Chapter Thirty-Six Past Life and Present Life

  Wenhan is now very sentimental.

  In the previous life, shortly after October, Ji Su became Gu Wenyan's publicly acknowledged girlfriend. The two often appeared together in public places such as the playground and cafeteria. The boy was tall, handsome, and charming, while the girl was pure, beautiful, gentle, and elegant. They were praised as the most compatible golden boy and jade girl in the 60-year history of Qingyi Middle School, excelling in both appearance and talent. In that era of fluttering white clothes, they became the object of admiration or envy for all students. The most sensational event at the time was when dozens of boys from different classes and grades gathered in their dormitory to get drunk, using this as a way to commemorate their brief infatuation and the sorrow of youth.

  The relationship between the two continued until three years later when they graduated from high school. Gu Wenyan went to Tsinghua and started a more brilliant life journey, while Ji Su, who had always been an excellent student, only got into Jiangdong University. After that, there was no news of her again. It wasn't until Wen Yan graduated from university and struggled in society that he occasionally heard Tan Yu mention Ji Su, saying that after graduating from Jiangda, she returned to Qingzhou and became a middle school teacher, soon marrying a colleague at the same school. At that time, Gu Wenyan was already holding an important position in the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, becoming a towering figure that Wen Yan could never surpass.

  Gu Wenyan liked Ji Su, which was no secret in middle school. Otherwise, Wen Qian wouldn't have brought disaster upon herself and almost ruined her life. But people who knew Ji Su were aware that although she seemed gentle and kind, close to both boys and girls, and had a good relationship with everyone, she was actually a very traditional good student and obedient girl at heart. In 1995, when early romance was viewed as a monster, how did she suddenly change and openly date Gu Wenyan, going everywhere together?

  At that time, a girl who had an early romance, no matter how excellent her grades were before and how much she was favored by teachers and classmates, could not escape being labeled with a special term: fallen!

  Is this the magic of love?

  This confusion was not only experienced by Bi Zhuo, the head of Class 3, but also by Meng Ke, a good friend, Ren Yi, a classmate who excelled at role-playing, and even Wen Cen, who always escaped into his own fantasy world to avoid reality. However, with his state of mind at that time, this confusion was only buried deep in his heart, or perhaps he felt a kind of perverted pleasure after learning the news.

  If you hate a woman, curse her downfall!

  Because of Gu Wenyan's background, the school didn't even bother to intervene in this matter. Everyone either despised or admired them, some secretly emulated them, while others sighed in envy, but still countless people insisted that Gu Wenyan and Ji Su's love in high school was a symbol - a symbol of beautiful love!

  When everyone thought they would apply to the same university and graduate together, two admission letters with vastly different contents led them to go their separate ways. The direct consequence was that many people's faith collapsed, no longer believing in love, and began a life of debauchery in college. As a result, numerous legends emerged about why the couple fell in love and broke up, enough to fill a bestselling romance book.

  After seeing that scene on the rooftop, Wen Cheng finally understood why Ji Su would suddenly do that back then and ultimately change the trajectory of his life because of Gu Wen Yuan. So from a certain causal relationship perspective, Wen Cheng and Ji Su in their past lives were both losers under Gu Wen Yuan's shadow, equally pitiful.

  Just now he pulled Xu Yao, it was because he thought of all this, but after all, this life is completely different from the previous one. Why did Gu Wenyan suddenly entangle Ji Su not long ago and get angry under the experimental building that day? Wen Rong is not a fool, even if you think with your butt, you know that it must be because of the exposure of Gu Wenyan's relationship with Ning Xiaoying during the last basketball game. Anyone can see that his jealous appearance is not ordinary. With this matter, it is obvious that Gu Wenyan can no longer use sincerity to move Ji Su as before, so there was entanglement, confession, conflict, and resentment, which led to the rooftop scene of Gu Wenyan's cruelty and irrationality, and Ji Su's humiliation and sadness.

  In his past life, although he might have made the same demands, it was more likely that Gu Wenyan's attitude would be a hundred times gentler than now, and the means he took would also be a hundred times more elegant than now. Whether Ji Su refused or accepted, he had a way to win her over, and in fact, he did succeed in making Ji Su his mistress for three years. Although it is unknown whether their eventual separation was due to Ji Su's persistence or Gu Wenyan getting bored and letting go, at least it wouldn't have been as tense and humiliating as it is today!

  So, everything has its cause and effect. Ji Su's encounter today is actually related to Wen Cheng in a certain way.

