Chapter 38

Chapter 38

He thought it over and over, and only one possibility remained. His younger brother had no savings. Apart from the house, he only had a worthless used car. Cao Lei had told him his brother had taken out a 600,000-yuan bank loan, which had to be true-there was no reason to lie.

If his brother couldn’t come up with a solution through him and was too afraid to ask, he must have turned to their father.

“No, Big Brother, how can you think of me like that?” Pei Yucheng immediately denied. “Besides, the old man’s no fool. He won’t even tell me how much savings he has; you think he’d agree to help me take out a loan?”

He gave a perfunctory explanation, didn’t care whether his brother believed him or not, and lowered his head to fiddle with his phone.

“Big Brother, where did you hear about this platform?”

“From a friend.”

“A friend?” Pei Yucheng looked up and glanced at his big brother, who was scanning the room. “Could this friend also be the one who told you it’s a scam?”

“Yes.” Pei Yuming walked to the TV cabinet, pulled out a drawer, and rummaged through it, hoping to find loan documents or something. In the past, if his brother said there wasn’t anything, he would have believed him. But now, he felt that he couldn’t trust a single word out of his brother’s mouth.

“Looks like your friend doesn’t want to bring you in, so he made it up on purpose. After all, spots are limited. Maybe he wants to bring his own family in.”

Pei Yuming was about to advise him to come to his senses when he saw his brother’s expression suddenly change.

“What’s wrong?”

Pei Yucheng put his phone to his ear, his whole face scrunching up. “Brother Zhi’s phone won’t go through… What’s going on?”

“Who?”

“The guy who got me into this. Hey, what’s happening?” Pei Yucheng was a bit flustered, looking at his brother with helplessness. “Big Brother, let me borrow your phone. I’ll call him from yours.”

Pei Yuming handed over his phone, not surprised by this outcome.

He watched his brother’s expression turn from panic to horror. “But… we spoke on the phone just last Friday!”

Pei Yuming took back his phone. Knowing the outcome in advance, he was completely composed. The matter of the 600,000 yuan was still unclear, and he couldn’t get answers from his brother, so he’d just ask his father directly.

Pei Yucheng thought his big brother was helping him make the call. “How is it, Brother? Still can’t get through?”

Pei Yuming listened to the shutdown prompt, frowning slightly.

“Where’s Dad?” he asked.

Although Pei Yucheng was still absorbed in the phone call, upon hearing his brother’s question, he immediately became alert. “Why are you looking for Dad?”

“What do you think?” Pei Yuming glared at him.

“No, Big Brother, I really didn’t lie to you. This is hurting our relationship!”

“You even hid things from me about your sister-in-law. I can’t trust you now.” Pei Yuming shoved him aside and started heading for the bedroom. “Once I ask Dad, I’ll know if you’ve been lying to me.”

At these words, Pei Yucheng became even more anxious. He reached out as if to snatch the phone, at the same time blocking the way to stop him from entering the bedroom.

“Move!” Seeing this, Pei Yuming’s anger flared up instantly. His brother kept insisting he wasn’t lying, but his current behavior already said it all.

“Is it so hard for me to get one honest word from you now?” Remembering the tragedy that had occurred before, Pei Yuming didn’t want to actually fight with his brother. Seeing him block the way, he had no choice but to stop, but his questioning voice rose involuntarily. “Tell me, did you or did you not mortgage Dad’s house for a loan?!”

“I didn’t…”

“What?” Just as the two were arguing at the bedroom door, the door on the right suddenly opened, revealing an aged face.
Dad!

Pei Yuming pushed his younger brother aside and walked over. “You’re home?”

Pei Xianyu’s face was ashen, but his lips were darker than usual. He ignored his eldest son who had come over, and instead pointed a trembling finger at his second son. “You said you’d help me pay off the last few years of the loan… you brat, you’re lying again…”

Before he could finish, he collapsed along the doorframe.

“Dad!” Pei Yuming was terrified and rushed to support him. The moment his hand touched his father’s forehead, he felt a layer of cold sweat. In just a few seconds, his father, who had been standing and talking moments ago, lost consciousness.

Staring at his unconscious father, he took several deep breaths to calm down. Holding his father’s hand, he found the skin icy cold. Combined with the other symptoms, his previously calm mind went blank. He looked up at his completely panicked younger brother and shouted, “Call 120 now!”

“Ah… oh, oh, oh, okay!” Pei Yucheng hastily unlocked his phone, but in his panic, his hand slipped. The phone hit the floor with a crisp slap. Before even picking it up, he knew the screen must be shattered. At least it could still make calls.

While his brother stammered through the emergency call, Pei Yuming quickly tore open his father’s shirt and skillfully began performing CPR.

It wasn’t until Pei Yuming saw Cao Lei’s familiar face that he realized what had happened.

“My dad is dead…” Pei Yuming murmured.

Cao Lei reacted quickly. Even though they had been talking about his brother’s debts just a moment ago, and now Pei Yuming suddenly blurted this out, Cao Lei immediately realized from previous experience that he was about to start fabricating again.

Cao Lei glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow in surprise. It was just five seconds past 9:36. What the hell, this was crazy!

“Did you… do this too?” Cao Lei asked uncertainly.

Pei Yuming lowered his head and covered his face. After a long pause, he shook his head, his voice choked. “It should have been an acute heart attack. He found out my brother mortgaged the house under his name and was shocked. It’s my fault. He shouldn’t have found out. If I had just checked the bedroom, this wouldn’t have happened…”

Another new story. Cao Lei folded his arms, listened patiently, then rubbed his chin and asked, “Your brother hid so much from you. Are you very disappointed in him?”

Pei Yuming wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes twice before sighing and answering, “He used to be very obedient and honest. Although a bit lazy, at least he was upright and trustworthy. But now, I don’t know what happened to him. Every word he says is unbelievable. How could I not be disappointed?”

“Your brother owes so much money. What do you plan to do?” Cao Lei asked deliberately.

“…I don’t know,” Pei Yuming said after thinking. “Officer Cao, in this situation, would I not be responsible for repaying my brother’s debts?”

That was a very sensitive question. Seeing Pei Yuming ask it so bluntly, Cao Lei felt a bit surprised. In some ways, this could even be considered a motive for murder.

Cao Lei shook his head. “Your brother is an adult with civil capacity. Legally, regardless of where he borrows money, you are not obligated to repay it for him.”

Pei Yuming visibly relaxed. “Then if he were still here and found out he’d been scammed, what should he do?”

“Report it to the police. There’s no other way but to report it.”