Chapter 44 (Synopsis)
On the day Pei Yanxi was to arrive, the entire hall of the Pei family mansion was set up as a temporary reception room.
She descended the gangway slowly, her dark gray trench coat billowing gently in the breeze. Her long hair, lifted by the sea breeze, slid like ink-black satin over her shoulders, with a few strands occasionally brushing against her fair cheek, making her features appear gentle and clear.
Unlike her usual quiet demeanor, today her brows were soft, and her eyes were calm, like a lake reflecting the twilight.
Her lips were pale and moist, carrying the weariness of a long journey home, and also a hint of a barely perceptible smile.
"Thank you all for waiting for me. I'll be right over after I change my clothes," Pei Yanxi said to the butler at the door.
Pei Yanxi gently gathered her wind-blown hair with one hand, her fingertips brushing past her ear, the movement as light as if afraid of disturbing the twilight.
A slight smile played on her lips. Actually, the reason she rushed back wasn't for this celebration banquet, but for... Yun Zhan.
If I get things sorted out tonight, I can see Yunzhan at school tomorrow.
"Yes, miss."
The butler had a smile on his face, but the moment Pei Yanxi turned around, a hint of gloom appeared in his eyes.
At the far end of the long table made of Phoebe zhennan wood, only one person sat, with a gift list piled up in front of him.
From the gilded invitations of cabinet members to the discreet black cards of underground arms dealers, and the stock transfer documents of ocean shipping groups, each one is stamped with gold sealing wax.
Pei Zhen sat below, surrounded by other elders of the Pei family. Their faces were ashen; the more gifts they received, the more embarrassed they became.
“Xiao Xi has really made something of herself. She can handle the people on North Sentinel Island. None of us old folks would dare to go there.” Pei Ying smiled, but the corners of her mouth were stiff and purple.
He is Pei Yanxi's uncle, and he was the one who planned it from the beginning, wanting Pei Yanxi to die on North Sentinel Island... Pei Yanxi's maternal family is no longer of any use, so the illegitimate son can take over without worry.
“According to the previous agreement, Xiaoxi should be the next chairman of the board. We men can’t go back on our word, can we?” Pei Shuai frowned, his wrinkles showing lingering surprise.
“Her? She’s not qualified.” Pei Zhen’s face was ashen, and he leaned on his dragon-headed cane, his knuckles turning blue. His smile was only on the surface of his face.
"Not qualified enough? She's already dealt with the warlords. Who else would dare to take on the task besides her? She even made several hundred million this time."
The eldest grandmother spoke first. She glared at Pei Zhen, then slapped the table, and the others quickly shut up.
They loathe Pei Yanxi's ruthlessness, and they loathe even more the fact that she caused Pei's stock to hit its daily limit overnight last time.
But now...
But they had no choice but to bow their heads.
Because the shipping routes, armories, and port taxes of North Sentinel Island are now all under Pei Yanxi's name.
They presented him with an ancestral jade ring, saying "Welcome home, great hero," but their eyes betrayed their resentment and malice.
Pei Yanxi raised her hand, signaling her assistant to lock the ring directly into the safe without even opening the box.
The Pei family home was exceptionally lively today. People from political circles, business circles, and the gray areas filled the entire mansion with gifts under the guise of "congratulations."
For the upper class, such attempts to curry favor are not uncommon.
Pei Yanxi's strength and status are evident to everyone. Everyone knows that Pei Yanxi's future is much brighter than that of those illegitimate children. She will definitely become a new elite in the upper class.
Boxes upon boxes of unopened bank drafts were delivered, but Pei Yanxi didn't even lift her eyelids, only instructing her secretary to tick off items on the gift list.
After receiving gifts all afternoon, Pei Yanxi sat upright in the main seat for several hours, her mind already wandering to Yun Zhan.
After she meets Yun Zhan, she will let Yun Zhan choose all of these things.
...
Minton School.
The students kept their conversations quiet at the end of the corridor.
"My father said that Senior Pei seems to have returned. This morning, the Pei family picked her up in a limousine." Jiang Yanmo lowered her head and spoke softly to a few new elementary school students in the cafeteria.
"The old men on the board of directors were furious, but they still went to the airport to pick her up in person."
When Jiang Yanmo mentioned this, a hint of admiration unconsciously appeared in her eyes.
"Human nature is to admire the strong. Senior Pei, who is rich, beautiful, and capable, is totally every girl's dream girl!"
"Yeah, I really like Senior Pei too. I wonder if I could date her? I don't even know if she likes girls..."
Jiang Yanmo leaned closer suspiciously and whispered, "Let me tell you, I used to be Pei Yanxi's love rival, and that guy hasn't agreed to be with Senior Pei yet."
ah? !
"That's incredibly ungrateful."
Yun Zhan, who was passing by, was inexplicably caught in the crossfire: .....
21 said with a grin, "They say you don't know what's good for you. Why don't you just go with your senior sister Pei?"
21, being a bit of a gossip, also thought Pei Yanxi was perfectly fine; she was an outstanding person and a true cat-like beauty.
"Weren't you going to do that weird experiment?"
In fact, Yun Zhan was not mentally prepared and felt that it was offensive to say such things to Pei Yanxi.
The aloof and icy school beauty is someone others can only dream of, as pure and noble as a lotus... How could you say such a thing to her?
At 6 p.m., Pei Yanxi rushed back to school immediately after finishing the family dinner.
"Yun Zhan has half an hour left in get out of class, he should make it in time."
In the late spring evening, a layer of rose-colored clouds floated on the horizon, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of freshly mowed lawn.
