Chapter 77: You Aren’t Supposed to Hear…
The atmosphere was deathly silent. All the students present stared wordlessly at Gu Yang.
Seeing that the words he wanted to say had already achieved their effect, a twisted sense of pleasure flashed across Lu Ran’s face. He slowly loosened his grip, wearing the expression of someone waiting to watch a good show.
Gu Yang walked forward step by step.
One face after another, each with a different expression, was reflected in his gray eyes.
Xu Qingfeng was already regretting why he had come here in the first place, silently lowering his head and picking at his fingers.
Xie Wu looked extremely uncomfortable, yet he still stared steadily at him.
Lu Ji’s expression was stiff. He didn’t dare meet his eyes and could only suppress his anger as he looked toward Lu Ran.
Yu Bai forced himself to keep smiling, but he couldn’t hide the awkwardness and panic at all.
Ying Jiayi frowned lightly, looking at him as if she wanted to speak but stopped herself.
Gu Yang had never looked at them so clearly before.
The hazy barrier that had always surrounded him shattered with a crash, breaking into countless fragments. Within those fragments were reflections of countless human expressions.
It was a sight that had never truly entered his eyes before.
“Can we talk, Gu Yang?” Ying Jiayi spoke first. It took all her courage to say these words. “About this matter…”
“Jiayi,” Gu Yang called her name. “Is it because you heard my inner thoughts that you developed hostility toward Yu Zhou?”
Ying Jiayi looked at him, then nodded slowly and firmly.
“I see.”
Gu Yang said softly, resolving the question that had puzzled him before.
It was impossible to tell from that sentence what he was feeling at the moment. But after saying it, he continued walking forward step by step, leaving the place.
Everyone watched in silence. Not a single person tried to stop him.
Because none of them had the right.
When they had chosen to hide it together back then, they should have already thought about the possibility that this day would come.
“I’ll call He Ming’an,” Ying Jiayi sighed and walked aside to inform him of the situation.
“Are we really just going to let Gu Yang leave like this?” Xie Wu scratched his hair irritably, his already aggressive features darkening further.
“That’s the only thing we can do for now,” Yu Bai said. “It happened too suddenly. There wasn’t even a buffer. We don’t even know what to say yet. It’s better if everyone calms down first.”
Even as he said that, he paced around restlessly.
“But you know what Gu Yang is like…” Xie Wu hesitated mid-sentence.
Everyone understood what he meant.
Too many prior incidents. He had already jumped from the diving platform once before—how could they feel at ease letting Gu Yang be alone now?
“But none of our classmates can show up right now,” Ying Jiayi said.
“Then find Song Yinxing… wait, no, he just jumped off the platform too.” Xie Wu rubbed his forehead helplessly. “What kind of mess is this?”
While they were still panicking over what to do, Lu Ran let out a cold laugh. Since his goal had been achieved, he turned to leave.
Lu Ji moved to block him, looking down at him from above.
“While we were busy cleaning up the mess, we almost forgot about you.”
He grabbed Lu Ran by the collar and lifted him up. Lu Ran hadn’t even reacted yet when he heard the cold voice in his ear.
“If you don’t want to bite your tongue off, clench your teeth.”
Bang—
Xu Qingfeng watched at first, but after a while he couldn’t bear to look and turned away.
“Won’t someone die if he keeps beating him like that?”
“It’s fine. Lu Ji knows his limits,” Xie Wu said coolly while keeping watch around them.
Yu Bai signaled with his eyes toward the surveillance camera above them.
“Let He Ming’an handle the aftermath later,” Ying Jiayi said calmly after hanging up the phone. She didn’t even look back to see what was happening behind her. “He’ll probably be more than happy to help.”
“Did you guys see the trending topic?”
“You mean that one…?”
“That’s insane. Xia Chun is a guy? Seriously?”
Inside Class Ten’s classroom, after seeing the shocking news, no one had the mind to study anymore. Everyone was discussing it.
“I actually thought something was off before. How could a girl be taller than me?”
“What’s wrong with a tall girl? Maybe you’re just short,” a girl from the back row retorted.
The boy who had been rebutted felt embarrassed and stiffened his neck.
“Why are you defending Xia Chun?”
“If he’s actually a guy disguised as a girl, doesn’t that mean he took advantage of you without you even realizing it? Like changing clothes in the same locker room.”
As soon as he said that, the female students who had merely been gossiping suddenly looked uncomfortable.
“But I remember Xia Chun never changed clothes with us,” one girl said.
