043
Zhu Fuge was leaning on the passenger seat, looking at her work on her tablet. When she heard the driver's door open, she looked up. Xi Luo got in. He wiped his hands with a wet tissue, buckled his seatbelt, and turned around to ask, "Are we still going to the same place for supper last night?"
"Has it been dealt with?"
"Tell her housekeeper to take her back." Xi Luo lit up, "Wait until she calms down."
"I just heard you say you witnessed Zhu Baiming playing with a little boy. Do you have anything else to say?" Zhu Fuge closed the tablet. "I'd like to hear more."
She had never been to the courtyard, and she didn't know how other people in the courtyard usually flattered Zhu Baiming. The Zhu couple praised him so highly. He must have done many unscrupulous things to be sent to the screen to expand his fame and overshadow his bad reputation.
"Really want to hear it?"
Zhu Fuge hit his arm: "Don't make me feel bad."
Xi Luo chuckled, then turned serious. "In the beginning, our two families didn't get along. On the one hand, it was the economic gap. Your Zhu family was the richest family in the courtyard at that time. On the other hand, it was Zhu Baiming. He took Xi Jiang out many times and almost lost her once."
Zhu Fuge couldn't help but curse: "He's just a piece of shit."
"Xi Jiang has always been a naughty child. Seeing that he was found, his parents didn't make a big deal about it. However, due to the cooperation at the time, they still had to cater to him on a daily basis." Xi Luo said, "I know a few old friends in the hospital who told me that they were afraid to be alone with Zhu Baiming. Zhu Baiming treated them differently. At first, they didn't know how to describe it, but later they found a metaphor. It was like being played with like a dog. A few words can easily make people confused."
Zhu Fuge calmed down and said, "What about you? Have you ever been toyed with by him?"
"Back then, I wasn't just a little boy. I had dark skin and big eyes, completely different from the pretty type he liked. He didn't even want to talk to me, let alone play?" Xi Luo sighed, "But seeing how my brother turned out, I couldn't do anything but hate him."
Yet such a person died just like that.
"Indeed. Fortunately, Ah Xu was found after his death. If he had grown up with him, something bad would have happened." Zhu Fuge was stunned for two seconds. "Wait, you mean your brother was...?"
The car slipped a bit as it drove over the snowy road. Shi Luo steadied the steering wheel and temporarily stopped on the side of the road. Snow began to fall, and the cold wind slapped the glass, making a whirring sound like a ghost howling.
Shi Luo said tiredly: "Yes."
Zhu Fuge's face changed. She had been imprisoned in the United States by the Zhus since she was a child, and she refused to participate in any distribution of the family fortune. But Xi Luo was different. He had a presence in foreign markets, and at a young age, he had become the general manager of a US software development company. Everything was dazzling, and with shares in a domestic company, he had a virtually worry-free life.
But knowing that his younger brother was mentally unstable, he resolutely chose to give up everything abroad and play the role of seizing power with his younger brother after hearing his parents' crying.
"What a beast." Zhu Fuge closed her eyes. "Does your brother support treatment now?"
"They supported it in the early stage, but they are not willing to do it now."
"Why?" Zhu Fuge said, "He looks normal to me."
He is emotionally stable, and apart from being disrespectful to his elders, there is nothing wrong with him.
Xi Luo just sighed, swerving the steering wheel across the snow. Without stopping, he saw the restaurant was covered in dust. Zhu Fuge touched up her lipstick, a little disappointed: "Wow, it's closed."
“Want to eat somewhere else?”
"I don't want to eat anymore." Zhu Fuge said, "Let's go to your place."
Xi Luo squeezed the steering wheel tightly and turned back home silently. The silence in the car was broken by the mirror. Zhu Fuge adjusted the seat and asked lazily with her body half turned sideways: "Back to the question just now, tell me about your brother."
"You want to know so much?"
"Yes." Zhu Fuge lifted up his shirt without hesitation and slid her hands slowly over his strong abdominal muscles.
Shi Luo did not stop: "I'm driving."
