Chapter 134: with translation of chapter title

（1） - just a number in parentheses? It's a line containing "(1)". No named entity.

When Pei Qian was young, he had a temperament that refused to accept defeat.

But as he aged, his body would occasionally suffer from various aches and pains; the doctor said his current physique really wasn't fit for further labor, he needed to take good care of himself, otherwise even if he earned mountains of gold and silver, draining his vitality would make it not worth it.

Fortunately, in matters of managing the Pei family business, Pei Du handled things almost flawlessly, with no fault to be found, never disappointing anyone.

Only then did Pei Qian feel at ease retiring, and then he began a peaceful life of enjoying his twilight years.

It had been nearly ten or more years since Pei Qian retired to this private sanatorium, but the number of times Pei Du came to visit could be counted on one's fingers.

However, when the servant stepped forward to report, Pei Qian's face showed little surprise.

It was as if he roughly knew why Pei Du had come.

"The wind really has picked up, it's getting a bit cold, A De, go back."

Pei Qian closed the document in his hand and gave an order; the old steward called by name lightly nodded in assent, then pushed Pei Qian's wheelchair away from the smooth path.

…

A sanatorium, hearing the name, sounds like a place similar to a hospital, but for the wealthy, a sanatorium is merely moving from one villa to another.

The difference lies in a quieter, more comfortable environment and a thoughtful medical team that is always at one's side, serving only that person.

When Pei Qian was pushed to the tea room, he saw a tall, aloof figure sitting inside.

Beside them, a servant was about to brew tea.

Pei Du slightly raised his hand, signaling for the servant to withdraw.

"This is the newly delivered Tai Ping Monkey King tea; I think the taste is not bad, it's worth trying."

Seated in his wheelchair opposite the table, Pei Qian spoke a sentence, and the servant immediately understood, continuing to brew the tea.

Until a pot of steaming tea was served, neither of the grandfather and grandson spoke first.

It's been so long since we last saw each other.

Neither pleasantries nor greetings appeared between them.

The room was so quiet that only the gentle sound of water from the outside carp pond could be heard.

Pei Qian also appeared in his usual composed manner.

After all, this grandson of his had been silent and aloof since childhood, not close to him, nor afraid of him.

Pei Qian personally poured a cup of tea, then pushed it toward Pei Du, without asking why Pei Du had come, and suddenly said: "I heard that a few days ago you sent your mother away?"

This "send away" is not literal; it means Pei Du had sent Lady Song to a mental hospital.

Pei Qian's tone was very flat, without any blame, as if he weren't talking about something shocking to secular eyes; his indifferent tone was as ordinary as asking about today's weather.

"If you're ill, you should go get treatment." Pei Du spoke without much emotion, then lifted his eyelids; in his dark pupils shone a sharp light as he locked eyes with Pei Qian: "You've always known that Song Yunqiu mistreated Muyin."

That was not a question, but a statement.

"Part of it." Pei Qian admitted readily; under his grandson's cold gaze, he said lightly: "But it wasn't my intention; I've lived here all these years, paying no heed to outside affairs."

Not caring about outside affairs?

Pei Du's gaze swept somewhat mockingly at the document in A De's hand behind Pei Qian, clearly bearing the words "Cen Shi Acquisition Case".

It wasn't his intention, but what's the difference between that and tacitly allowing harm?

Pei Qian asked: "Have you and that child reconciled?"

"How did Muyin come to the Pei family?"

Pei Du couldn't be bothered to answer Pei Qian's question, nor did he want to waste more words with him; he got straight to the point.

Upon hearing that.

Pei Qian startled, a few hints of meaning flickering in his murky eyes: "How come you're asking about this now?"

Even if the misunderstanding between father and daughter had been resolved, how would it involve this level?

Has someone said something to Pei Du?

Pei Qian narrowed his eyes, subtly sizing up Pei Du.

"It was you who, after the car accident, told me I was neglecting Muyin—fake, saying Muyin feared me—fake."

On Pei Du's cold, pale, upright face, his expression was neither cold nor hot as he uttered a sneer.

"Not a word of truth comes from your mouth; who knows whether saying Muyin's mother has passed away, leaving only Muyin, is true or false?"

After those two sentences,

they only let one hear Pei Du's anger at having been deceived.

