was little. He didn’t know any better and didn’t care about hygiene. While playing in the first-floor dorms, he picked up a bun and ate it!"

Yang Bo stared at Zhang Yun and spoke with absolute certainty. "The forensic doctor confirmed he died from food poisoning. The school conducted a full investigation of the cafeteria but found absolutely nothing. Fearing the negative impact on their reputation, the school suppressed the matter and kept it quiet. But you all knew in your hearts! It was from the batch of buns you used to poison the rats!"

"Impossible..." Zhang Yun shook his head instinctively. However, so much time had passed, and poisoning rats was such a trivial matter that he genuinely couldn’t recall which dorm rooms had asked for the buns. And, of course, he hadn’t seen Teacher Cao’s son playing on the first floor either.

"Tsk, tsk! I thought your conscience would be eating away at you. But it looks like you’ve been pretending it never happened this whole time. You don’t think it’s your fault at all! The adults didn’t keep a close eye on him, and the kid picked up random things to eat—that’s their problem. The people who made the poisoned buns didn’t hide them well enough—that’s their problem too. But!" Yang Bo leaned right into Zhang Yun’s face. "You were the one who brought the rat poison. And you were the one who came up with the idea to mix it with water and soak steamed buns in it! You are the main culprit!"

Zhang Yun was momentarily at a loss for words. He had to admit this was a massive shock to him. If it was really because of him—even if it was indirectly connected through multiple degrees—it was still a child’s life!

"Do you know what happened to Teacher Cao in the end? His family was torn apart and he never recovered from the blow! And all of this is because of you!" Yang Bo grabbed Zhang Yun by the shirt and threatened, "If you don’t lend me three hundred thousand, I’ll expose everything! When the time comes, you won’t just be dealing with a guilty conscience; you’ll be despised and cursed by everyone! Teacher Cao’s family will come knocking on your door!"

"You’re sick in the head!" Zhang Yun unceremoniously slapped him again.

"Hit me! How many slaps has that been? One hundred thousand per slap. I want five hundred thousand now!" Yang Bo sneered. "You forced my hand. Originally, I just wanted to borrow one hundred thousand. But you humiliated me and hit me, refusing to give me even a hundred! Now I want five hundred thousand from you. Because once this is exposed, you’ll lose everything!"

Zhang Yun hauled him up by the collar and dragged him straight outside.

"Let me go. The more disrespectful you are to me now, the more severe the consequences will be. I can raise the price at any time!" Yang Bo was no longer talking about borrowing money; he was straight-up extorting him.

With a single smack, Zhang Yun knocked him unconscious. He dragged him outside and soon spotted Liu Yu and Gao Dajin smoking a short distance away.

"Zhang Yun... Yang Bo said he still had business with you. We couldn’t stop him."

"Yeah, this has nothing to do with us. We had no idea what he wanted to do."

Zhang Yun tossed the unconscious Yang Bo right in front of them. "Take this drunk away!" He then turned his back, ignoring them completely.

Upon returning inside, a thorn of doubt lingered in Zhang Yun’s heart. Was what Yang Bo said true?

The issue was that he wasn’t familiar with Teacher Cao at all. He only had a vague impression of the incident because rumors had circulated about it at the time.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Yun sent a message to Chen Hui.