Twenty minutes later, the car arrived at a residential area with strict access control and slowly descended into the garage.
For reasons unknown, Pei Yuexuan did not take Xia Zhi back to the Pei family home.
This was likely one of his private residences, located right by the Bund.
Xia Zhi knew of this place—it was a top-tier luxury apartment in S City, where prices had never dropped below 300,000 yuan per square meter.
After parking the car, Pei Yuexuan got out, walked around to the passenger side, and opened the door for Xia Zhi.
His hand seemed to lift slightly, as if to carry her out, but he quickly regained his composure and withdrew it to his side.
“Rere, can you walk on your own?”
Xia Zhi nodded, her face tinged with embarrassment.
Earlier at Qing Zhuo, she had just woken from her dream, still dazed from the chemical reaction between the cold medicine and alcohol.
She had actually thrown herself into Pei Yuexuan’s arms and even acted coquettishly against his chest.
And…
And she had obediently let him carry her down to the parking lot.
Now, with her mind much clearer, Xia Zhi felt a belated sense of awkwardness.
The young lady Jiaojiao was simple-minded and couldn’t hide her thoughts at all.
She slightly turned her face away, not daring to look at Pei Yuexuan in front of her, her fair and delicate cheeks flushed with a faint pink hue.
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he restrained himself and took a step back.
He spoke about trivial matters to break the silence.
“I… occasionally stay here. It’s more convenient.”
“Oh…”
Xia Zhi got out of the car and handed back the suit jacket that had been draped over her.
Pei Yuexuan closed the car door and took the jacket.
His expression remained neutral, but under the cover of the garment, his right hand gently brushed against the collar.
It still held the lingering warmth of the young woman. Holding it, he felt as if he were indirectly touching her adorable neck.
The two walked side by side into the elevator, each lost in their own thoughts, and neither spoke again.
The top-floor penthouse had an elevator that opened directly into the home.
Pei Yuexuan retrieved a new pair of women’s slippers from the top-floor storage cabinet, bent down, and placed them beside Xia Zhi’s feet.
He then straightened up and turned away to change his own shoes.
Xia Zhi kicked off her stiletto heels and slipped into the comfortable soft-soled slippers. Glancing back, she noticed that their slippers were a matching pair.
“Brother Yuexuan, do you have a girlfriend?” she asked instinctively.
“No,”
Pei Yuexuan turned to look at her and repeated, “No girlfriend.”
Xia Zhi smiled faintly and lightly lifted her foot.
“Then why are there women’s slippers at home?”
The man lowered his gaze, glanced briefly,
then immediately averted his eyes and walked into the foyer.
“Probably my assistant prepared them when furnishing the place.”
“Oh…”
The woman behind him walked in and remarked casually,
“They happen to be my size…”
The man hummed in acknowledgment but didn’t pursue the topic further.
Xia Zhi walked straight through the spacious, empty living room to the floor-to-ceiling window that stretched over a dozen meters.
The location of these apartments was excellent—close to the bustling Bund but separated by the convention center, far from the noise and crowds.
A quiet haven amidst the hustle and bustle, convenient and livable.
The floor-to-ceiling window framed the night view of the entire Lujiazui skyline across the Huangpu River like a dynamic LED painting, humbly presenting it before the eyes of the person standing by the window, open to admiration, without a trace of the pride it might show to ordinary people.
Standing here could give one the illusion of owning the entire world.
Pei Yuexuan’s penthouse, estimated to be two to three hundred square meters, was worth nearly 100 million yuan—a veritable golden house.
And what was a golden house most suitable for…
At this thought, Xia Zhi chuckled softly.
“Hmm?”
Pei Yuexuan picked up the coat she had casually thrown on the sofa and hung it up properly.
He walked over, “What are you thinking about that’s making you so happy?”
Xia Zhi turned her head, smiling sweetly and delicately,
“I was thinking that Brother Yuexuan’s house is perfect for keeping a beauty hidden away.”
The speaker had no particular intention, but the listener felt an itch in his heart.
Keeping a beauty hidden away, huh…
The man lowered his gaze with a faint, ambiguous smile, glancing at the girl’s reflection in the glass window.
Which beauty would he be hiding?
Although he was just returning to a place he occasionally stayed, because Xia Zhi was here, smiling at him, Pei Yuexuan felt inexplicably tormented.
He walked into the open-plan Western-style kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
A refreshing chill rushed out, hitting his overheated skin abruptly. Hah…
Pei Yuexuan stood in front of the refrigerator for three seconds, managing to maintain his usual composure and aloofness.
He took two bottles of mineral water and returned to the sofa.
