Chapter 51
Xiang Mingqi tapped his index finger on the steering wheel a few times, looking eager to drive away. But for some reason, he hugged his senior and looked at the newcomer with an unfriendly look.
Second Uncle laughed awkwardly, but seeing Pei Huai didn't react much, he leaned against the car door. "Ah Huai, Second Uncle came to see you this time because of something important." He said with a smile on his face, "A big city is worthy of being a big city. I came here and looked for you for almost three or four days. You are really something. You didn't answer the phone and didn't reply to the text messages. It forced me to check my bank account and finally found your company."
Pei Huai frowned and glanced at him from between his eyelashes without saying a word.
"Second uncle doesn't know many people, and he never asked about your work before. So I had to ask everyone one by one. Look, there's a girl with waist-length hair at the front desk who told me you were here."
Her eyes with thick eyelashes glanced upwards, full of disgust.
"I don't know that little girl's uncle either, it's just..."
"Su Minxian." Xiang Mingqi raised his hand to correct him. The moment he heard the name, Pei Huai finally gained some composure. He understood what had threatened Xiang Mingqi, prompting him to leave Kensos so urgently.
She was a maverick, and she had always been like that. She didn't support the company, nor anyone else, making it difficult to guess her intentions.
Of course, Second Uncle didn't understand all this rambling. He pulled two paper-wrapped peanuts from his pocket and stuffed one into each of their mouths. "Come on, Ah Huai, eat this with your friend. Oh, yeah, I'm getting old and confused. Why was I so busy talking and not asking? Who is this..."
"Xiang Mingqi." The person whose name it was was the first to reach out his hand, shook it, and then answered, "I'm my brother's boyfriend."
When their fingers touched, Second Uncle smiled perfunctorily, his mouth twitching and his expression stiffening. Then he scratched the base of his neck and asked, "Well, Xiao Xiang, do you and my nephew have anything important to do later? If not, I want to discuss something important with this kid."
Xiang Mingqi glanced at the person next to him, leaning forward with his arm against the back of the chair. He whispered in his senior's ear, his tone ambiguous and cautious, "Brother, don't even think about running away. And don't even think about asking for help. You know I'm a bit... unscrupulous."
He had barely finished speaking when a thin patch of skin on the back of his hand was twisted, causing him to gasp in pain. The senior then found an opportunity to shake him off, stood up, and pushed the car door open.
After having some private space, Second Uncle rubbed his face with both hands, looked around and began to explain his purpose: "Ah Huai, you and that guy." He raised his elbow and signaled with the corner of his eye, "Are you serious?"
Seeing the other party remain silent, he could only sigh and lament, "I never asked about your private life before. But you, why did you go out and fool around with other men? Doesn't your father's bloodline end with you?"
Pei Huai crossed his arms and simply responded to the topic with a "listening" attitude.
"Second uncle wants to ask you, the money you send every month, including the last time, isn't it that man who helps pay for it?"
“…I have a job.”
"Oh, oh, that's good. That's great. If you also have a tight life, Second Uncle will be a little embarrassed in the future."
He pushed open the copper casing of the lighter with his thumb and fiddled with the piston with a click. Finally, Pei Huai pressed it with a premonition and turned his head to light a cigarette.
"Ahuai, can you transfer 250,000 now... No, 200,000 or 200,000 will be fine, to my account?"
"I can't make ends meet."
"What turnover? Don't use these words to fool Second Uncle. I'm old and don't understand this."
"…No. I'm not that boring."
"Well, I asked you to transfer some money over before. What about 10,000 or 20,000 yuan? It's already here in the afternoon, right? This time it's just a few extra cents. You've worked for so many years and even have a boyfriend. You can't be too stingy to give me this little money, right?"
The person in question still had a cigarette between his fingers and didn't say anything, so the second uncle started to give advice on his own.
"Doesn't he have a car? The one you just sat in, pitch black. I think it's pretty good. If he cares about you, wouldn't a hole of ten or twenty thousand be filled with just one word from you?" He smiled and pulled his nephew's sleeve, coaxing him, "Ah Huai, your brother is gone, and you and I are the only relatives left in this world. You can't just leave me alone, can you?"
"What did you do?" Pei Huai took a puff of his cigarette, and the flame in front of his lips flickered.
"That's right." He pursed his lips, his momentum weakening. "The Liu family to the east recently opened a mahjong parlor. Their kid once said he wanted to marry you. So, of course I have to go and show my support." Fearing that Pei Huai might be dissatisfied, he stepped forward and hooked his nephew's shoulder, whispering, "Ah Huai, help me one more time. Next time, next time I will definitely not go. I've learned my lesson. I know that thing is a scam and can't be trusted..."
"This isn't the first time you've made that promise."
When you clench your teeth, a light tobacco smell can be smelled from the end of the cigarette. It's a bit astringent.
"What are you talking about? This time, Second Uncle will definitely keep his word. Ah Huai, I know you are worried about money. But when you were little, I treasured you more than money. You don't want to see your house being robbed and smashed by creditors, do you? Just think of a way to deal with the 200,000 yuan."
