CH 52

After a single word, Ji Ran no longer spoke.

In the next moment, he pulled out the things he’d just bought, poured soap onto a cloth and began scrubbing.

“Some unpleasant things happened recently,” He slowly began, “I don’t know if you’ve heard about it.”

“It’s fine if you haven’t. But if you did, don’t be too upset. You can’t take online rumours seriously, they’re all just doing it for attention… they didn’t truly intend to scold you.”

“I saw there were still a few of your fans, they said they believed you. Look, you even got flowers this year.”

His lips couldn’t help curving up when he said this.

This was not the first time he’d been here. However, every time he would lay down the flowers, then sit quietly with Zhao Qing Tong for a while before leaving. This was his first time having such a monologue.

How funny.

The caretaker usually only swept around the cemetery, so there was still some dirt around. It didn’t take long for the cloth to get dirty.

“I’ve also been quite well. Those people can’t affect me, they only know to hide behind the internet. If I dragged them out before me, who would dare say another word?”

“Mom, if there’s a next life, you must live happily. Don’t suffer such hardships anymore.”

After saying these few words, Ji Ran didn’t know what else to say.

He cleaned the tomb and sat back down, staring at the photograph for some time.

The woman had beautiful eyes. When she cried, they were like raindrops on pear blossoms.

When she was alive, Ji Ran wasn’t as rebellious as he was now.

For a long while after he was thrown out of the Ji family, he endured the mockery and trampling from the people beside him, yet he never fought back.

He was afraid if he retaliated, Zhao Qing Tong would have to go and apologise to them.

He didn’t want to see his mother lower her head and apologise to others, nor did he want to see her cry.

That lasted until his first year when Ji Ran was bullied in school. He returned home with a swollen face and empty pockets. His textbooks had also been torn up.

When Zhao Qing Tong saw this, she held him and wept while apologising to him.

Allowing himself to be held, Ji Ran felt helpless and thought to himself that it was really difficult to coax his mother. She’d cry if he was hit and cry if he hit others.

He remembered how Zhao Qing Tong buried her face in his small shoulders while sobbing. She told him she would think of a way so he wouldn’t need to suffer for much longer.

It didn’t take long before she was in a car accident. It was a case of drunk driving, the perpetrator was sentenced to two and a half years.

That year, Ji Ran beat up all the gangsters that Ji Wei had called over. After a few times, he became famous and no one dared to provoke him anymore.

Dispelling his thoughts, he stood up and brushed off the dust clinging to his pants. “I’ve gone on for too long today, I hope you don’t find me annoying. The driver is still waiting for me… I’ll come back next time.”

After standing still for a moment, he couldn’t help reaching out, wanting to touch the person in the photograph.

“Hey!” In the distance, the caretaker’s angry voice was heard. “You! What are you doing?! You need to register before going in!”

Ji Ran’s actions paused as he turned back.

At a counter not too far from where he stood were a bunch of people. Because they were sneaking about, he hadn’t heard their footsteps before.

They were all dressed up, with two members carrying a camera. Others seemed to be holding a notebook or a microphone.

Realising that they’d been discovered, they immediately rushed forward.

This was the first time Ji Ran encountered something like this. He stood still, not understanding a thing until he’d been surrounded.

Microphones and recorders were thrust unceremoniously in front of him.

“I’m a reporter from Entertainment Weekly! May I ask if you’re the son of Zhao Qing Tong and Ji Guo Zheng?!”

“Ji Ran! Some reports and posts about you surfaced on the web some time ago. Are they true or false?”

“I heard that you have been in contact with the Ji family. Do you get along well with your family? Will there be conflicts with them because of your mother’s situation? What are your views on your mother destroying other people’s families?”

Several voices overlapped, each question more unbearable than the last, making Ji Ran’s ears ache.

He was wrong.

Having not seen any news regarding Zhao Qing Tong on the web over the past few days had caused him to lower his guard.

He never expected Gu Cheng to be so sinister as to find people to chase him to Zhao Qing Tong’s grave.

