Pei Ran had always understood one principle: whatever position you are in, you should do what is appropriate for that position.
And whatever your status or social standing, you should dress accordingly.
This wasn't about being particular; it was simply a rule that corporate slaves naturally learned in order to live better.
Clothes make the man, as gold makes the Buddha.
Judging people by appearances in social interactions had never been absent.
In front of the company's employees, Pei Ran needed to present an upright and upwardly mobile side, but when facing the Pei couple—this pair who clearly possessed extreme attributes—he needed another side.
A side that made it obvious at a glance that he was not to be trifled with.
"What's the matter?"
Pei Ran's gaze swept over the two of them with extreme indifference. Pei Yucai had long since shrunk to the back, so his eyes finally settled on Yu Mei.
"Yes, there's something… I guess…"
Yu Mei had originally been filled with a bellyful of anger to vent, but the moment she met her son's eyes, she immediately backed down.
She wasn't the kind of shrewd and domineering parent to begin with.
Before "Pei Ran" won the lottery, she was just an ordinary woman working as a salesperson at a cosmetics counter.
Apart from controlling her husband, she couldn't control anyone.
Pei Ran walked over to the sofa in the living room and sat down, raising his eyes.
"Speak."
Even his slightly lifted chin seemed to convey his imposing presence.
Yu Mei and Pei Yucai followed him to the living room, then carefully shifted their bottoms to sit down.
Yu Mei kicked her husband several times, as if kicking a wooden puppet.
It was completely useless!
She cleared her throat lightly, ultimately having to rely on herself.
"Son, are you in a bad mood today, or what? My credit card…"
Pei Ran: "Oh, I suspended it."
Receiving this definite answer, Yu Mei immediately lost her composure and stood up abruptly.
"Why!"
"No reason."
This answer obviously couldn't satisfy Yu Mei, and for a moment, she forgot the feeling her son had given her earlier.
"What do you mean 'no reason'? You must have some reason!"
Otherwise, who would just casually suspend a credit card? It wasn't like taking out the trash—something you do every day without thinking.
Yu Mei glared at Pei Ran, as if she wouldn't let it go unless he gave her a satisfactory answer today.
Pei Ran met her gaze calmly: "You two don't do anything productive all day, you just spend money recklessly. You've probably already forgotten how hard it is to earn money, so I'm preparing to let you recall hardship and appreciate sweetness."
Yu Mei & Pei Yucai: ??
Pei Ran didn't say more, but by the next day, they understood what he meant.
Following their usual habits, Yu Mei wouldn't get up until noon, and Pei Yucai, having been fired from his job, didn't need to go to work either.
Thus, the couple very harmoniously slept until the sun was high in the sky the next day before getting up.
"Old Zhao, prepare me a bowl of small wontons."
"Get me two meat buns."
After ordering their meals, they sat down at the dining table, but the house was empty and silent.
Not to mention any response from the Old Butler.
Where is everyone?
After sitting and waiting for a few minutes, the couple—who had started playing with their phones the moment they opened their eyes—finally sensed something was wrong.
"Old Zhao?"
"Old Zhao?"
After calling several more times, the house remained completely silent. Yu Mei truly couldn't sit still any longer.
She went to the kitchen, then to the other side of the house where the Old Butler and several Auntie lived, but there was no one there.
Not only was the old butler absent, but even the aunties were nowhere to be seen.
What was even more terrifying was that all the aunties' belongings had completely vanished.
Reflecting on past hardships to appreciate present sweetness.
Yu Mei thought of these four words her son had mentioned last night and couldn't help but shudder.
She could "reflect" a little and "appreciate" a little, but there was no need for their lives to regress overnight to pre-liberation times, was there?
"Oh no, no, no!"
She rushed out of the room in a panic, muttering anxiously.
After pacing around the living room twice, she remembered to grab her phone to call her son.
At that moment, it seemed as if all the misfortunes in the world had descended upon her—her phone was nowhere to be found.
