Seeing Si Jinnian’s attitude toward Pei Shuchen, his mother Li Shuhe widened her eyes and stared at Si Jinnian as if looking at a monster. His father, Si Yanchuan, furrowed his brows even deeper, staring at Si Jinnian with great curiosity as he asked, “What is going on with you two?”
“We…”
Pei Shuchen wanted to open his mouth to explain, but as he parted his lips, he somehow felt at a loss for how to begin.
He was completely baffled by Si Jinnian and couldn’t see through what Si Jinnian was trying to do with this sudden stunt.
“Dad, Mom, you don’t need to be surprised. I just like Shuchen-ge. It was love at first sight with Shuchen-ge. Rejecting the marriage before was because I was blind and unappreciative, but now I know I was wrong. I want to be with Shuchen-ge. You guys won’t object, right?”
As he spoke, Si Jinnian shifted his chair closer to Pei Shuchen, hugged Pei Shuchen’s arm tightly, blinked at him, and gave him a flirtatious wink.
He looked as affectionate as a young woman deeply in love with Pei Shuchen.
Pei Shuchen shivered all over. The more he looked at Si Jinnian, the more he felt something was seriously wrong with him.
“Si Jinnian, what on earth are you trying to do?”
Lowering his voice, Pei Shuchen asked in a whisper that only Si Jinnian could hear.
Si Jinnian smiled, but instead of answering his question, he gave him an ambiguous and sly grin, then turned back to look at his parents and spoke once more.
“Dad, Mom, say something! Do you agree or not?”
“Agree, of course we agree! It’s so wonderful that you like Shuchen.”
“Heaven has eyes! Son, you’ve finally seen the light!”
Li Shuhe was overjoyed, watching Si Jinnian so excitedly she almost bit her own tongue.
She genuinely liked Pei Shuchen as a daughter-in-law candidate. Not only was he handsome, but he was also exceptionally capable.
Si Jinnian was a playboy who did not apply himself, a notoriously spoiled heir throughout Kyoto, and none of his friends were decent either. If the Si family’s assets were to fall into his hands in the future, they would definitely be squandered sooner or later.
However, if Pei Shuchen were there to assist him, supervise him, and hold down the fort from the rear, not only would the Si family’s assets not be squandered, but they might even thrive to new heights.
Pei Shuchen had possessed extremely high business acumen since childhood and had studied finance abroad. Now, at a young age, he had already taken over his father’s company. Not only that, but he had turned his father’s near-bankrupt company away from the brink of crisis.
If such a person were put to use for their family in the future, he would certainly elevate the Si family’s business to the next level.
Moreover, Pei Shuchen was her best friend’s son and her own godson. If Si Jinnian ended up with Pei Shuchen, their two families would become even closer through marriage.
Li Shuhe felt happy just thinking about it.
“Since that’s the case, let’s set the date for your wedding soon!”
Li Shuhe said with a beaming smile, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them as if she could already see their happy and fulfilling future.
After saying that, she turned her head to look at Si Yanchuan and instructed, “Hurry up and call Shuchen’s father now. Schedule a suitable time so our two families can sit down and discuss setting a grand wedding day for these two kids.”
“Alright, I’ll call Shaoqing right now.”
Si Yanchuan responded readily, standing up immediately to grab his phone and contact Pei Shuchen’s father.
Seeing this, Pei Shuchen hurriedly spoke up to stop him: “Uncle, wait. Don’t make that call yet.”
Hearing this, Si Yanchuan’s movements came to an abrupt halt. He raised his head, looking at Pei Shuchen in bewilderment, and was about to ask for the reason when he saw Pei Shuchen speak first.
“Uncle, Auntie, didn’t you and I already call off the marriage between me and Jinnian earlier? Have you forgotten?”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present froze, and the atmosphere instantly turned somewhat awkward.
Especially Si Jinnian. That face which had just been smiling went cold at a visible rate, turning as gloomy as if it could drip water.
Having seen plenty of big storms in life, Li Shuhe glanced at her son’s pot-bottom-dark face, sighed inwardly, and hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Shuchen, Auntie knows you canceled the marriage back then because Jinnian was unwilling, so you called it off in a moment of anger.”
“But hasn’t Jinnian realized his mistake now? And he just said he really likes you. Why don’t you just give him another chance?”
“Your marriage was set up beforehand anyway, and your parents must really hope you two can be together. Besides, Auntie genuinely likes you.”
“Why don’t you let go of your anger? If you have any requests later on, just name them. As long as it’s within the capabilities of your Uncle and me, we will completely satisfy you. Consider it as making amends to you, alright?”
It was obvious that Li Shuhe truly wanted to bring about Pei Shuchen and Si Jinnian’s union, but Pei Shuchen couldn’t muster an ounce of affection for Si Jinnian.
Not only that, but he also had a strong feeling that Si Jinnian didn’t genuinely like him at all. Pulling this stunt definitely meant there was a huge conspiracy waiting for him.
Pulling back the arm that Si Jinnian was holding, Pei Shuchen turned serious, lifting his gaze toward Li Shuhe with a hint of apology.
“Auntie, my cancellation of the engagement before wasn’t out of anger. I genuinely feel that Jinnian and I are unsuited for each other.”
“How are we unsuited? You haven’t even tried with me, so how do you know we’re unsuited?”
Si Jinnian raised an eyebrow as he looked at Pei Shuchen, his expression solemn mixed with a trace of unwillingness.
Although he also detested Pei Shuchen, the feeling of being rejected to his face still left Si Jinnian deeply depressed.
Faced with Si Jinnian’s questioning, Pei Shuchen merely glanced at him coldly, then turned his head away to continue looking at Li Shuhe as he spoke methodically, “There is too big of an age gap between Jinnian and me. I am five years older than Jinnian, and our personalities, temperaments, and worldviews are far too different. Besides, I…”
At this point, Pei Shuchen suddenly paused. For a moment, he was at a loss for words, seemingly unable to find a more appropriate and reasonable excuse to support his argument.
In his haste, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and lie, “Besides, I already have someone I like. I cannot live without him in this lifetime. I’m sorry.”
Hearing that Pei Shuchen actually had someone he liked, and that he couldn’t live without him, Si Jinnian’s expression darkened visibly.
Although he had never planned on having anything to do with this bastard Pei Shuchen, and had guessed that Pei Shuchen would reject him in front of his parents, hearing that he actually liked someone else still made Si Jinnian feel inexplicably irritated.
He had deliberately told his parents in front of them that he liked Pei Shuchen and put on an act of being deeply in love, just to create a false impression for his parents. That way, even if Pei Shuchen went to his parents later to complain that Si Jinnian was bullying him, his parents probably wouldn’t believe it.
Yet now, learning that Pei Shuchen actually had someone he liked, an indescribable sense of annoyance welled up spontaneously in Si Jinnian’s heart.
Just look at him, Si Jinnian. He had the looks, he had the figure, and which aspect of his family background wasn’t top-tier?
People lining up to pursue him could circle the Earth three times hand in hand, and the number of people breaking their heads trying to crawl into his bed was countless. Why on earth would an old man like Pei Shuchen, who was five years older than him, look down on him?