A week later, Pei Xu finally returned to Nanjiang.
During this period, Qiao Nan had sent him two WeChat messages, but it seemed like he got a little upset after realizing Pei Xu’s attitude was somewhat cold, and then he stopped messaging.
Pei Xu simply didn’t tell Qiao Nan about his return.
He had Zhao Bo quickly arrange for another property, and he’s been staying at the new place.
He also didn’t go to see Doctor Chen again, feeling that Doctor Chen would only advise him to distract himself, and wouldn’t offer any effective suggestions.
And he couldn’t do the effective ones.
He could only fill all his time with busy work.
Lately, he’d often work overtime until the early hours of the morning, and if he didn’t want to go home afterward, he’d ask Cheng Yu to go to a bar for a drink.
Alcohol, like nicotine, could numb overly restless emotions, giving him temporary peace.
Cheng Yu watched him drink glass after glass, showing a worried expression, “If there’s anything bothering you, let’s talk about it, don’t keep it bottled up.”
He probed, “Did you break up? Or did you argue with your precious younger brother?”
He felt that Pei Xu’s current state was very much like either erupting in silence or becoming twisted in silence.
He heard that the president’s office had been walking on eggshells lately, not even daring to order their daily afternoon tea, just afraid of accidentally detonating this time bomb.
Pei Xu glanced at him, raking his hair back with one hand.
He leaned lazily into the sofa, his long, strong hand lightly swirling a crystal wine glass, showing a wildness completely different from his usual self, “Don’t want to talk.”
Cheng Yu had always thought that Pei Xu actually had a bit of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” vibe, but Pei Xu was usually good at keeping up appearances.
Apart from those who had clashed with him in the business world and suffered losses, most people praised him endlessly.
The new young women in the president’s office were even completely smitten.
If they saw this guy’s current pathetic state, they probably wouldn’t call him gentle and gentlemanly anymore.
“Then you can continue to bottle it up yourself,” Cheng Yu, rarely acting as a caring older brother, found his interest immediately gone when Pei Xu started playing hard to get.
His gaze swept around the room, settling on a handsome young man, and he took his drink and went over to him.
Pei Xu, left alone, huddled in the booth, continuing to drink in silence.
The neon lights and hedonistic atmosphere of the dance floor couldn’t sway him in the slightest.
***
Qiao Nan was called to a bar in the middle of the night by a phone call from Qian Chuan.
He had been sulking with Pei Xu lately, so he naturally wasn’t in the mood to go out and have fun, and hadn’t hung out with Qian Chuan and the others for a while.
Today, Qian Chuan and Xiao Rang barraged him, and he reluctantly came over.
Qian Chuan waited for him at the entrance.
Seeing him looking deflated, he put an arm around his shoulder in a brotherly way, “Did you really argue? Look at that crumpled little face.”
He had thought it was just Qiao Nan unilaterally throwing a tantrum with his brother again.
Qiao Nan pushed him away in disgust, “Get lost, don’t bother me.”
Qian Chuan squeezed back and sat beside him, looking like a caring older brother, “Come on, tell me what happened, we brothers will help you sort it out.”
Qiao Nan was amused by him and threw him an orange, “Eat an orange, you.”
Just then, Xiao Rang came up from downstairs and said, “Qiao Nan, I think I just saw your brother.”
“My brother?”
Qiao Nan’s first reaction was that it was impossible, “The last time I went to see him, Assistant Zhao said he was on a business trip—”
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly realized that so many days had passed, Pei Xu should be back by now.
Before, whenever Pei Xu returned from a business trip, he was always the first to know.
But this time, he was completely unaware from beginning to end.
He knew nothing about when he left for the business trip or when he returned.
He paused for a moment before saying, “My brother doesn’t like to drink, and he never goes to bars.”
Xiao Rang recalled, “My eyesight is pretty good, it was definitely your brother, couldn’t be mistaken.”
He walked to the corridor and leaned over to look for a long time, pointing to a booth near the dance floor and said, “Look, that’s him.”
Qiao Nan came out of the private room and followed the direction of his finger, sure enough, he saw a man.
The man was angled away from him, so he could only see a blurry profile.
He was wearing a neat business shirt, but no tie, with two buttons unfastened at the collar. When he tilted his head to drink, his protruding Adam’s apple could be seen moving up and down.
It was definitely his brother.
But also, not like his brother.
At least, Qiao Nan had never seen his brother like this.
While they were watching, a young man in a sexy, tight-fitting outfit pushed through the crowd on the dance floor and walked up to Pei Xu.
He seemed to want to flirt with Pei Xu, deliberately posing in a seductive way and pouring a drink, the glass almost touching Pei Xu’s lips.
Pei Xu sat back in the sofa with his long legs crossed, reaching out to push the glass away, his posture very dominant.
Xiao Rang gasped, “Your brother is quite popular, kills both sexes.”
“I’ll go check.”
Qiao Nan’s face darkened, and he strode downstairs.
However, by the time he navigated through the swaying crowd, Pei Xu had already gotten up and left.
Qiao Nan chased after him, only catching a glimpse of a familiar car’s taillights.
The person in the driver’s seat looked like Zhao Bo, and the license plate number was also correct.
It was indeed his brother.
It’s one thing not to tell him when he returned from a business trip, but he even secretly came to a bar.
Qiao Nan felt like he was a pufferfish full of air right now, and one poke would make him explode.
@Good novels at Jinjiang Literature City
He took out his phone and indignantly typed, [Brother, are you back from your business trip? (^-^)]
Pei Xu, resting briefly against the back of his chair, saw the message, hesitated, then replied, [No.]
