Chapter 433: Tongwei's Heartbreak

Qi Tongwei looked at Chen Yang with a heart full of pain; he didn't even take the gifts he had placed on the ground, turned around, and walked out of Chen Yanshi's home.

"Take all your gifts back."

Seeing that Qi Tongwei hadn't taken the gifts, Chen Yanshi threw all of them out directly and shut the door.

At this moment, Qi Tongwei only felt his blood rushing to his head, a humiliation like never before; his fingernails were digging into his flesh as he silently picked up the gifts and left the family compound.

After leaving the family compound, Qi Tongwei was in a daze, not even knowing how he had returned to the dormitory.

Qin Wenzhang, who had been waiting in the dormitory for a long time, didn't find this scene strange; he patted Qi Tongwei on the shoulder without saying a word.

"This..."

The others in the dormitory hadn't gone home yet either; seeing Qi Tongwei in this dejected state, they clearly understood what had happened, and they hadn't expected that the eldest brother's guess would actually be right.

"Old Six, you should have been mentally prepared."

"Yeah, I should have been mentally prepared, it's just that I didn't expect..." Qi Tongwei said in a muffled voice, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"Eldest brother, brothers, I'm fine."

Qi Tongwei took a deep breath and cast aside the messy thoughts, but the look in Chen Yang's eyes at the end still made his heart ache.

"Alright, then let's just get together; we won't see each other again until the New Year."

"Okay, I agree."

"Agreed."

"Count me in."

"Let's go, let's go eat hot pot."

"Let's go."

The six of them headed straight for the hot pot restaurant by the school, ordered a pile of food, and two bottles of white liquor.

"Come, let's have a drink first to warm our stomachs."

"Drink."

"Cheers."

In the end, Qi Tongwei still got drunk; he didn't cry or make a scene, just lay quietly on the table, though his face was already streaming with tears.

"Sigh, it's better that he's drunk."

"Let's go."

The tall and sturdy Yan Wei directly carried Qi Tongwei on his back, with the others following behind; they all had to go home in the afternoon, so they hadn't drunk much.

"Alright, you guys go back; my home is right here, I'll take care of Old Six."

"Okay."

Qi Tongwei was woken up by thirst; he opened his eyes to see the sky outside still misty and gray, checked his watch, and saw it was only past five in the morning. He got up, picked up the water glass by the bedside, and took a big gulp, which made him feel a little better.

"Hmm? Old Six, you're awake?" Qin Wenzhang was startled awake by Qi Tongwei's movements.

"Yeah, eldest brother, what about me yesterday?"

"It's fine, you got drunk, we brought you back; the others all went back yesterday afternoon."

"Thanks, eldest brother." Qi Tongwei silently kept this favor in his heart.

"Hey, anyway, my home isn't far from here, it's the same wherever I sleep; how are you feeling now?"

"I'm fine now, I feel much better after drinking some water."

"Hmm, Old Six, you haven't entered the officialdom yet, so there are some things you might not understand. Although I don't know what you experienced at the family compound, Chen Yang's parents have very high standards."

"And her father is very incorruptible, even to the point of being out of place, so in the Jingzhou officialdom, everyone has very complicated feelings about him."

"Chen Yang's father is also a veteran; I heard he has many high-ranking comrades in Sijiucheng, so whether it's Chen Yang or Chen Hai, they will likely marry into the families of his comrades."

"Old Six, I'm saying this because I hope you understand that the threshold of Chen Yang's family is very high; we can't squeeze our way in."

"Yeah, I understand."

The two chatted for a long time, and the sky began to brighten slightly; they washed up briefly and went to have breakfast.

"Eldest brother, I'm heading back now, let's meet again next year."

"Yes, okay."

"Sigh."

Watching Qi Tongwei's receding back, Qin Wenzhang felt sympathy in his heart; he had gone home yesterday afternoon and learned about what had happened at the family compound.

If that kind of thing had happened to him, perhaps he wouldn't have been able to help but swing a fist at Chen Yanshi; he didn't know how Old Six had managed to endure it at the time.

