Chapter 203

Chapter 203

“It really wasn’t me!” Liu Ye said anxiously.

“Brother Liu, I believe you,” John said firmly.

“I believe you too,” Xiaoshuai added.

The Driver stood resolutely beside him as well.

Liu Ye was moved beyond words. That was right. It didn’t matter how badly everyone else misunderstood him. At least these friends still believed in him.

“Give us a reason. Why couldn’t it have been him?”

Second Uncle stepped forward with an ugly expression.

“Hmph. If Brother Liu had done it, how could Third Uncle still be alive?” Xiaoshuai asked disdainfully.

Liu Ye stared at him.

“Exactly. If Little Liu had done it, there shouldn’t be a living soul left here. Besides, his usual methods are more about making people wish they were dead,” the Driver agreed with a nod.

Liu Ye stared at him too.

“Don’t compare the crude techniques in your minds with Brother Liu’s work. Physical destruction is the most primitive method in Brother Liu’s eyes. He is different from us. What he pursues is the destruction of the mind.” John looked contemptuously at the crowd.

Liu Ye had nothing to say.

Just what kind of person do you think I am? Give me back my heartfelt gratitude!

Even worse, Second Uncle thought for a moment, then bowed to Liu Ye.

“I apologize, Master Liu. I misunderstood you.”

You actually believed that? At least doubt them a little, you bastard!

Liu Ye roared inwardly through his tears.

“Master Liu, could you tell us what happened?” Second Uncle asked.

The injured man was his younger brother, so he wanted more information.

“Well, here’s what happened…”

Liu Ye composed himself and slowly explained. After finishing his food, he had gone to the bathroom. On his way back, a boy in his teens appeared and asked him for a cigarette.

“What did the boy look like?” John immediately asked.

“He looked like your Third Uncle. They were practically identical. The only difference was that the boy looked a little younger,” Liu Ye replied.

Second Uncle’s expression changed dramatically.

“Are you certain?” he asked urgently.

“Of course. They looked as though they had come from the same mold. There’s no way I could mistake him.”

John noticed that his other uncles in the crowd had paled as well, as if they had heard something unimaginable.

They know something, John thought.

He nodded without speaking, though a suspicion had already formed in his mind.

“What happened next? He asked for a cigarette, so you gave him one?” the Driver asked.

“I don’t carry cigarettes. Besides, he was just a child. How could I let him smoke? Wouldn’t that be harming one of our nation’s young flowers?” Liu Ye said, clapping his hands.

“Then what?”

“Then he left. But after I walked a few steps, the kid came back and asked me for alcohol. I told him, ‘You’re not allowed to smoke, and now you want to drink too?'”

Liu Ye turned to the deeply unsettled Second Uncle.

“I’m serious. Your family really needs to discipline that child properly. He has far too many bad habits. You can’t spend all your time making money and neglect the next generation.”

As a former educator, Liu Ye spoke with heartfelt sorrow.

What could Second Uncle say? Every word out of Liu Ye’s mouth felt like a veiled warning. He had no choice but to nod and agree.
“Then I gave him a stern lecture. Just then, your Third Uncle came over. He was about to greet me when his expression suddenly changed and he fled in a panic. He obviously had run into trouble, so I hurried after him.”

After all, how could a Saintly Father ignore something like this?

“You just wanted to hear the gossip, didn’t you?” the Driver asked darkly. He knew Liu Ye far too well.

“Ahem, ahem… Anyway, I chased him into the garden. The young man from before was pursuing your Third Uncle with a torch. I could see something terrible was about to happen. It was an emergency, so I grabbed something nearby and threw it.”

John searched beside Third Uncle and found a bloodstained brick.

“This?”

“That’s it! The situation was urgent, so I picked up the brick and threw it.”

Everyone fell silent.

“Emergency or not, why didn’t you hit the kid? Why did you hit Third Uncle?” the Driver asked in confusion.

“The kid was a minor! If I hit him with a brick, I’d probably go to prison. We can’t break the law. So I decided to frighten him instead. And it worked! The kid got scared, dropped the torch, and ran.”

Everyone had no words.

You tried to frighten the attacker by hitting the victim?

“Fine. Let’s say that explanation makes sense. How did the garden catch fire?”

“That truly wasn’t my fault. The kid dropped his torch, and gasoline had been spilled beside it, so everything caught fire. Hey, hey! You can’t blame this one on me! The kid dropped the torch, and he spilled the gasoline. It had nothing to do with me!”

Thinking back carefully, Liu Ye realized he hadn’t merely done nothing wrong-he deserved credit!

“Oh? And who frightened him into dropping the torch?” Second Uncle asked.

“Me!”

Liu Ye thumped his chest, then immediately realized something was wrong. He blinked at the Driver and pointed at himself.

The Driver nodded with an anguished expression.

“Uh… Big Brother, wait. I can still argue this. The kid should bear primary responsibility. I was only trying to save someone. At least I got the victim out alive!”

“John examined my third brother. His burns are minor. The serious injury is the blunt-force trauma to his head,” Second Uncle said eerily.

Liu Ye fell silent.

He looked at the Driver. The Driver gave him a sidelong glance.

“Can this still be salvaged?”

Liu Ye scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

“Probably not.”

Everyone stared at him.

Tears streamed down the Driver’s face. They had earned almost nothing on this trip, and now they had piled up a mountain of debt.

“Big Brother…”

“Don’t call me that. I need some time alone.”

“No, Big Brother. I wanted to tell you that John said we don’t have to pay for the garden.”

Whoosh!

A dark blur crossed Liu Ye’s vision. Then he saw the Driver clinging tearfully to John’s leg.

“Dad! You’re my real dad!”

John and Xiaoshuai stared.

It was the first time they had seen a Fiend driven this far by money. Their admiration for Liu Ye deepened. Look at his methods. He had trained his subordinate Fiend into this!

“Second Uncle, about this incident…”