Chapter 48 Before the Storm "I'll go back with you."
Chapter 48: Before the Storm
Knock, knock, knock.
Three knocks on the door sounded downstairs. Zhui Lian came to her senses and went downstairs to open the door.
The door opened and Pei Zhiyu stood at the door. The man had a warm smile on his face. He was wearing a simple light gray short-sleeved shirt and casual trousers of the same color, and was holding a familiar lunch box in his hand.
The expected person.
But having just deduced what the other party was hiding from her, Zhui Lian gathered her thoughts before speaking: "What's the matter?"
"It's time to eat." Pei Zhiyu squeezed in from beside Zhui Lian with ease and raised his hand to close the door of the shop.
Zhui Lian stretched out his hand to stop it, saying, "Leave it open, let some air in."
"I saw the weather forecast says there's going to be a heavy downpour soon." Pei Zhiyu glanced outside the door with concern, then calmly blocked Zhui Lian's view with his body and said, "Why don't we just close it first?"
Zhui Lian didn't really care whether the door was closed or not. Although she felt a little strange, she blinked and decided to follow this man.
But at this moment, a beautiful hand reached in.
The owner of that hand had long, crimson cat-eye nails, and the rhinestones on the nails had a cool and dazzling luster.
The hand held down the door of the shop which was about to close.
"Xiao Lian."
The moment he heard this familiar voice, Zhui Lian suddenly looked up and fixed his gaze on the owner of the hand in front of him.
Pei Zhiwei was wearing a well-tailored black suit and skirt suit, with her carefully styled long wavy hair cascading down her chest. She raised her hand to press down the brim of her wide black hat embellished with white beads, and smiled appropriately: "Long time no see."
“…Sister Zhiwei.”
The door of the small shop was reopened, and Zhui Lian and Pei Zhiwei stood face to face. She looked at the woman opposite her and said softly, "Long time no see."
A "tsk" sound came from behind Pei Zhiyu.
Why did this guy follow me? It’s so annoying.
He had clearly walked fast enough when he went out just now.
It just disturbs his and Lianlian's alone time.
"Lianlian, come and eat."
Pei Zhiyu interrupted their conversation and called out to Zhui Lian very softly towards the door.
The insulated food container was opened, and the aroma of corn and pork rib soup wafted out, rich and tempting. Along with the pork rib soup, a plate of plum pork ribs, a plate of stir-fried shrimp, and a plate of cold-mixed bok choy were taken out.
"Have you told Xiao Lian?" But it was Pei Zhiwei who came over first. While asking him the question, she glanced at the complete dishes on the table, and the corners of her mouth twitched imperceptibly.
My love-brained brother has changed not only his appearance but also his personality.
The lazy and ignorant young master has learned to cook, and he cooks quite well, with good color, fragrance and taste.
"Not yet." Pei Zhiyu was busy setting the dishes and chopsticks. Of course, he only set two sets.
When answering Pei Zhiwei, "She's still hungry. Let's talk after she finishes eating."
"Sister Zhiwei, do you have something to tell me?" Zhui Lian walked to the small square table and heard the confrontation between the siblings. She hesitated for a moment, but still asked.
Her intuition told her that Pei Zhiwei's sudden appearance in this seaside town could not be just an ordinary visit, something must have happened.
Pei Zhiwei raised her eyebrows: "Let Ayu tell you himself."
"It's nothing." Pei Zhiyu reached out, pressed Zhui Lian's shoulders and asked her to sit down, and said gently, "We'll talk about it later. Eat first. Didn't you say you wanted to drink corn and pork ribs soup yesterday?"
"What is it that you dare not say?" Pei Zhiwei sneered.
Pei Zhiyu was holding a bowl to serve soup to Zhui Lian. Hearing this, he raised his eyelids and looked at Pei Zhiwei.
At this moment, he seemed to have turned back into the arrogant and conceited boy he was in Xiting High School. His eyes were startlingly cold: "Pei Zhiwei, don't meddle in my affairs."
He really didn't know how to tell Zhui Lian about this.
A few days ago, he proposed to pursue her again in this seaside town, to pursue her again in this peaceful and stable life that she liked, to make her choose him willingly instead of being forced to choose him, but today he wants her to follow him back to S City.
Return to that vortex of conspiracy.
"fine……"
As soon as his gaze turned back to Zhui Lian, the impatience on Pei Zhiyu's face instantly faded away, and he became gentle again, placing the bowl of soup gently in front of her.
But before he could utter the next word, Zhui Lian, seeing the tense atmosphere, reached out and gently tugged at his sleeve.
"Pei Zhiyu, please speak." She said, "If you don't speak, I won't be able to eat in peace."
The silent atmosphere lasted for a while, and finally, Pei Zhiyu slowly squatted down.
