Chapter 20#

The Self-Deceiving Liar#

Lin Xiaodong arrived at the pier without telling anyone, but the pier staff were clearly startled by him, hurriedly inviting this “little ancestor” to sit in the office and have a cup of hot tea.

But he refused them all: “I’m just here to take a look; don’t be so nervous.”

The person in charge wiped his sweat and said with a hollow smile: “Not nervous, not nervous.”

How could they not be nervous!

Seeing his still-tense face, Lin Xiaodong didn’t force it. The youth took a sip of tea, flipped through a few pages as if casually, and pointed at an item in the accounts, asking: “Where is this batch of goods now?”

“Right at the pier, sitting in a container,” the person in charge replied quickly.

“Then take me to see it.”

Lin Xiaodong closed the account book and said straightforwardly.

When they saw the position his finger pointed to, the pupils of one staff member in the office contracted, and his face instantly turned as pale as paper.

Lin Xiaodong, who always had the system monitoring the people around him, gave him a nonchalant glance. In the gap while waiting for the person in charge to bring the car around, as expected, he saw that person hiding behind the crowd, secretly using his phone to tip off others.

“You over there,” he suddenly stood up, “give me the phone.”

The person was stunned for a second, then pushed aside those nearby and took off running. but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t outrun Lin Xiaodong. As a former professional debt collector, he had never lost a hundred-meter sprint.

“Stop!”

Before running very far, Lin Xiaodong caught up with him, kicked the man’s leg joint, sending him rolling several times on the ground. The phone that had just connected also instantly went black, presumably because the other side sensed something was wrong and immediately hung up.

“Tie him up,” Lin Xiaodong pressed down on him and shouted to the others who hurriedly arrived behind him.

The person in charge grit his teeth in hatred and tied the man up tightly with a hemp rope.

Being this guilty, it was obvious there was something fishy!

“How did you find out?” he asked with a look of admiration.

Lin Xiaodong smiled: “I have a professional informant.”

In reality, it was thanks to the system’s powerful computing power that allowed him to find clues within the hundreds of pages of accounts.

The tsundere system: “Hmph.”

With heavy hearts, they opened the door of the container.

Stifling air rushed at them. Inside were bags upon bags of soybeans, appearing nothing out of the ordinary.

But when the inspector stepped on them and dragged bag after bag of “flour” out from deep within the container and threw them out, everyone’s faces changed color.

“Explain this.”

Lin Xiaodong looked down, twisted a pinch of powder between his fingers, looked up, and said indifferently to the trembling person in charge.

“I… I truly didn’t know!” the person in charge said with a miserable face. He had worked here for nearly ten years; where would he have the guts to do something like drug smuggling?

With so much “white powder,” even if his ancestors for eight generations were dug up, it wouldn’t be enough to compensate!

Lin Xiaodong gave a non-committal hum, pulled out his phone, and dialed the police chief’s number in front of everyone: “Hello, Chief Chen, I have something I think you need to bring people to see…”

Half an hour later, police cars whistled and surrounded the pier.

Coming with them were Gu Xi and a group of company executives, everyone’s face wearing a heavy and serious expression. And when they saw the full five hundred kilograms of drugs cleared by the police, it triggered a wave of gasps from those present.

“This is the largest drug smuggling case solved since I took office,” Chief Chen stared at the busy scene of his subordinates and couldn’t help but lament. “President Gu, it’s fortunate you checked yourselves in time; otherwise, if this batch of goods flowed into the hands of civilians, it would harm at least thousands of families in the future.”

Gu Xi nodded solemnly.

“The list for this container when it was registered was soybean futures,” he said coldly. “But the people who handled it were more than just our company. Chief Chen, please make sure to investigate thoroughly. If it’s our people, we will absolutely not tolerate it; if it’s other forces playing tricks, please return our innocence as soon as possible.”

“I understand.”

The news of Gu Xi’s proposal last night had already spread throughout the city. Combined with Lin Xiaodong’s great merit today, Chief Chen originally intended to praise the youth to Gu Xi, but to his surprise, the man had already walked up to Lin Xiaodong with a darkened face and pulled him into the car by his arm.

“Why the face?”

Lin Xiaodong was also wondering. Clearing so many drugs, he wasn’t just doing good deeds to accumulate merit; this was a merit beyond measure! And he had helped the company avoid unnecessary trouble in the future. Why did Gu Xi look like he wasn’t happy at all?

