Chapter 124 Four Birds with One Arrow

Chapter 124: Four Birds with One Stone

Du Yang quickly reached out to support the pale-faced Grandma Lu, the worry on his face was clear as day as he helped her to a nearby chair to rest.

"Grandma Lu, are you feeling unwell anywhere? Let's go see a doctor."

Grandma Lu paused to catch her breath, her complexion improving slightly, but her mood remained clearly and deeply low.

She took Du Yang's hand and said in a sorrowful voice, "My closest friend passed away. He was in Australia, and I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Grandma Lu’s eyes were filled with the sorrow of someone who’s been through it all. "Back then, the four of us ruled the roost in Haicheng’s business world, we were unstoppable. Now only this old woman is left. It won’t be long before the four of us are reunited."

Du Yang was visibly panicked. Grandma Lu looked like a withered leaf clinging to a tree in early winter, ready to fall at any moment.

"Don’t say that, Grandma Lu. You’re healthy—you’ll live to be a hundred."

"Grandma Lu, let me take you to see a doctor." Du Yang stood up, trying to help her rise.

Grandma Lu refused, patting Du Yang’s hand, tears glistening in her eyes as she shook her head. "Child, don’t worry. I’ve still got things to take care of, so my body won’t fail me. I’m just fine."

Winter nights came early. Grandma Lu refused to see a doctor, and Du Yang, worried about her health, insisted on walking her all the way to the Lu family’s door.

Grandma Lu, even more worried about Du Yang, insisted on seeing him home before returning to the Lu family.

Lu Yang and Fu Yan followed Grandma Lu back to the Lu residence. 'Followed' is generous—they were being dragged along against their will.

"Yangyang." Fu Yan gripped Lu Yang’s hand tightly, his voice edged with anxiety.

Although Fu Yan didn’t say it, Lu Yang knew what he meant.

Tomorrow was the day of the fire at the Lu residence.

The reunion Fu Yan had so eagerly anticipated had turned into a separation from Du Yang by life and death.

Lu Yang held Fu Yan’s face in his hands and comforted him gently, "Fu Yan, that’s all in the past. I’m right here with you."

Fu Yan wrapped his arms around the young man, closed his eyes, and buried his head in the crook of his neck.

Grief and the joy of having him back washed over him all at once.

Grandma Lu got out of the car. Qin Yue swished her hips as she walked up to support her, but Grandma Lu brushed her off and instead took Lu Jin’an’s arm.

Qin Yue was used to being snubbed. She lowered her eyes, a sharp glint of malice in them, then put on a fake, syrupy smile.

"Mom, it’s so cold out. Where have you been, coming back so late? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Nowhere special." Grandma Lu said heavily. She glanced at Lu Ting and Lu Jin’an. "Old Man Fu passed away."

Grandma Lu’s tone was flat, without a hint of sadness, as if she were talking about something trivial.

Lu Ting and Lu Jin’an both froze, and then Lu Ting’s eyes reddened.

"How is that possible? Uncle Fu was perfectly healthy. Didn’t Jin’an say just last month that he’d be back for New Year’s?"

"Grandma!" Lu Jin’an exclaimed, quickly catching Grandma Lu as she fainted, her body going limp in his arms. He lifted her and immediately rushed her to the hospital.

The Lu household fell into chaos. Lu Ting, Lu Jin’an, and Aunt Wang, who was caring for her, all went to the hospital. Only Qin Yue and Lu Yu, who was playing upstairs on his own, remained at home.

Qin Yue went upstairs and immediately called Du Debao. "The old lady came back covering up the fact that she took Du Yang to the hospital this afternoon. Now she’s fainted and gone to the hospital because of Old Man Fu’s death."

"When are you coming over?" Qin Yue asked anxiously. "The old lady definitely knows Du Yang’s identity now!"

After hanging up, Qin Yue took a deep breath, put on her shoes, and sneaked around to the backyard.

Sure enough, under the wutong tree in the yard, she found a square box wrapped in newspaper.

Making sure no one was watching, Qin Yue grabbed the box from the ground and quickly returned to the villa.

Lu Yang and Fu Yan followed Qin Yue into Lu Yu’s room.

