The driver’s side window rolled down, and the chauffeur, Uncle Liu, turned to look at her with a warm smile and asked politely, “Miss Pei, are you heading home?”
Uncle Liu was the Shang family’s driver. With the neighbors coming and going, Pei Er had seen him many times.
Pei Er instinctively glanced at the back seat. The window was rolled up, and it was too dark inside to tell whether anyone was there.
“I…”
Before she could finish, Uncle Liu interrupted her. “It’s so late—it’s not safe for a young lady to be out alone. Get in. It’s on the way back anyway.”
Hearing his kind offer, Pei Er looked through the car window at the back row again, hesitating slightly.
“Miss Pei?” Uncle Liu asked again. “Are you heading home?”
“I am.” Pei Er nodded, walked to the back door, and opened it. “Thank you for the trou—” …ble.
Seeing the man in the car with his eyes closed, resting, her voice suddenly caught in her throat, and she went mute.
Shang Zhixing leaned loosely against the backrest, his handsome profile hazy in the shadows. She couldn’t tell whether he was asleep, and he seemed completely oblivious to what was happening around him.
This Uncle Liu—surely he hadn’t taken it upon himself to invite her into the car out of the goodness of his heart?
Pei Er hesitated for a moment, steadied herself, then carefully sat down in the car and quietly closed the door.
Unexpectedly, Shelley suddenly walked up and, through the car window, bid her a reluctant farewell. “Sister, see you next time. Call me if anything comes up.”
Pei Er felt a bit awkward, unsure whether Shang Zhixing was asleep. She lowered her voice. “Uncle Liu, let’s go.”
The car drove off smoothly.
Pei Er turned to look out the window, her thoughts churning.
She thought of the two years she’d spent with Shang Zhixing.
Sneaking around, never able to show their faces—every meeting felt like an illicit affair. Looking back, it all seemed absurd.
Like a fleeting, insubstantial dream.
Since they’d lost contact three years ago, Pei Er had never imagined she’d be entangled with Shang Zhixing again. After all, they weren’t from the same world.
She knew very well that Shang Zhixing had no feelings for her, and never could have. Matching families of equal standing, joining strength with strength—that was the tradition of their kind of aristocratic clans.
The car was quiet. No one spoke.
She pressed close to the car door, unaware that the man beside her had opened his eyes—narrow, sharp, and piercing—and was staring at her without blinking.
Pei Er rubbed her arms. She felt a little cold.
The air conditioning was probably set a bit low.
She turned her head, about to ask Uncle Liu if he could turn up the temperature, when she caught sight of Shang Zhixing out of the corner of her eye. He’d woken up at some point and was looking at her with his eyes open.
Pei Er stiffened, a faint chill running down her spine. She steeled herself and greeted him. “Chairman Shang.”
Shang Zhixing was silent for a moment, then asked out of nowhere, “That kid—you like him?”
“What kid?” Pei Er looked bewildered.
Shang Zhixing curled the corner of his mouth, his face still cold, his tone unhurried. “I’m not well-traveled. I didn’t know Director Pei enjoyed playing the doting big sister to strangers.”
It took Pei Er a moment to realize he was talking about Shelley.
So he hadn’t been asleep at all.
She didn’t know how to answer, so she simply played along. “Who doesn’t like a sweet-talking younger brother?”
Shelley was so well-behaved—unlike that little brat Pei Xi, whose mouth only ever spewed nonsense. One look at him and she was already annoyed.
Shang Zhixing’s expression darkened further.
He let out a derisive laugh, an ambiguous snort. “Is that so.”
Coming from his mouth, those words were dripping with mockery.
Pei Er lowered her head. In a flash, she remembered how she used to call him “Brother Zhixing” back in the day, and instantly felt embarrassed.
Even so. Pei Er offered no defense.
Shang Zhixing said flatly, “People in that kind of place are the best at sweet talk. Director Pei wouldn’t be so easily fooled, would she?”
Pei Er: “Thank you for the reminder, Chairman Shang.”
“True.” Shang Zhixing’s tone turned snide. “After all, you’re much better at deceiving others than they are.”
Pei Er: “…”
She stayed silent, and Shang Zhixing seemed to lose interest, saying nothing more.
