Chapter 651: Chapter 609: Psychological Shadow! (2)
No one shared short videos. No one posted on social media. In fact, no one even took out their phones to record the event. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to share the moment and let more people appreciate the spirit of filial piety. Rather, guided by the virtue that recognizes the difficulty of mending one’s ways, they couldn’t bear to let the repentant prodigal son be caught in a whirlpool of public condemnation.
Gradually, the onlookers, all with tear-streaked faces, began to disperse on their own. They wanted to give the father and son, who had reconciled with such difficulty, some space.
「」
On the other hand, Qin Fan, who had left the auditorium, didn’t go directly back to his dorm. Instead, he walked toward the women’s dormitory.
"Auntie!" Outside the guard booth at the dormitory entrance, Qin Fan called out with a smile as he tapped on the glass.
"Xiao Fan, why are you here again?" the dormitory supervisor asked as she slid open the window, her troubled expression plain to see. Although Qin Fan had merely greeted her, she knew he wasn’t there just to make small talk.
"Auntie, can I go up for a bit? It’ll be quick. I just need to deliver something and I’ll come right back down," he said with a smile, pointing toward the dormitory building. Although he had countless ways to go up unnoticed, he decided against it in broad daylight.
"Xiao Fan, you’re putting me in a difficult position, aren’t you?" the supervisor said.
Without responding, Qin Fan just smiled at her awkwardly.
After a few seconds of silence, the supervisor bit her lip and said, "Alright! But this is the last time. Be discreet! Don’t make things difficult for me! Tongues will wag, and the last two times I let you up, it started a lot of nasty rumors!"
"Got it! I’ll be careful. Thank you, Auntie!"
With a smile, Qin Fan turned and quickly ran inside as the supervisor watched him go with a resigned, bitter smile. He didn’t give the girls in the dormitory a chance to scream, instead dashing straight to Jiang Yino’s room. With his Divine Sense, he perceived that the three women had already returned from the hotel.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
At Qin Fan’s knocking, a flurry of light footsteps hurried from within.
"Qin Fan, why are you here?" Jiang Yino exclaimed in utter surprise as she pulled the door open.
Does he really treat the women’s dormitory like his own backyard, coming and going as he pleases?
"I heard you lost your phones! I was just passing a mall, so I went in and bought you some new ones." As he finished speaking, Qin Fan smiled and handed the bag of iPhones to Jiang Yino.
Seeing that the bag was full of brand-new iPhone Xs, Jiang Yino was stunned.
"Qin Fan, these—?" she stammered, hesitating to take them. These phones cost almost ten thousand each; this was too valuable a gift.
"You know my situation. This isn’t much money for me. Take them," Qin Fan said, changing the subject as he looped the bag’s handles over her fingers. "How are the other two doing?"
"Let me come out to talk."
No longer being modest, Jiang Yino took a deep breath and brought the bag with the three phones inside, then gently closed the door behind her.
Seeing her demeanor, Qin Fan couldn’t help but frown, an overwhelming sense of guilt washing over him. In the end, he was the source of all this trouble.
"How are they?" Qin Fan asked with a frown after Jiang Yino closed the door.
"They had nightmares and woke up screaming at the hotel! That’s why I came back to the dorm with them. This incident has left a deep psychological scar on them! It’s not just them. Even now, whenever I recall those scenes, I can’t stop my whole body from trembling." As she spoke, Jiang Yino’s face turned pale, and her slender frame couldn’t help but shiver.
Seeing this, Qin Fan immediately reached out and pulled her into an embrace. Startled by the intimate gesture, Jiang Yino froze for a moment but didn’t resist.
"I’m so sorry for what you went through, and for dragging them into it," Qin Fan said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with remorse.
Even if he could slaughter gods and demons and annihilate all life, he was still powerless against psychological trauma. Of course, he could erase the women’s memories, but the thought of the pain that would cause made him hesitate. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.
"Let’s not talk about that now," Jiang Yino said, her eyes turning red as she looked into his. "Qin Fan, what should I do? It’s my fault. Seeing the state they’re in when they wake up from their nightmares... it’s just agonizing!"
He paused, not answering her immediately. A moment later, he let out a heavy breath. "Let’s see if they can overcome this trauma in the next few days. If not, I’ll think of something else."
"Okay." Not knowing what he meant by "thinking of something else," Jiang Yino slowly nodded. After agreeing, she hesitated before adding, "Qin Fan, maybe you should head back. I need to stay and watch over them. I wouldn’t be able to rest easy otherwise."
"Alright. Call me when you can."
Qin Fan gave her forehead a light kiss, as gentle as a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface, then turned and left as Jiang Yino forced a smile.
「」
Outside the women’s dormitory building, as soon as he stepped out, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate. His melancholic expression shifted into a grin when he pulled it out and saw the call was from Ji Yi. He swiped to answer, speaking as he walked, "Hey, Big Sis!"
"Where are you? I’m at your school gate!" Ji Yi said from the other end.
"Alright, I’m on my way out."
"Hurry up! It’s cold!"
With that, Ji Yi promptly hung up.
Qin Fan gave a wry smile and quickened his pace.
A short while later, the moment he stepped out of the school gate, Ji Yi, who had already spotted him, immediately rushed over and possessively linked her arm with his.
"Ahem, um, Big Sis, a lot of people are watching. Are you sure we shouldn’t be more discreet?" Qin Fan joked, caught off guard by her sudden ambush. His smile, however, didn’t quite manage to dispel his underlying gloom.
"Something’s off," Ji Yi said immediately, frowning. She knew him well enough to sense it.
"Huh? What’s off?" Qin Fan asked, taken aback.
"You are! Your expression is all wrong. What happened?" Releasing his arm, Ji Yi looked straight into his clear eyes, her tone serious.
"Damn, you saw right through me?" Qin Fan said with a faint, wry smile, faced with her earnest expression.
"You made a strange call last night, and now you have this absent-minded, forced smile on your face. Do you think I’m dense? Or just blind? Spit it out. Tell your Big Sis what’s wrong," Ji Yi demanded.
"Alright, let’s walk and talk."
Tightening his windbreaker, Qin Fan began to walk. After a few yards, he continued, "Last night, Yinuo was kidnapped, along with two of her classmates. They were targeting me. I called you because I was afraid they might target you next."
"What!"
Hearing this, Ji Yi stopped dead in her tracks and exclaimed in disbelief.
They kidnapped Jiang Yino to get to Qin Fan?
If it weren’t for Qin Fan’s troubled expression, Ji Yi would have thought he was joking. After all, that kind of drama usually only happened in the movies.
Besides, how old were they? How could they already be dealing with something like this?
For a moment, Ji Yi was utterly shocked.
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