Chapter 182: Hope you are happy

What, long time no see?

They had only eaten together at a table the day before yesterday; Shu Shu initially didn't react, was about to joke that time had inflated, but before she could speak, her hand on the controller belatedly stopped.

A moment of silence.

"You've remembered, Pei Du." She said in a statement tone.

"Mm."

"... How much."

"All."

At this very moment, the two ends of the phone are two people who can no longer be on the same wavelength.

"Yinyin, sorry." Pei Du's calm apologetic voice came through; he said to Shu Shu: "That night at the Zhubei District villa, you once curiously asked me what wish I made upon a shooting star."

He said: "It is to hope you are happy."

That kind of happiness, free from all gloom and burdens, henceforth unrestrained, true happiness in the real sense.

"I have broken the wish I made." His voice lowered, and he apologized again: "Sorry, Yinyin, for getting you involved and hurting you so much."

"Regarding your daughter, I will certainly give you an explanation."

When making this call, Pei Du was already on the way to the sanatorium.

As Zhou Zhi's father Zhou Shi Yi said, upon finding Zhou Shi Yi, Pei Du then knew whose doing it was for the daughter to end up at the Pei Family.

A fire passed, considered to have burned down a building of the sanatorium, but it had no effect on Pei Qian; he was escorted out early and unharmed, and now he sits leisurely sipping tea in the luxurious bedroom of another building, without a trace of embarrassment.

Butler Lin Dehou knelt on the floor with both knees, a picture of repentance carrying thorns to apologize.

"Sir, it's all my fault."

"I shouldn't have clung to that bit of brotherly sentiment, begging you in every way to keep my nephew; if not for that, today's misfortune wouldn't have happened—please punish me!"

"A De, the floor is hard on your feet, get up." Pei Qian carefully went through the tea-making process, his tone calm and peaceful, with no anger: "Since that day, I must prepare for today; blaming you would be pointless."

"What's meant to come cannot be avoided."

Just as his words fell, a hurried blocking sound came from outside the door.

"The old master is overly frightened, already lying down to rest; you cannot enter——"

Before the sentence finished, the door was shoved open, two sturdy men stepped in, took two steps, stopped at the side, making way for the person behind them.

Pei Qian looked up and met a pair of dark, cold-carved eyes.

"A Du has come." Pei Qian smiled faintly, as if he hadn't noticed his room being broken into in the middle of the night, his face gentle, he greeted Pei Du: "How timely, the tea is ready, sit and have a taste?"

Pei Qian slightly tilted his head, gesturing with his eyes to the still-kneeling Lin Dehou; Lin Dehou immediately rose, lowered his gaze, and retreated behind Pei Qian.

Pei Du and Pei Qian each sat on one side.

"Junshan Silver Needle." Pei Qian introduced the tea in the cup to Pei Du; after finishing, not knowing what came to mind, he raised his eyebrows in amazement: "Even more coincidental, it's Junshan Silver Needle again, A Du—do you feel a sense of past familiarity looking at this scene?"

The past—specifically, a dozen years ago when Pei Qian summoned Pei Du to the office, revealed Pei Du's trump card, the tea Pei Qian brewed was also Junshan Silver Needle, and the two sat facing each other just like this.

His words meant that he clearly knew Pei Du before him had recovered all lost memories.

That night after finishing the call with Pei Du, Shu Shu began to dream.

Since her rebirth, she has had many dreams; when her consciousness sank yet remained clear as she entered the dream, she even felt a sense of familiarity, like riding a familiar cart.

First she felt a light so bright it was painful even through her eyelids.

Shu Shu opened her eyes and found herself standing before an arc-shaped floor-to-ceiling window, behind her a spacious, lavishly decorated office.

A place utterly unfamiliar, leaving no impression.

Faintly, Shu Shu heard someone speaking.

"What exactly do you want to do?" a low, magnetic male voice, tense underneath.

Pei Du's voice.

Shu Shu startled, followed the voice, and indeed saw Pei Du: the boy's features were regular, his clear, handsome brows and eyes exuding a clean youthful aura—it was… the former Pei Du.

The person sitting opposite claimed to be Pei Du's grandfather; the atmosphere between them was quite awkward, and their conversation naturally would not be pleasant.

"A Du, I give you time to handle your relationship with that girl."

Pei Qian poured away the cold tea in front of Pei Du, then refilled a cup for him.

"But my patience is premised on your good attitude; take this project proposal you made, correct every problem inside, and I hope to see profitable results after its official release."

"Also, drink the tea."

Pei Qian's tone was light as he gave the order to Pei Du.

