After checking out of her hotel, Pei Xi found a place to have lunch and then headed to her best friend’s place. It was close to the subway, making transportation very convenient.
Her friend said the place was very popular, and if she went too late, someone else might snatch it up first.
It was graduation season at many universities, and many graduates were looking for apartments.
For her, a poor person, the prices there were perfect; if she missed out, she didn’t know where else to look.
she had to hurry.
Pei Xi’s mind was completely focused on finding a place to live; she couldn’t care less about anything else. Having a place to stay was more important to her now.
Pei Xi had lived two lives, both growing up in orphanages. In her previous life, due to congenital heart disease, she was abandoned in an orphanage shortly after birth.
She lived a precarious life until the age of seventeen, dying before reaching adulthood.
In this life, her earliest memories were of being in a hospital delivery room, being spanked by the doctor and crying loudly in pain.
Perhaps exhausted from crying, she soon fell asleep, never even seeing her birth mother’s face.
When she woke up again, she found herself at the entrance of an orphanage.
Pei Xi thought her parents in this life must have been sexist.
Knowing she was a girl, they couldn’t wait to abandon her—she was barely born! They should have at least let her nurse before throwing her away!
She almost starved to death; if the orphanage director hadn’t found her, Pei Xi felt she wouldn’t have survived until dawn.
Having been connected to orphanages in both lives, Pei Xi no longer longed for parental love or family warmth. Even when others came to adopt her, she refused.
She thought being an orphan was quite good; one person fed, the whole family fed.
The orphanage director treated them well, and they received help from kind people and the government for their education, and could even apply for scholarships.
As long as she didn’t compare herself to others, life was manageable.
Pei Xi felt quite content; at least in this life, she had a healthy body and didn’t have to worry about falling asleep one day and never waking up again.
In her previous life, due to poor health, she couldn’t run or jump, and even being emotional was difficult. So, Pei Xi often stayed alone in a corner reading.
In this life, with a healthy body, she could do many things. Her academic performance was excellent, partly due to her hard work and partly due to scholarships. In the end, she successfully entered university.
Although she wasn’t the top scorer, her grades were very good; she came in second, and still received a reward, thus securing her tuition.
Now that she was an adult, she had to earn her own living expenses, so Pei Xi became an online novelist. Although she couldn’t afford a house, she could at least support herself.
Fortunately, fate was somewhat kind to her; because she arrived early, Pei Xi successfully met the landlord and paid three months’ rent.
She wanted to pay more, but her bank account didn’t allow it! She still had to live.
Having settled the apartment, Pei Xi was exhausted. She said goodbye to her best friend, put on her mask, and went back to her school dormitory, sleeping soundly for days.
She was now the only one left in the dormitory, undisturbed, and slept exceptionally well, even missing dinner and not waking up until five the next morning. Pei Xi
sat up in bed, ravenously hungry, and only then realized how long she had slept.
She quickly made herself a bowl of instant noodles to tide her over; it was still early outside, and she didn’t want to go out.
While waiting for the noodles, Pei Xi felt much better, less uncomfortable.
She picked up her phone and scrolled through videos, seeing a funny video of siblings fighting.
Pei Xi couldn’t help but smile as she watched, but the next moment, she nearly jumped out of her skin in shock.
Oh no, oh no, she hadn’t bought her medication!
That night, that man hadn’t used protection!
She hadn’t taken her medication! She had completely forgotten about it.
Pei Xi quickly checked her phone to see if it was still safe to take her medication after a day and a night.
Seeing that the phone said it was still effective if taken within 72 hours, Pei Xi even skipped her instant noodles, quickly changed her clothes, and went to the pharmacy to buy the medicine.
Only after taking the medicine did Pei Xi feel a little relieved. She was very poor; raising a child was too expensive, she couldn’t afford it! After
finding a place to live, she prepared to move her things.
