Song Yuzhang: Chapter 72 - Debate
Chapter 72: Debate
Song Mingzhao felt that Song Yuzhang was acting a little strange. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was strange. After releasing the lanterns and drinking, the two went upstairs to sleep. When Song Yuzhang came out from the shower and Song Mingzhao went in, he seemed to catch a whiff of something unusual. His face flushed a bit, and with the blush came a hint of sorrow. He cherished Song Yuzhang’s purity, but at the same time, he also felt that eventually, Song Yuzhang wouldn’t remain pure.
After all, who spends their whole life sleeping next to their “brother”?
Song Mingzhao sat sadly on the edge of the bathtub, helplessly realizing that Song Yuzhang could never truly belong to him alone.
Feeling frustrated, Song Mingzhao took a shower, sighing the whole time. But after the shower, he was all smiles again. He was so close to Song Yuzhang now that he didn’t want to burden him with his own worries and troubles.
Song Yuzhang had already fallen asleep.
Song Mingzhao knew he was truly tired. Spending all day cooped up in the bank—how could he not be?
Clutching his robe tighter, Song Mingzhao walked over to the bed.
Song Yuzhang had left the lamp on for him. The dim light cast a warm glow on Song Yuzhang’s face, making it look like a piece of warm jade. Song Mingzhao gazed at him for a while and felt cheerful again.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival passed, things got tense. There were still a dozen or so days until the end of the Gregorian month. Song Qiyuan had been absolutely right—at first glance, Director Liao’s two million US dollars seemed like a lot, but when compared to the total amount of maturing small accounts and their interest, it was like a drop in the bucket.
They could scrape by, but scraping by wasn’t a long-term solution.
Interest rates at the bank were still stuck at high levels. Every new deposit meant more debt. Song Yuzhang didn’t dare lower the rates—doing so without reason would trigger a withdrawal panic, and that would be a disaster.
With a headache settling in, Song Yuzhang couldn’t help but wish money would just magically appear in the bank vault. With money, he’d have confidence, and he could finally take action on many things.
Even Shen Chengduo’s fifteen million wouldn’t be enough. At most, it would only fill one-tenth of the vault.`
Song Yuzhang had already identified the path to wealth. On Song Qiyuan’s side, there were no major issues. Once people like that made up their minds, they acted efficiently. He got along very well with Director Liao, and to be fair, Song Qiyuan had a certain genuine quality to him. When it came to human relationships, empty niceties weren’t enough. All you’d get in return were shallow, unstable connections. If you weren’t willing to pay a price, you couldn’t catch the wolf. Even con men knew when it was time to invest real capital.
After smoking in his office for a long while, Song Yuzhang called Liu Chuanzong in.
“I asked you to give me a report on the Nie family before.”
“Yes.”
“Now I want to know about Nie Xueping’s...” Song Yuzhang paused, “...private life.”
Liu Chuanzong looked slightly surprised. Though the surprise didn’t show on his face, it revealed itself in a long silence. After the silence, he said, “I’m not familiar.”
Given Liu Chuanzong’s usual ability to answer anything, Song Yuzhang was surprised too. “You’re not familiar?”
“Not familiar,” Liu Chuanzong answered smoothly.
“Then go find out.”
Liu Chuanzong said, “That will be difficult.”
“Difficult?”
“The eldest master of the Nie family rarely socializes. If by private life you mean women—ever since his wife passed, I’ve never heard of him being with another woman. As for leisure activities, President—those were looked into already. The eldest master of the Nie family doesn’t have any particular outward hobbies.”
Nie Xueping was like an impenetrable fortress. The only visible soft spot was his beloved son, Nie Bonian. But in that area, Song Yuzhang had already done everything he could—he was practically the number one in Haizhou. There was no room for improvement, and judging by Nie Xueping’s personality, it probably wouldn’t make much difference anyway.
Would a son’s playmate really carry more weight in his heart than a prospective brother-in-law? From what Song Yuzhang had observed, Nie Xueping’s attitude toward Song Yekang was nothing extraordinary.
