Chapter 32 - I Forgot (1/2)

Chapter 32: “I Forgot”

UNEDITED YET AGAIN~

Stunned by the barrage of questions, Shi Jin glanced at the documents, glanced at Lian Jun’s face, and tried to recall his thought process at the time. Finally, he replied weakly, “I forgot… I really didn’t mean to hide it from you…”

He truly forgot. That day, at first he was focused entirely on Chen Qing’s meeting with Lian Jun, then, because of Shi Weichong’s nonsense, he kept worrying if Lian Jun was angry. He didn’t say anything about the list when giving a report because it slipped his mind. He didn’t remember it until he was lying in bed in the evening.

The analysis of the information resulted in him getting a fever and not thinking clearly for several days. After he got better, the unpleasantness with Pockmarked Yuan had already been dismissed from his mind—his attention turned to finding out whether Shi Weichong and Xu Chuan were colluding. He never considered telling Lian Jun about the customers’ list.

Long story short, he simply… forgot. Or rather, the thought that this was something he should inform Lian Jun about never even crossed his mind.

Lian Jun looked at his foolish, honest face and endured in silence for a while, but as it became obvious the teenager was not going to say anything more, he got angrier and angrier. “You forgot? That’s your whole explanation?”

Facing his fury, Shi Jin gave a stiff nod.

Lian Jun moved his wheelchair wanting to leave, but after a meter, he suddenly stopped and looked at Shi Jin. He forced his voice to soften: “The day you went to meet with Shi Weichong, you told me you needed to talk with him about a family matter. This ‘family matter’ was your suspicion you were on the Werewolf’s list of kidnapping targets?”

Shi Jin saw the other man’s face turned white with anger and felt a bit panicky. He grabbed the wheelchair armrest and nodded timidly. “Yes.”

“Family matter! Shi Jin, go back and think long and hard. When you understand, come see me.” Lian Jun threw off Shi Jin’s hand and left without turning back.

Bang! The door to the study slammed shut.

Frightened by Lian Jun’s rare display of temper, Shi Jin stared at the door in shock.

A few seconds later, Gua Two cautiously pushed them open and sneaked in. He asked, lowering his voice, “How did you manage to make Jun-shao this mad? He went straight to the underground floor.”

Shi Jin was somewhat confused—he didn’t understand why this matter made Lian Jun so angry. He could only shake his head in distress and say, “I don’t know… Um, why did Jun-shao go to the underground floor?”

“To practice shooting. Every time Jun-shao gets angry, or is in a bad mood, he goes to the shooting range. It’s his old habit,” Gua Two answered. Looking at Shi Jin’s befuddled expression, he let out a helpless sigh and asked, “What did you talk about with Jun-shao just now?”

Like a drowning man grasping at straws, Shi Jin picked the file and came up to Gua Two. Clutching onto him, he described the whole matter in a small voice, finishing, “I really forgot, but when I said this, Jun-shao was even angrier. He told me to think about it and come see him when I understand.”

After listening to his explanation, Gua Two said, frowning, “Perhaps it’s because you joined late and did not climb your way up from inside Annihilation, Shi Jin, but sometimes, you lack some knowledge that is simply common sense for us. Your mistake this time is that you broke the fundamental rule of the underworld: you concealed information. This is the biggest taboo in our line of work. You may say it’s not a big deal, this is your private matter, and you can take care of it by yourself, but you still should’ve told Jun-shao. Otherwise, if you got in trouble one day because of this list, we would be left clueless and with no way to help you. Countless predecessors shed blood for this rule to form—if there’s any indication you might be in danger, for any reason, you report it to higher-ups. This is both for your own good and for everyone’s good, understand?”

Shi Jin hadn’t really thought about it in this way; Gua Two’s words cast the whole different light on the matter. He nodded. “I… Yeah, I think I understand.”

Seeing him truly listen, Gua Two was gratified. He continued, “Besides concealing information, you made another mistake—you looked for help from outsiders and did not tell Jun-shao.”

“I didn’t look for help from outsiders, I just wanted to check my eldest brother’s attitude,” Shi Jin protested.

“I believe it wasn’t intentional. Jun-shao must’ve seen it too, or he wouldn’t have run to the shooting range to vent his anger but thrown you out to be punished. Still, even though you didn’t intend to seek outside help, that’s how it looks like in other people’s eyes. In our world, when we are in danger or may encounter danger, the best way to deal with it is to report it to the organization instead of trying to take care of things by yourself. Looking for help from outsiders can potentially blow the matter up, needlessly complicating the situation. Well, this time you didn’t screw up too much—after all, the person you involved was your brother. What you did wrong was not telling Jun-shao in advance… Anyway, Jun-shao saying you should think about it, then go find him is him giving you a chance. You shouldn’t let it slip away.” After Gua Two finished, he contemplated Shi Jin for a moment, then sighed and left.

Shi Jin flopped down on the sofa and thumbed through the file again. “Xiao Si, have I really done this the wrong way?”

Xiao Si consoled, <You just have no experience.>

“It has nothing to do with experience.” Shi Jin did a quick introspection. Recalling his thoughts and Gua Two’s words, he let out a deep sigh. “I just… Didn’t think about it.”

But if he considered Lian Jun a bit more, trusted him a little more, he would never forget to tell him about the customer list. In the final analysis, he simply neglected to do this. Although he cared about Lian Jun’s safety and considered him a golden thigh to hug, he never entrusted his own safety to the other party.

Lian Jun had always regarded him as a subordinate who must be taken care of and protected, but he had never regarded Lian Jun as a boss he could rely on. This difference in their points of view was the real reason why he “forgot” to tell Lian Jun about the list.

