It was peak afternoon-tea hour, the café buzzing with chatter.
Su Hui sat with his arms crossed, frowning at him. “Why’d you take so long? You drag your feet too much…”
Su Pu sat on the sofa opposite him, a low table separating them.
Before he could ask anything, Su Hui tossed a bank card onto the table, getting straight to the point.
“Dad told me to give you some money. Otherwise the Li family might think we’re dirt poor—like we just shoved some penniless nobody at them.”
As he spoke, Su Hui looked around the shop critically. “And you—quit this job already.”
“It’s embarrassing to talk about. Makes it seem like we treat you badly.”
Su Pu had heard all this so many times his ears had grown calluses.
Back when he first found a part-time job in middle school, Su Fengxian and Su Hui had taken turns lecturing him—saying underage work would make people talk, that it was shameful.
They mocked him about how little he could possibly earn, told him if he needed money he could just ask the family.
Yet every time he swallowed his pride and went to ask, he was met with a different face entirely.
Su Fengxian would furrow his brows with impatience. “Didn’t I just give you money last month?”
Su Pu explained: That was for tuition. I still need to pay rent.
“Oh please, why do you keep paying rent? I told you to move back home.”
Su Pu pressed his lips together, refusing to respond.
Never mind that Su Fengxian’s house was almost two hours from school by bus—just living under the same roof as Su Hui meant he’d be at their mercy.
Even the one week he stayed home during summer break, Su Hui treated him like a servant, rummaging through his things and “accidentally” soaking his homework.
Su Hui was the type who liked to tear people down. He often made jokes at Su Pu’s expense in front of a crowd of rich boys.
“Su Pu, that ‘Pu’ in your name—is it the same ‘pu’ as in servant?”
“Your mom spent her whole life wanting to serve my dad but never got the chance. Now it’s your turn to serve me. You two really know how to stick to your family values, huh?”
At first, Su Pu fought back—but the ending was always the same.
Su Hui and his buddies would beat him up, and then at night, when Su Fengxian came home, Su Hui would embellish the story, earning Su Pu another beating.
After enough of that, he understood.
Su Fengxian and Su Hui were never going to stand on his side.
“Family,” to the father and son, was nothing more than a flimsy moral excuse to keep him tethered.
Just like this engagement—if Su Hui hadn’t refused to marry the “infamously troublesome” Li Jichuan, they would never have remembered that Su Pu even existed.
Su Pu paused, then pushed the bank card back across the table.
I don’t want the money. I have enough. And from now on, don’t come looking for me.
Su Hui, who had been splurging on vacation after coming back from grad school abroad, had just had two cards confiscated by Su Fengxian. His mood was already foul.
And now Su Pu was putting on airs? Acting above it all? Disgusting.
“You’ve barely stepped foot into the Li family’s house, you’re not even officially in yet, and you’re already trying to distance yourself from us?”
His voice rose with anger, drawing glances from the surrounding customers.
“Su Pu, sometimes I really think you’re missing a few screws. You moved in with nothing—no name, no status. Why would they take you seriously?”
“Right now, while the novelty hasn’t worn off for Li Jichuan, shouldn’t you be trying to cozy up a little? Buy some clothes, show some effort. That way, even if you get kicked out later, he’ll give you something out of sentiment.”
Su Pu pinched at the hem of his apron, thinking to himself that he did have something.
He’d slipped his mother’s bracelet onto Li Jichuan’s wrist.
And when he peeked earlier, Li Jichuan was still wearing it. That counted as accepting something from him… didn’t it?
“I’m talking to you! Either type or make some signs, don’t just stand there like a damn block of wood!”
Su Hui snapped at him.
“With your personality, you’ll last maybe three days at the Li house. And don’t you dare come crawling back to mine. Just seeing you pisses me off!”
Su Pu bit his lip, refusing to argue.
And the truth was… turning down money was stupid. If he really did get thrown out someday, a little extra savings would at least give him somewhere to land.
With that thought, he quietly drew the card back and held it.
But his palm burned strangely hot…
“Alright, since you took the money, Dad has a small favor. Just handle it while you’re at it.”
The dagger finally revealed itself. Su Hui laid out the real reason he came.
