The entrance of a famous private club in the city.
Chu Ci had never been here before, but he knew that Han Yue was a frequent visitor of the clubhouse—the boss was a friend in their circle, and he always had to bring here to deal with some things that were inconvenient to discuss with people at home or at work.
Han Yue got out of the car, opened Chu Ci's car door with his own hands, and said with a smile, "Come with me."
Chu Ci narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at him for a moment, as if he felt something strange, but couldn't figure out what happened, so he got out of the car without saying a word, and then Han Yue closed the door behind him.
The decoration of the clubhouse is magnificent, but there are only a little more waiters in the lobby. After taking the elevator to the second floor, the corridor is covered with thick light-colored carpets, and the doors of the boxes on both sides are tightly closed. No other sound could be heard except from the passage.
The well-dressed service lady with light makeup led them to the door of a box, bowed her body, didn't say much, and retreated silently.
Han Yue beckoned to Chu Ci for him to come forward, then pulled him with one hand, and reached for the doorknob of the box with the other.
But Chu Ci felt something in an instant, and pressed his hand: "Han Yue..."
"Ok?"
Looking at each other, Chu Ci said softly: "Forget it, actually..."
Han Yue opened the door without waiting for him to finish speaking.
The box is luxuriously decorated, brilliant and bright, and upon entering the door, there is a huge round table with an assortment of dishes on it, and the table is already full of people.
Chu Ci was taken aback for a moment, but was pushed in by Han Yue with his arms around his shoulders, and then the door locked with a click.
No one made a sound or moved in the huge box, and the table was full of delicacies from mountains and seas without even moving a chopstick. Everyone sat upright at the table, staring closely at Han Yue and Chu Ci. At first glance, they looked like cold stone statues, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder that was about to explode. A smile appeared on the corner of Han Yue's mouth, but behind that smile was a deeper coldness:
"good evening."
No one answered, Chu Ci clearly saw several people clenched their teeth, and even their complexions turned dark red with suppressed anger.
"Let me introduce you," Han Yue turned a blind eye, took Chu Ci's hand naturally, pointed at the guests at the round table one by one, and said with a smile, "Actually, they are all acquaintances, but you probably haven't seen them before. This one is Hou Hongchang’s cousin, and behind him are friends of the Hou family’s subordinates; these are relatives of Boss Zhao Tingzhao, and there are also brothers who have sacrificed their blood and worshiped Guan Gong for the alliance; and the latter few…”
He introduced them one by one, and in the quiet box, only his calm and terrifying voice echoed.
——Those are all the enemies that Chu Ci forged all those years ago!
Every time Han Yue called someone's name, the complexion of that person became more tense and gloomy. Some young and energetic couldn't help it, and wanted to grit their teeth and jump up, but under Han Yue's cold gaze, they were pushed back by Shuo Shengsheng. .
"These are the cousins of the Gao family," Han Yue said. "Gao Liangqing was the most upstanding member of his family before his death. The cousins are all in the county below. It took me a lot of effort to invite them all to Beijing."
Chu Ci's eyes fell on a young man from the Gao family.
The man looked to be in his early twenties, probably still in college, and his face, which had faded from hatred and madness, looked particularly youthful. If you look carefully, the facial features are actually quite similar to Gao Liangqing's, but at this time this face has been dominated by fear, panic and desperate anger, and even the outline is slightly distorted.
Chu Ci and him looked at each other for a moment, then looked away calmly.
The whole box was dead silent, only the sound of long or short and heavy breathing could be heard. In the air that was about to freeze, Han Yue introduced everyone, then turned around and smiled:
"Chu Ci, some time ago you met a bag snatcher on the road, he should be sitting here today."
"It took me several weeks to gather these people. If you look familiar, tell me now."
One by one Hongmen Banquet.
I don't know how Han Yue found out the doubts, and how he locked these targets and brought them together, but it is a terrible thing for him to let everyone sit together at this grand banquet today up.
Chu Ci hesitated for a moment, and as soon as he opened his mouth slightly, he heard a person in the table get up abruptly: "Han Er, don't be too fucking too much!"
There was a loud explosion on the ground, and everyone looked around, only to see a young man standing on the seat of Hou's family, gnashing his teeth and taking a step forward—but then his relative in the next seat grabbed him by the arm and said angrily : "Hou Tong!"
The young man named Hou Tong shook his hand and said, "Han Er, let me tell you, don't think you are so arrogant..."
Han Yue interrupted: "You also got the name Han Er?"
Hou Tong choked up, and saw Han Yue turned to the other people at the table, with a slight hook on the corner of his mouth:
"One by one, everyone, I'm sure Hou Tong is not the only one who is dissatisfied with inviting everyone here today. Although I am sometimes impatient, most of the time I am still reasonable. If anyone here really doesn't want to stay here, just do it now It’s okay to stand up.”