Ji Ran only felt his ears ringing. His hands were clenched by his side. He was prepared to wait for the next unlucky fellow who opened his mouth.

Right now, he was a firecracker that had been lit and ready to explode.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, a sharp cry sounded. In the next moment, the camera on his shoulder fell to the ground and shattered with a dull crash.

Ji Ran felt his ears become clear once more while everyone else was startled by the sound.

This journalist had been working in this field for a long time and had a sturdy figure. However, before he could react, he was already pushed onto the ground and his equipment was destroyed.

Ji Ran’s fist slowly unclenched.

He saw Qin Man appear with a dark face, using his shoulder to rashly push his way through towards him.

Having known Qin Man for a long time, this was still Ji Ran’s first time seeing him angry.

Qin Man walked over to him and took off his coat. Without a word, he put it over Ji Ran’s head and securely shielded his face.

Ji Ran finally came back to his senses. “You…”

The journalists Gu Cheng had hired were the type that were notorious for being unafraid of death, writing anything for the sake of gossip. Seeing the changes, they quickly recovered and grew even more excited…

“May I ask, are you Ji Ran’s bodyguard? Did you hit a reporter because we hit a sore spot?”

“You damaged my equipment and even pushed me! I’ll sue you! You must reimburse my medical fees and compensate me for emotional damages.”

“Ji Ran, since the bodyguard you hired even dared to hit reporters, is the story about you bullying other students on campus true?”

These people were like flies buzzing around his ears, successfully igniting Ji Ran’s fury.

Before he could do anything, someone was faster than him—

Bang!

Standing at the forefront, the male reporter who kept shoving the microphone into Ji Ran’s face was suddenly punched.

Qin Man had learnt boxing; This was a real punch that shattered a small piece of the man’s teeth, causing it to fall out of his mouth when he crashed onto the ground.

Others aside, even Ji Ran was stunned by his punch.

It was the first time he saw Qin Man attacking someone.

The male reporter laid on the ground, eyes wide with shock, as if he had not come to terms with the fact that he had been beaten.

Immediately afterwards, a sharp pain spread from his cheeks. He wailed, curled up and rolled on the ground, covering his face. However, before he could touch Qin Man, he was seized by the collar and kicked to the ground.

“I don’t hit women.”

Qin Man’s voice was colder than the sea breeze. He looked at the shocked female reporter next to him and continued, “But if you keep asking, I don’t mind making an exception.”

The female reporter came back to her senses. “You…are you threatening me? You dare to threaten a reporter? You…”

Looks like there was no getting through to her.

Qin Man coldly raised his hand again.

Ji Ran was quick and rushed to grab Qin Man’s arm.

“Qin Man…” His tone carried a hint of panic

Qin Man didn’t hold back, there was no way the female reporter could bear it

The female reporter also panicked. Their purpose this time was actually to force Ji Ran’s hand.

Now that Ji Ran had a bad reputation, it would be easy to make headlines if they filmed him attacking someone.

But what was this situation? Judging from the temperament of the man in front of him, he didn’t look like Ji Ran’s bodyguard at all.

Qin Man asked, “Are you going to turn the recorder off?”

The remaining reporters looked at each other.

This person was ruthless. Even if they went up together, it may be difficult to gain an advantage.

After a few seconds, they turned off the recorders.

They thought that the situation would finally ease a little. Unexpectedly, Qin Man suddenly raised a hand and pushed another piece of equipment to the ground.

The sound of shattering equipment resounded through the cemetery.

“You—”

Qin Man was still unhappy. He swept a glance over them and the person who spoke immediately fell silent.

Although the camera had been completely destroyed by him, he was still worried that the other side had a hidden camera, so he left the jacket on to hide Ji Ran’s face.

When he returned to the car, he saw a LOGO on the car directly in front of him.

Although he didn’t recognize the LOGO, there was a microphone symbol next to it, which aroused his suspicion. Thus, he got out of the car without hesitation.