“There’s a company anniversary party next Saturday night. You need to bring Li Jichuan. Just have him show up. You’re still a Su, after all—consider it helping the family out.”
Su Pu looked up in shock, and the teasing arrogance on Su Hui’s face faded. He wasn’t joking.
Panicked, Su Pu waved his hands and tossed the card back onto the table.
Su Fengxian’s intention couldn’t be clearer.
He wanted to squeeze whatever value he could from the Li family while Su Pu still had temporary access—before he inevitably got discarded.
Use Li Jichuan’s influence to lend legitimacy to his own company.
But even if Li Jichuan hadn’t already drawn a line with him last night, Su Pu still wouldn’t do it.
He’d despise himself if he used their marriage and used him like that.
No. I don’t want the money. And I’m not bringing him.
“You just took the card! You can’t back out now.”
Su Hui snorted, mocking him for being greedy and then regretting it.
“Su Pu, even if you really got married into the Li family, you’d only be someone’s toy. Don’t pretend you’re above this. Take whatever you can get…”
“You’re afraid of pissing Li Jichuan off now—but have you ever thought that even if you don’t do anything, what reason would he have to like you?”
He stood, leaned across the table, and patted Su Pu’s shoulder.
“Think: if you get him to show up, business at home gets easier. Then even if you get kicked out, you’ll at least have something to bargain with when you come asking us for money again…”
Su Pu glared up at him, furious.
Su Hui only raised a brow, amused, completely unfazed by his anger.
Hands flying, layered and quick, Su Pu signed out his rage—the only tool he had to fight back.
The final gesture came with his knuckles smacking each other hard—a curse.
But no matter how filthy or sharp his signs were, Su Hui couldn’t understand them. He couldn’t be hurt by them.
Watching him, Su Hui actually laughed and called softly:
“Coward. Worthless. Waste.”
There it was.
Every time he was bullied, belittled—Su Hui always called him the same thing.
Coward. Worthless. Waste.
Those three words felt carved into his soul, a brand declaring he was destined never to be favored, never to be chosen.
But… was it his choice to be this pathetic?
Did he want to be spineless?
Did he not wish he could fight back—stand up for himself, just once?
He had tried so hard just to live. He stepped into a marriage without hesitation, offering his husband the most precious keepsake his mother left behind.
And still, it wasn’t enough.
He was still someone no one chose, no one cared to understand.
Su Pu trembled faintly as he picked up the glass of iced water on the table, fingers tightening around it.
Su Hui noticed the movement too. But the man didn’t flinch—he simply smirked, watching Su Pu with a mocking, taunting look.
As if saying: Go on, splash me…
Do it, coward…
A moment passed. With a dull thud, the glass returned to the table—set right beside the bank card.
Not a single drop spilled.
Su Pu sat with his back straight as a rod, jaw clenched tight, cold seeping through his teeth.
And Su Hui, having achieved his purpose, strolled away proudly.
…
Feeling pleased with himself, Su Hui walked toward the shop’s entrance—only to find a wheelchair blocking the doorway.
He squinted, gaze dropping until he met a cold, sharply defined face.
The man’s eyes were so intense and unblinking that Su Hui’s heart stuttered.
That face… looked familiar.
His clothes, too—clearly expensive.
A wheelchair…
A name surfaced in his mind:
Li Jichuan?
After all, the nearby office buildings belonged mostly to the Li Group. It wouldn’t be strange for Li Jichuan to appear here…
But after another glance, Su Hui dismissed the idea.
Just then, the wheelchair rolled inside, making way for him. Su Hui stepped out.
The late-summer breeze carried a hint of coolness as it brushed across his face.
Standing by the curb waiting for his ride, he thought back to the man in the wheelchair—and laughed.
“He’s dressed well enough, but he slipped up. Wearing a fake bracelet…”
He snorted softly.
The bangle’s coloring was all wrong. No way that man was Li Jichuan.
A young master born surrounded by priceless treasures would never fail to recognize something so obviously fake.
But anyway—what kind of person was Li Jichuan?
How could someone be that low-key, to the point their photos were all blurred?
Big deal. Didn’t he get dumped in the end?
A car pulled up. Su Hui whistled and hopped in, smug as ever.