“Second Uncle?” Pei Jiangchen took the phone and listened for a moment, raising his eyebrows with interest. “When did this happen?”
He tapped his fingers lightly against the tabletop.
Wen Shuyu couldn’t help but glance at him. Having been with Pei Jiangchen for some time, he recognized this as a subconscious habit of his when he was in a good mood.
“If you walk the night road often enough, you’re bound to run into a ghost; that’s just his fate. In any case, it wasn’t my people who did it…” Pei Jiangchen chuckled softly. “Got it, Second Uncle… Just have someone keep an eye on things.”
Wen Shuyu placed the plate of peeled shrimp in front of Pei Jiangchen.
Pei Jiangchen toyed with his phone thoughtfully, then suddenly asked, “Has that bastard Tao Wei been giving you any trouble lately?”
“He has.” Wen Shuyu’s tone was calm—much like the day he’d stood there with an apple balanced on his head as a target. “He even wrecked my bike today. I was worried they might try to corner me again, so I took a longer route back on foot. Why do you ask?”
Pei Jiangchen gave a derisive snort. “That bastard got beaten up today, apparently, and claimed I was the one who did it. His family went to Second Uncle about it. Second Uncle shut them down immediately, telling them that if I really had done it, the whole country would know by now—I wouldn’t deny it. He told them to go find the person actually responsible.”
In reality, Tao Wei’s plight was a hundred times more miserable than merely ‘getting beaten up.’
Fearing that his security detail might tattle to the elders, Tao Wei had specifically ordered them to wait outside before he ventured into the woods.
After waiting over half an hour without seeing him emerge, the bodyguards finally went in to investigate—only to witness a bizarre scene.
Tao Wei’s hands and feet were bound together, and he was suspended from a tree by a thick rope, curled up like a boiled shrimp.
Upon closer inspection, however, they realized it wasn’t a rope at all—it was Tao Wei’s own trousers.
Since his trousers were serving as the rope, Tao Wei was, naturally, stark naked.
Female mosquitoes, out foraging at dusk, had swarmed in to join the feast, happily enjoying a lavish meal. The bodyguards were horrified; they rushed over and drew their daggers, intending to cut through his trousers.
But Tao Wei reacted violently. With his mouth gagged, he couldn’t speak; he could only shake his head frantically, his eyes wide with rage and terror.
Sensing something was amiss, the head of security halted the rescue attempt and first pulled the foul-smelling sock and underpants out of Tao Wei’s mouth.
Tao Wei was wheezing like a broken bellows, speaking incoherently: “Needle… needle! Pull… pull it out!”
The bodyguards exchanged bewildered glances.
Tao Wei’s face turned a deep, liver-like purple as he gritted his teeth and roared, “There’s a needle stuck in my ass—are you all blind?”
He wasn’t hanging very high; his buttocks were only about ten centimeters off the ground. Everyone crouched down in unison to check, and sure enough, they found a syringe in the spot he indicated, the barrel still filled with a golden-yellow liquid.
The head of security broke out in a cold sweat.
If they had lowered Tao Wei immediately, the pressure might well have forced the syringe to inject its contents into his body. The consequences would have been unthinkable.
“He got beaten up?” Wen Shuyu asked in surprise. “Who did it?”
“Who knows what kind of trouble he stirred up this time?” Pei Jiangchen said with schadenfreude. “With the way he acts—like a piece of shit, constantly provoking people—it was only a matter of time before someone bagged him, dragged him into the woods, and gave him a thrashing. Why make such a fuss about it?”
“It was Pei Jiangchen! It had to be him!” Tao Wei gritted his teeth. “This was a trap he set! He must have a skilled henchman with him—that henchman is the one who did it!”
“But does he suspect our family?” Wen Shuyu asked as he cleared the dining table.
“There’s no proof; otherwise, the Tao family wouldn’t have just asked a few questions.” Pei Jiangchen stood up and left the dining room. “But judging by his reaction, I bet he got absolutely wrecked. It’s a real shame I wasn’t there to see it.”
Wen Shuyu smiled silently, picked up a fruit platter, and walked from the kitchen toward the living room.