GLIHBN Chapter 77
by VolareChapter 77: Brother Complex
Su Shi was awakened in the middle of the night by a mobile phone ringtone. He groggily opened his eyes, reached for his phone on the bedside table, and saw that it was Chen Cheng calling.
Damn it, forgot to put it on silent.
Afraid of disturbing Chi Ye, Su Shi lowered his voice to answer the call.
“What are you calling for so late?”
However, it wasn’t Chen Cheng speaking on the other end, but Xu Chongming.
Su Shi listened with a frown, then got out of bed and started dressing.
Chi Ye woke up and asked him where he was going.
Su Shi said that Chen Cheng was drunk at KTV and he was going to pick him up.
Chi Ye wanted to go with him, but Su Shi refused and told him to go back to sleep.
Xu Chongming, after finishing a social engagement at a KTV, accidentally saw Chen Cheng inside an open-door private room.
Chen Cheng was completely drunk, shouting that he wanted to find his brother. Three people, who sounded like his classmates, were trying to persuade him to go home.
Chen Cheng pushed his classmates away, “No, I don’t want to go home, I want to find my brother.”
One classmate said, “Then call your brother.”
Chen Cheng fell back into the sofa, instantly deflated: “I don’t dare.”
Another classmate said, “Is your brother that fierce?”
“He’s not,” Chen Cheng couldn’t bear anyone saying anything bad about Su Shi, “My brother is the best person in the world, the best to me.”
Another classmate muttered, “Then why isn’t he coming to pick you up?”
Chen Cheng quieted down, seeming to have fallen asleep.
The others whispered, “This is the legendary brother complex!”
“And a pretty serious one.”
Although Chen Cheng was willful and eccentric, he was very generous to his friends, and the few of them got along quite well. They had heard Chen Cheng talk about how great his brother was more than once, but they had never met him. Chen Cheng’s brother had always existed only in legends.
Xu Chongming hesitated at the door for a while before walking in, introducing himself: “Hello, I’m a friend of Chen Cheng’s brother, I’ll take him home.”
It was already very late, and they were all students with curfews, so Xu Chongming’s appearance was like a life-saving straw.
Chen Cheng was making a fuss about not going home, and they couldn’t just leave him alone here.
One of the classmates shook Chen Cheng awake and asked if he knew this person.
Chen Cheng opened his eyes, rubbed them, and nodded.
The three classmates handed Chen Cheng over to Xu Chongming and hurried home.
Xu Chongming sat on the sofa and helped Chen Cheng up, “Let’s go, I’ll take you back.”
Chen Cheng brushed Xu Chongming’s hand away and started talking in his drunken stupor.
Xu Chongming listened quietly.
Chen Cheng rambled on, talking about how Su Shi doted on him and treated him well when he was little.
Anything I wanted, my brother would find a way to get it for me.
My dad would scold my brother, saying he was spoiling me, but my brother would say it didn’t matter.
Others said I was a good-for-nothing, useless, a boy who cried at the drop of a hat, but my brother would protect me, saying that everyone is born with a purpose, and that Little Cheng was very useful.
When other kids bullied me, my brother told me to hit them back, saying that men can’t be too weak, too weak and they’ll get bullied, don’t put up with it.
Chen Cheng was lost in memories.
As he spoke, he gave a bitter laugh, “But I don’t know when it started, my brother seems to have changed somewhere. I don’t know where I went wrong, he doesn’t indulge me anymore.”
Chen Cheng stared blankly at Xu Chongming, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer from him, but still asked, “Do you know?”
Xu Chongming shook his head honestly, “I don’t know.”
Su Shi’s love had indeed withdrawn very quickly, so cleanly that you had no chance to grab it back.
Chen Cheng had always thought that his position in Su Shi’s heart was at most a little lower than Su Qing, who shared the same parents.
But from the moment Su Shi moved out of the Chen Family Home, Chen Cheng felt that his brother was drifting further and further away.
Chen Cheng still had a childlike mind, thinking that if he cried and made a fuss, Su Shi would soften and coax him as he used to.
But the truth was, this trick no longer worked.
Su Shi had broken away from this family, and he had broken away from him too.
Chen Cheng had to rely on luck to see Su Shi again, to rely on Su Shi showing some mercy.
Su Shi’s estrangement made Chen Cheng anxious and fearful.
In Chen Cheng’s world, Su Shi was the most important person in the world, his status even far exceeding Chen Jingtian.