“Do you know how dangerous it was for you to go to the pier to find them alone?” Gu Xi slammed the car door and stared at him fixedly from the driver’s seat. “Why do I arrange so many people around you every time there’s a random inspection? It’s precisely because I’m afraid of something happening!”

“I know,” Lin Xiaodong promised casually, not taking it much to heart. “Don’t be so nervous; aren’t I fine?”

“Being fine this time doesn’t mean you will be next time!”

Gu Xi slapped the steering wheel, his tone suddenly rising.

When he received Lin Xiaodong’s call in the afternoon, he was in a meeting. It’s no exaggeration to say that Gu Xi jumped up from his seat on the spot, giving the dozen or so executives in the meeting room a huge fright.

Exactly how insane these drug dealers were, Gu Xi knew all too well.

“Let’s go home first,” he rubbed his brow and said tiredly.

With witnesses and physical evidence present, the police only took a week to find the tracks of this gang. But shockingly, the shadow of the Qi family was actually behind this batch of drugs. Chief Chen immediately caught Qi Jianghe, but the other party insisted it was his brother’s doing and that he himself knew nothing about it. However, the police searched the entire province several times and found no sign of Qi Huaishui.

In the end, they could only assume Qi Huaishui had escaped abroad, and they detained Qi Jianghe for further investigation.

In light of this, despite Lin Xiaodong’s strong protest, just as he had overcome all opinions to appoint the youth as manager, Gu Xi indefinitely suspended all of Lin Xiaodong’s work, making him stay at home during this time and not allowed to go anywhere.

But everyone knew that “this time” was a very ambiguous term, especially at this critical juncture. When Lin Xiaodong returned to work a few months later, it was basically impossible for there to be a place for him in the company.

After hearing this news from the butler, to everyone’s surprise, Lin Xiaodong did not show overly intense emotions.

“I don’t want to fight him anymore,” the youth just shook his head and let out a soft sigh. “Why did he think I insisted on staying in this position?”

The butler was silent for a moment.

And after hearing the butler’s report, Gu Xi also didn’t speak for a long time.

Until the butler couldn’t help but persuade: “Master, Young Master Lin did it for you.”

“…I know.”

Gu Xi understood that such an arbitrary decision would make all of Lin Xiaodong’s previous efforts go down the drain.

But compared to losing the other party, he would rather be resented.

On this day, Gu Xi returned home late at night. He walked lightly to the second floor, thinking Lin Xiaodong was already asleep, but unexpectedly, the faint sound of SpongeBob came from the dim bedroom—

“SpongeBob, let’s go catch jellyfish!”

“Sorry, Patrick, I have to go to class today; I can’t go catch jellyfish with you.”

“Then what should I do when you’re not here?”

“I don’t know. What did you do when I wasn’t here before?”

“Wait for you to come back.”

Gu Xi silently pushed open the door and saw the youth on the large bed curled into a ball, leaning against the headboard and having fallen soundly asleep.

The light and shadow of the projection on the wall shifted. The black-haired youth was sleeping very restlessly, his brows tightly furrowed, and he let out a blurred low groan from his nose.

This scene made Gu Xi suddenly recall the past.

Lin Xiaodong opened his eyes dizzily, saw him standing by the bed, and reached out weakly, wanting to push the man away, but for some reason, it provoked the other. Gu Xi forcefully leaned down, grabbed the youth’s wrists, and kissed him until the corners of his eyes were wet and red with tears. Only then did the tyrannical emotion within him that had nowhere to vent slightly subside.

“You, don’t… don’t be like this.”

Seeing Lin Xiaodong’s tightly furrowed brows, he took a deep breath, straightened up with restraint, and strode out of the room.

“Master.”

The man silently closed the door but stood at the bedroom door for a long time without leaving. After a long while, the butler’s voice made him snap back to reality from the burning memory.

“Young Master Lin has been smiling very little lately,” the butler said softly. “Master, don’t blame this old man for meddling, but do you remember that wild cat you brought back from outside?”

How could Gu Xi ever forget?

“It’s precisely because I made a mistake last time that I will never repeat it this time,” his tone was cold and hard. “There’s no room for discussion on this matter.”

After saying that, he turned and left.

The butler watched the man’s silent and stubborn back and let out a deep sigh.

“In summary,” the system said, “congratulations on escaping the sea of suffering as an employee exploited by a capitalist.”

Lin Xiaodong said modestly: “Mutual congratulations.”

Thanks to his superb acting skills, otherwise Lin Xiaodong’s mouth would be crooked from smiling right now—no work, no need to worry about money, sleeping until he wakes up naturally every day. Where could one find such a good thing?

