Everyone Regrets It After My Death - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Get Out

“Why did I push him down the stairs?” Su Mingran murmured to himself. He was past the point of being angry; it was simply farcical now.

In the eyes of Gu Pei and his parents, his dazed reaction was interpreted as the guilt of someone caught red-handed.

“From the very first day this ungrateful son returned home, he’s held a grudge against Xinghe. Gu Pei, you’re not a member of this family, so you don’t know—this boy is rotten to the core.”

“Poor Xinghe always tells me, ‘He’s part of the family, take good care of him,’ saying a little grievance on his part is nothing. If you don’t believe me, ask Yan Qian. She’s his mother; she knows best.”

The Gu family was currently very influential in the business world; many trades required their nod of approval. Seeing Gu Pei protecting Qi Xinghe, Su Renhua seized the opportunity to smear Su Mingran further.

Yan Qian, as cold as ever toward Su Mingran, gave a perfunctory nod in agreement.

“Gu Pei, please, comfort Xinghe. His knee is injured, and I’m worried there might be internal damage. We need to get him a full check-up. His mother and I have a few things to attend to—could you stay with him?”

“Uncle Su, you’re too kind. Xinghe and I are friends; of course I’ll stay.”

None of them noticed Su Mingran’s face growing paler by the second.

Su Mingran felt a cold sneer rising in his heart. He knew perfectly well that no explanation would be believed. Even the truth would be branded a lie, while Qi Xinghe’s lies were canonized as truth. What a laughable “truth”—that he had pushed Qi Xinghe.

Su Renhua pulled Yan Qian away, making an excuse to leave. He glared at Su Mingran on the way out, a clear signal to get lost and not interfere with Gu Pei and Qi Xinghe’s time together.

Su Mingran had no desire to stay, but as he turned to leave, Gu Pei called out to him.

“Come out. I have something to say to you.”

Su Mingran paused, then followed Gu Pei into a deserted stairwell.

“Why did you push Xinghe?” Gu Pei couldn’t understand how the person in front of him had changed so much. “I remember you weren’t like this. You never used to bully him.”

In Gu Pei’s memory, Su Mingran was an optimistic, kind-hearted friend. That was why he enjoyed his company—until the day Qi Xinghe tearfully told him otherwise.

That day, Qi Xinghe was slightly drunk. Uncle Su had asked Gu Pei to take him home. Thinking Gu Pei was someone else, Qi Xinghe had sobbed about his “suffering” at home. That was when Gu Pei learned why Xinghe’s last name wasn’t Su; he was an “adopted” son.

“I’ve always respected him like a real brother,” Xinghe had slurred. “I gave him everything he wanted, so why does he still bully me? Mom and Dad favor him, so why does he tell everyone they only like me?”

Since that drunken confession, Gu Pei had begun to pay more attention to Qi Xinghe, gradually feeling more and more sympathy for him. He just never imagined Su Mingran could be so cruel as to push him down the stairs.

Facing Gu Pei’s interrogation, Su Mingran managed a jagged smile. “So, in your eyes, I was always that bad?”

Gu Pei frowned. He didn’t understand that smile—it was the kind of smile that made one’s blood run cold. “Xinghe is an adoptee. He arrived just as you went missing. It’s understandable if you resented him at first. But after you returned, Uncle and Aunt Su treated you so well, and Xinghe has been incredibly patient with you. It’s not fair to take out your childhood frustrations on him.”

“Treated me well? Patient with me? Unfair to him?” Su Mingran felt like he was listening to the world’s greatest joke.

He desperately wanted to tell Gu Pei that his “beautiful fantasy” was a lie. His parents were terrible to him; they wouldn’t even leave him dinner if he were late. Qi Xinghe provoked him constantly. It was he who had been patient since childhood. It was he who suffered the unfairness.

“Isn’t it true?” Gu Pei pressed.

Su Mingran closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t care how his parents slandered him, but Gu Pei was his only friend. He didn’t want to be misunderstood.

“Gu Pei, I didn’t push him. I haven’t been mean to him. He has the best of everything—better than my sister, better than anyone. Even Su Mo has to defer to him. How would I even dare to bully him?”

He saw Gu Pei’s expression flicker, as if he might be starting to believe. Su Mingran swallowed his pride and continued with the words that were most painful to utter. “When I came home at thirteen, everyone looked down on me. They called me a beggar. From the start, they—”

“Su Mingran, how much longer are you going to lie?”

