HR Chapter 24

Shu Xiu revealed an eye from between his fingers and sneered, “Lu Jianwei’s seeds are scattered all over the world. Now that the seeds have sprouted, does he expect his son to take care of these saplings for him? It’s good enough if I don’t nip them in the bud. If I accepted them all unconditionally, like my mother begging me, wouldn’t my place become a shelter? Taking care of my father’s illegitimate children, who could swallow that? But he only kept me, just me. Look how many people around him are related to him by blood, only me. He gave me enough respect, how could I not work hard?”

He also wanted to take off the heavy shackles, but he would never be able to get rid of them in this lifetime.

Cheng Ruoyu patted Shu Xiu’s leg, unable to think of any comforting words. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag, slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke that swirled before his eyes.

Everyone bears responsibilities that others cannot replace. It is fortunate to be able to share them, but what is fearful are those that cannot be shared, and must be borne alone.

A cigarette quickly burned out. Cheng Ruoyu stubbed the butt in the ashtray, slowly exhaling the smoke in his mouth, and said, “Anyway, you’re leaving soon, so don’t mind if I have another one.”

Shu Xiu said, “Smoke less.” Cheng Ruoyu already had another cigarette in his mouth, and was using a lighter to light it.

Bai Ze appeared in the living room very punctually half an hour later, his eyes fixed on Shu Xiu as he came out of the bedroom. Seeing that he was fine, he was surprised and asked politely, “Shu Xiu, are you feeling unwell?”

Shu Xiu’s ears burned, and he retorted, “My chest feels uncomfortable.”

Cheng Ruoyu jumped out at once, reaching out to take off Shu Xiu’s clothes, “Where does it hurt? Did the wound open?”

Shu Xiu nimbly dodged Cheng Ruoyu’s hand and said angrily, “Nowhere feels comfortable, just looking at you makes my stomach hurt. Humph!” He turned and left, cursing “stupid pig” countless times in his heart. As expected, his name, “Ruoyu,” meant “foolish yet simple,” stupid to the core.

Cheng Ruoyu was completely baffled, reaching out to Bai Ze, “Give me back my house key, I shouldn’t have given it to you, you’re ruining my good time.”

Bai Ze took out the key and placed it on the table, saying indifferently, “I can get in even without the key. The key is just for show to me, you don’t need to worry about it.”

When Bai Ze was young, he was physically weak, and couldn’t participate in the games between boys, so he sat beside them playing with things like the Nine Interlocking Rings and Rubik’s Cubes. For a while, he became obsessed with lock-picking, studying all kinds of locks, from security locks to electronic locks to combination locks. He even found a building without surveillance cameras and opened the security door of a unit, scaring the residents into calling the police, which led to the installation of surveillance cameras in the neighborhood.

Locks, in Bai Ze’s eyes, were like toys, and doors were like empty shells to him.

“Don’t play like that, man, who provoked you?” Cheng Ruoyu’s door had to always be open to Bai Ze. Cheng Ruoyu pushed the key back towards Bai Ze.

Bai Ze readily took it back and smiled, “Too much dog food, I’m stuffed.”

Cheng Ruoyu plopped down next to Bai Ze, extremely depressed. Bai Ze grabbed Cheng Ruoyu’s hair and tugged on it, causing Cheng Ruoyu to cry out in pain, “What are you doing, man? It hurts!”

“Tell me honestly, what’s Xiao Qi’s relationship with our family? Why are you helping him so much?” Cheng Ruoyu’s story that day was not believable, it couldn’t fool anyone.

Cheng Ruoyu took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, switching it from left to right, then took it out and played with it between his fingers. Bai Ze was not in a hurry, giving him time to weigh his words, after all, he was now working for Lu Qinyuan, and in a sense, Lu Qinyuan and Cheng Ruoyu could not trust each other.

Cheng Ruoyu didn’t make Bai Ze wait long, but his words were ambiguous: “He’s family.”

Bai Ze looked at Cheng Ruoyu in puzzlement, “How come I didn’t know that our family had relatives with the Sicheng family from Shang Ze City?”

“You’ve already investigated everything, why are you still asking me? I don’t know much either.” Cheng Ruoyu admitted frankly, “Wasn’t my uncle killed in a research institute under the Sicheng family? It’s not strange to know two people from the Sicheng family, right?”

“If you don’t want to say it, forget it, don’t try to fool me with these words, or I’ll think you’re insulting my intelligence.” Bai Ze didn’t buy it.

“Man, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I really don’t know.” Cheng Ruoyu tried his best to explain, “The old man personally handled this matter, I’m just running errands, and he’s keeping everything from me. It’s good enough that I know this much, if I say too much, the old man will imprison me.”

Protecting his son as if he were a thief, which just showed that the matter was unusual and there was something fishy about it.

Faced with Cheng Ruoyu’s confession, which was of unknown veracity, Bai Ze still chose to trust him. He comforted Cheng Ruoyu and said, “Although I work for Master Lu, I haven’t forgotten that I’m a Cheng family child. If you know anything, tell me, and I can help you avoid it without anyone knowing. You can trust me on this.” Noticing the change in Cheng Ruoyu’s expression, Bai Ze added, “Of course, anything outside my plan will be more troublesome, and someone will inevitably have to make sacrifices. Think it over before you tell me.”

When listening to someone whose credibility has been bankrupt since childhood, you have to break it down, knead it, and pick out what you can believe, discard the dross, and take the essence. Only what’s left can be called language, and the rest is just farting. Bai Ze saw right through Cheng Ruoyu, but thankfully Cheng Ruoyu knew what was important and didn’t reveal what he shouldn’t.