Half squatting in front of Zhui Lian.
She was sitting and he was squatting, but because of the height difference, they achieved a strange eye-level relationship, with their two pairs of eyes looking straight into the deepest part of each other's pupils.
"...Lianlian." Pei Zhiyu's voice sounded a little hoarse, as if he had difficulty speaking what he was about to say next. "Pei Qianhuang passed away."
Pei Qianhuang...died?
Zhui Lian blinked.
Slowly, slowly, he blinked.
This so-called murderer who killed Qiao Xunli, the mastermind of the car accident, she didn't even have time to plan how to take revenge on him, and he died just like that?
For a moment, Zhui Lian was overwhelmed by confusion. She opened her mouth but couldn't say anything.
She was so dazed that she didn't even notice that someone had quietly held her hand on her knee.
"I know I have no position and no right to ask you for anything now. If I say we should start over, I will definitely give you enough time and space and will never force you."
Pei Zhiyu held Zhui Lian's hand tightly and continued in a low voice: "But in S City, the situation within the Pei family's Elders Council is far more complicated than you imagine."
"Those old guys who value their reputation probably already know that I'm not dead. They're staring at me, and they're probably also staring at you..." He took a deep breath, "They're staring at you."
Targeting her?
What does it mean to target her?
Zhui Lian's brain worked rapidly for a while, and finally she had some clues in her confusion. Did they think that Pei Zhiyu was so crazy about her that it damaged the reputation of the Pei family, so they wanted to get rid of her as a troublemaker?
This kind of inexplicable anger was ridiculous, but it was not the first time in her life, and she had long been accustomed to it.
So she nodded and said, "And then?"
Pei Zhiyu: "So, as an old acquaintance, can I ask you to go back to S City with me for a while?"
"You don't need to do anything. I just need you to come with me to the old man's funeral. I'll give you a public identity." He smiled bitterly. "Although I know you don't need or want this identity, this is the only way... to maximize your safety."
He held up four fingers, as if swearing, "I promise, when the storm is over, I will send you back immediately and will not entangle you any further."
This kind of speech, every sentence is about safety, every word is for her consideration, and the eyes looking at her are even more complementary, full of
This is more lethal than any tough order.
Zhui Lian looked at the man in front of her who embodied affection and restraint to the extreme, and thought of the post about Qiao Xunli on the forum, and the truth that might have been covered up.
Returning to S City would undoubtedly be like stepping back into the dangerous and dangerous world, but it might also be... the only chance to uncover all the mysteries.
She was silent for a moment.
Finally, under Pei Zhiyu's gaze, which was a mixture of anticipation and worry, she nodded.
"Okay." She heard her own voice sound calmly, "I'll go back with you."
Perhaps, this answer was within his calculations, and would also be within her plan.
*
At Pei Qianhuang's funeral, just as Pei Zhiyu told Zhui Lian at the beginning, she just needed to show up.
The oldest house of the Pei family, where she had lived, actually had a lobby halfway up the mountain.
In the lobby, the body is about to be closed. Today is just the day for loved ones to say their final goodbyes.
Zhui Lian was wearing a knee-length black dress that Pei Zhiyu had prepared for her. Most of her clothes were light colors as soft as mist, and she rarely wore such dull colors.
But at this moment, this dark black dress made her look even lighter and more transparent, revealing her fragile fragility.
Pei Zhiyu held her hand tightly throughout the whole process, with some strength, as if he was afraid that if he let go, she would be swallowed up by this house.
He half-carried her forward, toward the coffin.
"Just one look is enough." He turned his head and lowered his voice to a very low level, like a quiet whisper between lovers.
At the moment when Pei Zhiyu and Zhui Lian stood in front of the coffin, the originally low sobbing and whispering in the mourning hall suddenly stopped for a moment.
Zhui Lian followed his words and looked into the coffin.
The man who had murdered Qiao Xunli in Pei Zhiyu's mouth now lay lifeless. He lacked the ferocity of a conspirator, nor the majesty of a superior. Only a decaying shell remained.
Her mind was blank. She felt no pleasure of revenge, nor any fear of death. Instead, she felt a huge sense of absurdity and being out of the loop.
It turns out that the end of revenge is so empty.
*
In addition to needing to show up at Pei Qianhuang's funeral, Pei Zhiyu also had another request of her, which was to let her live with him temporarily in the villa he purchased which was very close to the Pei family, because it would be safe for her.
Zhui Lian also agreed.
But just as Pei Zhiyu promised her, he did not force her to do anything else, nor did he restrict her actions, or keep an eye on her everywhere.
On the contrary, Pei Qianhuang seemed too busy with his funeral. He was so busy that he went out early and came back late every day, and had almost no time to take care of Zhui Lian. However, he never stopped making breakfast for her every morning.
