Even Shen Zhiyi herself hadn’t noticed the slight tremor in her voice when she spoke earlier.
Pei Xu clearly paused for a moment upon hearing her voice.
He had thought Shen Zhiyi’s earlier phone call was merely a formality after learning about his bankruptcy and blindness.
“Come in.”
Pei Xu withdrew his fingers from the doorknob and slowly shuffled toward the living room.
He was clearly still struggling to adjust to life without sight, or perhaps he had just moved here recently and wasn’t yet familiar with the layout of the rooms.
As he turned, his leg bumped into the shoe cabinet by the entrance.
Shen Zhiyi set her suitcase aside and reached out to steady Pei Xu.
But the moment his hand touched her arm, he subtly pulled away.
“No need. I have to learn to adapt on my own.”
Shen Zhiyi looked at her empty hand, her emotions a tangled mess.
Pei Xu fumbled his way into the living room, forgetting that two cardboard boxes filled with books and documents were stacked beside the sofa.
He didn’t fall, but the boxes knocked all the glasses on the coffee table to the floor.
Shen Zhiyi closed the door, hurried over to Pei Xu, and firmly grasped his wrist, pressing him onto the sofa without giving him a chance to protest.
“Stay still for now. I’ll clean up the broken glass first, then make dinner.”
“And then?”
Shen Zhiyi paused at Pei Xu’s words.
“Then what?”
“I’m blind now. I’ll have to live alone from now on. Helping me once won’t make any difference—it won’t change anything about my life.”
Shen Zhiyi turned around, her gaze carefully studying Pei Xu.
His hands and arms were covered in scratches and burns, all of them fresh, judging by their appearance.
“Sit down. I have a few things to say to you. I’ll clean up the broken glass myself after you leave.”
Shen Zhiyi wanted to hear what Pei Xu had to say. There were no glass shards near him, so there was no risk of him getting hurt.
“I’m sorry, I just found out that you…”
“Let’s get a divorce.”
Shen Zhiyi’s words and Pei Xu’s were spoken almost simultaneously.
“What did you say?”
“Let’s get a divorce. The divorce papers are here. Inside the folder is a bank card with two million yuan, along with two large apartments in the city center. I’ve already had Shuyuan transfer them to your name. The bags and custom-made clothes I bought for you have all been delivered to those two apartments.”
Looking at the folder Pei Xu had placed on the table, it was clear he had prepared all this long ago.
“What about you? Are you staying here?”
Pei Xu turned his head slightly, his empty eyes “looking” toward Shen Zhiyi.
“I can’t give you this house. It was left to me by my mother. I still have fifty thousand yuan left in my account. If you feel it’s not enough, I’ll transfer the rest to you tomorrow.”
Pei Xu thought Shen Zhiyi wanted to take this house too—after all, that would be in line with her character.
Shen Zhiyi took a deep breath.
Was she some kind of monster? How could she possibly take the last fifty thousand yuan Pei Xu had left?
Pei Xu couldn’t see now. Taking his last fifty thousand yuan would be nothing short of pushing him to his death.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes.”
Even in this state, Pei Xu was still thinking about securing a future for her.
The two apartments in the city center alone were worth nearly eight figures.
Although he had gone bankrupt, he hadn’t touched any of the luxury items Shen Zhiyi had bought before.
“Since you’re done speaking, it’s my turn now.”
Pei Xu nodded, waiting for Shen Zhiyi to speak.
“I don’t want to get a divorce for now.”
Pei Xu lowered his eyelids and let out a soft chuckle.
“I really am bankrupt, I’m not lying to you. If you’re hoping to squeeze more money out of me, it’s impossible.”
“Are you peanuts or sunflower seeds, that you can be squeezed for oil?”
Pei Xu was taken aback, clearly not expecting Shen Zhiyi to say that.
He thought Shen Zhiyi would call him a useless waste…
“Sign it, Zhiyi.”
Pei Xu calmly urged her. With this money, Shen Zhiyi could be with anyone in the future and live a good life.
“Have you not eaten dinner yet? I’ll go cook, and… don’t move around carelessly. I’ll clean up the books and the glass shards on the floor.”
Pei Xu slowly clenched the hand resting on his leg.
Was she trying to make a fool of him, or had she lost her mind?
Or maybe she thought he still had money…
It didn’t matter. Pei Xu knew her patience had always been limited. She would leave on her own after a few days.
Shen Zhiyi picked up the document folder from the coffee table and placed it on the nearby bookshelf.
She crouched down and carefully gathered the scattered documents from the floor. Even though she was careful, she was still cut on her fingertip by a tiny piece of glass.
At first, Shen Zhiyi didn’t notice the cut on her hand. It was only when she saw a few bloodstains on the documents that she realized she had been injured by the glass shards.
Even with her eyes perfectly fine, she couldn’t avoid getting hurt. It was hard to imagine how much more difficult it must be for Pei Xu, who couldn’t see.
Pei Xu listened as Shen Zhiyi swept up the glass shards and dumped them into the trash can.
Ever since he lost his sight, his hearing seemed to have become sharper.
Shen Zhiyi opened the refrigerator door, pursed her lips at the sight of the empty fridge, and closed it again.
“How long have you been living here?”
“A week.”
“What have you been eating this whole week?”
Shen Zhiyi understood why the fridge was empty. Pei Xu couldn’t see anything and probably hadn’t yet adjusted to living with blindness. Cooking for himself was simply unrealistic.
“Instant noodles, or ordering takeout.”
Given Pei Xu’s current situation, eating instant food or ordering takeout was undoubtedly the easiest option.
But eating takeout and instant noodles every day would be too much for anyone, no matter how healthy they were.
Shen Zhiyi ordered groceries on a food delivery app and waited for the delivery person to arrive.
She could use this time to talk to Pei Xu again.
“You’ve eaten instant noodles twice today.”
Shen Zhiyi had seen two empty instant noodle containers in the kitchen trash can earlier.
If takeout was so convenient, why had he eaten instant noodles twice in a row?
Was it because he didn’t have much money left and wanted to save a little?
“I ordered takeout a few days ago, but after it went missing twice, I figured it was better to just eat instant noodles.”
Hearing Pei Xu say this, Shen Zhiyi felt a pang of sadness.
“Didn’t you ask the delivery person or check the surveillance footage?”
“This is an old neighborhood. The surveillance isn’t great, and it’s too much trouble to track down the delivery person.”
Pei Xu only gave a brief explanation, not elaborating further, perhaps because he didn’t want to waste words on her.
But Shen Zhiyi understood the meaning behind his words.
He must have tried to find the delivery person, but due to the poor surveillance and his inability to see, he had no choice but to swallow the loss.
“What about Assistant Zheng? Does he come often?”
Shen Zhiyi didn’t mean anything by it—she just wanted to piece together how Pei Xu had spent the month since losing his sight from his fragmented words.
“There are still matters at the company that need him to wrap up. Now that I can’t see, I rely on him for everything.”
“And… he has his own life to live. He needs to find a new job—he can’t revolve around me alone.”
Besides, Zheng Shuyuan had already helped him enough.
From now on, he would have to adapt to living on his own.