Chapter 28: Silence

Zhao Ning, with eyes also red, said to Su Ming,

"Your father has been summoned for an investigation."

"Why?"

"This Chilami Larvae outbreak originated from the garbage dump at our house, and it wasn't reported in time."

"No way? What about mother, this incident is so serious."

Su Ming was speechless, realizing this disaster had originated from his own family's business.

"Don't worry, my son, I'll call the old man in a while."

Zhao Ning quickly tried to comfort Su Ming.

"The old man?"

Su Ming's body instinctively shivered, and a furious face flashed across his mind.

For a moment, Su Ming looked somewhat unnatural. The "old man" was his grandfather, the current patriarch of the Su Family, known for his volatile temper and overbearing personality.

It could be said that everyone in the Su Family feared him.

The last time Su Ming had seen him was three years ago, during the old man's 200th birthday celebration, where his current body nearly wet itself from fear, leaving quite the psychological scar.

"Yeah, just a word with the old man should sort things out, so there's no need to worry."

"Okay."

Su Ming thought for a moment, then calmed down. If his grandfather was willing to intervene, there shouldn't be any issue.

"By the way, son, is your school on break now?"

Zhao Ning asked immediately after.

"Yes, the school has asked us to study at home."

"That's great, son. Stay at home where it's safe. It's not safe out there."

Zhao Ning really didn't want Su Ming to go to school now that her husband had been taken away. If something happened to Su Ming, she couldn't bear it.

"I can't do that, I still have the city exam coming up."

Su Ming replied with a headache.

"Forget about the city exam for now. Just stay at home, and I'll make you something delicious to soothe your nerves. You must have been scared yesterday, weren't you?"

Zhao Ning led Su Ming inside the house.

....

Three days later, early morning.

After doing one hundred push-ups and one hundred sit-ups intermittently, Su Ming took a hot shower, changed into loose clothes, and walked down the spiral staircase.

In the hall, Chen Hui saw Su Ming coming down and promptly came forward to respectfully ask,

"Young master, you're up. Breakfast is ready for you."

"Hmm, where's my mother?"

Su Ming turned his head to scan the hall, but didn't see Zhao Ning.

"The lady left early in the morning. She specifically instructed me to prepare your breakfast, saying you've been losing weight because of the recent hardships."

Su Ming glanced at the table full of meat and a plate of green vegetables, feeling somewhat moved.

"I understand. You can go on with your work."

"Alright, young master."

After Chen Hui left, Su Ming approached the dining table and turned on the projection TV.

He picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks and watched the TV as he ate.

At that moment, the news was being broadcasted by a reporter in a blue suit, standing on the street.

"Citizens, regarding the recent Chilami invasion incident in Thirteenth District, the district guards responded with swift action, and all Chilami have now been completely eradicated. It's safe now. The lockdown has officially been lifted, and residents can move freely again...."

Su Ming watched the report and fell into thought.

These past few days, he had dug out his textbooks and revision materials from the last two years, but his review was far from ideal; the efficiency was just too low.

With the city exam looming, time was extremely tight, and it seemed he had no choice but to seek help from Mr. Tang Yan.

Thinking this, Su Ming stood up and left.

A moment later, Su Ming walked on the broad road, which was eerily quiet except for squads of patrolling soldiers; hardly any pedestrians were visible.

Most of the shops on both sides were closed, displaying signs that read "Temporarily Out of Business," with only a very few still open.

From this, it was evident that the situation in the Thirteenth District was still tense.

However, Su Ming didn't care as he jogged toward Teacher Tang Yan's home.

...

Over an hour later, Su Ming, panting heavily, arrived at the entrance of the residential area where Tang Yan lived.

Just as he was about to enter, he heard a familiar shout from behind.

"Su Ming."

Somewhat surprised, Su Ming turned his head, only to see Mink and Chen Tong, also looking quite surprised.

"How did you guys get here?"

"Don't look at me; I'm not with him. We just happened to bump into each other."

Chen Tong snorted coldly, disdainfully dissociating himself from Mink.

Mink didn't mind and explained with concern.

"We've come to find Mr. Tang. The city examination is imminent; studying at home during the holiday just won't cut it."

"I think the same, let's go find the teacher."

Su Ming didn't say much else.

The three walked together and soon reached the teacher's doorstep, with Mink immediately stepping forward to knock on the door.

Knock, knock~

The door was quickly opened, and just as Su Ming and his friends were about to greet the opener, they were momentarily taken aback by who they saw.

"Zhao Ran?"

"You guys came too? Come on in."

Zhao Ran was also a bit surprised.

The trio of Su Ming entered the house, immediately facing the cramped living room packed with about a dozen classmates; the three with dyed hair had also arrived.

It was clear that not everyone in the class had given up; many were still striving hard.

"You also came. Find a place to sit yourselves. If necessary, just make do with sitting on the floor."

Then, Tang Yan appeared. His eye sockets deeply sunken, he looked defeated as he carried a cup of water.

"What's happened to the teacher, why does he seem so dejected?"

Su Ming whispered to Mink.

Mink, in a heavy tone, whispered back to Su Ming.

"Yesterday, there was a memorial service at the school, specifically to commemorate those who had died; the teacher went as a host."

"How did I not know this? Wasn't I notified?"

"How could they notify you? They only called the families of students who died, do you know how many from our class passed away?"

"How many?"

"Eleven from our class passed away, the entire school's casualties are countless, the numbers are too horrifying to disclose publicly."

Su Ming's heart sank upon hearing this, knowing the situation was grim but not expecting it to be this bad.

"If you will excuse me."

Mr. Tang set the water on the table and then dejectedly sat on the couch.

Su Ming and the others didn't know how to start a conversation, and the atmosphere inside turned extremely oppressive.

At this moment, Mink took a deep breath and said to Mr. Tang.

"Teacher, the city exam is imminent, and the school has suspended classes for home study, but we're not prepared at all, relying only on ourselves isn't working. We have a long way to reach Imperial Court Academy, we really need your help."

"The class leader is right, teacher, please help us,"

Zhao Ran and others echoed in agreement.

"Ah, honestly, after the incidents of the past few days, I've come to a realization; Imperial Court Academy and spots there... none of that is important anymore, what matters is staying alive, so you don't need to be obsessed with applying for the Imperial Court Academy."

Tang Yan sighed, lifted his head, and spoke to everyone.

"..."

Zhao Ran and the others fell silent as well.