  Wen Ze quickly figured out the pros and cons at the door, although he wasn't very sure, but he had a 70% grasp. However, because of this, he wanted to know even more what kind of choice Ji Su would make. If she refused, that would be easy to handle; going out to beat up Gu Wen Yuan would prevent him from getting angry and hurting Ji Su, which was a physical task, easily done. But if, in such a humiliating situation, she still agreed to Gu Wen Yuan's conditions, it meant that as soon as he took this step, he would have to take on the responsibility of saving her father; otherwise, it would be better not to help at all.

  But the problem is that he has no idea about Ji's father's case, and he has no grasp of it at all! At this moment when a person's life can change completely in an instant, Wen Liang couldn't help but think for a few more minutes. However, until the last moment, looking into Xu Yao's eyes, he still softened his heart and made a choice for Ji Su without waiting for that answer.

  Refuse!

  Then he shouldered the burden himself. From an economic point of view, this deal was a failure; but from a sociological perspective, it may be a bargain!

  "Come and help me lift her up."

  Xu Yao couldn't help Ji Su up from the ground, so she had to hold an umbrella and squat beside her, constantly persuading her. Wen Chen walked over, letting the rain hit him, and said coldly: "If you really want to save your dad, hurry up and get up. We'll find a place to discuss it. If sitting on the ground can save your dad, then even if you sit until death, no one will care." Seeing Ji Su still hadn't reacted, Wen Chen's heart softened, and in order to give her confidence, he had to boast: "Believe me, I don't dare say anything else, but with the Qinghua Factory matter, I can still help. The municipal party secretary Xu Fuyan is my future father-in-law..."

  Xu Yao gave him a displeased glance but unusually didn't retort.

  Ji Su raised her head, looking at the mud-soaked young man. His face was cold and his tone was emotionless, but his eyes were warm like jade, full of concern. Although his words were unreliable, she still nodded, standing up with Xu Yao's support, but there was no vitality on her body that was once full of energy.

  Ji Su and Wen Qian were both in a mess, so they couldn't attend class. Xu Yao went to help them ask for leave first, then the three of them took a taxi together to send Ji Su back home. Ji Su's family lived in Hui'an Community, which was a residential building developed by a real estate company that had taken over the Qinghua Factory's external packaging business during the commercial housing reform in the early 1990s. Some of the apartments were sold at a low price to the factory workers, while others were sold externally, and at that time, it was considered quite good in Qingzhou.

  Only after entering the house did Wen Xiang realize that this two-bedroom, one-living room apartment was decorated in a general way. There were no decorations in the rooms either, and it didn't look like a luxurious place at all. However, in these times, everyone's awareness of investigation is extremely high, so their own homes are often very simple, but the houses outside are extravagantly luxurious, astonishing people.

  Ji Su's mother, Su Rui, went to the hospital for an IV drip, and there was no one at home. Ji Su sat silently on the rooftop from the beginning, only speaking once in the taxi when giving her home address. Xu Yao supported her as she first went to the bathroom to wash up, changed into a clean set of clothes, and came out to sit on the sofa. Wen Ze took off his dirty coat and threw it outside the door, then looked at the water stains on his pants, so he sat down on the floor with his legs crossed, asking about what had happened from start to finish.

  Ji Su didn't know much either, except that her father was taken away by the police due to a report and the amount involved was huge. At the time when Wen Cen and Xu Yao were staring at each other, she suddenly remembered that her father had a habit of keeping a diary, ran into the room, found a thick black leather diary and handed it over to Wen Cen. Wen Cen roughly flipped through it, although he didn't find any important information for the time being, but the feeling revealed inside made him have some doubts.

  Ji Zheng was in charge of production at the Qinghua Factory. After the factory director left, Yuan Dazhu took over and became tyrannical, only promoting those close to him. Ji Zheng carefully flattered and catered to him, barely managing to keep his position as deputy factory director. From his diary, it's clear that he was not an important figure at the Qinghua Factory.

  How could someone like him have the ability and guts to commit such a crime?

  Ji Su's whole body was buried in the sofa, her head hung low, she didn't know Xu Yao's identity, and obviously had no hope for Wen Chen, following his orders to do these things, it was just a dead horse being treated as a live one.

  Wen Qian suddenly patted her diary and said firmly: "Your father was wronged!"

  Ji Su and Xu Yao's eyes simultaneously focused on Wen Qian, Ji Su trembling with her voice asked: "You... how did you know?"