Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 83

Just like at the villa, the city was also experiencing a torrential downpour.

Mo Chuan lay on the sofa, pressing hard against his temples while muttering, “I’m going to die. If this keeps up, I’m really going to drop dead from overwork.”

Upon closer inspection, the dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced.

“Then go to sleep now.”

“If I sleep now, the number of documents I’ll have to deal with when I wake up will double.”

Mo Chuan lowered his hand and looked at Qin Xu. His eyes were also bloodshot from exhaustion, yet he never showed a hint of fatigue on his face.

It could be said that this was the final step. After years of effort, a long-cherished wish was finally coming true. Having witnessed everything from the sidelines all these years, Mo Chuan was genuinely happy for him.

“Once this is over, you should get some proper rest too.”

“I’ll rest after I take my position.”

“And as for Director Wen’s people… Ha, to be honest, I’d love to get rid of all of them.”

“That’s unrealistic. It will take years.”

It was impossible to remove all those who had once worked under Director Wen at once. Management often required compromise—it was simply a long-term battle.

Mo Chuan had little interest in such matters. He turned away and continued staring at the ceiling.

“Do whatever you think is best. I’ll resign at the right time.”

“……”

“What? You won’t let me resign?”

“To be honest, I hope you’ll always be around.”

Mo Chuan, who had been staring idly at the ceiling, froze. He sat up abruptly, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“Did I hear that wrong?”

There were only the two of them here, so there was no way he misheard.

“Say that again. I’ll record it this time!”

“……”

Qin Xu rubbed his forehead helplessly. “So, as long as I give you something to do, you’ll behave yourself.”

Mo Chuan turned his head away. “I’ve always been doing things. I’ve been keeping an eye on Zhang Wanhui and Li Yuzhi.”

Although he was tempted to get rid of those two, he also wanted to see what they were up to, so he had people monitoring them.

“Speaking of which, Li Yuzhi went to see Secretary Li before, didn’t he? After that, something seemed off about him. Is it really okay for him to go to Li Nuo like that?” Qin Xu asked, looking up.

“Ah, it’s fine.” The mention of this topic piqued Mo Chuan’s interest. “That bomb was bound to go off sooner or later. It might actually be better if it happens sooner.”

“You just don’t want to deal with the trouble later, do you?” Qin Xu pointed out bluntly.

“Heh. Well, I don’t like Secretary Li’s indecisiveness. If everything could be settled at once, that would be ideal.” Mo Chuan chuckled, showing no sign of remorse.

“Aren’t you afraid Li Nuo will be hurt by it?”

“It’s fine. That kid is surprisingly bold.” Mo Chuan reached out and absentmindedly brushed his fingers across his lips.

Just as he was about to go back to reviewing documents, a message from Aunt Zheng popped up on his phone.

He glanced at it, then let out a puzzled “Hm?” and sat up straight, rereading it carefully.

“What’s wrong?” Qin Xu asked when he noticed Mo Chuan’s odd expression.

“It says there was a brief power outage over there. After the power came back on, she saw Li Nuo and Li Yan talking in the living room. The atmosphere seemed strange.”

“No way. It’s only been a few days, and Li Yan’s been exposed already?” Mo Chuan was a bit taken aback. While he had planned to resolve the issue between them in one go, the timing was unexpectedly abrupt.

He considered contacting Li Nuo to check on him, but after glancing at the pile of documents and remembering that the signal jammer over there was still active, he sighed. “Forget it. It’s their issue to resolve. I’ll give them some time. I’ll just have Aunt Zheng keep an eye on things for me.”

……………

Late at night.

Li Nuo hugged the stuffed animal and tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

During dinner, the two of them had remained silent, sitting on opposite sides, not saying a single word.

So that’s it?

They weren’t biological brothers, but legally, they were. Li Yan didn’t want to break that relationship, and he himself didn’t really mind either.

It was precisely Li Yuzhi’s deeply ingrained KFC mindset since childhood that made Li Nuo feel he needed some serious help.

“Forget it. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

He closed his eyes, trying hard to count sheep, but just then, he heard a knock at the door.

He immediately sat up. “Who is it?”

“Brother, I’d like to talk to you,” came a soft voice from outside.

When he opened the door, he saw Li Yan standing there, looking nervous.

Seeing him, Li Yan forced a smile. “I knew it. You’re still awake too.”

“How could I sleep? Come in.”

The two of them sat down at the small table by the window, falling into silence again.

“You…”

“You…”

Two voices overlapped at the same time. The brothers looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

Li Nuo said, “You’re the younger one. You go first.”

Li Yan sighed. “I’m not your real brother. Are you disappointed?”

“No! I never even thought that way.”

Li Nuo’s words were firm and resolute.

He had simply been misled by the original plot and had taken a while to process it properly.

“I’ll say it again. You’ll always be my family, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

Hearing this, Li Yan visibly relaxed, and his expression softened.

Li Nuo, however, twitched the corners of his mouth. This level of psychological damage is no joke.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed by Li Yuzhi. The man had managed to raise his biological son to recognize only blood ties while molding his adopted son into someone with a self-sacrificing personality. Honestly, if he didn’t put these skills to use for something outright illegal, it would be a waste.

No, once this matter was settled, he was definitely going to get Li Yan to see a therapist.

“Actually, just a couple of days before I came here, Dad came to see me.”

“Hm?” Li Nuo raised an eyebrow. “What did he want this time? More money?”