"It doesn't matter." Zhu Fuge said, "Tell me quickly, and tell me a bedtime story."
"I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep after hearing this."
Zhu Fuge didn't care: "You have to say it."
"My brother didn't like to play with anyone when he was little. When he was in his third year of junior high, he went to a school summer camp. It rained and the signal was cut off, so Zhu Baiming brought him back," Xi Luo said. "I think Zhu Baiming was deliberately following him. Their high school and middle school were quite far apart, and the summer camp was a secret. No one knew about it, including me, except his parents."
"After that, he seemed to accept playing with Zhu Baiming. Every holiday, I could hear him praising Zhu Baiming to me. It wasn't until he was fifteen that I realized something was wrong. But it was too late."
"The car accident caused Zhu Baiming to die on the spot. His suicide note stated that he loved my brother and wanted to commit suicide with him. The Zhu family felt ashamed, so they have chosen to compensate the Xi family for so many years. Xi Jiang suffered from intermittent amnesia during that time. Initially, treatment was ineffective until your brother, Zhu Wenxu, appeared."
"I remember now. No wonder your brother mentioned his childhood sweetheart when he sent a message to my brother. Did he mistake A Xu for Zhu Baiming?" Zhu Fuge suddenly realized.
Xi Luo stopped the car and waited for the red light: "Yes. Everyone knows why Zhu Wenxu showed up. He was there to replace his brother. I didn't interact with him much, and I knew that he and Zhu Baiming had different personalities, so I didn't let my guard down. But Xi Jiang was unexpectedly more cheerful than before during the years we were together."
"He stopped mentioning Zhu Baiming and started mentioning Zhu Wenxu. After receiving treatment, he considered all his past experiences with Zhu Baiming to be with Zhu Wenxu. Seeing his rapid recovery, the two families allowed Zhu Wenxu to remain their childhood sweetheart. Xi Jiang was also deeply influenced by Zhu Wenxu and performed exceptionally well on the college entrance exam, earning admission to a prestigious university."
“…”
"On the day the results were announced, Xi Jiang said he wanted to buy a gift, so I went with him. As for why I didn't ask you, it was because you were no longer in China. Our relationship had eased during that time, so I went with him to the mall and watched him buy a set of rings. I didn't dare ask, but I vaguely guessed something." Ke Yu was particularly solemn. "He and I went to book a restaurant, and I watched him have someone decorate the venue. I found an excuse to go home, and as soon as I got home, I got a call from Pu Xuebo. He told me with a playful smile that Xi Jiang was going to confess his love to Zhu Wenxu."
"Do you know why Pu Xuebao, Zhou Shumei, and A Lu drifted apart from Xi Jiang? Because they were the only ones involved in this confession. They appeared supportive and happy, but behind the scenes, they were anonymously complaining about Xi Jiang being a lesbian. By the time I arrived, it was too late. I heard Xi Jiang pull out a ring and kneel on one knee, pledging true love like a European or American."
"Zhu Wenxu was very calm, showing no expression despite the applause and cheers from the three people. He simply asked Xi Jiang what she liked about him. Xi Jiang said that he had always loved Zhu Wenxu, and that he loved his pretty face. Haha, I was so amused that I couldn't speak. Who do you think could be his favorite person growing up? He had already been influenced by that person and completely regarded Zhu Wenxu as his shadow."
The breathing on the other end of the phone was heavy, and Sun Xuefan didn't know why she made this call in the middle of the night. Ever since Xi Luo told her, she was eager to know other perspectives that she hadn't seen.
But surprisingly, Ke Yu didn't argue with her. Instead, he lit a cigarette and slowly began to talk. Just listening to her, Sun Xuefan burst into tears. She suppressed her sobs and asked, "And then?"