Pei Yucai saw her frantic, as if the sky were about to collapse, and finally managed to stop her.
"What are you panicking about? What are you looking for?"
"My phone, where's my phone?"
Pei Yucai looked at the object in his wife's hand and couldn't help but feel exasperated. He raised her hand to his eye level.
"Isn't it right here?"
Only then did Yu Mei realize she had been tightly clutching the very phone she was searching for.
No wonder she couldn't find it.
"Oh, oh, the phone! I need to call our son!"
When Pei Yucai asked her again what had happened, she refused to say another word.
She dialed the number, but unfortunately, no one answered.
Yu Mei grew even more panicked.
Just as the couple, hungry and anxious, were about to go to the company to find their son in person, the door to the children's room suddenly opened.
Pei Jie rubbed his eyes and walked out, immediately complaining to Yu Mei that he was hungry.
"Xiao Jie, why are you at home?"
Both Yu Mei and Pei Yucai were taken aback for a moment but quickly came to their senses.
It wasn't strange for their younger son to be home at this time. With the butler and aunties gone, there was no one to cook, let alone take the child to school.
Although Pei Yucai and his wife were eager to find their eldest son first, their younger son was hungry, leaving them no choice but to stay home.
"I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I want to eat!"
He immediately threw himself on the floor, rolling around and screaming.
The little troublemaker's noise was enough to make their heads spin. Under the watchful eyes of the two men in the house, Yu Mei had no choice but to head into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for everyone.
One wanted meat buns, another wanted shumai, and she herself wanted wontons.
Yu Mei opened the refrigerator, only to find it completely empty.
All she found was an unopened bag of flour—
Their family's rule was to eat fresh vegetables every day, as meat stored in the refrigerator didn't taste as good.
Buns, shumai, and wontons had to be made from scratch, with no frozen food allowed.
Yu Mei: "…Let's eat out!"
Pei Jie: "Wah! No! The food outside is so dirty, and the meat is made from dead pigs!"
Without a second thought, Yu Mei slapped the naughty child's bottom: "Stop crying. If you don't eat, you'll starve."
Completely forgetting that the phrase "dead pigs" was something she had repeatedly told her son with her chin raised, eyes rolled, and an air of arrogance.
Only after the family of three had solved their hunger problem did they finally get around to looking for Pei Ran.
However, another unfortunate event occurred.
They couldn't enter the company's main entrance. The receptionist and the security guard directly stopped them outside.
"Sorry, Mr. Pei, Mrs. Pei. This is a special instruction from President Pei. We're just following orders, and it's quite difficult for us too. Perhaps you could try calling President Pei?"
The receptionist wore a professional, polite smile, but between the lines, her meaning was clear.
She wasn't going to let them in.
If they wanted to enter, they would have to deal with their own son first and not trouble outsiders like her who were just employees.
Their own son… of course, they couldn't handle him.
Pei Ran simply wouldn't answer their calls.
With no other options, the three members of the Pei family had no choice but to slink back home in defeat.
They had no money on hand. Being able to go out for breakfast and make their way to the company had relied entirely on the small change in their digital wallets.
But that money was also very limited and couldn't sustain their expenses for more than a few days.
Back home, aside from watching TV, there was no other entertainment.
Pei Jie's tantrums gave the couple headaches, and it was only belatedly that they remembered they could send him to school.
Inevitably, after being absent without reason for half a day, he was scolded by his teacher as soon as he arrived at school.
The day passed in a disheveled mess, and dinner was takeout as well.
They still had to pick Pei Jie up from school. The child had been unhappy all day and started acting out as soon as he saw his parents.
He pushed Pei Yucai and Yu Mei to the point where veins bulged on their foreheads.
It all ended with a beating for the brat and the brat rolling on the floor, crying and screaming.
By ten o'clock at night, the family of three sat neatly on the sofa, eagerly waiting for Pei Ran to come home.
However, Pei Ran was working overtime at the company and hadn't returned at all.
