Chapter 274: What Are You Thanking Me For? We’re Brothers!

Chapter 274: What Are You Thanking Me For? We’re Brothers!

Hu Xilin stopped the phone as it slid toward him.

He had not recovered emotionally yet. His head was still full of it—Lei Cheng had found evidence and was preparing to bring Lei You down.

Only after a glance at Wu Chen did he pick the phone up and lower his eyes to the screen.

It was still on the video playback interface, but the progress bar had been dragged back to the beginning.

He looked at Wu Chen again, then at Lei Cheng, who still seemed angry and expressionless. Only then did he tap Play.

A little more than ten seconds later—

Hu Xilin’s face changed abruptly as he watched.

He had assumed the video would concern the driver who caused the crash, or something involving Lei You.

Never in his wildest imagination had he expected it to be about his own… wife.

The picture was clear.

So was the audio.

His expression grew uglier and uglier. Veins gradually rose on his forehead.

Men were often like this. Driven by appetite, they might fool around with other women and never once consider divorce. And yet, cheating themselves, they could be seized by fury at the discovery that their wives had done the same.

For several full minutes Hu Xilin watched in complete silence.

He watched with fierce concentration.

The longer he watched, the heavier his breathing became.

Finally, without reaching the end, he stopped it and set the phone down.

The man who had seemed so impulsive minutes ago was now, strangely, much calmer.

His face was simply frightening.

“Mr. Wu, you… shot this this afternoon?” He raised his head and looked at Wu Chen.

“Yes. A little after four.” Wu Chen’s tone was mild. “Zhu Haobo is Lei You’s trusted subordinate, so I looked into him. By coincidence, I happened to see the woman he was meeting…”

“Originally, even though I knew who the woman with Zhu Haobo was, Boss Hu and I had never met.”

As he spoke he glanced at Lei Cheng.

Then he looked back. “So I planned to give the video to Brother Lei and have him pass it on to you as a warning. I didn’t expect we’d meet in person today.”

Hu Xilin looked at Lei Cheng.

“Brother Lei was telling me earlier,” Wu Chen went on, “that we shouldn’t show you the video outright. He was afraid you wouldn’t be able to take it, and thought we should warn you first, drop a few hints. I thought it was better to let you see it directly.”

Hu Xilin looked at Wu Chen again.

He understood now. Wu Chen had discovered this by accident while investigating Zhu Haobo for Lei Cheng.

But what Wu Chen said next changed his expression once more.

“This can’t be dragged out.” Wu Chen looked at him. “Once a woman’s heart has turned, she’ll naturally start thinking about divorce. But because of your prenuptial agreement, Qian Ruiling wouldn’t dare raise it lightly. She’d be afraid you’d grow suspicious…”

Wu Chen had mentioned the prenuptial agreement.

It had been signed twenty years ago.

Only Lei Cheng, Qian Ruiling, and the two families knew of it.

How did Wu Chen know?

“What you really have to worry about,” Wu Chen continued, “is the day Zhu Haobo gets ideas of his own and starts urging Qian Ruiling on. If the two of them join forces and decide they want your assets… there’s no telling what methods they might use.”

He came within a step of saying the words murder for money.

Because of the prenuptial agreement, Qian Ruiling did not dare ask for a divorce.

But if she wanted the divorce and wanted the assets, what else was left to her?

Wu Chen said Zhu Haobo might urge her on.

He was hanging it on Zhu Haobo.

Though it was not exactly a false accusation. If the affair kept developing, such a thing really was possible.

“So,” Wu Chen said, still smiling, “the sooner you know, Boss Hu, the better. It gives you time to make arrangements in advance and make certain that when the divorce comes, the greater share of the property goes to you.”

The study fell silent.

Hu Xilin’s face shifted unpredictably. There were things he could not make sense of, and none of them mattered anymore.

He did not think Wu Chen meant him harm.

Wu Chen was Lei Cheng’s brother.

Lei Cheng was his brother.

And Lei Cheng was sitting right there.

All of it was being said to his face.

“Brother Wu is right!” Lei Cheng said suddenly, the earlier fury gone from him. “Old Hu! Who knows what that pair of fucking dogs might do? Damn it! What good ever came out of one of Lei You’s men? Hell, maybe Lei You knew about it from the start!”

Hu Xilin’s expression changed again. Something flickered in his eyes. No one could say what he was thinking.

