You fought over another girl, got yourself locked up, and now you want me to bail you out

The Pei family villa.

Pei Ningxue was grounded.

At this moment, she was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in her bedroom, bored out of her mind and painting her toenails.

She glanced over and narrowed her beautiful eyes.

[Chen Zhi: Save me, Pei Ningxue.]

[Chen Zhi: I was taken away by the cops.]

Pei Ningxue looked at these lines of text and laughed out of sheer anger.

She picked up her phone, hesitated for two seconds, and dialed her Old geezer's number.

"Beep... beep..."

Pei Dongcheng was lying on a massage chair, holding a freshly brewed cup of Da Hong Pao tea, trying to soothe his heart that had been broken by that chav Chen Hansheng.

As soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with that blond-haired punk with a painted third eye and tight pants, calling him Old geezer.

It was a sheer sin.

He, Pei Dongcheng, had navigated the business world for decades; what kind of storms had he not seen? Even during the financial crisis back in the day, he just smoked a couple more cigarettes.

Only this time, he truly felt that his precious daughter of eighteen years was not only failing to keep him warm, but was also covered in thorns.

Just then, the phone on the coffee table started vibrating.

Caller ID: Precious Daughter.

Pei Dongcheng's eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition welled up in his heart. He took a deep breath, spent a few seconds mentally preparing himself, and then tremblingly pressed the answer button.

"Hello, Xiaoxue, have you figured things out? Did you dump that Chen Hansheng?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for two seconds.

Immediately after, Pei Ningxue's voice came through, devoid of any discernible emotion, yet enough to give Pei Dongcheng a heart attack.

"Dad, my baby's father was arrested by the cops."

"Clatter."

Pei Dongcheng's hand trembled, and the lid of the purple clay teapot dropped straight to the floor, shattering into pieces.

"What did you say?! Who got arrested?!"

"Chen Hansheng," Pei Ningxue said in a flat tone. "He got into a fight and is in the police station."

"Good! Excellent!"

Pei Dongcheng slapped his thigh, almost laughing out loud. "Glad he got caught! Social scum like him deserves to go in for reform! It would be best if they sentence him to eight or ten years and let him rot in jail! The police comrades are truly ridding the people of a menace!"

He was genuinely happy.

This was great. He didn't even have to lift a finger; the state had helped him solve this massive headache.

However, Pei Ningxue's next sentence made Pei Dongcheng's world come crashing down.

"Dad, did you forget something?"

Pei Ningxue said faintly, "He still has three ultrasound scans in his hands. If he starts talking nonsense in there and leaks the matter of your grandchild to the media..."

Pei Dongcheng's smile instantly froze on his face.

Fuck.

He forgot about that.

Although that kid was a punk, in his belly... no, in Xiaoxue's belly was the Pei family's seed!

If word got out that the daughter of the Pei Group was pregnant out of wedlock, and her boyfriend was a convict serving time... the Pei Group's stock price would hit the limit down tomorrow!

"Then... then what do you want to do?" Pei Dongcheng asked through gritted teeth.

"Go bail him out," Pei Ningxue said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Take the best lawyer in our group and get him out completely unharmed. After this is over, I'll break up with him."

Pei Dongcheng felt his blood pressure soar to two hundred and eighty.

But what could he do?

He was also feeling desperate.

"Fine... fine!" Pei Dongcheng squeezed the words through his teeth. "I'll go bail him out! I'll have Lawyer Wang head over right now! I must have owed you guys in my past life!"

Hanging up the phone, Pei Dongcheng slumped in his chair, feeling as if he had instantly aged ten years.

What a sin!

...

Chengnan Police Station, mediation room.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet.

The young policeman, Officer Zhang, was staring blankly at the computer screen, his fingers hovering over the keyboard without typing a single word for a long time. He rubbed his eyes, leaned in closer to take another look, and then swallowed hard.

"Cap... Captain."

Officer Zhang turned his head, his voice a bit floaty. "Come take a look at this."

Captain Liu, who was drinking tea, frowned. "What's wrong? Is it that hard to record a statement? Does that kid have a criminal record?"

"No... not a criminal record." Officer Zhang pointed at the news interview on the screen, looking as if he had seen a ghost. "This kid... is this year's provincial top scorer in the college entrance examination."

"Pfft!"

Captain Liu sprayed the tea he had just sipped right out of his mouth.

He didn't even bother wiping his mouth and rushed to the computer in a few strides.

Chen Zhi, the top science scorer of Jiang Province.

Captain Liu felt a throbbing pain in his temples.

He turned his head to look through the one-way glass of the interrogation room.

The buzz-cut kid inside, clutching his knee with a face that screamed I am severely injured and about to die, was the provincial top scorer?

Then he looked at the bespectacled guy next to him, who had a bruised and swollen face, a large footprint on his clothes, and was clamoring for a lawyer.

What the hell kind of situation was this?