Opening the cap, he handed one to Xia Zhi.
At first, the girl didn’t take it. Instead, she glanced at the bottle of water, noticed it was the French brand she usually drank, and only then reached out to take it, taking a few small sips.
Extremely picky, and extremely delicate.
Pei Yuexuan tilted his head back and took a sip of water, unable to stop himself from thinking that if it were his younger brother, Pei Yuhuan, here instead, the delicate girl before him probably wouldn’t even extend her hand—she’d want her boyfriend to feed her.
His mind uncontrollably conjured that image—feeding Rere water…
And so, his gaze involuntarily lingered on her dewy lips…
Withdrawing his eyes, Pei Yuexuan turned away and took a few more sips of water.
Xia Zhi sat softly on the sofa and took out her phone.
Pei Yuhuan had sent her many WeChat messages, along with seven or eight missed calls.
At this moment, she didn’t feel like replying at all. She muted her phone and tossed it aside.
Lifting her eyes, she looked at the man across from her.
Pei Yuexuan leaned casually against the sofa, his side facing her. From this angle, his long legs were even more pronounced.
A white shirt and black suit pants, both custom-made, fit his figure perfectly.
The man had rolled his sleeves up to the middle of his forearms, tilting his chin slightly as he drank water, the lines of his neck exceptionally sensual.
Xia Zhi’s gaze was burned by the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. She quickly lowered her eyes, letting them rest on the sleek, straight suit pants that hinted at muscular definition.
Pei Yuexuan was five years older than her. At twenty-five, he exuded the sex appeal and charm of a mature man.
Xia Zhi suddenly remembered the dream she’d just had—him in the dream…
Even though she had just drunk water, she suddenly felt thirsty again.
Her gaze still fixed on his suit pants, she unconsciously licked her lips.
This adorable scene was captured in the man’s peripheral vision.
“Ahem…”
Pei Yuexuan lowered his head and coughed softly, wiping the mineral water that had spilled from the corner of his mouth with his fingers.
“Rere, I’ll have someone bring up some hangover medicine…”
If he stayed any longer with an intoxicated Xia Zhi, he was afraid he’d give himself away.
“No need, Brother Yuexuan. I didn’t drink much—just a glass of champagne.”
Xia Zhi glanced around and spotted the direction of the bedroom.
“I’m a bit tired and want to sleep…”
Pei Yuexuan’s expression changed. “You want… to sleep here?”
The sweet, soft girl immediately nodded. Drowsy, her posture curled up on the sofa grew even more languid.
“Is that not allowed?”
Pei Yuexuan raised his hand and rubbed his temples. He hadn’t anticipated this situation.
He had thought Rere was just throwing a tantrum with his younger brother, coming back with him to make his brother wait a while, but that eventually, he’d have to let his brother come pick her up later.
But now, Rere was saying she wanted to sleep here…
Her heart raced uncontrollably, a mix of slight nervousness and overwhelming joy.
Yet she feigned calmness on her face.
“Sure,”
Pei Yuexuan nodded, smiling faintly as he looked directly into Xia Zhi’s eyes and asked,
“But I only have one bedroom here, Rere. Is it really okay… to sleep in my bed?”
The girl looked surprised upon hearing this.
Xia Zhi hadn’t expected such a large house to have only one bedroom.
Sleeping in her boyfriend’s older brother’s bed sounded ambiguous and… forbidden.
But tonight, she felt an unusual attachment to this man.
She believed that only by staying by his side would she feel safe.
Though it was hardly modest… Xia Zhi had no desire to leave at all.
Pei Yuexuan wouldn’t mistreat her.
Come to think of it, she had known Pei Yuexuan even before she met Pei Yuhuan.
After so many years of familiarity, she felt completely at ease with this man who was like an older brother to her.
“Mhm, it’s fine.”
She replied softly, yawning as soon as the words left her lips.
The delicate, pampered young lady turned her face away, covering it lightly with her hand.
When that hand, fairer than a magnolia blossom, lowered, her already lovely face was adorned with a faint sheen of tears in her eyes.
Seeing the man silently watching her without a response, her spoiled young lady temper flared up.
Her lips pouted slightly as she shot Pei Yuexuan a look that was both reproachful and coquettish.
“Brother Yuexuan?”
The man’s gaze wavered, partly from joy at her decision to stay,
and partly from a touch of melancholy, seeing how innocent and naive she was—treating him only as a brother, with no thoughts of anything romantic.
“…Alright,”
Pei Yuexuan averted his gaze and lowered his head.
A faint smile curled at the corner of his lips as he repeated,
“Alright.”