“And another thing, Old Hu.” Lei Cheng leaned in closer and gestured. “Don’t make a scene about this yet. When you go home, don’t fight with Qian Ruiling. Act like nothing happened.”

“Get your own side in order first. Those women of yours—make arrangements for every one of them. Have them leave Donghai for now. Better yet, send them abroad for a while.”

“Once the divorce is done and the property has been awarded to you, then let them come back. You absolutely cannot let Qian Ruiling get her hands on leverage while the divorce is running, or all of this will have been for nothing.”

Hu Xilin’s face stiffened.

He stared at Lei Cheng, stunned.

He had kept the existence of his other women under the strictest secrecy.

He had never brought a mistress anywhere near a friend.

Precisely because of that prenuptial agreement, he had never dared.

The slightest rumor and he was finished.

And Lei Cheng knew?

When had it leaked?

He could not work it out. But Lei Cheng plainly knew, and was now advising him what to do as naturally as anything.

“Fucking Lei You. I’m starting to wonder whether Lei You was behind this too—whether he deliberately sent Zhu Haobo to seduce your Qian Ruiling…” Lei Cheng started cursing him again. “Back then he was willing to kill me for the family holdings. I only lived through it because I was lucky. My poor wife was the one who…”

Wu Chen had hung it on Zhu Haobo.

Lei Cheng hung it squarely on Lei You.

A conspiracy theory.

Whether Hu Xilin believed it or not, it would certainly work on him.

“Brother Hu, don’t worry!” Lei Cheng went on. “Once I put Lei You away, I’ll make damn sure someone questions him properly! Zhu Haobo is Lei You’s lackey. He’s not getting out of it either. They can both go inside!”

Everything was out in the open now.

Yet Hu Xilin still looked deeply unsettled and said nothing for a long while.

It took him quite some time to come round.

At last he looked at Lei Cheng. “Thanks, Old Lei.”

Then he turned to Wu Chen. “And thank you too, Mr. Wu. If you hadn’t found out in time, I might have…”

“What are you thanking us for? We’re brothers!” Lei Cheng waved a hand, almost reproaching him for the courtesy.

The atmosphere turned harmonious in an instant.

Exactly as Wu Chen had said earlier—

the art of language.

In truth, Hu Xilin understood there was more going on here.

But at this point there was little left to say beyond thank you.

When the Lei family’s internal struggle erupted later, Hu Xilin would not merely refrain from tipping Lei You off in advance.

He would support Lei Cheng with everything he had.

Partly because his opinion of Lei You had already deteriorated sharply.

But there was another reason, and it was the more important one.

He could not afford to fall out with Lei Cheng.

A divorce lawsuit would run long, especially one involving billions of yuan in assets. A year, a year and a half—perfectly normal.

Through all of it, Lei Cheng would hold leverage over him.

Lei Cheng had not framed it as leverage. He had shown no intention of threatening him. On the contrary, he was offering help.

But Hu Xilin would think about it himself.

If he fell out with Lei Cheng, he could be in serious trouble.

If his wife learned about his own affairs, then…

For the next hour the three men talked privately.

First they worked through what Hu Xilin should arrange, when he should file, and how the best course would be to find an opportunity to catch Zhu Haobo and Qian Ruiling together in a hotel.

After that they discussed Lei Cheng’s secret preparations against Lei You.

A little after seven in the evening, Tao Manying came up again and called them to dinner.

They went down together.

Dinner was lavish—twelve dishes in all. The housekeeper had not cooked all of it. Tao Manying had made several herself, and even Zhuang Xiaodie had stir-fried two.

Zhuang Xiaodie was a guest, and Tao Manying had not wanted her cooking.

But Zhuang Xiaodie said it was fine. She had nothing else to do anyway.

Speaking of which, Zhuang Xiaodie was willing to grow closer to her senior in the industry, and Tao Manying was willing to build a good relationship with her.

The villa was enormous. Even the dining room stood as a separate room of its own.

The five of them closed the door and sat down to eat.

Dinner had barely begun, a few words exchanged, when a phone rang in the room.

Ring-ring-ring…

Lei Cheng’s.

He took it out and looked. His brows drew together at once.

Then he glanced at Wu Chen as he answered and raised it to his ear.

“Hello, Young Master Ding,” Lei Cheng said.

Ding Ruilong.