This busyness actually brought some benefits to Zhui Lian, such as—
She can go wherever she wants without having to hide.
Just like now, in a half-old residential building in the community, a door opened, and Qiao's mother, who heard the knock and came to open the door, was looking at Zhui Lian in surprise.
"Hello, Auntie, I..."
Before Zhui Lian could even finish her words, Qiao's mother raised her hand, as if she had seen a ghost, and was about to slam the door shut with a loud bang. She quickly reached out to stop it, but the door closed too quickly, and her hand was moving so fast that the door didn't close tightly, but instead clamped her fingers.
A scream of pain, "hiss", came out of Zhui Lian's throat. Qiao's mother was so frightened that she quickly pushed the door back and opened it.
Seeing the slender fingers that were squeezed by the door frame and turned white in an instant and quickly became swollen with blood, the blood drained from her face and she hurriedly tried to help Zhui Lian.
"I'm sorry!" She seemed a little incoherent. "Child, I... I didn't mean it."
But the pain in his fingertips made Zhui Lian more sober and stubborn.
"Aunt."
Her voice was soft, yet filled with unquestionable determination. "I just want to know what happened to Xunli in the three years since I went to England. What on earth happened to your entire family?"
"Stop talking! Please don't ask about what happened back then!" Qiao's mother interrupted her suddenly, her voice sharp, but then she realized her own loss of composure and hurriedly lowered her voice.
She turned around hurriedly and was about to run into the door and close it again.
Zhui Lian suddenly grabbed the other person's wrist and prevented him from leaving.
She didn't ask any more forcefully, but slowly lifted her swollen finger and said softly, "Auntie, you see, you feel sorry and scared when you see me get this little injury, but back then...
"Was the car accident Xunli faced a thousand or ten thousand times more painful than this?"
These words were like a long, thin needle, piercing Qiao's mother's heart and making it bleed. Her lips trembled and she turned her face away.
“Auntie, I really didn’t come here to cause you any trouble.”
Zhui Lian took a step forward. Taking advantage of the moment when Qiao's mother was distracted, she took another half step forward and used her body and injured hand to block the last crack in the door.
"I just... can't sleep." The voice was even softer, but filled with great sadness. "Every time I close my eyes, I keep thinking, why did he, such a good person, end up like that? What did he do wrong?"
"Stop talking..." Qiao's mother's voice was filled with tears and her body was shaking slightly.
"I know you're afraid." Zhui Lian looked at her with eyes full of sorrow. "I'm afraid too, but I'm even more afraid that he'll die inexplicably! Auntie, tell me, please tell me, what exactly happened back then?"
"Who pushed Xunli to this point of despair? Who made this family become like this? Don't you want Xunli to rest in peace?"
"I want to! Why wouldn't I want to!"
Mother Qiao suddenly raised her head, tears streaming down her face. The grief and fear she had suppressed for so long finally burst forth. "That's my son! The son I raised with my own hands! But what can I do? Those people, those people..."
Having said this, Qiao's mother's lips began to tremble unconsciously, and her whole body seemed to be about to collapse. Zhui Lian endured the severe pain in her fingertips and held her hand tighter, trying to give her some strength.
"Auntie, tell me, I'll find a way, there will be a way..." Zhui Lian's tears also fell, mixing with Qiao's mother's, "If you don't tell me anything, the truth about Xunli's death will really have to remain like this!"
When Zhui Lian's tear fell on the back of Qiao's mother's hand, her last bit of defense was finally broken.
She wiped the tears from her face, then reached out her hand, almost half pushing and half pulling Zhui Lian into the door, and then quickly closed and locked the door with a "bang", the whole action was done in one go.
Qiao's mother leaned against the door, her chest heaving violently, and began to speak intermittently: "It started... it was his father... He suddenly became addicted to gambling. He sold everything he could, but the hole kept getting bigger..."
Her account was confused and filled with self-blame, but Zhui Lian keenly grasped the unnatural beginning. Although Zhui Lian had never actually met Qiao Xunli's father, Qiao Xunli described him as a gentle, polite, and ordinary man. How could he suddenly develop such bad habits?
"How did Xunli's father... start gambling?" Zhui Lian guided softly.
Qiao's mother lowered her voice, as if afraid of being overheard: "I don't know, I really don't know... It's like he was possessed by a demon. One day, he came back and said he was lucky and won a lot of money..."
"Later, we got stuck deeper and deeper... Until one day, a few very aggressive people came with IOUs. They didn't look like ordinary moneylenders. They said that if we didn't pay back the money, we would die..."
"Then...then I divorced his father and moved to another city, hoping to get away from it all...When I came back here, I found out his father had fallen into the river after getting drunk and was dead."
"But his father is dead, but the debt is still there... Xunli, that kid, is still in college, but he has to work four or five jobs a day to pay off the debt..."
