Chapter 154 - 127: I Suspect You’re Plotting Something, But I Have No Proof...
Jiang He nodded to each of them in acknowledgment.
The phone in his pocket had been vibrating nonstop.
He casually pulled it out and took a look.
It was the group chat for [Clinical Medicine, Class of ’06].
Their counselor, Brother Sun, had just sent two consecutive messages:
[Huge news! In this morning’s South China Region Clinical Skills Competition, our very own Jiang He scored full marks on all four stations, temporarily ranking first in the entire region!]
[Principal Qian was ecstatic in the observation room just now! Everyone, head to the main venue this afternoon to attend the ceremony!]
Zhou Yang: [Old Jiang, you’re a beast.]
Lin Yue was on the etiquette team and didn’t have time to check her phone.
But below Zhou Yang’s message was a neat and uniform line of "Indeed."
It was like that old saying: Though Lin Yue was absent, everyone became Lin Yue...
Jiang He sent a simple "Thanks, everyone" to the group chat.
Then he exited and opened the [miRNA Early Screening Project Task Force] group.
This chat was also filled with praise.
Cheng Xiyao: [Boss, congrats! I heard you wrote the LNR theory directly onto your answer sheet in Zone D and still got a perfect score! This is basically like having the provincial expert panel and the academicians personally stamp their approval on our research direction!]
Yi Xiangwan: [The boss is mighty! Mighty boss!]
Lu Xiaolin: [Amazing, Jiang He.]
Gu Yizhou: [You’ve worked hard.]
Tang Pei: [I just got out of the exam hall. The boss is just too fierce. When I was just leaving Zone A, he was already done. It’s just ridiculous...]
After sending a few quick replies, Jiang He put his phone away and continued toward Cafeteria Two.
「Cafeteria Two, a corner on the first floor.」
"Old Jiang, eat up. I got you some braised pork ribs, specially to... you know, fortify your bones."
Chen Hao pushed the tray over. He was a firm believer in the "like cures like" philosophy...
Jiang He picked up his chopsticks and asked casually, "Aren’t you guys going back for a nap? You don’t have class this afternoon?"
"You really don’t get it, do you? Classes are canceled this afternoon! Old Sun said everyone’s going to the awards ceremony to cheer you on."
"Oh."
Jiang He nodded and started eating.
Halfway through the meal, Li Zijian, who was sitting across from Jiang He, suddenly put down his chopsticks.
His head was bowed, and his shoulders began to tremble.
Jiang He gave him a second glance and frowned. "What’s wrong? Is the food bad?"
Li Zijian shook his head as tears fell, PLOP, PLOP.
Jiang He: "?"
He asked Chen Hao, who was beside him, "What’s with him?"
Chen Hao sighed and said nothing.
As he cried, Li Zijian suddenly slammed his hand on the table, pushed his chair back, and stood up.
"I’m just a piece of trash! I deserve to be played!"
After roaring this out, Li Zijian turned and walked away.
Jiang He: "????"
After a moment, he looked at Chen Hao and Wang Bo. "What set him off?"
From Jiang He’s perspective, a sudden loss of emotional control was either a psychiatric symptom caused by an organic lesion or the result of extreme psychological trauma.
’This isn’t a small matter.’
Chen Hao wore a grave expression. "Old Jiang, it’s our fault for not telling you sooner. Zijian... he recently met a rich older woman at an off-campus gym, a few years his senior."
Wang Bo added, "Yeah. Zijian thought he was latching onto a sugar mommy, taking a shortcut in life. But last night, he found out the woman was a total fraud. She didn’t just play with his feelings; she used him as free labor and even sent texts to other people behind his back, calling him a stupid, broke student."
Chen Hao said, "Zijian was already hurt because of that whole thing with Han Tiantian. He was trying to numb himself this time, but it just made him completely break down. He’s been off ever since he got back to the dorm last night, not saying a word. I guess he finally reached his breaking point during this meal."
Jiang He’s brow furrowed even deeper.
He knew about how Li Zijian had been hurt before, but he never expected him to resort to such an extreme measure.
"Where’d he go in his current state? You think he’ll do something rash?" Jiang He asked.
"When he gets like this, he goes to that bistro off-campus called [Encounter] to sit for a while. He always wants to be alone."
Chen Hao said, "Old Jiang, we’re brothers from the same dorm. He’s so broken down right now, he might really do something stupid. How about we go find him together after the awards ceremony this afternoon?"
Jiang He said, "Why wait for the ceremony? Let’s go now!"
Chen Hao: "Uh, no rush. It’s better to let him cool down first..."
"Is that so?"
Jiang He’s brows knitted together.
His thoughts ran a layer deeper.
’In my past life, Zijian contracted some... pretty nasty diseases.’
’Could the butterfly effect of my rebirth have caused him to get sick earlier?’
’Is that why he’s falling apart? Maybe it looks like he was just hurt emotionally, but the real reason is that he’s already been diagnosed with something and is too embarrassed to tell us roommates?’
’If that’s the case, this is a huge problem.’
Jiang He lost his appetite. He stood up and said, "Let’s go. We’re going now."
"Hey, don’t!" Chen Hao blocked him, hemming and hawing, at a loss for words.
Finally, Wang Bo came to the rescue. "How about this: I’ll go first to make sure he’s okay. Haozi, you stay with Old Jiang, and you guys can come over after the awards ceremony ends."
Chen Hao: "Yep, yep, let’s do that!"
Jiang He scanned the two of them with suspicion.
’I have a feeling these two are plotting something, but I have no proof.’
Jiang He said, "Alright, how about this: Wang Bo, you take Zijian for a full physical. I won’t go over after the ceremony; just send me the results."
"Old Jiang, that’s where you’re wrong!" Wang Bo suddenly raised his voice. "Zijian admires you more than anyone! Your words are a hundred times more effective than ours. Besides, what he’s having is a severe psychological crisis. Isn’t that also within the scope of medicine?"
Jiang He: "Huh?"
Chen Hao’s tone turned serious. "Old Jiang, if something really happens to our brother out there, could we live with ourselves? We have to go today. Even if it’s just for ten minutes, just to show our faces and let him know we haven’t abandoned him."
Jiang He: "..."
He was out of arguments. He sighed and said, "Fine. I’ll go after the ceremony, alright?"