Chapter 14 Lou Yansui took the initiative to step out of the room.
That night.
Lou Hongjian didn't sleep for long; he was awakened by the pain from his injuries as soon as he closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, the room was pitch black. The curtains were not drawn, and the moonlight shining in made him see a blurry figure sitting at the head of his bed.
He was immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. Ignoring his injuries, he nimbly jumped up and snapped on the bedside light switch.
It was Lou Fengju.
Upon seeing his military uniform, Lou Hongjian immediately breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down.
"It's you, big brother."
Lou Hongjian complained, "Why didn't you turn on the light? You were sitting on the edge of my bed, you scared me to death."
Lou Fengju remained silent, fiddling with an object in his hand, which emitted a cold, hard mechanical clanging sound.
Lou Hongjian didn't notice anything amiss until he saw what was in the man's hand, at which point he broke out in a cold sweat.
It was a gun!
For no apparent reason, his older brother sat by his bedside while he was sleeping, silently holding a gun in the dark. What was he up to?!
Lou Hongjian broke out in a cold sweat, quietly shifting his body backward, his handsome face turning pale with fright.
He swallowed hard, his heart pounding, and said, "B-Big Brother, I haven't done anything to offend you, have I? It's not that...it really isn't that..."
Lou Fengju glanced at his cowardly appearance and immediately let out a sneer.
"Look at your stupid face," Lou Fengju sneered. "You're scared now? How come you were so bold before?"
So it's about this again.
Lou Hongjian breathed a sigh of relief, but was still a little unconvinced: "I went to watch the horse races, not for anything else. Besides, you've been to the races a few times before, so why are you only lecturing me? That's really unfair."
“I don’t care if you go to the horse race, but you brought Mao Mao with you.”
“I know I shouldn’t have taken her, a child, to the racecourse, but nothing bad happened,” Lou Hongjian muttered. “Besides, I don’t really like horse racing; I just want to make some money.”
"make money?"
Lou Hongjian said excitedly, "Brother, you know she's incredibly lucky. Last time, I casually asked her which horse she thought would win, and she guessed it right away!"
"So, your two thousand dollars have become forty thousand."
"That's right!"
Lou Fengju sneered: "Judging from your appearance, even though you were beaten, you still feel unconvinced."
Lou Hongjian remained silent.
He was indeed somewhat dissatisfied.
He knew, of course, that horse racing was bad; from childhood, his family education had taught him countless stories of families being ruined and destroyed. However, Lou Hongjian felt he was different.
He wasn't one of those gamblers who would be blinded by excitement; he was simply raising funds for his investment. Once he had raised the money, he would hand it over to Young Master Feng, and then he could sit back and wait for dividends, no longer needing to rely on these methods to make money.
He felt that although he had made a mistake, it wasn't serious enough to warrant such a severe punishment.
Lou Fengju suddenly asked, "Ah Hong, do you dare to take out a gun?"
Lou Hongjian: "What?"
With a "click," Lou Fengju cocked the gun in his hand and handed it to him.
Lou Hongjian hesitated to answer, and asked nervously, "Brother, what are you doing?"
"Take it."
"I...I don't want to."
Lou Fengju ignored his refusal, forcefully pulled his hand away, and placed the gun in his hand.
The gun was slightly heavy, feeling weighty in his hand, yet Lou Hongjian felt as if he had received a bomb about to explode, freezing him from head to toe. He held the pistol, not daring to move, afraid that he might accidentally cause it to discharge.
He wanted to let go, but Lou Fengju gripped his wrist tightly, as if an iron hoop was binding his movements.
"B-Big Brother?" Lou Hongjian's body stiffened like a stone, only his eyes moved a few times: "Take the gun away."
Lou Fengju said disdainfully, "You're so cowardly that you don't even dare to pick up a gun?"
Lou Hongjian said nervously, "Brother, I'm just afraid I might accidentally hit you. It wouldn't be good if I hit myself either."
