Chapter 15
Wu Xiaojiu had originally thought Qi Jiao would also throw a fit.
Qi Jiao’s expression immediately darkened.
But to Wu Xiaojiu’s surprise, Qi Jiao’s face soon returned to normal. After two or three seconds, he straightened up, jingled the keys in his hand, and spoke.
“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I drank a bit too much tonight. Once I sober up tomorrow, I’ll come find you to hang out.”
With that, he left Wu Xiaojiu in a cloud of confusion and hurried away, not pausing for a moment.
This sudden arrival and sudden departure, light as a feather, not leaving a trace.
It was honestly a bit strange.
The air froze for a second.
Everyone present had odd looks in their eyes.
It was Liu Chengyi who broke the silence first.
His gaze was heavy as he stared at Su Zhishi, spinning the large gold bracelet on his wrist.
“If you have business with me, come up and talk.”
“However. Regarding the Su Family’s matters, are you sure you want these two to be present?”
Liu Chengyi nodded toward Wu Xiaojiu and Bo Suihan.
Su Zhishi waved her hand and replied, “If they can follow me here, there must be some basic trust. You don’t need to worry about it, just lead the way.”
Seeing that the person with the most authority among the three had spoken,
Liu Chengyi naturally didn’t say more.
Just as the group was heading up the stairs one after another,
Wu Xiaojiu suddenly raised his hand, weak but not timid, interrupting.
“Wait a minute, I won’t go up. There’s something at home, I need to head back.”
After thinking it over, Wu Xiaojiu really couldn’t stop worrying about the situation at home, especially about Second Cousin and the Bet Agreement his parents had signed. He was on edge.
Along the way, he’d already thought about quitting several times, but each time something happened to distract him. Now, with things wrapping up, Su Zhishi was about to meet the boss and get the list of criminal suspects.
Wu Xiaojiu felt there was no need for him to stay.
Besides, the more you know, the more trouble you get into.
The secrets and gossip of the richest man aren’t so easy to hear. If he accidentally leaked some earth-shattering news during this time,
Wu Xiaojiu feared for his life.
So he decided to slip away.
Su Zhishi paused her steps.
She turned to look at him at the stairway.
She was a bit reluctant, but after thinking it over, Wu Xiaojiu hadn’t been much help along the way, so she waved her hand.
She nodded and said, “Family matters come first. I’m not in a hurry here. Go ahead, drive safe.”
Wu Xiaojiu thought to himself that his ramshackle electric scooter with a broken horn couldn’t go fast anyway.
All the way, Wu Xiaojiu sat on his electric scooter, which was even livelier than the bar.
He made his way conspicuously to the hospital.
According to the room number Wu Yuting had given him,
Wu Xiaojiu arrived at the ICU on the third floor.
Actually, seeing those five words, Wu Xiaojiu was startled.
But then he remembered he still had some goodwill toward Long Aotian, gritted his teeth, and pushed the door open.
A strong smell of medicine hit him.
He turned his head to look.
Wu Father was lying on the bed, one leg hoisted high by a hook hanging from the ceiling.
His whole body was wrapped in bandages.
Only his nose and eyes were exposed.
Wu Yuting and Wu Mother were by his side.
Both of their almond-shaped eyes were swollen, clearly from crying for a long time.
“Xiaojiu, why are you back so early? Didn’t we say nothing happened at home, so you could have fun? You didn’t embarrass yourself in front of your friends, did you?”
Wu Yuting saw it was him.
She quickly wiped her tears, hurriedly got up, and hugged Wu Xiaojiu tightly.
This young lady who used to look so noble and pampered now had a face full of pallor and exhaustion.
Wu Xiaojiu had no idea how much his heart hurt inside.
He could only force himself to sound calm.
“Sis, Dad’s already in the hospital, isn’t that a big deal? Don’t worry, Sis – I haven’t been mistreated out there.”
But hearing this, Wu Yuting just couldn’t feel at ease. She hugged Wu Xiaojiu tightly, anxiously looking him over from head to toe.
Only after making sure he didn’t have a scratch on him did she pull him into another hug, calling him her darling.
“How did Dad end up in the hospital? He’s always so energetic, climbing mountains and swimming. Didn’t the doctors say his physical exam was great just a few years ago?”
Wu Xiaojiu hugged his sister back, gently patting her back to comfort her.
At first, Wu Yuting was holding it together, but as she was comforted, she became more and more upset. That wave of sourness welled up again.
She started sobbing, her breath hitching with each cry.
“Who could have expected something like this out of nowhere? Dad went to discuss a contract today and got hit by a car. Even though they rescued him in time, he’s getting old. The fact he even woke up is already a blessing…”
As Wu Yuting spoke, she suddenly stopped short.
Wu Xiaojiu could feel the person in his arms tense up.
He quickly patted his sister twice, anxious to know what happened next.
But Wu Yuting just wouldn’t say another word, no matter what.
Until, from the corner, an unbearably arrogant voice rang out.
“Oh, the Main Branch can’t even take care of themselves now, and Big Sis still has time to worry about her little brother? Why not just tell him the truth, so he’ll stop throwing money around and making the Wu Family clean up after him?”
The voice was all too familiar. Wu Xiaojiu looked up to see a thin man, dressed in shabby clothes, with a sleazy look and a greasy, yellow-dyed pompadour. He had short, skinny arms and legs, wore ill-fitting, too-tight pants, and the whole person looked so pitiful and shifty it was impossible to feel any warmth toward him.
Wu Xiaojiu’s heart sounded the alarm.
He recognized him right away.
It was exactly who Wu Yuting had mentioned in her texts earlier.
Second Cousin-Wu Dan.
Why such a name? Because his parents thought a humble name would help him thrive.
Yes, in the Wu Family, apart from the Main Branch-Wu Xiaojiu’s side-who had made something of themselves, everyone else was still scraping by in the countryside.
Wu Xiaojiu looked at this Second Cousin, still not understanding what kind of betting agreement he could possibly have signed with his father.
“Don’t look at me like that. We in the Collateral Branch have been sick of the Main Branch for a long time. So what if you got lucky and made some money? It’s nothing special!”
“You got rich but never thought of giving back to the family. Especially your dad-what he did to my parents back then, I’ll never forget!”
Wu Dan spat the words through gritted teeth, hatred flashing in his eyes.
Behind him stood two women, both with rough faces, dressed in ragged, coarse clothes. One was holding a child.
Both women glared at Wu Xiaojiu with so much resentment, it was like they wanted to eat him alive.
Wu Xiaojiu thought his dad must have done something terrible.
But then, one of the women burst out,
“Back then, my in-laws only asked your family for two million yuan! They just wanted to buy a house in the city and settle down, but your heartless dad actually made the two old folks sign an IOU!”
She was practically shouting, half crying, half yelling, as if she’d suffered some huge injustice.
But hearing all that, Wu Xiaojiu really couldn’t figure out what inhumane thing his dad had done.
Could there be more to this story?