The Foolish Bookworm of the Aristocratic Boys’ School chapter 114.2

Part 2

Wen Rong arched his back and coughed violently. He felt an irresistible force on the back of his head, slamming it against the floor.

“That ledger…”

“Stop,” the old man said.

The man behind Wen Rong froze. Everyone stopped. It was as if only now did they fully focus their attention on Wen Rong.

On this body that was frail and young compared to theirs.

He deliberately kept his mouth shut.

One second.

Two seconds.

The old man didn’t speak, and the man behind him didn’t kick again.

Wen Rong looked directly at the old man. His hair was messy, bangs obscuring his vision.

He asked slowly, “Did you fish it out?”

“He still dares to speak!” “If he hadn’t thrown the ledger into the river—”

The group of men started arguing again. The scene heated up. The old man poured a cup of tea but put it down without drinking a sip.

His aged face was crisscrossed with deep wrinkles, staring gloomily at Wen Rong like a corpse.

“Beat him to death.”

“Castrate him!”

As emotions began to dominate their brains and everyone stepped toward Wen Rong, trying to decide which warrior would strike first, the old man finally spoke in a muffled voice: “Don’t rush.”

The old man pointed his chin toward the main door. The man who responded looked familiar; it was Zhang Yong, who had gone to Dr. Li’s house that morning to demand the ledger.

Zhang Yong walked out quickly. Less than half a minute later, the sound of crying came from outside.

The sound got closer and closer until Xiao Hua and Xiao Shan were dragged into the room.

Sponsored

Behind them, Dr. Li and Xiao Chun were thrown through the door by another man.

Wen Rong realized they were playing the threat card. He let out a cold laugh. His dry lips cracked, and a trace of blood flowed down his chin onto the floor tiles.

He shifted slightly, changing to a posture that tortured his wound less, and let out a breath. “It seems the ledger is really important to you.”

Gong Ye: “As long as you write down the parts you remember, I will let them go.”

“I remember everything.”

Everyone rejoiced. They firmly believed that students of Floriman Academy were capable of miraculous feats like photographic memory.

Wen Rong said, word by word, “But I don’t want to write it.”

The air fell silent again, but it was the brief calm before the storm. Soon, the crowd erupted: “Kill him!” “This little bastard dares to play us!” “If you guys are scared to do it, I will.”

…

Wen Rong ignored the men; he only looked at the old man. “Think about it. Why did I come to the Outer District?”

The old man remained silent. Wen Rong continued, “I was morally kidnapped by the entire Federation to come here. Someone died at the welfare institute, so they felt I should come to handle the funeral. Now—if something happens to me, they will be blamed and cursed by others. This is a massive news event. The government won’t ignore it.”

“If you don’t believe me, just wait. The Outer District government will call very soon.”

Knock, knock, knock.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

“Is Gong Ye in? Orders from above to pick someone up.”

Everything was within expectations, yet Wen Rong wasn’t optimistic. He noticed that on everyone’s face here, there was no “fear.” Not even a little.

The old man signaled for Zhang Yong to go out. “Deal with it.”

Zhang Yong smiled smugly at Wen Rong. “Little bastard, in the Outer District, even people from the government have to kneel and beg our Gong Ye.”

Wen Rong’s eyelids trembled slightly. He heard Zhang Yong go downstairs and say, “Not here.” The two visitors hesitated, saying, “This is the person the District Head is looking for.” Zhang Yong cursed, “Get lost.”

A car engine started, the sound fading into the distance.

Sponsored

It was evident that this Gong Ye held a higher status than the District Head.

The old man poured tea again. This time he drank it, his mood improved.

“Write down the contents of the ledger, and you can save one person from this group.”

“One?”

“You didn’t think you could cause trouble on my turf and not pay the price, did you?”

These words sentenced everyone to death.

Xiao Chun struggled violently, but with tape over her mouth, she could only make muffled sounds.

The man behind her raised a stick and smashed it onto her protruding shoulder bone.

Xiao Chun fell to the ground. Xiao Hua was so scared she didn’t dare cry anymore.

