Chapter 14 A Despicable Lie
The car window was rolled down, and the air blew in and splashed on his face. Lu Shangyan took several deep breaths before he felt a little better.
However, he remained silent and did not respond to Pei Yumin's question.
Once everything quieted down again, Pei Yumin realized that his possessiveness had gotten the better of him, and that he had spoken too harshly.
To Lu Shangyan, he is currently just a roommate who exists to reduce rent, and he has absolutely no right to interfere in Lu Shangyan's private affairs.
This is his fault.
So he pretended nothing had happened, stiffly grinned, revealing a standard fake smile, and spoke in a monotone voice, like a broadcaster from the last century trying to be emotional: "Is your stomach still upset? Shall I take you to the hospital for a checkup?"
Looking at the streetlights flashing past the car window, Lu Shangyan slowly shook his head: "I don't feel bad anymore."
Pei Yumin glanced at him a few more times, but didn't see any discomfort on his face, so she temporarily gave up the idea of forcibly sending him to the hospital.
Furthermore, he now has to be mindful of Lu Shangyan's mood when doing things, so he has to be even more obedient to avoid being kicked out.
Lu Shangyan was truly exhausted. As soon as he got home, he went to his room, drew the curtains, pulled the blanket over his head, and fell into a deep sleep.
Pei Yumin stood at the door and listened for a long time. At first, he stood, then pressed his ear against the door, and then pressed his whole body against it to make sure he couldn't hear a sound at all before turning around and sitting on the sofa. This way, he could rush over as soon as Lu Shangyan made any move.
When Tang Suichen called, he had already imagined for the nth time that Lu Shangyan was lying on the bed vomiting blood, his weak cries for help unable to penetrate the door, causing him to suffer a lot because he couldn't hear him.
When the phone rang, he was terrified by the imagined scene and immediately said, "What do you think are the chances that if I sneak into Shangshang's room while he's asleep, he'll kick me out?"
Tang Suichen wanted to ask how things were going with Lu Lin and Chen Shuo, and if there was anything else she didn't need help with, but instead she ran into someone who was acting crazy.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and answered truthfully, "One hundred percent."
Pei Yumin: "I won't be kicked out..."
Tang Suichen: "I'll definitely be kicked out..."
Their voices rang out simultaneously, then quickly faded. Pei Yumin lowered his voice to defend himself: "Impossible! I went to his room just two days ago, and he didn't kick me out."
Tang Suichen asked with surprise, "I didn't know you were so bold and daring in private! Tell me what you did while he was asleep?"
He clearly misunderstood.
But Pei Yumin didn't think that far ahead: "Watch him sleep."
Tang Suichen had already sat up straight, ready to listen carefully, but these words brought him back to his caterpillar form. He wrapped himself in the blanket and lay on the bed, not wanting to have an in-depth conversation with his longtime friend about "different lives," otherwise they would end up not even being friends.
"Let's get down to business: Lu Lin's mother has been brought over and is staying in a hotel now. The old lady is so scared that she doesn't dare to leave the house. Every time she sees someone, she keeps asking if her son has committed a crime. She says that if they offer money to ransom him, she will go to Lu Shangyan."
Pei Yumin gritted his teeth. Lu Shangyan was able to enter Z University with his admission notice because of the "return fee" of 1,500 yuan per month from Pei Yumin.
The three uncles and aunts together would spend 4,500 yuan a month if they didn't eat or drink.
No wonder Lu Shangyan wished he could live at his part-time job every day. Even though he earned so much money, he still complained about his worn-out slippers that cost only a few dollars!
He's been busy for a month, and he still has to keep track of his grades. He must have gone through so much to climb out of that hellhole! If it were anyone else, they probably would have cut ties with that family long ago.
Why is Lu Shangyan still forcing himself to keep going?
Pei Yumin grabbed a handful of hair, unable to understand: "The whole family is shameless!"
Tang Suichen said, "I have a way to get your money back."
Pei Yumin was afraid that Lu Shangyan would be angry if he found out. After all, he had been able to endure it for so long because he didn't want to completely break ties with this group. He had his reasons.
But then I thought, this was Tang Suichen's doing, what does it have to do with Pei Yumin? It's more important that Lu Shangyan is doing well: "Don't let Lu Shangyan know."
"You can rest assured that I can handle things well." Tang Suichen laughed. "If Lu Lin wants to do business, I'll teach him properly."
After hanging up the phone, Pei Yumin sent Qi Min another text message:
[Go to my mom and tell her that someone bullied me, and now I can't eat or drink, I'm depressed and bedridden.]
[You said I kept quiet because I didn't want them to worry, but you couldn't stand it anymore and went to tell her. Remember, you have to make sure you say it with a lot of emotion!]
Qi Min: [Yes, President Pei.]
Qi Min: ...Who would believe such a low-class lie?
Ms. Yuan actually believed it.
His heart immediately raced, tears welled up in his eyes, and he stopped looking at the ledger. He grabbed his bag and drove off to find Lao Pei to get his son's support.
Less than twenty minutes later, Pei Yumin received a call from Ms. Yuan. Pei Yumin hung up three times in a row before taking a deep breath and pretending to be weak as he answered the call.