Quite right; after being kept in the dark for so many years, anyone would flare up and then suspect everything—this logic is normal for Pei Du, not involving a third party.

Pei Qian withdrew his covert observation.

Knowing that Pei Du had come this time determined to get an answer no matter what, and that he could no longer keep it hidden,

Pei Qian sighed: "As you suspect, I indeed don't like that child, and I also don't know whether her mother is dead or alive."

"I can't even remember what season it was; one day over ten years ago, a servant went out to take out the trash and found at the gate an infant placed in a stroller—that infant was Pei Muyin; inside the vehicle was a note stating directly that this was the Eldest Young Master of the Pei family's child."

"I suspected, so I immediately had you and the child undergo DNA testing, which indeed confirmed you were the father; back then you insisted on raising her, refusing to listen to any of my attempts to stop you."

Pei Du frowned: "You mean, Muyin was sent to the Pei family by someone?"

"Yes." Pei Qian's withered fingers rubbed the rim of the cup as he puzzled: "Afterward, I also had people check all the surveillance, but found nothing—no idea who brought the child; the child appeared as if out of thin air at the Pei family gate, and the child's mother, after leaving the Pei family, has also vanished without a trace."

"For a family like ours, taking in a child of unknown origin poses great hidden dangers; that is also the main reason I don't like her—I've always been uneasy, fearing that one day she might become you, or even become the Pei family's weak point that outsiders could attack."

"So, after your car accident and subsequent amnesia, I simply let you and that child be separated."

Pei Du gave a faint scoff: "Don't use an innocent child as an excuse for your own inadequacy; if you can't even protect a child, yet still worry about harming the family's foundation, what point is there for such a family to exist?"

"Better yet, just die."

Pei Qian: "……"

The old steward beside him couldn't help but widen his eyes: "……"

Even if he tried to stay calm, he was still startled by Pei Du's words; only the young master would dare say such things in front of the old master.

…

After finishing the question, Pei Du didn't linger even a second, rising without hesitation.

He didn't take a sip of the tea Pei Qian gave him, not even glancing at it.

"Pei Du."

When Pei Du was about to reach the door.

Pei Qian called out to him.

(2)

"Pei Du."

"It's time for you to find a woman of equal standing to marry and have children."

Pei Qian paused, then, facing Pei Du's back, spoke earnestly: "I don't oppose your insistence on keeping Pei Muyin, but she is ultimately just a girl; among the aristocratic circles there are many fine families that could add luster to the Pei Family, and this great estate of the Pei Family also needs an heir."

His words fell, and the atmosphere grew somewhat silent.

"My affairs are not yet your concern."

Pei Du did not turn his head.

Having said that.

His pair of straight, long legs encased in black trousers stepped forward.

The corridor was carpeted with an intricate-patterned rug; one wall hung several famous ancient paintings that looked simple and plain, yet were the kind of items only seen at private auctions, while the opposite wall was entirely floor-to-ceiling windows.

At that moment the sunrise had fully risen.

Golden light streamed through the window, slanting into the corridor, and part of it fell on Pei Du's face, carving the man's upright features into one side light and one side shadow.

The question had been asked.

And an answer had been obtained.

But, is it over just like that?

As he walked to the center of the corridor, Pei Du's originally half‑lowered long lashes lifted, and in his dark pupils was clearly reflected:

Disbelief.

Not a single word, I don't believe.

…

The main gate.

Zhou Zhi was waiting by the Rolls‑Royce with a license plate of all nines for Pei Du; seeing Pei Du emerge, he immediately opened the rear passenger door.

Afterward.

The two entered the car one after another, the vehicle started, and they drove away.

Until the sanatorium's roof disappeared from view, the front‑passenger Zhou Zhi turned back and reported:

"Pei Qian, among the elderly servants who came from the Pei Family with the old master at the sanatorium, none have a tenure exceeding eighteen years."

The Pei Family employs servants on lifetime contracts, except when dismissed for fault by the employer; they may retire upon reaching a certain age, and the Pei Family will arrange their later lives properly.

Pei Qian is sentimental.

He is old, and the attendants close to him are all elderly; naturally they are not expected to do the work of their youth, only to serve tea and water and keep him company.

Because Pei Qian feels this gives him a sense of security.

Just now, Zhou Zhi and Pei Du actually entered together.

However, Zhou Zhi exited before Pei Du.