The attitude he wanted from Pei Du was for Pei Du to pick up the cup he didn't want to touch, drink the tea he didn't want to drink, and personally tear up the trump card he had used to try to escape the Pei family.

What kind of dream……

Was it something that truly existed and happened before?

If so—how to put it—Shu Shu isn't surprised; she knows Pei Du broke up with her out of some necessity.

The oxygen molecules in the air were thin as if exhausted.

Finally, Pei Du lifted the jade-like delicate tea cup, the tendons on the back of his hand seeming strained to the limit, he tilted his head back and poured the tea into his mouth.

Junshan Silver Needle, a famous tea, but Shu Shu only saw his numbness as a puppet compromised and manipulated by others.

The following scene was like a playback, the scene of their breakup; the dream's protagonist was not Shu Shu, she as an onlooker witnessed their cold war, quarrel, questioning, and then rupture.

"She" left.

The viewpoint still lingered inside the villa; Shu Shu saw what happened after she left then: the person who had especially spat harsh words from memory, in the next moment, his shoulders trembled.

He cried, looking very sorrowful.

Shu Shu stared, stunned; she had never seen Pei Du shed tears, when suddenly her mind's memory bank, as if equipped with a search function, automatically jumped to a certain frame.

It was the night before Pei Du began acting strangely; he came in from the balcony outside, his eyes red, he said the wind was too cold and had blown on him.

As it turned out, he had cried.

From that day on, as Pei Qian wished, Pei Du took on the identity of "Pei Family heir", Pei Du perfected that project, and within half a year gained shareholders' approval, smoothly entering the board.

Their influence grew ever greater, their rest time ever less, their temperament ever colder, like an unfeeling machine, operating nonstop without fatigue.

Shu Shu looked at the dark circles under Pei Du's eyes and the unknown number of times the energizing coffee had been renewed beside Pei Du, once suspecting this person might drop dead at any moment.

Shu Shu felt that Pei Du's desperate effort was not to please Pei Du's grandfather, but to obtain a numbing sensation from this breathless nonstop grind.

The scene moved forward a few months later.

At the desk.

Pei Qian finished flipping through the new quarterly report in hand with a smile throughout, Pei Qian raised Pei Qian's head, looking into Pei Du's eyes full of appreciation, Pei Qian originally intended to speak to praise, but caught sight of Pei Du's indifferent, expressionless face.

Since parting with that girl, Pei Du has not been listless, proceeding step by step toward Pei Du's expectations, everything leaving no room for criticism.

Pei Qian thought that Pei Du had let it go, had come to understand.

"Do you remember the Gu chief from the Tongcheng High-Tech Summit last week?" Pei Qian said to Pei Du: "You should address him as Uncle Gu; the Gu family and our Pei Family are old family friends, your Uncle Gu has a daughter about your age, you met her briefly at the summit."

"After returning, she said she had a particularly good impression of you and urged her father to want to meet you, Ah Du, you can try to get in touch."

Pei Qian himself was satisfied with the Gu family daughter; their backgrounds matched, the Pei Family's enterprises also had considerable business with the Gu family, and if the relationship could progress further in the future, it would be an obvious win-win outcome.

An even better point is that this Gu family young lady has an open, lively personality—just like the previous girl, she happens to complement Pei Du's completely opposite temperament.

Pei Qian hoped she could cure Pei Du's young but lethargic disposition.

"If the Pei Family still intends to cooperate with the Gu family or any other in the future, do not let this kind of proposal appear before me a second time."

Pei Du's expression remained blank, instantly seeing through Pei Qian's intention, without a trace of hesitation, directly crushing Pei Qian's intention completely.

The implication is, if Pei Qian still insists, then prepare for the scene to surely be embarrassing at that time.

Having said that, Pei Du rose and left.

Pei Qian stared at Pei Du's back, brows slightly furrowed, expression inscrutable, unknown what he was pondering.

Pei Du returned to the villa in Zhubei District.

The first thing upon entering was to take the collar and put it on the dog; walking the dog is Pei Du's sole relaxation time, after finishing, Pei Du returns to the workaholic robot mode.

Everything in the villa remained unchanged, exactly as when Shu Shu was present, every place still bearing her aura and traces.

For example, the orange skateboard placed in the entryway:

Shu Shu liked to pull Pei Du to the nearby park after dinner to skateboard; on windy days she especially enjoyed it, because then, while skating, her hair and clothing would float up as much as possible.

When Shu Shu got tired from skating, Pei Du would hold the skateboard for her, watch Shu Shu walk backward, and talk to Shu Shu in a light tone.

