After Shen Zhiyi finished speaking, Pei Yu suddenly fell silent, hanging his head slightly, his face indistinct in the dim light.
His silence left Shen Zhiyi feeling uneasy, unsure whether she had been too forthright.
"Pei Yu?" she called his na softly.
His confession had co too abruptly, not giving her ti to think, otherwise she might have put it more delicately.
Pei Yu stood up, his youthful figure tall and slender, a faint woody scent on him. His hand hanging by his side moved slightly as he asked in a low voice, "Then, do you dislike ?"
He had no experience confessing to others, nor had he been rejected before. Suddenly hearing Shen Zhiyi’s "dislike" made his mind go blank for a mont, and his heart felt as if it was being tugged fiercely.
Shen Zhiyi sat on the swing, facing the cool night breeze, and thought seriously for a mont, then shook her head, "I don’t dislike."
She always rembered the bread and water the youth had given her; because of that small gesture, she couldn’t really say she disliked him.
Pei Yu made a sound of acknowledgnt, lifted his long eyelashes, and his dark eyes looked at her, "If you don’t dislike , then I’ll pursue you slowly."
After all, she was right under his eyes.
Shen Zhiyi raised her head and suddenly caught his gaze, her heartbeat quickening.
Pei Yu was going to pursue her?
"Brother Pei!" Suddenly, Qin Fang’s voice ca from behind.
"How did you end up in the yard?" Qin Fang, slightly drunk, didn’t notice Shen Zhiyi on the swing, "Qin Xiaoran is going to sleep, and I’m tired too. Are you going back to Huating now or staying here?"
Pei Yu: "Back to Huating."
He had things to do tomorrow.
"Oh, then you go back," Qin Fang turned his head to leave, "See you another day."
Shen Zhiyi stood up from the swing and adjusted her skirt, "I’m going to sleep too."
"Wait," Pei Yu wanted to hold her, but rembering her previous resistance, he did nothing. Instead, he took sothing out of his pocket and stepped closer to her, "This is for you."
Shen Zhiyi looked at the item extended towards her, a pendant necklace with a small jade peace lock, a pale aqua hue showing through.
She felt a slight stirring in her heart, reminded of the small silver lock her mother had given her.
Pei Yu handed her the pendant with a casual expression, almost casually saying, "It ans nothing special, I just wanted to give it. Don’t feel burdened."
Standing with one hand in his pocket, his figure erect, he had already begun to resemble a young man, "You should head back."
After returning to her room on the second floor, Shen Zhiyi went to the window first, looking out to see the area around the swing was now empty.
She touched the smooth jade lock, feeling a bit disordered inside.
The next day was a weekend, and Shen Zhiyi spent the day playing outside with Qin Xiaoran. By the ti she returned to the Shen Family ho, it was dark.
The Shen family ran a catering business with branches all over the country. Mr. Shen often traveled for business, and since Shen Zhiyi had been adopted a few months ago, she had mostly seen Madam Shen.
"Zhiyi," she was a gentle woman with an only son. Although she had adopted Shen Zhiyi, she didn’t seem interested in building a relationship, treating her more like a guest, "Today I received a call from a forr friend of yours, I think his na was Huo Heng."
Shen Zhiyi stopped in her tracks, surprised.
Before coming to the Shen family, she had said goodbye to several friends but hadn’t seen Huo Heng. His family situation was similar to hers, with a father who also liked to hit children; they bonded over their shared misery, though that was about it.
"Did he leave a phone number?"
Not knowing why he was looking for her, Shen Zhiyi wanted to ask.
Madam Shen handed her a sticky note, accidentally noticing the red string around her neck, "Did you buy a necklace?"
She provided Shen Zhiyi with living expenses, all on one card. Madam Shen kept records of her purchases and had seen no jewelry transactions.
Shen Zhiyi paused, then vaguely replied, "A friend gave it to ."
She had a good relationship with the daughter of the Qin family, so it was reasonable if she received jewelry from her. Madam Shen pondered this, managing a smile without showing her thoughts.
Adopting this daughter was naturally not for familial joy; her only son was gradually taking over the family business. As parents, they naturally wanted to pave the way for him, they knew the future belonged to these young ones, and they needed to look far ahead.
She just hoped their efforts wouldn’t be in vain.
Shen Zhiyi obtained Huo Heng’s phone number; he hadn’t owned a mobile phone before, and she didn’t know when he had bought one.
She made a call.
The person picked up quickly, as if he had been waiting for her call, "Zhiyi, it’s Huo Heng."
"Yeah, I know," Shen Zhiyi guessed he wasn’t calling to catch up and asked directly, "What do you need?"
There was slight silence on the other end, Huo Heng seed to struggle to speak, "Zhiyi, I need your help."
"I’ve co to Beijing, can we et in person to talk?"
Hearing that he had co to Beijing, Shen Zhiyi intuitively felt that it wasn’t a small matter he needed help with, "I have school tomorrow, can we et after school?"
"Sure, send your school address," Huo Heng said, "I’ll wait for you at the school gates tomorrow."
After hanging up, Shen Zhiyi frowned.
The fact that she was adopted by a wealthy family had beco a topic of gossip for many, eliciting sympathy and envy alike; Huo Heng was one who envied her. He hadn’t shown up to see her off, and Shen Zhiyi understood and empathized; Huo Heng had often expressed his wish to be reborn into a wealthy family, his desire for money even greater than hers.
His reaching out was likely motivated by money.
Because of this phone call, Shen Zhiyi was sowhat distracted at school during the day.
"Zhiyi," Qin Xiaoran ca into the classroom with a pile of snacks, "Here, see if there’s anything you like."
Shen Zhiyi picked a box of chocolates and found a love letter underneath it.
She looked at it puzzled, "Did you take these snacks from your brother?"
"Yeah, and so from Brother Pei Yu," Qin Xiaoran looked at the love letter and smiled, "This is for Brother Pei Yu, his drawer was stuffed with them. I didn’t notice when I was clearing out the snacks and ended up bringing the letter too."
Saying this, she casually threw the love letter into the trash can.
Shen Zhiyi watched the letter fall into the trash can, feeling as if she was looking at the young man’s indifferent face.
"Doesn’t he even look at them?"
"Of course not," Qin Xiaoran replied unconcernedly, "Forget love letters, even when those girls stand right in front of him, he can’t be bothered to give them a glance."
Pei Yu had always been different from the rest of the kids, indifferent to everything and not particularly fond of anything. His thoughts were hard to read; perhaps because of this, Father Pei esteed yet did not quite like him.
"Why don’t you ride ho with today," Qin Xiaoran opened a package of snacks, "I need your help with howork."
"I have plans today," Shen Zhiyi declined, "I’m eting a friend."
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