02: Are you spying on me?

"I was trying to help you, Xixi." Pei Yanxiu tapped the steering wheel lightly with one hand, his tone distant and indifferent, revealing no emotion.

“Three hundred million is not a small amount. If I just give it away like this, I won’t be able to explain it to the company.”

"There has to be a legitimate reason for me to take the risk, and marriage is one of those legitimate reasons."

"It's not that I'm forcing you, it's that once you're in the game, you have to abide by the rules."

The car was a bit stuffy. Pei Yanxiu loosened his tie and turned to look at Shang Zhi, his Adam's apple bobbing and a gentle smile playing on his lips.

"You're so kind? Then let me ask you, why are you helping me? Spending 300 million just to marry me?"

"Of course not. Business is business. After the Tiancui project is completed, I want half of the profits, and your mother has agreed to that."

Outside the car window, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the entire Hong Kong Island was shrouded in a thin fog. Shang Zhi remembered that it had rained just as heavily on the day the two of them broke up four years ago.

"I knew it, you have quite an appetite."

"How dare you talk to your benefactor like that? I just saved you, how rude!" Pei Yanxiu's voice was lazy and magnetic, quite pleasant to listen to, but the words he uttered were always so annoying!

Shang Zhi turned her head to one side, not wanting to pay attention to him.

"Here, take this. It's very effective for treating sprains and bruises. Is your ankle alright? Would you like me to apply it for you?" Pei Yanxiu showed the ointment he had found to Shang Zhi.

"Okay, you can apply it for me."

Shang Zhi agreed without hesitation, having no reason to let go of this opportunity to have him serve her.

Pei Yanxiu placed his ankle on his leg, moistened the ointment in his palm, and then rubbed it on Shang Zhi's swollen wound.

It's cool and refreshing, very comfortable.

"Ouch! That hurts! Be gentle!" Her ankle hurt and she instinctively tried to pull back, but he raised his hand and pressed it down.

"Don't move."

"It hurts a little, but it works very well. Just bear with it and it will be over soon."

"Bear with it, bear with it, wait and wait, you always do this. You were like this before, you are like this now, and you will definitely be like this in the future." Hearing her words, he seemed to harbor some resentment, and his hands paused.

"It was my fault." He didn't argue. Inside the car, the damp air was mixed with a faint smell of ointment.

It makes people's hearts itch with desire.

"In short, I hope you will agree to the marriage. Firstly, it will benefit both of our companies, and your parents will be at ease. Secondly..." Pei Yanxiu paused here, looking at Shang Zhi with a half-smile.

"Secondly what? Tell me!"

"Secondly, this is also a chance for you to get back at me and vent all your past grievances."

"Don't you hate me? Are you willing to let me go like this?" Shang Zhi's body stiffened, and she looked up to meet his watery eyes, but she couldn't see into them.

"In short, we can settle all the old and new scores."

"I'll think about it."

Upon seeing that it was Pei Yanxiu who brought Shang Zhi home, Yu Shiya pulled Shang Zhi aside and asked her all sorts of questions, giving Shang Zhi a headache.

"Why don't you invite him in for a seat? Where have you been so late?"

What did you all say?

"It's nothing, we just bumped into each other on the way."

"Speaking of which, you two were actually quite well-matched. Back then, you were dating and it was all good. It was just those tabloid reporters who made a fuss."

“What’s so good about it? It’s not good at all,” Shang Zhi couldn’t help but retort.

“Xixi, I know this is very sudden. Aside from the company’s reasons, I’ve also considered it. Pei Yanxiu isn’t a bad person. Is there some misunderstanding about what happened back then? I always feel that you can give it another try.”

"I'm sleepy, Mom. I'm going back to sleep now."

Shang Zhi didn't want to continue the topic, so she exchanged a few pleasantries with Yu Shiya and went back to her room.

As soon as he got upstairs, Lu Xingqi sent him a gossipy message: "[So? Any progress tonight? Have you made up your mind? Are you going to marry him?]"

Azhi: [I don't know.]

Xingxing: [Anyway, if it were me, I'd marry him. I'd eat his food, drink his drinks, spend his money, and even keep a man in his house. It's just marriage; how the marriage works and how we live is entirely up to me. Besides, I'd get 300 million! Then, in a couple of years, I could just find some excuse to divorce him and dump him!]

Star: [You'll drive him crazy, and then you can inherit his estate.]

Xingxing: [Hey, if you don't want to, ask him if I can? Is it gender-restricted? Can I sign up for my little brother too? When does this event end?]

Azhi: 【...Get lost.】

Just as Shang Zhi was about to go to sleep, she received a message from Pei Yanxiu: [Remember to apply the ointment three times a day, morning, noon, and night. Contact me anytime if you feel unwell.]

"What a chatterbox!" she sighed softly in the night.

