Chapter 29

Tang Yizhou swallowed, don't try to scare him.

He and Xu Yanfeng are brothers of several decades, they knew each other since they wore open-crotch pants, their feelings are not inferior to real brothers. To be honest, Xu Yanfeng's relationship with his own brother is also just so, after all his brother went abroad early and rarely returns.

It's impossible that Xu Yanfeng would break off relations with him over such a trivial matter.

Tang Yizhou thought this, not knowing whether he was comforting himself or reducing his tension.

Not long after waiting, Xu Yanfeng's silhouette appeared on the corridor, his steps swift, passing one palace lantern after another, light and shadow interlaced on his face, alternating bright and dark, giving a feeling of icy terror, like a netherworld emissary come to claim a life.

Tang Yizhou's heart lurked, he instinctively hid behind Fu Li: 'Old Fu, you can't just watch me die without helping; you have to help me! We're brothers, what good would it do you if I died?'

'What were you doing earlier?' Fu Li snorted, 'Now you know to be afraid?'

Watching Xu Yanfeng approach, his face grew clearer, his expression extremely calm, calm to an eerie degree, as if suppressing anger, the calm before a storm.

From childhood on, Tang Yizhou had never seen Xu Yanfeng like this; even when Xia Xi cheated and dumped him, he merely chose to drink, box, vent his resentment and anger, rather than bottling it up as he does now.

Tang Yizhou's legs trembled, his throat gulped several times, he stepped forward to admit fault proactively, seeking leniency: 'Fu Li already scolded me; I was wrong in this matter, I shouldn't have quarreled with a woman like Xia Xi, ungentlemanly conduct; fortunately she came to no harm, you see… maybe we just drop this?'

Xu Yanfeng didn't listen to his explanation at all, grabbed his collar, and the next second his fist landed on his face.

Tang Yizhou instantly felt pain, seeing stars; he thought Xia Xi's earlier slap was nothing compared to Xu Yanfeng's fist, like child's play.

'Xu Er, I was wrong, I truly was wrong, spare me…'

Tang Yizhou was truly afraid of him, begging repeatedly, no longer defending himself.

Xu Yanfeng remained silent, his face cold as ice, not letting him finish speaking before delivering another punch.

'Bang!' Tang Yizhou couldn't utter a word.

Seeing Tang Yizhou had suffered enough, Fu Li stepped forward to stop Xu Yanfeng, advising: 'It's already happened; beating him to death won't help, and I see he's truly learned his lesson this time, he won't repeat it.'

Xu Yanfeng released Tang Yizhou's collar, his whole body slumped like a torn sack, limp on the ground, even breathing hurt; though he hadn't been struck in the abdomen, he felt his viscera displaced.

Xu Er is truly ruthless, completely disregarding brotherly affection.

Isn't it said brothers are like limbs, women like clothing? How come with Xu Yanfeng it's reversed?

Xu Yanfeng straightened his body, tidied his slightly disordered clothes, took a breath, and looked at Fu Li: 'Where is she?'

Fu Li knew whom he meant, saying: 'She's already left.'

'You sure she's alright?'

Xu Yanfeng left as soon as he got Fu Li's call; on the road he focused on driving, didn't listen to the phone, which he tossed onto the passenger seat, faint sounds coming from it, which he didn't bother to hear.

'Li ChengHai was knocked flat; before you arrived, the ambulance had just come and taken him away.' Fu Li, fearing he wouldn't believe, spoke in detail: 'When she came out of the private room, not a hair was out of place, she didn't look frightened at all. I asked her, and she herself said she was fine.'

After hearing that, Xu Yanfeng's heart remained suspended; he turned and left: 'Thanks.'

Fu Li didn't ask where he was going, first squatted to help up the motionless Tang Yizhou lying on the ground, seeing his near-dead state, he asked concerned: 'You alright?'

Tang Yizhou's first utterance was a painful groan.

Fu Li: '…'

Supported by Fu Li, Tang Yizhou walked with a limp; Fu Li called him out: 'What are you pretending? I saw clearly beside you—Xu Er only hit your face, nowhere else. Why are you limping?' Tang Yizhou roared: 'You don't get chain reactions? My whole body hurts!'

No one would believe that chain-reaction nonsense; Fu Li said flatly: 'Serves you right.'

Tang Yizhou covered his face and asked: 'Is my face swollen like a pig's head? Why do I feel numb from the pain? Could my nerves be damaged?'

'If the nerves are damaged, maybe being numb will actually keep me clearer-headed.'

'Hey, are you really my brother or not?'

'Don't bring up brothers; mentioning those two words makes me fear you'll one day dig a pit and bury me.'

Tang Yizhou felt bitter inside and said nothing.

*Xu Yanfeng sped in his sports car along the night road, both windows fully down, wind rushing in carrying a hint of dust, muddling his thoughts.

Fu Li's words wouldn't be false, yet he still wanted to see for himself.

Maybe he really is a despicable person.

Upon learning that Xia Xi's dragon-and-phoenix twins were hers and Zhou Dusheng's, he resolved to have nothing more to do with her, pretending he'd never known this woman; who knew this incident would happen.

The car arrived at the gate of Lanting Bay Residential Area; Xu Yanfeng got out, cooperated with the guard to register as a visitor, then drove the car inside.

He parked outside unit 1 of Building 8, got out of the car, looked up, counted floor by floor up to the tenth, his gaze fixing.

The tenth-floor floor-to-ceiling window was lit; with the curtains drawn, only a blurred silhouette could be seen swaying, unclear whether it was her or someone else in the household.

Xu Yanfeng took out his phone, intending to call her, then realized how foolish that was—he could never get through; back when she abandoned him and left, his number had been blocked.

No matter how many times he called, all he heard was the cold mechanical voice.

Past events surfaced before him, Xu Yanfeng felt heavy-hearted; he bent down, reached through the open car window, pulled out a cigarette and lighter from the storage compartment, shook one out, held it to his lips, lit it, squinted, and slowly puffed.

Upstairs, the two children had already fallen asleep; Xia Xi sat alone at the kitchen island eating dumplings, having waited hours for someone, she wolfed down her food.

Su Jinru came out of her mother's room, gently closed the door, turned and saw her daughter eating dumplings one after another, walked over: 'Haven't you had dinner?'

Xia Xi mumbled an 'uh,' not telling her mother about the unpleasant evening incident.

Su Jinru sighed: 'No matter how busy work gets, you must look after your body; meals should be eaten on time. If I hadn't seen the stomach medicine in your drawer while tidying your room, I wouldn't have known your stomach was acting up.'

Xia Xi blinked, lifted her head to look at her, not yet having time to cover up the past; Su Jinru added: 'Don't think you can fool me with words; I asked Zi Heng, he said you'd had several bouts of gastroenteritis abroad, so painful you couldn't straighten up.'

Xia Xi: '…'

This kid tells everything; I'll have to educate him later—some things can be suitably concealed so elders don't worry.

Su Jinru was about to say a few more things when the doorbell rang outside; she frowned, muttering: 'Who would come by this late?'

Xia Xi just wanted to get past the topic quickly, urging: 'Mom, go see who it is. Don't open the door first—check who it is, then open.'

'I know, I'm not a child.' Su Jinru chuckled, slipped on her slippers, went over, lifted the peephole cover and peered out, her expression frozen.

Xia Xi swallowed a dumpling and asked: 'Who is it?'

(End of chapter)