novelraw Chapter 461 : The Dust Settles
Chapter 461 : The Dust Settles
Chapter 461: The Dust Settles
A few days later, Luo Wenjie's parents came to the school to pack up their son's belongings.
Chen Fan actually didn't want to show his face, because he didn't know how to explain to them what had happened to Luo Wenjie.
All five guys from dorm 519 were present, standing in the room watching the couple dressed in old clothes, clearly from the countryside, silently organizing their son's storage cabinet.
As she sorted through her son's clothes, Luo Wenjie's mother finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst into tears while hugging one of her son's shirts.
Wu Di and Ma Xiaoshuai wanted to go help, but were refused by Luo Wenjie's father.
He silently packed all the luggage by himself, using several fertilizer bags to seal the packages, then picked up one in each hand.
"Uncle, let us help," they offered.
This time, the middle-aged man with a somewhat aged appearance didn't refuse.
Wu Di and the others went over, each taking a bag.
"Sorry for troubling you all," he said.
The middle-aged man was clearly not very good at socializing, having said less than a few sentences since entering the room earlier.
Before leaving, he looked at his son's bed.
"Please throw away the mattress and slippers and such," he said.
Following behind, watching this scene, Chen Fan noticed that the already slightly hunched back of the middle-aged man had bent even more.
In the corridor, many students stood at their doors curiously watching this scene.
They all already knew about Luo Wenjie's arrest.
Unable to bear such gazes, the rural couple kept their heads down and quickly went downstairs without a word.
As they were escorting them towards the school gate, Chen Fan took out a bank card from his pocket.
"Uncle, I saw Luo Wenjie a couple of days ago," he said.
"He asked me to give you this card."
Seeing the confused look on the middle-aged man's face, Chen Fan explained in a low voice, "This is money Luo Wenjie earned. He said to give it to you two."
A pained expression flashed across the face of the middle-aged man from the countryside.
"He was doing illegal business. I don't want this money," he said.
The mother beside him opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't speak.
Chen Fan explained, "Regarding Luo Wenjie's situation, it's not something that can be explained in a few words, but he has already been punished, and the fine has been paid."
"The remaining money is clean."
"It's what he left for you two."
"Really."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it.
"Thank you, young man," he said.
Chen Fan shook his head, not saying anything.
After seeing the two off as they got in a car, the mood of the guys from dorm 519 was quite low.
"Old Chen, Brother Jie's case should be decided soon, right?" one asked.
Chen Fan nodded, "Should be in the next few days."
"How long do you think he'll be in for?"
Chen Fan sighed and shook his head. He had no experience with this kind of thing either.
He had already given all the money he could to Pang Longhai to smooth things over. The rest was out of his hands.
"Let's go. Time to head back," he said.
As they turned to walk back, they unexpectedly saw Li Jiao standing at the school gate.
"You guys go ahead," Chen Fan said, waving Ma Xiaoshuai and the others on.
Then he walked alone to Li Jiao.
"His parents left?" Li Jiao asked in a low voice, her expression complex.
"Mm. Just left," Chen Fan replied.
Li Jiao looked at Chen Fan. "How long... will he be sentenced for?" she asked.
Chen Fan shook his head, "I don't know."
Li Jiao asked, somewhat pleadingly, "You're so capable, can't you help him?"
"He's your brother, and he admired you the most."
Chen Fan sighed, not explaining that he had already done everything he could.
"I'm sorry..." he said.
He then reached into his pocket and took out a bank card.
"This is what Jie left for you," he said.
Li Jiao looked at it for a moment, not refusing, and took it.
When she looked up at Chen Fan again, there was a hint of resentment in her eyes.
"You could have done something, but you didn't do anything," she said.
"You don't deserve to be his brother."
With that, Li Jiao ran off without looking back.
Chen Fan shrugged, not saying anything.
In mid-November, Luo Wenjie's case finally reached a verdict.
Ten months in prison.
This was still with Chen Fan having spent several hundred thousand yuan to smooth things over.
Chen Fan was fairly satisfied with this result.
