Pei Shiyi drove home alone, staring at the flow of traffic ahead. His eyes were unfocused and dangerous.
If the woman from years ago was truly Jing Meng...
"Beep beep!" The harsh sound of a horn snapped him back to reality in an instant.
It was just a photograph; when had he become so indecisive?
Thinking of this, Pei Shiyi closed his eyes briefly and let out a long sigh. When he opened them again, he had returned to being the unflappable CEO of the Pei Corporation.
Pushing the door open and entering, he saw Pei Cheng happily watching cartoons. A smile tugged at the corner of Pei Shiyi's mouth as he pinched his son's chubby cheek. "Where is Mengmeng?"
Pei Cheng pushed him away, annoyed that his view was blocked. "Mengmeng seemed to have something on her mind. She said she wanted to go out for a walk."
Pei Shiyi stiffened slightly and gave an ambiguous chuckle.
"Daddy, what's wrong?" Pei Cheng was quick to pick up on Pei Shiyi's mood. He abandoned his cartoons to focus his attention on his father.
It seemed his emotions were indeed quite obvious if even his son noticed...
Pei Shiyi looked at Pei Cheng, walked around the sofa, and sat beside him. "Can I ask you a question?"
He rarely spoke in such a serious tone. Pei Cheng also sensed the shift in his voice and sat up straight. "Ask away, Daddy."
Pei Shiyi lowered his gaze, organized his thoughts for a moment, and then spoke. "Do you enjoy spending time with Jing Meng?"
Mentioning Jing Meng brought a spark to Pei Cheng's eyes. He nodded vigorously. "Mengmeng is different from everyone else. She's so good to me, and she makes me all sorts of novel toys. Why do you ask, Daddy?"
Jing Meng was a unique presence. Compared to other women who only wanted to become Mrs. Pei, she possessed a special temperament that constantly drew him in.
Previously, Pei Shiyi would have agreed, but now everything felt like a perfect trap. How could he not be suspicious?
Under Pei Cheng's unwavering gaze, Pei Shiyi asked the question that concerned him most. "Having spent so much time together lately, what do you think of Jing Meng as a person?"
"Mengmeng?" Pei Cheng thought for a moment, his small head tilted in confusion. "Don't you like her, Papa? I like her, too. It wouldn't even matter if she became my mommy. We all like her, don't we?"
Hearing this, Pei Shiyi suddenly realized that Jing Meng had invisibly permeated their lives, subtly making them accustomed to her presence.
If she had approached them intentionally from the start, it was truly a masterful move.
He could not allow a woman with ulterior motives to become Pei Cheng's mother, even if she were his biological mother. Such a person should not appear in the Pei family again.
Having made a decision, Pei Shiyi said firmly, "From today on, you are not allowed to have any more contact with her. You certainly cannot contact her."
"Why?" Pei Cheng didn't understand why his father suddenly wouldn't let him play with Mengmeng anymore when things were fine.
"There is no 'why'." For once, Pei Shiyi didn't explain his reasons. He gave Pei Cheng no chance to ask further and went straight into his study.
Pei Cheng watched Pei Shiyi's heavy footsteps and obediently stopped bothering him.
Pei Shiyi sat in the study, but he couldn't process a single word of the documents on his desk.
An unspeakable irritability lingered in his heart. Pei Shiyi let out a long sigh and closed his eyes tiredly.
Suddenly, a small cardboard box caught Pei Shiyi's attention. He reached out and took it.
The box was exquisite, and it was clear its owner took great care of it. But this box didn't belong to him or Pei Cheng...
Pei Shiyi pondered for a long time before slowly opening the box. His heart grew heavy when he saw the objects inside.
Inside were some yellowed photographs. In them, Jing Meng was laughing innocently, her bright eyes shining with expectations for the future.
Could someone with such a clean smile be the same person who had given birth and then vanished, abandoning everything years ago?
On the other side.
Jing Meng paced the sidewalk alone, her mind full of worries. She kept thinking about the direction that figure had taken, but she couldn't make sense of it for the life of her. Her head felt like it was splitting.
She looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh, absentmindedly kicking a pebble on the side of the road. Unexpectedly, it hit a passerby, and a stream of curses reached her ears.
Jing Meng grew even more irritable. She marched over to argue with the person, only to see a face she never expected.
Jing Hong.
Their eyes met. Jing Meng was the first to snap out of it. She hurried forward to stop him. "Jing Hong, you..."
But the words died in her throat.
This encounter brought no joy of a reunion.
Jing Hong looked as if he didn't know her at all, his furrowed brow indicating his foul mood.
"You have the wrong person. I'm not any 'Jing Hong'." The man turned to leave.
Even with his denial, Jing Meng was certain the person in front of her was Jing Hong.
A face could change, but a person's voice was unique, and the man's small habits betrayed his true identity.
Ever since he was a child, whenever Jing Hong was nervous or suppressing an emotion, his thumb would subconsciously pick at the pad of his index finger. This man claiming not to be "Jing Hong" was doing the exact same thing.
Jing Meng reached out and grabbed the man's arm tightly. She would not let him slip away easily this time. "Jing Hong, I know it's you. You..."
"Don't talk to me about some Jing Hong! I said I'm not him!" Jing Hong's voice rose sharply. With a dark expression, he shoved Jing Meng's hand away. As he turned to leave, a terrified scream suddenly rang out.
Jing Hong had shoved too hard. Jing Meng was unguarded, and with the injury on her hand not yet fully healed, she was sent stumbling into the middle of the road.
Jing Meng felt something crashing toward her. After a burst of intense pain, everything in front of her blurred, and a faint figure rushed through the crowd.
Her consciousness sank, and Jing Meng collapsed, losing consciousness.
When she woke again, two figures were arguing in front of her.
"You pushed her. You will pay the medical fees. Is there a problem?" Pei Shiyi sneered at the man being held down by bodyguards.
"I said it had nothing to do with me! She ran into it herself!" Jing Hong shouted, his neck straining.
He couldn't afford such a huge sum of money; he could never admit to this!
"The surveillance footage shows everything clearly. You think you can talk your way out of this with me?" Pei Shiyi gave a cold laugh. He ordered the bodyguards to pin the man to his chair and then pushed open the door to the hospital room.
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