Ms. Yuan's worried voice came through: "Who bullied you, my good son? It's all your father's fault for making you go to that branch office for training. Go to that small place where no one knows you, and you'll be ostracized and bullied!"
Old Pei was at his wits' end: "He's almost thirty, not three."
Pei Yumin coughed a few times, his eyes reddening from holding it in, before whispering, "Mom, don't worry. Dad is right. I'm almost thirty. I need to learn to handle things on my own."
Old Pei sighed deeply: "Pei Yumin, can you stop pretending?"
Pei Yumin decided to stop while he was ahead: "If I were the one being bullied, I definitely wouldn't be in such a hurry, but this time it's different. Your daughter-in-law is being targeted. That person is smearing him at school every day, which is causing him to have trouble studying and sleeping. He's constantly on edge and looks like he could get into trouble at any moment."
“I want to help him, but your daughter-in-law has always been number one since she was a child. She is self-reliant and doesn’t like to rely on others. I’m afraid that if I help him, it will be a burden for him. So now I’m in a dilemma and that’s why I’m overthinking it.”
After speaking, he coughed weakly and hoarsely several more times.
Ms. Yuan was stunned, then raised her voice with concern, saying, "Son, are you delirious from a fever? Aren't you impotent? How could such an outstanding girl possibly want to be with you?"
Pei Yumin said, "She's a son's wife, and besides, why can't I? I'm perfectly capable!"
Ms. Yuan turned to look at Qi Min for confirmation, and Qi Min nodded with his eyes slightly closed.
Ms. Yuan's pupils dilated uncontrollably: "Son, you're the bottom one!"
Pei Yumin remembered that night at the hotel, Lu Shangyan did indeed take the initiative to sit on him and sway back and forth.
Without offering further explanation, he said, "Don't get off-topic. Do you have any way to help? Those bastards have held a knife to your daughter-in-law's throat and threatened her!"
Old Pei clutched his chest: "Who is it?"
Pei Yumin embellished the story and went on and on, his acting skills were hundreds of times better than Qi Min's. In the end, even Ms. Yuan was overflowing with maternal love and wanted to personally take Lu Shangyan to her side and raise him properly again.
Amidst Ms. Yuan's sobs and Old Pei's sighs, Pei Yumin said, "I can deal with those people secretly now, and your son isn't entirely useless either. So, Old Pei, I have something more important for you to do, and only someone with a bulging wallet like you can handle it."
Pei Yumin did a complete 180-degree turn, and Old Pei's brain almost cramped up: "What kind of shady idea have you come up with this time?"
-
Chen Shuo's confinement period was extended again, and Lu Shangyan had not seen him at school for almost a week.
On the day Lu Lin was released, Lu Shangyan went to pick him up but didn't see him. He called him but didn't answer. After that day, it was as if he had disappeared without a trace.
Lu Shangyan was nervous for two days until he received a call from an unknown number. It was Lu Lin, who said he had gone to do big business with a big boss, lost his phone on the way, and got a new SIM card. He had already made a lot of money in the past few days, and he no longer needed or cared about the 50,000 yuan that Lu Shangyan had given him. He wanted Lu Shangyan to wire it to his mother.
Lu Shangyan naturally couldn't transfer the money. If he really sent 50,000 back, there would be another 50,000 waiting for him. So after hanging up the phone, he immediately returned the money to Song Yuxin.
Lu Lin is all talk and no action. Making money out of thin air in such a short time, and by a significant amount more than 50,000, is definitely not simple. On the phone, Lu Shangyan tried to dissuade him, but Lu Lin retorted with a tirade: "Making big money requires courage and connections! That big boss trusts me and values me, so he's willing to help me make a fortune! Unlike you? A useless bookworm who only knows how to study. Raising you has been pointless!"
Lu Shangyan dared not offer any more advice. In addition, he had passed the interview with Dong Shufan and had taken on another part-time job, which made him even busier.
Fortunately, the debts that had been weighing on him were cleared, so even when he was busy, he didn't feel anything was wrong.
Xia Li introduced a longer part-time job, and when they worked part-time as cashiers, their income was much higher than usual. Shi Yu then signed long-term contracts with those who were still willing to help.
The salary was a bit lower than when he was working part-time taking photos, but it was already pretty good for Lu Shangyan. He had to save up his tuition fees before the summer vacation, and it would be best if he had some left over.
He wants to go back home for his summer vacation this year, but he probably won't be able to find a good job in his county.
With this in mind, Lu Shangyan readily signed the contract.
When Zhao Jian found out later, he laughed at him: "Didn't you even read the contract carefully? Aren't you afraid there might be a clause that requires you to provide special services to big clients who come to buy clothes?"
Before Lu Shangyan could answer, Dong Shufan pushed the door open and came in. After meeting his gaze, she stood next to him, looking very familiar: "I heard you say a couple of days ago that you were working part-time here, so I wanted to come and see you, but there were too many patients, and I was busy until today."
Sensing the juicy gossip, Zhao Jian, still sucking on his milk tea straw, drifted over and openly stood beside Dong Shufan, staring at him for a while before suddenly exclaiming, "Cannon King? Is that you, Little Chili Cannon King?"
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