Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“Have you had any conflicts with your brother lately?” Cao Lei tried again to open up new avenues of thought.

Pei Yuming thought for a moment and answered honestly, “No.”

“What about money?” Cao Lei guessed. “He doesn’t work and relies on you to support him. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“The past few years haven’t been easy for him. His wife left, he lost his job, his major doesn’t have good prospects, and he hasn’t found a job he likes. I can understand that. But he’s staying at my dad’s place now and helping care for our parents, so I worry a little less about that. I give him a few thousand yuan a month-it’s not a burden for me.”

“So overall, you’re quite satisfied with him.”

“Mm.”

Cao Lei rubbed his cheek with his hand, thinking to himself that Pei Yuming’s answers were almost flawless. Clearly, approaching this through his brother wasn’t ideal. Just as he was about to steer the questions back to Bai Xue and Lu Dong, there was another knock on the door.

This time, it was a young female officer. She pushed the door halfway open and said, “Captain Cao, could you come here please? We have a new lead.”

Her words were clearly meant not just for Cao Lei. Cao Lei glanced back at Pei Yuming and saw the unease and nervousness on his face, as expected. He patted him on the shoulder and got up to leave.

Pei Yuming stared at the closed door, itching to get up and follow Cao Lei. He had a hunch the police had uncovered something-maybe they’d found the reason his brother had been hiding things from him.

Could he really be involved with Bai Xue?

At that thought, a faint, inexplicable excitement and anticipation rose in Pei Yuming’s heart. The image of shouting accusations at everyone in his mind stimulated his nerves. As the sole victim, he could righteously blame everyone. That cathartic release was something he had never experienced in over forty years of life.

On the subway, the young woman next to him kept pressing against him. Pei Yuming glanced at her but didn’t move.

Until she grabbed his sleeve and pleaded, “Uncle, you saw it, right? This guy keeps pushing against me, rubbing up on me. Just now, every time I moved away, he’d touch me…”

Pei Yuming stepped back, shaking off her hand in the process, and said coldly, “I didn’t see anything. Don’t come to me.”

Seeing his attitude, the girl’s eyes filled with shock and grievance. She looked helplessly at the other passengers, who were all watching the drama unfold, but no one was trying to help.

Seeing this, the Man in Black became even more brazen and snarled, “Next time you go out, look in the mirror first. Looking like that, I feel like I’m the one getting the short end of the stick just touching you!”

“You!” The girl was left red-faced and tongue-tied, her retort weak: “You’re lying!”

The man kept it up: “Always imagining people are harassing you. If you’re really that lonely, go find a man. Don’t drag innocent people into your slutty antics.”

When it came to hurling insults, the girl was no match. Finally, the Woman in the Red Dress nearby couldn’t stand it anymore and shot the Man in Black a glare. “That’s enough. A big guy like you, with such a filthy mouth!”

With someone speaking up, the Man in Black finally shut his mouth begrudgingly. The girl tearfully thanked the woman, then turned and headed deeper into the train car.

Pei Yuming watched coldly from the side the whole time, feeling a sense of vengeful satisfaction.

He got off at his normal stop and exited the subway, not in a hurry like before.

He was now filled with ambivalence. If he kept pressing Bai Xue like last time, she might not tell the truth. And if it came to an argument, he definitely couldn’t out-argue her. Besides, if arguing could solve problems, their marriage wouldn’t have deteriorated to this point.
If he didn’t start with Bai Xue, then he’d have to ask Lu Dong.

Lu Dong was someone who never spoke a straight word-he could twist black into white. Even if he did tell the truth, it’d be hard to believe.

As for his brother, he definitely wanted to have a good talk with him. He believed his brother would never intentionally keep things from him; there had to be a reason. Maybe Lu Dong had threatened him. Either way, he couldn’t have that talk in front of Lu Dong.

With that thought, Pei Yuming took out his phone. Just as he was about to call his brother, a sudden idea flashed through his mind. Right-Lu Dong’s phone. How could he have forgotten about that?

If he exposed that phone in front of Bai Xue and Su Jin, would they still side with Lu Dong?

He recalled how Bai Xue and Su Jin had reacted when they first discovered it. If it hadn’t been for the lack of time and Lu Dong running off, there would have been a scene. Putting Su Jin aside, with Bai Xue’s fiery temper, there was no way she’d let it go.

Since he couldn’t get the truth by asking, why not let Bai Xue and Lu Dong tear into each other? Whatever they dragged out would be far more genuine than anything he could pry out on his own.

At that, the inexplicable excitement surged up again. Pei Yuming set his phone down, deciding to put off questioning his brother for now.

Because he’d dawdled on the way, when Pei Yuming reached the building, he ran right into Su Jin. They exchanged greetings, he took the flowers and salt from her hands, and they headed upstairs together.

“The surgery went smoothly?” Su Jin spoke up when she saw him walking with his head down. “You’re back earlier than I thought. I figured you wouldn’t show until we started eating.”

Pei Yuming snapped out of his scheming and twitched the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, pretty smooth.”

Su Jin tilted her head to look at him. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem happy.”

“…Ah, no,” Pei Yuming denied. “Just a bit tired.”

“Well, you’ve been working for three weeks straight, haven’t you?” Su Jin said. “If you really can’t handle it, take some time off. You’ve got to look after yourself.”

Pei Yuming nodded absently, clearly not in the mood for conversation.

The two stepped out of the elevator in silence, just as Bai Xue opened the door to take out the trash. They came face to face.

Bai Xue started. “Oh, how’d you two come up together?”

Su Jin explained first. “We ran into each other downstairs.” As she spoke, she took the flowers and salt from Pei Yuming and pressed them into Bai Xue’s hands. “For you. Happy anniversary.”

Bai Xue accepted them with a smile. “Besties are the best. Look at my husband, coming back empty-handed.”

Pei Yuming changed his shoes without any expression, not saying a word the whole time.

Su Jin gave Bai Xue an awkward smile. “He was out of it when I was talking to him downstairs. Probably exhausted. Someone in his department went on maternity leave, and the new hire is still settling in. He’s been on non-stop overtime and on-call shifts for weeks.”

“Right, right,” Bai Xue said, seeing Su Jin-an outsider-run interference for him. Gratefully, she put an arm around Su Jin’s shoulder. “Come in, come in. No need to change shoes. I didn’t mop this morning-I’ll clean up after we eat.”

Su Jin still pulled a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet. “I’d better change. High heels are uncomfortable.”

Bai Xue reached out to set her shoes aside, then paused mid-motion, picked one up, and looked it over. “Oh, wow, is this the new Balmain style? The color is gorgeous.”