Chapter 123: The Swindler

After school.

As expected, I saw Pei Du's black Bentley at the school gate.

Just before the last class ended, Pei Muyin had mentioned that Pei Du's journey had just finished and he was on his way back, but the man by the car was already wearing casual attire that lessened his aloofness, calm and restrained, with no trace of travel-worn fatigue.

The back seat fit three people exactly, with no extra space, so the front passenger seat was used to place the schoolbags.

Shu Lingchen, who felt he should help his mother and sister carry their bags—one on his back, one on his chest, and one in his hand—had gotten used to it; when the boy laden with love-filled bags approached, Pei Du directly opened the front passenger door.

The man's expression remained calm; his gaze passed over Shu Shu without any pause, smoothly gliding by.

So nonchalant, it was as if he had never pressed Shu Shu with those few "strange" questions that day.

…

In less than twenty minutes, the Bentley pulled up smoothly to the private restaurant's entrance, where a valet attendant came forward.

The four of them went inside.

It was the same private room as before, the same seating arrangement, and Pei Du ordered the dishes.

This private restaurant updates its menu frequently; except when customers have made advance reservations, the menu basically changes every Monday according to shifts in customers' seasonal tastes.

With the recent high temperatures, after ordering the dishes, the waiter politely smiled and recommended drinks suitable for cooling off in summer.

Shu Lingchen had used up his weekly cola quota, so he immediately turned his head, looked toward Shu Shu beside him, gazing pleadingly at his mother, his face practically saying "I want cola."

Shu Shu looked back at her son, fanned her hand a little, said nothing, yet it was as if she had spoken.

——Want some Dabi Dou?

The boy instantly let out a dejected cat-like "meow" and sat down obediently.

Opposite them, Pei Du lowered his lashes, silently taking in their interaction, then asked in a low, calm voice for his daughter's and Shu Shu's opinions on the drinks.

Shu Shu and Pei Muyin were both fine with it.

So in the end, as usual, Pei Du took charge; his gaze skimmed the tablet menu casually and he settled on iced coconut water.

Four servings.

Pei Du consistently shows no interest in this kind of drink, just as last time when they ate here—Shu Lingchen drank cola, Shu Shu and Pei Muyin wanted milk, while Pei Du drank only water.

But this time, he also ordered a serving of coconut water for himself.

Shortly after.

Then the serving staff brought up four fresh Thai golden coconuts one by one—already processed coconuts with a small hole opened at the top, a straw inserted, so one could drink the pure, original juice inside.

Pei Muyin held the coconut, took the first sip—icy cold, with a fresh coconut fragrance, the texture especially refreshing.

"It's delicious." She immediately recommended it.

"Really?"

Seeing this, Shu Lingchen couldn't help but lift the coconut, lean in and take a light sip; finding the taste indeed not bad, he then gulped down a few more mouthfuls.

Shu Shu once had a period when she loved coconut water, drinking it straight for a month until she got sick of it, so she wasn't particularly curious about its taste this time and didn't try it.

But Pei Du apparently ordered the dishes based on last time's taste preferences, and several of them were spicy.

Midway through the meal, Shu Shu accidentally bit into a piece of chili, then instinctively reached for the coconut beside her, pinched the straw, took a sip, and it relieved the spiciness.

…

During this meal, Shu Shu, intentionally or not, observed Pei Du.

Since he had asked her those few questions that night, she had harbored a lingering doubt—whether he knew something, or had recalled something.

Yet the whole meal passed.

Pei Du showed nothing unusual; he ate quietly throughout, occasionally picking dishes for his daughter beside him.

Oh, there was also a small incident: because the several coconuts on the table took up a lot of space, a dish that was served ended up placed in front of him, making it inconvenient for Shu Lingchen to reach for the dish he wanted to eat, so Pei Du simply moved that dish to in front of Shu Lingchen.

This made Shu Lingchen squint and stare at Pei Du for a long while.

That expression seemed to be observing and saying, "Thief, don't even think about harming me!"

The latter completely failed to notice the boy's doubtful gaze; the man merely lowered his lashes coldly and took a sip of coconut water as usual.

…

All the way until after the meal, upon arriving at Yujingyuan and each going their separate ways, Pei Du and Shu Shu hardly exchanged any glances.

Pei Du's excessive blandness made Shu Shu's lingering doubt seem all the more abrupt, so her concern showed a downward trend.

She told Shu Lingchen to go to sleep early, then returned to her own room to wash up and rest.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the city.

That very private restaurant, in the private room they had just left not long ago, the staff member pushing a cart in to clean first threw away the four golden coconuts; when tossed, the originally opened tops were empty, completely lacking straws.

But no one would care about the lack of a few insignificant straws.

So naturally, no one knew that these four straws were sitting on a private airplane.

Their destination was first a certain overseas laboratory for strict sampling, then the samples were divided into three sets totaling twelve specimens, which, labeled anonymously with serial numbers, continued to be flown to three different yet highly private authoritative appraisal institutions for secret evaluation.

…

That night.

In a cold, austere-style room, only the bedside table lamp was lit; aside from the center of its light, the bedroom all around was dark.

Pei Du wore a dark-striped pajama set; his collar revealed a clearly defined, cold-white neck, with phone light shining on his high nose bridge, casting shadows that clearly divided his pale face, part of which was reflected in his jet-black pupils.

"Pat, pat."

It was the faint prompt of fingers pressing keys on a keyboard; moments later, a line of text was sent out.

In total, four straws, arranged in order from left to right as one enters, the sample numbers are:

Number one, thirty-six-year-old Pei Du.

Number two, seventeen-year-old Pei Muyin.

Number three, eighteen-year-old Shu Shu.

Number Four, seventeen-year-old Shu Lingchen.

And the message Pei Du sent out was as follows:

"Number One and Number Four undergo kinship testing, Number Two and Number Three undergo kinship testing, Number Three and Number Four undergo kinship testing."

Until the received message popped up on the chat box, there was hardly any change in Pei Du's expression.

No speculation, nor any nervousness.

Actually, by this point some things have already been determined; the reason for testing is merely to hammer that conclusion down with an irresistible blow.

——"Have we met before?"

——"Mr. Pei Du, your question is really weird; I'm just an eighteen-year-old student, I could call you uncle, how could we possibly know each other?"

The phone screen was turned off, and with it the light and shadow on Pei Du's face dimmed, making his eyes appear even darker.

He gave a slight, mocking curl of his lip.

Liar.

Deceive him.

He didn't believe it.