***
“He just finds me annoying and is deliberately avoiding me, right?”
Qiao Nan opened the chat interface and placed it on the coffee table in the middle.
He, Qian Chuan, and Xiao Rang each occupied a sofa.
“No way?”
Qian Chuan said, “Maybe he just doesn’t want you to know he’s at a bar. Brothers always want to maintain a good image in front of their younger brothers.”
Xiao Rang also said, “Your brother is not young anymore, maybe he’s just stressed from work and came out to find some fun and relieve some pressure.”
But Qiao Nan remembered what Qiu Ran said before, “Could he be in a relationship?”
His topic shifted too quickly, and Qian Chuan and Xiao Rang couldn’t keep up.
Qian Chuan raised his hand, “May I ask where this conclusion came from?”
Qiao Nan then told them about Qiu Ran asking for his WeChat and being rejected.
Qian Chuan rubbed his chin and thought for a while, “Then what you’re saying isn’t impossible, but his state doesn’t look like he’s in love; it looks more like unrequited love and drinking for love.”
Otherwise, why would a man in love come to a bar to drown his sorrows alone?
Shouldn’t he be having a little drink with his beloved and then taking the opportunity to roll around in bed?
Xiao Rang also agreed with this theory, “That makes sense. Coming to a bar late at night, yet refusing a romantic encounter.”
He shook his head and said, “Perhaps he’s suffering the pains of love.”
Qiao Nan fell silent, and after a long while, he mumbled, “But there’s no need to avoid me, right?”
Thinking of the unknown person making his brother suffer the pains of love, he felt a bit annoyed, and added, “Someone actually doesn’t like my brother, someone like him? Are they blind?”
Xiao Rang and Qian Chuan didn’t dare to speak.
@Good novels at Jinjiang Literature City
Qiao Nan returned home feeling dejected.
Tossing and turning for half the night, he decided he had to go and ask his brother for a clear explanation.
Even if he was in a relationship, he shouldn’t prioritize his love interest over his brother like that!
And shouldn’t he, as the future brother-in-law, have a say?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt he was right.
The next day, Qiao Nan specifically found Zhao Bo to subtly inquire about Pei Xu’s off-work time.
He then arrived punctually at the underground parking garage of Xunnan Technology to wait.
He had been here many times and, knowing the way well, found the Bentley that Pei Xu usually drove.
To avoid being recognized by Pei Xu, he specifically drove Qian Chuan’s car and parked it right next to Pei Xu’s.
He huddled in the passenger seat and played five rounds of Honor of Kings before the long-awaited car owner finally arrived.
Qiao Nan quickly took off his headphones and exited the game, “Target sighted, no more playing.”
With that, he quickly pushed open the car door and jumped out.
As Pei Xu reached to open the rear passenger door, Qiao Nan deftly ducked under his arm, leaning against the car door, chin raised, looking at him.
It was as if he was asking, “Do you have anything to explain?”
He completely failed to notice that in that moment, their posture looked as if Pei Xu was embracing him, pinning him against the car door, creating an incredibly ambiguous scene.
Pei Xu’s eyes darkened for a moment, and he withdrew his hand, “When did you get here? Why didn’t you come upstairs?”
He didn’t mention deceiving Qiao Nan last night at all.
Qiao Nan started to get angry.
“I was also at that ‘Chun Tian Li’ on Jian’an Road last night.”
“Chun Tian Li” was the name of the bar, and he deliberately emphasized the words.
Pei Xu’s expression paused; he hadn’t expected such a coincidence.
He ran his tongue over his teeth, not speaking, waiting for Qiao Nan’s next words.
Sure enough, Qiao Nan continued, “Why didn’t you come home? Are you secretly in a relationship behind my back?”
He was aggressive, his tone accusatory, giving Pei Xu a momentary illusion—that Qiao Nan didn’t want him to be in a relationship.
His righteous indignation made Pei Xu feel pleased.
Pei Xu met his clean, beautiful eyes, wanting very much to press him against the car door and use his lips and teeth to answer why he didn’t go home.
The slow-witted Qiao Nan would probably struggle and resist, then show a pitiful expression, but his strength wouldn’t be enough, and he wouldn’t be able to break free from Pei Xu’s restraint.
If he took one more step closer, he could easily overpower him and taste him.
Instead of spending sleepless nights numbing himself with nicotine and alcohol.
@Good novels at Jinjiang Literature City
Dark thoughts swirled, and Pei Xu’s expression became obscure and hard to decipher.
Seeing him remain silent, Qiao Nan frowned, “Are you really in a relationship?”
Pei Xu met his gaze for a long while, then restrained himself and took a step back, maintaining a safe distance, “Yes, there is someone I like.”
He carefully traced Qiao Nan’s features with his gaze: “She’s very beautiful, a bit headstrong in temper, but very cute. I haven’t managed to win her over yet.”
Although he had guessed it yesterday, hearing him say it himself, Qiao Nan still felt a little sour.
He lowered his head and mumbled, “Who is it? So hard to win over.”
Pei Xu chuckled, then composed his expression and said gently, “It’s a secret.”
Qiao Nan was even more displeased at the news.
Usually, he would act spoiled and pester his brother until he told him the answer, but today he felt listless, completely deflated and spiritless:,”Fine, don’t tell me then.”
He got into his own car by himself, then remembered he hadn’t said goodbye to Pei Xu, so he rolled down the window and said, “I’m going home first!”
You can continue chasing your beloved!
Don’t come home if you don’t want to!