In the car, Su Nianhua first looked at the silent Tang Shi and then twisted his head around to look at Gu Qingcheng who was still standing outside. After a brief pause, he flashed Gu Qingcheng a smile and began to say, "Qing…"
Before he could utter the rest of her nickname, Su Nianhua caught a glimpse through the rearview mirror of Tang Shi's icy glare. Spooked, he quickly switched to, "Miss Gu, good-bye."
As he drove, Su Nianhua kept stealing glances at Tang Shi, who was seated in the back seat.
The man appeared to be his normal self. With his eyes shut, he seemed to be taking a casual nap.
Yet, Su Nianhua could sense danger and, for the rest of the journey, didn't even dare to breathe too loudly. Even when he'd felt discomfort in his throat, he'd had to do his utmost to suppress a cough.
Su Nianhua drove at a steady pace to the villa in the western suburbs. When they arrived, he quickly jumped out of the car to open the door for Tang Shi.
Without even glancing at him, Tang Shi walked straight into the villa.
Su Nianhua followed hastily.
In the living room on the first floor of the villa, several people were seated at a table, playing cards. When they saw Tang Shi, everyone said, "Hey, bro."
Tang Shi didn't appear to have heard them. With an expressionless face, he removed his overcoat, threw it to a waiting servant, changed his shoes, and headed directly for the elevator.
The card players looked in unison at Su Nianhua, who motioned a SSSHHH gesture. He then cleared his throat and suggested, with extreme caution, to Tang Shi, "Bro, I'm sure you didn't eat much at the event. Are you hungry? Shall I get Auntie Wu to cook you some supper?"
"No need," Tang Shi replied in a flat tone before he stepped into the elevator, shut the door behind him, and went upstairs.
There was complete silence in the living room on the first floor for exactly two minutes. Lin Jinchen folded his cards and went up to Su Nianhua, asking, "Nianhua, what's up with our bro? He was fine when he left the villa. Why has he come home in this state? Just one look at that expression on his face is enough to send a chill down anyone's spine."
"Tell me about it. I almost suffocated, having to drive him all the way back here. You know too well how terrified I am when he gets all icily aloof and moody," said Su Nianhua as he sat down gloomily on the sofa. Then, having recalled something juicy, his expression turned mysterious as he asked, "Guess who I saw when I went to pick up our bro?"
Sitting at the table and sorting the dollars that he'd won, Lu Ran continued to count his money as he glanced at Su Nianhua, who obviously intended to keep them in suspense, and he commented, "We're only concerned about our bro. No one cares about who you ran into earlier."
Su Nianhua answered, "Ran, you don't get it. This is someone who is definitely connected to what's going on with our bro."
After Su Nianhua had spoken, the atmosphere in the room tensed up instantly. After a minute of silence, Lu Ran put down the money that he'd had in his hand and opened his mouth to say the words, "Gu Qingcheng?"
"Hey, Ran is so smart. Spot on," Su Nianhua replied.
"What's being smart got to do with anything? During our friendship of so many years, how many times has Gu Qingcheng not been the cause of our bro being upset?" asked Lin Jinchen.
Reaching up with his hand to rub his forehead, Lu Ran said, "Really, I don't understand what goes on in that head of his. Three years ago, he was the one who wanted to sleep with Qingqing. Then when he did, afterwards he completely shirked his responsibility toward her. Obviously, Qingqing is the one who has drawn the short straw here, so why is it that whenever our bro gets upset, it appears that Qingqing has done him wrong?"