Chapter 528 You are

"...Third brother, you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. Think about Mom. She has worked so hard to raise us siblings all these years, working day and night to raise us. Instead of being filial to her, are we going to let her be schemed against for the rest of her life?"

Su Lao Er's voice was filled with hatred, as if he hated himself in his dream, or as if he hated the indecisive Su Lao San.

After saying this, he let out a long breath, turned around, and left.

After watching Su Lao Er walk away, Su Lao San sat there for a long time before getting up.

In November, Song Yuanzhi was commended for cracking a major smuggling case. At the same time, the district deputy director retired, and he was directly promoted to the position of district deputy director.

Deputy Director Zhu Jialiang took his place and has become his capable assistant.

A group of people celebrated Song Yuanzhi's success.

After drinking a few more glasses of wine, Song Yuanzhi, emboldened by the alcohol, went to Li Banxia's house and confessed his feelings to her face to face.

Grandma Qiu and Arno carried the three children back into the house.

Helpless, Li Banxia made him a cup of honey water, led him to the study, and used a hot towel to wipe his face to wake him up. "Why did you drink so much?"

Song Yuanzhi looked at her and smiled.

"I didn't drink much, I just used the alcohol to embolden myself and said the things I've never been able to say before. Banxia, ​​I really want to be with you. Can you give me a chance to take care of you, and we can walk the rest of the road together?"

He reached out and pulled Li Banxia to sit down next to him.

"Drink the honey water first, then we'll talk."

Li Banxia picked up the cup and handed it to him. Song Yuanzhi said "oh," picked up the cup, and gulped down the honey water in one go. After finishing, he boasted to Li Banxia, ​​"You've finished it all, now you can talk."

Li Banxia was both amused and exasperated.

She reached out, took the cup, put it down, and sighed as she looked at him.

"Yuanzhi, we can't be together..."

Song Yuanzhi opened his mouth to say something, but Li Banxia stopped him. "There are three reasons. First, my age is not suitable. I am over forty years old and have long passed the age of talking about love. Second... my heart is now full of holes and I can't give you the love you want. Third, I have gotten used to my current life and don't want anything to change."

"After all these years, it's time for you to let go of your obsession and pursue your own happiness."

Song Yuanzhi's eyes were bloodshot, but he stubbornly insisted, "You are."

Li Banxia smiled.

“You’re talking like a child again. I’ve given birth to so many children, I don’t deserve it. Yuanzhi, you are excellent, you deserve and are worthy of better.”

Song Yuanzhi shook his head, "Banxia, ​​you are also excellent. In my eyes, you have always been the best. The one who is not good enough for you is me. I was too timid and cowardly back then. I didn't have the courage to confess my feelings for you, which made you suffer for so many years..."

Looking at him, Li Banxia seemed to see the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy from back then, his eyes filled with reluctance and love as he watched her get married.

She had already realized something was wrong by then.

Therefore, after marrying Su Youfu, she consciously avoided him, not wanting him to get more and more involved.

Unexpectedly, after all these years, he is still...

Li Banxia looked at him with a pang of heartache and sighed softly, "Yuanzhi, why... did you do this?"

"Banxia, ​​you think I'm good, I think you're good, we both think we're the best people for each other, why can't we be together?" Song Yuanzhi held her hand, his eyes full of pleading.

Li Banxia felt somewhat helpless after hearing his words.

She sighed, “Yuanzhi, I’m old and can’t love anymore. I’ve trapped myself in this mess. Why do you have to trap yourself in this too? Besides, I really only have brotherly affection for you, nothing more.”

Song Yuanzhi stared at her blankly, his lips trembling slightly, and said, "Do I have absolutely no chance?"

Li Banxia saw the vulnerability in his eyes and nodded with a hardened heart.

He said, "Don't waste your time on me. Listen to your second uncle and aunt, hurry up and go on blind dates and get married."

Song Yuanzhi clenched his fist and shook his head.

Li Banxia stopped there, stood up and said, "I'll go make some light porridge to soothe your stomach. You should rest for a while."

"……good."

As Li Banxia left, Song Yuanzhi watched her retreating figure with bloodshot eyes.

Despite drinking so much alcohol, his mind was unusually clear, and he wasn't sleepy at all. He stared at the ceiling and thought for the entire night.

The next morning.

After washing up, Song Yuanzhi approached Li Banxia and greeted her with a smile, "Sister Xiaxia, what's for breakfast?"

When Li Banxia heard him call her "sister" on his own initiative, she felt gratified and slightly relieved.

"You've just sobered up, so it's best not to eat anything too greasy. Have some plain rice porridge to soothe your stomach."

Song Yuanzhi smiled and said okay.

After dinner, Song Yuanzhi took the initiative to say, "Sister Xiaxia, I was wrong. I won't say things like I was confused like last night again. From now on... let's still treat each other as brother and sister, okay?"

“Okay, we are cousins ​​after all,” Li Banxia said with a smile.

Song Yuanzhi smiled and said yes.

After saying that, he hurriedly made an excuse and left.

Li Banxia's smile faded, and she sighed as she watched Song Yuanzhi's retreating figure.

The moment he called her Sister Xia, she truly believed he had come to his senses; it turned out he was just lying to her.

Li Banxia truly didn't know what to do with Song Yuanzhi.

After learning about Song Yuanzhi's situation, Brother Li called him and gave him a good scolding, "Since you and Xiaxia have no chance, I'll call someone to introduce you to someone later. Your second uncle and aunt raised you for so long, do you really want the Song family line to end?"

"Brother, if you bring this up again, I'll go to the hospital for a tubal ligation tomorrow," Song Yuanzhi said with a smile, threateningly.

Brother Li was furious. He gritted his teeth, glared at the microphone, and cursed, "Song Yuanzhi, you think you're so tough? You think I can't reach you to beat you up because you're far away?"

"Big brother..."

Song Yuanzhi called out, followed by a long sigh.

Brother Li instantly lost all strength, followed by a long sigh. After a long while, he said, "Alright, I don't care anymore. You... just hope you won't regret it later."

"I know I won't regret it."

After hanging up the phone, Brother Li thought about it for a long time and felt very uneasy.

But things have turned out this way, so no one can be blamed.

He closed his eyes, then sighed, "What a mess."

On the surface, Song Yuanzhi appeared calm and collected, but his methods for handling cases were exceptionally ruthless. Within a week, he cracked two more large-scale theft cases, and some people in the bureau started to urge Song Yuanzhi to celebrate his achievements.

Song Yuanzhi smiled and agreed, saying that he hadn't treated everyone to a meal since his promotion, so this meal was on him.

After a few rounds of drinks, someone added some other liquor to his glass, and the bottle was already open when it was brought to him.

Song Yuanzhi glanced at it, and then, under pressure from the others, he had no choice but to drink the wine.

He raised an eyebrow at that moment.

He had a gut feeling that there was something fishy about the bottle of wine that hadn't been opened in front of him, and sure enough, the taste was off when he swallowed it.