When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 226: He Has Nothing Left

Back at the hotel, Jiang Shuyao had been waiting in her room for Pei Yan.

She’d been waiting from noon until eight in the evening, when Jiang Xubai informed her that Old Man Jiang had been back for quite some time. For some reason, he just hadn’t seen a trace of Pei Yan.

Jiang Shuyao was getting anxious. When she connected the events of the day, the realization was terrifying—Lu Chen’s financial encryption system was far from just having a simple flaw.

Teacher Jiang was an old hand at this, and she probably guessed the shady business dealings hidden within even sooner than Shuyao had. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Without further hesitation, she collected her things a bit, picked up her phone, and left the room.

Hurrying downstairs, she unexpectedly ran into Xie Anyu in the lobby.

The other party had a clear target and was almost heading straight for her.

Before Xie Anyu could speak, Jiang Shuyao said without looking at her, "Sorry, I have things to do, let’s talk later."

As she was about to reach the hotel entrance, Xie Anyu’s calm voice came from behind her.

"I know where Pei Yan is."

Jiang Shuyao stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around.

*

The competition had ended, and some teams had already organized their return to school. Tonight, the small pavilion was much quieter than it was during the previous team-building event, with only a few scattered tables of guests sitting inside.

Xie Anyu led her straight to the second floor, which afforded a wide view. Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass and looking outside, she could clearly see the situation in the café opposite, where two men were sitting face to face.

Jiang Shuyao recognized at a glance that they were Pei Yan and Lu Chen.

On the low table, there were two cups of fruit tea and a few plates of exquisite desserts.

It seemed that the other party had long planned to have a chat with her.

Jiang Shuyao was silent, just quietly watching every move in the café across the way, waiting for Xie Anyu to speak.

She could faintly hear a barely perceptible sigh from beside her: "This past year and more, the changes in Lu Chen have surprised everyone around him."

Xie Anyu took a sip of tea and continued, "Back in high school, I wasn’t close to him and didn’t really understand what kind of person he was, but since meeting him in the Capital, I’ve discovered that he’s more eager for quick success than his peers.

Barely in his freshman year, he had already started taking on projects frantically, negotiating with different enterprises on the market, building relationships and gathering resources day and night."

"I was thinking at the time, Lu Chen comes from a well-off family; his hard work couldn’t just be for money."

At this point, Xie Anyu’s voice caught a bit, "Until one time when I was out shopping with classmates, we accidentally ran into Lu Chen at a restaurant. He was drinking with a group of people and ended up vomiting in the corridor."

Jiang Shuyao withdrew her gaze and looked at her with a furrowed brow.

Xie Anyu gave a dry laugh, "You can’t believe it either, right? That the top science student could stoop so low."

Jiang Shuyao didn’t know what Xie Anyu’s purpose was in telling her all this, but lengthy preambles usually led to a series of irresistible demands.

The steam still rose from the tea on the table, and their conversation, from beginning to end, lasted less than five minutes.

She had silently listened the whole time, without joining in; to be precise, the various experiences of Lu Chen described by Xie Anyu just now were far from causing much of a stir in her heart.

Xie Anyu stood up and walked over to her side, turned her head, and together they looked at the cafe opposite, "It was only later that I learned from a high school classmate that Principal Lu was confirmed to be involved in corruption and taking bribes, involving huge sums of money. On the night of his dismissal by the school, he got into a car accident on the highway due to drunk driving and died that night after unsuccessful resuscitation."

Lu Chen’s mother had always been in poor health, and unable to bear the shock, she fainted on the spot. Later her condition worsened, and just the cost of a caregiver and hospital treatment amounted to fifty thousand a month.

Overnight, Lu Chen’s life had almost plummeted to rock bottom.

The heavy burden of life and the pain of losing loved ones tormented him beyond recognition in just half a year.

Later, he gradually pulled himself together, maintaining his usual refined and polite demeanor in front of others, but those eyes had long lost the clarity and integrity of his youth.

Facing such drastic changes in family circumstances, nobody could maintain their original intentions and adhere to their worthless moral principles.

Therefore, to a certain extent, Xie Anyu didn’t think there was anything shameful about Lu Chen using backdoor deals to sell patents.

But what she was worried about was something else.

Jiang Shuyao hadn’t recovered from Principal Lu’s incident when she heard Xie Anyu continue, "Regarding the encryption system, Lu Chen was just being used by others. I’m asking you all to give him another chance, don’t push him to a dead end, he has nothing left and can’t take another blow."

At the same time, inside the cafe, Lu Chen seemed to become agitated as well, while Pei Yan, sitting on the sofa with a cold profile, didn’t seem to show any emotion. However, those familiar with him knew that his heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface.

Jiang Shuyao’s eyes didn’t stray from the cafe across the street as she asked Xie Anyu, "Who is behind the scenes working with Lu Chen?"

Xie Anyu shook her head, "I don’t know. Today, I accidentally overheard his conversation with a mysterious person on the phone. That person must be a programming expert; they mentioned tracing some email address. From what I could gather from Lu Chen, it seems that there’s not only a vulnerability in that system but also other things that shouldn’t see the light of day. I can’t judge what exactly they are."

But without a doubt, Pei Yan just happened to discover those shady things.

If she guessed right, that anonymous email was also Pei Yan’s doing.

He hadn’t chosen to release the information immediately, but instead sent an email to warn Lu Chen in advance, prompting him to voluntarily terminate the cooperation with the sponsor in front of everyone during the finals.

Xie Anyu could interpret this as Pei Yan not intending to blow the whole thing wide open, but simply wanting an attitude from Lu Chen.

Sometimes the rivalry between men doesn’t necessarily have to destroy one party; a voluntary surrender is the greatest victory.

But she knew Lu Chen, and even if he terminated the corporate collaboration as Pei Yan wished, truly humbling himself was out of the question.

A proud man like Lu Chen wouldn’t easily tell others about his family affairs, let alone reveal the fragility and disadvantages of his inner world. He would just continue wearing his mask and walk the dark path to the end.

Xie Anyu, anticipating the worst, had arranged to meet Jiang Shuyao here, hoping to secure the last bit of hope for Lu Chen within her power.

Indeed, she had guessed right about Lu Chen, but she had misjudged someone else.

The tea on the table had completely cooled, and Jiang Shuyao maintained the same posture for a long time. When she moved her fingers, she found them stiff and somewhat numb.

She turned to face Xie Anyu with a still relatively calm expression, "I can’t influence Pei Yan’s decision. Whatever he believes is right, I will support unconditionally."

Xie Anyu’s eyes widened in disbelief, "Jiang Shuyao, do you even have a heart?"

She wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Jiang Shuyao, "I believe that Pei Yan will not make things difficult for someone who is truly remorseful. But you should know in your heart, can a conversation between Lu Chen and Pei Yan really lead to any outcome?"