Lu Yu was staring at his phone screen, as if waiting for some news.

Lu Yang leaned in to look. On the screen was a one-sided chat.

Five or six green chat bubbles were all messages Lu Yu had sent to Fu Yan. The earliest was from a year ago, about one every two months.

The last one was sent half an hour ago.

"Brother Yan, can I treat you to dinner tomorrow?"

Fu Yan glanced at it calmly. "Babe, in the last life, I ignored him too."

"I know." Lu Yang stood on tiptoe and kissed Fu Yan on the corner of the mouth. "In the last life, I knew Lu Yu had been trying to get with you for years and never got anywhere."

Fu Yan’s brow twitched slightly. "Then in the last life..."

Fu Yan’s unfinished question was interrupted by Qin Yue. "Xiao Yu, something’s wrong!"

Lu Yu quickly turned off his phone screen, a little annoyed. "Mom, what is it? Isn’t Du Yang just about dead? What else could go wrong? He’s got depression—he’ll off himself sooner or later."

Lu Yang sneered at this. "In the last life, Lu Yu really did know me better than I knew myself."

"Babe, now I’m thinking just letting Lu Yu rot in prison for a few years is way too easy."

Fu Yan looked at Lu Yu like a death sentence from the Grim Reaper. "Should I let him die in prison, or send him to Africa as a slave miner?"

Lu Yang didn’t answer; his attention was on the conversation between Qin Yue and her son.

Qin Yue sat down with the newspaper-wrapped box. "I’m afraid we can’t wait that long. This afternoon, I went to the hospital and ran into the old lady with Du Yang."

"I’m worried she took him for a paternity test." She looked anxious. "If they did a test today, at Fu’s hospital, we could get the results by tomorrow morning."

"Mom, are you sure you saw right? When did the old lady and Du Yang even meet?" Lu Yu was visibly panicking.

"If the old lady finds out everything, she’ll kill me!"

Lu Yu grabbed Qin Yue’s arm. "Mom, think of something! The secret will be buried forever soon, and we’re about to succeed."

"Mom already has a plan."

Qin Yue smiled mysteriously and patted the box on the table. "As long as we pour this in the old lady’s room, just a little open flame, and there won’t be time to put out the fire."

"Kill the old lady?" Lu Yu’s face turned pale, and his breathing became uneven. "It’ll burn down the whole Lu house! What if we get burned to death too..."

"Idiot!" Qin Yue cut him off. "Tomorrow, I’ll send your father out. Then you and Aunt Wang can work together inside and out. And while we’re at it, get rid of Aunt Wang too... She knows too much about us. She can’t stay."

Qin Yue made a throat-slitting gesture, which made Lu Yu’s face even paler, and he wanted to back out.

"Xiao Yu, if you don’t do it now, we’ll be dead the day after tomorrow." Qin Yue grabbed her son’s arm, her eyes fierce and serious. "The old lady’s at the hospital. I’ll go downstairs and set things up. Everything’s arranged for you. Tomorrow, after you light the fuse, go to the back garden."

Lu Yu seemed to have made up his mind, nodding firmly at Qin Yue, then suddenly remembered something and asked.

"Mom, if Grandma has gone to the hospital and doesn't come back tonight, won't our plan fail?"

"Don't worry. As long as Grandma wakes up, she'll definitely come back. In her heart, this mansion is the safest place."

Qin Yue's smile turned sinister. "If she really did a paternity test, she'll announce the results at the Lu family home tomorrow, and that little brat will definitely come too."

Lu Yu's expression shifted from panic to worship and fervor. "Mom, you're amazing, you can kill four birds with one stone! Then only Dad will be left in the Lu family. The Lu family will belong to just the two of us!"

Lu Yang's face grew darker and darker as he listened, his fingers digging tightly into his palms, clenched hard, his muscles tense, his breathing rapid and strained.

"Yangyang! Yangyang!" Fu Yan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly pressed Lu Yang into his arms, stroking his back to help him breathe normally.

Instead of easing, Lu Yang seemed to lose all strength and fainted directly in Fu Yan's arms.

"Yangyang!" The last thing Lu Yang was aware of was Fu Yan's frantic shouts.

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