LWDC Chapter 179

Chapter 179 – You Will Remember This

Chapter 179 – You Will Remember This

Chapter 179 – You Will Remember This

Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong, one labeled as the son of the Southwest Chamber of Commerce chairman, the other as the owner of a car dealership, plus the fact that they moved into a large mansion right away, naturally caught the attention of some people in Pingdu.

“The ball invitation is coming soon.”

Duan Yunhong looked at the letter he received, glanced at it, and threw it on the desk, sarcastically saying, “Pingdu’s resources are much tighter than when I left, yet there are still so many balls, big and small, happening every day…”

Ning Fei leaned against the desk, casually picked it up, and flipped through it: “There’s no helping it, every era has its ‘stinking wine and meat’ and ‘frozen bones.’ Your original world is like this, and so is mine.”

Duan Yunhong raised an eyebrow slightly when he saw the last one: “This one might be worth going to for the excitement.”

“What?” Ning Fei took the invitation, opened it, and took a look. “A ball co-organized by the Pingdu Newspaper, sincerely inviting business celebrities to attend… Ah, you said that Lin Jianru is the president of this newspaper, right?”

“Yes, but he left long ago.” Duan Yunhong replied. “Whether it’s the current president or tracing back to the previous presidents, it shouldn’t be him anymore. And no one will remember his existence.”

“Then you say there’s excitement to see?”

“The previous transmigrator also worked at this newspaper and was a big reporter.” Duan Yunhong picked up a newspaper from the side, folded it to a certain page, and handed it to Ning Fei. “He used to move around among businessmen very diligently to raise money for the organization. And this ball is being held in a dance hall that’s famous in Pingdu. He usually wouldn’t miss this kind of ball.”

Ning Fei didn’t take it, only leaned over to take a look and asked, “This is at least three years old information. Are you sure he’s still like this now?”

“Even if he doesn’t go, it doesn’t matter, right? He’s not your target, he’s just a seasoning, and his wish has completely failed.” Duan Yunhong paused, unable to help adding, “I used to… also often get information in those kinds of places.”

“Ha, if you’d said earlier that you used to go to ‘Night Pearl’ often, then you could just revisit the old place. Why are you beating around the bush?” Ning Fei shook the invitation. “Night Pearl” is the name of the dance hall mentioned on the invitation.

Duan Yunhong: “…I was there for business.”

Ning Fei: “In that kind of place, it’s normal to do something else.”

Duan Yunhong: “…”

“Alright, don’t suddenly have inexplicable concerns at inexplicable times.” Ning Fei put the invitation back on the table. “By the way, what exactly was the transmigrator’s unfulfilled wish?”

Duan Yunhong’s tone was nonchalant: “The original owner died while escorting a batch of arms. He believed that these arms were crucial to the life and death of a unit, so his wish was to deliver these arms to them.”

Although he used third-person pronouns, Ning Fei immediately understood: “Oh, so it was helping your side’s army get arms back then? Sure enough, it’s related to what you were doing back then. No wonder Lin Jianru wanted to get rid of you in advance.”

“Yeah.” Duan Yunhong replied with a brief nasal sound, seemingly uninterested in discussing this matter.

Ning Fei suddenly thought of something, propped his hand on the table, lowered his eyes to look at him: “Hey, what did you feel in the end when you blocked that batch of arms from arriving?”

Duan Yunhong raised his eyes: “…What?”

“I mean, wasn’t doing that against your long-standing belief… saying ‘belief’ is a bit heavy, let’s say conviction. Wasn’t it against the conviction you’d held for many years back then?” Ning Fei met his gaze. “So, what did you feel at the time?”

Duan Yunhong was silent for two seconds: “Lin Jianru asked me a similar question back then.”

“Then how did you answer him?”

“I said, without people like us supporting him, it wouldn’t have been his turn anyway. He was his small self, at least he saved his life, wasn’t that ‘benevolence’?” Duan Yunhong slowly said, “Besides, although the other side got the arms, I also blew up their armory.”

“…Pfft, that’s you all right. If you can’t have it, no one else can.” Ning Fei laughed for a while and pressed: “What about now?”

“Now?”

“Yeah. Back then, Lin Jianru definitely wanted to see you make a fool of yourself, so he deliberately asked such a sharp question.” Ning Fei said, as he walked around the desk, leaning next to Duan Yunhong against the desk. “Now that so much time has passed, I don’t need to laugh at you about this. Can you tell me the truth now? Lin Jianru deliberately pushed you to do something that went against your convictions, what did you feel at the time?”

Duan Yunhong was genuinely surprised this time: “…Why would you ask that?”

“Didn’t you want me to understand you? What, it’s been so long, and you still don’t dare to say it?” Ning Fei stretched out his index finger, leaned over, and poked the man’s chest. “Duan Yunhong, Duan Yunhong, you don’t dare to answer when I ask for your true feelings?”

Duan Yunhong grabbed his index finger, looked up at him, and gazed at him: “It’s not that I don’t dare, it’s just that this happened so long ago that my memories of that time might not be accurate.”

“Come on. When you were chatting with me in my original world, you were acting like you felt the same way, that you were deeply affected by my original world. Now you’re saying you forgot?” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow. “I think this should be one of the events that caused the biggest psychological fluctuations in you. I just want to know what you were thinking at the time, is that not allowed? Even if you regretted it, felt guilty, or struggled back then, so what? Isn’t that human nature… Hey?!”

Duan Yunhong suddenly pulled him closer, hugged his waist, and buried his face near Ning Fei’s waist and abdomen.

