Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Pei Yuming gave her a cold look. The veins on his forehead throbbed as he fought to keep himself from losing his temper like before.

But of course, Lu Dong chose that exact moment to step forward and play peacemaker.

“Xiao Xue, Lao Pei’s been at work all day. He probably ran into some difficult patients again and is in a bad mood. Let’s all give him some slack and not sink to his level.”

There he went again.

On the surface, he was speaking up for him. In reality, every word was fanning the flames.

Pei Yuming could not be bothered to look at Lu Dong’s hypocritical face. He got up from the table and went straight into the kitchen.

“Hey, Lao Pei! You’re really leaving the table?” Lu Dong rose a step behind him and came after him.

Pei Yuming picked out a sharp knife in the kitchen, turned around, and pointed it at Lu Dong, who had hurried in after him. He gave the blade a little shake and said, “Go. Get back there and sit down.”

Lu Dong was terrified. His face visibly drained of color. He unconsciously raised both hands and backed away, his whole body trembling with fear.

Seeing that cowardly look on his face, Pei Yuming felt, for some reason, a rush of satisfaction spread through him. In all the years they had known each other, he had imagined doing this countless times, but he had never once actually done it.

A petty man like Lu Dong loved to pull tricks behind people’s backs. Maybe no one could outscheme him there, but when it came to direct confrontation, he usually did not have the nerve. Even if someone openly mocked him, he could laugh it off and let it pass.

He remembered Bai Xue telling him more than once that she hoped he could be as smooth with people as Lu Dong.

But from the bottom of his heart, Pei Yuming despised that kind of fawning, ingratiating face. In his view, only useless people resorted to that sort of thing.

The others were all stunned when they saw Pei Yuming come out with a knife.

Especially those who did not know the inside story. As far as they were concerned, hadn’t they only exchanged a few sharp words? How had it gotten to the point of pulling a knife?

“Pei Yuming! Are you insane? What exactly are you trying to do?” Bai Xue could not help shouting.

“Shut up!” Seeing her rush to stand up for Lu Dong made Pei Yuming’s anger flare instantly. “Say one more word, and I’ll butcher him right now! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. As for the two of you, we’ll have a separate talk later.”

They were all adults. Although Pei Yuming had not spelled it out directly, everyone seated there immediately understood. In an instant, their expressions turned wonderfully complicated.

Just as everyone in the room was frozen in a standoff over this sudden turn of events, the doorbell rang. Pei Yuming was closest to the door, so he walked over and opened it.

“Dad,” Pei Xiaobei said, glancing back and pointing behind her. “I ran into Brother Zixuan downstairs, so we came up together.”

Pei Yuming had no reason to doubt her. He stepped aside to let them in. “No need to change your shoes. Come in. We were just waiting for you two.”

When Pei Xiaobei saw the knife in his hand, she asked in surprise, “Hey, Dad, are you cooking? Seriously?”

Pei Yuming said nothing. Lu Zixuan, standing beside her, answered instead. “Looks like Uncle is planning to show off his skills for everyone on this important day.”

“Come on,” Pei Xiaobei said with a laugh. “My dad never steps foot in the kitchen. If any of you dare eat what he makes, I sure don’t.”

Only after the two of them came inside did they realize the atmosphere was off. Not a single person at the dining table greeted them or called them over to eat, and every face looked worse than the last.

Pei Yuming pointed at the sofa. “You two sit over there first.”

Though both of them had questions, an elder had spoken, so they did as they were told.

Pei Yuming looked over the people at the table, each with a different expression, and finally said to his younger brother Pei Yucheng, “Ah Cheng, get up. Collect everyone’s phones first and give them to me.”

“Big Brother…” Pei Yucheng looked utterly confused. “What is wrong with you?”

“Don’t ask yet. Just do as I say.”

Ever since they were children, Pei Yucheng had almost always done whatever this elder brother told him to do. After so many years, it had long since become a habit. So he did not ask any more questions and really did get up to collect the phones one by one.

Sitting beside him was Bai Xue. He had originally thought she would not hand hers over so easily, but unexpectedly, she only glared at him before giving him her phone.

Then Pei Yucheng turned to take his father’s. Pei Xianyu looked at his eldest son, who was still holding the knife, and tried to negotiate. “Yuming, do I have to hand mine over too?”