After moving her belongings to the rented apartment, Pei Xi needed to start looking for a job, but it was graduation season, and with so many job seekers, finding a suitable job wouldn’t be easy.
Pei Xi spent two days competing with others at the job market before deciding to give up temporarily.
Anyway, she had a side job and wouldn’t starve anytime soon. Instead of competing for jobs, she should focus on developing her next book; that was what she should be doing right now.
As for work, she’d wait until things calmed down before submitting her resume.
Right now, with her major and work experience, she had no chance of competing with others.
And so, Pei Xi became a homebody, spending all her time at home writing except for grocery shopping and other necessities.
On the other side of the world, Si Ruohan had just finished a video conference. Afterwards, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Inevitably, the events of that day came back to him.
That morning, after receiving a call from his assistant, he had immediately flown over.
Looking at the person still sleeping soundly in bed, exhausted, Si Ruohan couldn’t bear to wake her, so he hurriedly wrote down his personal phone number and left it on the table.
He knew it was the girl’s first time, and if she woke up and wanted him to take responsibility, he hoped she would contact him.
But so much time had passed, why hadn’t she contacted him yet?
Si Ruohan wanted to investigate, but felt it would be disrespectful.
He thought that since the girl hadn’t contacted him, she must have let it go.
Since the girl didn’t seem to care, he should let it go too!
But how could he just let it go? It was his first time too! And the girl was so beautiful, it was hard for him not to care.
But if a girl didn’t seem to care, what kind of man would he be chasing after her?
Forget it, forget it, stop thinking about it, just wash up and go to sleep!
When Pei Xi was at home, she didn’t need to pretend or wear makeup; she was always bare-faced. Her
downstairs best friend, Peng Jiao, would come up to visit her whenever she had free time.
Peng Jiao, looking at Pei Xi typing beside her, tilted her head and said,
“Xiao Xi, tell me, if everyone in the class saw your true face, would Li Shiya still be the school beauty?”
When Pei Xi was in school, she always wore black-rimmed glasses, had thick bangs, and wore oversized, ordinary clothes. Her skin was yellowish, and she was completely unremarkable.
Her classmates’ impressions of her were nothing more than a bookworm and a country bumpkin.
After learning she was an orphan, no one paid any attention to her.
Therefore, during her four years of university, Pei Xi had no friends other than her four roommates.
For four years, no one knew Pei Xi’s true face. If others knew that Pei Xi was a stunning beauty, with a perfect figure and appearance, her life would definitely be in turmoil.
It has to be said, Pei Xi’s disguise was incredibly successful; she fooled everyone.
Living in the same dormitory, Pei Xi’s disguise was bound to be discovered eventually.
One time, Pei Xi came out of the shower, forgetting her glasses, and her pajamas weren’t fully buttoned, revealing skin that looked different from her usual appearance. This aroused suspicion from her roommates.
Through their discreet observation, they realized she was disguising herself as unattractive. Then, the three of them questioned her. Pei Xi, at that time, felt her roommates were quite easy to get along with and had good personalities, and didn’t want to continue pretending in the dorm, so she told them everything.
She was an orphan, and for an orphan to be too beautiful wasn’t a good thing; it would only cause a lot of trouble.
At this stage, she wasn’t capable of protecting herself. Don’t say society is harmonious now; it’s all superficial. If her appearance attracted unwanted attention, it would be too late to regret it.
To focus on her studies and graduate safely, Pei Xi had to conceal her appearance.
And as Pei Xi expected, her roommates were kind and promised to keep it a secret.
Of course, there was also an element of pity involved, but the outcome was ultimately good.
Last time, it was after graduation, and she was with her best friend, so Pei Xi didn’t hide her face, only wearing a mask when they were out.
Pei Xi paused in her actions.
“You’ve already graduated, why talk about this? You should use this time to think about what you should do! You really don’t plan to work for your brother?”