For example, the folding mirror on the coffee table in the living room:

Shu Shu occasionally felt like putting on makeup; at those times Pei Du would always linger beside her, eyes unblinking as he watched Shu Shu apply the shiny, moist substance to her lips.

Several times, Shu Shu mischievously moved close to Pei Du, kissing Pei Du's cheeks repeatedly, then sneeringly handed Pei Du the mirror so Pei Du could admire Pei Du's "painted-cat face".

Another example, the few cute cartoon-style aprons hanging on the kitchen hook:

These were picked out for Pei Du by Shu Shu; Shu Shu said Pei Du looked like a dull piece of wood and should wear more of this lively, bright kind, but Pei Du found it childish, mainly because… Pei Du didn't want Shu Shu to treat Pei Du as an immature child to be coddled, so Pei Du was reluctant.

But Shu Shu insisted, with peach-blossom eyes curved, personally putting the apron on Pei Du—standing face to face, Shu Shu's hands wrapping around Pei Du's waist like an embrace to tie the strings—each time, Pei Du then began to willingly wear it.

And another example……many many.

Shu Shu watched Pei Du alone in this empty villa, attentively going through again and again to clean and preserve the things Shu Shu had not taken away.

Pei Du would not mutter to himself about things, yet one could feel Pei Du's body language brimming with longing ready to overflow.

Seeing objects and thinking of the person—is it agony? Is it torture? Or self-abuse?

None of the above.

These memories were precious to Pei Du; even though Shu Shu was not here, not by Pei Du's side, Pei Du still believed that having once possessed them was supreme happiness.

These moments were Pei Du's eternity.

So precious that Pei Du relied on them to sustain Pei Du's otherwise dull and unremarkable remaining life.

Before Shu Shu appeared, Pei Du's world was dull and bland; after Shu Shu appeared, the world only then had light; as long as Pei Du thought of Shu Shu also being there, Pei Du was also willing to stay.

But she died.

At a business banquet, someone brought up past events of the Duan family circle, concerning the Hai Cheng Xie family, sighing how truly miserable the Xie family was, ending in family ruin and death, and now even the sole remaining bloodline, the Hai Cheng Xie family young miss, unfortunately met her demise.

The next second, the originally elegant banquet hall descended into chaos.

Everyone saw that the Jing Shi Pei Family's rising young master, who had lost his former composure and calm, grabbed someone's collar with an uncontrolled expression, his voice sounding on the verge of breaking.

"Say again what you just said!"

The other party embarrassed: "Just, just over a month ago, the Hai Cheng Xie family's miss Xie Shuyin died unexpectedly, apparently from some sudden illness, this has even been reported on Hai Cheng local TV news..."

Pei Du did not believe it.

But when Pei Du dialed the number Pei Du knew by heart and got a vacant line notification, searching Pei Du's deeply ingrained social media account also showed the user did not exist.

That evening, Shu Shu's stamped death certificate lay quietly on Pei Du's desk.

Pei Du found Pei Qian.

"Ah Du, why would you think it has anything to do with me?" Pei Qian looked at Pei Du as if saying he was being unreasonable: "You know, Bureau Chief Lu has long been transferred to a remote area, and you and Shu Shu have already split, you've also gotten back on the right track, I have no need to continue targeting Shu Shu; this would be harmful and useless to me."

"I know, you once had a relationship, but Ah Du, Shu Shu really died in an accident; the related reports you should have seen as well."

Pei Qian said to Pei Du: "Face reality."

Shu Shu also "saw" her own "death certificate", she wondered……how this belated certificate had suddenly been approved.

Next, she saw Pei Du send Da Fu to a pet company serving the wealthy, he paid a large sum to arrange Da Fu's boarding, the term being——lifelong.

What was Pei Du intending to do?

From the moment Pei Du learned of Shu Shu's "death notice", apart from that incident at the banquet, Pei Du was unusually calm, showing no abnormality, as if truly, as Pei Qian had advised, accepting reality.

The night was boundlessly cool, the living room had no lights on.

Pei Du sat on the carpet, gazing far at the moon outside the floor-to-ceiling window. In fast-forward fashion accompanying Pei Du through the nearly year-long span, Shu Shu heard Shu Shu's own name from Pei Du's mouth for the first time.

"Yinyin."

He whispered softly: "I miss you."

A cloud drifted by, blocking the moon, and the surrounding light grew dim.

After a long while, the cloud was blown apart by the wind, vision restored; Shu Shu saw Pei Du's actions clearly, her pupils constricted sharply, and she almost cried out.

"Stop——!"