Chapter 23

The bus arrived at the station.

Yang Jian first sent Wang Shanshan home.

Because they had talked on the phone earlier, when he and Wang Shanshan walked to the gate of a high-end residential area, a fashionably dressed middle-aged woman frowned and walked over, looking somewhat displeased.

"Mom." Wang Shanshan's face lit up with joy.

"Do you even know how to come home? Where have you been all night? I couldn't reach you on the phone. Do you know how worried we were? If something happened to you, what would we do? If you hadn't come back today, I was planning to report it to the police with your father."

Wang Shanshan's mother, Wang Haiyan, scolded her.

"Mom, I'm sorry. Something happened at school, so I..." Wang Shanshan lowered her head.

Wang Haiyan said, "Alright, we'll talk about the reason later with your father. Who is this boy? Why did he come back with you?"

"He's my classmate, Yang Jian. Haven't you seen him before at school, Mom?" Wang Shanshan replied.

"Classmate? How could I remember all your classmates?" Wang Haiyan sized up Yang Jian.

Yang Jian said, "Auntie, since everything is fine, I'll take my leave. I'll visit again when I have time."

He didn't intend to stay long and planned to leave immediately.

"Wait."

Wang Haiyan stopped Yang Jian, "You're Shanshan's classmate? Tell me, where did you go last night? Why did Shanshan only come back now? Did you take her somewhere to fool around?"

"Auntie, it's not what you think. After last night's self-study, something unusual happened at school. Everyone in the class was kept at school. We just got back, and I was worried about Shanshan's safety on the way, so I sent her home."

"I called Mr. Wang, and he said nothing happened at school last night." Wang Haiyan said.

Yang Jian smiled, "Mr. Wang's phone was unreachable yesterday, Auntie. You must be joking."

Wang Haiyan, of course, knew that Mr. Wang's phone was unreachable, but she was just trying to test the boy to see if there was anything fishy.

She then said, "I should thank you for sending Shanshan home. However, Shanshan has strict family rules. She has never fooled around outside or associated with bad people. Now is a crucial time for her senior year, and she needs to focus on her studies. I hope this classmate won't affect her studies."

In other words, she wanted Yang Jian to stay away from Wang Shanshan and not have any designs on her daughter.

After saying this, Wang Haiyan took out 200 yuan from her wallet and handed it to Yang Jian, "It must have been tiring to send Shanshan home so early in the morning. This classmate probably hasn't had breakfast yet. Here's 200 yuan for breakfast. Don't be offended, take it."

Yang Jian looked at the 200 yuan in his hand, then his smile faded, and he calmly said, "Thank you, Auntie."

He took the money and turned to leave.

As soon as Yang Jian left, Wang Shanshan was almost in tears, "Mom, you're too much. Although Yang Jian's grades aren't great, he's a good person. What do you think you're doing by giving him money? Isn't that insulting him?"

"You don't understand, daughter. I was just testing him. Look, he took the 200 yuan without hesitation. He's clearly a poor, unambitious kid. You should stay away from people like him and not be fooled by their sweet talk." Wang Haiyan said.

"You don't understand anything. Do you know what happened at school last night? Without Yang Jian, I would have died. Do you think Yang Jian wanted to send me home? I begged him to do it. How can I face others after what you did?"

"A person with no backbone is best not seen." Wang Haiyan said, "We are not just anyone."

"Ugh..."

Wang Shanshan was so angry that she burst into tears and turned to leave.

Yang Jian, still on the bus, looked at the 200 yuan in his hand. He clearly understood the meaning behind Wang Shanshan's mother's actions.

It was a mix of contempt and humiliation.

If it were anyone else, they would have been furious.

But Yang Jian remained calm, unperturbed. What could he do even if he was angry?

Wang Shanshan's family was well-off, and she was beautiful. They had little interaction with someone like him, a nobody. It was natural for her parents to be wary of him and try to distance him from their daughter.

Getting angry in front of them would only make him look foolish. He couldn't possibly fight with Wang Haiyan over 200 yuan.

Moreover, for Yang Jian, this was just a trivial matter. He didn't save Wang Shanshan for any ulterior motives.

"Being a good person is hard, no wonder ghosts come out."

Yang Jian touched his hand, smiled bitterly, and put the 200 yuan in his pocket.

When he got home, he fell asleep immediately.

He was too exhausted.

The other students also returned home one by one. Even with such a big event, they still had to go home, didn't they?

At this moment, Zhang Wei returned to his family's villa.

He wasn't lying; he was indeed a rich second generation, just relatively low-key and not a wastrel.

"Why are you so late? I couldn't reach you on the phone. What were you doing all night?"

As soon as Zhang Wei entered, his father, Zhang Xian-gui, heard the door and came out of his room, looking stern.

Zhang Wei缩了缩脖子: "学校……和朋友出去玩了。"

他本想说学校闹鬼，自己被折腾得半死，但觉得这样说会侮辱老爸的智商，所以还是撒了个谎。

"出去玩？下次不准你再这样了。"

张显贵并没有严厉批评，只是随口说了一句: "等下吃了早饭记得去上学，别迟到了。"

上学？

张伟的眼睛猛地一缩，惊恐道: "不，我才不去上学。"

"不上学你想干什么？"张显贵道。

"干什么都可以，就是不去上学。"张伟道。

还敢去七中？不要命了，那地方闹鬼，自己几个小时前好不容易逃了出来，去上学不是找死吗？

不，就算是自杀都不会再去那学校了。

"你是不是皮痒了，敢逃课？"张显贵瞪了一眼；"马上都高考了，这个时候请假你是不是不想考大学了。"

"我宁愿不上大学，我都不再回学校了，爸，你别逼我了，学校里这会儿正闹鬼呢，去学校会死人的，昨天夜里我班上的同学死了几十个，我好不容易逃出来，打死我都不再回学校了。"张伟道。

"闹鬼？我看你是脑子抽了，走，我带你去学校，真闹鬼的话我倒想见识见识，你爸这辈子还没见过鬼呢。"

张显贵抓着张伟的手道。

张伟当即甩开手，跳了起来，带着几分惊怒道: "放开我，说了不去学校就不去学校，我张伟就算是死，死在外面，从这里跳下去，被人用枪指着脑袋，这辈子都不可能再踏进七中一步。"

"我说到做到，爸你不信可以试试。"

"不去学校可以，以后零用钱一分都不给你，你自己养活自己吧。"张显贵也生气道。

"……"张伟沉默了，转身回房。

张显贵道: "有本事躲到房间别出来。"

片刻之后，张伟拿着两本书走了出来: "爸，我去学校了。"

"嗯。"张显贵这才满意地点了点头。

离开家的张伟冷笑道。

上学？

这辈子都不可能了，下辈子也别想。

谁说拿着书就要去学校，我不能去网吧吗？

"今天我张伟要在网吧吃二十只鸡。"张伟来到网吧门前大声道。

不过就在张伟刚上网没多久。

两个警察就找到了他。

"是第七高中的学生张伟吗？"一位警察问道。

张伟愣了一下，然后架着二郎腿，故作深沉道: "大哥，你们认错人了，我叫杨间，张伟是我同班同学。"

"吧台那边的身份证登记是你的信息，没错，跟我们走一趟吧，有一件案件需要你帮忙协助调查。"

"……"张伟惊疑不定，很快就被警察带走了。