Volume One, Chapter Ten: Call Your Brother to Listen

Lin Yuxia led Aunt Han into the reception room.

Though the door was closed, she could still hear Aunt Han cursing inside.

After sincerely weighing the pros and cons and patiently comforting her for fifteen minutes, Aunt Han’s volume finally subsided.

Another fifteen minutes passed before the reception room door opened.

Han Xuejuan grabbed Lin Yuxia’s slender wrist with her rough hand, clutching it as if it were a lifeline.

“Lawyer Lin, we can’t afford the medical bills anymore. The hospital said if we don’t pay soon, they’ll have to stop treatment. I really have no choice…” she said with a mournful expression.

“Lawyer Lin, my husband’s life is in your hands now. Please, I beg you.”

Lin Yuxia nodded solemnly. “We will do our best.”

After sending off the agitated client, the coffee in Lin Yuxia’s hand had gone cold.

She took a sip of the lukewarm coffee and decided to visit Shengyue Group once more, to see Fei Xun again. Because no one else could unravel this deadlock but him.

Early the next morning, Lin Yuxia went straight to Shengyue and called Fei Xun from downstairs.

“Little Yumei?” His voice was still lazy, tinged with a mischievous charm.

Lin Yuxia was smarter this time. “President Fei, I’ve come to repay the money.”

Fei Xun chuckled softly twice. “Well, that’s good then.”

Ding—the elevator stopped on the top floor.

Lin Yuxia lightly knocked on the door of the CEO’s office.

“Come in,” Fei Xun responded from inside.

Pushing the door open, she saw Fei Xun attentively grinding coffee beans, the entire room filled with the aroma of coffee.

Her first thought: there really are walls between people.

Hiding her slight sense of imbalance, she politely said, “President Fei, sorry to bother you again.”

Fei Xun lifted his eyelids and smiled. “Little Yumei, first time’s awkward, second time’s familiar, this is our third meeting already. Calling me ‘President Fei’ still feels too formal.”

Lin Yuxia smiled innocently. “Then what would you like me to call you?”

Fei Xun thought for a moment. “Try calling me ‘brother’ and see how it sounds.”

Brother? Does he even have the face to ask me to call him that?

Lin Yuxia longed to roll her eyes at him on the spot, but since she came to ask for a favor, she swallowed her displeasure.

Fei Xun asked, “Can’t say it?”

He tilted his head and called out, “Assistant Zhang, bring—”

Before he could finish saying “guest,” Lin Yuxia obediently called out, “Brother Fei Xun.”

“Hey.” A smile blossomed on Fei Xun’s face like a flower.

He poured the freshly ground coffee into the drip pot, slowly adding water to brew it. Then, in a gentlemanly manner, he served a cup to Lin Yuxia.

“Drink up. Brother’s gift for little sister.”

Lin Yuxia swallowed her resentment. “Thank you.”

Fei Xun took out his phone, tapped a few times, and placed a QR code on the table. “Scan it.”

Lin Yuxia was momentarily stunned, then sneered.

Just a casual “brother,” and he actually took himself seriously. Who would want to add him?

Fei Xun caught the tone of her cold laugh and explained, “It’s not to add me on WeChat. You’re here to pay me back, right? Just scan and transfer.”

Lin Yuxia: “...”

There was only fifty thousand left on the card. Even with this month’s salary, it wouldn’t be enough.

She hesitated. “Can I pay part of it first?”

Fei Xun’s expression blanked for a few seconds, as if trying to understand why she wanted to repay twenty-five thousand eight hundred in installments.

“How much?” he asked.

“Two thousand first…”

Fei Xun quickly put his phone back in his pocket. “Better wait until you’ve gathered enough and pay it all at once.”

“That’s fine.” Lin Yuxia was relieved—after all, repaying was just an excuse to meet; if he didn’t accept, so be it.

Seeing her holding the coffee without moving, Fei Xun asked, “Anything else?”

Lin Yuxia sweetly called out, “Yes, Brother Fei Xun.”

Fei Xun lowered his gaze, sipping coffee, ears slightly flushed.