Overthinking, emptiness, loneliness—that was all nonsense!

“But to be honest, life is indeed a bit boring, and I hate having others decide what I should do without my consent.” He thought for a moment and suddenly asked, “Hey, by the way, wasn’t there talk in the office before about organizing a department employee trip before the Start of Summer?”

System: “Yes, why?”

“They said those at the manager level can bring a family member,” Lin Xiaodong said enthusiastically. “Even if I’m not working now, I’m still a manager.”

System: “You’re not planning to…”

“Yes.”

The system was silent for a moment and reminded him: “Be careful of messing up.”

“I won’t,” Lin Xiaodong said confidently. “Trust me. If things go smoothly, maybe I can even settle Gu Xi’s Good Person Card while I’m at it.”

Lin Xiamian had been living like he was in a dream during this time, muddled and groggy.

Every day when he opened his phone, the news would always push reports about Lin Xiaodong and Gu Xi’s engagement in some unexpected corner. He masochistically watched the photos taken by the audience at the scene over and over again. Looking at the happy smiles of the two in the images, his heart felt like it was being cut bloody by a sharp knife.

With a dark mood, he complained about and reported all the comments in the comment section such as “a match made in heaven” and “must be together forever.”

The blessings of these people further stimulated Lin Xiamian’s shattered heart. He finally realized with a start that if he didn’t take effective measures, everything about Lin Xiaodong might have nothing to do with him from now on.

Brother was his alone, the youth thought obsessively.

He would never allow their relationship to be intruded upon by anyone.

Never!

Therefore, when Lin Xiaodong sent a message asking if he was free during this time, Lin Xiamian didn’t hesitate to ask the school for a week’s leave, pushed aside all activities, and was the first to arrive at the parking lot on the day of departure.

The sun rose gradually, and it wasn’t until an hour and a half later that Lin Xiaodong and Gu Xi arrived late.

Lin Xiamian stared greedily at the figure of the youth in the distance. Having not seen him for a while, his face was much paler. Although he and Gu Xi were walking together, they kept a bit of distance between them, appearing somewhat estranged.

Through the fragmented discussions of other employees present, Lin Xiamian already had a preliminary understanding of what had happened between them. His own thoughts were naturally consistent with Gu Xi’s, but on the surface, the youth still wore a worried expression, grabbing Lin Xiaodong’s hand and asking: “Brother, why do I feel like you’ve gotten thinner? You’re not sick, are you?”

Hearing this, other colleagues also couldn’t help but prick up their ears for gossip.

“I’m fine, I’m doing great.” Lin Xiaodong non-committally withdrew his hand, smiled at him, and soon changed the subject: “Don’t talk about me, Xiamian. How have things been at school lately?”

“Just the same—attending classes, doing competitions with classmates.” Lin Xiamian didn’t get the answer he wanted and was a bit unsatisfied. But seeing Gu Xi’s slightly gloomy face, he couldn’t help but feel happy again.

“Brother, why did you only bring this much luggage?”

Lin Xiaodong said indifferently: “Gu Xi has an emergency meeting to attend this afternoon; he’ll drive over himself tomorrow.”

Lin Xiamian suppressed his inner ecstasy: “Is that so? That’s really a pity.” Great!

He busily helped Lin Xiaodong move all the luggage onto the bus. The surrounding colleagues who didn’t know the inside story also praised Lin Xiamian for being sensible and capable. After hearing the inspirational story of the two brothers “fulfilling each other,” they were even more full of praise for him, which made Gu Xi, standing aside, let out cold snorts repeatedly.

“You brought him here on purpose to annoy me, right?” he asked Lin Xiaodong.

The youth, who was looking down and checking his backpack, paused at these words.

“Gu Xi,” he looked up at the man and said softly, “I understand you’re worried about my safety. But I am a person, not a pet available at your beck and call. I need social life and companionship. I don’t want to be trapped in the large bed of the second-floor bedroom every day, my only expectation being to wait for you to come back from work. Do you understand?”

“What’s bad about being at home? Everything you want, I can personally deliver to you,” Gu Xi frowned, enduring. “And I’ve already agreed to let you come to the employee trip; isn’t that enough?”

Lin Xiaodong sighed: “It seems you still don’t understand. Forget it, we’ve already discussed this matter many times. Today is a day to go out and play; I don’t want to make things unpleasant again.”

He zipped up his backpack. Under Gu Xi’s slightly startled gaze, he stood on tiptoe, tilted his face up, and kissed the man’s lips, revealing his first smile in many days:

“No choice, since I like you.”