Pei Chen sat in the cramped, cluttered break room, small and alone, head bowed as he played with a Rubik’s cube. He hadn’t gone with Uncle Duan to find his mother.
Ever since Wen Huan had insisted on divorcing Pei Jingyi, to avoid affecting the child, Pei Jingyi had temporarily entrusted Pei Chen to Duan Yuanzhou’s care.
Several days had passed, and Pei Chen had no news of his mother.
But he knew that his mother must have already finalized the divorce with his father.
After all, his mother didn’t like his father and absolutely detested him, this child.
Back when his father hadn’t gone bankrupt, every time Pei Chen managed to get a chance to see his mother, she would furrow her pretty brows at him and tell him to go back to the ancestral home to find his grandfather.
A few times, Pei Chen deliberately threw tantrums, hiding at home, wanting to stay by his mother’s side. But his mother would simply call his father over, who would stuff him into the departing car.
She didn’t even want to look at him.
So now that his father was bankrupt, although Pei Chen really wanted to see his mother one last time, he was afraid that seeing him would make her unhappy. More importantly, he really didn’t want to see his mother dislike him even more.
So Pei Chen tightened his grip on the Rubik’s cube in his hand. A teardrop fell onto the cube. He stubbornly pressed his little lips together, raised his arm, and roughly wiped his reddened eyes.
“Chenchen—” Just then, a familiar yet strange call suddenly rang out.
Pei Chen rubbed his ears, wondering how he could already be hearing things at just three years old?
But the next moment, the glass door of the break room was pushed open. He saw the mother he had been thinking about just moments ago striding right up to him. Her beautiful face showed not a trace of disgust; instead, her fragrant hand even gently touched his little face. “Chenchen, why didn’t you come find Mommy?”
After awakening, Wen Huan indeed had too many people she hadn’t attended to.
But Pei Chen—she had been thinking of him all along. It was just that her emotions were somewhat complicated, so she had taken a little time to sort out her feelings.
Because before awakening, Wen Huan’s relationship with this biological son of hers wasn’t exactly harmonious.
Yet in the book, when Pei Chen died tragically, his body hacked beyond recognition, the forensic examiner had retrieved a small yellow duck pendant from his tightly clenched palm.
That was a little gift Wen Huan had gotten from a milk tea shop during a promotion when she bought milk tea.
Cheap and ugly, Wen Huan had originally wanted to throw it away. It just so happened that Pei Chen was sent home by the old master for a monthly visit, so Wen Huan tossed it to her son.
At the time, Pei Chen’s little face was full of disdain. Wen Huan didn’t care either, thinking that with all of Pei Chen’s expensive toys, he must have long thrown that little duck away.
But who would have thought that this little duck would be carried with him for over ten years.
And now, having his face touched by his mother, three-year-old Pei Chen widened his eyes. His favorite Rubik’s cube even clattered to the floor.
But he didn’t pick it up. Clenching his tender little hands, he swallowed hard, unsure how to answer his mother’s question.
Duan Yuanzhou, however, walked into the break room and picked up the Rubik’s cube. “Wen Huan, you’ve been so irresponsible toward Chenchen. Why would he want to go find you when he doesn’t like you?”
“Is that so?” Wen Huan bent down upon hearing this, looking at her son. “Chenchen, don’t you like Mommy?”
Duan Yuanzhou scoffed, thinking Wen Huan was simply asking for humiliation.
Pei Chen also fell silent for a few seconds, then turned his little face away. He said softly, “I never said that.”
“???”
Duan Yuanzhou’s face was full of disbelief.
“Chenchen is such a good boy. Will Mommy and Daddy take Chenchen home in a little while?”
Wen Huan was satisfied, so she gave her son’s soft little cheek another pat. The next moment, she simply scooped the little one into her arms.
Because she remembered the affection Pei Chen had shown for her even until his death.
After awakening, Wen Huan wanted to change her fate of being persecuted by the villain and dying a tragic death. She also wanted to change her son’s fate of straying onto the wrong path and ending up dismembered.
At worst, when the female lead appeared and Pei Jingyi divorced her, Wen Huan would take her son and leave the country together. This time, she wouldn’t trouble the female lead to become her son’s stepmother.
Pei Chen, lifted entirely by Wen Huan, stiffened in her arms. “You… weren’t you leaving? Why did you and Dad come to take me home?”
“Because I’m not leaving anymore,” Wen Huan replied.
Pei Chen froze in surprise.
His small hands unconsciously gripped Wen Huan’s sleeve. “You’re not leaving? You’re not going out to live a good life anymore?”
“Ah, a good life doesn’t have to be found outside,” Wen Huan laughed. “Mom has realized that every day spent with you and Dad is already a good life!”
