Chapter Ten Freedom and Dignity

  After dinner, Chen Xin insisted repeatedly, and Cheng Shuiying finally agreed to let Chen Xin drive her home, of course, also taking Su Yifan along.

  Cheng Shui Xin knew that for someone like Chen Xin, his home address was absolutely no secret.

  Chen Xin actually hoped that Su Yifan would comment on his beloved car, but unfortunately, the young man who had just been pulled over by Su Xiaqing in a BMW two days ago didn't show any surprise, which made Chen Xin feel somewhat displeased.

  At the entrance of the residential area, after the two people saw Cheng Shuiying's back disappear, Chen Xin turned to look at Su Yifan: "Want to take a walk?"

  Su Yifan knew that Chen Xin didn't have a good impression of him, and the so-called "worry" was probably just an excuse to say something. Normally, Su Yifan would have been intimidated by these words, but now he felt calm and composed.

  "Alright, where do you want to go?"

  Chen Xin turned his head and looked at Su Yifan as if he didn't know him, saying: "Let's go to the Muhe Wharf."

  The so-called Muhe Wharf is a small scenic spot on the Mother River of Binhai City. The simplicity of the wharf is not as good as the Sydney Lover's Wharf, with only a few broken wooden boards and rotten pillars. However, the Binhai City Tourism Bureau has given it a city cultural tourism scenic spot sign hanging next to the management office. On the contrary, there is an open-air park around the wharf that is very popular among young lovers, which is almost a land that has witnessed various miraculous states of union.

  Chen Xin found Su Yifan in the past and definitely didn't want to talk about emotions. Now it's late winter and early spring, there are fewer people here, and it's more convenient to talk.

  The jaguar sped swiftly and steadily through the streets that were beginning to bustle with activity, and before long arrived at the Muhe Wharf.

  In the late afternoon, there were still many people around. Chen Xin didn't even look and extinguished the fire, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket, lit one for himself, and didn't ask Su Yifan if he wanted one.

  Su Yifan sat in the passenger seat, he could see his own expression in the rearview mirror.

  Su Yifan had actually guessed what Chen Xin wanted to say to her.

  "Su Yifan, I don't like beating around the bush. You can't be so close to Cheng Shuiyan from now on."

  Chen Xin spat out a mouthful of smoke and spoke without leaving any room for doubt.

  In the past, Su Yifan would probably ask "why".

  I don't know now.

  Looking at Chen Xin sitting in the driver's seat, spouting clouds and mist, Su Yifan vaguely felt that this boy was very childish. In order to achieve the effect of threatening others like an adult, he specially lit a cigarette before bringing up this topic.

  Su Yifan understood that Chen Xin's politeness and courtesy were for the eyes of most people, and only targeted at those he felt needed to be treated with courtesy.

  Someone like Su Yifan is insignificant, Chen Xin doesn't need to care about his opinion at all.

  So Chen Xin concluded as soon as he opened his mouth.

  Of course, this is still a situation where Chen Xin feels threatened by Su Yifan. If it were in the past, Chen Xin would never say such things to Su Yifan.

  A surge of unprecedented impulse rose in Su Yifan's heart, his scalp felt numb, and the intense anger after being insulted made his breathing uneven.

  Su Yifan turned his head and stared at Chen Xin sitting in the driver's seat without saying a word.

  Chen Xin could see Su Yifan's anger, but still said nonchalantly: "Don't think that Cheng Shuiying has a good relationship with you, can she really take a liking to you? Let me tell you the truth, even if Cheng Shuiying was really blind and chased after you, do you think you'll have a peaceful life?"

  Chen Xin's words were filled with a strong sense of disdain, which was completely different from his usual elegant demeanor.

  "What do you mean by saying so?"

  Chen Xin snorted disdainfully: "You don't know, do you? A few people in our school made a pact that as long as it's not one of them who wins over Cheng Shuijin, they'll join forces to make that guy look good."

  If it were in the past, Su Yifan would never have commented on such a thing. Today, he inexplicably found it ridiculously funny and coldly retorted: "How old are you? Is it interesting for you to tell me these things?"

  After finishing this sentence, Su Yifan opened the car door and got out of the car.

  Chen Xin ignored Su Yifan's actions and asked back through the car door, "It's not that I look down on you, but can you give Cheng Shuiying what she wants?"

  What does Cheng Shui Xin want? Su Yi Fan is very clear, she wants the attention of this world towards her, not a specific person. Cheng Shui Xin is undoubtedly loved by many people, but in her heart, maybe no one has it.

  "Fresh flowers, applause, attention, and a good material life." Chen Xin said loudly to Su Yifan standing outside the car door, "Do you think romance doesn't cost money? What's the price of taking a travel photo in the Maldives? Taking a selfie in the same car, isn't the logo on the steering wheel completely different between Mercedes and Hyundai?"

