Passing by? She was clearly here specifically for her.
Pei Yan knew Liao Lisa, Li Yueting’s mother, all too well. If she refused, Lisa would undoubtedly show up at her studio tomorrow under the guise of concern.
Lisa’s visit was undoubtedly about her and Li Yueting.
She wanted to do some groundwork before Pei Yan’s parents returned to the country.
After a moment’s thought, Pei Yan sent the address of a café.
When Lisa saw the address, the smile on her lips stiffened.
This place was next to Pei Yan’s studio, miles away from the Li family.
Her earlier text message was merely a polite gesture—what business could she possibly have in that area?
As the second daughter of the Fuyao Jewelry Group, Pei Yan’s manners and upbringing were impeccable.
In the past, she would never have made an elder travel so far.
It seemed she was truly determined to break up with Yueting this time.
Lisa had no choice but to swallow her frustration. With a daughter-in-law from such an influential family, she couldn’t afford to put on airs—it was better to treat her with reverence.
Once she came to this realization, she called Li Yueting and asked him to play chauffeur for the day.
The next morning at ten o’clock, in the café.
Pei Yan received a call from Liao Lisa and stepped out of the café.
Li Yueting, who had been left waiting by the car, brightened upon seeing her and hurried over. “Xiao Yan.”
Pei Yan: “…Why are you here too?”
Li Yueting: “I wanted to see you, so I came.”
Pei Yan didn’t respond, turning instead to walk back into the café.
Left with no choice, Li Yueting waited by the car. When his phone rang, he frowned and answered, “Hello?”
“Young Master Li, the woman from that night at the hotel is named Molly, but that’s not her real name. She used to be a hostess at the Baigong Club and resigned three months ago.”
Li Yueting: “Have you found her real name?”
“Not yet.”
Li Yueting: “Keep looking.”
He hung up, his expression dark. No matter what, he had to find this woman.
Inside the café, Pei Yan exchanged polite greetings.
Liao Lisa warmly invited her to sit down.
After each taking a sip of coffee, they got straight to the point.
“Xiao Yan, I know Yueting deserves a good scolding, but he hasn’t crossed the line, has he?”
Pei Yan remained silent.
Thinking she was getting through to her, Lisa continued, “In our circle, someone like Yueting who just drinks and plays along occasionally is actually quite rare. Most men are constantly surrounded by flocks of women.”
“He was drunk that night and talking nonsense. It’s been years since he and that Ning Ran broke up.”
“You and Yueting have been together for three years and grew up together. Besides you, I won’t accept any other daughter-in-law.”
“He knows he was wrong too. His father made him kneel for five or six hours as punishment—his knees are all bruised.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t interfere in you young people’s affairs, but with all the history between you and Yueting, it would be such a shame to let it go.”
“Auntie,” Pei Yan met her gaze directly, “may I ask how he and Ning Ran broke up back then?”
Lisa stiffened. “Why are you asking about that?”
Pei Yan: “I assume you’ve seen that video. Li Yueting still has feelings for Ning Ran. I think—”
“That’s not true,” Lisa cut her off. “Back then, we had no idea he was dating that poor student. That Ning Ran was only after Yueting’s money. He broke up with her once he saw her for who she really was.”
Pei Yan furrowed her brows. She had asked Li Yueting the same question.
He never said Ning Ran was after his money, only that they realized they weren’t quite compatible after they got together.
It was an amicable breakup.
But when Li Yueting was heartbroken, Pei Yan went to check on him, and his drunken state didn’t seem like an amicable breakup at all.
At the time, she suspected that Li Yueting’s parents had interfered.
Since he didn’t say anything, Pei Yan didn’t ask either.
She said, “Auntie, I’m sorry to have made you come all this way, but I was the one dating Li Yueting. Now I want to break up with him, and I hope you respect my decision.”
“Xiao Yan.”
Pei Yan sneered inwardly—Liao Lisa and Li Yueting were truly mother and son.
Even when trying to win her back, they could only call her “Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan.”