Pei Chen was completely stunned.
Looking at his smiling mother, his little mind went blank.
Pei Jingyi, standing at the doorway, listened to Wen Huan’s words. Dark light flickered in his black eyes, and his heart warmed slightly.
Whether Wen Huan’s last words were insincere or false, as long as she could say such things, he could let it go.
But Duan Yuanzhou, standing to the side, watched his good friend and his friend’s son looking dazed and found it almost unbearable to watch.
Because Wen Huan had practically sweet-talked this father and son pair into becoming embryos again.
Still, Wen Huan’s sweet and gentle act just now had seemed quite convincing…
So, though he opened his mouth to speak, he temporarily said nothing.
Pei Chen was three years old. Though not chubby, boys develop well and can be quite heavy.
After holding him for a while, Wen Huan simply handed him over to Pei Jingyi. “Husband, Chenchen will ride the electric scooter with us later. Let him sit between us.”
Pei Jingyi shook his head. “Let him squat in the front.”
Though Pei Jingyi didn’t have much experience riding electric scooters, he had observed carefully on the way here. The foot space in front of the scooter could fit a child.
Pei Chen looked his father straight in the eyes. Two seconds later, he let out a “hmph.”
But Wen Huan thought Pei Jingyi’s idea was great. She took her son’s little hand happily. “That works! Mom will drive, and Chenchen can sit on Mom’s lap.”
Pei Chen’s face instantly flushed red. Lowering his little head, he mumbled an awkward “Mm-hmm.”
Looking at her gentle and sensible son, Wen Huan suddenly felt he wasn’t such a little devil after all.
Duan Yuanzhou, however, was even more speechless. Since when had Pei Jingyi’s mode of transportation become an electric scooter?
And when had Pei Chen—the little devil who, during the past few days in his car, constantly complained about the child safety seat being too high, too uncomfortable, and lacking class—turned into a little angel?
But the facts were right before his eyes.
After Pei Chen refused to be held by Pei Jingyi, struggled to get down, and was led by Wen Huan to the office for a drink, Duan Yuanzhou immediately closed the glass door of the lounge, stopping Pei Jingyi alone. “Brother Pei, did you secretly give Wen Huan some kind of medicine?”
Pei Jingyi’s face turned cold. “What nonsense are you talking?”
Duan Yuanzhou looked utterly innocent. “Isn’t it because Wen Huan is acting so differently from before? After all, she used to ignore you and Xiao Chen, and just recently she was making a huge fuss about getting a divorce. How come she suddenly changed her mind? Could there be some scheme behind this? Should we investigate?”
Pei Jingyi shook his head without hesitation. “No need to investigate. I’ll handle it myself, whether there’s a scheme or not.”
Duan Yuanzhou was momentarily speechless, his gaze turning complicated.
Having been brothers with Pei Jingyi for over a decade, he knew Pei Jingyi had always been mature, wise, and decisive.
So why was he now acting like a foolish ruler?
“Brother Pei, this time you pretended to go bankrupt and withdraw from the Pei Group to uncover all those lurking in the shadows with ulterior motives. Actually, this is also a good opportunity to get rid of Wen Huan. Old Master Pei really hopes you can find a partner worthy of you.”
Yes, Pei Jingyi’s current downfall had been a setup from the start. Although it wasn’t specifically aimed at Wen Huan, Old Master Pei also hoped to use it against her.
After all, the Pei family was vast and influential, with generations of intricate connections and unfathomable depths.
If Pei Jingyi were to officially become the head of the Pei family, and the lady of the house turned out to be Wen Huan—beautiful but vulgar, greedy and brainless—many would surely harbor disloyal thoughts.
Pei Jingyi, however, remained indifferent. “My partner is not for others to meddle with. Old Master’s opinions don’t represent mine. If someone harbors disloyal thoughts just because of Wen Huan, it only means their heart was never pure to begin with.”
Duan Yuanzhou couldn’t argue with that. “Stepping back this time has indeed revealed many things we couldn’t see before. But staying in this state of downfall isn’t a long-term solution. Brother Pei, when do you plan to make a comeback?”
Pei Jingyi narrowed his dark eyes and spoke slowly, word by word. “Tentatively set for a year. But since we’ve set this trap, we must make it convincing. Don’t let any flaws slip.”
“Don’t worry.”
…
At 5:30 p.m.
With nothing left to do at the company, Pei Jingyi left work on time with Wen Huan and Pei Chen.
This time, however, Pei Jingyi took the driver’s seat, then motioned for Wen Huan to sit behind him and hold onto his waist. After kicking up the side stand, he glanced at his three-year-old son. “Get on by yourself and squat down.”