Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Unsolvable Mystery

For reasons he couldn’t explain, Ning Yan felt a sudden discomfort in his heart. His face instantly returned to its usual coldness, and he turned on his heel to leave with long strides.

“Jiangxi Wen, you’ve come to school!” Zhang Ya’s excitement was obvious as she spotted Jiangxi Wen; all her previous aloofness had vanished. But the next second, she realized her loss of composure, and a faint blush crept up her fair cheeks.

“Yes, I came specifically to see you,” Jiangxi Wen replied. “Let’s talk as we walk—I have a few things I’d like to ask you.”

“Go ahead, what is it?” Zhang Ya smiled radiantly. “Is it about coming to my house this weekend? Don’t be nervous, my mom knows you saved me and won’t say anything. I used to dislike you too, didn’t I? And my dad, you don’t need to worry about him at all. He may look serious, but he’s much kinder at home—much better than my mom.”

She chattered on, clearly in high spirits. But Jiangxi Wen interrupted, “It’s not that. I wanted to ask if the police questioned you? And why didn’t anyone from the station come to find me?”

“Uh?” Zhang Ya was briefly puzzled, then answered after a few seconds, “No, my dad just asked me to tell him everything that happened. He said he’d talk to the police himself. He figured those kidnappers must have targeted us because my mom and I looked well-off, thought our family was rich, and that’s why they tried to kidnap us. Now that we escaped, there shouldn’t be a next time.”

“I see.” Jiangxi Wen nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you, I understand now.”

As he spoke, his mind lingered on Zhang Ya’s words. Clearly, her father didn’t want the incident to become public—just as the young man at the hospital had said. He feared gossip might threaten his position. Or perhaps he’d already been threatened by the kidnappers and was deliberately hiding the truth to protect his daughter.

Zhang Ya... Mayor Zhang... So it was Zhang Yong. Jiangxi Wen finally realized who Zhang Ya’s father was—the Deputy Mayor Zhang who had visited their school several times, in charge of education in Yangjiang City.

Zhang Ya noticed Jiangxi Wen’s distracted expression and asked, “What’s wrong? I should be the one thanking you. That day, you fought off two kidnappers on your own and carried me to the hospital... Anyway, it’s all in the past, don’t dwell on it.”

“You’re right,” Jiangxi Wen replied, half to himself, confirming his own analysis. Zhang Ya took it as a response to her and smiled slightly, “Of course. Jiangxi Wen, are you coming to class this afternoon?”

Jiangxi Wen snapped out of his thoughts. “No, I have something to do. See you.” Without waiting for her reply, he strode away.

“Jiangxi Wen, how could you!” Zhang Ya pouted, feeling a bit aggrieved as she watched him go. She hadn’t seen him for days, and had been thinking about him, wondering if his chest still hurt. She wanted to ask Gong Xiang to check on him but was too embarrassed.

Now, finally seeing Jiangxi Wen, she felt happy—a special kind of feeling, even more comfortable than being with her old friend. When she woke up in the hospital and heard the doctor describe how anxious Jiangxi Wen had been for her, she’d felt a sweetness in her heart.

Zhang Ya thought that after seeing Jiangxi Wen again, they would be good friends, just as they’d been on the road back to the city—warm and safe. But he had only asked her one question and then left in a daze. This coldness was nothing like she’d imagined.

Her father, as deputy mayor, would always protect his daughter, and the danger she faced would be much less. But Gong Xiang was in a different position. His father didn’t even know his son had almost been kidnapped. Gong Xiang’s father was an ordinary official at the city’s education bureau, and Zhang Ya’s father was in charge of education—there had to be a connection here.

With these thoughts, Jiangxi Wen became even more determined to get to the bottom of the whole affair. If it wasn’t resolved, he could lose his good friend Gong Xiang again. Even Zhang Ya, despite being the deputy mayor’s daughter, could face danger once more.

Jiangxi Wen made his way to the computer room. Sure enough, Qi Huanchang was there, munching on instant noodles while busy at the computer. As soon as he saw Jiangxi Wen, he said, “Xi Wen, I already called Fan Qiang. That jerk was still pretending, said he’d get it done soon, and even patted his chest and guaranteed there was no problem.”

Jiangxi Wen smiled faintly. “Call him again tomorrow. Keep calling until he takes action. By the way, will Gong Xiang be here this afternoon?”

“Man, he’s been suffering. He comes by every day to see if you’ve updated anything. He called your house, but your parents said you were busy, and he couldn’t find you. He even printed out your novel. Your classmates can’t find you, so they pester him like mad. Sigh!” Qi Huanchang complained, “He pesters me too, like a soul-chasing demon. I don’t know how your brain works—writing code so well, and writing novels just as well.”

“Enough nonsense. Want to see the next part? I’ll write it now. Two hours should be enough for twenty thousand words.” With nothing else to do, and not daring to go to class to avoid Gong Xiang, Jiangxi Wen decided to stay in the computer room and write.

“Only twenty thousand? I’ll finish that in ten minutes,” Qi Huanchang grumbled.

Hearing this only made Jiangxi Wen more determined to stay in the computer room. At least here, there were only two “pesterers”—Qi Fatty and Gong Xiang. If he went to the classroom, just thinking of those three from noon made him shiver.

The afternoon passed quickly. Jiangxi Wen easily finished a twenty-thousand-word update. Qi Huanchang abandoned his game and rushed over, devouring the new chapters. Just then, Gong Xiang walked in. At the sight of Jiangxi Wen, his eyes brimmed with emotion, as if he were about to burst into tears.

Jiangxi Wen was touched—it had been quite a while since he’d seen his friend, and he was moved by how much he’d been missed. He was about to speak when Gong Xiang rushed over, pushed Qi Huanchang aside, and stared eagerly at the screen full of text, exclaiming, “It’s updated!”

“At this rate, my book is going to become an addiction,” Jiangxi Wen joked, tapping Gong Xiang on the head. “Don’t rush. I’m free for the rest of the week, so there won’t be any delays. But first, I want to ask you something.”

As soon as Gong Xiang turned his head, Qi Huanchang took over the screen again, and the two began to tussle for it. Jiangxi Wen rolled his eyes at the scene and had to shout, “If you keep this up, neither of you will get to read it. I’ll stop writing altogether.”

That worked like magic: both Qi Huanchang and Gong Xiang grinned sheepishly and apologized to each other.

“Fine, Qi Fatty, you read first. Gong Xiang, let me ask you—what does your father do at the education bureau?”

“I’m not entirely sure. He’s probably the head of the general education section or something. Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing, just curious. Go ahead and read.” Jiangxi Wen’s doubts remained unresolved, and he sat there, lost in thought.