Ning Fei almost lost his balance and subconsciously hugged his head: “What are you doing all of a sudden!”

“Nothing, just answering your question.”

“Ah…?”

“At that time, I was thinking, it would be nice to have someone who wouldn’t laugh at me, wasn’t deliberately watching me make a fool of myself, and didn’t mock my ‘betrayal,’ someone who could just remain neutral and ask me, ‘How do you feel?'” Duan Yunhong’s voice was muffled. “I don’t need them to give me a conclusion on whether I did the right thing or not, I don’t need them to analyze my actions, I just need them to unconditionally accept the story I tell. It’s that simple.”

His tone and speaking rhythm seemed to maintain his usual stability, but in this position, how could Ning Fei not feel the slight tremor hidden within?

“‘It’s that simple’? Then what you need doesn’t seem to include an ’embrace,’ why are you hugging me?” Ning Fei tugged at his hair, not too hard, not too soft. “So, I’m going to give you a conclusion now, will you accept it?”

Duan Yunhong was amused: “I haven’t even confessed my true thoughts, what conclusion are you drawing?”

“You’re so arrogant, who can’t guess what you’re thinking?” Ning Fei scoffed. “You had to ‘slightly betray’ the path you’ve always chosen, you must have felt disgusted. But your brother’s betrayal and Lin Jianru’s gloating appearance were probably the reasons why you held your breath and didn’t collapse, right?”

Duan Yunhong smiled silently.

He didn’t say whether Ning Fei’s guess was right or wrong, he just hugged the person and said, “Continue.”

“Continue your ass, Mr. Duan, are you interrogating a prisoner?” Ning Fei pulled his hair harder. “Look up.”

Duan Yunhong followed his strength, raised his head, and met his gaze.

“Tsk, what a disgusting expression.” Ning Fei unreservedly showed his disgust. “I guessed right, so you’re happy, huh?”

“It also depends on who’s guessing. There are some people I wouldn’t give the chance to guess.” Duan Yunhong said with confidence. “So, can you guess again?”

“What, I have to be grateful?” Ning Fei looked down at him and sneered. “I’m not going to guess, it’s too much effort. I want to solve this once and for all.”

Duan Yunhong was puzzled: “How do you solve it?”

“It’s just that in the future, whenever you think of this topic again, you’ll think of this.”

As the words fell, Ning Fei’s kiss also landed on the man’s lips.

*

The next evening, the two arrived at the “Night Pearl” dance hall together.

It was indeed very lively inside, with bright lights and a festive atmosphere, full of men and women. But if you look closely, you can see that most of the women are young and beautiful, dressed in bright and eye-catching clothes. The men, however, were mostly middle-aged and older, their black suit jackets unable to contain their pot bellies, some even unable to button them up, and the white shirts inside were tucked in haphazardly.

In comparison, Duan Yunhong and Ning Fei were among the youngest and most attractive. When they entered, they attracted a lot of attention along the way, but the middle-aged men seemed to maintain their status and didn’t take the initiative to come forward. On the other hand, two groups of young women came to chat, giving them a brief introduction to the dance hall. Seeing that the two weren’t very interested, they consciously left.

“The ladies here have some insight.”

After Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong sat down at an empty table and ordered two drinks, they began to chat quietly, “I thought they would at least pester us to buy them a drink, I almost had to take out my wallet.”

“…Stop showing off your familiarity.” Duan Yunhong raised his chin. “Look, the transmigrator really came, he’s over there.”

Ning Fei turned his head to look and saw a man and a woman sitting at a similar round table near the edge.

The woman was mostly seen from the back, but judging from her fur shawl, delicate hairstyle, and the colorful sleeves of her cheongsam, she was most likely a hostess. The man, however, had short hair, glasses, and a thick woolen coat, and was about the same age as Duan Yunhong and Ning Fei. At first glance, he looked quite refined.

“That’s Liang Zhiming?” Ning Fei turned his head back and commented, “He looks decent at first glance, but his clothes are a bit old. I guess he’s just living like that. Is this the great reporter who’s living a good life?”

“I almost completely cut off his channels for contacting the business world. Many people know that his character is generally poor and he has little credibility. He doesn’t have a background himself, and after no one is his backer, naturally no one will give him benefits for no reason.” Duan Yunhong said, “He should be relying on working in the newspaper now, befriending some famous writers and activists, and still maintaining some status in writing articles. People in the political, military, and business circles don’t want to see negative news about themselves in the newspapers, so most of them still give him some face on the surface.”

At this moment, the waiter happened to come to serve the drinks and fruit platter, and the two stopped talking. After the waiter left, Ning Fei picked up a glass of wine, took a sip, and continued: “So, he’s just a failed activist, retreating to the literary world? But your organization, is that how they just gave up on him? He should still know a lot of information about the organization, letting him run around outside like that…”

“In the past, I would have thought you were simply ruthless.” Duan Yunhong clinked glasses with him and smiled, “Now, I would say you’re right. He has faded out of the organization, but he still knows a lot of key information. It’s not appropriate to just leave him like that.”

Ning Fei turned his head again and saw that the hostess who was sitting at the table with Liang Zhiming had gotten up and left, leaving Liang Zhiming sitting there frowning and sulking. Another middle-aged man beckoned the hostess into the dance floor, and the two danced a duet that could hardly be considered ballroom dancing, almost sticking to each other.

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow slightly: “Oh, I was saying he couldn’t afford clothes, but he can afford hostesses. Turns out he’s just a poor, sour guy that even hostesses look down on, ha.”

——————–

Ning Fei guessed accurately what Mr. Duan was thinking!