Chapter 30 Part 2

He turned into the supermarket next door, bought a bottle of water, and casually placed it on the box, then took out his phone again.

[Pei Ran: Should I bring it over?]

Two seconds later, Pei Ran typed "Is it convenient?" but before he could send it, his phone vibrated.

[Yan Zhun: [Location]]

[Yan Zhun: I've called a car for you. Wait at the station for a bit.]

After getting in the car, Pei Ran rolled up the registration form and put it away. Just as he was about to tell Yan Zhun he was in the car, he noticed several unread messages in his WeChat.

[Lin Kang: Pei Ran, you there?]

[Lin Kang: Man, what a mess... Just take a look.]

Lin Kang sent over a few pictures, screenshots of a group chat log.

It started with someone in the group chat mentioning that Yan Zhun and Luo Qingshan had gotten into a fight.

[Heavens... what did Luo Qingshan do to piss Yan Zhun off enough to fight?]

[Who knows, but Yan Zhun's personality has always been strange.]

[It must have been Luo Qingshan who provoked him. With his temper, he can start an argument with someone just by playing basketball.]

After a few lines of discussion, the "insider" appeared.

[Su Nian: You're hilarious. Wasn't it that guy who fouled first last time we played basketball? How can you blame Brother Qingshan? And this time, Yan Zhun threw the first punch, so can we stop with the victim-blaming, okay?]

[Then tell us, why did Yan Zhun hit him? He couldn't have just been bored, right?]

[Yue'er: Fine, you want to know. Last time, on my baby's birthday, Yan Zhun disappeared halfway through the party, remember? It was Pei Ran who picked him up. The two of them were playing games together every day before that, and Pei Ran even gave Yan Zhun gifts.]

Pei Ran zoomed in on the profile picture of the person named Yue'er. He vaguely remembered her as one of Luo Qingshan's classmates, a girl who had been very close to Su Nian at the party.

[Yue'er: Yan Zhun stole his brother's wife, a male third person, understand? Luo Qingshan was actually quite decent, he just said a few words to him, but unexpectedly, Yan Zhun had the gall to throw the first punch.]

The rest were all expressions of shock and insults. Pei Ran didn't want to look anymore and closed the images.

Lin Kang was also conflicted. He couldn't understand why he would send these screenshots to Pei Ran; he just felt in his heart that neither Pei Ran nor Yan Zhun would do such a thing.

He hesitated for a moment, wanting to retract the messages, but the system notified him that more than two minutes had passed.

[Pei Ran: Is this group chat still active?]

[Lin Kang: ...It is. It's a group for organizing basketball games, there are hundreds, almost a thousand people. Yan Zhun is in it too, but it seems he's always had it muted. Anyway, he's never said anything.]

[Pei Ran: Can you add me?]

[Lin Kang: Maybe not... They haven't finished with this topic.]

[Pei Ran: It's okay, I'll just go in and say a few words.]

[Pei Ran: Thanks for the trouble.]

Lin Kang struggled internally for a long time before finally closing his eyes and adding him to the group chat.

[Yue'er: Whatever. Those who act as the third person will always be the third person. It's good to see his true colors. I just feel bad for the money Luo Qingshan spent on Pei Ran. I heard from Niannian it was at least six figures.]

[Pei Ran: @Yue'er 　No need to feel bad, we're even. If I owe him anything, you can have Luo Qingshan come ask me for it.]

The onlookers in the group instantly fell silent. Everyone sensed the drama unfolding and instinctively gripped their phones tighter.

[Yue'er: ...Ugh, who added him? Lin Kang? That's not cool.]

Pei Ran ignored her, opened the group members list, and glanced at it. They were all familiar faces, mostly classmates from the same department as Luo Qingshan and Yan Zhun.

Pei Ran had always had a very calm temperament. When misunderstood or misrepresented, he rarely bothered to explain. Firstly, it was troublesome, and secondly, it was unnecessary. He rarely held grudges when he was wronged. But at this moment, his typing speed was exceptionally fast.

[Pei Ran: The reason Luo Qingshan and I broke up is because he cheated on me with @Su Nian, so we reached a consensus and broke up peacefully.]

[Pei Ran: This has nothing to do with Yan Zhun.]

[Pei Ran: Also @Yue'er 　I'm a man, not Luo Qingshan's wife.]

Everyone in the group was stunned. Pei Ran rarely socialized deeply with anyone. Although he spoke gently and politely, it always felt like there was a layer of glass during conversations. No one expected him to so frankly announce "I was cheated on," and to even tag the other person.

Several onlookers couldn't help but type out a long string of periods.

[Pei Ran: Sorry to interrupt. You may continue.]

After saying that, Pei Ran left the group chat.

Immediately after, Su Nian and Yue'er also quickly left the group.

The group chat instantly exploded, with many people calling for Lin Kang to add them back in.

But Pei Ran didn't know any of this. The car arrived at its destination, and he opened the door and got out.

Yan Zhun was standing at the entrance to a park, his head lowered as he scrolled through chat logs.

Hearing the car door close, Yan Zhun looked up and saw Pei Ran getting out of the car with a medium-sized box, his brows slightly furrowed and his lips pressed into a tight line.

As soon as Pei Ran got close, the box was taken from him. Yan Zhun pried open his palm and placed a candy in it.

Yan Zhun said, "Teacher Pei, calm down."