The surroundings were completely silent, and someone moved uncomfortably, but no sound was made after all.
The only sound of Hou Tong's heavy breathing was heard in the whole box.
After a while, a relative of the Zhao family stood up, and saw that he was about forty years old, gentle, with a distinct southern accent, and his expression was sincere: "Mr. Han is worrying too much. Although we don't know exactly what happened But since I have a clear conscience, I'm not afraid of being invited over for a meal—”
He draws out his tone and looks around. As far as the eyes could see, everyone's expressions were slightly relaxed, and the young people who were eager to move before also froze, and then forced themselves to hold back.
"What's more, the wine and food are good today, and the reception is thoughtful and proper. What do we have to be dissatisfied with?" The surname Zhao paused, and said with a smile, "If you have anything to do, feel free to discuss it. After the matter is over, I will be nice to you." It's a good meal."
The Zhao family is indeed a businessman, and the speed of understanding current affairs is simply beyond the reach of others. It not only helped to ease the atmosphere, but also lost no time in revealing that our family is really innocent and has a clear conscience.
Han Yue laughed when he heard the words, but he didn't say much, he just made a comforting gesture: "Boss Zhao, please sit down, I know what you said."
The surname Zhao sat down with an apologetic smile, and Han Yue turned to the others and asked, "Is there anything else you want to say?"
This time it seemed that there was no sound of breathing, and the air was like some kind of cold and thick liquid, slowly passing through everyone's nasal cavity. Some people pretended not to know, and turned to the plate in front of them, as if they suddenly had a strong interest in the empty white porcelain plate; some people secretly looked around, as if they were upset but did not dare to speak, and wanted to test other people’s attitudes through observation .
Han Yue waited patiently for a while, seeing no one answered, a hint of sarcasm appeared in his eyes.
He turned to Hou Tong—he was the only one standing alone at the dining table, his face was already flushed, and the other relatives of the Hou family turned their heads with speechless expressions on their faces.
"Mr. Hou," Han Yue asked, "what else do you have to say?"
Hou Tong breathed heavily, his eyes moved back and forth on the faces of Han Yue and Chu Ci, and finally said stupidly: "...don't be too rampant, Han! Although Hou Hongchang is dead, but our family is still alive, go out Afterwards, I will tell my elder brother exactly what happened today... "
"Your elder brother Hou Yu?" Han Yue seemed to find it very interesting, so he asked, "Who do you think gave your contact information to my subordinates?"
Hou Tong didn't react at first, and then his face changed drastically:
"Impossible! You are one by one"
Han Yue didn't bother him too much, he just took out his mobile phone from his pocket, dialed the number, and the connection was connected within a few seconds.
"Hey Han Yue, what's the matter?"
There was silence all around, and those few short words came out very clearly, and it was Hou Yu's voice!
Han Yue didn't look at Hou Tong's green and red face, so he said lightly to the phone: "It's nothing, I'm in the hotel now, your cousin Hou Tong and I seem to have misunderstood..."
"Don't you tell me that son of a bitch did it?!"
"No, no," Han Yue said with a smile, "tell him yourself."
Han Yue walked up to Hou Tong, smiled and handed over the phone. But Hou Tong hesitated for a while, but the matter has come to this point and he can't tolerate any more nonsense, so he took the phone and stuck it to his ear: "Hey, brother..."
"What the hell are you doing to me?!"
Hou Tong was dumbfounded by the scolding: "I just..."
Immediately afterwards, Hou Yu yelled mercilessly on the other side of the phone. The content was nothing more than if you did it, I would tear your hands off. If you are in trouble, I will fuck you to death. Is it easy for me to be exhausted outside every day? If it weren’t for me supporting you all in this family, you would all have to drink northwest wind...
Hou Yu's swearing could only be heard in a private room. His cousin's face had turned into a liver color, and the veins in his hands clutching the edge of the table burst out.
In the end, it was Han Yue who took back the phone and smoothed things over with a smile: "Hou Yu, don't be so angry. Our cousin is just young and ignorant. It seems that I am being unreasonable when you say that."
Over there Hou Yu cursed a few more words, and said angrily: "Tell that son of a bitch, just wait! If such a big thing happened, you dare to keep me going. Whoever dares to go first today, I will be the first to pick it up!" took his skin!"
Hou Yu has gone smoothly and developed rapidly in the past few years, and now she has a good temper. As soon as his decisive words came out, everyone's hearts sank instantly.
This really wasn't something that Han Yue did alone, or at least, Han Yue got the tacit approval and even support of more forces.