"Then you're not surprised that, given Mao Mao's good luck, Dad and I never take advantage of her?"
Lou Hongjian was stunned.
He didn't work in the military and political department, so naturally he didn't understand the intricacies of the system.
It's common knowledge in the family that Mao Mao is lucky. Not only is she a little money-maker, but she can also guess anything correctly. After the candy-guessing incident, the family teased her several more times, and each time they were amazed by her luck.
Luck plays a crucial role many times.
On the battlefield, in politics, and in business, a bit of luck can make all the difference. Sometimes, many decisions aren't made through deep thought, but rather through intuition or sheer luck.
“My father was a big believer in feng shui. You should remember that when he was young, he was shot in the chest once,” Lou Fengju said.
Lou Hongjian nodded blankly: "Yes, I remember, it was just a little bit short..."
"It was so close; that bullet would have hit his heart, but luckily, it missed and didn't cause him fatal damage." Lou Fengju: "From then on, he believed in fate and luck. He cherished Mao Mao's luck, but he didn't dare to use it casually. Guess why?"
Lou Hongjian's mind went completely blank, and all he could do was blankly follow his words and ask, "Why?"
Lou Fengju tightened his grip on his hand and said seriously, "Mao Mao is this gun. She's lucky that you can borrow it, but others can borrow it too. It all depends on how you use it."
"A tall tree catches the wind, you should know that." Lou Fengju: "Ah Hong, if you have a treasure but don't cherish it and squander it, it won't last long."
Lou Hongjian glanced at the gun in his hand again.
That one glance sent a chill down his spine.
...
The next day, Lou Hongjian was woken up by someone sitting on his butt.
He struggled to open his eyes, barely catching his breath, and the first thing he saw was a round, soft, sweet little face.
"Brother!" Mao Mao nestled against his chest and greeted him happily, "You're awake!"
Lou Hongjian murmured, "Even if I die, you'll bring me back to life..."
"What?"
"nothing."
Lou Hongjian propped himself up and sat up, and Mao Mao slid off him like a slide.
She was small in stature, but heavy in weight. When she accidentally pressed down on the spot where the whip had struck, Lou Hongjian let out a muffled groan.
"Mao Mao, what brings you here?"
"I came to see my brother." Mao Mao gently stroked the bandages wrapped around his body with her little hand, and said with a face full of heartache, "Brother, are you in pain?"
"It doesn't hurt."
Even though I was in so much pain yesterday that I almost fainted, how could I tell my sister that I was in pain?
Lou Hongjian said without changing his expression, "It doesn't hurt at all. It's just like a mosquito bite. I don't feel anything."
"Really."
"Of course—" Lou Hongjian changed the subject: "But if Mao Mao kisses me, brother will get better immediately."
Mao Mao immediately pouted: "Dear brother!"
She gave her brother two quick, wet, milky kisses on his handsome cheeks.
A couple of soft kisses from a little sister can soothe even the deepest pain.
Lou Hongjian beamed, his peach blossom eyes sparkling: "Wow, Mao Mao is amazing! I'm really getting better."
As he spoke, he picked up Mao Mao and got out of bed.
The whip marks on his back still throbbed with pain after a night's rest, but they didn't affect his mobility. Lou Hongjian's face was still somewhat pale, and the pain made him too preoccupied with his appearance to bother with his grooming. He casually threw on a coat and took his sister downstairs for breakfast.
He got up too late; everyone else in the family had already eaten breakfast and gone to work. Even Xia Xiaoxiang had gone out to play with the first wife.
But there was still one person sitting at the table.
Upon recognizing the person, Lou Hongjian stopped in surprise.
"Ah Sui?"
Lou Yansui sat at the dining table and nodded to him: "Third Brother, Mao Mao."
He used the table for support, pulling himself back slightly until he found himself in a wheelchair. The boy's slender figure sat upright in the wheelchair, a blanket covering his legs, which were unable to move easily.
After experiencing a long nightmare, he stepped out of his room for the first time on his own initiative.
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