Chapter 74: Chapter 74

Zhou Ruo shuddered in fear, tears streaming down her face.

She stepped closer, lifting her hand to touch Pei Che’s arm: "Ah Che, when did you find out?"

"Did you all take me for a fool?" Pei Che’s heart was in such pain, his voice hoarse like tearing fabric, "You kept it from me when I was abroad, and continued to hide it after I returned. If I hadn’t lost contact with Little Nian and sent someone to investigate what happened to the Shen Family, were you planning to hide it from me forever?!"

Zhou Ruo gently stroked his arm, trying to comfort him, but didn’t know where to start, her words were pale: "Ah Che, it’s all in the past..."

"I can’t get past it!"

It was late, the servants at home had gone to sleep, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. The roar echoed in the vast living room, like a beast bound by rope, unable to break free.

Zhou Ruo wiped her tears, unable to explain: "I wasn’t aware beforehand, you know I never get involved in the company’s affairs. There might be some hidden truths, don’t be upset, okay?"

"I can’t find Little Nian anymore! Do you understand how I feel?" Pei Che was truly powerless, eyes full of sorrow and despair, "After something happened to the Shen Family, did you care about Little Nian? Did you ever think about where she could go all alone? Didn’t you always treat her as a daughter-in-law?"

Each question left Zhou Ruo speechless, her conscience even more troubled.

"What are you arguing about in the middle of the night?"

The study door was pulled open from inside, Pei Fengnan walked out, dressed in deep blue checkered pajamas, with a thin black velvet jacket over it, his brows deeply furrowed, an unshakeable authority as the head of the family.

Zhou Ruo quickly turned her back to wipe her tears, she understood her husband’s temper, if he knew tonight’s argument was caused by Ah Che, he wouldn’t let him off without punishment.

Ah Che was the only son of the Pei Family, the sole heir, the future of the Pei Family depended entirely on him. Her husband had always been strict with him, not allowing any mistakes in any aspect.

"Dad, you came just in time." Fueled by alcohol, Pei Che vented his dissatisfaction, "You tell me, why did you target the Shen Family? Uncle Shen treated you like a brother, considered you in everything, even brought you along for big money-making projects, yet you schemed behind his back, causing his death and indirectly causing Aunt Yin’s death, did you ever think about how the couple would rest in peace beneath the earth?!"

Zhou Ruo shouted anxiously and fearfully, trying to stop him from continuing, but his voice grew louder, each word sharper, laden with a strong gunpowder smell.

Pei Fengnan’s expression changed, his clenched fists trembled with rage.

"Ah Che, apologize to your dad." Zhou Ruo’s face turned pale, she stood between father and son, afraid her husband might hit Pei Che, after speaking to him she turned to persuade her husband, "The son drank too much, don’t take it to heart, he will regret it when he sobers up."

Pei Che wasn’t afraid at all, he had been enduring since returning to the country, and today he finally erupted: "I am not drunk, I know what I am saying, I just find it ironic, my father taught me to be upright from a young age, yet he is a treacherous person who harms his brothers."

"Ah Che!" Zhou Ruo shouted again, the tears she had stopped instantly rolled down from her eyes, she kept shaking her head, "Stop talking, don’t say anything more!"

Pei Fengnan pushed his wife, who was in the middle, aside, raising his hand and slapping Pei Che.

He used a lot of strength, Pei Che’s face immediately swelled up, leaving a mark of five fingers.

"Old man, what are you doing?!"

Zhou Ruo tightly hugged her husband’s arm, the shawl on her shoulders fell to the ground, she stepped on it several times in a panic, not caring to pick it up.

Pei Fengnan pointed at Pei Che’s nose, cursing angrily: "An ill-mannered thing, saying such rebellious words to your father, might as well be beaten to death."

Zhou Ruo couldn’t persuade him, she kept crying, her sobs full of pleading: "Ah Che, tell your father you’re wrong, beg for his forgiveness."

Pei Che didn’t say a word of apology, he swept his sleeves and left this suffocating home.

He spent the latter half of the night in a bar, as dawn broke, the city was awakening, the Pei family scion collapsed like a puddle of mud, falling into a leather booth.

No longer the handsome, reserved man he was when returning to the country, and far from the poised and unruffled young man he was when he took over as the president of the Pei Group, he was full of decadent debauchery, captured in photos and posted online, capturing plenty of attention.

On the first workday of the new year, several trending topics on social media carried Pei Che’s name.

Pei Fengnan had already had a sleepless night, when he got up in the morning and saw the day’s newspaper, the front page was his son’s negative news, it triggered his high blood pressure. He didn’t have breakfast but took medicine first thing instead, forcing himself to call his assistant to handle the PR crisis.