Though a large part of this was intentional on his part.
Aside from being busy with company matters, Pei Ran was also busy looking for a place to live.
No matter what his future life would look like, one thing was certain: he would not continue living with the three members of the Pei family.
He wasn't the real Pei Ran and couldn't bring himself to live with someone else's parents and younger brother as if it were natural.
Even if the other family's conditions were excellent, he couldn't accept it.
So he asked Secretary Jin to help him find a place—not too big, just enough for him to live alone. The location didn't need to be too good either, preferably not too far from the company.
Secretary Jin was efficient and rented a place within two days.
After getting the keys, Pei Ran went to take a look. Sure enough, everything satisfied him.
He only needed to buy some daily necessities to move in.
The key point was that the rent was cheap.
Time flew by in the midst of his busy schedule. By the time Pei Ran had settled in and went back to check on the family of three at the Pei residence,
the three of them looked completely like pets that had been starved for days—all listless.
The moment they saw Pei Ran, three pairs of eyes lit up.
"Son!"
"Brother!"
Pei Ran didn't even need to speak first. Pei Yucai and Yu Mei proactively reported to him that they had thoroughly "recalled past hardships and appreciated present comforts."
"Son, really, we've completely come to understand. You were right. Before, we were too wasteful. Living should be about diligence and frugality. We won't be so extravagant anymore."
These past few days had truly been miserable for them.
The couple took turns expressing their "loyalty," trying to make their son feel their sincerity.
Pei Ran was quite satisfied with this outcome.
"If that's the case, then that's for the best."
After saying this, he prepared to return to the original owner's room.
That was it?
Nothing else?
What about their credit cards?
Pei Ran was blocked at the bedroom door. Unless he gave them a satisfactory answer, they wouldn't let him pass.
"Living expenses? You haven't even reached retirement age yet, can't you earn money to support yourselves? Me? The law stipulates that children have the obligation to support their elderly parents, but you're not at an age where you need my support yet, right?"
Pei Yucai & Yu Mei: ??
This definitely wasn't their son!
Where were the masters and celestial masters? They needed to find someone to exorcise evil spirits!
The night's turmoil naturally wouldn't end easily, but once Pei Ran closed his bedroom door, the couple couldn't do anything to him.
Until the next morning, when Pei Ran woke up at the usual time for working people.
Old Butler was already waiting in the living room and asked him what he wanted to eat when he saw him.
They had been sent on a vacation by the boss these past few days and had quite an enjoyable time.
Pei Ran remained the same as always; something simple like noodles would suffice.
Old Butler, however, felt sorry for him and, according to his usual tastes, had the chef prepare an extra serving of crystal dumplings for him.
Small ones, only five pieces—a grown man could finish them in just a couple of bites.
Pei Ran wasn't picky, thanked Old Butler, and ate them.
By the time Pei Yucai and Yu Mei heard the commotion at home and hurriedly got out of bed, Pei Ran's breakfast time was already over.
Old Butler and four aunties, including one who was the chef, all stood before him.
Seeing several familiar faces, Pei Yucai immediately brightened up.
Had everyone returned?
He had said it—his son couldn't possibly be so heartless as to truly abandon them. He must have just wanted to scare them.
See, he talked tough, but in reality, he still called everyone back.
"Good morning, Old Zhao. Get me two meat buns, plus a fried dough stick and a bowl of soy milk."
Pei Yucai sat down at the dining table, the smile on his face once again exuding the aura of "President Pei's father."
Butler Zhao: "…"
He remained motionless.
Pei Yucai's smile soon faltered, and he glanced at his son.
Pei Ran was waiting for Yu Mei. Only after she came out did he begin speaking to Old Butler and the aunties before him.
"I've already explained the situation to you. Starting today, your task is to supervise Mr. Pei and Ms. Yu's work, record all their work activities, and report to me daily."
[Author's Note]
The Pei family of three: My CEO son (brother) has suddenly gone crazy…