Pei Yanxi, carrying a bouquet of champagne roses, jogged in from the school gate, her high heels clicking lightly on the bluestone slabs.
She put on makeup specially today:
Her long hair was curled into soft waves and draped over her shoulders. Her lips were the red of ripe cherries, which made her skin look even more translucent, like a layer of warm light spreading on thin porcelain.
The earring was a tiny pearl, its warm glow shimmering as she tilted her head. The rose, tied with a creamy white ribbon, its outer petals still glistening with tiny water droplets, trembled gently in her arms.
The wind gently lifted her skirt, and as her curls rose, they brushed past the rosebuds, leaving a faint scent of perfume. The intertwining of cedar and rose seemed to gather the gentleness of the evening into her embrace.
The makeup was done for Yun Zhan, and the roses were bought for her too.
Pei Yanxi gathered the petals between her fingers and looked up at the brightly lit corridor.
At that moment, the sunset glow, roses, and her smile fell together in the wind, like a painting gently unfolded by the evening breeze, bright yet understated.
When she arrived at the teaching building, she heard that Yun Zhan had gone to the administration building. Pei Yanxi could only suppress her anxiety and go back to her office to fix her makeup.
Unexpectedly, not long after she returned to her office, Yun Zhan came over on his own initiative.
Yun Zhan gripped the hotel room key, his knuckles turning white from the metal edge.
The elevator doors opened with a "ding," and a blast of cold air hit her, but she felt her palms were sweaty.
"If I get slapped, remember to give me painkillers..." Yun Zhan took a deep breath and gave 21 a few instructions.
"Don't worry, it's absolutely general anesthesia and painless. If she chases after you and hits you, I've already planned out an escape route for you." 21 gave an electronic OK sign.
"I'm suddenly having second thoughts. What if she hates me? Will I still be able to stay in this school?" Yun Zhan suddenly felt a bit intimidated and hesitated to step forward.
21: "Don't worry, I shouldn't get fired..."
After getting off the elevator, at the end of the corridor, Pei Yanxi's office was like a quiet, isolated island, with warm yellow light leaking through the crack in the door.
The moment the door was pushed open, Pei Yanxi was looking down to reapply her lipstick.
The warm yellow light cast a soft golden glow on her eyelashes. Hearing a sound, she looked up and saw that the person who had come was Yun Zhan.
At that moment, like the first ray of dawn breaking into a deep well on a snowy night, his clear, cold eyes suddenly lit up.
A point of light bloomed in Pei Yanxi's pupils, and she whispered, "Yun Zhan, I miss you so much. I was just thinking of going to see you."
Pei Yanxi put down her lipstick, raised her head, and looked up with bright eyes, as if she wanted to hold onto that beam of light firmly.
She had put on such beautiful makeup today that Yun Zhan stared in disbelief, his cheeks flushing slightly.
We're doomed...
How could she bear to say such vulgar things to such a beautiful woman...?
Pei Yanxi is so beautiful. The way her eyes crinkle when she talks to me makes it so hard to be cruel to her.
Yun Zhan's throat tightened, but he acted first.
She pinned Pei Yanxi, the school's aloof beauty, against the wall, pinching her chin and teasing her maliciously: "Senior, aren't you so aloof? Let me see just how aloof you are."
He then slipped a room key into Pei Yanxi's coat.
"You like me, so can I sleep with you?"
When Yun Zhan spoke, his attitude was even worse than she had imagined, like a knife deliberately slashing through a beautiful atmosphere.
She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth.
Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear the echo; she even turned slightly to the side, bracing herself for the possible slap in the next second.
Pei Yanxi merely blinked, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes, before curving her lips into a smile.
The smile was faint, yet it was like a spring breeze breaking through the ice, instantly melting away all the coldness.
Pei Yanxi put down her pen and stood up.
The high heels stomped silently on the carpet, yet each step felt like a tickle to Yun Zhan's nerves.
She stopped in front of Yun Zhan, looking down at the hotel key that had been handed to her, her fingertips gently stroking the metal surface.
"So, contacting me late at night... was an invitation,"
Pei Yanxi's voice was low and soft, with a barely perceptible tremor.
The next second, she suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around Yun Zhan's waist, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder.
The ends of her hair brushed against Yun Zhan's earlobe, carrying a very faint scent of cedar.
"Yun Zhan, I thought we would have to wait even longer."
Pei Yanxi's voice was muffled by the fabric of her clothes, carrying warmth.
"So it can be done tonight."
Yun Zhan froze.
She had imagined a cold face, a scolding, or even a slap, but she never expected that the high and mighty school board member would blush to the tips of his ears in her arms.
Like any ordinary person falling in love, Pei Yanxi asked softly, "Yun Zhan, have you agreed to be with me?"
Pei Yanxi looked up, her eyes moist, yet surprisingly bright.
"If you'd like... we can go to the hotel now."
"I've never done this with anyone before. So this is my first time... It might hurt, but don't worry, I'm not afraid of pain."
"Also, do we need to buy finger cots? Or anything else? I've never bought these before." Pei Yanxi nestled in her arms, her long eyelashes casting dappled shadows beneath her eyes, unable to conceal the hint of panic in them.
Pei Yanxi's usual coldness seemed to have been quietly taken away, leaving only a thin and transparent layer of naivety.
A strand of black hair slipped to her lips, and she instinctively bit it, then immediately let go. The tips of her ears slowly turned a light red, like newly blooming cherry blossoms, which she gently pressed down with her pale fingertips.
Her voice was so soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing a dream, yet it was enough for Yun Zhan to hear the sound of his own heart pounding.
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