Chapter 62: Don't do something stupid

Granny Ma brings him a glass of water, after he has heard the whole of the short, tortuous tale of Li Siqi's blindness.

She was an employee in one of Greydot's warehouses, one of many handling distribution for re-sellers, and online orders. 

One day she was working overtime ("That part is the same!" Ni Ni interjects; Xi Zirui ignores her), and she was worried her supervisor might file a report if she didn't check all the shipments, even though she was the only one on the floor.

There problem was, that wasn't usually part of her functions, and she took longer than she expected.

By the time she was done, it was night out and the warehouse was deserted.

It's then that the huge metal doors slid open and two cars drove in.

Su Xueyi was in one of those cars. A man and a woman she had never seen before were in the other.

Su Xueyi led the two of them to one of the crates she had just been inventorying, and cranked it open with a crowbar he brought with him.

Li Siqi could barely hold back her gasp when she saw its contents. Dozens of guns, neatly packed and stacked in rows, protected with bubble wrap and styrofoam, as if they were just another product.

The people that came with Su Xueyi inspected the contents of the crate, and talked among themselves. 

In the end, everyone shook hands and Su Xueyi nailed the crates shut again.

Li Siqi waited for everyone to leave, and thought she was in the clear when the warehouse fell silent once again.

She left through her usual employee exit, which is when she found Su Xueyi leaning against the hood of a silver Tesla, leisurely smoking a cigarette.

The terror in her eyes made it impossible for her to deny not having seen anything.

Su Xueyi advanced towards her in long strides. 

"I promise I didn't see anything!" she pleaded. "I won't say anything, I swear."

He grabbed her by the back of he head, gripping a handful of her hair in his fist. "I'm sure you won't," he cooed. "But I'm going to leave you with a little incentive to keep your mouth shut."

He took the cigarette from between his lips, and put it out on Li Siqi's eyes. First the right one, then the left. Li Siqi's anguished screams clogged her throat. She was in so much agony she thought she was going to die.

"There, now you won't be seeing anything you shouldn't, ever again."

---

At that point, Xi Zirui had to sit down to stop his roiling stomach from giving up its contents.

He's no stranger to the cruelty that can hide beneath Su Xueyi's charming dimples, but hearing Li Siqi's account is beyond sickening.

After his brutal attack, she could only claw desperately at her phone, and rely on her muscle memory to call Liao Min, who took her to the hospital and called Han Yu on the way there.

The doctors tried their best, but there was no way to save Li Siqi's eyes.

Proving that Su Xueyi had done it would be all but impossible. There weren't any security cameras in that out of the way industrial area near the wharf. And even if there were, Su Xueyi has the means to make all evidence disappear.

Li Siqi became plagued with nightmares and anxiety attacks, triggered by the scent of smoke, almost inescapable in the city.

During the day, she stays with hers and Han Yu's grandma, Granny Ma, because being on her own only makes her anxiety worse. 

After her shift, Liao Min picks her up and takes her to their home.

It leaves him heartbroken to see her life ruined like this, not so much because of the blindness, but due to the everlasting trauma of her brutal attack.

"Now you understand, why the two of us want revenge," Han Yu says, motioning towards him and Liao Min "And why it's dangerous for you to get involved."

"I'll do everything in my power to bring Su Xueyi down for all he has done," he says, never breaking eye contact with Han Yu, willing him to believe the honesty of his words.

---

Granny Ma invites him to stay for lunch. Despite her worries that Su Xueyi might call her back at any time, Liao Min stays too.

The little house is immaculately clean, and charmingly decorated despite its dilapidated exterior. 

Xi Zirui feels much more comfortable here, sitting at a cramped table, bumping knees with three other people, than he does in Su Xueyi's penthouse with a thousand li of glass table between them.

Granny Ma serves them shredded pork in rich, dark, savory sauce, with stir-fried rice and vegetables. That too is far better than the plain hotpot he was forced to endure in the upscale restaurant yesterday.

Xi Zirui didn't realize how starved he was for real homecooked food until he starts eating and never wants to stop.

"You have a little..." Han Yu says, motioning to the corner of his own lips.

Xi Zirui tries to clean it off with his tongue. "Did I get it?"

Han Yu chuckles. "No, here let me," he licks the pad of his thumb and rubs it against Xi Zirui's face. "There, all better."

The corner of Xi Zirui's lips is wet with Han Yu's saliva, it's distracting. 

Han Yu feels the same way, his eyes don't leave the wet patch of skin.

Liao Min coughs loudly. "I'm sorry, do you two need a minute alone?"