"Sorry." Pei Huai slapped the hand on his shoulder away, "I can't do anything about the money."
The middle-aged man who was rejected repeatedly did not give up. He stepped forward, grabbed Pei Huai's wrist and refused to let him go.
"You're confused! Ah Huai, I used to be so good to you. At least, I never treated you badly compared to your father. Except, except for that time when I mortgaged you to someone else to pay off my gambling debts, but I had no choice. You're so old now, and you still want to blame me for the past? Ah Huai, can't you just let it go? I'm your elder. If you don't help me, I'm finished. All finished!"
"Two hundred thousand." Pei Huai leaned over and stared at him, asking word by word, "Don't you think you want too much?"
"Too much? Ah Huai, you can't say that. When you were little, I couldn't bear to teach you a lesson. As soon as you cried, I softened my heart. I would rather run over and beat your brother than hit you. And you? How dare you say such sarcastic words at such a critical moment? How can you not care about my life or death?!"
"When you're dating a man and doing those disgusting things, have you ever thought about what would happen if other people heard about it? How am I supposed to survive in Coal Valley? I don't even have any dignity left!"
Pei Huai raised his eyebrows, took a deep breath, and rubbed his forehead irritably.
"Come to think of it, your job was the same, twelve years old. Looking for a job? I always felt something was amiss, but I didn't ask because I wanted to save your face. Do you dare to say that you didn't have anything going on with your boss at the time? When I signed your personal contract, he mentioned you to me. Do you know the look on his face then?"
"It's like talking about the only cat in the family that is spoiled. Ah Huai, how come you are entangled with men at such a young age? You and what you did today are so disappointing——"
A pair of arms suddenly blocked their chests and forced them apart.
"Chop chop, please stop here for a moment. If you wait any longer, my car will be ticketed." Xiang Mingqi took his senior's arm, put two fingers together and raised them from his forehead, then took a few steps back in the direction of the car. "Then, Lord Boyue, we will meet again."
In front of everyone, he pulled Pei Huai back into the car and luckily started the engine a few seconds before the patrol police arrived, thus getting rid of the entanglement.
When they reached a secluded spot between the buildings, he pulled out the key and shrugged. "Brother, it seems someone is really trying their best to find you." He slowly approached, his tone filled with tenderness. "I guess he won't give up until he gets what he wants. Do you need my help?"
"Mind your own business."
Xiang Mingqi wasn't surprised by his answer, so he said "hmm" and restarted the old car.
"Brother, I still don't quite understand." He thought for a moment and asked, "Including your second uncle, your father, and your brother, no matter who they pick, it seems that none of them regard you as a member of the family. Why do you still want to shoulder this responsibility?"
"I don't like owing others." He raised his eyes and stared at him with his eyes as thick as ink for several seconds.
The questioner felt his heart skip a beat, his breathing gradually heating up.
"……Why."
"My stepmother was very good to me, at least. Better than me. So I have an obligation to take care of her son." He turned his gaze back to the road ahead, his tone calm and normal, "After Yu Mingrui's death, I no longer feel that I have the responsibility to support the family. The favor is now settled between her and me."
One hand couldn't help but lift the white hair on the back of Pei Huai's neck and loosen the already loose braid.
"Brother, your second uncle treated you like that. Don't you want to retaliate fiercely and severely?"
"I don't care."
"Why? He used you as collateral, and now he's using you as a money-dispensing machine. And you don't even have a single complaint?"
"Because hatred is meaningless." He looked at him, his dark eyes like a thin layer of ice, covered with scratches, but nothing could penetrate his soul. "Xiang Mingqi, I won't have another fourteen-year-old."
Xiang Mingqi leaned over almost movedly, put his lips on his senior's cheek, and sniffed his collar.
"Brother, you just look like you don't care about anyone." He buried his head in the other's neck, his voice muffled, "But Yu Mingrui's death is not like that. I guess you hate me." He laughed at himself, "After all, a brother as outstanding and responsible as you. How could I possibly forgive someone who was involved in this?"
The fingers resting on my knees twitched unconsciously.
He said, “I don’t hate you.”
"I don't believe that, brother. Even if you're going to lie, you could at least tell a decent, convincing lie, right?"
"...The four million won't end with Yu Mingrui's suicide. It will, and will definitely, find me. But Xiang Mingqi, nothing has happened to me."
The bodies that were almost touching each other froze at this moment.
Pei Huai pushed him away calmly: "Someone paid the money for him, right?"
"elder brother……"
A glance followed, filled with inhuman rationality.
Pei Huai's eye sockets were deep, and his eyes were clearly defined. So when they looked into each other's eyes, the emotionless silence and the arrogance that had been weathered but never faded instantly gripped the viewer's throat.
"I've said before, I never act on emotion. I can clearly distinguish right from wrong." The owner of such eyes said, "I won't say I like you against my conscience. But on this matter, you can trust me."
Then, everything came to a sudden halt like the wind.
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