CH 166 Lying
Translated by The BL Muse (ko-fi)
"He Qianjian?"
Zhou Yang was so surprised that he blurted out the words subconsciously.
The two prison guards on duty outside did not know He Qianjian, but looking at Zhou Yang's expression, they quickly realized that he should know the prisoner named He Qianjian, so one of them asked: "Do you know him?"
"We know each other." Zhou Yang paused for a moment and looked at Jiang Chen with a somewhat complicated look. His tone was difficult to distinguish: "Can I ask about your relationship with He Qianjian?"
Jiang Chen's eyebrows moved slightly. He saw the faint vigilance and suspicion in the eyes of the young prison guard in front of him. He was puzzled, but he didn't think much about it. He said calmly: "He is the adopted son of my biological parents."
Zhou Yang's mind clicked, and he immediately recognized Jiang Chen's identity. He couldn't help but look at Jiang Chen again: his features were handsome, his eyes were pure, his aura was clear but not cold, and he gave off a feeling of being extremely well-educated in every gesture.
And because of his professional habits, Zhou Yang couldn't help but analyze Jiang Chen's growth background through this first impression: calm and confident, with a clean and upright look, and he would look at the person speaking seriously and intently when speaking. And when he occasionally smiled, it was also clean and genuine. Towards such a person one could tell at a glance that his family education was excellent and he should have a happy family.
It could be inferred from these details that Jiang Chen's adoptive parents, that is, He Qianjian's biological parents, were very good to him, educated him well, and may even love him very much. Under this premise, Jiang Chen enjoyed all the love from his adoptive parents and the compensation and guilt from his biological parents. Compared to He Qianjian in prison, the difference was astonishing.
But in that case, why didn't he persuade his biological parents and adoptive parents to let He Qianjian go?
Zhou Yang believed that Jiang Chen was the victim and He Qianjian was a suspect who was not yet an adult at the time. Given their relationship and Jiang Chen was not injured, it was entirely possible for them to reconcile or use other methods to solve the problem.
He Qianjian was only in his early twenties and had not even graduated from college. What was the difference between sending him to prison at this time and letting the He family announce that they had severed the relationship between He Qianjian and the He family, and directly ruining his life?
Knowing people but not their hearts, Zhou Yang thought to himself, for such a young man who looked so shining and bright, who would have thought that he was actually so narrow-minded and vengeful?
Jiang Chen saw the young man in front of him looking at him. At first he looked like he was hesitating to speak, his expression shifting and flickering. Then he seemed to have thought of something, and he actually showed a trace of displeasure towards him that he didn't know how to hide.
Had he seen the person in front of him before?
After a moment of confusion in his heart, Jiang Chen recalled his memories and found that that wasn't the case, so he put the matter to the side. He nodded to him, and turned to ask the prison guard who had picked him up before: "Officer Li, when can I see He Qianjian?"
Officer Li answered simply: "It's their working time now. The factory is a bit far from here. You may have to wait for a while."
Jiang Chen nodded: "Sorry to trouble you."
"No trouble." Officer Li invited Jiang Chen to sit down and treated him to some melon seeds, very enthusiastically.
Jiang Chen thanked him again, sat down and waited patiently.
Zhou Yang saw Jiang Chen looking calm and indifferent even when he was sitting next to the dusty wall. He couldn't help but feel a little unhappy. He Qianjian was being bullied inside, but he was calm and relaxed here. The comparison was very disheartening.
After enduring it, Zhou Yang still couldn't hold it back. He walked to Jiang Chen, sat down and said, "Mr. Jiang, I want to ask you a question."
Jiang Chen turned his head, nodded slightly and said, "Go ahead."
"I have helped He Qianjian contact his biological parents several times before, but they are not willing to see him. Do you know about this?"
Jiang Chen was slightly stunned. He rarely went back during this period, and in order to save him time, the two sets of parents would wait at the He's in advance. He hadn't been alone with them for a long time.
"I wasn't aware."
Zhou Yang carefully examined Jiang Chen's expression and found that he didn't seem to be lying. After that, his tone became gentler: "In that case, can you help He Qianjian tell his biological parents and have them come and see him?"
Jiang Chen paused for a moment, turned sideways formally, and looked seriously at the young prison guard in front of him, whose eyes were full of vitality. His tone was somewhat curious: "Officer Zhou, do you know why He Qianjian came in?"
Zhou Yang was silent for a few seconds and asked: "He has been punished for what happened between you two, but now his biological parents and adoptive parents don't even want to see him or recognize him. Don't you think this is too cruel?"
Jiang Chen laughed a little, but he wasn't angry because the person in front of him was indeed a bit... simpleminded?
As long as one knew of the matter between he and He Qianjian, they couldn't help but discuss it. However, most of the people who knew about it were from the He family's social circle. Those people were hindered by their own identities and the He family's status, so even if it was discussed they would never let him hear it, let alone ask about it in front of him.
Jiang Chen knew this because of Li Nanfeng's big mouth. The news that he was with Shi Fengyue, at present, was only known to his friends and C who somehow figured it out and Li Nanfeng. Ever since the Changjiang Home Edition was ready to be launched and he was given one as a gift, he went to his company more often. Every time he saw him, he would gossip to him and Shi Fengyue about all the big and small things that happened in the circle, without getting tired of it at all.