Sure enough, when he walked back into the cemetery, he saw several people rushing towards Ji Ran, surrounding him tightly.

A more courageous female reporter asked, “What, what do you want? Let me tell you, we won’t let this matter go!”

Qin Man ignored her.

He freed up a hand to take out his mobile phone and found a number.

“I will be solely responsible for your medical expenses. If you want to prosecute me for deliberately hurting someone, contact the police directly and I will cooperate. This is my lawyer’s contact information.”

He paused for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was cold, “But I will make it clear. If I see anyone slandering or insulting my friend, I will make sure that you rest more peacefully than anyone lying here.”

Ji Ran stole a glance at the person who was talking through the gap in his jacket

Fuck.

Why did he feel that Qin Man’s cold face was so… fucking cool.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Qin Man suddenly took his hand, so their ten fingers were touching without any gap between them.

Ji Ran palms were sweating from his anger earlier. He subconsciously wanted to avoid it for fear of getting it on Qin Man’s palm. He didn’t expect to find himself unable to pull his hand back. Instead, the hold grew tighter.

The caretaker finally arrived. The little old man was carrying a stick in his hand with his neck red from anger. “Who are you guys?! Do you know where this is? You all actually brought a camera in to disturb others! Hurry up and get out! Give me your names and identity cards, I need to register you!”

It wasn’t until Qin Man took him out of the cemetery that Ji Ran came back to his senses. “Let go, my palms are sweating.”

Qin Man pursed his lips and didn’t answer him.

Ji Ran, “…Are you still angry? What are you angry about…”

“I was late.” Qin Man said, “Don’t worry, your photos won’t be circulated.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, so what if the photos are leaked?”

Qin Man stopped talking again.

Ji Ran suddenly realised that the person in front of him was the Qin Man from high school. However, if he thought about it again, they wouldn’t have held hands in high school and Qin Man’s coat would not be on his head.

He was indeed quite angry at first. But after Qin Man appeared and threw out those punches altogether, his mood had lifted.

He was even somewhat happy.

Ji Ran took off the jacket on his head. “Did you secretly douse your jacket in perfume? It almost choked me.”

“I didn’t.” A stiff reply came.

“…”

Those stupid reporters were gone. What was this person still angry for?

Ji Ran thought about it and waved a hand. “Hey, previously, weren’t you the one who constantly chattered in my ears, telling me to not get angry? It’s fine that you hit others, you even broke their equipment. What was that about?”

The whole way back to the car, Ji Ran didn’t receive a reply.

Seeing the bunch of reporters leaving after being released by the caretaker, Ji Ran hurriedly put on his seatbelt. He was afraid that Qin Man would lose control and get out of the car to destroy their recorder.

He didn’t want to see Qin Man go to jail because of him.

Qin Man started the engine, but he didn’t rush to drive off. Feeling the cool wind from the air conditioner, he finally broke the silence.

“I was wrong,” Qin Man suddenly said.

Ji Ran froze. “What?”

Qin Man turned to look at him, the hostility in his eyes had yet to fade. “I said that I was wrong.”

“There are many things that don’t require a peaceful resolution. In the future, if someone makes you unhappy, don’t let them off. Just attack them and don’t worry about the consequences. In any case, you are not allowed to suffer, understand?”

Ji Ran stared at him, momentarily unable to find any words to reply.

After a long while, he finally spoke, “… Am I the kind of person to suffer a loss? Even if you didn’t appear earlier, I could have beaten them all to the ground.”

When that group of people saw Ji Ran’s car, they almost stumbled in fright. They hurriedly got into their car and sped off.

Qin Man retracted his gaze and turned the steering wheel. The anger in his heart hadn’t cooled in the slightest.

Ever since he got into the car, he had been regretting it.

Regretting not following Ji Ran in.

Regretting how ineffective those punches were.

T/n: Can’t believe they broke my boy down to a violent man who will throw punches to protect his man :((

Anyway, it’s been a week since I came back from an extended break from translating and just wanted to let u guys know my patreon is back up and running if y’all want to read advanced chapters^^