Chapter 24: Can’t Bear to Look her in the Eye (2/2)

Cheng Xi was silent. Regardless of how much she had just heard was truthful, she could imagine what sort of personality Chen Jiaman would develop in this environment: introverted and self-abasing; and if not undisciplined and out of control, then timid and strange.

Sighing, she then asked, “When did Chen Jiaman start skipping school?”

“About two years ago.”

“Why was she unwilling to attend?”

“She just didn’t want to go.” After saying this, the madam patted the nonexistent dust on her clothes. Cheng Xi noticed that her gaze had started avoiding hers, and her expression had become somewhat artificial. So, she quickly changed the subject. “I say, Miss Lawyer, the police have already asked about all these things, so why are you still asking about them? We were all here when she killed her grandmother. She looked just like a little wolf child, frightening beyond belief. Even after that, even after she’s gone crazy, are you still going to defend her?”

Cheng Xi duly replied, “That’s the due process of the law.” She wanted to keep talking about Chen Jiaman’s school life, but the madam clearly didn’t want to stay on this topic. Even when Cheng Xi asked her about where Chen Jiaman’s school was, she replied disdainfully, seemingly not wanting to answer. “Why would you go to her school? Since she quit going to school, do you think that her teacher would have been able to stop her?”

Her tone was caustic. Cheng Xi frowned, clearly realizing that she wouldn’t be able to get anything else out of her. She walked around the Chen estate again, thanked her, and then got back into the car.

The madam came out with her, but didn’t leave. Instead, she walked to another house and stood under its roof. Out of that house came a lady about the same age as her; the two of them started talking and occasionally glanced at Cheng Xi and Lu Chenzhou.

Cheng Xi drew her gaze back. “Where to next?” the chauffeur asked.

Cheng Xi opened an app on her phone, looking for nearby schools. Luckily, it wasn’t too hard to figure out where Chen Jiaman had gone; the town only had one kindergarten, one elementary school, and the only middle school was over in the next town.

Two years ago, Chen Jiaman had been twelve, and thus she should have been enrolled in middle school. She turned around and talked to Lu Chenzhou about what she had heard, and then asked, “At twelve years old, she should have been in sixth grade, just entering middle school. If I want to understand what her school life was like, do you think that I should go to her elementary or her middle school?”

As she said this, Lu Chenzhou’s gaze was fixed to his screen, completely unresponsive. She didn’t think he would respond, but unexpectedly, he replied, “To the middle school.”

Cheng Xi was slightly shocked. “Why?”

Lu Chenzhou’s face looked like he was unable to bear it any further. He raised his head and asked, “Were you really top of your class in school?” His tone was mocking. “With this sort of intellect, are you sure that the teacher wasn’t just going easy on you?”

Cheng Xi remembered that he had heard this on the night of Shen Wei’s wedding, so she seriously responded, “I think that it’s more likely that my classmates went easy on me. They saw how pretty I am, so they let me pick up the first place position.”

Lu Chenzhou didn’t say anything, merely focusing his attention on her one half-dimple, his thoughts self-evident.

Cheng Xi guessed that discussing whether or not her half-dimple was beautiful or not with an obsessive-compulsive maniac would be a pointless endeavor, so she hurriedly covered up that half of her face, and then continued asking. “You haven’t explained why we should go to her middle school over her elementary school.”

“What was her elementary school performance like?”

“I saw that her living room had many certificates and prizes, so I’m sure that she did fine there.”

“Then that’s it,” Lu Chenzhou said coolly. “As someone who got through elementary school just fine, why would she quit just as soon as she entered middle school?”

After hearing this, Cheng Xi clapped her hands together. “Ah, that’s true.” Smiling, she praised him, “You’re awesome, I never thought about that.”

Lu Chenzhou turned around, unable to bear looking her in the eye.

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