Chapter 131

Pei Du's choice to not walk together with Shu Lingchen was the correct choice.

He had just arrived alone at the entrance of the science and technology museum when he was recognized, and immediately a surprised "Director Pei" came.

It was Zhou Zhi.

The standard for entrepreneurs has always been to make money while doing some unpaid charitable projects, thereby establishing a positive image for the company among the public.

The Pei Clan Group's annual investment in the charity sector starts at over 100 million, one of which is education.

Among the sponsors of this competition held at the An Shi science and technology museum is the Pei Clan.

As early as two months ago, the organizers had sent the invitation to the Pei Clan, hoping to invite Pei Du to attend as a guest, but Pei Du was busy flying around all day, and this small event couldn't be squeezed into his schedule.

At that time, Pei Du also hadn't anticipated that he and his daughter Pei Muyin would be in this situation, nor did he know his daughter would come to participate in the competition.

So that day he declined the invitation, and at the time Director Pei's special assistant, Assistant Zhou, would attend.

When the organizers sent the invitation, they actually didn't hold much hope; having a close special assistant attend was already a great honor.

So when they saw Pei Du in person, they were both surprised and delighted.

"Director Pei."

Zhou Zhi was surprised for three seconds, then realized why Pei Du had appeared here, and walked over to Pei Du's side.

And when Pei Du was encountered by the organizers' staff, he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.

Pei Du casually said he was just coming to have a look, and the organizer's leader immediately smiled and said how fortunate they were to meet Director Pei here; what a coincidence—why not go inside together to watch the award ceremony? A seat had been reserved for him in the guest section.

The flattery was flawless.

Then.

Pei Du thus sat in the middle seat of the first row in the guest section amidst the crowd.

At that moment, as the ceremony was about to begin, the exhibition hall was packed with people, the guest and audience sections were full, numerous cameras were set up around, and flashbulbs went off from time to time.

Soon after.

The host in Western attire stepped up to the microphone on stage and delivered a resounding, impassioned speech.

The procedure is that students who won competition prizes go on stage in the order of third, second, then first prize, after which the guests on the guest section present award certificates and medals to the students in turn.

As the awards go from low to high, the rank of the guests presenting them also changes accordingly.

More students won third prize, but the number dropped sharply when it came to first prize.

As the host read the list, the students went on stage, and he said: "From An Shi San Zhong—Shu Shu, Pei Muyin."

As his words rang out, a high-definition close-up of the two appeared on the huge screen behind.

Against a blue background, the two girls both had remarkably beautiful peach-blossom eyes; the former's gaze was bright and lax, while the latter's was clear and pure, slightly reserved.

"I've looked at these two girls' grades; the first prize goes to the top 5%, so they are directly in the top two of that 5%. I personally approached them, thinking they were fully capable of entering the later league, but alas, I couldn't persuade them—what a fine pair of seedlings."

On the guest section, a certain question-setting teacher and colleague sighed with a sense of regret over losing talent.

The discussion carried over and reached Pei Du's ears.

On stage.

Pei Muyin saw Pei Du sitting below, her eyes instantly lit up with excitement, she quietly raised her hand to greet her father.

Pei Du noticed, slightly curling the corner of his mouth, the emotion in his dark, cold eyes softened for a moment in response; after making eye contact with his daughter, his gaze smoothly shifted to Shu Shu beside her.

She merely glanced at him casually, then withdrew her gaze.

Pei Du didn't withdraw, continuing to gaze at her calmly.

The list of first-prize winners was about to be read to the end, and a staff member gestured for the guests on the guest section to come on stage to present the awards.

Just then.

Pei Du's black-framed phone in his hand vibrated three times in succession.

This alert tone—

—the alert tone that sounds only when a specially marked account sends a new email.

"……"

Instantly.

Instantly, all the noisy sounds around his ears vanished, leaving only the clear echo of the alert tone.

Pei Du didn't need to open it to know what the new email said.

Finally, it's here.

The man's aloof face showed no emotion, yet his distinct-knuckled hand gripped the phone for a moment, the pale back of his hand revealing faint blue veins; his breath sank, and in his mind, just before some mystery was about to be revealed, a blankness flashed.

The blankness lasted only two seconds.

Then, without hesitation, Pei Du turned the phone, using the desktop as cover, and opened the new email.

What met his eyes were several pages of lengthy English.

But Pei Du scanned through without hindrance, directly flipping to the last page, to the results column, and saw.