Li Yan relaxed even more at that reaction. “No, he just wanted me to tell him where you were.”

“He didn’t say anything else?”

“…He talked about the past. He said it was my fault that your health has always been poor. I…”

Li Nuo didn’t even let him finish. He snapped his fingers in front of Li Yan’s face. “Snap out of it. That’s not true at all. Even if it weren’t for you, I still would’ve needed surgery, right? Besides, you were the one who paid off almost all of the loan for my first surgery. That bastard took out a bank loan, got addicted to gambling, and later even turned to loan sharks, didn’t he?”

“And the surgery was a success, wasn’t it? That’s why I only needed the second operation a few months ago. All these years, you were the one taking care of me.”

“But Dad said—”

“Screw what that bastard said!” Li Nuo slammed the table, practically shouting.

Even after everything he’d said, Li Yan still looked overwhelmed with guilt, which frustrated Li Nuo to no end.

If he hadn’t been brainwashed since childhood, would Li Yan really be living with such a bitter life?

To put it bluntly, once he had paid off the first debt, Li Yan could have walked away and started his own life instead of being forced to take on more debts and cover his brother’s living and medical expenses.

“That kind of person doesn’t deserve to be called a father. We already agreed, didn’t we? Even if it’s just the two of us, we’ll live well. We’re not giving him any more money. We’ll pay off the debt together, and you can finally do what you want. By the way, Li Yan, is there something you’ve always wanted to do?”

Li Yan’s eyes turned red, on the verge of tears. “I… I’ve never thought about it before.”

“That’s okay.” Li Nuo reached across the table, ruffling his hair. “We have plenty of time. You can take it slow and try different things. There’s bound to be something you love.”

“Mm.”

Finally, the tears he had been holding back spilled over. Like a child, Li Yan sobbed uncontrollably.

Li Nuo gently wiped his tears away. Seeing how heartbroken he looked, his own eyes grew misty as well.

Li Yan had lived such a miserable life. This was probably the first time he had ever cried like this.

In the end, the two brothers ended up crying in each other’s arms, prompting Aunt Zheng to check in on them.

With red-rimmed eyes, Li Nuo opened the door in embarrassment. “Sorry, Aunt Zheng. My brother and I were just talking about some things… Sorry for disturbing your sleep.”

Aunt Zheng remained as gentle as ever. “It’s all right. But it’s already two in the morning. If you two don’t rest, it will take a toll on your health.”

Li Nuo shook his head. “I doubt we’ll be able to sleep tonight. We’ll catch up on sleep during the day. By the way, Aunt Zheng, could I trouble you to bring us a bottle of wine? I think someone might need it right now.”

Since he couldn’t drink, he had never paid much attention to where the wine was kept.

Aunt Zheng glanced inside, seeming to understand the situation. “Wine, is it? All right, I’ll bring a bottle over. Please wait a moment.”

She moved quickly. When she returned, she was carrying a tray with a bottle of wine and two glasses. One of them contained water, which she specifically handed to him.

Seeing him bring in a bottle of red wine, Li Yan panicked. “Brother! You can’t drink!”

“I know. It’s just to set the mood. I figured you might need a drink right now.”

Li Yan let out a bitter chuckle, taking the bottle and glass of his own accord. “Yeah… It’s been a long time since I’ve had a drink.”

Li Nuo could only sip on plain water as he listened to Li Yan slowly recounting stories from the past. Over time, the water was finished, and so was the wine.

Li Yan’s face was completely flushed, clearly intoxicated. He slumped over the small table, utterly drunk.

Li Nuo covered him with a blanket and softly said, “Good night. Sweet dreams.”

……………

They had talked for so long that by the time Li Nuo sat by the window for a short while, the sky had already brightened.

After the torrential rain, today’s weather was surprisingly clear.

Perhaps due to his internal clock, Li Yan still woke up early in the morning.

The headache from his hangover made him clutch his head with a look of agony.

Li Nuo found it amusing. “Wash your face, eat some breakfast, and get some sleep. You drank quite a lot last night. I need a proper rest too.”

Both of their eyes were slightly swollen. As they looked at each other, memories of last night, or rather, the early hours of this morning, came flooding back.

They had held each other and cried.

Their gazes met, and they both broke into laughter. In that smile, they let go of past hardships. They were not just brothers in the eyes of the law but also in their hearts.

In the following days, Li Yan became even more attached to his brother. Now that the issue of them not being biological siblings was settled, and after more than twenty years of growing up together, their bond became even closer.

Watching all of this from the surveillance footage, Mo Chuan gritted his teeth in frustration.

One day, as they were lying on the sofa reading, Li Nuo suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, before I came here, Zhang Wanhui said he was going to take me somewhere. Do you have any idea what that was about? Since you investigated him.”

Li Yan was momentarily stunned, then shook his head. “There was no mention of that in the information Director Mo gave me.”

“Hm… Then forget it. It’s probably not anywhere good anyway.” Since he couldn’t leave, and Zhang Wanhui had no idea where he was, Li Nuo quickly dismissed the thought. He sighed, “You’re heading back tomorrow, huh.”

A look of guilt crossed Li Yan’s face. “Brother, I’m sorry. Please wait just a little longer.”

Li Nuo waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve already waited this long. A little more won’t make a difference. Just be careful when you go back. That Director Wen hasn’t been taken down yet, right?”

“Don’t worry. There will be guards.”