Chapter 72
Chapter 72
When Pei Yuming walked in, he found himself face-to-face with Xiao Ming, the deputy director of the Clinical Laboratory.
Xiao Ming seemed to have just returned from somewhere else and was pulling on his white coat. When he saw Pei Yuming come in, he immediately tugged him aside and asked in a low voice, “Hey, Lao Pei, what’s going on with Director Su? I heard from the kids in the Laboratory that you came over with her and even had blood drawn. What’s the situation?”
Pei Yuming was not about to turn his private affairs into gossip for him. He only said vaguely, “I’ll tell you later. You get back to work.”
Seeing that his expression was off, Xiao Ming did not dare press further. He only reminded him that if he was going into the Laboratory, he should not forget to change clothes.
Pei Yuming did not want to be stared at in the office area like an exhibit. He found a set of work clothes in the cabinet, changed into them, and went straight into the Laboratory.
When Su Jin saw him come in, she pointed to the round stool beside her, indicating that he could sit there and wait.
But Pei Yuming was so anxious he could not sit still at all.
He stood to one side and watched Su Jin work, both longing for the results and terrified of seeing them.
Su Jin did not keep him waiting long. Just after six o’clock, the reports came out.
Pei Yuming watched her walk over with the reports in hand. Instead of moving forward, he retreated, taking half a step back before forcing himself to stand still again. A little tense, he asked, “The results… how are they?”
Before handing him the two reports, Su Jin said softly, “Yuming, although I don’t know how you found out about Zixuan, since you already know, I respect your decision. Whether you want to acknowledge him or do something else, I hope you can give me a clear answer. As for Xiaobei, you should try to let it go.”
Pei Yuming’s raised hand trembled slightly. “What… what do you mean?”
Su Jin handed the reports to him. “According to the report, the possibility that you are Xiaobei’s biological father has been excluded. Your paternity index and probability are both zero.”
Perhaps because Su Jin stated the result too bluntly, for an instant, when Pei Yuming looked at her, there was even anger in his eyes. But Su Jin did not avoid his gaze at all. There was even a faint, almost imperceptible trace of delight in her expression.
Pei Yuming read the two reports from beginning to end. He even checked the data for every genetic locus again. The result was exactly the same as what the reports stated.
Lu Zixuan was his biological son. Su Jin had not lied to him before.
But Xiaobei was not his biological daughter. Bai Xue had deceived him for nearly twenty years! Twenty years!
From Su Jin’s angle, she could clearly see the veins bulging on Pei Yuming’s forehead. She took off her gloves, patted his arm lightly a few times, and urged, “Yuming, calm down! Your face looks wrong.”
Pei Yuming stood there blankly, barely reacting. Su Jin’s voice seemed to come from somewhere beyond several layers of concrete walls. He raised a hand to clutch his head, which was buzzing nonstop. It felt as if, in just a few seconds, his blood pressure had shot straight to the danger line. He took several deep breaths without realizing it before he could barely make out Su Jin’s worried face through the black, mosaic-like haze in front of his eyes.
“I… I need to go home.” Pei Yuming shoved Su Jin away without any sense of his own strength and staggered toward the door.
Su Jin quickly stripped off her disposable cap and mask. Without even changing out of her work clothes, she chased after Pei Yuming.
“It’ll be faster if I drive you.” Su Jin was alert and quick to react, grabbing Pei Yuming just as he nearly missed a step. “Don’t take the stairs. Take the elevator.”
When Pei Yuming and Su Jin arrived home, only his younger brother was still in the living room.
Pei Yucheng was sitting on the sofa, holding half a watermelon and scooping it out with a spoon. Last year’s hit drama was playing on the television, the volume turned up very loud. The only reason the downstairs neighbor had not come up to complain was simply that it was not yet rest time.
Pei Yuming walked over, picked up the remote, and turned off the TV. “Why are you still here?”
Pei Yucheng looked at his brother unhappily and muttered something under his breath before saying, “All of you suddenly had things come up. My sister-in-law made so much food, but only Dad and I came over to eat. I accidentally ate too much, so I figured I’d digest a little at your place before heading back.”
“Where’s your sister-in-law?” Pei Yuming asked, his expression dark.
Pei Yucheng jerked his chin toward the bedroom. “She just finished cleaning up. She probably went to rest.”
Pei Yuming glanced at Su Jin, who was still standing in the doorway, then grabbed his brother by the arm and hauled him up, flatly chasing them out. “All of you go home. I’m tired.”
“Hey, wait!” Pei Yucheng stood on tiptoe and lowered his head to look for his slippers, paying no attention to what he was holding. As his body tilted, the watermelon in his other hand tipped with him, and almost all the juice pooled inside spilled onto the sofa.
Bai Xue was obsessed with cleanliness, and the sofa she’d chosen was upholstered in pale fabric. The bright red watermelon juice soaked into it, spreading into a large stain in no time. Pei Yuming stared at the huge pink blotch in the middle, the vein at his temple throbbing. All at once, he raised his hand and knocked the watermelon out of his brother’s hand, roaring, “Get out!”
Pei Yucheng was so frightened by his sudden outburst that his knees nearly gave way and he almost sat back down. Fortunately, his slippers were already on, so he quickly backed several steps away from his big brother. Clutching his chest, he asked tentatively, “B-Big Brother… are you okay?”
At that moment, Bai Xue heard the commotion and came out of the bedroom. She spotted the stain on the sofa at once, then looked at her husband’s face, which was dark as thunder, and immediately understood.
She glared at her brother-in-law, bent down to pick up the smashed, juice-soaked watermelon from the floor, and complained, “It’s such a tiny thing. Is it worth getting this angry over? If anyone should be angry, it should be me, okay?”
The half watermelon had broken into four or five pieces. Bai Xue turned to pick up the piece that had rolled the farthest, and only when she lifted her head did she notice someone still standing by the door.
“Su Jin? Why are you here?” Bai Xue asked. “Weren’t you working overtime…”
Halfway through, she realized. “Did you come back with Yuming?”
Su Jin forced a smile. “Yeah. We ran into each other, and he got a ride with me.”
Bai Xue didn’t suspect anything. She waved her in. “Then hurry up and come in. Why are you standing in the doorway? Have you eaten? I made a whole table of food today, and there’s still a lot left. Come have some.”
Su Jin remained where she was, looking at Bai Xue with a complicated expression. Somehow, even though she had hated Bai Xue for so many years, at this moment, even though she could already foresee what kind of fury Bai Xue was about to endure from her senior colleague, Su Jin did not feel as light or pleased as she had imagined she would.
“I won’t eat…” Su Jin had only just begun to refuse when Pei Yuming, standing in the living room like a wooden post, cut her off. In a cold voice, he said, “Xiao Xue, come here. I have something to ask you.”
Bai Xue’s gaze swept over the two of them, and at last she sensed that something was wrong. She slowly walked over, and only then did she see the transparent document envelope in Pei Yuming’s hand, hanging at his side. She couldn’t help taking another look, and then she saw the words printed in white against a blue background in the middle of the document:
DNA Test Opinion Report.
A boom went off in her head. She looked at her husband as if she’d seen a ghost, unable to even speak properly. “You… you… What… what is this?”