A horn sounded outside, Bai Ze pointed at Cheng Ruoyu, telling him to take care of himself, and quickly walked out. Shu Xiu poked his head out of the passenger seat and said dissatisfied, “A few more words and it’ll be dark.”

Bai Ze smiled and apologized, gave Cheng Ruoyu a “call me later” gesture, and got into the car, fastened his seat belt, started the engine, and sped off.

He had made trouble with Cheng Ruoyu all morning and hadn’t eaten anything. Shu Xiu was so hungry that his stomach was sticking to his back, and he felt weak all over. He whined, “Man, let’s get something to eat first, I’m starving.”

“Okay, Qianwei Restaurant, it’s not far from here.” Bai Ze turned around and headed towards Qianwei Restaurant. He didn’t want to go back and face that bickering pair so early.

Shu Xiu was physically weak and mentally exhausted, hugging his shoulders and dozing off. Bai Ze put on a soft song to help him sleep, and took a few more glances at him.

Well taken care of, Bai Ze commented in his heart. He already had a baby face, and now it was even rounder, and there seemed to be a gentleness in his eyebrows and eyes. That was good, always being sharp and aggressive was easy to hurt others and yourself. It’s good to restrain yourself, maybe Cheng Ruoyu will be able to make it to the top.

There was love at first sight, and there was dislike at first sight. That was most appropriate for Cheng Ruoyu and Shu Xiu. Cheng Ruoyu had a harsh pursuit of beauty, and the first time he saw Shu Xiu’s baby face, he considered it the most eye-defiling thing in his aesthetic history, for which the two of them fought. Cheng Ruoyu was chased by Shu Xiu for several blocks, and from then on, the two of them became enemies, extremely jealous when they met. Cheng Ruoyu couldn’t stop his mouth even after being beaten, and would tease Shu Xiu whenever he had the chance, taking advantage of him verbally.

But in Bai Ze’s opinion, Cheng Ruoyu wasn’t unable to beat him, he just didn’t want to fight. Because he liked him, he bullied him. Even disgust was a kind of emotion, and there was hope in emotion.

Bai Ze found a parking space, parked the car, and woke up Shu Xiu, who was sleeping soundly, holding Shu Xiu’s hand and walking into the restaurant. It was the peak of the dining rush, and it was packed, with not a single empty table. Shu Xiu leaned wearily on Bai Ze’s back, closing his eyes for a nap. Although it was full of customers, it wasn’t too noisy, and Shu Xiu naturally slept very peacefully.

The female waitress politely told him that there were no more seats, but if he really wanted to eat Qianwei Restaurant’s food, she could help him call and ask if there were any seats at the branch, which was not far away and had the same environment, level, and service quality as the main store.

Bai Ze turned his head to look at Shu Xiu, who was slumped on him, with a doting smile on his face. He turned to the female waitress and said, “This young man can’t walk anymore, is there anyone who can share a table with us, just for a bit?”

The female waitress looked around and found that there were still two empty seats in the corner by the wall. She went to ask.

Bai Ze dragged Shu Xiu and stood in the aisle, blocking other people’s way. A male waiter, carrying a dish, bumped into him head-on. Bai Ze was dragging Shu Xiu behind him and couldn’t dodge, and was splashed with soup and vegetables. Due to the excessive movement, he almost threw Shu Xiu off balance. Shu Xiu woke up suddenly, rubbing his eyes and calling out, “Man?”

“Did I wake you up? Here, sit there, order whatever you want to eat yourself.” Bai Ze didn’t care about the mess on his body at all. Seeing that the female waitress had negotiated with the other two guests, he signaled Shu Xiu to go over and sit down and wait for him. Shu Xiu hummed and walked over.

The male waiter apologized profusely, tearing off paper towels to wipe the soup stains from his clothes. Bai Ze took the paper towels and wiped them himself, comforting him, “It’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll wipe it myself, you go and get busy.” The male waiter thanked him profusely and left after confirming that Bai Ze wouldn’t pursue the matter.

The two young women who were willing to share the table with them looked like good best friends, but now they were cowering in their seats like two frightened animals, their eyes constantly glancing at Shu Xiu opposite them, wanting to say something but hesitating. Bai Ze slapped Shu Xiu on the head and said with a smile to the two women, “I’m sorry, my brother has a bit of a temper but he’s not a bad person, don’t be afraid of him.” He then educated Shu Xiu, “Don’t look like someone owes you money, be polite. You wait for me, I’ll go change my clothes.”

Before Fang Yiwei became Mi Shengfei’s assistant, he lived and ate in Qianwei Restaurant, almost treating Qianwei Restaurant as his home. The third floor was a restricted area and was Fang Yiwei’s private territory, guarded by two security guards. They stopped Bai Ze, “Sir, this area is off-limits to outsiders.”

Bai Ze said, “I know, I’m not an outsider, I’m just going up to change my clothes and I’ll come right down.”

The two security guards still wouldn’t let him pass, “May I ask your name, sir?”

“My surname is Bai.” Bai Ze, who used to have people give way to him wherever he went, wasn’t very skilled at going through the back door for the first time. He explained patiently, “Fang Yiwei is my friend, he should be upstairs, please call him for me.”

One of the security guards went upstairs, and the other said politely, “Please wait a moment, Mr. Bai.”

The security guard came down shortly after, his face looking not very good, his eyes full of scrutiny as he looked at Bai Ze, “Are you really Mr. Fang’s friend? Mr. Fang said he doesn’t know you.”