Chapter 153: So That

Like a manic wolf, I jumped off my aunt's bed and bolted out the door.

Standing on the street, crowded with traffic, my frantic heart gradually calmed down. Just a little bit more, just a tiny bit more, and I would have become a morally corrupt person condemned by everyone. Although we had no blood relationship, what bound us was, after all, family affection.

Family affection is an uncrossable chasm, a basic line of human ethics, and the hallmark of all living things.

I am a man, a normal, healthy man with immense desires. My stubborn lust is like the shrubs on the mountain; cut one batch, and another grows back wildly. I have always believed I am not a Liu Xiahui; if a woman comes to me in the night, let alone throwing herself into my arms, even if I just look at her, my heart will pound. Therefore, I am like an old wolf imprisoned for a thousand years, unable to look at even a scrap of meat.

A wolf is a wolf after all! I am a human, a human with a soul! My soul suffered on my aunt's bed for what felt like a century, attempting like a wolf to crash through the fence of morality. I broke all the bones in my body, finally grew limp, stuck out my scarlet tongue, and lay dying.

The soul cannot sink; it must be redeemed!

I suddenly saw the little me within my soul. What exactly have I been pursuing? I was lost for a long while. If I pursue love? I am lost in Xue Bing's gentleness, so why do the bodies of Yue Bai and Jin Ling appear in my mind in the dead of night? If I pursue material things? How can I refuse Huang Weiwei's subtle influence?

My head ached as if it were splitting!

This holiday was destined to be restless, I thought. I didn't even dare to go to my aunt's house again. I didn't dare to face my aunt's languid gaze, didn't dare to see her body, which was half-hidden and half-revealed, and couldn't even bear to hear her voice, which was like an oriole's.

This aunt, who had lived with me for over a decade, I only realized today that we had been constantly worrying about and missing each other, to the point where we almost stepped over the edge of the fence, falling into an abyss from which we would never be reborn.

My heart was a tangled mess! I forced myself to think about work. Thinking about Boss Qian's mineral water factory, thinking about how to develop Suxi Township's tourism resources, the more I thought, the more hopeless it felt. It was as if everything was void, as void as a dream at night, with the same sun rising upon waking.

I stopped at a small stall selling cigarettes and alcohol. There was a sun umbrella, a plastic chair under it, and a few children lying on a small plastic table playing Chinese chess.

I bought a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and gulped it down. A cool sensation filled my heart, and I immediately felt much clearer.

Back in Hengyue City, I was not alone.

Taking out my phone, I began to call Boss Qian seriously.

It actually connected. My heart leaped, and I launched into a furious tirade: "Qian Youyu, where the hell did you run off to?"

Boss Qian laughed on the phone and said, "Township Head Chen, looking for me?"

"I thought you died of a sudden illness! Even if you died, you should have sent me a message. I don't want to waste the money on a wreath for you."

"If I died, wouldn't you have one less friend?"

"Doesn't matter. If you died, I'd be relieved."

"Big brother doesn't want you to be relieved, so big brother won't die," Boss Qian said, still laughing.

"Even if you don't die, I'll strangle you," I said viciously, "Tell me, where are you?"

Boss Qian continued to laugh, "You wouldn't be willing to strangle me, Township Head Chen. I, Old Qian, am a rich man now. All the land in my Yuetang Village is gone. If you strangle me, you're strangling a path to wealth."

"If you, Qian Youyu, die, will I not be able to eat?" I sneered, "You're just a nouveau riche, an upstart, with no vision, no knowledge. I regret knowing you."

"Are you done cursing?" Qian Youyu threw back a sentence, "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Someone else has something to say to you."

A rustling sound came from the phone, followed by a light cough, and then Yue Bai's voice: "What's wrong with you?"

I calmed my mood and said, "Yue Bai?"

"It's me."

"Where are you?"

"Jiangsu."

"What for?"

"Accompanying the experts on an inspection."

"Inspection?"

"Yes," she answered softly, "This place has the largest mineral water manufacturer in the country. Boss Qian was worried, so he brought people to inspect the market."

I said "Oh," a thought stirring in my heart, and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she paused and said, "Don't curse him. I see he's a man who gets things done."

I laughed and said, "It's a man's business. It's fine."

"You say it's fine. His face turned green."

"Whose face turned green?"

"His," Yue Bai's voice lowered. I could almost see her shy face.

I laughed loudly and said to her, "Give the phone to Old Qian; I have a few words for him."

Qian Youyu's muffled voice came through the phone: "Speak if you have something to say, fart if you have something to fart. I don't have time to listen to you curse."

I laughed and said, "Boss Qian, Brother Qian. Don't blame your little brother. You should have told me when you went out. It made me anxious; I couldn't sleep well or eat well."

"I'm not your subordinate; why should I report to you?" He began to counterattack.

"We are future partners," I said, "If we were at war and you went to charge, and I was hiding in the trench not knowing, who would cover you?"

He laughed again, lowering his voice to say to me, "Chen Feng, you're a sharp one. Sending a little Liu to follow me, I have no choice but to invest in your Suxi Township."

"What does that have to do with her?" I deliberately downplayed it.

"Beauty trap." He hung up the phone.

I gripped the phone, a strange smile appearing on my face. My heart ached slightly, but it immediately felt relaxed.

Liu Yuebai! You are a great hero; I must commend you! I said to myself, standing up easily, kicking away the empty mineral water bottle, laughing loudly, and walking away. ===== CHAPTER 154 =====