Chapter 4 The Heroine in the Photo
The sudden ringing of the phone broke the silence in the room.
Pei Yuning lowered his eyes and looked at the phone on the chair. It was Shang Heng calling. He tapped the screen with his slender fingertips to hang up.
The next second, the phone that had just been hung up rang again. It was the same ringtone, but this time it sounded a bit urgent, as if the ringtone also implied the emotions of the person on the other end.
It's funny to say that in the past two years, Shang Heng has never been as attentive as he was today. In just one hour, he sent her WeChat messages and called her.
Pei Yuning was obviously the victim of cheating, but Shang Heng's reaction seemed to be even more excited and urgent than hers.
This time Pei Yuning did not hang up the phone, but muted the entire phone.
If he wants to go crazy, let him go crazy. Why should she accompany him?
Seeing Pei Yuning's slightly furrowed brows, Shang Yanci did not ask anything beyond the rules. He just raised his wrist and glanced at the time on the dial: "The store is about to close, let's go."
"Okay." Pei Yuning stood up and took her handbag.
Her sight passed by inadvertently, and she suddenly found that if she looked out the window from the direction of the tea table, she could just see the scene of her conversation with Qi Yue on the first floor.
She didn't think much about it, because this position gave her the best view of the pear blossoms in the courtyard. After all, the owner of this private kitchen was a friend of Shang Yanci, so of course he would give him the best tea room.
Pei Yuning walked while sending a message to the driver, asking him to drive the car to the door.
The foreman saw the two of them and came over. He first smiled at Pei Yuning and then respectfully handed Shang Yanci a gift box with an intricate and exquisite design: "Mr. Shang, your pear wine."
Shang Yan declined and took it.
Pei Yuning couldn't help but glance at him. Shang Yanci's cultivation was not just a superficial pretense. His calmness and dignity were the result of his upbringing in an aristocratic family. He was not like those rich young men in northern Beijing who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun, and always had an ugly look of arrogance and complacency.
When they arrived at the door of the private kitchen, the driver had already driven a shell-pink Bugatti in and was standing in front of the passenger door, waiting to open the door for Pei Yuning.
Shang Yanci then handed the pear wine he had carried along the way to Pei Yuning: "Have a drink when you have nothing to do. Drink less when you are alone outside."
Pei Yuning didn't expect that this was for her. She took it and smiled with a smile on her face: "Then when we go back to Jingbei for dinner, Mr. Shang, will you have a drink with me?"
Shang Yanci: "Yes."
Pei Yuning opened WeChat and took the initiative to say, "Add a contact number."
Shang Yanci looked at the light and shadow on her face with a deep gaze, and said slowly: "Okay."
After adding him on WeChat, Pei Yuning said goodbye to him with a smile and walked towards the Bugatti with a swaying figure.
Shang Yanci stood there, looking at her back. She was like a delicate and beautiful butterfly fish, with her soft tail gently swaying, as if raising a mist of early spring rain, enveloping him completely.
Gu Yu, who was on the other side of the road, asked the driver to drive over. He got out and opened the back door of the Rolls-Royce. After Shang Yanci bent down and got in, he closed the door and sat back in the passenger seat.
Gu Yu recalled the beautiful girl whom he had just glimpsed in surprise. Wasn’t that the heroine in the photo treasured in Mr. Shang’s pocket watch?
Trying hard to suppress the shock in his heart, Special Assistant Gu Yu began to report the matter: "Boss Shang, the old man said that because Shang Heng cheated, the Pei family insisted on breaking off the engagement, so he asked you to be free for the next few days. You must be present when the engagement is broken off."
Shang Yanci: "Cheating?"
"Yes, the woman who cheated is the daughter of Miss Pei's stepmother's sister. It was a hot topic, but it was removed not long after." Gu Yu asked carefully, "The Shang and Pei families were originally going to get married as scheduled, but now this has happened, Mr. Shang, do you need to arrange for someone to investigate?"
