Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Shu Qianfei, who was sitting next to him, also noticed that something was off in Shen Yan's tone, her eyes revealing a trace of worry.

Shen Yan continued to ask, "Hu Chengyu?"

At the Hu family home, Hu Chengyu listened to Shen Yan's voice, as if a warmth was being injected into his cold body.

Like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert, he wanted to listen to Shen Yan's voice just a little longer.

Just once more.

Hearing Shen Yan's voice again in his ear, Hu Chengyu closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he had regained his composure. "I'm fine, not in the dorm."

Without pausing for a second, he hung up the phone immediately.

Shen Yan frowned at his phone. Hu Chengyu's voice was off; he sounded like he was in distress.

Shu Qianfei also asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Yan shook his head. "He said it's nothing."

But Shen Yan was still worried.

"Mom, you look at the menu first, I'll call Lu Zhao," he said, then got up and left the private dining room.

Shu Qianfei watched her son's back and gently shook her head.

Shen Yan walked to the quiet window and called Lu Zhao. After a while, Lu Zhao finally picked up.

"There's someone at the four o'clock direction, wait, hold on..." Lu Zhao directed his teammates, not looking at the caller ID, and answered directly through his earphones. "Hey, who’s this?"

"It's me, Lu Zhao-ge."

"Yan Yan?" Lu Zhao paused for a moment, then there was a rustling sound.

"Yan Yan, what's wrong?"

Lu Zhao knew very well that ever since Shen Yan had distanced himself from Hu Chengyu, he wouldn't call for no reason.

No, even if something were wrong, Yan Yan wouldn’t have called him.

Given that Yan Yan was calling now, Lu Zhao figured it must be about his brother.

Shen Yan said, "Lu Zhao-ge, I just called Hu Chengyu, and his voice sounded off. Do you know where he is right now?"

Sure enough, Lu Zhao wasn’t pleased that he had guessed correctly.

Hearing the genuine concern in Shen Yan's voice, Lu Zhao tried to use a relaxed tone. "Oh, I thought it was something serious. My brother is home today, what could go wrong at home? You..."

He wanted to reassure him, but remembering the awkward relationship between Shen Yan and his brother, he suddenly stopped talking.

Shen Yan wasn't reassured. In his past life, Hu Chengyu and his father had completely fallen out, which definitely wasn't due to a single incident.

He had heard people casually mention that the relationship between Hu Chengyu and his father was tense.

Therefore, even though Lu Zhao said Hu Chengyu was at home, Shen Yan remained worried.

"I heard his voice was hoarse, and his breathing was rapid..."

Could it be that he had a fight with Uncle Hu?

Shen Yan thought to himself.

But when these details reached Lu Zhao, his mind went completely in the wrong direction. A hoarse voice? Rapid breathing?

Was his brother on the phone while... you know, getting busy?

Lu Zhao immediately punched his fist against his head: Lu Zhao, is your mind only filled with perverted thoughts?

After a moment, Lu Zhao quickly said, "I'll go check on him at his place, don't worry, Yan Yan."

They exchanged a few more words before Shen Yan hung up the phone.

Lu Zhao, unable to hold back, wanted to immediately tell Hu Chengyu about Shen Yan's call and concern.

But as soon as he dialed the number, the call was hung up after just one ring.

He tried again, only to find the phone was now turned off.

For once, Lu Zhao's carefree expression turned serious. What if something really happened?

Inside the Hu family's house, Hu Chengyu had just hung up the phone when he heard a sudden accusatory voice from behind him, "What are you doing here?"

Hu Chengyu turned around to face Hu Tianhong.

Hu Tianhong was startled to see Hu Chengyu in his bedroom, and after the initial shock, anger surged within him.

Even though they were father and son, how could Hu Chengyu just barge into the master bedroom without a word? Was there no sense of respect?

But before he could lose it, he noticed Hu Chengyu's pale face and the sweat dripping from his forehead.

Hu Tianhong froze.

In response to his accusation, Hu Chengyu remained calm. "Looking for something."

Hu Tianhong's earlier displeasure rose again at Hu Chengyu's cold demeanor. "This is my bedroom."

"Get out."

There's nothing here for you to find here.

There weren't any important items in his bedroom; the crucial seals, documents, and such were all in the study.

Hu Chengyu paid no attention and directly opened the jewelry box on the vanity table.

Hu Tianhong, who had been full of rage, was momentarily at a loss for how to react.

The jewelry box was completely empty.

Hu Chengyu asked, "Where's the stuff inside?"

Hu Tianhong's eyebrows furrowed together. "Do you think you're questioning me?"

But Hu Chengyu just gave him a cold stare.

For a moment, Hu Tianhong saw a reflection of Hu Chengyu's mother.

It wasn’t about their looks, but the icy demeanor they shared.

The first time someone outside was caught by Hu Chengyu's mother, the expression and attitude on her face were similar to Hu Chengyu's current manner.

Hu Chengyu just quietly looked at him, without urging.

"It's been thrown away, the belongings of a dead person..."

Bam!

The sound of the jewelry box hitting the floor.

Hu Chengyu didn’t use force, nor did he become hysterical; he simply dropped the box to the ground, cutting off Hu Tianhong's words.

Hu Tianhong's face turned extremely ugly, with veins popping up on his forehead. He grabbed a long, thin object nearby and swung it at Hu Chengyu.

"You think I’m giving you respect? Throwing stuff in my face now?"

But before he could swing it, Hu Chengyu caught his wrist.

"I’m asking you, where is it?"

The butler, who had been with the Hu family for over twenty years, heard the commotion and rushed upstairs to find the father and son facing off.

He remembered the last time the master hit the son was after the mistress died.