"I'm the one who's sorry to Xunli. I had just remarried at the time, and I was completely focused on establishing myself in my new family. Every time I called him, he said he was doing well, so I didn't think much of it...so I had no idea he'd suffered so much."
Given Qiao Xunli's personality, he only reports good news and not bad news, so it is almost entirely conceivable that he would be pitied.
What kind of person is he?
He is the kind of person who shows kindness to the world from the bottom of his heart, likes to adopt stray animals, and voluntarily sacrifices his rest time to be a volunteer to take care of the elderly in nursing homes and children in orphanages.
Even if the world kisses him with pain, he will repay it with song.
A man who is so good that he is almost like a saint.
Zhui Lian took a deep breath and felt that any comfort suddenly became so pale, so pale.
Good people don't live long, but evil deeds last for thousands of years.
It seems to be the eternal law of this world.
"After he died, I also felt something was amiss and went to the police station to question him, but that night..."
Qiao's mother covered her face, but her whole body trembled even more violently. Big tears leaked from between her fingers, soaking the floor tiles. "I inexplicably received a huge remittance on a card I haven't used in a long time. The amount of the remittance was a series of 4s. I didn't dare to count how many 4s there were, but the note... don't check it."
"The next day I went to the bank to check the source of the remittance, but I couldn't find it..."
Mother Qiao continued tremblingly, "Then that night, I received another remittance. It was the familiar string of fours, even more fours, and the note said 'Read the numbers'..."
Zhui Lian felt dizzy. This series of "4"s was vicious, straightforward, and terrifying enough. It was like a crazy curse that extinguished all the flames of seeking the truth.
She could hardly think of another person with such a pathological behavior.
Had he lied to her again?
Zhui Lian closed her eyes.
"Auntie, do you remember the name of the casino that my uncle often goes to?" Her fingertips pinched into her palm, and a sharp pain came from the wound that was pinched by the door.
But the pain allowed her to break free from the emotions that were almost drowning her. Her voice trembled slightly, but she tried her best to remain calm.
Mother Qiao shook her head blankly. "He never told me the specific name... He only mentioned what club it was... I think it was called something like Crown? Or Golden Crown?"
Zhui Lian silently repeated the two similar club names in her mind and wrote them down. She comforted the almost exhausted Qiao's mother, promised not to come to her house easily again and bring danger to her, and then left the suffocating residential building.
Sitting in a taxi heading to White Eye Mask, Zhui Lian lowered his head and started typing the two similar names into the search box.
Finally, after a while of swiping, she found some of the information she wanted.
In the search of the Crown Club, there was a message mentioning that someone had seen the well-known director Ge Wu appear in this club, and he was suspected to be the boss behind the scenes.
Ge Wu is Pei Zhiyu's good friend and also the special director of the original "Subnautica" movie.
She had never seen Ge Wu before, but the silhouette in the picture seemed familiar to her.
It was just a silhouette, the face was not captured, but it looked very much like a person... Who was it... Who was it?
——Fu Dongli!
Could it be that Fu Dongli is Ge Wu?
No wonder the theme song from Subnautica, "Reflections in the Water," was playing on the car music system on the way back to City S from City X that day...
The melody echoed in my ears again, and the ethereal and cold female voice sang the climax of the chorus:
Chasing your silhouette in the waves
Trapped in this eternal blue night
Nowhere to escape, no sound to cry for help
Only you and I, dancing in the abyss
Come back, come back
My family lost in the deep sea
Breathing is the bait, longing is the net
This life is difficult to cross, you and I are on our way home]
…
The taxi had already arrived at the gate of the old residential complex. Zhui Lian, realizing this, felt her hands and feet were as cold as ice. She paid the fare, got off the car in a hurry, and headed straight for the White Eye Mask shop.
Seeing her coming like this, the man with the white eye mask didn't seem surprised.
"Eye Patch Sister..." Zhui Lian was a little out of breath because she walked too fast. "I have...something to ask you."
The one eye with the white eye mask looked at her, silently.
She handed her a glass of water, and the red rope on her wrist passed clearly before Zhui Lian's eyes.
But before the man with the white eye mask could say anything, the curtain in the inner room was pulled open with a "rustle", and a hand with long, crimson cat-eye nails reached in.
There was also a red rope tied around the wrist of that hand.
Immediately afterwards, Pei Zhiwei walked out gracefully.
She seemed to have just attended a formal occasion. She was still wearing a well-tailored suit and her hair was neatly done up, which was out of place in this cramped and messy environment.
She looked at Zhui Lian with a smile and said, "Don't ask Yu Bai, just ask me directly. I think I should have the answer you want to know."
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The author has something to say: [Helpless] It should be considered a plot chapter!
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