“Yeah. You barely ever saw him. He even had a medical note and rarely attended P.E.”
“What about the restroom? If he used the restroom, he definitely wouldn’t go into the men’s room,” the boy shouted louder, steering the conversation into an even uglier direction.
“Gao Yang, the way you’re talking makes it sound like you hang around outside the girls’ restroom spying on Xia Chun every day.”
Song Yinxing’s deskmate finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Let’s be honest. Didn’t you confess to Xia Chun before and get rejected? You’re just holding a grudge. Your personal bias is way too obvious.”
Being exposed like that made Gao Yang’s face turn the color of pig liver.
Laughter sounded from nearby. After all, Gao Yang had made a huge spectacle back then, acting as if victory was guaranteed—yet Xia Chun hadn’t even remembered his name.
The deskmate sighed softly. Touching the earring on his ear, he glanced sideways at the girl standing outside by the window.
Even though she knew she wouldn’t hear anything good, she still insisted on coming over.
What an idiot.
Zheng Ying stood outside silently, listening to the discussions about Xia Chun filled with malice and speculation, yet she refused to leave.
It felt like a knife was twisting inside her heart.
She didn’t even know why she felt so miserable.
Wasn’t it just a breakup?
As she rubbed her eyes and looked up, she saw Xia Chun standing not far away.
From that angle, it would be easy for people in the classroom to notice him. Zheng Ying instinctively reached out and pulled him aside.
Inside, they were still discussing Xia Chun.
The person involved listened silently without saying a word.
“Is what they’re saying true?” Zheng Ying asked stiffly, biting her lower lip.
Xia Chun leaned against the wall. In the narrow space, they stood extremely close.
But this time he didn’t avoid her awkwardly.
Instead, he slowly nodded.
After receiving the confirmation, Zheng Ying let out a long breath. Her voice trembled slightly.
“So it’s really true… You’re really awful, you know that?”
“I’m sorry.”
Xia Chun heard his own voice apologizing.
He knew Zheng Ying’s feelings, which was why he had rejected her again and again.
Yet even after being rejected, Zheng Ying kept pressing forward.
It would be impossible to say he had never been moved.
Zheng Ying was the kind of child who grew up surrounded by love. Influenced by it, she had learned the right way to love someone and was never stingy about expressing it.
But he simply had no proper position from which to respond to her feelings.
If his true identity were exposed, what would everything turn into?
Yu Bai’s reaction had already given him the answer.
There had been a period when Yu Bai was quite enthusiastic toward him. Then suddenly he avoided him like a mouse seeing a cat.
Had that person told him because they couldn’t bear to watch anymore?
Probably. After all, he was a very kind person.
Xia Chun’s thoughts wandered. He thought about many things, yet never once considered the predicament he was currently facing.
The trending topic was still hanging online, its popularity continuing to rise. Discussions on the public square were extremely heated. Countless people were tagging him, demanding a response, with words like attention-seeker and pervert mixed in.
But strangely, he felt a sense of relief.
After walking cautiously on a tightrope for so long, he had finally stepped into empty air. The fall was now irreversible.
At last, he could calmly wait for his final ending.
Zheng Ying pushed him.
“For the time being, don’t come to school. The situation’s too big now, and you already have some fame. Be careful when you go home. Don’t let people track down your address.”
She turned her head away and finally said through gritted teeth,
“If you really can’t control the public opinion, come find me. I’ll help.”
Xia Chun looked at her deeply. In the end, he said nothing and simply left step by step.
Inside the classroom, the deskmate idly clicked his mechanical pencil. Suddenly he heard suppressed sobbing outside.
His expression changed. He moved to Song Yinxing’s seat and whispered,
“Hey, it’s not that serious. Xia Chun didn’t die.”
He handed over a stack of tissues. Zheng Ying took them and pressed them to her eyes.
After a long time, she finally calmed down and said miserably,
“How would I know? I just suddenly felt like I did something really terrible to him… Ugh, this is so annoying. Obviously he’s the one who wronged me. My first love…”
In the He family’s study, He Ming’an stood to the side organizing documents while He Yihui, seated behind the desk, handled company affairs.
“Do you have something to say?” He didn’t even look up. “You’ve been wanting to speak for a while.”
“Aren’t you going to do anything?” He Ming’an said calmly.
“Let him be.”
He Ming’an turned around and looked at him for several seconds before continuing.
“Isn’t he your child?”
“When he decided to take shortcuts like this, he should have considered the consequences. I already made it clear long ago that I have nothing to do with them anymore.”