Wen Rong lowered his eyes. After a moment of silence, he said, “This is the critical period for the election. President Zhou’s Old Guard doesn’t have many votes. If they take hold of my disappearance, the situation could be reshuffled. The next ones to come won’t be from the local garrison, but the Inner District military. You should have seen on the news what my relationship is with President Zhou’s former subordinates.”

“Write it quickly, or they all die with you.”

“Even with so many people intervening, you still want to kill me for him?”

The old man looked at him coldly. The people around them picked up their weapons. Cold blades and sticks scraped against the floor, making ear-piercing sounds.

They surrounded Wen Rong like a monstrous wave, ready to swallow him whole and crush him into dust in the next instant. Terrifying faces, without a shred of human hesitation or mercy.

This was a group of lunatics who disregarded human life.

Enduring the pain, Wen Rong pressed his forehead against the floor tiles and finally managed to sit up.

He sat there, breathing heavily to alleviate the agony tearing at his wound. Only then did a sigh escape his bloodless lips. “It seems I have no other choice but to write out the ledger.”

Gong Ye: “Give him a pen.”

“I’m hungry.”

“You have one hour to finish. For every minute over, I’ll chop off one of their fingers.”

Sponsored

“…”

Someone behind him cut the restraints. Wen Rong brought his hands to the front, revealing it was a zip tie.

His thin, white wrists were already bruised purple, with a rectangular groove dug into the flesh.

Hah.

Wen Rong laughed abruptly in his heart.

This Gong Ye didn’t fear the District Government, didn’t fear councilors like President Zhou’s Old Guard, and didn’t even fear the military.

Above all these, his backer could be no one else but Wang Sichen.

Although the situation was dire, at least he had obtained one piece of good news.

Now, he just needed to know what the transactions in the ledger actually were.

#WenRongMissing# reached number one on the Blue Book trending list.

#WenRongShouldNotGoToOuterDistrict#

#OuterDistrictSecurityIsPoor#

#OuterDistrictAverageDailyMissingPersonsNear100#

Wen Rong brought the Outer District into the public eye. For almost the first time, residents of the Inner District realized that the Outer District wasn’t just dirty and chaotic; it was filled with gray areas.

[Damn it, blame those people who morally kidnapped Wen Rong. The accident at the welfare institute was already terrifying enough. The police hadn’t even closed the case before they forced Wen Rong to go to the Outer District.]

[I felt it was weird when those people were posting before. The accident at the welfare institute wasn’t caused by Wen Rong, so why did he have to handle the funeral and give money? Isn’t that the government’s job?]

[What’s scary is that Wen Rong actually went back to hold the funeral. And the government process sheet shows Wen Rong even donated money.]

[Boohoo, my baby, please don’t let anything happen to you.]

[If anything happens to Wen Rong, those who clamored for him to go to the Outer District are accomplices! Just you wait, I’ll find you one by one.]

[Why hasn’t the Academy made a statement yet? Isn’t Wen Rong a student of the Academy? They were happy enough leeching off Wen Rong’s fame, but now that he’s in trouble, shouldn’t they be hiring mercenaries to rescue him?]

Sponsored

[Uh… has the person above watched too many movies? Mercenaries?]

[Don’t laugh, mercenaries are really needed. I went to the Outer District a few years ago. The police there are just for show. There are dead bodies everywhere.]

[?? For real?]

[Guaranteed real.]

[@FederalGovernment, please save this poor child who is excellent in character and learning, and has no parents, okay?]

[Everyone act! Call quickly! We must make the government save Wen Rong.]

Public opinion on Blue Book was developing smoothly in the direction Zhou Xie expected.

However, the atmosphere in the room wasn’t relaxed in the slightest.

“People from the District Government went. They said Wen Rong isn’t there,” Leon said over the phone.

“Wen Rong’s location hasn’t changed. He is definitely there.”

Zhou Xie paused. “That town has already broken away from the District Government’s control.”

Leon’s tone was urgent. “Shi Ye isn’t answering his phone. Can you reach him?”

Leo suddenly jumped up. “Cousin, I just received news. Shi Ye gunned down the garrison commander last night and is currently being sent to military court.”

Zhou Xie concluded, “The military garrison has broken away from the Shi family’s control.”

📖 Return to Table of Contents