Even his biological parents and adoptive parents, probably because of the complicated relationship between him and He Qianjian, have not talked about this matter since He Qianjian entered prison, as if He Qianjian had never existed.
The only one who would talk about He Qianjian to him was Shi Fengyue, because Shi Fengyue didn't take He Qianjian seriously at all, and naturally felt that Jiang Chen would not take him seriously either.
Sometimes, Jiang Chen would also wonder what to do with He Qianjian after the System disappeared, and occasionally he would be a little confused.
To say how much Jiang Chen hated him, in truth, his feelings for He Qianjian were far from reaching this level. Even if He Qianjian killed him in his first life, his parents had passed away by then, and he had nothing much to miss left, not to mention that he was later reborn in the interstellar age that was more suitable for him to use his talents and strengths.
But to forgive, that was absolutely impossible. He Qianjian killed him, and he might not be resentful, but He Qianjian also indirectly harmed his parents behind his back. In his first life, his mother died of overwork, and his father also passed away. Even after three lifetimes, Jiang Chen would never forget the blow his parents' death had dealt to him.
What's more, He Qianjian might not be the biological child of his adoptive parents at all. He may even have strangled a little life at the very beginning of being transmigrated over. Even though it might not be his intention, he later had no guilt and even wanted to use this identity to take advantage of Jiang Zhuo and Yang Si. And this was what made Jiang Chen unable to accept.
Not to mention, during the time that He Qianjian stayed at the He family, He Qianmin was hurt several times.
Jiang Chen remembered each of these grievances very clearly, but he also knew that the System in his head accounted for at least 50% of the main reason why He Qianjian became like this.
Without the System planting a seed for him to choose between "poor biological parents" and "rich non-biological parents" at will, he would not have been so emboldened. In a life that was like a game where he could get everything he wanted at will without having to work hard or care about legal ethics, it was almost a given that he would become unscrupulous and have no bottom line.
He Qianjian lost himself and relied blindly on the System. He never thought that if he lost the System one day, he would have nothing. In fact he would not even be able to bear the consequences of the System having appeared in the first place.
Jiang Chen could imagine how crazy He Qianjian would become after the System completely disappeared from He Qianjian's life, and how he would perish due to the things he had done before.
However, Jiang Chen was not sure whether his biological parents and adoptive parents who sent He Qianjian to prison to make him repent for three years would have the heart to see him truly perish after all. No matter what, nearly twenty years of nurturing love and a continual blood relationship were all embedded in one's bones.
However, Jiang Chen did not intend to talk about this with a stranger he had just met.
"I don't think they are cruel." Jiang Chen raised the corner of his mouth, but there was no smile in his eyes: "Please fully understand a person before you judge them. You have never met my parents, and you may have only met my adoptive parents once yet you define them as cruel without a second thought. Officer Zhou, I am very glad that you do not work in the police station."
Zhou Yang's face turned blue and white at Jiang Chen's words. He was angry but also couldn't help but reflect. Did he really misunderstand? But what He Qianjian said about the past didn't feel like it was false either?
Jiang Chen knew that the prison guard in front of him actually had no bad intentions. He might even be fighting for He Qianjian because he was too upright and kind.
However, he could ignore the rude expression of displeasure when the prison guard in front of him saw him for the first time, and didn't mind his unfriendly tone when he asked him his question, but he couldn't stand him slandering his family like this. His family and friends had always been his bottom line.
The two prison guards next to him hadn't noticed Zhou Yang's strangeness at first. They didn't take it too seriously when they saw Zhou Yang going to talk to Jiang Chen. But after a while, they saw that they were in conflict with each other. The prison guard who had gone to pick up Jiang Chen immediately stepped forward to smooth things over, but maybe because he was not very skilled, his words were a bit awkward:
"I made a call just now, and He Qianjian will be coming over right away. By the way, Mr. Jiang, I haven't asked you yet why you came so early. People rarely visit prisoners at this time."
Jiang Chen had no intention of getting into an argument with an unfamiliar prison guard here. The harsh words he just said were just because the prison guard had touched his bottom line. At this time, he heard the nervous voice of the person next to him and quickly softened his expression: "I’m too busy at work, so I need to save time by coming here early and then rushing back to work later.”
The prison guard was a little surprised: "I thought you were still in college at your age."
Jiang Chen smiled: "I am also in college, working and studying at the same time."
"Oh, part-time." Another prison guard said: "My younger brother was like this when he was in college. He had to work part-time every day. I told him not to delay his studies just to make money, but he didn't listen. He was always saying that he wanted to reduce the burden on the family."
Although the prison guard spoke as if he was complaining, there was a proud smile in his eyes.
Zhou Yang frowned. He didn't expect that Jiang Chen, with a family background like his, would work part-time during college in order to make money. However, he did not doubt that what he told was a lie, because it was unnecessary, and he vaguely felt that the young man in front of him didn't look like someone who could lie.
But, if Jiang Chen hadn't lied, then did He Qianjian lie?