As the untouched Four Seas Australian lobster rotated to face him, Bai Yang felt that he hadn’t eaten such a painful meal in a very long time.
As half a chef, Bai Yang could tell at a glance that this lobster was not cheap, and he still hadn’t eaten lunch yet. His entire stomach contained only the bit of handmade oil tea he’d drunk that morning, so now he didn’t dare take a second look at the lobster, afraid his stomach would betray him and start growling the next second.
God save him, this wasn’t eating dinner at all—it was pure torture.
Bai Yang glanced sideways at Han Sha and Bai Liu beside him. As if oblivious to the awkward atmosphere in the private room, one was touching up her makeup while the other was leisurely blowing on the tea leaves in her cup… Under the direct stares of the four people across from them, these two didn’t even show any intention of picking up chopsticks.
It seemed he really wasn’t cut out for business.
Bai Yang thought to himself that although he knew this was a Hongmen banquet, he really wanted to eat right now… Please, if they weren’t going to eat, could they just let him go? Recently, he’d been overwhelmed with the branch store matters, having such a splitting headache that he hadn’t even had a celebratory cake in several days!
Finally, when the lobster rotated over once again, Manager Guo from the PR department of Guan Yinli Real Estate smiled and spoke: “Mr. Bai, if you don’t have an appetite for dinner right now, why don’t we chat first?”
Here it comes!
Bai Yang’s heart tightened, thinking that Han Sha and Bai Liu had both come, yet the other side specifically wanted to chat with him—they really knew how to pick on the soft persimmon.
He instinctively looked at Bai Liu, only to see the woman snap her compact shut with a click: “Go ahead and chat, I already said they’re looking for you.”
With no choice, and wanting to get back quickly to eat something sweet, Bai Yang steeled himself: “What do you want to talk about? If it’s about wanting me to change the menu, I’ve already said before that my store’s charity menu is officially notarized. I don’t take a cent of the proceeds—part goes to help the families of previous victims, and another part goes to help Ms. Lin Xiufen who used to live at Number 29… This is the mess you left behind, and now I’m helping you clean it up. What more do you want?”
Rarely, Bai Yang’s tone was extremely firm, and this couldn’t be blamed on him.
After all, before today, Guan Yinli Real Estate had been harassing him for two whole months.
Ever since Hu Wei was sentenced to death in the first trial and chose not to appeal, this Manager Guo sitting across from him had already approached him dozens of times.
From beginning to end, the other party had only one demand: since this case had now been settled, they hoped that when Bai Yang opened his restaurant in the future, he would stop “rehashing old grievances” to avoid stirring up more unnecessary public opinion… and cause “secondary harm to the victims’ families.”
No wonder they say capitalists have so many tricks.
It could be said that with such rhetoric, even a business “naive innocent” like Bai Yang could hear it clearly—
Rather than sympathizing with victims’ families, Guan Yinli Real Estate wanted to use the same old tricks, trying to manage him the way they had managed the Hu family’s public relations at the time.
And this time, Bai Yang naturally had no intention of letting them have their way easily.
He didn’t give Manager Guo a chance to speak: “I’ve made it very clear—since I bought the house at Number 29, I have to take responsibility for it to the end. My charity set meal has complete paperwork and the consent of all victims’ families. Under these circumstances, on what grounds do you want me to change the menu? Who is the only accomplice in the tragedies at Number 29 who hasn’t been held accountable—do I really need to spell that out for you on the table?”
By the end, Bai Yang only felt Han Sha gently pinch his arm under the table, and only then did he belatedly realize his voice had risen.
He bit his teeth and, to suppress his anger, drained whatever was in the cup on the table in one gulp—although he realized it was alcohol the moment it entered his mouth, for the sake of face, Bai Yang still swallowed it down.
Obviously, to get him to “have a chat,” Guan Yinli Real Estate had spent big money on this table of wine and dishes. With this large gulp of expensive white liquor down his throat, Bai Yang’s forehead immediately began to sweat, and his thoughts drifted away uncontrollably, returning once again to that gloomy afternoon not long ago.
That was the first prison visit Hu Wei had applied for after being sentenced to death.
After the car stopped in front of Yujiang City Detention Center, He Jianqiu, who had been waiting early at the entrance, helped Bai Yang lift Lin Xiufen from the back seat into a wheelchair.