Suddenly, Song Yuzhang began to understand Song Zhenqiao’s situation back then.
When backed into a corner, the only two paths in front of you both led nowhere.
In practice, he could have taken the Meng Tingjing path—but Meng Tingjing demanded that he crawl.
If a person lives in this world only to crawl, then what’s the point of enduring all the struggles life throws at you?
A pair of hands seemed to be pushing Song Yuzhang toward the other path.
That was what Song Yuzhang originally thought too.
But the moment he stepped onto that path, he discovered the two routes seemed to converge at the same destination.
It had never occurred to Song Yuzhang to think in that direction before.
Because Nie Xueping and the “pretty boy” he liked were polar opposites.
Not only that—Nie Xueping was also a father.
A father. Song Yuzhang didn’t have a father, but he truly believed that Nie Xueping was the ideal image of one.
Handsome, tall, wise, and gentle.
Every time he saw him interact with Nie Bonian, the way he treated his son with both love and respect—it made one feel like everyone in the world would want a father like that.
And on top of that, he was rich.
That wealth suited him perfectly.
Take the Song brothers, for instance—Song Yuzhang felt they didn’t deserve to be rich. They just got lucky. But Nie Xueping gave the impression that even if he had started from nothing, he would have still made it to where he was now.
Of course, that was a biased and unreasonable assumption.
But Nie Xueping gave off exactly that kind of feeling—everything around him seemed to fit him naturally. He simply was that kind of person.
That kind of person… had nothing to do with the pretty boys Song Yuzhang liked.
He didn’t want to dote on him, take care of him, or tease him.
Nie Xueping called himself an “elder,” and in Song Yuzhang’s eyes, he really did seem like one.
Nie Bonian called him “brother.” So naturally, Nie Xueping would be his elder.
An elder—surely he wouldn’t harbor the same kinds of thoughts toward him as Meng Tingjing or Nie Yinbing?
Song Yuzhang didn’t think of himself as a narcissist, but he also didn’t believe he was dumb enough to completely misread a situation.
Did Nie Xueping… like him, just a little?
Song Yuzhang smoked a cigarette, his brows slightly furrowed.
Working with Nie Xueping had always been part of his plan when he left the Meng family—but that was cooperation, not seduction, and not a transaction. If it was that kind of thing, then how was it any different from walking Meng Tingjing’s path?
Song Yuzhang, troubled, wondered whether sleeping with Meng Tingjing had somehow left him with a rabbit's scent that made Nie Xueping think of him in a different way.
Startled by his own speculation, Song Yuzhang got up to look at himself in the mirror. He scrutinized his reflection for a long time, but couldn’t see anything rabbit-like about himself at all.
When Song Qiyuan arrived and saw Song Yuzhang looking in the mirror, he said, “What are you doing?”
Song Yuzhang quickly pulled his thoughts together and glanced at him. “Third Brother, you didn’t knock?”
“I did,” Song Qiyuan replied. “Knocked five times. You didn’t hear it. You were too busy looking in the mirror. You’re not a woman—what, were you about to put on makeup?”
Song Yuzhang was speechless. He thought Song Qiyuan really could never say anything decent—no wonder he got tormented by their two foolish older brothers.
Song Qiyuan waited for Liu Chuanzong to arrive for the account reconciliation and meanwhile complained to Song Yuzhang, “Second Brother’s gone crazy.”
“Crazy? About what?”
“Nie Qingyun wants to break off the engagement.”
Song Yuzhang’s interest was piqued. “What happened?”
“What happened? She got tired of him.” Song Qiyuan crossed one leg over the other. “I thought, since they were engaged, it had to be serious. Turns out Second Brother still got dumped.”
Song Yuzhang sat down. “What, she dumped you too?”
Song Qiyuan gave him a sideways glance. “Nonsense.”
Apparently, Nie Qingyun loved dating. She had dated many rich young men, but in the end, she always dumped them.
When Song Yuzhang heard this, he thought—so she and I are kindred spirits?
