Wooing my Bodyguard Wife

“Are you crazy? Is this what you were up to instead of studying?” was Tianwei’s heartwarming reply when Jingwei visited him without warning at his university campus in the late afternoon.

His brother had commandeered an entire study table for himself, much to the dismay of his fellow course mates. Tianwei’s notes were sprawled over the entire length of the table, and some were even stacked higher than Tianwei’s head. Jingwei would feel bad for interrupting his revision, but he had no other option.

Normally, he would go to Shang Jing. But since the person causing the problem was Shang Jing, he was effectively left with nowhere to turn.

“Ge, help me.” Jingwei pleaded, refusing to leave.

Tianwei, seeing that he was attracting unwanted attention, immediately packed his things and pulled him away to his dorm room. He took a wary look around for eavesdroppers before finally locking the door. Christ, his younger brother would give him a heart attack before he even hit 25.

“Ge! I’m serious! What should I do?”

“Nothing! You do nothing! Pretend you never knew about his actions.” Tianwei insisted seriously, “No matter what you do, do not make him your enemy!”

“Ge?” Jingwei asked, confused at how adamant his brother was acting.

“Jingwei, don’t be a fool! You have evidence of his misdeeds, and that makes you a liability. If he has the cruelty to conduct those crimes as you have claimed, what makes you think he’s not going to get rid of you the same way if you put one toe out of line?”

“Shang Jing wouldn’t…” Jingwei’s body suddenly felt numb at the thought that Shang Jing might silence him for good. If this was just three months ago, he would have thought the idea ludicrous. But he didn’t know about Shang Jing’s private activities three months ago either.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Tianwei asked darkly. “I’ve always had a bad feeling about him, and I was right.”

“How?” Jingwei asked weakly. “What do you mean?”

“Have you not noticed that Old Master Wu is looking a lot frailer than before when we visited his house?”

“Well, he’s getting older?” Jingwei shrugged. “Aren’t all old people like that?”

“Old Master Wu is 5 years younger than our father. But his sight is failing, and he’s developing hand tremors and he needs a cane to walk. I have it on good authority that in a few years, most likely when Shang Jing hits 18, he will be forgetting things more often.”

“Ge…”

“Wu Shang Jing is a deadly venomous viper Jingwei. It’s best to play a fool if you want to survive. Father is right – just don’t do anything. I’d rather you play at being an idiot playboy. Get out of the country if you need to.”

“But what about those people he’s hurting? Are we going to leave them? Surely there must be something we can do. You’re smart! Can you think of an idea?” Jingwei protested, upset.

Tianwei paused, a sign of conflict appearing in his calm eyes. Jingwei felt hope for the first time in a long time – maybe his brother really could do something, but then Tianwei shook his head and sent his hopes plummeting down the ravine.

“Those lives are not worth yours. Even if Shang Jing didn’t hurt them, something else or someone else would have gotten to them eventually. I would not pick saving their lives over our own.” Tianwei replied solemnly.

“…That’s a terrible thing to say,” Jingwei muttered, reeling back in shock at his brother’s heartlessness. “So… you’re not going to help me?”

“I will not.” Tianwei said firmly, looking over at his poor younger brother. He already had dark eye circles from not sleeping well, and he had curled into himself, looking sad and pathetic. Clearly this had been eating at him for a while.

“Do you want me to suggest to Father to get you to study abroad?” Tianwei offered suddenly, and Jingwei looked up.

“Huh?”

“If you cannot stop thinking about this, perhaps a change of scenery would do you good.” Tianwei said. “And the further away you are from him, the safer you’ll be and the more relieved I’ll feel.”

“Ge,” Jingwei said as he heaved a deep breath. His brother meant well, but it was useless. “There’s no point. I’ll never stop thinking about it, and Shang Jing can find me anywhere.”

“Then you must continue to pretend to be a fool. Remain his friend. He won’t get rid of you if you keep your head down. He cares for you, as much as a vermin like him can care for anyone.”

Hearing such a statement from Tianwei made him feel worse. After talking to his brother, he now had a whole host of new reasons not to rock the boat and report Shang Jing. But could he truly forget about all his misdeeds?

“You have gotten thinner,” Tianwei observed. He felt a brotherly urge to rectify that.”Come on, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“I have no appetite.” Jingwei replied faintly.

“You still need to eat.” Tianwei insisted firmly. “And I want another person to tell Lian Xingzi how misguided she is in her opinions.”

Jingwei’s ears perked up. That name sounded familiar.

“Ge, isn’t that the girl you had a crush on in high school? The one that visited our house before to work on projects with you? Are you still trying to ask her out? Did she reject you again? That’s so lame.” Jingwei snickered.

“Listen here, I do not have a crush on her, and I am not lame. I am a man with standards.” Tianwei retorted primly, even as he watched Jingwei brighten at the news.

Good. This would distract him well enough for a while, until Tianwei can come home for the weekend and let his father know about sending Jingwei abroad with a platoon of guards. His brother cannot stay in the country.

“I don’t know Ge, do you want me as a third wheel on your date?” Jingwei asked. “Or are you desperate enough to use me as your wingman?”

“This is not a date, I do not need a wingman.” Tianwei repeated, pointing a finger at his bathroom. “Now go and wash up – I’ll be meeting her soon, and I will not have you looking so pathetic and smelling like a wet dog.”