The street lights flashed through the car window, and the light and shadow blended, falling on Shang Yanci's deep and three-dimensional profile. He turned his pinky ring nonchalantly, and said in a lazy and indifferent tone: "No need."
After returning to the hotel and taking a shower and skin care, Pei Yuning lay on the bed and watched Shang Yanci's name appear in the WeChat list.
To be honest, his name sounded a little familiar, as if someone had mentioned it before, but she couldn't remember exactly. Or maybe it was because his name contained the word "Shang", which gave her a preconceived sense of familiarity.
The phone rang and the screen showed an incoming call from abroad. The string of numbers was impressive enough.
Pei Yuning answered the phone: "Hello."
The signal seemed to be bad, and after dozens of seconds, the person on the other end slowly responded, "Ningning, Mom will be back in three days. This time we've called off the engagement, and you can live your own life from now on. The Pei family doesn't need you to give anything."
Pei Yuning felt stabbed in the heart by those two words, and said coldly: "Are you done?"
The other party was silent for a few seconds again: "... Well, that's all, hang up now."
As the words fell, Pei Yuning hung up the phone, pulled up the quilt, covered his head and went to sleep.
It's late at night.
At this moment, in Yuhua Mingyuan in northern Beijing.
In the hall, expensive teacups were scattered all over the floor. The dignified and elegant Madam Pei sat on the sofa, holding a beautiful stuffed cat in her arms, and said frivolously, "Kneel down."
The ragdoll cat aunt wagged her soft and fluffy tail and meowed a few times as if to cheer.
Xu Han knelt straight on the broken porcelain pieces. In an instant, blood spread and stained the carpet. Her face was pale and she burst into tears: "Old Madam, I really don't know about Weiwei and Mr. Shang. I don't have my own children. I have always treated Ningning as my own daughter. How could I hurt her?"
Madam Pei snorted coldly: "I know exactly what you are thinking. Shang Heng is blind to be involved with Xu Wei. You Xu family are addicted to mistresses. You are such a disgrace."
Xu Han looked at the bloodstains on the blanket with resentment. She had once been pregnant with a child, and married into the Pei family, but she ended up having a miscarriage. Later, Mrs. Pei took control of her and did not allow her to get pregnant again.
"What the old lady said is true." Her tone was still respectful. "But based on this incident, we can also see that Shang Heng's nature is no different from those young masters. It would be better for the two families to cancel the engagement, and the old lady can choose a better one for Ningning."
Madam Pei understood: "Of course the marriage has to be cancelled. I'm afraid your wishful thinking will fail. Who is Shang Jia? Do you allow your Xu family to interfere with him at will? Now that your knee is injured, you can go to the sanatorium in Y City and stay for a while."
Xu Han knew what this meant. The old lady made this arrangement not because she really regarded her as a member of the Pei family, nor because she really wanted to protect her, but because once the merchants found out that this was a joint effort of their Xu family and the Qi family, the Qi family might be able to maneuver and extricate themselves, but their Xu family could only be manipulated.
Leading her away was to allow the Shang family to vent their anger better, and also to save the face of both the Shang and Pei families.
Xu Han knew very well that Shang Heng would not marry Xu Wei. The two had very different family backgrounds, and Xu Wei had no children as a bargaining chip. However, with the status of the Shang family's prince, it would be good for Xu Wei to have a lover.
Besides, even if the truth really came to light, the Xu family would not betray Xu Han.
If Xu Wei wins, she will take a step forward; if Xu Wei loses, she still has a way out.
Xu Han: "Yes, I'll follow the old lady's arrangements."
She agreed without any hesitation. People who didn't know would really think that Shang Heng's cheating had nothing to do with her.
Old Madam Pei looked at her. It was because of her false appearance of being indifferent to the world, coupled with the accidental miscarriage of the child, that her eldest son Pei Jinyan softened his heart every time.