  It is undeniable that Chen Xin's words are extremely powerful, carrying the weight of reality. They would cause intense pain if thrown at someone, hitting them right in the heart.

  Su Yifan didn't respond, so Chen Xin took a drag on his cigarette and flicked the remaining half out the car window, where it landed at Su Yifan's feet.

  "Think about it, what can you give to Cheng Shuiyan? If there's wind and rain, can you help her block them? Even if Cheng Shuiyan is really with you, can you withstand the joint efforts of us?"

  At this moment, Su Yifan suddenly calmed down and asked back: "Join hands to do what?"

  Chen Xin sneered: "What do you think you can get? What else do you need? As long as there's a fist and money, can you take it?"

  "What's wrong with you? Can't you be less childish?"

  "You tell me, when do the strong need to care about the emotions of the weak? Don't forget, many people not only have fists, but also money and privileges. That's a world you can never touch, you can't feel it now in school, but once you graduate from university, you'll discover how big the gap is between people." Chen Xin lectured Su Yifan with a pretentious air of maturity.

  Although he knew that Chen Xin was hitting himself, Su Yifan still lowered his head after being scolded by him. His parents were busy running around to make the family conditions better, and he wasn't unaware of it. Most of the time, it was the gravity of real life that was too great, making life unable to soar.

  "Let's not talk about changing the world, can you even change your own life?" Chen Xin looked at Su Yifan with disdain and continued to pile on, "I can take Shui Xin to Haiyue every day for dinner, buy her Hermès bags. Of course, Shui Xin is definitely not that kind of vulgar woman, but can you give her what she deserves?"

  Chen Xin's words were quite tacky, and even had a hint of being nouveau riche. Su Yifan couldn't help but admit that such tacky words carried a lot of weight, especially when spoken by Chen Xin, a wealthy second-generation rich kid who didn't care about money.

  Su Yi turned her head away and didn't look at Chen Xin. The air outside the car was cool and clean, much more comfortable than inhaling second-hand smoke inside the car.

  Faced with Chen Xin's sudden and thorough exposure, Su Yifan didn't even bother to say anything. Chen Xin tried to use language to pressure himself, but he didn't want to refute his opponent sentence by sentence.

  The high and mighty image that Chen Xin had built up before was now ugly and ridiculous in Su Yifan's heart.

  Looking at Chen Xin's hands gripping the steering wheel, Su Yifan shook his head: "You really have a lot of nonsense to say."

  Su Yifan's disdainful expression was very convincing, making Chen Xin feel a wave of annoyance. He even thought about getting off the car and fighting with Su Yifan, but then he thought about his identity and how it wasn't on the same level as Su Yifan's, so he endured it.

  Chen Xin is now enjoying the feeling of using language to tease others, pointing at Su Yifan's nose and continuing: "Most importantly, I am much more useful to Cheng Shuiyan than you are. Your value, you know better than anyone else."

  A few days ago, someone said that about Su Yifan, and he was probably really indignant. Now Chen Xin is so blatant in her contempt for herself, but Su Yifan doesn't seem to be very angry.

  Behind was the Muhe dock, Su Yifan looked at the frozen river surface in the distance and asked Chen Xin through the half-down glass window of the car: "You can only find balance in these aspects, right?"

  Chen Xin's anger was provoked again: "You're still quite stubborn, aren't you?"

  "This has nothing to do with being stubborn." Su Yifan said seriously, looking at Chen Xin in the car, "Whether it's freedom, dignity or willpower, these are all my own choices. I have to respect them and can't give up easily. Someone told me that."

  "I didn't expect you to be so ambitious." Chen Xin continued to mock Su Yifan, "These things, can they even get you a decent set of clothes or treat a beautiful girl to a proper Western meal?"

  "That's your opinion." Su Yifan said more directly, "We have different ideas, you don't need to use your own set of values to attack me, this will only make me look down on you even more."

  Chen Xin's face fell rapidly, and his previous air of superiority vanished.

  "My surname is Su, I've said all I need to say today. Whether you do it or not is your business, and whatever consequences come of it are what you've brought upon yourself."

  Watching Chen Xin yelling in a flustered manner, Su Yifan suddenly felt a bit better.

  Is this what it's like to see someone's true face after tearing off their disguise? Seeing Chen Xin threaten himself, Su Yifan felt that he had somehow understood the ridiculous veil that once existed between people.

  Recalling Su Xiaoqing's effortless conversations, Su Yifan admired this sister even more.

  Chen Xin wanted to say something harsh, but felt that saying it would make him lose face, so he glared at Su Yifan for a few seconds before starting the car and driving away.

