Chapter 59

Lian Yu and Qin Yi were looking at him from the steps, and the attention of all the servants in the Lian Mansion was also attracted here.

"Hurry up and help me!" Li Bawang, visibly embarrassed, ordered his servants fiercely. The fat man struggled to support himself, barely standing up with the help of the iron mask, his forehead glistening with sweat.

Only then did Lian Yu quickly step forward and give Li Bawang a helping hand: "Brother Li, you are such a jerk. Be more careful. It would be terrible if you got bumped into something."

"It's all your fault!" Li Bawang was so angry that his eyes widened, as if his eyeballs were about to fall out of their sockets.

"Me?" Lian Yu's eyebrows jumped, and then it seemed as if he suddenly realized something: "I was wondering why I saw a big white pig biting my sister-in-law from afar. It turned out to be Brother Li."

"You!" Li Bawang's big face full of flesh was twisted with anger.

Before Li Bawang could explode, Lian Yu patted his shoulder as if nothing had happened, and said with a smirk, "Brother Li, you are such a fool! It's hard for you to come to me, but didn't I tell you that I don't gamble anymore? Go back now."

"No bet?" Seeing that the topic was finally back on track and most of his anger had subsided, Li Bawang narrowed his slender rat eyes and said, "The bet is already made. Even if you don't want to gamble, you still have to give me what I owe you. The principle of accepting defeat is something you willingly accept. Second Young Master, you don't understand that, do you?"

As he spoke, the paper contract shook and squeezed in front of Lian Yu. At the bottom of the contract, the signature under the red fingerprint was written in a flamboyant style, like a ghostly talisman.

"Understood." Lian Yu remained calm, smiling as he looked at the signature on the paper. "A gentleman's word is as good as gold."

"Xiaoyu!" Qin Yi whispered softly and pulled his arm: "Don't be impulsive."

Lian Yu said nothing, but gently squeezed Qin Yi's hand where no one could see. Qin Yi looked up at him, his eyes full of worry. Lian Yu shook his head, a reassuring smile on his lips.

Qin was stunned for a moment, then slowly lowered his eyes, half-clenched his palms against his chest, and took a deep breath.

Lian Yu continued to add fuel to the fire. "Of course you have to do what you promised. If you can't do it, you're worse than pigs and dogs."

"Well said!" Li Bawang clapped his hands, strode forward, and put his arm around Lian Yu's shoulders, breathing out his greasy, turbid breath: "Come on, Brother Lian, let's finish today's work today and hand over the business now!"

Lian Yu let out a hiss, then suddenly picked up the contract with his fingertips and looked at it carefully with squinted eyes.

"Brother Li, what did you say my name was?"

Having a bad feeling, Li Bawang withdrew his arm from his shoulder and said in a cautious tone, "Lian Yu."

"That's not right," Lian Yu pointed at the scribbled signature at the bottom of the contract. "Look here, it clearly says - Feng Yu."

"What did you say?" Li Bawang reacted violently: "Are you bullying me because I'm not well educated?"

Lian Yu's words were like a jab at his sore spot. After all, everyone in the city knew that Li Bawang was uneducated. When he was a child, he had driven away dozens of private school teachers. As a result, after he was over twenty, he still couldn't read a single word, and couldn't even compare to some old farmers in their fifties. So everyone called him Bawang on the surface, but behind his back, they called him a blind man.

"Alas, Brother Li, you're overthinking it." Lian Yu shook his head and said sincerely, "I'm telling the truth. This character is actually '逢'. If you don't believe me, ask my sister-in-law."

After he finished speaking, Lian Yu looked at Qin Yi.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Qin Yi blinked slowly, then snapped back to his senses as if realizing something. It was truly unusual for the normally capable and competent young lady to be distracted in such an occasion.

"Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to go back and rest?" Lian Yu asked in a low voice.

Qin Yi shook his head. Fortunately, even though his mind was wandering, his ears still had some function. Qin Yi vaguely remembered that he was asked to identify the signature on the contract. He quickly lowered his eyes and fixed his gaze on the signature at the bottom of the contract.

The handwriting was incredibly sloppy, and it was clear the owner was incredibly drunk when they signed it. The strokes of the character "连" (lian) were blurred, depending on how the viewer interpreted it. If it meant "连" (lian), it was fine; if it meant "逢" (feng), it was also perfectly acceptable.

Qin Yi raised his eyes: "This word is indeed——"

Caught off guard by a pair of deep eyes, Qin Yi's throat choked. The iron mask behind Li Bawang was staring at him, a pair of black eyes peeking through the cracks in the cold iron, like a deep pool of water, as if trying to see through him.

Qin Yi's scalp suddenly felt numb.

"What's all the commotion?"

The gentle clatter of horse hooves became the elegant beat of a drum, and the noisy area in front of the Lian Mansion suddenly quieted down. Everyone looked at the young general standing on his tall and majestic horse, looking very handsome.

Recognizing the identity of the man on horseback, Li Bawang hurriedly bowed and said, "General Gu."