According to the provided samples and DNA analysis results:

"1, supports that sample three is the biological mother of sample two."

Sample three is Shu Shu, sample two is Pei Muyin.

"2, supports that sample three is the biological mother of sample four."

Sample four is Shu Lingchen.

"3, supports that sample one is the biological father of sample four."

Sample one is Pei Du.

The results from three different appraisal agencies were all unified as above.

Almost within just a few seconds, Pei Du had quickly reached a conclusion—

Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin are his and Shu Shu's children.

These two children…… are theirs.

Three emails whose read status did not exceed one minute were directly and permanently deleted; the appraisal agency need not worry, for when they send emails to their employer, it signifies that the samples and all records have already been destroyed.

That is, in this world, only Pei Du knows the result of this appraisal.

"……"

Turned off the phone.

When Pei Du lifted his head again, his look at Shu Shu completely changed.

The tranquility was ripped apart, revealing the original pitch-black base, like ink.

Gloomy, locked on.

…

The organizers thought getting Pei Du to sit in the guest seats was already burning high incense; they never dared imagine letting this great Buddha present awards to students.

The next second, Pei Du stood up.

The surrounding guests, having been informed of the occasion in advance, all wore formal attire.

Only Pei Du, in black casual attire, yet his bearing was not inferior to anyone's, his figure tall and graceful, his aura refined and noble.

He followed the other guests toward the stage.

The organizers' staff first stared for a moment, then felt joy as if it had fallen from the sky.

Due to the number of people, one guest distributed award certificates and medals to two students.

Pei Du happened to stop in front of Pei Muyin and Shu Shu.

Taking an item from the tray held by a nearby etiquette staff member, Pei Du first handed the award certificate to his daughter and placed the medal on her.

"Very impressive."

Pei Muyin's eyes smiled, her heart full of the innocent joy of being praised by her father.

It was Shu Shu's turn.

Shu Shu calmly took the award certificate from Pei Du's hand, politely said thank you—not specifically to Pei Du, but to the award presenter; she thanked whoever gave it to her.

Afterwards, she slightly lowered her head to make it easier for the other person to fasten the medal.

The weight of the metal settled on her chest.

Shu Shu thought it was over and was about to step back, but the hand with distinct knuckles on the medal's gold cord did not loosen; it still held on.

Then, in the next moment, she saw the man's beautiful fingers slightly intertwine, tighten, and gently pull.

Shu Shu uncontrollably stepped half a step toward Pei Du.

"?"

The distance between Pei Du and Shu Shu was within normal social bounds; stepping half a step forward would not create an awkward scene, and even in this noisy setting it attracted no one's attention.

Meanwhile, the daughters of the two beside them happened to be curiously examining the competition certificates bearing their own names.

But Pei Du's action was too much, too much…… overstepping?

A faint, fresh cedar scent brushed past her nostrils; Shu Shu even had the illusion that those hands wanted to pull her into the owner's embrace.

Full of questions, she lifted her gaze and plunged into a pair of extremely deep pupils tinged with a sharp, dark hue.

Even before she looked at him, he had already been staring at her.

"……"

Her breath caught for half a second; Shu Shu momentarily thought she saw the non‑amnesiac "former" Pei Du, but before she could ponder it, in the blink of an eye all emotion vanished from the man's eyes, leaving nothing.

His pupil color remained calm as usual.

"Sorry, my hand slipped." Pei Du said in a low, light tone, apologizing, then added, "And congratulations on the award."

Afterwards, he withdrew his hand from Shu Shu's medal ribbon, placed it back at his side, finally gave a slight nod, and stepped down.

His whole person was calm, as if nothing had happened.

Shu Shu watched Pei Du descend the steps, his retreating back: "???"

She wondered what was odd about this person—something she couldn't put her finger on, just strange.

…

The award ceremony ended.

Shu Shu prepared to take her daughter and son back to the hotel room; after collecting their luggage and resting a moment, they could set off for home.

Along the way, Shu Lingchen was absent‑minded, scratching his head and muttering: "Did he come specially to pick me up in the rain? Did he make those sandwiches for me? Not my sister……?"

Shu Shu caught a bit, tilted her head in doubt, and asked: "What is the turkey chick baby muttering about?"

"Ah, no, I didn't mutter anything; I myself don't even know."

Shu Lingchen touched his nose.

