Chapter 45

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While the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Although Jiang Ping asked Li Qian to forget about today's incident, he himself would never forget. On his way home by bike, Jiang Ping felt the anger in his heart burning fiercely, unable to subside.

Even though the four major enforcers and the mediator Jiang Jun were all taken to the police station, Jiang Ping still thought it was far from enough. After all, these people were just enforcers and brokers; the real culprit behind the entire incident was the planner, Zhou Xiang.

If it weren't for Zhang Jun overhearing the conversation between the four major enforcers and Jiang Jun, or if Jiang Ping had left a bit earlier after his disguise, or if he hadn't been present when Li Qian was intercepted by Wu Qiang and others, the consequences would have been unimaginable! Especially after Jiang Ping learned how Wu Qiang and others were supposed to treat Li Qian, he gained a deeper understanding of Zhou Xiang's despicable nature. If asked who he most wanted to see punished for this, his answer would undoubtedly be Zhou Xiang.

However, what happened at the police station made Jiang Ping realize that Zhou Xiang's family still had some influence, enough to make even the station chief Yang Bo powerless against him. This also made Jiang Ping realize that with his current capabilities, the possibility of punishing Zhou Xiang through official channels was almost zero.

If it were an ordinary high school student, they could only endure in silence, watching Zhou Xiang strut around with no way to stop him. But Jiang Ping was no ordinary high school student. Even if he couldn't punish Zhou Xiang through official means, he had dozens of ways to make him pay.

In fact, by the time Jiang Ping got home, a revenge plan had already taken shape in his mind. Now, what Jiang Ping needed to do was wait patiently and strike at Zhou Xiang during the college entrance exam period. One of Jiang Ping's principles was "an eye for an eye," and since Zhou Xiang had repeatedly wronged him, he didn't mind giving him a lesson he would never forget.

Because he spent a lot of time at the police station, it was already completely dark when Jiang Ping got home. However, to avoid worrying his family, he had already called home from the police station to tell them that the school was having a last-minute makeup class, and he would be home late. With the college entrance exam approaching and the atmosphere of review becoming increasingly tense, his parents didn't suspect anything.

However, his mother, who was very observant, couldn't miss the wound on Jiang Ping's arm and naturally had to ask about it.

Jiang Ping told his parents that he had fallen off his bike and only had a minor scrape, which was nothing serious. His calm and composed attitude also reassured his parents, and after confirming that the wound was indeed not serious, they didn't ask any more questions.

After returning to his room, Jiang Ping found some iodine to disinfect the wound and then re-bandaged it. He then called Zhang Jun, who should already be home.

"Bro, are you okay?" Zhang Jun, being Jiang Ping's best friend, was very concerned and asked about his injuries first.

"I'm fine," Jiang Ping replied simply, then lowered his voice and said, "You always claim to be the most well-informed person in school. This time, I'm giving you a chance to prove it. What do you say?"

The prospect of gathering information excited Zhang Jun, who rubbed his hands together on the phone and said, "Tell me, what do you want me to find out?"

Jiang Ping said calmly, "I want you to find out what Zhou Xiang's parents do."

Zhang Jun was taken aback for a moment before realizing, "I see, you want to..."

"Stop guessing," Jiang Ping interrupted Zhang Jun, "Can you do it or not? Give me a straight answer!"

Zhang Jun immediately said loudly, "Of course I can! Give me some time, and I'll get back to you before the college entrance exam!"

"Alright, that's settled. See you later!" Jiang Ping hung up without further ado.

Today's events made Jiang Ping even more aware of the importance of practicing the Xuan Kong Jue, so despite his injuries, he still insisted on practicing the breathing technique before resting.

In fact, for Jiang Ping, this injury wasn't entirely without benefits. At least it gave him a reason to skip school and spend more time on his own affairs.

The next day, Jiang Ping left home as usual, but he didn't go to school. Instead, he went to the small courtyard in Huanhua Alley. Jiang Ping planned to use the time to craft a Hainan rosewood bracelet, which he could sell for more money on the antique street during the weekend.

Jiang Ping didn't intend to use a machine to polish the beads but instead relied entirely on handcrafting. Although the difference between handcrafted and machine-polished beads was subtle, it wouldn't escape the eyes of experts. Handcrafted Hainan rosewood bracelets were at least twice as expensive as machine-polished ones, making it worth Jiang Ping's extra effort.

After arriving at the small courtyard, Jiang Ping first made a simple tool using ordinary wood. This tool could fix small blocks of Hainan rosewood to an axis and allow them to rotate freely. With this simple yet ingenious tool and a set of sharp carving knives of various sizes, Jiang Ping could start crafting a finely detailed Hainan rosewood bracelet.

By rotating the fixed Hainan rosewood block and slowly carving away the unnecessary parts with the carving knife, Jiang Ping could create a fine Hainan rosewood bead in about half an hour. After polishing and finishing the beads, he would string them together in a certain number based on their size, creating a beautiful Hainan rosewood bracelet.

Over the next two days, Jiang Ping spent his time in the small courtyard in Huanhua Alley crafting Hainan rosewood bracelets. It was already early summer, and his room had no fan, making it too hot to stay inside. So, Jiang Ping moved his tools to the shade under the trees in the courtyard, which was much cooler.

Of course, Jiang Ping's activities in the courtyard inevitably caught the attention of Zhang Chenlin, who returned daily to prepare lunch. Zhang Chenlin knew Jiang Ping was a high school student and couldn't understand why he wasn't reviewing for the exams but was doing carpentry work instead. However, after their unexpected close encounter, the quiet and introverted Zhang Chenlin deliberately kept her distance from Jiang Ping. Although she was very curious about why Jiang Ping was doing this, she never intended to ask him.

However, Zhang Chenlin couldn't help but admit to herself that Jiang Ping looked quite attractive when he was working seriously. His steady and confident demeanor made him seem more mature, even causing her to glance at him a few times involuntarily.

When she realized that her impression of Jiang Ping was getting better, her cheeks flushed, and she quickly warned herself, "Zhang Chenlin, he's just a boy, several years younger than you. How can you think he's mature? This must be an illusion!"

Jiang Ping was entirely focused on making the bracelets and didn't notice Zhang Chenlin's unusual behavior. His efforts paid off, and he finally completed two Hainan rosewood bracelets before the weekend.

On Saturday, Jiang Ping left home with the excuse of going to a makeup class and headed straight to the antique street with the Hainan rosewood bracelets.

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Here's the second update for today. I'm still asking for favorites and recommendations. There will be another update in the evening.

Thank you to the readers "Yi Lan Feng," "Wuma Xing," and "Diao Nian Zhen Cao" for your support. (The novel "The Snob" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, along with a 100% lottery prize for everyone! Now open WeChat, click the "+" in the upper right corner, search for the public account "qdread," and follow it. Hurry up and do it!)

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