“….”
He Ming’an’s face remained expressionless.
“You don’t actually think what you’re doing is right, do you?”
“Do you know who I’m doing this for?” He Yihui slammed the documents onto the desk and finally looked up. “Do you know how big the scandal was back then? Your mother still refuses to speak to me because of that woman!”
“I gave her money to settle down and made it clear we’d have nothing to do with each other from then on! When her son couldn’t get into No.1 High School, he came begging me, so I waived his tuition and got him into Guanli! I’ve already done enough. Do you expect me to take care of him for the rest of my life?”
He Ming’an looked at him silently. A trace of dark pain flashed across his expression before it was quickly suppressed.
“Her son… isn’t he also your son?”
“To be honest, you shouldn’t have let him come into this world at all.”
He Yihui’s face instantly turned ugly. He was even shocked by He Ming’an’s words.
“How can you think like that? He’s still your younger brother. Do you hate him that much?”
“I know you all have complaints about me. I did mess up in this matter, but I’ve always been clear-headed about the bigger things.”
“Didn’t you see that I already stated long ago the company will only be inherited by you? You’re still in high school, yet I’ve already given you so much management authority. You handled so many matters at school without consulting me first—did I ever criticize you?”
“Except for that one time after your middle school entrance exams, I never contacted them privately again.”
He repeated the sentence again.
“No matter how they’re doing or what happens to them, I won’t ask another word.”
“Even if he can’t bear it and ends up taking his own life?” He Ming’an suddenly said.
He Yihui froze, his face showing incomprehension.
“What are you talking about? He’s already that old. Is he really going to threaten suicide over something like this?”
“….”
He Ming’an turned his gaze away and stopped speaking.
It was always like this.
He never saw any genuine intention from the other party to solve the problem seriously. Instead, he would stubbornly force everything back onto the path he believed was correct.
Leaving behind the mistakes from so many years ago—mistakes that continued to torment everyone involved even now.
But what was the point of saying these things now?
Things had already developed to this point.
He clearly didn’t want to get involved, yet he couldn’t cross the hurdle in his heart, so he kept trying to push the responsibility onto others.
In essence, they were really the same kind of person.
When he walked out, He Ming’an ran a tired hand through his hair. A message arrived on his phone. Thinking it was new information, he immediately checked it.
The sender was actually Ye Chen.
There was only one photo.
It was taken in a hospital. The person lying on the hospital bed flashed a carefree peace sign. In the slightly angled shot, Gu Yang could be seen sitting beside him.
He Ming’an’s expression instantly turned cold. Without caring about anything else, he immediately called a driver to take him to the Ye family’s hospital.
“Is it really okay for you to stay here with me?”
Ye Chen calmly put away his phone and took a bite of his apple, watching the person beside him with interest.
“Did Lu Ran really spill everything to you?”
Gu Yang leaned lazily against the seat, playing with the tassel hanging from his collar button.
“Wow, he really dropped a massive bomb.” Ye Chen clicked his tongue. Even when he had wanted Gu Yang to shut up the most, he’d never thought of exposing everything.
“How does it feel?” Ye Chen asked with a grin. “Being surrounded by people who can hear your thoughts—pretty awful, right?”
“They even made a private group chat without you.”
“Every time they hear something, they start discussing it.”
Ye Chen observed Gu Yang’s face, trying to catch even a hint of discomfort.
But Gu Yang suddenly asked,
“Every time?”
“So you guys can’t hear everything, after all.”
Ye Chen hadn’t expected him to catch the key point so quickly, so he simply admitted it.
“Yeah. We can only hear things related to our past, present, and future.”
His explanation was vague, but Gu Yang understood.
So they could only hear things related to the plot.
“Really? That’s great then,” Gu Yang said expressionlessly. “Otherwise it’d be pretty embarrassing.”
“You don’t look embarrassed at all,” Ye Chen complained. Tossing the apple core into the trash, he peeled a banana. “So you came all the way here just to confirm that?”
“Because your mouth is cheap,” Gu Yang said lightly.
Ye Chen nearly choked on the bite he had just swallowed.
He laughed.
“So you think I exaggerate, right? If even I say it like this, then it’s probably about right.”
“If I’d known you thought that, I should’ve exaggerated even more.”
Even though he joked like that, he didn’t really feel like joking now.
When Qi Lecheng had pushed him into the emergency room and during the time he regained consciousness afterward, perhaps because he had brushed against the line between life and death, he felt strangely clear-headed.
