“Shen Zhiyi, something’s happened in Nancheng. Pei Xu was in a car accident and lost his sight. The company isn’t doing well either. Where are you right now?”
Shen Zhiyi heard the urgent voice on the other end of the phone. Lying in bed with her eyes closed, she mumbled a vague response.
“What happened in Nancheng? What’s wrong with Pei Xu…”
Hearing the dismissiveness in Shen Zhiyi’s tone, the person on the other end couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
“Are you even human? Pei Xu can’t see anymore, and you’re still out there on vacation!”
“Nancheng, Pei Xu… and Shen Zhiyi?”
Shen Zhiyi sat up in bed, muttering distractedly.
“I don’t have time for your act right now. It’s been almost a month since his accident, and your phone has been unreachable this whole time. For the sake of how well Pei Xu has treated you, come back to Nancheng as soon as possible.”
Shen Zhiyi rubbed her throbbing temples. “Wait…”
The other person ignored her and hung up directly.
Shen Zhiyi glanced around her surroundings. She seemed to be in a hotel suite.
Pei Xu, Shen Zhiyi…
Weren’t these the male lead and the villainous female supporting character from the novel Deliberate Provocation she had read last night?
Because the villainess shared the same name as her, Shen Zhiyi remembered it particularly well.
In the novel, although Pei Xu wasn’t exactly a prodigy, he started from scratch and founded his company just two years after graduating from university.
By his twenties, he already had a fortune worth tens of millions, truly a man with boundless prospects.
Shen Zhiyi might have been the only stumbling block on his otherwise smooth path.
In the eyes of outsiders, Shen Zhiyi was greedy and scheming, but no one expected Pei Xu to marry her resolutely.
However, as the villainess, Shen Zhiyi naturally didn’t settle down quietly after marrying Pei Xu.
She went to bars every day and even met several handsome male models…
The subsequent plot unfolded with Pei Xu losing his sight in an unexpected car accident.
To make matters worse, his company also ran into trouble around the same time.
The period of blindness was the most difficult for Pei Xu.
With no one by his side, he even gave the remaining money to his villainous ex-wife during their divorce.
Nevertheless, his resilience was extraordinary. After regaining his sight, Pei Xu relied on the connections he had built earlier to start a new company, which grew even larger than before.
As for Shen Zhiyi’s fate, it was naturally tragic.
The money Pei Xu gave her was swindled away. While married to Pei Xu, Shen Zhiyi never had to worry about money, but after the divorce, things changed.
She had never worked a day in her life and had no skills.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality.
If the original character had been content with Pei Xu’s money and lived modestly, she could have lived more comfortably than most.
But since the author had labeled her the “villainous female supporting character,” how could she possibly stay content?
Shen Zhiyi picked up her phone and scrolled through the chat records on WeChat.
She deleted all the contact information of the male models from her phone and booked the earliest flight to Nancheng.
Just as Shen Zhiyi was about to change clothes, she closed her eyes at the sight of the flashy, garish tube tops and short skirts piled in her suitcase.
At the airport duty-free shop, she bought herself two sets of suitable clothes.
Looking at the delicate, pure yet alluring face in the mirror, Shen Zhiyi sighed.
She was truly beautiful. If Pei Xu hadn’t lost his sight, perhaps seeing her face would have softened his heart.
But now he couldn’t see anything at all…
Shen Zhiyi arrived in Nancheng in the evening.
She didn’t know whether Pei Xu was in the hospital or at home.
Relying on her memory, Shen Zhiyi first returned to the newlywed villa she had shared with Pei Xu.
But when the taxi reached the entrance, she found the villa’s front door already sealed with an official notice.
“Miss, this villa clearly has no one inside. Would you like to make a call and ask? I can wait for you for a while.”
Seeing Shen Zhiyi standing at the villa gate for a long time, the driver wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
After all, it wasn’t easy to pick up passengers in this villa area, so waiting a bit longer didn’t matter. Perhaps he could even earn a little extra.
“Alright, please wait a moment.”
Shen Zhiyi took her phone out of her bag and searched for a long time before finding Pei Xu’s name.
She wasn’t entirely sure whether Pei Xu would answer her call. Listening to the ringing tone, her heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
It took a long time before the call was finally answered. She nervously swallowed.
“Hello.”
Hearing the clear, indifferent male voice on the other end of the line, Shen Zhiyi cleared her throat.
“This is Shen Zhiyi.”
“I know.”
Shen Zhiyi’s lips trembled slightly.
“Can I ask where you are now?”
Pei Xu gave her an address.
Shen Zhiyi noted down the address and told the driver the destination.
“These two places are quite far apart. The key point is that one is in an affluent area, and the other is an old residential complex near the Third Ring Road.”
Shen Zhiyi acknowledged with a sound, not in the mood to chat with the driver.
When the taxi stopped at the entrance of the residential complex, Shen Zhiyi scanned the code to pay the fare.
The driver even helped her take her suitcase out of the car.
Shen Zhiyi thanked the driver and, looking at the somewhat dilapidated residential building, she didn’t hesitate and dragged her suitcase inside.
She had thought she would need to argue with the gatekeeper to get in, but as she approached, she realized the complex had no security measures at all—she could simply enter through the small gate.
Shen Zhiyi wandered for a long time before finding the building where Pei Xu lived.
Just as she was about to enter the unit door, she saw someone standing not far away and paused her steps.
“Has Madam finally decided to return from abroad?”
Shen Zhiyi’s gaze fell on the man’s face, and she tentatively called out a name.
“Assistant Zheng?”
“I didn’t expect your memory to be so good. President Pei has lost his sight now, and the company has gone bankrupt and been liquidated. I really don’t know if you have some kind of grudge against him.”
Shen Zhiyi didn’t speak. Zheng Shuyuan was Pei Xu’s junior from university and had followed him after graduation.
So she could understand why Zheng Shuyuan spoke to her in such a tone.
“Is Pei Xu upstairs? I have something I want to say to him.”
“He’s upstairs. I hope you… never mind. Better a sharp pain than a lingering one. Say whatever you need to say clearly today.”
Seeing the disdain in Zheng Shuyuan’s eyes, Shen Zhiyi sighed softly.
These were all things the original owner had done. She had nothing to defend.
“I’ll go see Pei Xu first.”
Seeing Shen Zhiyi’s attitude, Zheng Shuyuan couldn’t help but be taken aback.
If it were any other time, with him speaking to her in such a sarcastic and mocking tone, Shen Zhiyi would likely have exploded in anger long ago.
Carrying her suitcase, she walked up to the second floor. Whether it was her imagination or simply how old residential complexes were, Shen Zhiyi felt the stairs were particularly steep, with each step uneven.
Pei Xu was blind, making it quite inconvenient for him to live here.
Shen Zhiyi stood outside the door of room 202, raising her hand to knock. Before her hand could touch the peeling iron door, she heard it creak open from the inside.
Pei Xu stood behind the door with vacant eyes, one hand gripping the doorknob and the other resting on the doorframe.
“Shuyuan, you can go back first. Don’t worry about me.”
Shen Zhiyi’s fingertips trembled slightly as she waved her hand in front of Pei Xu’s eyes.
But he showed no reaction at all, not even looking in her direction.
“Shuyuan, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“It’s me, Shen Zhiyi…”