Silence. The atmosphere inside the car nearly froze solid.
Fortunately, the car drove on without incident, pulling into Zijinyuan and coming to a slow stop in front of the Pei family villa.
“Uncle Liu, thank you for today.”
Pei Er said softly, and was just opening the car door to get out when Uncle Liu smiled. “Why thank me? Thank our young master.”
Pei Er put on a flawless smile. “Thank you, Chairman Shang.”
Shang Zhixing had already resumed his polished, well-bred demeanor. He gave a distant, indifferent nod. “It was nothing.”
The car started up and drove toward the Shang residence.
Pei Er withdrew her gaze, turned, and went inside her house.
Early morning.
The sound of piano drifted down from upstairs, wave after wave.
Pei Er was woken by it. She came out of her room, rubbed her temples, and asked the maid who was cleaning on the second floor, “Who’s playing the piano?”
The maid replied, “It’s Miss Jiajia practicing.”
Today was Saturday, so Pei Jia didn’t have school.
Pei Er followed the sound to the music room on the third floor and opened the door, where she saw a little girl sitting before a grand, magnificent piano.
She wore a little white dress, her hair tied up in a neat bun on top of her head, her back straight, every movement as elegant as a little princess.
Pei Er remained silent, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe as she listened to her play the entire Canon in D.
The moment the music stopped, Fang Hui appeared from somewhere, smiling at Pei Er. “Er Er, you’re up so early,” she said, before her gaze naturally drifted to Pei Jia.
Pei Jia rose from the bench, spread her arms wide, and pouted at Fang Hui in a coquettish manner. “Mommy, how did I play today? Did I improve?”
“Enormous improvement! You’re amazing, sweetheart!” Fang Hui smiled tenderly and reached out to stroke Pei Jia’s forehead. “Go get ready—we’re heading to the mall in a bit.”
“Yay!” Pei Jia lit up with excitement, happily wrapping her arms around Fang Hui’s. “Mommy, I want to buy that limited-edition doll from last time!”
“Alright, we’ll buy it, we’ll buy it.” Fang Hui’s face was full of adoration as she playfully tapped Pei Jia’s head with a teasing smile.
Watching the warm scene before her, Pei Er felt like an intruder. She lowered her gaze, her face betraying no emotion.
This version of her mother was something Pei Er had never seen before. Her affection for Pei Jia was written all over her face—just a single look revealed how deeply she treasured her.
Fang Hui had never looked at Pei Er with such tenderness. Never.
Just as the mother and daughter were chatting happily together, a voice suddenly cut in from the side.
“This piano is quite nice.”
Pei Jia glanced toward the door at the sound, looking at Pei Er with a hint of unfamiliarity.
She had only been four when Pei Er left. Three years without seeing her, and she could no longer recognize Pei Er.
“Mommy, who is she?”
Pei Er’s expression was indifferent. “I’m your eldest sister. Call me sister.”
Pei Jia curled her lips, ignoring her words entirely, and instead looked to Fang Hui for confirmation.
In the past three years, no one in the family had really mentioned Pei Er, so Pei Jia had never known she had an older sister.
“Jia Jia, this is your sister,” Fang Hui said. “Call her sister.”
Alarm bells rang in Pei Jia’s heart. She wasn’t the only little princess in the family? She wasn’t her parents’ only daughter?
She lifted her chin arrogantly, looking at Pei Er with a challenging glare. “Why haven’t I seen you before? You must have been picked up from the trash! You don’t look anything like Mommy!”
Her tone was dripping with disdain, and Pei Er frowned at the words. “You’re so rude. Who taught you to talk like that?”
Fang Hui knitted her brows at Pei Er, her eyes full of reproach. “Why are you being so harsh? Jia Jia is still little—she hasn’t seen you in three years. Isn’t it normal that she doesn’t remember you?”
Pei Er shot back, “So you’re admitting I was picked up from the trash?”
If that were the case—if she were unwanted because she’d been found in a garbage bin—Pei Er would actually feel a little better.
But that wasn’t it at all. She and Pei Jia shared the same parents.
“Children say whatever comes to mind. Why are you making such a fuss over it?” Fang Hui said helplessly. “Jia Jia, take Teacher Chen to rest for a bit.”