After that, though they were passive-aggressive, they never resorted to violence.

What's happening today?

"Master, please don’t let this harm your health. Let’s calm down and talk this through," said the butler.

"I’m going to beat this bastard to death," Hu Tianhong glared viciously at Hu Chengyu.

But Hu Chengyu just stared at him with a chilling gaze.

Whenever Hu Tianhong met such a gaze, he was reminded of Zhu Yao, Hu Chengyu's mother.

With the butler standing in between, Hu Chengyu asked again, "Where is it?"

The butler glanced at the jewelry box on the floor and realized what was going on.

"Son, the late mistress's belongings are kept in the annex," the butler said quickly.

Upon hearing this, Hu Chengyu left, but as he passed by Hu Tianhong, he looked at him with a mocking tone, "Wasn’t she driven to death by you?"

Without a second thought, he left.

Hu Tianhong, in his middle age, hadn’t had anyone dare to give him attitude in many years.

Now, Hu Chengyu had trampled on his dignity. In a fit of rage, he threw the metal rod at Hu Chengyu's back.

It was a heavy metal rod, part of a small metal sculpture. Naturally, it would hurt quite a bit if it hit someone.

But Hu Chengyu didn’t flinch, pausing only briefly before walking away.

The butler stood frozen in shock as Hu Tianhong’s eyes blazed with fury. "Why didn’t this bastard die with her?!"

The butler frowned and hesitated before speaking, "Sir, the young master is your only child."

Even when you're mad, you shouldn't talk like that.

Hu Chengyu was trembling with anger and shot the butler a sideways glance. "If such a son was given to you, would you want him?"

The butler was speechless.

Actually, the young master was a bit reserved growing up, but still easy to get along with.

Until after Madam… Never mind, bringing this up now would only make things worse.

Hu Tianhong’s gaze landed on the wooden jewelry box again, and he snapped, "Didn't I tell you to clear everything out?"

The butler kept something to himself; this jewelry box was actually given to Madam by Sir before they got married.

Meanwhile, Hu Chengyu went to the annex, where Zhu Yao’s room was.

After discovering Hu Tianhong’s affair, she moved in here, but it didn’t last long.

Later, when Hu Tianhong stopped coming home altogether, Zhu Yao moved back.

When Hu Chengyu opened the door, he paused, taking in the scene. There were still many of Zhu Yao's things here, as if she had never left.

Zhu Yao loved painting, and the room was filled with her artwork and pieces she admired.

Hu Chengyu was stunned for a moment but quickly regained his composure.

He spotted a box by the wall, filled with jewelry.

Hu Chengyu examined everything carefully but didn't find what he was looking for.

Even so, he was certain that he had seen the ring on the necklace that Xie Shiyu wore somewhere before.

Hu Chengyu hadn't had much access to jewelry, and anything that left an impression on him, his intuition told him it was seen here with his mother.

But no clues were found.

He stayed in the room for a long time until a cautious knock on the door was heard.

"Come in."

It was a maid from the main building. "Young Master, Young Master Lu is here to see you."

The servants had heard the commotion from the argument upstairs.

They were afraid of Hu Chengyu. Although he had never scolded them, his cold demeanor frightened many.

"I understand."

In the main building's living room, Lu Zhao could tell something was wrong from the maid's attitude.

Although he appeared calm on the surface, it didn't seem like a major issue.

Even though he had his suspicions, Lu Zhao's heart was still unsettled.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before the maid who went to fetch Hu Chengyu returned.

Lu Zhao immediately stood up, wondering where Hu Chengyu was.

"Mr. Lu, the young master said he'll be waiting for you in the garage."

Lu Zhao mumbled a quick thank you and hurried out.

When he arrived at the garage, he saw Hu Chengyu tall and leaning against the car, head down with a cigarette in his mouth.

Lu Zhao's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't expected his brother to have a cigarette.

It wasn’t lit until he got closer.

Hu Chengyu heard the footsteps and glanced at him. Knowing Lu Zhao had something to say, he spoke first: "Get in."

Hu Chengyu sat in the driver's seat, while Lu Zhao took the passenger seat.

After leaving the Hu family compound, they hit a quiet stretch of road with wide lanes.

As the car picked up speed, Lu Zhao stayed silent.

The car wasn't heading towards the city center.

Two hours later, Lu Zhao got out of the car, his face looking a bit pale.

He knew his brother was in a bad mood and needed to blow off steam, but he hadn’t expected him to drive so recklessly!

Even though Lu Zhao was no stranger to racing, today he genuinely thought he might not survive.

Hu Chengyu stepped out of the car and, as if from nowhere, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, skillfully taking out a cigarette. He tapped the box, then, with a smooth flip, placed the cigarette between his lips.

Lu Zhao: …That move was pretty slick.

After lighting it, Hu Chengyu took a deep drag, exhaled the smoke, and let it scatter in the wind.

Once Lu Zhao had recovered, just as he was wondering how to start the conversation, he noticed a red bruise on his brother’s neck, a long patch extending under his clothes.

"Bro, did Uncle hit you?"

Hu Chengyu had no intention of answering.

Lu Zhao understood his brother's moods. Whenever his brother had a big blowout with Uncle Hu, he’d go into ‘shut-down mode,’ not talking to anyone, especially avoiding Yan Yan.

This was an observation Lu Zhao had made based on experience.

He then continued talking to himself: "No wonder Yan Yan said that when she called you, your tone was off, your breathing heavy and rough, so you were beaten..."

Hu Chengyu's gaze turned towards him, his eyes fierce.

Lu Zhao instinctively shut up.

Hu Chengyu had only caught the words 'heavy and rough.' He was too distracted to even notice the cigarette.