Shu Yi felt uneasy and quickly continued to explain, “President Pei, I was just too scared earlier—that’s why I called out the wrong name.”
The man’s voice was low and cold. “Is that so?”
Hearing the ominous tone in his voice, Shu Yi instinctively wanted to escape. But she knew—for the sake of her child, she couldn’t run no matter what.
“President Pei, I’ve been married for two years. My husband and I met in university and got married right after graduation. We have a daughter named Niannian. Just now, I thought I was calling my husband…”
Hearing the name “Niannian” seemed to suddenly pry open something in Pei Yanli’s memory. His expression darkened, and a familiar voice flashed through his mind.
“Pei Yanli, if we have a daughter in the future, can we name her Niannian? Niannian… that way, there will always be someone thinking about her, and she’ll never feel lonely.”
Under the dim light, for a fleeting moment, the woman before him seemed to overlap with Jiang Zhi.
He must be going mad.
How could Shu Yi possibly be Jiang Zhi?
Shu Yi held her breath. He hadn’t noticed anything… had he?
Suddenly, an ill-timed phone rang.
Pei Yanli snapped back to his senses, his thoughts thrown into disarray before returning to his usual cold demeanor.
He glanced at Shu Yi’s phone. The caller ID was labeled “1.”
It was her.
That little girl.
The call was from Niannian. Shu Yi didn’t want to say more to Pei Yanli right now—her mind was entirely on the call.
“President Pei, thank you for tonight. It’s late, and you have several important meetings tomorrow. You should head back and rest. I’ll pick you up at the old residence in the morning as scheduled.”
“No need. I’ll go to the company myself tomorrow.”
After saying that, Pei Yanli glanced at her swollen face and didn’t linger, turning to leave.
Shu Yi let out a breath of relief, turned, and went back home. She was about to answer the video call, but her face still hurt faintly. If the nanny saw, she would definitely worry.
So she switched it to a voice call.
Niannian couldn’t speak much yet, only babbling a few words. Most of the conversation was handled by Cheng Wu.
“Niannian was very well-behaved today. Xiao Yi, don’t worry too much—I’ll take good care of her.”
“Auntie, thank you. I’ve transferred the medical and living expenses to your card.”
If not for Cheng Wu, when Shu Yi had nowhere to turn, she probably wouldn’t have made it through that difficult time.
“Xiao Yi, your uncle and I aren’t short on money. Don’t worry about that. We’ve long treated Niannian as our own granddaughter, and you as our own daughter. It’s not easy for you out there alone—keep your salary for yourself.”
“But…”
“If you keep being so calculative with me, I’ll get angry. You know my temper—once I’m mad, no one can calm me down.”
As they spoke, Shu Yi saw that her account had just received another 30,000 yuan. She had only transferred 10,000, but Cheng Wu had added another 20,000.
Every time, no matter how much she gave, Cheng Wu would always return even more.
Shu Yi didn’t even know how much she owed in kindness anymore.
Cheng Wu had been her grandmother’s student. She once said that when she was young, her parents refused to let her study—it was Shu Yi’s grandmother who paid for her education all the way through graduate school.
After Cheng Wu started working, she kept trying to find her grandmother to repay her kindness. But in a sea of people, finding someone wasn’t easy.
Later, when Niannian had a fever, Shu Yi took her to the hospital and happened to register under Cheng Wu. Seeing Shu Yi’s face—so similar to her grandmother’s—Cheng Wu recognized her.
But it was still too late.
She never got to see Shu Yi’s grandmother one last time.
For the past year and a half, Shu Yi and Niannian had been living under Cheng Wu’s care. It was thanks to her help that Shu Yi could finish her studies abroad and obtain her degree.
She had originally found a job overseas, but had to return home because of Niannian’s illness.
“Xiao Yi, Niannian’s father… is he willing?”
“He… cooperates well.” Not wanting Cheng Wu to worry, Shu Yi chose to lie. “He’s never forgotten me and wants to start over.”
Cheng Wu didn’t notice the lie. After all, the story Shu Yi had told before was that she was the one who had dumped Niannian’s father.
She reminded her, “If you don’t want to get back together with him, talk to him properly. Don’t let things drag on…”
“Mm.”
After chatting a bit longer, Niannian had to go for her IV drip. Wanting to video call her sooner, Shu Yi made a detour to a pharmacy.
A few minutes later, she arrived. At this hour, only the pharmacist was there.
Shu Yi was beautiful, and she had recently bought a lot of folic acid here. Tonight, she also bought several pregnancy test kits, so the pharmacist recognized her immediately. But unlike before, Shu Yi now had clear handprint marks on her face—she looked like she had been abused.
“Did your husband hit you? Was it because you’re not pregnant, so he…” The pharmacist assumed Shu Yi was trapped in a toxic relationship and tried to persuade her earnestly.
“Sometimes not getting pregnant isn’t even your fault. Maybe your man just can’t perform. Most infertile couples—it’s usually the man’s issue, but they refuse to admit it and blame the woman instead. That man outside—is he your husband? He’s been waiting there so long. Looks decent, but who knew he’d be abusive…”
Shu Yi turned her head and, through the glass, saw Pei Yanli standing outside.
He held a cigarette between his slender fingers, its tip glowing red. Who knew how long he had been standing there.
Their eyes met briefly. Shu Yi looked away, unsure what he was doing at the pharmacy.
“Men these days—especially ones like him who smoke and drink—nine out of ten…” the pharmacist rambled on, pointing to a blue box in the glass cabinet, “…need this.”
Shu Yi’s ears turned red, her heart wavering. The words reminded her of the single line on the pregnancy test.
She subconsciously tightened her grip on the packaging, the plastic crinkling softly in her palm.
After years apart, could it be that Pei Yanli… really couldn’t?
She didn’t dare gamble.
“Give me one box of that,” she said, pointing.
“Wait, young lady—he hits you like this and you still want to have his child? Let me tell you, having a baby won’t fix a relationship. Whether a couple is good or not has nothing to do with a child. Even if you have one, if it’s bad, it’ll still end in divorce.”
“He didn’t hit me.”
“Then who did? Don’t tell me you two are into something that rough in bed?” the pharmacist asked, shocked.
“…It’s not what you think.” Shu Yi lowered her voice. “He’s my boss.”
The pharmacist glanced suspiciously at the tall figure outside, then back at Shu Yi, hesitating before finally taking the blue box from the cabinet.
“Don’t take too much of this at once.”
“Thank you.”
Shu Yi didn’t say more. She paid, packed the items into a plastic bag, and walked out.
Outside the glass door, the smoke seemed to freeze in the air.
Pei Yanli stubbed out his cigarette and walked in, his leather shoes stepping through the wet ground, casting an imposing shadow behind her.
His gaze fell on the bag in her hand. Shu Yi instinctively moved it behind her.
“President Pei, do you need something else?”
Before she could finish, the bag suddenly tore, and the contents fell out.
Whether the bag had already been damaged or torn by her grip, she didn’t know—but the moment she heard the sound, the pills had already landed at Pei Yanli’s feet.
Pei Yanli bent down, picked up the box, his thumb brushing over the embossed words “prolonged endurance” on the packaging.
Seeing this, Shu Yi’s face flushed. She hurriedly reached out to grab the box from his hand.
“Th-this… is for my husband,” she coughed awkwardly.
The man’s gaze slowly traced up her face, and he suddenly said with a hint of amusement—
“He’s not very capable?”