The atmosphere in the box changed subtly, but Han Yue ignored it, hung up the phone casually, and asked with a smile, "What else do you have to say?"
No one responded, and after a while, a cousin of the Hou family stretched out his hand and secretly pulled Hou Tong who was standing stupidly back to his seat, and said with a smile: "Since our elder brother already knows, what else do we have to say? If someone here really robs Chu Tong The work bag, it must be found, we will have dinner after we are done."
Only then did someone below nod their heads in agreement, and the voices of response gradually joined together.
Chu Ci stood silently by the door, his eyes moved slightly, and he glanced at the table. Basically everyone's expression is considered normal, only a few are a little anxious, probably afraid that they will be suspected if they express their opinions too late; but the young man from the Gao family is standing there stiffly, his teeth are clenched so tightly that even his temples are tight Some protrude slightly.
"Chu Ci," Han Yue turned around and held out his hand to him, "Come here."
Chu Ci stepped forward, and Han Yue just held his hand and pointed at everyone, saying: "The grandson who snatched your bag that day should be sitting here today. You should carefully recognize it, take your time, don't mistake the person, but Don’t let the real culprit go.”
Chu Ci's eyes swept over the faces of these people one by one.
Those moose with different expressions were uncontrollable, and they all turned into the same vague symbols in a trance, and gradually faded away from his sight, so that he could no longer recall the state of mind when he first faced these people.
Everyone, maybe even Han Yue, thought that there was only pure and strong hatred in his heart.
Only he himself knows that more is actually fear.
He is an ordinary person, of course he is afraid of power, of injustice, of being easily crushed like an ant, and disappearing silently like a bubble on a street corner in the middle of the night. At first when he was investigating the inside story of his adoptive mother's death, he saw that one by one For a surname with a profound and powerful background, the first thing he felt was not anger, but fear.
He was afraid of Han Yue, afraid that he would be killed by this lunatic. He woke up countless times in the middle of the night, and he had to use all his willpower to barely restrain the urge to reach out and strangle the man next to his pillow to death.
He was also afraid of himself, lost himself in the thrill of bloody revenge beyond the law, collapsed rationally, and finally twisted into the devil he hated, feared, and least wanted to be.
That secret fear has always been deeply rooted in his heart, like a shadow, lingering and lingering. But today, when he saw the faces in front of him, the boiling hatred and cold fear suddenly subsided, like a flame suddenly turning into scattered sparks in ashes.
An indescribable steadfastness and peace gradually emerged from the depths of the soul.
That feeling came from his solid back.
One by one, that was the direction Han Yue was standing in.
Chu Ci closed her eyes and took a breath. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, stepped forward under everyone's gaze, stood by the table, picked up an empty glass and filled himself with a full glass of wine.
"When I went to Beijing to study more than ten years ago, my mother told me that the imperial city was rooted at the foot of the emperor, and there were countless dignitaries. She told me to be careful not to cause trouble. We might not even be able to afford to pay for a dog walking on the streets of the imperial capital. A small family from a poor family does not want to be successful, but a peaceful family together is better than anything else."
"It's a pity that later, time and fate, the grievances and grievances between me and everyone have reached the point where they are today; not only are they absolutely impossible to solve, but there is no need to solve them."
As soon as Chu Ci said this, the atmosphere below was slightly disturbed, and everyone's expressions became unsightly.
But he turned a blind eye and tapped the glass full of wine on the table.
"The people who died in my hands in the past were basically killed with one knife, but I was stabbed twice that day. Logically speaking, there should be absolutely no reason to survive. It is purely accidental that I can stand here today. So, regardless of the previous Whoever owes more grievances and blood debts should be paid off by me."
"However, I also know that just because I was lucky enough not to die this time, it doesn't mean that I will be lucky forever; everyone here is also a person with dignity, status and status, and they must live in the shadow of being watched all day long. It won't be too good."
"So I invite everyone here today to make a decision."
Chu Ci raised his wine glass and swung it around:
"From now on, you and I will sever all grievances and grievances, and we will not owe each other."
"The deceased is gone. I will not pursue people who have no direct relationship with this. Correspondingly, you should never trouble me again. Those who agree with this point, after drinking this glass of wine, they will be passers-by when they meet in the future; otherwise, someday in the future Lie dead on the street, remember that everyone provoked me first."
Everyone's eyes were slightly terrified, and Hou Tong was the first to ask angrily: "Don't talk big, what if you get killed first?"
Chu Ci turned her head without answering.
Han Yue was standing behind him, staring deeply at him.
"One by one, then Han Yue will definitely avenge me."