“Let’s make a deal,” he said, waving his phone. “I’m also in the group where they discuss you. I can show it to you.”
“You help me say a good word to He Ming’an so he lets me repeat just one grade.”
“Otherwise he’ll kick me out. If I get expelled from Guanli, my family will send me overseas. I can’t even speak the language well—I’ll suffocate sooner or later.”
In his heart, Ye Chen had already cursed He Ming’an hundreds of times. Although he knew the other party was clearly abusing his authority for personal revenge, he had been saddled with the blame of drug abuse, and even his father wasn’t willing to fight much for him.
“Sure, I did have bad intentions toward you before. But objectively speaking, didn’t I end up being the one who suffered? Let’s treat this deal as shaking hands and making peace.”
Gu Yang looked at him coldly.
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Oh, you don’t want to see it?” Ye Chen withdrew his phone, smiling maliciously. “Makes sense. Most people don’t want to face what others say about them behind their backs.”
“Do you hate me that much?” Gu Yang asked quietly.
The smile faded from Ye Chen’s face.
After thinking for a moment, he shrugged and a mocking smile returned.
“Because you let me know something I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing.”
“So the call I missed back then… was her final cry for help.”
“If that had happened in the future after I found out, I might’ve had the chance to save her.”
“But it’s already a settled fact.”
Gu Yang studied his expression carefully, as if trying to reconstruct his inner thoughts from the slightest movement of his facial muscles.
“So what does that have to do with me?” he asked, puzzled.
“I just wanted you to shut up. Who wants their dirty secrets exposed to everyone?” Ye Chen answered bluntly. But he added one decent sentence at the end. “It’s not your fault anymore. It’s Lu Ran’s. Luckily his ending was pretty satisfying.”
“I’m probably not the only one who thinks that.”
Not wanting to continue the topic, Ye Chen leaned closer to Gu Yang.
“He Ming’an must also have something he doesn’t want people to know, right? It’s so unfair—how come he never got publicly executed like the rest of us?”
“Don’t tell me he doesn’t even hold a place in your heart.”
Ye Chen deliberately dragged out his tone, repeatedly emphasizing He Ming’an’s name, hoping Gu Yang would subconsciously think about him so he could overhear something interesting.
Gu Yang instantly became alert. Even his body tensed.
Facing Ye Chen expressionlessly, he kept chanting in his mind: idiot, idiot, idiot.
But the more he tried not to think, the harder it became to control his thoughts.
Ye Chen watched expectantly.
Yet for some reason, he heard nothing.
He’s really sealed things tightly, huh.
Ye Chen kept talking.
“Speaking of which, doesn’t He Ming’an have an illegitimate younger brother? Has he ever let you meet him?”
“That scandal in the He family was pretty big back then. You two met not long after that, right?”
“Honestly, have you ever thought about what kind of feelings He Ming’an has toward you? He’s never been that good to anyone else.”
“Do you think there’s a possibility that he—”
Before he could finish speaking, the door was pushed open.
He Ming’an stood there.
His expression lacked his usual gentleness. He looked at Ye Chen, who was leaning very close to Gu Yang, with a blank face.
Ye Chen grinned.
“Good afternoon, class monitor.”
He Ming’an ignored him completely and walked forward step by step until he reached Gu Yang.
He took Gu Yang’s hand and moved to lead him away.
Very gently—without using much force.
But Gu Yang still stood up, following his lead.
Ye Chen’s teasing gaze slid out of his field of vision. Without looking back again, He Ming’an took Gu Yang and left.
Inside the car, both of them were unusually silent.
For Gu Yang it wasn’t strange, but He Ming’an didn’t know what to say.
He shouldn’t have come to see him like this.
Ying Jiayi had already told him everything, yet he still didn’t know what attitude he should take toward Gu Yang.
After all, he had also been one of the people who kept the silence.
“I didn’t expect to find you there,” he finally said. “You should stay away from people like Ye Chen. He had bad intentions toward you before, and he hasn’t changed.”
“If you have anything you want to ask… just ask me.”
Gu Yang slowly turned his gaze from the window.
“What should I ask you?”
“About the things you all hid from me? Or about Xia Chun?”
He Ming’an lowered his eyes helplessly.
“For the first one, I should apologize first. But for the second… I might have to ask you instead.”
“You can hear it, can’t you? Then just listen yourself,” Gu Yang said irritably, turning away again and resting his chin on his hand.
He Ming’an’s eyes widened as he looked at him in shock.
But this time—
he heard nothing at all.