  Su Yifan sighed, he thought he wouldn't get involved in these petty squabbles, but it seemed that he couldn't avoid them after all.

  Su Yifan was actually very clear that she had been close to Cheng Shui'an before, and no one had ever thought of herself as a threat. Chen Xin's eagerness to make a statement was probably due to the fact that Cheng Shui'an had been too enthusiastic and proactive towards her in the past few days, leading to rumors and gossip.

  Chen Xin drove the car out of Su Yifan's sight, slowed down and pressed the dial button on the car. The Bluetooth headset on his ear brought a tacky ringtone of "On Top of the Moon".

  Chen Xin slightly furrowed his brow. The difference in taste between people was too great. This was the one song he least wanted to hear.

  He sang "On Top of the Moon" for several lines before answering the phone.

  "Hey, Chen Shao, your call is quite rare. What's the matter with looking for this idle person?" On the other end, a rough and lazy voice hummed a few respectful sounds, but anyone could hear that he didn't have much respect for this "Chen Shao".

  "Brother Chuan, aren't you scolding me by calling me like that?" Chen Xin smiled and slowly started the car, saying as he drove, "I've been wanting to have dinner with Brother Chuan for a long time. Are you free tomorrow?"

  "Alright, alright, Chen Shao, stop with the formalities, okay? If there's something you need, just say it and I'll take care of it. What can't I do for you?"

  Chen Xin felt both comforted and annoyed when he heard this. He was comforted that he could still order Xiao Chuan around, but he was annoyed by Xiao Chuan's attitude.

  In Chuan Ge's eyes, Chen Xin's dad is the only one who counts as a character, and Chen Xin, this high school kid, doesn't even deserve superficial respect.

  Come to think of it, Chen Xin is still in high school now. It will take him several years to graduate from college and then hone his skills before he can possibly take over his father's position. That's all a long time from now. There's no need for someone like Brother Chuan, who lives one day at a time, to show respect to him.

  Chen Xin hesitated for a moment and said cautiously: "Brother Chuan, I'm not going to lie to you. Today, I had some unpleasantness with a classmate."

  "Is there a background?" Brother Chuan subconsciously asked the key point first. This kind of person is not afraid of big things, but afraid of troublesome things.

  "Parents are useless." Chen Xin disdainfully gave Chuan Ge a comforting pill, "He's not even good at fighting and doesn't have many friends."

  Brother Chuan is not that kind of brainless rascal, he smiled and said: "If you say so, can't you just find a few friends from the school team to teach him a lesson? We're not going to the school anyway, what if people find out it's your doing, wouldn't that be bad for your reputation?"

  Kan's attitude was within Chen Xin's expectations. These rascals only talk about righteousness, but when something happens, they shrink back and wait to see how things develop. Now that it's the 21st century, it's not like the old days when you could get by with just a passionate speech. As long as you're involved in something, there will definitely be no shortage of trouble following behind.

  "Brother Chuan, I didn't intentionally want to trouble you." Chen Xin made an honest expression towards the Bluetooth earpiece, "If I find someone in school, it would be more troublesome. Everyone knows each other and it's easier to make a big deal out of it. If you step in, just scare him a bit, he'll know it's me but there's no evidence. I think this is just right."

  Kan Brother was silent for a while, probably thinking about the severity of the matter. After a long time, he confirmed: "Is it just a scare? No need to hurt bones and muscles?"

  "That's enough." Chen Xin thought he was still a rich second-generation with some taste, and dignity was important at times even if it didn't make sense. "Just stop there."

  "Alright, I'll head back to school and take a look around. You send me that kid's photo via MMS." Brother Chuan was quite trendy, "In a few days, okay? These next few days your dad still needs me to keep an eye on the fleet, it's almost spring and things are getting busy."

  "Thanks to Brother Chuan first," Chen Xin said politely. "I'm not someone who doesn't understand things, so I couldn't let you go to trouble for nothing."

  "What's going on? Chen Shao, you're also too distant...” Brother Chuan heard Chen Xin promise benefits and his mood improved a lot, no longer with the lazy attitude from earlier.

  Hanging up the phone, Chen Xin felt that she was being very strange today. The sense of superiority that she usually concealed well, how could it be exposed in front of Su Yifan, a weakling with no advantages? Was it just because Cheng Shuiyan had recently become more friendly to Su Yifan?

  Chen Xin would never admit that he felt threatened today.

  The change hidden beneath Su Yifan's calm surface gave Chen Xin a sense of crisis for the first time.

  Freedom? Will? Chen Xin sneered, and compared to his peers who had seen more of the world, he even had the urge to turn back and mock Su Yifan again.

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  I'm finding myself more and more fond of thinking up stories and typing away in this little black room. This is great, there's nothing better than this.