Chapter 23
Chapter 23
“But…” Pei Yuming looked utterly lost. “But when I asked her, she never said they were condoms. Why didn’t she tell me? Was she helping Lu Dong hide something…?”
Cao Lei shook his head. “That’s unlikely. First, their chat records can prove it. Second, the online shopping records also prove Li Xiaoya wasn’t lying. As for why she didn’t tell you, that’s normal enough. Who goes around telling a stranger they bought condoms for their lover?”
Pei Yuming stared blankly at Cao Lei. Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Li Xiaoya, he realized he seemed to have decided from the start that Lu Dong was the killer, and that she was the accomplice who had supplied Lu Dong with the poison. It was hard to say that had nothing to do with discovering Bai Xue’s affair partner was actually Lu Dong.
He really had been searching for the murderer with prejudice in his heart. Deep down, he wanted Lu Dong to be the killer. That way, whether morally or legally, he could stand on the same side as everyone else and pass judgment on Lu Dong.
He finally understood why Li Xiaoya had kept looking at him with suspicion, why she had seemed like she wanted to say something but held back. Maybe she had thought he was going to use the matter to threaten her into doing something.
At that thought, a mocking smile tugged at the corner of Pei Yuming’s mouth. It was aimed at Li Xiaoya, and at himself.
The familiar rumble of the subway arrived first. Pei Yuming turned his head to avoid the glare of white light, and his gaze happened to land on the hand the Man in Black had stretched out.
He saw the back of that hand brush against the girl’s backside, frightening her into squeezing in beside him.
Expressionless, Pei Yuming closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. When the Man in Black reached out again, he grabbed the man’s wrist outright.
The Man in Black was clearly startled. He turned to look at him in panic. Pei Yuming looked down at him, the contempt in his eyes impossible to hide.
A flash of anger crossed the Man in Black’s face. His lips moved as if he were saying something, probably cursing Pei Yuming for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
Pei Yuming flung his wrist away as if swatting off a fly. Only then did he shift, putting some distance between himself and the girl.
But less than half a minute later, the girl squeezed over again. Pei Yuming looked almost simultaneously toward the Man in Black, and sure enough, he saw the hand the man had just withdrawn.
An indescribable fury suddenly surged up in him. Pei Yuming clenched his teeth, reached out, and pinched the Man in Black hard on the butt.
The man yelped on the spot, the sound sharp and loud. In an instant, everyone in the carriage looked over.
“Are you sick?” the Man in Black shouted furiously, clutching his butt.
Pei Yuming showed no fear at all. “It’s fine when you grope someone else, but when someone touches you, they’re sick? Is that it?”
The Man in Black’s eyes flickered away, and he shouted again, “Who did I grope? Say it clearly! You’re the pervert here!”
Pei Yuming looked encouragingly at the young girl beside him, meaning for her to step forward and identify the man. He would back her up.
But the moment their eyes met, the girl abruptly turned her head away. It was obvious she didn’t want to come forward and admit it.
After everything he had been through, Pei Yuming had not expected this to happen. Now, even if he had a mouth, he couldn’t explain himself.
Seeing that he had gone silent, the Man in Black grew even more aggressive. He clamored for Pei Yuming to compensate him for emotional distress, and when Pei Yuming gave no response, he even reached out to grab him and stop him from leaving.
By now, more and more people in the carriage were watching the commotion. Everyone tacitly cleared a space for the two of them. Pei Yuming stood in the middle, and when he saw several young people had already taken out their phones to record, his face shifted from pale to flushed.
He shouted toward the young girl, who had already hidden herself in the crowd, “What are you afraid of? There are surveillance cameras in this carriage. Once the police pull the footage, everything will be clear. He won’t be able to deny it.”
After he shouted that, the Man in Black visibly calmed down, but the girl turned and hid even farther away.
Pei Yuming watched her disappear into the crowd, immediately becoming furious. He turned and glared at the Man in Black, silencing him with just a glare.
“You want compensation for emotional distress, right?” Pei Yuming grabbed him firmly. “I’ll call the police right now. Come on, let’s go talk at the police station.”
As soon as he heard Pei Yuming mention the police, the Man in Black panicked. Just then, the subway arrived at the station. He forcefully shook off Pei Yuming’s hand and ran off cursing with the alighting passengers.
The doors closed. Standing in the middle of the crowd, Pei Yuming’s angry expression had vanished without a trace, as calm as if nothing had happened.
He didn’t know why he had been so impulsive just now, actually picking a fight, as if eager to prove something.
But this question disappeared along with the Man in Black’s exit. The obsession he’d had with finding the murderer also dissipated. Right now, he wanted to know more: why had Bai Xue cheated on him with someone like Lu Dong, whom he considered completely worthless?
After exiting the subway, Pei Yuming managed to hail another taxi, but this time it wasn’t as smooth. The taxi had to wait at an extra red light at a corner. When he got to the elevator, he came face to face with Lu Dong, who was taking the elevator down.
Lu Dong clearly hadn’t expected to see Pei Yuming the moment the door opened. He was so startled he dropped his car keys. Pei Yuming bent down and picked them up first, but instead of returning them, he blocked the man in the elevator and took him back upstairs.
Even as the elevator moved, Lu Dong only then came up with an excuse. “Uh… I was just asking Bai Xue if she needed anything. I was going to…”
“You were going to the supermarket, right?” Pei Yuming cut him off with a stern face, finally tossing the keys back to him. Then, in a tone that brooked no argument, he said, “Forget that for now. I have something to ask you.”
Lu Dong glanced at him guiltily and forced a smile. “What is it? Is it that urgent? If it can wait, let’s talk over dinner. I’ll go down and buy a couple of bottles of liquor.”
Pei Yuming couldn’t be bothered with small talk. When the elevator doors opened, he simply shoved him forward.
Bai Xue, still busy in the kitchen, was visibly shocked when she saw the two of them enter together. She even forgot to put down the knife in her hand. She stood by the kitchen, unable to speak for a long moment.
Seeing this, Lu Dong quickly repeated the excuse he’d just made up, and Bai Xue immediately chimed in from the side, saying yes.
Pei Yuming watched the two of them put on their act without changing expression. He didn’t say a word, which only made the guilty pair more uneasy.
Finally, Lu Dong had to bite the bullet and ask, “Uh… Lao Pei, what did you want to ask?”
Pei Yuming walked over, took the knife from Bai Xue’s hand, and then said coolly, “Stop what you’re doing. Go sit on the sofa. The three of us need to talk.”
Bai Xue couldn’t help but look at Lu Dong. Seeing him shake his head slightly, she dared to persuade her own husband, “Ah, let me put the ribs in the pot first. You two chat first, I’ll come over in a bit.”
Pei Yuming waved the knife in his hand and said, “I’m not discussing this with you.”
Normally, with Bai Xue’s temperament, seeing Pei Yuming like this would surely lead to a few words of argument.
But today, Pei Yuming’s expression and tone were such that it sent shivers down one’s spine. Besides, both she and Lu Dong had guilty consciences. Their eyes darted back and forth between Pei Yuming’s face and the blade, and in the end, they obediently sat down on the sofa.
“Uh… Lao Pei, what do you want to talk about?” Lu Dong couldn’t help but speak up first.
Pei Yuming gave him a disdainful look, then turned to Bai Xue. “Xiao Xue, I just want to hear the truth. Tell me, when did you and him start?”