"This is trouble now." Captain Liu lit a cigarette, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

If it were just an ordinary street fight, they could punish both sides equally or detain them for a few days.

But this was the provincial top scorer!

Although Zhao Jin was the one who initiated the verbal harassment, it was ultimately Chen Zhi who threw the first punch, and Zhao Jin didn't even have a chance to fight back.

Legally, the one who strikes first is at a disadvantage. If Zhao Jin insisted that Chen Zhi struck first, how was he supposed to handle it?

Detain this top scorer for a few days?

Then tomorrow's news headlines would read: Shocking! Provincial College Entrance Exam Top Scorer Gets Into a Brawl for Love and Suffers Detention!

The station's phones would be blown up by the media, and the leaders at the municipal bureau would scold him to death.

"What about the guy who got beaten up? What's his background?" Captain Liu pointed to the other side.

"His name is Zhao Jin, also a candidate this year. He got into Peking University's nursing program." Officer Zhang checked the records. "His family runs a small business. They have some money, but not a lot."

Captain Liu stubbed out his cigarette and rubbed his temples vigorously.

"Captain, how do we judge this?" Officer Zhang asked cautiously. "I watched the surveillance footage. It was indeed that Zhao Jin who got handsy and harassed the girl first, and he was the one who pushed first. But Chen Zhi... he fought pretty dirty. Those few kicks looked painful, even though the injury report only classifies it as minor injuries."

"Judge my ass!"

Captain Liu cursed in annoyance. "If we detain Chen Zhi, our station will become an internet-famous tourist spot tomorrow! Go, separate the two sides and work on them. Try your best to mediate! Make them settle this privately!"

Just as he was speaking, the main door of the police station was pushed open.

Pei Ningxue, wearing a black dress and sunglasses, walked in, followed by a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes carrying a briefcase.

"I am Chen Zhi's family member."

Pei Ningxue took off her sunglasses, scanned the room, and locked her gaze on Captain Liu. "This is the chief lawyer of the Pei Group, Lawyer Wang."

Lawyer Wang pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, revealing a professional smile. "Hello, I am the legal advisor for the Pei Group. Entrusted by Miss Pei, I am acting as Mr. Chen Zhi's representing lawyer. I have the right to be present while my client is being questioned."

Seeing this setup, Captain Liu felt his headache worsen.

The provincial top scorer.

The Pei Group.

A top-tier lawyer.

Just what kind of godly background did this Chen Zhi have?

...

Ten minutes later, in the mediation room.

Chen Zhi was still slumped in his chair. Seeing Pei Ningxue enter, he immediately put on a miserable expression. "Bad woman, you're finally here. If you hadn't come, I would have been tortured into a false confession."

Pei Ningxue crossed her arms, watching Chen Zhi who was still putting on an act.

"Chen Zhi, you're really something."

She sneered, her tone laced with mockery. "Getting into a brawl over some other girl, throwing yourself into the police station, and then making me come bail you out?"

The lawyer had just figured out the situation.

The whole thing started because Zhao Jin was harassing a girl, and Chen Zhi decided to play the hero.

Even though it wasn't mentioned who the girl was, Pei Ningxue could figure it out with her toes that it definitely wasn't Lin Wanwan. Lin Wanwan had gone to a competition; she knew that for a fact.

Who was it then?

Li Zhiyi?

Chen Zhi blinked, looking completely innocent. "Well... aren't we good bros? Good bros are loyal to each other, so you'll definitely help me out with this little favor, right?"

"Good bros?"

Pei Ningxue sneered. "Does a good bro stir up romantic debts outside and then make his bro wipe his ass for him?"

"Heh, scumbag."

Pei Ningxue rolled her eyes, but still turned to the lawyer and said, "Uncle Wang, try your best not to let him get a criminal record, and don't tell my dad about this for now."

Lawyer Wang nodded. "Don't worry, Miss. This case is very simple. The other party provoked him first and committed an act of harassing a woman. Although Young Master Chen threw punches, if the other party doesn't want to blow this out of proportion and affect his studies, a settlement is the best choice."

...

In another interrogation room.

Zhao Jin was clutching his stomach, roaring resentfully at Captain Liu.

"I won't settle! Why should I settle?!"

Zhao Jin pointed at the footprint on his chest. "Comrade Police, look at this! Look at what state I'm in! And him? He hasn't even lost a single hair! I want a medical injury report! I want to sue him! I want to put him in jail!"

Captain Liu held his teacup, slowly blowing on it.

"Young man, don't be so hot-headed."

Captain Liu put down his teacup and said earnestly, "I know you feel wronged, but for some things, you need to weigh the pros and cons."

"What pros and cons? You're not the one who got beaten up, so of course it's easy for you to say!" Zhao Jin argued stubbornly with a stiff neck.

"You are a student at Peking University, right?" Captain Liu suddenly asked.

Hearing this, Zhao Jin immediately straightened his back, his sense of superiority flaring up again. "That's right! I'm from Peking University! In the future, I will be a pillar of the nation!"