Su Mingran froze, his mouth snapping shut.

“Xinghe told me you don’t have a single honest bone in your body. I didn’t believe him at first, but I see now I was too naive.” Gu Pei’s gaze was heavy with disappointment. “Uncle Su often talks about you when he does business with my father. He says how sorry he feels about your childhood. How could they possibly call you a beggar?”

“Your parents raised you and fought so hard to find you. How can you slander them like this?”

Every word was a needle, puncturing Su Mingran’s already battered heart. He lowered his gaze, no longer arguing. He couldn’t fathom why even Gu Pei refused to trust him.

Suddenly, a realization struck him. “Do you… like Qi Xinghe?”

Gu Pei began to stammer. “Wh-what are you talking about!”

The suspicion Su Mingran had harbored was confirmed. He finally understood why Gu Pei’s attitude had shifted so easily. When you love someone, you don’t need evidence to believe them. No amount of explanation from Su Mingran would ever matter.

He felt a profound sadness. He had once thought Gu Pei might care for him, but now he realized—no one in this world loved him.

“Mingran, I’m only telling you this because I still consider you a friend.” Gu Pei sighed deeply. “Xinghe has no malice toward you. He truly sees you as a brother. He’s so kind he wouldn’t even step on an ant. He would never do anything to hurt you.”

Su Mingran couldn’t listen anymore. He looked at Gu Pei with pity. Gu Pei loved the person inside that room, but would that person ever love him back? Was Qi Xinghe interested in Gu Pei, or the Gu family fortune? It didn’t matter. Gu Pei had already chosen his side.

Gu Pei went back into the room, leaving Su Mingran alone in the stairwell for a long time.

He often wondered: which was more painful? The time he spent being forced to beg by human traffickers, or the time he spent back with the Su family? He compared them and realized the Su family was worse.

In the traffickers’ “dark room,” he had companions to huddle with for warmth. There were older “sisters” who cared for them. Even though they feared beatings every day, the hope that their families were searching for them kept them going.

But in the Su family, there was no hope. He was just a walking corpse.

…

Eventually, Su Mingran pushed open the door to Qi Xinghe’s room. Gu Pei was gone; only a few nurses remained. They were trying to draw blood, but Qi Xinghe was resisting.

“I’m not doing it! I’m fine!”

“Your father insisted on a full check-up,” the nurse explained patiently. “If you don’t do it, he’ll come back to watch you.”

Only after the nurse promised the results would be given directly to him and no one else did Qi Xinghe relent.

Su Mingran waited until the nurses left before speaking. “Done with the act? What did you tell Gu Pei to make him side with you so completely?”

Qi Xinghe was sipping some soup Gu Pei had brought from home. “What? Are you jealous?”

Su Mingran didn’t want to talk to him, but he had to know about the dog. “I don’t care about Gu Pei. I want to know: what did my dog ever do to you?”

Qi Xinghe’s malicious true colors finally showed. “Because of you. You’re just a dog of the Su family. I can’t kill you yet, but I can kill it. I’ve been watching you and that mutt for a long time. I saw you take it to your room, saw you trying to sneak it out… so I made my move.”

“It was pathetic, really. It tried to get away, but it was too scared to make a sound or bark too loud. A beast is just a beast, just like its owner—crawling through life in this house. It was so easy to toy with.”

The fire in Su Mingran’s heart flared. He had told the dog to stay quiet so they wouldn’t get in trouble. The dog had suffered in silence just to protect him. And what had he done? He had been so submissive, yet he couldn’t even protect a single dog.

Su Mingran’s hands shook. His head throbbed violently. He reached out to steady himself against the wall, but the movement startled Qi Xinghe.

At that moment, Wang Zhu and Su Renhua re-entered the room. Qi Xinghe instantly smashed his thermos on the floor and wailed.

“Dad! You weren’t here—Su Mingran was threatening me! He said he’d strangle me while you were gone! Dad, I’m scared! First he wanted to prick me with needles, now he wants to kill me! I’m afraid I’ll die at his hands!”

Enraged, Su Renhua raised his hand and delivered a stinging slap to Su Mingran’s face.

“Pack your things,” Su Renhua roared. “Get out of my house today!”