Chu Ci turned around and drank the wine in one gulp, smashing the glass on the table in full view of everyone!
Half an hour later, the hotel parking lot.
Chu Ci pushed open the door and walked down the steps quickly. A tall and straight figure was standing by the car door smoking a cigarette, sparks were flickering on and off in the dark.
"Drink all?" Han Yue turned around and asked.
"Ok."
Han Yue nodded, turned his head and took a big puff of cigarette, and slowly exhaled the white mist.
"Han Yue," Chu Ci said behind him, "It's not that I don't... understand what you mean, but I really don't see what the murderer looks like. Even if he is here today, I can't recognize him. Anyway, now Things are over for the time being, in the future..."
"It's Gao Liangqing's cousin."
Chu Ci was taken aback.
"When you entered the door, your eyes stopped at the Gao family, and when I introduced them one by one, you frequently looked at the people in the Gao family. Moreover, Gao Liangqing's cousin is a brainless idiot, but today he held back all the time. I stopped without saying a word, and at the same time, I didn’t dare to meet your eyes, and my whole body movements showed a gesture of subconsciously hiding behind others.”
Han Yue looked at Chu Ci and smiled slightly: "You have already recognized the murderer, but you just pretended not to know."
Chu Ci didn't know what to say for a moment, he just looked at Han Yue's handsome face at the junction of the shadows, and after a while he managed to say: "I'm sorry, I'm one by one"
"Excuse me for what?"
"..."
"You refused to tell me any clues in the hospital, and you pretended not to recognize you just now, because you are afraid that I will be dragged into this muddy water again, and you will set up more enemies and pay a greater price to keep you, right?"
The two looked at each other for a long time, Chu Ci was speechless, so he could only rub his brows as a cover-up:
"That's not the case at all, I'm just afraid of trouble..."
"Speaking of which, it's really rare to hear you say sorry to me." Han Yue thought it was very interesting and interrupted him, "Is this the second time? The first time was after you killed Han Qiang, in the hospital, you took the initiative to hug him." hit me"
"..."
"Chu Ci," Han Yue said, "the premise of this matter is that I love you."
——His words didn't seem to be a confession, nor were there any emotional agitation, but it seemed to be explaining some kind of motive or reason.
"I want to protect you, take care of you, and spend the remaining decades of my life with you. From the moment I saw you for the first time, my feelings for you have never faded. deepened over time until it became a part of my own life."
"So I do these things on my own will, and all the prices I pay are also willing. You don't need to feel owed anything, and don't want to give me anything back, as long as you live in this unsatisfactory world in peace It is already the greatest reward for me."
Chu Ci's lips moved, as if she was about to say something but then stopped, and after a while, a somewhat complicated and helpless smile emerged.
"People like you..."
The lingering sound curled up and dissipated in the air, and after a while he murmured again:
"Why did I meet... people like you..."
The lights are feasting, the feasting is full of luxury, and the brilliant neon halos are reflected from the night sky. Together with the night wind mixed with the bustling atmosphere of the city, they interweave into blurred light and shadow.
Han Yue extinguished the cigarette butt, threw it into the sewer, and stepped forward to hug Chu Ci.
It was a hug that was so firm that it even hurt a little, just like his feeling from beginning to end, hot, direct, and hard to refuse. Han Yue buried his face deeply into Chu Ci's neck, and after a while he let out a dull laugh: "Since you want to do this for today's matter, then do it this way."
"..."
"Although I don't really believe that you can negotiate with them for a lifetime, I will always watch you, protect you, and keep you from my sight. If one day you are gone, or something happens, I will definitely I will find the right person to avenge you."
"But before that, I'm confident that the two of us can spend the rest of our lives well. What do you mean by that sentence? Hold hands and grow old together, which means that one day we both will be hunched over and gray-haired Bad old man."
Chu Ci's vision was blurred, but she immediately retorted: "You are the old man."
"Yes, yes, I'm an old man, and you're still handsome even when you're old." Han Yue hugged Chu Ci's head, kissed his temple hair forcefully, and said, "I love you, how about you?"
In the dimness, Chu Ci's eyelashes trembled suddenly, and it took a long, long time before they closed slowly.
He let out a hoarse breath, and finally patted Han Yue's generous back with his backhand, feeling a strong pulse penetrating his palm from under the fiery skin.
"… I know."
The vast expanse of stars and the lights of thousands of houses converge into a magnificent river of light under the night sky of the huge city. Countless light spots rush forward, leaving behind all the past in the dark night, and heading for the brilliant front.
In the high-rise steel forest, there is an inconspicuous window hidden in countless lights, waiting for familiar footsteps to light it up.
One by one, that is the direction of returning home, the direction of home.