Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“No!” Bai Xue cried out.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t get worked up, Lao Pei, I-I was wrong… I’ll admit I was wrong, okay?” Lu Dong stammered, trying to backpedal.

“Shut up!” Pei Yuming roared, pointing the knife tip at Bai Xue opposite him. “You talk! I want to hear it from you!”

“What do you want me to say? You won’t believe me anyway!”

Bai Xue tried to step forward, but Pei Yuming immediately put the knife back to Lu Dong’s neck. Too agitated to control his strength, the blade scraped against Lu Dong’s neck several times, leaving visible bloody marks.

“You-you tell him! Bai Xue, tell him!” Feeling the burning pain on his neck, Lu Dong turned pale with fear and urged, “At this point, keeping it secret is pointless, just tell him!”

Bai Xue gave him a reproachful glare, as if weighing whether to speak.

Just then, knocking sounded again. Bai Xue seized the moment when Pei Yuming was slightly distracted, quickly darted past him, and threw open the door.

Outside the door, Pei Yucheng was startled by the suddenly opened door and complained, “Whoa, sister-in-law, take it easy, you almost hit my nose!”

But it was Su Jin beside Pei Yucheng who first noticed something wrong with Bai Xue. “What’s wrong, Xiao Xue?”

Bai Xue rushed out and hugged Su Jin, crying, “Su Su, Pei Yuming has gone crazy, go check on him!”

Pei Yucheng also noticed his older brother’s abnormal state at this point and walked in, surprised. “Big brother? What… what’s wrong with you?”

Seeing his younger brother, Pei Yuming did not put down the knife; instead, he ordered, “Ah Cheng, don’t ask questions, first close the door. Don’t let outsiders in.”

Pei Yucheng habitually obeyed. Only after entering did he realize today’s quarrel was no ordinary one-his beloved big brother had not only brandished a knife but also drawn blood.

“Big brother, calm down!” Pei Yucheng advised. “What exactly happened? Why did you even take out a knife?”

Pei Yuming gritted his teeth in grief and anger, veins bulging on his forehead. He shouted at Bai Xue, who was hiding behind Su Jin, “They pushed me to this! They lied to me, treated me like a fool! I work hard for this family, and this is how you treat me? You ruined our home for this worthless coward! It’s you, no, it’s him-”

Pei Yuming grew more and more agitated, jabbing the knife tip at Lu Dong’s light-colored custom-made shirt, barely listening to anything.

Pei Yucheng glanced at Bai Xue, then at Lu Dong who was scared stiff and completely immobile, and said something he himself didn’t find questionable, “Brother, you… already know everything?”

“Yes!” Pei Yuming wiped his face with the back of his hand and mocked the still-stunned Su Jin, “Your husband seduced my wife, the two of them slept together god knows how many times behind our backs, yet at every gathering, they pretended not to be close. What a waste-with acting skills like that, you two should be in movies!”

Hearing this, Su Jin instinctively looked back at Bai Xue. “Xiao Xue, what is he talking about? What’s going on with you and Lu Dong? Is everything he said true?”

Bai Xue stepped back, her expression grim. She forced herself to say to Su Jin, “I’ll explain this to you later. First, try to calm him down. Right now, you’re the only one he might listen to. If this escalates, someone could get killed!”

Su Jin was usually the most level-headed and reasonable person among them. At this moment, if Bai Xue were in her shoes, she would have erupted into a huge argument. But Su Jin had been brought up with strict discipline and excellent manners; even if someone insulted her to her face, she couldn’t bring herself to retaliate. In the current situation, arguing would definitely lead nowhere; eventually, everyone needed to calm down and talk it out.

She pressed her lips together, about to speak, when she heard Pei Yuming, who had just been shouting in agitation, suddenly ask in a cold, gloomy tone, “Ah Cheng, what did you mean just now? Tell me, did you know about this all along?”
Pei Yucheng obviously hadn’t anticipated the conversation would veer toward him; he was startled. His gaze involuntarily swept between Bai Xue and Lu Dong, unsure how far the two had already talked, or whether they had mentioned his involvement.

But under his big brother’s oppressive stare, he no longer had the nerve to keep it hidden. Now that the matter was exposed, who knew whether Bai Xue might later spout some nonsense to get back at him. This woman was no Su Jin-she wouldn’t reason with anyone in a crucial moment; she was absolutely capable of turning around and biting him.

With that thought, Pei Yucheng could only stammer out a confession: “Brother, I-I… I only found out a little while ago. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to take it if I told you, so I didn’t dare say anything.”

“Haha.” Bai Xue couldn’t help but roll her eyes hugely when she heard that.

Pei Yuming clearly hadn’t expected that his most trusted little brother would admit it so readily. His face flushed red instantly. He was so agitated that his entire body tensed up, especially his arm, which nearly choked Lu Dong to death.

“Hel… Help…” Lu Dong rasped out a shout.

“Big brother!” Pei Yucheng, seeing Lu Dong’s face turning blue, hurried over to pull him away, but was stopped by Pei Yuming’s shout.

“Don’t come closer!” He waved the sharp knife at his brother and roared, “Speak! When did you find out?! If you dare lie to me again, I’ll kill you first today!”

Pei Yucheng was six years younger than his brother. Growing up, he’d practically been beaten by him all the way to adulthood. As an adult, because he was a good-for-nothing without a proper job, he still took money from his brother’s household every month to spend.

An elder brother is like a father. In his eyes, this big brother was much more imposing than his own father, who only ever looked down on him as useless.

So when Pei Yuming said he’d kill him, under the current circumstances, he believed it.

Therefore, before confessing, he didn’t even notice the look Bai Xue shot him, and just blurted out, “Over three months ago…”

As soon as he finished, Pei Yuming’s teeth nearly shattered from clenching. He looked at Bai Xue and demanded, “Didn’t you just say two months? Is this the truth you spoke of?”

Bai Xue seemed to want to salvage the situation, but Pei Yuming cut her off. He was more eager to know why his brother, who had always been obedient to him, would help Bai Xue and Lu Dong hide it from him.

And for three whole months!

Pei Yuming’s gaze swept from Bai Xue to his brother. “Ah Cheng, tell me the truth. You and her… did you two…”

“Big brother!” Pei Yucheng understood what he meant before he finished, and his eyes widened as he stopped him. “What are you thinking? How could that be?! I’m not a beast!”

“Then why did you help her deceive me?”

That question completely silenced Pei Yucheng. He turned his head away from his big brother’s burning, resentful gaze, unable to speak for a long time.

Seeing his silence, Pei Yuming grew even more agitated. He suddenly realized how deeply he had failed in life-not a single person around him could be trusted.

He looked blankly at Su Jin, and saw that she too was staring at him intently, her worried expression genuine.

The two had been classmates for years, and after graduation, were assigned to the same workplace. In fact, during usual gatherings, they actually had more common topics to talk about compared to Bai Xue and Lu Dong.

Although he didn’t understand why Su Jin had insisted on marrying Lu Dong back then, from the way they interacted, he could sense that in some aspects, Su Jin’s thoughts actually aligned with his. She too was disgusted by Lu Dong’s sycophantic flattery.

If there was anyone in the living room right now who could be on his side, it could only be Su Jin.