Chapter 41: Blame Him

"I don’t care for Detective Zhang’s rewards, so Detective Zhang, just say it directly." Shen Jue didn’t want to play guessing games with his friend, and besides, he had no clues to guess from. "Don’t worry, Rong Qingqing’s investigation has nothing to do with you. What she’s checking is about Qiaoqiao." As he mentioned this, Zhang Tan’s previously teasing tone turned much more serious. "According to Rong Qingqing, today she went to the school to pick up Qiaoqiao and discovered that Qiaoqiao was being isolated by her classmates. Many students avoided Qiaoqiao as if she were a plague, saying that Qiaoqiao was a jinx, and if one touched her, they’d have terrible luck. They also said Qiaoqiao was a curse, who brought death to your father and also crippled you." Zhang Tan’s words shocked Shen Jue greatly. After the incident, by the time he woke up, he hadn’t even had time to do anything, and Old Master Shen had already brought Shen Xingwei and his father into the company, replacing him and his father’s positions. The car accident involving him and his father is still full of questions, and this is something Shen Jue has always had his friend, Zhang Tan, help him investigate privately. With the intention of protecting his mother and sister, and wanting to use his own image of despair and neglect to numb the second branch of the family, Shen Jue didn’t pay much attention to many things after he woke up. In Shen Jue’s view, even if both he and his father had encountered accidents, Shen Qiao was still a young girl in middle school and, being a daughter of the Shen Family, she shouldn’t be bullied. What he needed to guard against was the second branch’s people targeting his mother and Qiaoqiao. What he didn’t guard against was Qiaoqiao being bullied at school. "Qiaoqiao never mentioned anything about what happened at school when she got home. Every day, she came back happy, just like before, always thinking about delicious food, and I thought her life wasn’t affected." Shen Jue’s voice was low, "I really didn’t expect she would endure grievances at school." "Qiaoqiao’s biggest support was actually you and your father. Now that both of you have had incidents, with so many opportunists out there, how could Qiaoqiao’s life not be affected, though I didn’t think she could be bullied this severely." Zhang Tan sighed, "We all thought that, at least being a daughter of the Shen Family, no one would dare do such a thing to her." It was precisely this assumption that allowed the young girl to endure prolonged verbal violence and isolation from her schoolmates. "Rong Qingqing said Qiaoqiao didn’t want the family to worry, so she didn’t mention anything when she got home." Zhang Tan now felt a pang of pity for Shen Qiao, the young girl, "I used to think your sister was willful, but now I see that she matured overnight and became sensible." Now that he thought about it, a young girl maturing isn’t necessarily a good thing—keeping everything to herself, enduring her own grievances. It might even be better to be willful, like she used to be. The old Shen Qiao couldn’t stand the slightest grievance. If she was even a bit upset, she’d stir up a storm at home, her likes and dislikes blatantly written on her face. Shen Qiao always disliked Rong Jiaojiao. Before Shen Jue’s accident, when Shen Qiao got angry, she could drive Rong Jiaojiao out of Shen Manor, even Old Master Shen couldn’t do anything about it. "Call me once you’ve finished your investigation." Shen Jue’s fingers tightened around his phone. He blamed himself. It was his neglect in protecting Shen Qiao. Unlike last night when she was driven out of Shen Manor, spending a night wandering between Shen Manor, the hotel, and back to Shen Manor again, Rong Qingqing slept exceptionally well tonight. When she woke up, it was already eight o’clock.