Pei Xi was particularly satisfied with her successful graduation. Being a school beauty or not wasn’t a big deal, so why bring it up?
Speaking of this, Peng Jiao became unhappy, pouting:
“I don’t want to go! I’m afraid I won’t have any freedom if I go.”
Pei Xi smiled:
“You’re not afraid of losing your freedom, you’re worried about your relationship being exposed!”
Peng Jiao’s family was well-off, and her family hoped that if Pei Xi wanted to work, her first choice would be to work for their family’s company.
She could live here because it was bought by her brother when he was in school, and it was close to the school, so Peng Jiao didn’t move.
With her abilities, she could easily afford a more luxurious house.
Pei Xi nodded:
“You understand me so well, Xiao Xi. I don’t know what to do now either. Everyone says graduation season is breakup season, right? Why isn’t Xu Haoyang like that?”
Pei Xi chuckled twice,
“Who told you not to find out where he’s from? There are so many people at school, and you had to pick someone from the local area. It’s not like it’s a long-distance relationship, why would he break up? They could find jobs together!”
Back then, Peng Jiao was attracted to Xu Haoyang’s looks and excitedly made a bet with the three of them that she could make Xu Haoyang her boyfriend within a month.
The saying “It’s hard for a man to pursue a woman, but easy for a woman to pursue a man” proved true; Peng Jiao quickly won over Xu Haoyang.
They’d been together for four years since freshman year.
But apart from their classmates, no one outside knew they were a couple.
At least Peng Jiao’s family didn’t know.
Now that they’d graduated, Peng Jiao assumed they’d break up like other couples after graduation.
To Peng Jiao’s surprise, Xu Haoyang turned out to be a local from Beijing.
Wa s her plan to break up ruined?
Peng Jiao looked distressed:
“Xiao Xi, let me tell you, I really regret it. Why didn’t I investigate more thoroughly? He said he came from Luzhou, but who knew he was actually a local from Beijing! Tell me, should I continue with Xu Haoyang? I’m worried that if my parents find out, they’ll break my legs.”
After all, they’d kept it a secret for so long.
But who would have known that the Xu Haoyang everyone thought was from Luzhou was just because his parents worked there, and he’d been attending school there with them since he was little!
Pei Xi said,
“Why are you thinking of breaking up? Xu Haoyang is good-looking, his family is well-off, and he’s good to you. Why break up? You’ve already graduated; there’s nothing wrong with dating!”
Peng Jiao puffed out her cheeks:
“That’s what I think too. We’ve already graduated; there’s nothing wrong with dating, but I’m really worried my family will find out. I’m afraid!”
“Worried about what?” Pei Xi countered,
“Are you worried your family will object?”
Peng Jiao nodded. Yes, deep down, she was also quite reluctant to let Xu Haoyang go, but she was also afraid her parents wouldn’t approve of their relationship.
Pei Xi thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with a good solution. After all, she was a complete novice who had never been in a relationship before; how could she possibly offer good advice?
“You two should discuss this yourselves! I can’t offer any advice.”
For the rest of the time, Pei Xi ignored everything else, staying home under the blazing sun.
She finally finished her book and was just waiting for the automatic updates.
With her work done, Pei Xi relaxed, no longer staying up late and waking up early.
That morning, when Pei Xi woke up, she felt a tightness in her chest and a slight nausea. She went to the toilet but couldn’t vomit.
Pei Xi was puzzled. What was wrong? She hadn’t eaten anything that morning, so why did she feel unwell?
Thinking she was sick again, Pei Xi went to the hospital for a checkup.
What if her heart condition from her past life had returned? It was better to go to the hospital for peace of mind.
The doctor at the hospital was very experienced. After asking Pei Xi some questions, he referred her to the gynecology department.
After a series of tests, the doctor dropped a bombshell on her.
“Miss Pei, you’re pregnant.”
Pei Xi: “???”
“Doctor, are you sure you’re not mistaken? I took medication!”