Recently he was busy with lost projects and clients for the Group, he was meeting after meeting without a break, trying every possible way to salvage it, and now his son was adding fuel to the fire, it was killing him with anger.

In the bar, Pei Che woke up that night, after he got drunk he had a dream.

He dreamt of that summer, he took Little Nian to a resort villa for a summer retreat, he climbed a tree to pick yellow peaches, she stood below wearing a white dress, looking up at him, her smile was as beautiful as a blossoming flower, so pure and innocent.

She spread the white skirt with both hands, using it to catch the peaches he tossed down. Even when juice soiled the dress, she didn’t care, smiling and directing him with her eyes.

Sunlight sifted through the gaps in the leaves, casting tiny, flickering light spots that danced on her body.

"Ah Che, over there, there’s the biggest one. I want to eat that. Be careful, don’t drop it."

Pei Che closed his eyes, her voice echoed around his ears, in his mind, yet he could no longer find her.

Upon waking, Pei Che drank some ice water in a daze, replaying the details of the dream over and over, wishing time could turn back to the past.

Suddenly, he recalled an important detail he had overlooked. That summer vacation, along with them at the resort was another girl, supposedly Little Nian’s cousin, who lived out of town and rarely interacted with the Shen Family, only visiting Beicheng during long holidays.

Pei Che had never asked which city this girl lived in; he never paid much attention to any girl besides Little Nian.

But this might be a clue.

Pei Che rubbed his face; his head was in pain from the hangover. The thought of possibly finding Little Nian filled him with energy, unwilling to wait any longer. He immediately called his subordinates, asking them to find Shen Jianian’s cousin’s phone number and address.

After the Qin Group acquired the Yin Family, it integrated into a department responsible for building materials and decoration.

Yin Chengde couldn’t even nab a supervisor position, let alone contact the group’s management. The Qin Family assigned him a trivial job, leading to days of depression relieved only by alcohol.

Now he understood what it meant to come up empty-handed.

Initially, he had calculated that if his daughter married into the Qin Family, he could leverage Qin’s influence to revive the struggling Yin Family, only to have it utterly consumed.

Yin Shuyao was not doing well either, often dealing with Qin Fan’s attitude at home, and frequently returning to her parental home to vent to Hu Yuzhi.

Hu Yuzhi was also distressed, even losing interest in her beauty parlor, dealing solely with maintaining her daughter’s marriage.

That morning, the doorbell rang, and a servant went to open the door, politely greeting: "Miss, you’re back."

Yin Shuyao, having cried, had a hoarse voice, and her makeup couldn’t mask the redness and swelling of her eyelids.

Married less than two months, she already felt life was too long and unbearable.

Hu Yuzhi wore a dark purple cheongsam, with an old flower shawl on her shoulders, high heels on her feet, descending the stairs ready to go out for a game of mahjong.

Yin Shuyao ran inside without changing shoes, throwing herself into her mother’s arms and sobbing: "Mom, Qin Fan is too bullying!"

"What happened again?" Hu Yuzhi patted her shoulder to soothe her, "Didn’t you just reconcile a few days ago?"

"The old lady wants me to add a child to the Qin Family. I talked to Qin Fan, and he said even if he had an illegitimate child, he wouldn’t let me bear his child. Is that something civilized?" Yin Shuyao wailed and fussed, "He brings women home at every other time, shamelessly tangling on my bed, humiliating me. I can’t go on !"

Hu Yuzhi was annoyed about not being able to go out and play mahjong, yet she bore it as she cared for her only daughter, patiently comforting her: "The child issue is manageable, don’t cry anymore, let me teach you."

Mother and daughter went back to the room to have a private conversation, while Yin Shuyao’s bag was left on the living room sofa, her phone ringing several times.

The servant worried that someone might urgently need Yin Shuyao, took her bag upstairs to knock on the door: "Miss, someone has called you several times."

Yin Shuyao felt much better after her mother consoled her in her arms. When she received the bag from the servant, the phone was still ringing. She pulled out her phone.

The screen showed an unremarked number from Beicheng.

Yin Shuyao hesitated but answered: "Hello, who is this?"

The voice on the other side of the phone was smooth and pleasant, a stark contrast to Qin Fan’s usual sarcastic tone, leaving Yin Shuyao momentarily stunned.

"Is it the Pei Che I know?" Yin Shuyao couldn’t quite believe that Pei Che would actively contact her.

When her heart first blossomed, she fell for Pei Che in Beicheng at first sight, but alas, that man’s gaze always stayed on Shen Jianian and couldn’t see others.

"Yes, we have met." Pei Che cut to the chase, explaining the purpose of his call, "May I ask if you know Little Nian’s whereabouts? I’ve searched for her for a long time. You’re her cousin, you should know, right?"