Seeing he didn’t ask her to leave, Lin Yuxia hurriedly said, “Regarding Han Xuejuan’s case, I’ve put myself in your company’s shoes to analyze the situation, President Fei…”

Fei Xun raised his eyes from the steam.

Lin Yuxia corrected herself, “Brother Fei Xun…”

He lowered his eyelids again in approval, allowing her to continue.

“Legally, your company bears no fault in the accident and is not responsible for compensation. But have you calculated the costs? One day of halted construction costs around twenty to thirty thousand yuan. It has already been half a month, totaling three to four hundred thousand. Han Xuejuan’s compensation claim is only about one million.

“Now she goes to the site whenever she has time to protest, obstructing the work. If this drags on another ten to fifteen days, Shengyue’s losses will nearly match her claim.

“Of course, economic loss is only part of it. If this escalates and the media exposes the matter, your company’s reputational damage would be incalculable.

“For such a small matter, is it worth getting caught in a public opinion storm? Fei... I mean, Brother Fei Xun.”

Fei Xun crossed his long legs, holding his coffee cup in one hand and propping his elbow with the other, his expression serious.

“Didn’t expect you to be quite persuasive, Lawyer Lin.”

Lin Yuxia secretly breathed a sigh of relief—at least he didn’t chase her out like last time.

Wait, he actually addressed her as “Lawyer Lin” voluntarily? Lin Yuxia blinked, doubting her ears.

Fei Xun dispelled her doubt: “Lawyer Lin, according to your view, should I pay for a fault that isn’t mine?”

Lin Yuxia sat upright, preparing to appeal to his emotions and reason with him again. “I know this is an undeserved disaster for you…”

But Fei Xun cut her off. “If Shengyue can pay for this mistake, then by extension, would robbers and murderers on the street also have Shengyue pay for their crimes?”

Lin Yuxia was stumped.

Fei Xun continued, “Lawyer Lin, I can bear losses of one hundred million, let alone one million. Everything is about right and wrong, not ‘whoever is poorer is right,’ or ‘the louder you make a fuss, the more you get compensated.’ I’d rather bear the construction halt losses than tolerate someone like Han Xuejuan.”

Lin Yuxia opened her mouth but wisely closed it after thinking it over.

At this point, there was no room left for negotiation.

“I understand.” She gathered her bag, stood slowly, and bowed slightly to Fei Xun.

“Sorry to bother you, President Fei.”

With that, she left the office as cold and unfeeling as its owner.

Fei Xun stared at the empty doorway and sipped his coffee. “Did I speak too harshly?”

*

Lin Yuxia did not return to the law firm but took a taxi to the hospital where Han Xuejuan’s husband was admitted.

He was in critical condition and should have been in the ICU.

But due to unpaid medical bills, the hospital had to transfer him back to a general ward, using only the most basic treatments to keep him alive.

The man lay on the bed with his eyes closed, looking peaceful, completely unaware that during his collapse, his family was falling apart.

Lin Yuxia asked a nurse, “How much is owed for bed 33?”

“About thirty thousand,” the nurse replied.

Lin Yuxia asked again, “If we cover these bills, can treatment continue?”

The nurse shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Another twenty thousand must be prepaid.”

Lin Yuxia went down to the first floor and paid the five thousand left on the card at the hospital cashier.

She was no saint; she simply hated seeing those around her die...

Sixteen years ago, on a stormy night, she had watched life slip away helplessly between her fingers. That feeling was suffocating.

She returned the payment slip to the ward, and the nurse asked in surprise, “Who are you to bed 33?”

Lin Yuxia smiled. “Just a friend.”

As she exited the hospital building, a familiar figure flashed before her eyes.

She quickly turned to confirm—it was Shen Yan.

He was holding the hand of Xiao Tian, the woman in red from that night, as they rode the escalator to the second floor.

They were talking and laughing, not appearing ill. Then why were they at the hospital?

Lin Yuxia had a vague suspicion but was unwilling to give up. She absentmindedly followed the escalator up.

Looking up, she saw the department sign hanging above—Obstetrics and Gynecology.