"Then, Zhu Wenxu took a knife and cut his face three times, asking Xi Jiang if she still liked him. Xi Jiang was having trouble breathing and was sent to the hospital. Later, I couldn't contact Zhu Wenxu. It was a long time later that I learned that he didn't go to college in China, but was sent to the United States by his parents. When I was traveling abroad during my junior year, I met him through Xi Luoge. He was tall and thin." Ke Yu began to choke up. "Sun Xuefan, it's not that he doesn't want to be himself, it's that he has no choice. He had plastic surgery. He was only 19 when his face was disfigured, and he looked like the 18-year-old Zhu Baiming. The Zhu family completely turned him into a shadow of Zhu Baiming."
"Do you think he's not in pain? I tried to tell you, I tried to tell you that Zhu Wenxu's pain was no less than Xi Jiang's, but you couldn't hear me. All you could see in your eyes was the bond we'd formed in our childhood. I began to hate you, and I also began to hate myself. If I had been able to stop him from cutting his face, he wouldn't have become like this."
The year after seeing Zhu Wenxu's plastic surgery, Ke Yu often had dreams in which the girls in the courtyard followed Zhu Baiming, gave him fruit candies, and wished him a happy new year.
Zhu Baiming waved towards him and said kindly, "Why don't you come over, Ke Yu? I still have some candy here."
When he got closer, his face turned into Zhu Wenxu.
Having similar dreams repeatedly made her feel mentally unstable. She went to see a doctor and got some medicine, and recovered in time. It was at this juncture that the marriage arrangement was finalized.
She knew Zhu Wenxu's sexual orientation, and Zhu Wenxu also knew her sexual orientation, so it became a collaboration, a collaboration without any emotional factors involved.
Then Ke Yu suffered from insomnia for a long time.
"I've been carrying all this for years, and it really hurts. It really hurts. If I don't agree to this marriage, the Zhu family's target will become you. He's already suffering a lot, and I don't want him to suffer that much, and I don't want you to suffer that much either, so I agreed." Ke Yu sniffed: "Can you stop making trouble now? Can you let Zhu Wenxu go? Can you make him happier? Can you?"
It was already daybreak when the call ended. Sun Xuefan sat on the sofa on the first floor. She could no longer cry, and her nose was blocked, making it difficult to breathe. The snow outside the window had stopped, and the lights on the second floor, which had been on all night, went out. She could hear the sound of a door closing.
Sun Xuefan stared at the girl, her hands trembling and her body cold. The housekeeper came to bring her food. After all, she was the young lady he had watched grow up, so how could he not be worried?
When I came in, I found Sun Xuefan lying on the floor: "Miss, Miss."
The sounds of an ambulance and people talking could be heard in the yard. The neighbors next door heard the noise and looked over. After half an hour, the sound gradually disappeared, and no one on the second floor came down during the whole process.
It's snowing again.
The rain was so moist that it melted as soon as it hit the ground.
Xu Yu slept until twelve o'clock this morning. He stretched himself and heard the fragrance coming from the kitchen. He put on his shoes and went out, where he saw Zhu Wenxu making soup.
"Awake?" Zhu Wenxu said, "Wash your hands and have dinner."
"What did you do?"
"Bone soup, good for tonic in cold weather." Xu Yu was curious, "Did you put radish in it?"
Zhu Wenxu: "Let him go."
"OK."
Xu Yu ate a large bowl of rice. Initially, Zhu Wenxu was reluctant to enter the kitchen, but the temperature had plummeted during those few days, and he slept deeply. He was so tired he could barely open his eyes. When he woke up, the meal was ready. He ate a bit, amazed at Zhu Wenxu's cooking skills.
"I wanted to ask you before, when will you learn to cook?" Xu Yu asked, "Don't your CEOs all have nannies or something like that?"
Zhu Wenxu picked up some food for him and said, "Most of the time abroad, there are Filipino maids. I refused and bought some food myself to learn how to cook."
"Did you meet your sister in America?"
Zhu Wenxu drank soup: "To be precise, it was in the UK. There was an international brand exhibition at that time. My parents took her there and we had our first meal together. That's when we first met."
"It's so hard being out there alone." Xu Yu also drank the soup. "It won't be hard if we're together. I'll accompany you from now on."
Zhu Wenxu felt a warm feeling in his heart: "I will tie you to my belt wherever I go."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