Shu Shu immediately narrowed her eyes; her gaze was like a ruler, instantly seeing her son lying. Worried he might have something on his mind, she was about to probe indirectly.

"Eldest Young Lady."

The three had just stepped off the elevator, turned the corner, and saw Zhou Zhi standing there.

This hallway leads straight to their rooms.

Zhou Zhi seemed to have been waiting here especially for them, and had waited for a while.

Zhou Zhi had met Shu Shu before, and her astonishing "record" was truly unforgettable and heart‑pounding; he almost nodded to her with a feeling of awe and trepidation.

After nodding, he still felt doubtful about life.

He, too, is a man in his thirties; why does he inexplicably feel a bit intimidated by this eighteen‑year‑old girl?

Sweating profusely, embarrassed.

Then came Shu Lingchen.

This boy, who looks like a giant statue of Pei Director!

Zhou Zhi couldn't help but glance at Shu Lingchen several more times before he moved his gaze away, remembering he had come to find Pei Muyin; he cleared his throat twice and said, "Eldest Young Lady, Director Pei has something to discuss with you; he's waiting for you upstairs."

Then sis, bro, I'll head up for a bit.

Okay.

So Pei Muyin followed Zhou Zhi upstairs.

Shu Shu and Shu Lingchen returned to the room; less than eight minutes later, Shu Shu's phone chimed.

A new message from the contact labeled 'Muyin Baobao'.

It was from her daughter.

Shu Shu opened it and saw:

"Sis, can you come up for a moment? QAQ"

Shu Shu immediately replied, "What's wrong?"

"Muyin Baobao": "Dad suddenly had work and went out; I accidentally knocked over the dessert, got my clothes dirty in many places, and now I'm alone in the bathroom, QAQ."

Shu Shu immediately asked which floor Pei Muyin was on; after getting the exact floor and door code, she pulled out her suitcase and took out a set of Pei Muyin's clothes.

"My younger sister's clothes are dirty; I'll go bring her some clothes—wait here obediently, got it?"

Shu Shu Lingchen blinked, then nodded: "Mm-hmm."

Shu Shu carried a paper bag holding her daughter's clean clothes upstairs.

After taking the elevator to the floor, she discovered it was the presidential suite on the top floor.

Shu Shu wasn't surprised.

This hotel only has two presidential suites, positioned opposite each other with offset layouts.

Shu Shu walked to the left door, flipped open the cover, and pressed a string of numbers on the LCD touchscreen.

After entering.

"Muyin?"

Shu Shu called out, but got no response.

However, the presidential suite is huge, with many rooms, so not hearing a reply is normal.

While Shu Shu dialed her daughter's number on her phone, she went room by room, opening doors to check.

The phone kept ringing with a 'beep' tone, no one answered, and she didn't find her daughter in any of those rooms.

No choice; in the end she had to check the only remaining master bedroom—besides, Pei Du had only just arrived here, so he surely hadn't stayed yet, and it wouldn't be an invasion of privacy.

"Muyin, are you in there——"

Shu Shu walked into the master bedroom and pushed open the sliding bathroom door.

However, it was empty, with no one inside.

All the bathrooms in the rooms were empty.

"?"

Shu Shu was astonished for less than half a second, without even doubting whether she'd taken a wrong turn, and immediately realized——

"She'd been tricked."

She turned around and left the bathroom, just stepping out into the hallway.

She saw ahead a tall, handsome man with cool, striking eyes silently watching her.

He was still as a net that had long been waiting.

"……"

Pei Du had been watching Shu Shu come in.

He watched Shu Shu open the door, walk in, then head toward the bathroom.

She didn't notice the gray curtain blown by the wind fluttering like waves, nor did she notice the balcony door left open—and him outside on the balcony.

…

Shu Shu's gaze dropped to the white phone in Pei Du's right hand, from which hung a tiny jade pendant.

That was the peace jade Shu Shu had bought; Shu Lingchen had one too.

So this was her daughter's phone.

But it was in Pei Du's hand.

The earlier message had been sent by Pei Du.

Shu Shu frowned: "Pei Du, you——"

Without letting her finish, Pei Du strode straight toward Shu Shu, brushed past her, then went to the door and shut the bedroom door.

Shu Shu: '?'

After Pei Du closed the door, his hand remained on the lock.

"Click"—he locked it.

Shu Shu: '??'

"Click" again—second lock, third lock, he locked it completely.

Shu Shu: '???'