Chapter 502: Chapter 499: To My Younger Brother
Liang Xin’s brother?
He Qianhui was full of confusion, staring blankly at Zhang Hao, not knowing how to respond.
At that moment, Zhang Hao took the cell phone over, wanting to see what exactly Liang Xin’s brother wanted.
Holding the phone to his ear, Zhang Hao spoke slowly, "What do you want with my wife?"
Liang Xin’s brother laughed creepily on the other end, saying, "It’s nothing serious, I just want to meet, so don’t be nervous."
He spoke so casually that Zhang Hao dared not take it lightly.
"It’s a bit late, if you want to meet, let’s arrange it for tomorrow."
Having said that, Zhang Hao hung up the phone and set it aside, "This old classmate of yours, I’m afraid he’s not just here for a check-up."
Because of this phone call, He Qianhui thought so too.
"Today Liang Xin also told me that she didn’t want her brother to know that she was still in touch with her former classmates."
"Yet, only a few hours passed, and her brother had already called, wanting to meet me."
He Qianhui didn’t know what was going on, but she felt a chill down her spine, even though it was still summer.
Noticing this, Zhang Hao embraced her tightly, "It’s okay, no matter what happens, I’m here."
Qianhui nodded gently while nestled in Zhang Hao’s arms, it seemed he was right about one thing tonight.
That fifty thousand yuan might really have gone down the drain.
It felt like a loss, realizing the true nature of a friend for fifty thousand yuan.
"It’s getting late, get some rest, you still have to work tomorrow."
With Zhang Hao’s persuasion, He Qianhui didn’t say anything, washed up simply, and then went to the bedroom to rest.
Once He Qianhui fell asleep, Zhang Hao quietly came out from the bedroom.
Her phone was on the coffee table in the living room, with not much battery left, so he took it to charge.
While connecting the charger, Zhang Hao unexpectedly found a friend request on her WeChat.
Zhang Hao didn’t immediately accept but clicked on the requester’s profile picture, which looked like a selfie.
Zhang Hao was not clear on what Liang Xin looked like, upon seeing that profile picture.
Yet his first thought was of Liang Xin’s brother.
He couldn’t be blamed for thinking that way, as it was too easy to make the connection.
This was He Qianhui’s WeChat, which could be found and added via phone number.
It seemed because the phone call didn’t work out, adding on WeChat was chosen as the next step to persuade her.
Zhang Hao reviewed the friend list from start to finish.
At the bottom, he finally saw a person with the note "Liang Xin".
Zhang Hao clicked to glance at the chat history between the two, which still hovered on yesterday’s agreement to meet.
Mimicking He Qianhui’s style, Zhang Hao sent a message to Liang Xin.
After Liang Xin replied, he deleted the messages one by one.
Having done all this, Zhang Hao nonchalantly returned to the bedroom.
The next morning, He Qianhui woke up to the first rays of sunlight of the dawn.
It seemed that everything that happened last night had not affected her sleep.
Looking at the time, she exclaimed, "Oh no, get up quickly, we’re going to be late for work."
No wonder waking up felt so relaxed today, it turned out she hadn’t heard the alarm.
Zhang Hao, roused by the noise, rubbed his sleepy eyes and also jumped when he saw the time.
After a yelp, he hurriedly climbed out of bed.
Both of them rushed to the bathroom to hurry through their morning routine.
He Qianhui had a meeting today, so she was even more pressed for time, having to rush out the door without breakfast.
Once she left, Zhang Hao actually became less anxious and started to wash up at his leisure.
After requesting half a day off, he was going to meet Liang Xin.
The time they agreed on for their meeting yesterday was today at one in the afternoon, and if the conversation went well, they might even have lunch together.
Arriving at the meeting place, Zhang Hao chose a seat by the window and sat down.
From time to time, he looked out at the busy street, and amongst the many people, one person caught Zhang Hao’s eye.
This woman’s appearance wasn’t outstanding, but her cautious and careful demeanor was evident.
She was very different from those rushing by on the sidewalk.
Zhang Hao was sure that this person was Liang Xin.
Following that, the woman pushed open the café door and stood at the entrance looking around.
Zhang Hao didn’t rush to greet her but took a few seconds to observe her.
When a waiter walked by, Zhang Hao ignored the other customers and called out loudly.
"Liang Xin, over here."
Liang Xin followed the sound, looked startled, and then turned and ran away.
Seeing that something was amiss, Zhang Hao quickly took out a banknote from his pocket, placed it on the table,
and without looking back, chased after her.
Fortunately, Liang Xin wasn’t running fast, and he soon caught up to her.
Zhang Hao grabbed her arm in one swift movement, and although Liang Xin angrily struggled, she was no match for a grown man.
"Who are you, and how do you know me?" Liang Xin demanded.
"Who I am is quite obvious, isn’t it? You borrowed money from my wife, and then your brother called her," Zhang Hao accused. "Don’t you think these two things are very odd?"
Under Zhang Hao’s interrogation, Liang Xin still denied everything.
How could she admit that this matter had anything to do with her?
"Where is the money?" Zhang Hao asked.
Fifty thousand yuan, although not life-threatening for the two of them, would take some time to earn back.
If it really had gone down the drain, it would be no different from cutting flesh from their own bodies.
At first, Liang Xin refused to speak, but she couldn’t ignore Zhang Hao’s piercing gaze.
"That money... I gave it to my brother," Liang Xin confessed, and then she broke down completely.
Hearing this, Zhang Hao looked as if he had expected as much.
"Ever since you approached my wife for a loan, I felt something was off about it," he said.
"But considering you and she were classmates, I didn’t stop her from lending the money to you."
"It wasn’t until we suddenly received a call from your brother last night that I knew there was a problem."
"Your home isn’t here. Even though I don’t know where you’re from, I’m well aware that a pre-marriage checkup doesn’t require such a long journey."
"Yet you came here under the pretense of a pre-marriage checkup, and somehow, you ’happened’ to meet my wife."
"But you must return the fifty thousand yuan; otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to take you to the police station and let the police determine your actions."
Upon hearing Zhang Hao say this, Liang Xin collapsed to the ground, weeping bitterly.
The passersby who walked by this scene thought it was just a quarrel between lovers.
Zhang Hao was indifferent to Liang Xin’s reaction and just watched her coldly.
It wasn’t until she had vented all her emotions and calmed down that she said, "I will return the fifty thousand yuan. I wrote an IOU that day."
"Everything I said before was a lie. The fifty thousand yuan is for my brother’s wedding."
"He couldn’t afford such a large dowry; he was short fifty thousand yuan, so I resorted to crooked thoughts," she confessed.
"Once he’s married, I’ll go work, even if I have to live on porridge and pickles, I’ll save up the money."