“Auntie, I have things to attend to. Excuse me.”
After Pei Yan turned away, Liao Lisa’s expression immediately fell.
When Li Yueting saw Pei Yan come out, he tried to approach and pester her again, but Pei Yan didn’t even glance at him. She walked straight into her studio and hung up a “No Admittance” sign.
As soon as Pei Yan arrived at the studio, she received a call from Xia Tingwan.
The two arranged to have dinner together. This time, they didn’t go to Yihe Pavilion but chose a restaurant with a high-altitude night view of the Sui River. It wasn’t a particularly upscale place, but the scenery was nice.
Xia Tingwan was a fashion designer. Early in her career, she had apprenticed under Xuan Hong and, leveraging Xuan Hong’s connections with the Huo family, quickly carved out a path for herself in the fashion world.
Now, she was a rising star in the fashion industry.
Meanwhile, Pei Yan’s mother, Xuan Hong, had established a brand and design works that frequently graced international fashion weeks.
In recent years, with the rising trend of Eastern aesthetics, Xuan Hong’s haute couture had been repeatedly showcased by international celebrities at film festivals.
Sometimes, Pei Yan wished she could borrow her mother’s connections, but then her title would no longer be “Jewelry Designer Pei Yan”—it would be “Xuan Hong’s daughter.”
This dinner with Xia Tingwan was to discuss Tang Xin’s gown, as jewelry and attire should complement each other perfectly.
As they ate and chatted, Xia Tingwan laughed and said, “If those celebrities who turned you down knew the jewelry was designed by the second Miss Pei, they’d probably regret it to no end.”
Pei Yan sighed, “Such is life. If I leveraged my mother’s reputation, even if I designed garbage, people would scramble to wear it. But that would tarnish my mother’s hard-earned prestige.”
Xia Tingwan said, “Master has never mentioned helping you in front of me. She’s still very strict.”
Pei Yan replied, “I have to live up to her standards. Didn’t she hide her own identity and brave the fashion world back in the day?”
Xia Tingwan said, “Like mother, like daughter. I believe our little jade will become the brightest rising star in the jewelry world.”
Pei Yan playfully responded, “Thank you, my darling.”
After exchanging a few more affectionate words, Xia Tingwan asked about her situation with Li Yueting.
When she heard that Li Yueting’s mother had gone to see Pei Yan, Xia Tingwan was exasperated: “Why doesn’t she take a look at what her own son has done?”
Pei Yan laughed self-deprecatingly, “Exactly. And it even led to me forcibly kissing Fu Huaizhou.”
So far, Pei Yan remained convinced that she was the one who had kissed Fu Huaizhou.
Xia Tingwan’s mouth fell open in shock: “Fu—Fu Huaizhou? You kissed Fu Huaizhou?”
Overwhelmed by excitement, Xia Tingwan unconsciously raised her voice, drawing glances from the nearby tables.
Pei Yan’s cheeks flushed red: “Good grief, keep your voice down.”
Xia Tingwan quickly covered her mouth: “Fu Huaizhou! I’ve never even seen him—he’s so mysterious. Where did you run into him?”
“It’s all because of you,” Pei Yan snorted. “That night after Huo Xingjian took you away, I stumbled into his private room in a daze. I was drunk and mistook him for a male escort, then… then I basically forced myself on him.”
“Pfft…” Xia Tingwan tried to hold back but couldn’t, laughing for a long while before winking mischievously at Pei Yan. “So how was your first kiss with him?”
Pei Yan pretended to ponder: “Not bad, like chewing unbreakable jelly.”
Xia Tingwan chuckled, but the next second her smile suddenly vanished.
Because she noticed a man at the dining table behind Pei Yan who had been staring at them and laughing nonstop.
Xia Tingwan glared over: “Hey, what are you looking at?”
Pei Yan turned to follow her gaze and abruptly met Gu Jingyi’s smiling face.
She froze momentarily. The man sitting opposite Gu Jingyi, back-to-back with her, was who?