“Her situation is special—she has no other relatives who can accompany her, so I helped you apply for an accompanying quota. Boss, you can accompany her into the visitation room later.”
It had been another while since they’d met, and He Jianqiu didn’t know what cases he’d been busy with recently, but he looked thinner all around and said with a headache: “I can’t accompany you for the whole process. Recently there’s been someone snatching bags by the river at night who also stabbed a middle school student. I need to solve this quickly before it trends on social media.”
With limited time, they didn’t exchange much small talk and went directly through the many checkpoints into the visitation room. Throughout it all, Lin Xiufen just sat quietly in her wheelchair—after a period of medical treatment, her physical condition had improved somewhat, but her Alzheimer’s condition was still progressing.
Now, Lin Xiufen’s memory was hit or miss. Before coming, Bai Yang could only hope that Hu Wei would have some luck, that during one of the few remaining visitation opportunities before execution, his confused mother would recognize him once more.
He waited with the wheelchair outside the glass for a while, and finally, Hu Wei, wearing heavy shackles, appeared on the other side of the glass accompanied by two officers.
“Mom…”
Hu Wei obviously hadn’t expected Lin Xiufen to recover to this extent. His eyes reddened before he even sat down, staring unblinkingly at Lin Xiufen’s face. After looking her up and down several times, he finally looked at Bai Yang.
Hu Wei choked up: “Thank you, Mr. Bai. I heard from Team Leader He before that you sent my mom to a nursing home… No matter how I took care of her before, she was never like this—she’s even gained a little weight.”
“…”
Originally, before coming, Bai Yang felt he should have had a belly full of things to say to Hu Wei. However, when they actually met face to face, he couldn’t say a single word.
In the tragedy of Number 29, someone had to pay the price. Hu Wei had killed people—this was the path he chose. But… what about the giant he’d been seeking revenge against for so many years?
Where was the giant’s price?
Once again, Bai Yang couldn’t help thinking of his mother. After Huangliang Yimeng’s business gradually improved, he had asked Bai Liu more than once whether he could tell others that Huangliang Yimeng was actually named after their mother’s surname.
Originally, when first opening the shop, he had thought wholeheartedly that this was his last restaurant, so no matter what, he had to include his mother’s name in it… to let everyone know that this was actually a shop belonging to his mother.
However, even after Huangliang Yimeng had been open for over a year, he still hadn’t told anyone about this.
The reason was simple—it was what Bai Liu had told him.
“It’s not time yet… it’s not time for everyone to know mom’s story.”
So, mom’s story, like Lin Xiufen all these years, had been made invisible.
Before he couldn’t help crying, Bai Yang quickly put away his wild thoughts, bent down and gently supported Lin Xiufen’s shoulder: “Ms. Lin? Do you see who the person sitting across from you is?”
He shook twice before Lin Xiufen’s confused gaze finally slowly fell on Hu Wei’s face. After a long silence, the woman just tilted her head in puzzlement and said in a broken voice through her damaged vocal cords: “You look… like my son…”
Hu Wei immediately broke down in tears: “Mom…”
Bai Yang tried several more times after that, but Lin Xiufen always treated the person behind the glass as just someone who looked very much like her son, never able to recognize him.
Seeing that visiting time was almost up, with two minutes left, Bai Yang unwillingly wanted to try once more, but Hu Wei stopped him.
“Mr. Bai, actually it’s fine if mom can’t remember… This might even be a good thing for her. After all, it’s better she doesn’t know about the things I’ve done.”
After crying, only calm remained on Hu Wei’s face, as if after seeing Lin Xiufen, his last wish had been fulfilled.
In the final minute, Bai Yang almost wanted to donate his tear ducts. He held back for a long time, but couldn’t help asking with red eyes: “Is there anything else you want to say? There might not be another chance to apply for this kind of visit.”
Across the glass, Hu Wei just kept looking longingly at his mother, as if he wanted to completely carve this face, ravaged beyond recognition, into his mind during the last moments of his life.
His voice sounded almost simultaneously with the time-up alarm bell.
“Mr. Bai, Number 29 is a wonderful house.”
Finally, as the officers helped Hu Wei stand up, his gaze still rested tenderly on his mother.
“It used to be home for me and mom, and now it belongs to you… So, Mr. Bai, could you at least please remember us.”
Just like when he first recommended this house to him, Hu Wei smiled through his tears at the end: “Remember us… and then, don’t let anyone erase Number 29’s story again, okay?”