He pretended to look for the restroom, got lost, and briefly met several elderly servants; with his excellent memory, after coming out he compared each one against the Pei Family's employment contracts.

Then he discovered that, on those contracts, the longest tenure among those servants did not exceed eighteen years.

And the most crucial point is.

Eighteen years ago, the Pei Family's servants were no longer in the family, and their records were completely blank.

They had obviously been deliberately cleared and deleted.

That is to say, Pei Du cannot obtain from those old servants all the details of how his daughter came to the Pei Family, nor any possible news about Shu Shu from back then.

He came to the sanatorium today.

On the surface he came to confront Pei Qian, but in fact, from the moment he stepped into the sanatorium he didn't care at all about Pei Qian's answer.

If Pei Qian could deceive him once or twice, he could do it a third or fourth time.

How much truth can there be in the words of a habitual liar?

Pei Du himself is merely a smokescreen; Zhou Zhi is his true arrangement.

And as expected, things did not go smoothly for him.

Yet the lack of smoothness is itself a kind of success, for it at least solidly proves that there must be a problem here.

At that time, who besides the Pei Family head Pei Qian could have ordered the servants and records to be cleaned up?

If there were nothing suspicious, what would Pei Qian be clearing?

He obviously has something he wants to hide.

So, this trip to Jing Shi, Pei Du has gained something.

…

Zhou Zhi does not interfere with Pei Du's investigation into Pei Muyin's background.

He thinks it's very simple.

Pei Qian has lost his memory, and now he has reconciled with the Eldest Young Lady, so naturally he would be curious about the past.

The past?

Zhou Zhi didn't know what he suddenly thought of, and his normally steady voice faltered.

Pei Du: "How?"

"Oh, it's just..." Zhou Zhi said: "It's just that I suddenly remembered my father; he once was, and also a steward of the Pei Family."

When Zhou Zhi was young, his parents, due to differing views, chose to amicably separate and divorce.

He had always lived abroad with his mother.

During that time, he also kept in touch with his father in China through letters and phone calls.

However, his mother's work was busy, and she was stricter about his studies; only after Zhou Zhi turned eighteen and came of age did she allow him to return to China.

The father and son had met once and shared a meal.

However, the following year, when Zhou Zhi was on summer break from university and eagerly anticipating a second meeting with his father, he received news of his father's sudden death from a heart attack.

When his mother accompanied him back to China to mourn, his father was already a cold tombstone.

Later, after fighting his way through obstacles to work beside Pei Du, Zhou Zhi couldn't help but feel moved, thinking that his father had once served the Pei Family, and now he himself was doing the same for the Pei family.

After hearing Zhou Zhi's words, Pei Du fell silent for a few seconds, then said: "May I ask boldly, in what year did your father's incident occur?"

"……" Zhou Zhi recalled: "I was nineteen that year, I think."

Zhou Zhi is thirty-seven this year.

That year when he was nineteen was, that is, eighteen years ago.

After answering, Zhou Zhi himself was stunned for a moment.

What a coincidence, it was also eighteen years ago.

Pei Du asked again: "Your father, did he have any prior heart problems?"

"Yes." Zhou Zhi said: "The doctor said he had a congenital heart condition, which could indirectly cause palpitations and chest pain, but he kept it well under control with medication; I never expected it to happen so suddenly that year."

"……"

Pei Du narrowed his eyes.

It had been fine all along; how did it happen to break out exactly eighteen years ago?

Zhou Zhi wondered: "Director Pei, what's wrong? Do you feel something is off?"

"Nothing."

Pei Du's voice low and light, he wrapped up the topic in a few concise words.

The Rolls-Royce drove smoothly; dark scenery passed outside the tinted windows, bringing shifting light and shadow that brushed over Pei Du's sharp features, at one moment illuminating the doubt hidden in his dark eyes that he never showed anyone.

The Pei Family's employment contract is for life.

It would be impossible for them to hire someone with a congenital heart condition as a steward.

Zhou Zhi's father being able to work for the Pei Family must have had the help of someone with considerable influence; combined with what Zhou Zhi just said, he had never actually seen his father's corpse.

So, there is a possibility that the person didn't die.

He was merely hidden away.

Pei Du finally asked Zhou Zhi: "Does your father have any other relatives?"

"……No, he was an orphan."