Due to his participation in various competitions to secure early admission to a prestigious high school, Zhan Bei Jue was constantly busy.
Although he genuinely wanted to understand what had happened in Jiang Nan Fang's family, he hadn't found the time in over a month.
It wasn't until more than a month later, when he went to the academic affairs office to retrieve something, that he encountered her again.
Just like last time, Jiang Nan Fang had gotten into a fight.
Several students, both boys and girls, were standing in the dean's office, being reprimanded.
Among them, the tallest boy, who appeared the most disdainful, was someone Zhan Bei Jue recognized.
He deliberately lingered, and after everyone had left the academic affairs office, Zhan Bei Jue stopped him.
"What was the dean scolding you about just now?"
The boy disdainfully told him, "It's all because of that Pigsy."
"So ugly and short, wears such unfashionable clothes, and doesn't even let people talk about it."
"I kindly got a bottle of deep-sea fish oil from my mom to put on her face, to clear up the scars. Before it even touched her, she punched me. Good intentions lead to bad results."
"Not only is she ugly, but she also has a terrible temper. No one in class is willing to talk to her."
"Anyone who dares to look at her more than necessary gets into a fight with her. If it weren't for her good grades, she probably would have been expelled by the teachers long ago."
To describe such a meddlesome person so eloquently was quite shameless.
Zhan Bei Jue suppressed the urge to punch the boy and continued to ask him.
"Do you know how she got the scar on her face?"
"You noticed it too, didn't you?"
Speaking of the scar, the boy immediately smirked.
"Who knows. I heard her stepmother burned it onto her, and some people say it was from fire."
"With her awful temper, don't you think she deserves to be burned? She's like a rock in a latrine, smelly and hard. How could her stepmother possibly like her?"
"Stepmother? Did his father divorce his mother?"
The boy continued to laugh, "If they had divorced, and her mother was still alive, her stepmother wouldn't dare to burn her like that."
"I heard her mother died. Apparently, she suffered from depression and jumped off a building. It's been several years."
Although Zhan Bei Jue's parents didn't have a good relationship and his family wasn't very harmonious, he hadn't experienced many setbacks at that age.
Hearing this was quite shocking.
"Why would she get depression? Did her father do something bad behind her mother's back?"
The male classmate suddenly stopped, looking puzzled.
"Why are you so curious about her? Do you know her?"
What teenage boy wouldn't want to know a beautiful, well-mannered, and popular girl?
Jiang Nan Fang, who was ugly and ill-tempered, became the target of everyone's attention, while Zhan Bei Jue was the campus heartthrob...
He felt embarrassed to admit it, "No, I don't."
The boy laughed again, "Then she's quite famous in school for her looks. Even you know her. Perhaps this scar is a good thing for her."
"Who cares how she got it? Anyway, she angered me today, and she won't have an easy time from now on."
"Fighting at school is a hassle with the teachers. I'll deal with her outside of school. I don't believe I can't handle her."
Junior high school evening self-study ended at 8:30 PM, half an hour later than him.
To prevent Jiang Nan Fang from being targeted and harmed after school,
After their conversation, Zhan Bei Jue immediately went to the teacher and requested to finish evening self-study at 8:30 PM daily.
Zhan Bei Jue was an excellent student with a calm demeanor, representing the ideal student in the eyes of all teachers. Such a small request was naturally granted.
Thus, starting that evening, Zhan Bei Jue appeared at the school gate every day at 8:30 PM.
He used the half-hour gap before his driver picked him up to follow her, tailing her for twenty minutes until he watched her safely exit the narrow alley and board the bus home.
Jiang Nan Fang was reclusive. In the half-semester he had observed her, he had never seen her interact with anyone.
Apart from occasionally hearing that she had gotten into a fight and was called in for reprimand, or seeing her ranked first when the school announced its academic results, Zhan Bei Jue never saw her in school.
After a year, they hadn't exchanged a single word, and Zhan Bei Jue graduated.
Upon entering high school, the Zhan Corporation's business flourished.
However, his uncle, while the company was at its peak, engaged in fraud and abuse of power, installing his cronies into the company.
His grandfather discovered a significant loophole in the accounts and, amidst a chaotic scene, expelled him from the Zhan family.
With his father being the only son, his grandfather placed all his hopes on him.
As if his position as crown prince was secured, his father became increasingly reckless and indulged in frivolous activities outside of work.
His mother seized every opportunity to argue with him.
Throughout the semester, Zhan Bei Jue had not a single peaceful day.
In the second semester of his first year of high school, North City University came to the school to scout for special recruits.
Wishing to leave the chaotic environment as soon as possible, he began to participate frantically in physics and math Olympiads, hoping to be recruited early.
The day he secured his special recruitment spot and returned home, his mother informed him that his father had been diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer.
Long-term alcoholism, late nights, and a life of debauchery had left his father, who was in his early forties and handsome, extremely weak.
Zhan Bei Jue had long since stopped speaking to his father, and hearing he had cancer did not stir any emotion within him.
And so, after the second semester of his first year of high school, his father passed away.
After the funeral, Zhan Bei Jue entered North City University alone.
Being younger than his classmates, Zhan Bei Jue had no interest in the girls around him.
During his three years of university, apart from participating in competitions, he was uninterested in anything else.
In his fourth year, the school organized internships, and the internship location was at the Zhan Corporation.
As the current sole male heir of the Zhan family, Zhan Bei Jue was naturally placed with great expectations by his grandfather.
Starting from the bottom and learning in each department, after his internship, Zhan Bei Jue stayed at the Zhan Corporation as the Vice President of Sales.
It was during these two years that his character, experience, and vision underwent a qualitative leap, guided personally by his grandfather.
He experienced the cruelty of the business world, the venom of human nature, and the unreliability of people.
Zhan Bei Jue became increasingly immune to romance and disillusioned with marriage.
However, what was meant to come eventually did.
One year after graduating from university, his grandfather was hospitalized due to a stroke caused by a cerebral infarction.
After being revived from another critical situation, his grandfather, fearing he might not live to see Zhan Bei Jue settled with a suitable partner, brought up the marriage engagement with Jiang Nan Fang from many years ago.
"I've already had people investigate. This girl is now studying electromechanical engineering at Nanda University. Her academic performance is excellent, and her daily life is very simple. She's very suitable for you."
"Although her face is injured, it's better to marry a virtuous wife than a beautiful one. Spiritual connection is more important than anything else."
"Ah Jue, everyone is disappointing me. Can you not disappoint your grandfather again? Just fulfill this one wish of mine before I die."
He hadn't heard any news of Jiang Nan Fang for several years.
His mention of her now, and in the capacity of his fiancée, stirred something within Zhan Bei Jue.
She was in university now?
He wondered if her personality had changed from before.
He wondered if her dressing style had changed.
He wondered if her stepmother was treating her any better.
If marrying him could help her escape that quagmire,
From this perspective, Zhan Bei Jue was willing.