Chapter 120: Yinyin

As the two syllables "Yinyin" landed, even in a dream Pei Du clearly sensed his mind waver; a feeling of long separation, as if from another lifetime, surged in his heart.

He felt both sorrowful and intensely longing.

He seemed to shout that name as if it were unfamiliar, yet also as if it were deeply familiar to his bones.

"Yinyin."

Unable to restrain himself, Pei Du stepped forward toward the person behind the mist, carrying a subtle hope, and spoke once more.

One second, ten seconds, one minute passed.

She still paid him no heed, carrying on her own way, busy with her own affairs over there, calling out to him, Pei Du.

Pei Du stood still, deep disappointment welling up in his dark eyes, and he gradually lowered his head.

Just then——

"Why are you calling me?"

A female voice rang out, unprecedentedly clear and free of any blurring effects, sounding in his ear.

Pei Du almost disbelievingly lifted his head.

The mist still lingered, but through it he saw her turn her head to face him, as if she were… looking at him.

For the first time, she gave him a response, interacting with him.

Yet this was not what shocked Pei Du the most; rather, it was her actual voice, which was exactly the same as Shu Shu's.

She was the eighteen-year-old female student Shu Shu, who is good friends with his daughter.

"...?"

Pei Du felt this was too fantastical.

Is it because he has heard Shu Shu's voice in real life and retains an impression of it, thus creating this coincidence?

But this is already the second time.

The world is bustling and ever-changing; Pei Du has heard countless voices of countless people, yet only Shu Shu's voice appears in his dreams.

So, is this truly a coincidence?

Rather than doubt, it's better to seek proof.

Pei Du's long lashes flickered; this time he called her more slowly and firmly: "Yinyin."

His breath caught for a split second, his deep pupils locked onto her, unwilling to miss any possible reaction she might show next.

He saw her sigh, turn around, and say somewhat angrily: "Pei Du, are you doing this on purpose? You ask me what to do but don't say it; if you keep this up, I'll ignore you."

All twenty-eight characters, he listened to each one carefully.

"..."

In a bedroom styled in gray-black tones, at three a. m., all is silent around, and the warm air from the central air conditioning lightly sways the curtains.

Pei Du suddenly opened his eyes; the depths of his cold gaze were filled with a clear, lucid expression.

This time, he heard it clearly.

Without hesitation, Pei Du pulled up that video again from his chat log with his daughter.

"Is Muyin still not wearing shoes…"

After hearing just that sentence, his distinct-knuckled fingertips pressed pause.

Since there was no need to continue, Pei Du directly confirmed it.

In the dream, it was simply Shu Shu's voice.

"Yinyin… is Shu Shu."

A man with angular features and cold-white skin lifted his lashes; in his pair of black, sharp pupils welled up an unfathomable depth.

Pei Muyin's life of shuttling between the two 'homes' at 1600 and 1702 officially began.

During this time Pei Du was flying to the U. S., he began to make his work focus flexible, handling things online when possible, to ensure he had more time to stay in An Shi and accompany his daughter.

Because of these few leisurely days after returning to An Shi, Pei Du's workload piled up, keeping him constantly on the move on business trips. Without overseas trips, whenever his daughter returns to 1702 on even-numbered dates, no matter how late, he basically takes a private jet that same day and lands in An Shi that same day.

Today's date is an odd number, so Pei Muyin stays at 1600.

Pei Du was out of town; during a break in negotiations, on his way back to the hotel to rest, he passed a family dessert shop whose storefront sign announced a new product launch.

He had the driver pull over to the side of the road and got out.

In work settings, Pei Du always dresses formally, in a dark, crisp hand-tailored suit; his shoulders, neck, arms, and long legs have smooth lines, sharp as the edges of ice, giving off an unapproachable, icy aura.

Compared to the cute décor of the dessert shop, he is out of place.

The server hesitated to approach and asked: "Sir, what would you like?"

Pei Du pointed to the outside sign: "That one, please pack one for me."

After saying that, he paused half a second, then added: "Three."

"Okay, sir."

The server opened the display case, wearing gloves, and took a box to pack.

Coincidentally, the place of this business trip is not far from An Shi; Pei Du couldn't get away, so he arranged for Zhou Zhi to make a trip back to An Shi.

…

After the last class of the afternoon ended, because she had to attend a competition class, Shu Shu brought her son and daughter to eat at the school cafeteria.

Pei Muyin's phone rang; she received a message: "Older sister, Dad said he had someone deliver dessert over; it's now at the school gate, I'll go get it."

"Heh, kidnappers have plenty of sneaky tricks," Shu Lingchen muttered unhappily, but honestly got up: "Brother, I'll go with you."

…

Zhou Zhi waited at the guardroom; not long after, he spotted Pei Muyin coming out and waved.

"Eldest Young Lady, here."

As Pei Muyin approached, Zhou Zhi handed over the three semi-transparent paper boxes in his hand; inside were three delicate Oreo mousse cupcakes.

Thank you.

The Eldest Young Lady is being too polite. Zhou Zhi unconsciously lowered his voice, preparing to hand the items carefully to Pei Muyin, but just as he got halfway, another pair of hands snatched them away.

Zhou Zhi froze, instinctively looking up along the boy's arm, and saw a smug face.

The next second, his pupils quaked.

"Pei, Pei Director?!"

He exclaimed in astonishment at Shu Lingchen.

Zhou Zhi came to be by Pei Du's side after Pei Du's car accident.

At that time, Pei Du was twenty-three; the man was very young, with black hair slightly long in front of his forehead, very fair skin, though he was not easy to approach, he still carried a hint of youthfulness.

It was just like… just like the boy standing before him.

Those eyebrows and eyes, aside from being a bit immature, just from this one glance, they resembled him by seventy or eighty percent!

"What's wrong? This is, bro……"

Hearing Zhou Zhi's exclamation, Pei Muyin's eyes showed doubt.

Beside him, Shu Lingchen also dissatisfiedly pursed his lips: "What Pei Director? I'm Shu Lingchen, give house book, force respond order, eat grace morning, OK!"

""

Zhou Zhi naturally knew Shu Lingchen; while gathering Shu Shu's personal information, he came across this lead on Shu Lingchen.

He also knew that the Eldest Young Lady was close with these two people.

But in his impression, Shu Lingchen was a child whose appearance and dress were extremely abstract.

A head of multicolored hair, almost like an explosion hairstyle, wearing a tight black skull T-shirt; with his bangs slanted to one side and a pair of Chelsea boots, he could easily become the leader of the non-mainstream.

How could the boy before him, whose face resembled that of Pei Director so much, be—