"Ah, a pillar."

Captain Liu nodded, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Then do you know that if you are given administrative detention for fighting, it will leave a permanent record?"

Zhao Jin froze for a second. "He hit me! I'm the victim!"

"The surveillance footage shows that you harassed a woman first, and you were the first to get physical and shove." Captain Liu tapped the table. "Even though he beat you up, legally speaking, there's a high probability it will be classified as a mutual brawl. Once it's ruled a mutual brawl, both of you will have to be detained."

Zhao Jin's face turned a shade paler.

Captain Liu continued twisting the knife. "Think about it, you are about to report to Peking University. If you have an administrative detention on your record, how will the school view you? Future scholarships, joining the Party, getting recommended for graduate school, or even finding a job after graduation—this stain will follow you for the rest of your life."

Zhao Jin completely panicked.

He had racked his brains and worked exhaustively to get into Peking University just to cross social classes. If he ruined it here, his whole life would be over.

But he was still unwilling to accept it. "Then... what about Chen Hansheng? He's just a hooligan going to a vocational school, a guy with nothing to lose! Of course he doesn't care! Do I just have to swallow this bitter pill?"

In Zhao Jin's mind, Chen Zhi was just a Beida Jade Bird vocational school student named "Chen Hansheng."

A guy like that had a worthless life; getting detained was just getting detained, and he could even brag about it when he got out.

But he was fine porcelain! How could he smash himself against a crude clay pot?

Captain Liu forced back a smile and nodded with a serious expression. "Exactly, this is reality. He's a guy from the streets; he doesn't care about this. But you are different. You have a bright future ahead of you. Do you think it's worth throwing away your future just to vent your anger?"

Zhao Jin's psychological defenses collapsed instantly.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red, and his fists cracking as he clenched them.

It was too frustrating!

Truly too frustrating!

He had clearly been beaten up so badly, yet to save his future at Peking University, he had to take the initiative to beg for a settlement?

Was there no justice in this world?

"I... I'll settle."

Zhao Jin squeezed these words out through gritted teeth, feeling like his heart was bleeding. "But my medical bills..."

"The other party is willing to pay your medical bills." Captain Liu waved his hand dismissively. "As long as you sign the letter of understanding, this matter is closed."

...

Ten minutes later, in the police station lobby.

Having signed his name, Zhao Jin walked out dejectedly, holding the letter of understanding.

As soon as he looked up, he saw Chen Zhi standing at the lobby entrance. Beside him stood a great beauty with an elegant temperament, looking a hundred times prettier than Su Nuan.

That beauty was holding a wet wipe, wiping Chen Zhi's hands with a look of disgust, cursing and nagging at him.

"Don't use your hands when you fight from now on. It's so dirty."

"I know, I know, I'll use my feet next time," Chen Zhi replied with a cheeky grin.

Watching this scene, Zhao Jin was so jealous his eyeballs were about to explode.

On what grounds?!

A vocational school student beats someone up, doesn't go to jail, and even has this level of a rich, beautiful girl come pick him up?

Wait, what about that innocent little flower from earlier?

How did he switch to another one already?

Chen Zhi seemed to sense his gaze. He turned his head and flashed a wide grin at Zhao Jin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

He let go of Pei Ningxue and slowly strolled over to Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin subconsciously shrank back a step, looking at him warily. "What... what do you want? I already signed the papers! The police are still right inside!"

Chen Zhi reached out and patted Zhao Jin on the shoulder, speaking in a profound and earnest tone:

"Bro, don't feel wronged."

"Even though you took a beating, you managed to save your chance to go to Peking University and become a male nurse."

"In the future, when you're inserting urinary catheters for people in the hospital, remember to think of my kindness. After all, I'm the one who let you off the hook today."

"I'm a kind-hearted person, so there's no need to thank me."

Zhao Jin trembled with rage, pointing at Chen Zhi. "You... you just wait! The tables will turn one day! Just wait until I graduate from Peking University..."

"Alright, alright, stop reciting textbook lines."

Chen Zhi interrupted his grand speech, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered:

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you."

"I'm actually going to Beijing too."

"We'll... see each other when school starts."

After saying that, Chen Zhi patted Zhao Jin's dumbfounded cheek, turned around, threw his arm over Pei Ningxue's shoulder, and swaggered out the front door of the police station.

Outside, a black Rolls-Royce was parked by the curb, and the driver respectfully pulled the car door open.

Zhao Jin stood frozen in place, his brain buzzing as he watched the luxury car speed away, leaving him in the dust.

See each other when school starts?

What did that mean?

Actually, I didn't update yesterday to keep the plot coherent, I don't know if you guys believe it or not. These two chapters combined are almost 8,000 words, which roughly makes up for yesterday's. Then I'll update another chapter tonight, so rounding it up to making up for two chapters isn't too much to ask, right? There really will be more today.