Chapter 025: Don’t You Find That Contradictory?

Chapter 025: Don’t You Find That Contradictory?

In truth, Li Ruotai’s suspicion toward Wu Chen was not suspicion over whether Wu Chen was sincerely helping him. That much was no longer in question.

Of course he was.

Li Ruotai understood exactly how deep his own trouble ran—the evidence alone would send him straight to prison, and likely see him dead there. If Wu Chen wanted to hurt him, he wouldn’t need to lift a finger. Li Ruotai would already be finished.

So by now, Li Ruotai believed Wu Chen genuinely meant to see him through this crisis.

But he still had his doubts about the man himself.

What he doubted was who Wu Chen actually was. Was there some vast scheme behind him? He’d simply appeared out of nowhere, and everything about him—the intelligence he provided, the abilities he displayed—defied explanation.

Wu Chen had already left him with the unshakable sense that here was someone deeply mysterious, impossible to see through.

Anyone confronted with the unknown felt curiosity and suspicion in equal measure, so Li Ruotai’s doubts about Wu Chen right now only proved one thing: he was a man of sound mind.

Not doubting any of it would have made him a fool.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out. Li Ruotai clapped a hand to the top of his head, wearing the look of a man who wanted to be angry but didn’t quite dare.

Because it was his own sister, Li Ruobing, who’d just rapped him with a soup spoon.

“What’s with ‘this guy’? Where are your manners? He’s your brother-in-law!” Li Ruobing said, her expression cold, brows sharp.

In truth, she had her own doubts about Wu Chen too. But the loving-couple act still had to go on.

“Yes, yes, brother-in-law. I was just asking about… Brother-in-Law, that’s all. Sis, where exactly did Brother-in-Law come from? Don’t try lying to me—there’s no way he’s just some ordinary university student, and he’s no pretty boy either. I’m your own brother. Don’t shut me out.”

“Why are you even asking?” Li Ruobing said. In truth, she had no answer to give, so avoidance was her only option.

She could hardly admit she didn’t know either. That would blow the whole act wide open.

“I’m worried about you. Don’t you think something’s off about him? I’m afraid he’s playing you. He’s definitely not an ordinary person.”

“Don’t start. What’s between me and your brother-in-law is none of your business. Worry about yourself first. I’ve told you eight hundred times to stay away from Xie Hu. If it weren’t for your brother-in-law this time, you’d have gone down hard. Understand?”

“Yes, yes. I fell for that turtle bastard Xie Hu’s nonsense, that’s on me. But Sis, stop dodging. I’m asking about Brother-in-Law.”

“He’s fine. Good to me, good to you too. What more do you want to know?”

“Something’s wrong with him!” Li Ruotai was genuinely getting worked up now.

Because it felt like his sister simply wasn’t hearing him.

“Do you have any idea what your brother-in-law and I have been through together? If you don’t, then don’t run your mouth. I can’t explain his business to you in detail either. I’m warning you—don’t do anything reckless. Your brother-in-law and I will handle our own relationship.” Li Ruobing had already started improvising.

“What have you two been through? Something big? How come I never heard about it?”

“You’re still asking?” Li Ruobing shot him a look.

In truth, she felt just as stifled inside, because she genuinely didn’t know either.

They’d been through nothing at all. They’d only met that same day. She knew nothing real about Wu Chen, and she was even starting to suspect that the background report she’d already had compiled on him was fabricated.

Cowed by the authority his sister had held over him since childhood, Li Ruotai didn’t dare push further.

“Fine, fine. Call me nosy. But when he plays you and tosses you aside one day, don’t come crying to me.” The moment he said it, Li Ruotai sprang up and put two meters of distance between them.

Li Ruobing regarded her brother coolly, not moving from her seat.

Having deliberately courted disaster, Li Ruotai had assumed she’d come straight at him, which was why he’d already leapt clear the instant the words left his mouth.

But Li Ruobing seemed to have seen through the trick.

“Come back. Sit down. Your brother-in-law will be back any minute.” She gave him a look edged with warning.

Li Ruotai returned to his seat, looked his sister up and down, and asked, “Sis, are you really pregnant?”

Li Ruobing regarded him in silence for a moment before saying, “Don’t go spreading that around the family. If any rumors about this reach home, don’t blame me for smacking you.”

In truth, she hadn’t actually answered whether she was pregnant at all.

But the way she’d said it left Li Ruotai with the distinct impression she’d tacitly confirmed it.

“Hey, you didn’t even need to say that. Of course I won’t let the old man find out—that’d only hurt you,” Li Ruotai said.

This was exactly why the bond between the siblings ran so deep.

Li Ruobing was always worrying over her brother.

And Li Ruotai was always looking out for his sister in turn.

“So, Sis—should I give Brother-in-Law some money?” Li Ruotai asked again.

“Give him money for what?” Li Ruobing frowned.

“That money he won back,” Li Ruotai said quickly. “On top of recovering what we lost, Brother-in-Law won the casino another hundred and thirty million. Sure, he was gambling with the house’s own capital, but think about it—as his younger brother-in-law, if I don’t show some proper gratitude, doesn’t that make me look cheap? It wouldn’t reflect well on you either, Sis.”

Li Ruobing rarely agreed with the things Li Ruotai did—most of it was illegal, after all. But this time, she thought her brother had a point.

She had to admit that despite being a businesswoman herself, when it came to the finer points of human relationships, her brother clearly had the edge on her.

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong either way—whether Li Ruotai gave the money or not.

Because Wu Chen had gambled with the house’s money. Win or lose, the stakes belonged to the casino, not to him. He’d carried no personal risk. And he was Li Ruotai’s brother-in-law in name—helping out one’s own family hardly called for some enormous reward.

But whether Wu Chen wanted it, and whether Li Ruotai chose to offer it on his own initiative, were two entirely different things.

When it came to the give-and-take of human relationships, Li Ruotai understood far more than his sister did. He lived in that world, after all.

“Suit yourself. Your call,” Li Ruobing said.

“You know, you’re a strange one too.” She found herself smiling again. “On one hand you suspect your brother-in-law, on the other you want to give him money. Don’t you find that contradictory?”

“One thing’s one thing, another’s another. If he pulls me through this crisis, I’ll give him something even bigger afterward!” Li Ruotai said, the words carrying a rough, underworld edge. “But… he really does have a lot going on beneath the surface. Don’t you think? Almost supernatural, and so young besides.”

Li Ruobing neither agreed nor disagreed.

“Ugh.” Seeing her expression, Li Ruotai sighed. “Forget it. Too tired to deal with the two of you.”

…

The second-floor restroom.

Wu Chen washed and dried his hands, then left to head back to the private room. Just past a corridor intersection, the moment he turned the corner, his brows drew together sharply.

He lifted his phone as if to check it. In truth, the screen was dark—he was using it as a makeshift mirror, glancing at the reflection behind him.

He’d felt it.

Someone was following him.

Or rather—watching him.