Everyone realized it belatedly and hurriedly bowed. Lian Yu followed the others in bowing. As he bent down and stood up, he heard a mumbling introduction in his mind: [The protagonist has appeared.]

The protagonist is Lian Yu's elder brother who faked his death.

Lian Yu looked at the handsome general on horseback, then at his sister-in-law, who had begun to lose focus again for some reason, and silently took a step back. Okay, now that the protagonist's role had arrived, he should probably take a break.

"General Gu, please give us your opinion!" Li Bawang knelt down in front of Gu Lang's horse with a thud.

Gu Lang frowned, dismounted, and pulled up Li Bawang's fat and clumsy body. Although his tone was serious and rigid, his voice was gentle: "No need to kneel down, just speak slowly."

Li Bawang pretended to sob and handed the contract to Gu Lang. "Please look at the word 'Lian' or 'Feng'. These people are bullying me, an illiterate person, and are talking nonsense. You must help me!"

Lian Yu, who was suddenly called upon, blinked.

Gu Lang turned his head and looked at him, his eyes as calm as water, as if he had seen through everything.

Lian Yu felt a little nervous for some unknown reason.

Fortunately, Gu Lang quickly withdrew his gaze and looked down at the signature on the contract: "This word is indeed a ligature."

Lian Yu was a little confused. Wasn't Gu Lang the eldest son of the Lian family? Even if he had faked his death, he shouldn't have helped the Lian family's mortal enemy, Li Bawang, to seize the Lian family's assets.

Even though he'd just arrived and didn't have any special feelings for the Lian family, he'd feel bad if the Lian family's business was ruined in his hands. Damn sense of responsibility.

Lian Yu stepped forward and said, "General Gu, please take another look at this..."

"What are you looking at? How dare you question General Gu!" Li Bawang rushed forward and pushed him away with his elbow. He wanted to continue scolding him, but he heard him scream "Ouch" and the contract suddenly slipped out of his hand. The wind blew, and the thin contract spun and floated steadily in front of the horse's head.

Dama opened his mouth, bit the contract, and began to chew it with a crunching sound.

A stone rolled silently to the ground.

Li Bawang clutched his numb wrist and screamed, "My contract!"

Lian Yu suddenly realized something. He quickly looked up and met Gu Lang's relieved eyes. Did he pass Gu Lang's test?

"General Gu, this, this, this..." Li Bawang stuttered for a long time: "You just saw it, right? Although the contract is gone, Lian Yu still has to hand over the fireworks business to me! You have to make the decision for me!"

Gu Lang climbed onto his horse and stared straight ahead, no longer focusing on the pleading Li Bawang. "I only recognized the character 'lian' in the signature. As for the rest, I didn't see anything, so naturally I can't make a decision."

"What!?" Li Bawang's face turned red instantly, and he felt like he was going to faint from anger in the next second.

"Please go back, Master Li." Qin Yimian gestured for invitation without any expression. "If you continue to act so unreasonably, I'll have to call for help."

In this way, Li Bawang, who was full of anger, was forced to return home.

The area in front of the Lian Mansion was quiet again. Those who were working went back to work, and the gatekeeper stood in front of the gate in a daze again.

"Thank you for your hard work." Qin Yi bowed slightly, his eyelashes drooping low, revealing a fragile and thin eyelid. In the sunlight, the pale skin showed the blue of the veins.

Lian Yu suddenly felt like teasing him. He grabbed Qin Yi's arm, forcing him to take a step back and almost fall into his arms.

Seeing them pulling each other, the servant guarding the gate of the mansion shrank his neck in panic, as if he wanted to hide himself in the air.

Seeing Qin Yi's panicked look like a cat, Lian Yu raised the corners of her lips in satisfaction: "If I step out of the house, won't my sister-in-law break my legs?"

"Me, you!" Qin Yi's face turned red and he couldn't utter the third word for a long time.

After teasing him enough, Lian Yu contentedly pulled the man towards the mansion. Unexpectedly, just as he turned a corner and got out of the servant's sight, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his calf, and before he could react, his body suddenly fell down.

Qin Yi grabbed him with one hand and lifted him up lightly.

Lian Yu was shocked to see Qin Yi pulling out the silver needle from his calf, and he still had the embarrassed look he had outside the mansion before.

As if pleased by Lian Yu's expression, Qin Yi slowly put the silver needle back into his sleeve, narrowing his eyes like a fox, a sly glint in his eyes: "Xiao Yu, are you scared to death? It's better not to go to this place of fireworks, lest you get drained of your body at such a young age."

Very good, Lian Yu admitted that he was so angry that he laughed.

"Really? But what's the matter?" He took a step closer, his naked eyes moving up from Qin Yi's snow-white neck, and finally landing on the tip of Qin Yi's ear which was gradually turning red.

That's all.

Lian Yu raised the corners of his lips, his eyes gleaming with a smile of offense. He placed his palm on the side of Qin Yi's face, his palm gripping Qin Yi's jaw, his fingertips pressing against his trembling lips. "Then how should I deal with this rage? Otherwise, sister-in-law, can you help me?"