Chapter 79

Chapter 79

“Don’t go!” Pei Yuming made up his mind and stopped her. “Su Jin, you don’t have to worry about any of that. Just tell me what you want to do, and I’ll agree to it. I know I suddenly told you I’d take responsibility for you and the child you’re carrying, and you may not necessarily want that. But whatever conditions you have, I’ll do my best to meet them. You just have to say it.”

Su Jin froze. She seemed unable to believe what she had just heard. Her mouth hung open for a long while before she finally managed to say, “I do! I’ve always wanted to!”

Pei Yuming had not expected her to agree so quickly. “You do? You don’t mind that I went back on my word and only came to ask you now? I’m not actually a considerate person. I’m not like Lu Dong, able to look after your feelings at every moment. I… I can’t even take care of myself…”

“No!” This time, Su Jin took the initiative and grabbed his hand, holding it against her chest. “I do. I really do. Yuming, you mean it that way, don’t you? You want to leave Bai Xue and be with me?”

“I…” A troubled look crossed Pei Yuming’s face. “No, that isn’t–”

Before he could finish, Su Jin’s expression changed. The eyes that had just been filled with love and expectation turned cold in an instant. Seeing this, Pei Yuming hurriedly waved his hands. “No, you’ve misunderstood!”

“I certainly did misunderstand.” Su Jin let go of his hand and turned to leave.

“Su Jin!” Pei Yuming blocked the door and said anxiously, “Listen to me first!”

Su Jin looked at him coldly. “I never should have come to see you. I can’t believe I still held out hope for you. I’m such a fool…”

Pei Yuming gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, you don’t understand the situation. I’m not as good as you think I am. If you knew what happened, you definitely wouldn’t make a decision so rashly.”

“To put it plainly, you just can’t leave Bai Xue,” Su Jin concluded. “You shouldn’t have called me. We shouldn’t have met. This is too cruel. How is this any different from abandoning me all over again?”

Pei Yuming did not know how to make Su Jin understand. Would she believe him if he started from the beginning? Besides, it was only the two of them here, with no one else present. No one would confront him. No matter how sincere his words were, they would inevitably sound hollow.

This time, he had come alone to meet Su Jin, saying he wanted to know how she truly saw the matter and what thoughts she had left unsaid. But only now did Pei Yuming realize that what he was actually desperate for was Su Jin’s affirmation, the kind of affirmation that meant even after she knew everything, she could still accept him.

Just like during their previous argument, when he had despicably used his father’s authority to pressure Xiaobei into saying things that would please him and rebuild his confidence, this time, he was using Su Jin’s feelings for him, guiding her to approve of him and stand on his side. That way, he would have the motivation to keep living. He could convince himself that even if he was already riddled with wounds inside, there was still someone who needed him. If there was anything that could appear from nothing, that could grow from zero to infinity on the strength of a single thought, the will to live would absolutely count as one of them.

Thinking this, Pei Yuming let go of Su Jin and opened the private room door first. Before leaving, he said to her, “The next time we meet, I’ll explain everything clearly. If you’re still willing then, Su Jin, I’ll shoulder the responsibility I ought to shoulder.”

After saying that, Pei Yuming left without looking back.

Su Jin had no idea what he was talking about. She was completely confused, but in the end, she hurriedly paid the bill and chased after him.

She watched Pei Yuming walk into an office building next door. She did not understand what he was going there for at a time like this, but she could only follow him.
Both of them were emotionally unstable, and when they entered the rarely used emergency stairwell one after the other, they immediately drew the attention of the building security guards. One of the older guards gave his teammate a quick heads-up, then cautiously followed them.

The empty stairwell filled with the sound of three sets of footsteps. Pei Yuming was too distracted to move quickly, and Su Jin finally caught up to him at the connecting corridor on the tenth floor. The security guard was right behind her.

“Yuming! Where are you going?” Su Jin shouted, panting.

Pei Yuming clearly had not expected her to follow. His face filled with surprise.

“Go back!” He waved her off from the open balcony to one side. “Don’t come over. I’ll tell you everything later.”

Seeing him standing by the edge of the balcony, Su Jin was terrified. “What are you doing?! Get over here, it’s too dangerous there!”

By then, the security guard had also come closer and stopped beside Su Jin. He stared at Pei Yuming in horror and asked her, “Ma’am, do you know that man? What is he doing? He’s not going to jump, is he?”

Su Jin glanced back and realized he was a uniformed security guard. Panicked, she grabbed his sleeve. “Quick, call someone! And call the police! I don’t know what he’s trying to do, but he wouldn’t have come up here for no reason. Hurry! Please.”

The guard swallowed nervously and immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie to call for backup.

While the two of them were talking, Pei Yuming climbed over the balcony railing. He looked down at the terrifying height below, hesitated for a few seconds, and in the end, his legs went weak as he jumped.

“No!” The moment Su Jin turned her head, she saw him falling. She broke down completely and was about to rush over and jump after Pei Yuming, but the security guard behind her realized what she intended and grabbed her in a tight hold.

Cao Lei watched as Pei Yuming clutched his head again, his face twisted in pain as he lay over the partition. Cao Lei reacted quickly, raising his hand to check his watch. Ten twelve. Only two seconds had passed.

This…

Cao Lei was even more confused. Logically speaking, Pei Yuming had already admitted that what he had said earlier about the Flashback was made up, so why was he pulling this again now?

He reached out and touched Pei Yuming’s shoulder. “Lao Pei? What’s wrong?”

It took Pei Yuming nearly a minute before he could barely lift his head. The weightless sensation of jumping, and the agony of his body splitting apart on impact as if explosives had been packed inside him, had been utterly horrifying. He was shaking all over and breaking out in cold sweat, unable to control it no matter how hard he tried.

“What?” Pei Yuming replied.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?” Cao Lei looked at him suspiciously.

Pei Yuming shook his head. “I’m fine. What did you just say?”

Cao Lei grew even more doubtful. A bad feeling rose in his chest, but his expression gave nothing away. He handed Pei Yuming the last report beside him. “This is your blood test report. We detected sleeping pills in your system. Did you take sleeping pills before you went to bed?”

“Sleeping pills?” Pei Yuming’s surprise did not seem fake. “No.”

“Are you sure?” Cao Lei pressed.

Pei Yuming nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve always slept fairly well. I don’t have a habit of taking sleeping pills.”

But the test report would not lie. Cao Lei stared at Pei Yuming. He felt as if the faint, drifting thread of inspiration that had been wandering through his mind since a moment ago was finally beginning to reveal itself. He had a bold thought. Was it possible that Pei Yuming was not actually the killer? That he had confessed on purpose?

Of course, this guess did not come out of nowhere. Since earlier, there had been a strange disconnect between Pei Yuming’s attitude and what he was saying. Cao Lei could tell that he was trying hard to cooperate with the interrogation, but every time he confessed to something he had supposedly done, it felt like he was lying, making it up as he went.