Qi Tongwei took the bus home, his mind filled with scenes of the past two years with Chen Yang, especially when he thought of that timid, ignorant look at the end, and Qi Tongwei's heart felt as if it were being pinched in pain.

"Hoo."

When Qi Tongwei got off the bus and stepped onto the land of his hometown, he finally let out a long sigh, rubbed his stiff face, and then walked toward home.

During this winter break, Qi Tongwei didn't study as usual; instead, he often stared blankly, sometimes not responding even after being called several times.

The Qi Qinghai family didn't have a pleasant New Year; they saw the changes in Qi Tongwei, but it wasn't easy to say much.

Because every time they asked, it was almost always brushed off by Qi Tongwei; since Qi Tongwei wouldn't say, they couldn't guess wildly.

"Tongwei, Dad doesn't know what happened to you, but you have always been the pride of our family. If there's something wrong, don't bottle it up; you can tell us or your godfather."

"Dad, Mom, little sister, I'm really fine, it's just that there are some things I haven't figured out yet, don't worry."

"Okay, you must tell us if there's anything."

"Yes, okay."

After the winter break, Qi Tongwei returned to Jingzhou, and his father told Zhang Ping'an about his situation.

"Qinghai, Tongwei is an adult now; what could trouble him is nothing more than relationship problems. Perhaps he had a fight with his girlfriend and is in a bad mood; maybe he'll be fine once they meet again."

"Don't worry, Tongwei is stronger than you think. I will pass through Jingzhou in the middle of the year, and I will go see Tongwei then."

"Okay, sorry to trouble you, Brother Zhang."

"What kind of talk is that? Tongwei is my son too, alright, don't worry."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Ping'an thought for a moment; in the original story, this time period was likely when the relationship between Qi Tongwei and Chen Yang was exposed, and Chen Yanshi's obstruction had wounded Qi Tongwei's self-esteem.

But now that Qi Tongwei had skipped a grade, he and Chen Yang shouldn't be classmates anymore; could it be that he would still get entangled in a romantic relationship with Chen Yang?

When he came last time, Qi Tongwei was still in high spirits; it seemed that this was something that happened in the period after the New Year.

Thinking of how Yi Jiabao had returned to Qi Family Village at the end of the year, Zhang Ping'an made another phone call to ask.

Yi Jiabao now had two sons and a daughter; the youngest son was named Qi Tongle, which also allowed the lineage of Qi Qingshan to continue.

"Uncle, Tongwei is indeed acting strange, often staring blankly while holding his books; I thought he had encountered difficulties in his studies."

"Alright, I understand."

Qi Tongwei had an incredibly strong sense of self-esteem; if it were truly like in the original story, where his gifts were thrown out of the house when he visited Chen Yanshi, he was likely trapped in self-doubt right now.

"Sigh, one has to cherish one's own godson."

Zhang Ping'an decided to go and see Qi Tongwei to save him from getting stuck in a dead end.

At the end of February, Zhang Ping'an flew to Jingzhou, and his car entered Handong University without any obstruction.

"Tongwei, are you free? I'm at the front-most teaching building of your school."

"Godfather, I'm in the dormitory, I'll be right over."

"Good."

Ten minutes later, Qi Tongwei arrived at the car, pulled the door open, and sat inside.

Zhang Ping'an looked Qi Tongwei up and down; he was indeed a bit more dejected than before.

"Tongwei, are you alright?"

"Godfather, I..."

Looking at Zhang Ping'an's gentle and concerned gaze, Qi Tongwei's voice choked up; he had never been like this back home in front of his own father.

"It's alright, take your time, we have plenty of time."

Zhang Ping'an sighed inwardly; it seemed Qi Tongwei had indeed been wronged, otherwise he wouldn't have lost his composure in front of him.

In the end, Qi Tongwei slowly recounted the events of the past two years, including every detail of his time with Chen Yang.

"Tongwei, neither you nor Chen Yang are wrong; it is Chen Yanshi's approach that is too radical."

"The reason he doesn't agree to you and Chen Yang being together is nothing more than that he cannot see any value in you, or rather, any existing value."