Song Qiyuan said, “Back when Second Brother was bending over backwards to win her over, I already felt something was off. But it wasn’t my business. When they got engaged, I figured I’d misjudged things. Now it’s all clear—Nie Qingyun saw through his ulterior motives and decided to give him hope just to take it away. I won’t comment on what kind of person she is—that’s not my place. But Second Brother had it coming. He had bad intentions and reaped what he sowed. But smashing things around the house? That’s just too much!”
At first, Song Qiyuan tried to reason with Song Yekang, telling him they weren’t suited for each other anyway. But Song Yekang refused to listen. He picked up whatever he could find and smashed it. Song Qiyuan, exhausted from reconciling accounts and entertaining clients, thought about the mountain of debt they had—everything in the house had been bought with money. If it got smashed, they’d have to buy it again. Their two idiot brothers didn’t worry about anything and just sat around waiting for him to hand out cash. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. In the end, he couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed a chair to smash it over Song Yekang.
The chair was shattered, and Song Yekang was knocked out. Peace, at last.
“I see,” Song Yuzhang said casually. “From what I’ve seen, the Nie family’s eldest doesn’t seem like that kind of person.”
“Nie Xueping? That guy’s so busy he barely touches the ground. He doesn’t have time to mess around with women.”
“Really? Maybe he just hides it well.”
“Hide it? Why would he need to hide something like that? Nie Qingyun doesn’t hide her flings, so why would he…” Song Qiyuan turned to look at him. “Wait—are you asking me about Nie Xueping?”
Song Yuzhang smiled. “Talking to smart people is always a relief.”
Song Qiyuan had seen clearly for some time: if the bank was going to survive the crisis, only the Nie or Meng families could help. But neither family was easy to deal with. “Don’t waste your energy. That road won’t work.”
Song Yuzhang said nothing for a while. He leaned back on the sofa, his chest rising slightly. “We’ll see.”
“There are only a few days left in the month. You told me to keep socializing with Liao Tiandong—just how long am I supposed to keep this up? What exactly are you planning?”
“Not convenient to say.”
Song Qiyuan paused. “You don’t trust me?”
Song Yuzhang lowered his eyes to look at him, the corner of his mouth faintly smiling. “Right back at you.”
Song Qiyuan couldn’t be bothered to respond.
“Third Brother, let me ask you one more thing.”
“Say it.”
“What’s your relationship with Xiao Yuxian?”
“You—”
Song Qiyuan lost his temper. Lately, he’d been quick to anger. He used to have a light-hearted personality, but now he’d completely changed. “I already told you! I don’t have the kind of filthy relationship you’re all imagining with Xiao Yuxian. I just like his opera, that’s all!”
“But Xiao Yuxian is very beautiful,” Song Yuzhang said.
Song Qiyuan blurted out, “As beautiful as you?”
The room fell silent for a moment. Then Song Qiyuan rushed to explain, “That’s not what I meant. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
Song Yuzhang crossed his arms. “There’s not really a comparison to be made between me and Xiao Yuxian, is there?”
Song Qiyuan found that hard to take. He often lectured their older brothers, and now the tone of his reply unintentionally carried that same scolding edge. “What? You think I meant that as an insult? You think I said it to offend you on purpose? You act like you pity those people, like you’re more down-to-earth than me—but aren’t you the same? All people are equal. Why can’t you compare yourself to Xiao Yuxian?”
Song Yuzhang said, “What I meant was…” He stood up and let his hand slide down from his chest, as if presenting a product. “I’m just not the same as Xiao Yuxian.”
Song Qiyuan understood what he meant but still shook his head firmly. “In the end, you still look down on him.”
Song Yuzhang smiled. “Look down on him?”
“You’re trying to say Xiao Yuxian is like a ‘rabbit,’ and you’re not. So what? You look down on rabbits?”
Song Yuzhang wanted to argue again—but he realized he did, in fact, somewhat look down on “rabbits.”
For once, Song Qiyuan saw him speechless and laughed lazily. It felt good to know that all his scolding of his idiot brothers had at least improved his debating skills. He had finally managed to win an argument against Song Yuzhang.
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