"What's happening?" Li Siqi asks, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"Your brother is making cow eyes at his boss."

Xi Zirui feels the urge to defend himself. "I'm not his boss."

"No, your husband is," Han Yu says, picking at his rice listlessly. 

"Cucking the rich is great praxis if you ask me," Liao Min says, filling Xi Zirui's bowl with yet more shredded pork.

"Isn't he also rich, though?" Li Siqi asks, chewing thoughtfully. 

"No, his husband is," Han Yu interjects. "There's a difference."

"Can you really say the passive acquiring of  surplus wealth is any different than the active pursuit of it?" Li Siqi posits.

Liao Min hums. "I think so, yes, someone who wins the lottery isn't as bad as a venture capitalist."

Xi Zirui absolutely can't stay out of this conversation. He's probably smiling scarily wide. "But what about a lottery winner who invests his winnings in lobbying union busting policies, and a venture capitalist who invests his profits in financing workers' unions?" 

Han Yu smiles at him. "Now, that's an interesting exercise..." 

Granny Ma clears her throat, silencing the chatter. "Children, no dialectics at the table."

They finish the rest of the meal in silence, to Xi Zirui's disappointment.

---

Liao Min really can't push her luck any further, and after lunch takes Xi Zirui and Han Yu back to the penthouse.

"You don't want to go back to the company?" Han Yu asks him.

"No, I'm going to try the direct approach to talk Su Xueyi into letting me into the arms thing."

"You have to know..."Han Yu sighs and runs his fingers over his hair. "We think he's into more stuff than arms trafficking."

Xi Zirui nods, that doesn't surprise him, but arms are small potatoes compared to drugs and human trafficking; if that's the case Su Xueyi is handling some big fish. The kind that won't hesitate to get rid of him if he draws the wrong kind of attention.

Turning him into the police might be out of the equation.

"There's something else you need to know," Liao Min says, meeting his eyes through the rearview mirror. "We're trying to shut down his whole operation, sure, but we don't plan on turning him in to the police. Just the evidence of all his crimes."

Uncanny timing. Xi Zirui straightens the seatbelt across his chest. "What do you intend to do, then?"

"Kill him," Han Yu says.

"As gruesomely as possible," Liao Min adds, with a knife edge's grin. 

"It's the least he deserves, for what he did to my sister."

Xi Zirui nods.

"Anyway, I thought you should know, seeing as he is your husband and all," Liao Min says. "That good with you?"

What else can he say? "All good."

He meets Liao Min's probing gaze in the rearview mirror and then turns sideways to look out the window at Beijing's rushing scenery.

---

Liao Min drops them off and goes back to the offices. Xi Zirui's mind is swimming with uncertainty.

How is he going to convince Han Yu not to kill Su Xueyi? 

'Hey, torture him all you want, but don't kill me or I'll die too?' No sane person would believe something like that.

Xi Zirui's eyes dart towards Han Yu flinging his leather jacket carelessly over the back of the couch, and padding towards the kitchen. 

Would he even care if Xi Zirui died? 

He only got the job as the original's bodyguard to get close to Han Yu. 

Things must be very clear cut in his mind. His goal is to avenge his sister, Xi Zirui has nothing to do with that.

Han Yu comes back from the kitchen with a bottle of water and notices Xi Zirui leaning against the sofa and giving his discarded jacket a morose look.

"Are you okay?" he asks, coming close to Xi Zirui.

Xi Zirui nods, but continues looking away from him. 

Han Yu draws closer, until he's almost boxing in Xi Zirui against the sofa. "Why the long face then?"

They're so close Xi Zirui can feel the heat of Han Yu's body through his tshirt. It's doing things to his head.

Han Yu bumps his knees into Xi Zirui's. "Didn't you like lunch? You looked like you were having fun..."

"No I had fun, it was great, meeting your family." 

"You weren't so bad yourself," Han Yu grins, "against all expectations, I think my sister even liked you."

Xi Zirui can't hold it in anymore, and blurts out, "What about you? Do you like me?"

Han Yu is taken aback by the suddenness of the question, and it takes him a few moments to come up with an answer. "In the past few days, I've realized maybe I like you more than I should."

His long eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks, but don't do enough to shade the faint blush staining them.

Xi Zirui is about to do something really stupid.

Slowly, he walks his fingers towards Han Yu's over the the couch, and then laces them together.

Han Yu looks down at their joined fingers, and then up at Xi Zirui's face with a question written all over his eyes.

"Wanna fuck in Su Xueyi's bed?"

Han Yu's answering smirk spells devastation for Xi Zirui's better judgment. "Always."