After waking up, her mother said that they had guests to entertain today. Shang Zhi wasn't interested in participating, so she quickly packed her things and rushed to the mall. After trying on several bags, she finally chose three, but when she tried to swipe her card, she was told that it couldn't be used.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Shang, this card has a spending limit."

Shang Zhi changed three cards in a row, and all of them were now at their spending limits. Shang Zhi was stunned, she really hadn't expected her family's finances to be in such a predicament.

"Hey, I heard her family is about to go bankrupt, but she's still acting like a rich girl."

"Exactly, exactly. You're broke and you're still trying so many things, wasting most of our day. You should have said so earlier, really."

"A fallen phoenix is ​​no better than a chicken; some people are going to suffer."

Several shop assistants in the corner, watching the commotion, made no attempt to hide their laughter, rolling their eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. Shang Zhi's face burned. Having been pampered for so many years, this was the first time she had encountered a situation like this.

Just as she was panicking, her phone suddenly vibrated. She opened it and saw a notification that one million yuan had been deposited into her account. It was from Pei Yanxiu, with the note: "Pocket Money".

Shang Zhi quickly replied to Pei Yanxiu: Thank you, Uncle Pei. You are such a good person. She also added a cute smiley face emoji.

While waiting for the shop assistants' astonished looks, I bought all three bags.

Pei Yanxiu smiled as he read her reply on the other end of the phone. She was always like this: when she was happy, she would say, "Uncle Pei, you're so kind," and when she was unhappy, she would say, "Pei Yanxiu, you old man!"

After the payment was made, Pei Yanxiu sent another message.

Pei: [Are you tired from shopping? Shall I take you out to eat?]

Azhi: [Are you spying on me?]

Pei: [I'm not that bored. I came to talk work, and I just happened to see you. I'll wait for you at the mall entrance.]

As soon as Shang Zhi stepped outside, she saw Pei Yanxiu's Rolls-Royce. She got in and gave him her first smile in two days: "Uncle Pei,"

Thank you for the money, I really like it.

"How have you considered things?" Pei Yanxiu was already used to her changing expressions faster than flipping through a book, so it was expected.

"I'll marry you, but you have to promise me two things." Shang Zhi said very seriously.

"Speak." He glanced at Shang Zhi sideways, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"First: You can't restrict my spending. I can buy whatever I want, and you can't control me."

"No problem." Making money was the easiest thing for Pei Yanxiu, so he let her do as she pleased.

"Secondly, we're only married in name. You can't restrict my freedom or make me do things I don't want to do." Shang Zhi's voice was somewhat indignant as she said this; she was truly fed up with his control.

Four years ago, when they were dating, he controlled her meals, her studies, and even who she met every day!

"No problem, but you have to behave well too."

Here we go again!

Shang Zhi was burning with anger. She really wanted to throw the coffee she had just bought in his face, but when she thought of his three hundred million, she quickly calmed down.

Forget it, I'll just have to bear with it a little longer, for the sake of the money.

"Understood, Uncle Pei."

“I will inform the media that we will be having our wedding next month. You can choose anything you need to prepare. Here is a card for you, with no limit.”

"Just do it your way." Shang Zhi was not very interested. It was just a play, not worth her spending too much energy on.

Anyway, they'll get divorced sooner or later once this storm passes.

But she accepted the card; she couldn't refuse the money.

Shang Zhi took Pei Yanxiu's card, went to Lu Xingqi's jewelry store, selected a 20-carat pink diamond, took a picture, and sent it to him.

"Uncle Pei, look what this is! It's so beautiful!" She understood the rules of the underworld; she still needed to inform him before spending on valuable items.

Pei Yanxiu was practically drooling on the other end of the phone. This guy only offered emotional support when he needed money, sending cute emojis and such.

But speaking of which, the fact that she only spends his money instead of other people's money must mean she misses him.

"I'll buy it." His answer was simple and direct.

"I told you you made the right choice marrying President Pei. Look at this diamond ring, isn't it beautiful?" In the days leading up to the wedding, Shang Zhi had nothing to do. After completing the marriage formalities, she temporarily suspended her studies at school and stayed at Lu Xingqi's house for a few days.

She didn't actually have to drop out of school, and Pei Yanxiu even advised her to finish her studies first. But she still felt that she could only truly feel at ease once the company's issues were completely resolved.

She has to stay here and keep an eye on him herself.

"I never imagined I'd be getting married."

"This is really unexpected." Shang Zhi suddenly became a little sad today, perhaps because her leave of absence procedures had just been completed, or perhaps because tomorrow is her wedding.

Originally, she should still be practicing ballet in the school's ballet studio, stunning everyone on stage. Now, everything is different.

"Don't be sad, that's life. Plans can't keep up with changes."

"I know a place that can cheer you up. Want to try it?"

"Where?"

"A place for us women to have fun," Lu Xingqi said mysteriously.