Chapter 578: Chapter 578
Everyone was chatting and laughing, but the sudden change in their expressions was naturally quite noticeable.
“Big sister, what’s wrong?” Jing Qiao, with her keen and sensitive mind, quickly noticed.
Su Lu pursed her lips and remained silent, only quickly glancing at Shen Xun.
It was an extremely quick look, but Shen Xun noticed it, and he remained silent.
Su Lu paused for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts, before she said to Jing Qiao, “It’s… it’s nothing, I just need to make a trip back to Feng City, there’s a bit of an issue. Don’t worry.”
Shen Xun felt somewhat uneasy, this feeling of unrest, which started as a small point, then gradually expanded and threatened to overwhelm him.
What happened? Why did Su Lu look at him before she spoke?
Was it because he shouldn’t listen? Was it a message that had to be kept from him?
Did something happen to Su Zhe?
Shen Xun bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, tasting the sweet, metallic taste of blood, as he struggled to hold back the urge to keep asking.
Since Su Lu was unwilling to speak, he decided not to ask her.
Shen Xun sat at their table for a long time until the banquet finally came to an end.
Everyone left one after another, and Bo Jingshen and Su Lu left the quickest. If it had been the original them, it definitely wouldn’t have been , which showed that something indeed must have happened.
Shen Xun didn’t want to ask them, and after some thought, he sent a message to someone else.
However, after all, his sources in Feng City were not as well-informed as Bo Jingshen’s.
So, after asking several people, he couldn’t get a straight answer.
Shen Xun felt slightly relieved. Could it be that it was just his imagination earlier? Maybe Su Lu wasn’t avoiding speaking because of him?
The Shen Family members emerged from the banquet hall, and although the incident with Bo Jingshen and the others had put them in a bad mood, overall, today was still a celebration banquet, and the atmosphere was generally good.
So it seemed that the Shen Family had already forgotten that unpleasant episode, and they happily exited the hotel as a lively family group.
Shen Xun, in their midst, did not feel quite as joyous as they did, but at least his mood was not too terrible.
He casually scrolled through his WeChat Moments on his phone and came across Qiao Li’s Moment.
Shen Xun didn’t have many contacts on WeChat and none that sold products through Moments, so his feed was quite clean.
This was a Moment Qiao Li had posted a day ago, and it didn’t take long to find.
It was a photo of him at the airport holding a boarding pass, with the boarding pass raised and the airport’s glass background revealing the planes on the tarmac outside.
The caption with the photo read: “Bro, don’t panic, I’m coming back right away.”
Shen Xun remembered, after Qiao Li had been rejected by Su Lu, he went around the world to heal his broken heart.
And now he was coming back to the country?
And that “bro” in his Moments made Shen Xun think of Su Zhe without control.
If he remembered correctly, Qiao Li had said: “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I am really close with Su Zhe, close enough to be iron brothers. If I were to speak of a brother, then he’s the only one.”
So, something really did happen to Su Zhe.
Shen Xun’s throat tasted somewhat bitter. What could have happened?
He couldn’t help but open Su Zhe’s WeChat and composed a message, but no matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t right, so he rewrote it many, many times.
All were eventually deleted, except for two words sent over: “Are you there?”
A red exclamation mark popped up.
You are not friends with the recipient.
So… Su Zhe had long since deleted him.
Shen Xun directly opened Qiao Li’s WeChat, too lazy to ponder over his words, and made a voice call straightaway.
Qiao Li must have already arrived in the country because the voice call connected quickly.
Qiao Li’s voice, tinged with fatigue, came through, “Hello?”
“Qiao Li, I hope I’m not disturbing your rest? It’s Shen Xun here.” This content belongs to novｅlfire.net
“Not at all, what’s going on?”
“It’s just… I noticed Su Lu looked upset today, seems like something happened in Feng City. She didn’t want me to worry and wouldn’t tell me. I can’t help but be concerned, and seeing that you’ve returned to the country, I thought of asking you,” Shen Xun said.
Actually, it was quite impolite. Shen Xun was aware that bringing up Su Lu in front of Qiao Li was quite disrespectful, especially since things between Qiao Li and Su Lu hadn’t ended well.
If it had been any other time before, Shen Xun felt he would never have done something so discourteous.
But now he couldn’t afford to care about that.
As expected, upon hearing the name Su Lu, Qiao Li’s voice paused at the other end.
There was a moment of silence.
With an apologetic tone, Shen Xun said, “Sorry, I know about the issues between you and Su Lu, I shouldn’t have brought her up, but I’m just… really worried.”
Qiao Li was still the same understanding and tolerant person, “It’s okay, I’ve moved on, and I’m even planning to start a new relationship, no need to apologize.”
After a brief pause, Qiao Li spoke, “The reason I didn’t speak was because I was wondering whether or not to tell you. After all, considering your relationship with Su Zhe, I should keep it confidential.”
At those words from Qiao Li, Shen Xun was taken aback, realizing that Su Zhe must have told Qiao Li about their relationship.
Shen Xun sighed softly.
“As a friend, I’m supposed to keep his secrets, but seeing him , I just can’t bear it,” Qiao Li sighed.
Upon hearing this, Shen Xun felt a tightness in his chest, and his voice grew somewhat hoarse, “What’s happened to him? Is… something wrong?”
Qiao Li was silent for a few seconds, then said, “All right.”
It sounded as though he had decided to tell Shen Xun, which made Shen Xun breathe a sigh of relief, but soon after, his anxiety heightened again.
Qiao Li said, “His father passed away, just this evening. Actually, they were mentally prepared for it, having received a critical condition notice before. It was expected within these couple of days, which is why Su Zhe was staying in the hospital these days. I rushed back as soon as I heard.”
Qiao Li heaved another sigh, “Despite the mental preparation, when it really happened, it still feels… It’s good that I managed to get back in time, otherwise he would have been all alone with it.”
Shen Xun’s mind went blank for a moment.
Then he slowly came to realize… so it happened during the start of their banquet.
While they were feasting and laughing, toasting and dining – willingly or unwillingly – after all, it was Old Sir Shen’s grand birthday celebration.
He was here organizing a birthday banquet for his grandfather, whereas Su Zhe…
Shen Xun took a deep breath, “How is he… Is Zhe okay?”
Qiao Li said, “He’s always like that, as if he can bear anything. You probably know that too.”
“He even came to comfort me, telling me not to worry about him, claiming he hadn’t felt much for his father in years anyway. Besides, with his father being sick for so long, he had been mentally prepared, so he’s fine,” Qiao Li said. “But I think he’s not doing that great. He’s lost a lot of weight.”