After all, Brother Jie had been caught red-handed this time.
Before Luo Wenjie went to prison, Chen Fan went to see him one more time.
Luo Wenjie's long hair had already been shaved off, but he seemed to be in good spirits.
He even joked with Chen Fan that ten months for 2-3 million yuan in savings was worth it.
Chen Fan didn't mention the money spent privately to smooth things over.
He only comforted him, telling him to follow orders inside and get out early.
With ten months, Luo Wenjie was definitely going to miss graduation.
In fact, two weeks after Luo Wenjie's incident, he had already been expelled by the school.
But for Luo Wenjie, he didn't seem to care about such small matters.
With Luo Wenjie's situation temporarily settled, Chen Fan once again resumed his busy life.
This weekend, he specially drove Su Ruochu out, saying they were going to relax and ease their minds.
However, Su Ruochu was a bit confused as to why they had to come so far to relax, all the way to a town under Yunhai City.
When she asked Chen Fan, he just smiled and said they came here to relax and, by the way, to scout for some talent for the future new company.
Su Ruochu couldn't help but laugh.
"Other people recruit talent from university campuses or poach from big companies with high salaries. You come to a small town to find talent," she said.
"I don't think you're telling the truth."
Chen Fan couldn't help but laugh. This time he really wasn't lying.
Because this town was Zhou Wangchao's hometown.
In his previous life, Chen Fan remembered Zhou Wangchao saying that this was his hometown, and after graduating from university, he had worked as a town civil servant for a year.
But he quickly became bored with the stagnant work.
He directly resigned against his parents' wishes and went out to start a business.
In the first year, he spent all his savings of tens of thousands of yuan.
With no choice, he had to find work, working as a waiter, on construction sites, and later as a sales consultant at a real estate office...
In his previous life, when Chen Fan's new company recruited Zhou Wangchao, he had already been unemployed for nearly half a year.
If Chen Fan hadn't recruited him into the team, Zhou Wangchao might have spent his whole life struggling against fate at the bottom.
They wandered around the town all day, with Chen Fan occasionally stopping to ask passersby if they knew a person named Zhou Wangchao. Later he simply stopped asking and started sightseeing with Su Ruochu.
Although the small town's urbanization process was slow, it had its own unique scenery.
They ate delicious food, enjoyed the green mountains and clear waters, went fishing at the reservoir and boated...
Compared to man-made tourist attractions, they preferred this kind of primitive natural scenery.
Throughout the day, the smile never left Su Ruochu's face.
She loved these moments alone with Chen Fan.
"I just heard the fish seller say there's an ownerless ruined temple on this mountain. The buildings inside are almost collapsed. Do we still want to go up and see?" Su Ruochu came over to ask Chen Fan's opinion.
"If you want to go up and take a look, I'll go with you," Chen Fan said with a smile, handing Su Ruochu the ice cream he had just bought.
"Wait a moment," he said.
Chen Fan took out his phone from his pocket and answered a call.
"Alright. I got it. We'll talk when I get back," he said.
After Chen Fan hung up the phone, Su Ruochu asked, "What's wrong?"
"Something came up at the company," Chen Fan answered with a smile, looking up at the mountain opposite.
"Let's go. I'll go up with you," he said.
But Su Ruochu suddenly shook her head.
"I'm feeling a bit tired, and it's getting late. Why don't we head back?" she suggested.
Chen Fan laughed, "I really don't have anything urgent. We can leave later, it's fine."
"Being with you is the important thing. Everything else is minor," he said.
But Su Ruochu looked at Chen Fan seriously.
"You can't be like this," she said.
"A girl's willfulness is spoiled by the boy."
"You can't indulge me too much, otherwise I'll become more and more unreasonable in the future."
"Especially when facing a choice between your girlfriend and your career, you need to be more rational."
"I may not be able to help much with your career, but at least I can try not to hold you back."
Hearing these words, Chen Fan couldn't help but gently pull Su Ruochu into his arms.
"More than my career, I hope you'll be happy and joyful for your whole life!" he said.