So, when Chen Jingtian told Chen Cheng that he would inherit the family business in the future, Chen Cheng refused without hesitation, saying that the family business belonged to Su Shi and he just needed to be a good younger brother.
Chen Cheng admitted that he wasn’t as smart as Su Shi, and besides, the family business was originally left by Su Shi’s maternal grandparents, so it should be inherited by Su Shi.
Chen Jingtian was disappointed and angry, scolding Chen Cheng for being useless, how could he have given birth to such a thing.
Chen Cheng didn’t care at all.
Xu Chongming helped Chen Cheng up, “Let me call him, let Su Shi come and take you home.”
Chen Cheng looked expectant, “Really?”
Xu Chongming nodded and held out his hand to Chen Cheng, “Really, give me your phone.”
Chen Cheng took out his phone but then pulled it back, “Can you use your phone to call?”
Xu Chongming said helplessly, “No, he won’t answer if I call.”
The call went through, and Xu Chongming briefly explained the situation to Su Shi and sent him the location.
He returned the phone to Chen Cheng and sat down next to him, “Okay, let’s wait.”
Chen Cheng suddenly remembered something and sat up abruptly, his head swayed from the alcohol, “I almost forgot, my brother has already broken up with you and is with that kid Chi Ye.”
He had only been focused on finding someone to confide in and had forgotten about this.
Xu Chongming sighed deeply, “Yeah.”
Chen Cheng grabbed Xu Chongming and asked, “Why? Did you bully my brother?”
Xu Chongming didn’t hide anything, “It was caused by my mistakes, but Chi Ye is also inseparable from it.”
Chen Cheng’s eyes widened, then rolled around, “Could it be that Chi Ye was a third party?”
Xu Chongming said ambiguously, “I regret not holding onto Su Shi.”
Chen Cheng punched the sofa, looking very angry, “I didn’t like Chi Ye from the start. The first time I met him, he made my brother misunderstand me.”
Xu Chongming was very interested, “Tell me about it.”
After hearing all this, Xu Chongming felt that he was quite a failure.
Su Shi had actually taken Chi Ye home before. Chi Ye had met Su Shi’s younger brother and father so early, and maybe he had even video-chatted with his younger sister now.
Xu Chongming felt that he and Chen Cheng were both in the same boat, having both lost Su Shi’s affection, and couldn’t help feeling a little sympathy for Chen Cheng.
Not long after, Su Shi arrived at the KTV and found the private room.
It was already past midnight, and Su Shi was already sleepy. There was no smile on his face, and he looked a little stern as he pulled Chen Cheng up, “Let’s go, home.”
Chen Cheng wasn’t very cooperative, hugging Su Shi’s arm and acting spoiled, “Brother, you came to pick me up? Please don’t ignore me, okay?”
He couldn’t even stand straight, so he was clearly quite drunk. Su Shi’s expression softened slightly, “You’re still a student, you shouldn’t be coming to places like this.”
“I came with my classmates, this KTV is very safe.”
“Let’s go, I’ll take you home.”
Chen Cheng wanted to follow, but he was too drunk, and his body wasn’t listening to him.
Su Shi couldn’t support Chen Cheng on his own, so Xu Chongming came over to help, “Let’s help him into the car together.”
Su Shi nodded in agreement, “Okay, thank you.”
Such politeness made Xu Chongming feel bad, “It’s no trouble.”
Su Shi and Xu Chongming supported Chen Cheng out of the KTV and towards Su Shi’s car.
Across the road, a taxi was parked, and the person inside was watching them from afar.
Chen Cheng was talking incoherently and was put into the back seat by Su Shi and Xu Chongming, still rambling on.
“Brother, can you treat me as well as you used to? I promise to listen to you obediently.”
Su Shi didn’t say anything, closed the car door, and said to Xu Chongming, “We’ll be going now.”
“Okay.” Suddenly, Xu Chongming reached out to Su Shi, who subconsciously stepped back. Xu Chongming froze for a moment, but still brushed off a piece of debris that had landed on Su Shi’s shoulder.
From the angle of the taxi, it looked like Xu Chongming was very intimately patting Su Shi’s shoulder.
“We’ll be going now.” Su Shi went around Xu Chongming and got into the car.
It would be too strange for the taxi to be parked on the road without moving. Xu Chongming had already caught a glimpse of the green car body across the road. He smiled and waved to Su Shi, shouting loudly, “See you tomorrow.”
Across the road, the person in the car clenched their fists, their knuckles cracking.