Xiao Si squirmed nervously, not knowing how to comfort him.

“Let’s go.” Shi Jin abruptly put the file away and stood.

<Go? Where?> Xiao Si stopped fretting.

“Apologize,” Shi Jin answered, sighing. “You know your Darling’s physical condition. It takes a lot of energy to deal with the gun recoil. To top it off, when he left, he was so angry his face turned white; this is also harmful to his body. I’m afraid he will do too much, and his health will suffer, which would mean my efforts these past few months would come to naught.”

Xiao Si’s heart turned cold, and it urged Shi Jin to hurry up.

By Lian Jun’s order, the shooting range was emptied of people and closed off. Shi Jin was stopped in the reception room and could only wait in front of the door.

A few hours later, Lian Jun finally came out, looking as usual. His face returned to its habitual calm and had no trace of the previous fury.

Shi Jin rushed forward to block his way. “Jun-shao, I understand what I did wrong.”

Lian Jun stopped the wheelchair and looked at him. His answer was succinct: “Speak.”

Seeing he didn’t refuse to talk, Shi Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly said he shouldn’t have concealed information and sought help from outsiders. Then he sincerely apologized and asked for punishment.

Lian Jun was silent for a while. As his finger slowly tapped on the wheelchair armrest, he asked, “Did Gua Two explain this to you?”

Shi Jin’s expression stiffened. He glanced at Lian Jun cautiously, then nodded. “But I really understand. I will pay attention in the future, there will absolutely be no next time.”

Lian Jun was still watching him. “Do you have anything else to say?”

Shi Jin decided to take his chances and shook his head.

Lian Jun’s face sank. He turned his wheelchair around to return to the shooting range.

“Don’t! I still have something to say, don’t go back there! Your face is already white!” Shi Jin held Lian Jun’s wheelchair to stop him. He then daringly looked death in the eye and grabbed the other man’s right hand to inspect it. Seeing that sure enough, the palm was red, he couldn’t stop himself from nagging. “You’re angry, fine, but why would you torture yourself this way? Don’t you know your health is poor? The gun recoil is hard to deal with, and you’ve been practicing for so long…”

“Enough!” Lian Jun pulled his hand back, saying cooly, “Go back and continue to reflect on your mistakes.”

“It’s time to eat. I’ll reflect after dinner.” Shi Jin did not let go of Lian Jun’s wheelchair and pushed it towards the elevator regardless of its owner’s opposition. He pressed the button for the sixth floor and said, “First, eat. You can skip soup today.”

Lian Jun’s lips tightened. “Don’t push your luck, Shi Jin,” he growled.

“I’m not, I just haven’t finished explaining. Let’s talk as we eat.” Shi Jin, afraid he would continue to harm himself, calmed his voice and tried to soothe him. “It’s me you’re angry at, so why do this to yourself? I’m pretty sturdy and my skin is thick, I can take abuse. If you’re mad at me, just say it—I don’t think I can figure the reason by myself. You have to tell me what I should reflect on.”

Lian Jun turned his head away and refused to speak. He didn’t even want to see Shi Jin’s reflection in the elevator mirror.

Shi Jin didn’t keep on talking. He stooped down to help Lian Jun cover his legs with a blanket, then, when the elevator door opened, he pushed him out and continued to do so the whole way to the dining room. He also didn’t forget to call the kitchen to let them know they didn’t have to serve soup during today’s dinner.

When they arrived, Shi Jin pushed Lian Jun to his usual place, but instead of returning to his own usual seat across the table, he sat next to him. As they waited for the dishes, he said sincerely, “Don’t be angry anymore, I truly do know I was wrong.”

Lian Jun didn’t look at him, but also didn’t stop him from speaking.

Shi Jin sighed. He dragged his chair to sit beside Lian Jun, fixed his blanket, and said slowly, “I really didn’t mean to hide this from you. The day I got back from the assignment, I got distracted by Chen Qing’s matter and my brothers’ nonsense, and Werewolf’s customer list slipped my mind. Later, when I remembered about it, I started to have a fever. I was groggy all the time and forgot about it again.”

Lian Jun still didn’t speak, but his head turned slightly toward Shi Jin. Obviously, he was listening.

Shi Jin noticed and continued eagerly, “As for my eldest brother—it’s not that I was going to get outside help, I simply wanted to confirm if he was involved.” He described Xu Chuan’s position and his status as a family confidant at the time, his guess that it was Xu Chuan who wanted to harm him, and his suspicion that Shi Weichong and Xu Chuan might’ve collaborated. He explained things in great detail, but kept secret the matter of Xiao Si copying the information, only saying he deduced Xu Chuan’s name from some clues and conversations he eavesdropped on during the mission.

“You know I used to suspect my eldest brother wanted to kill me. Even though our relationship got better after we solved some misunderstandings, I was afraid it was just my wishful thinking, so I wanted to test his attitude. My intention was to make sure my brother and Xu Chuan weren’t working together, not to ask him for help behind your back.”

Lian Jun was finally willing to look at Shi Jin. Although his eyebrows were still drawn together in a frown, his voice softened a little. “If so, why didn’t you tell me then? Several days passed from when you recovered and went to meet with Shi Weichong to the officials contacting me. During that time, you had countless chances to tell me. Why didn’t you?”

“I…” Shi Jin looked at him. All kinds of excuses flashed through his mind, but when he met Lian Jun’s eyes, the evasive words stuck in his throat. He hung his head, sighing. “Because it’s a private matter and I didn’t believe there was a need to say anything… I didn’t think I should let you know.”