Chapter 183: Explanation

Pei Du committed suicide.

When Pei Qian arrived at the hospital, Pei Du was undergoing emergency treatment.

He slit his wrists, lost too much blood, went into severe shock.

The doctor reported to Pei Qian: "Young Master, he… cut deep, the nerves and tendons in his right wrist are severed."

Pei Qian never imagined that Pei Du would actually commit suicide.

If he hadn't noticed something wrong with Pei Du's condition and sent someone to check, Pei Du would now be a completely cold corpse.

Only now did Pei Qian realize that the seemingly solid wall of composure Pei Du had always shown was just a façade, easily collapsed.

It took nearly seven hours before Pei Du was wheeled out of the operating room.

The surgery succeeded; he woke up on the third day.

Upon opening his eyes and finding himself still alive, Pei Du felt neither regret nor pain; he simply tore off the gauze indifferently, smashed a glass cup, picked up a shard, and began to cut his wound.

"No!"

Shu Shu tried to stop Pei Du, but her outstretched hand passed right through his, unable to touch him.

The bodyguards stationed outside, hearing the commotion, rushed in—one hurried to staunch Pei Du's bloody hand, another dashed out to call a doctor.

Afterwards, whenever Pei Du found a chance he would attempt suicide; the doctors could only bind his hands and feet, and the bodyguards, who had initially just guarded the door, now never left his side.

It was no use—Pei Du ate and drank nothing; in less than a month he became emaciated, his face pallid to the point of near transparency, requiring nutrient IV drips.

He had truly lost the will to live.

"Pei Du, are you an idiot?!"

These past days, Shu Shu has been scolding Pei Du every day.

"I'm not dead yet!"

She paced anxiously beside him.

"Besides, didn't you yourself say we barely knew each other, that we'd forget quickly and easily? So what's going on now—what are you doing?!"

But Pei Du couldn't hear her.

"Damn it! Can't you eat something?!"

Shu Shu looked at his right hand, which he had torn open countless times and then been forcibly rewrapped, and couldn't help but avert her eyes, which were welling up; she recalled seeing the wrist guard on his hand during their holiday villa stay.

It wasn't to hide some washed-off tattoo; it was a scar, the mark left from his wrist‑slitting suicide attempt.

"... Idiot."

He let her choose freedom, told her to move forward, yet he trapped himself in place, making his own life so miserable.

Shu Shu kept cursing him in her heart as a big idiot.

Pei Qian came to the hospital.

This time he truly felt the meaning of 'misstep'.

He had miscalculated, thinking that girl was merely a fleeting obsession for Pei Du that would fade with time; he deliberately let the news reach Pei Du, hoping he would sever his last attachment, but he never expected it to lead to the present situation.

Looking at his grandson on the hospital bed, whose spirit could only be described as dead‑ash, unknown memories surfaced; Pei Qian fell silent inexplicably, and a feeling mixed with sorrow and mockery welled up in his heart.

The Pei family really does produce lovesick fools, yet none of them meet a good end.

Pei Qian's expression was complex and strange.

Shu Shu still hadn't grasped it when the scene before her gradually darkened, turning pitch‑black; when it lit up again, the setting had changed.

It was still an unfamiliar place.

Shu Shu looked around; this was a room decorated in light tones, its white walls covered with various incomprehensible charts.

The room was sparsely furnished—only a low table stood in the centre, and before it sat a little boy.

Shu Shu stared, dazed; for a moment she thought she was seeing her childhood self, Shu Lingchen.

But on closer look she realized it wasn't.

He sat upright, looking especially quiet, with a tidy head of soft hair, fair skin, his eyes lowered as he focused on manipulating the Rubik's cube in his hands, solving one, setting it down, then moving on to the next.

Seeing those familiar motions, Shu Shu felt the scene was vaguely familiar.

Pei Du.

Shu Shu gasped in realization—this was… Pei Du as a child?

Then the scene shifted again, to another room.

A man's anguished pleas could be heard.

"Why… why won't you let us go, why?!"

"Pei Che, you need to understand one thing: now it's you who is asking me for something—fifty million, and A Du returning with me to the Pei Family; that's what you promised in person, the money has already arrived in the account an hour ago, you have no chance to go back on your word."

On the table before Pei Qian lay a form labeled 'Intelligence Test'; he glanced down at the man kneeling on the floor, his expression cold.

"Pei Che, as your former father, I have already been more than kind enough; while you still have some time, you can still say goodbye to A Du—go on, after all this will be your last meeting."

The man collapsed on the ground, his face defeated and listless, he pushed himself up; his left leg seemed disabled, his gait uneven as he walked.

He pulled open the door, stepped into the adjoining room; before entering, he wiped his tears dry with his sleeve, rubbed his face hard, forced a relaxed expression, then pushed the door and went in.

"Little Du."

He smiled gently and squatted down.

The little Pei Du heard the voice, looked up, put down the Rubik's cube, ran over, and clung to the man's neck; the man also lifted him up.

【55】 The little Pei Du heard the voice, looked up, put down the Rubik's cube, ran over, and clung to the man's neck; the man also lifted him up.

"Dad, can we go home now?"

"... Not yet."

Hearing that, the boy's lovely face showed a puzzled expression: 'The lady in white said earlier that once I've solved all the Rubik's cubes I can go home, and I've solved them all.'

So why can't we still go?

Out of the son's sight, the man's eyes flashed with anguish; he closed them, his voice hoarse: 'Little Du, you… you still need to go to one more place first.'

Although he didn't understand, little Pei Du still obediently nodded.

On this stretch of road, each step the man took was especially difficult and agonizing; by the gate, Pei Qian had already been waiting a long time inside the luxury car at the roadside.

Finally, the man put his son into that car.

Little Pei Du turned his head, looked at his father still standing in place, and asked, "Dad, aren't you coming too?"

"……" The man felt so guilty he could not face his son's eyes, his gaze shifting: "Well, Mom is sick, Dad has to take care of Mom and your brother, so little Du needs to go by himself. Little Du, be good, wait a few days… after a few days Dad will come pick you up and take you home, okay?"

"Okay."

With a "bang," the car door slammed shut like a blade severing fate, completely shutting out the man whose face was filled with grief.

The Pei Family was a prestigious clan standing at the pinnacle of Jing Shi's aristocratic circle.

The main branch had few members; at the time, the Pei Family's head, Pei Qian, had only one son, and outsiders' impression of the Pei Family's Eldest Young Master, Pei Che, was just one thing—he died young.

But those who knew a little more about the situation all knew that the Eldest Young Master Pei Che was not dead at all; he had simply fallen in love at first sight with a girl from a humble household in his youth, a love that lasted a lifetime.

As heirs of these aristocratic families, from the moment they were born they bore the responsibility of strengthening the family through powerful marriages, and they would never allow recklessness in matters of marriage.

The subsequent development of the story is obvious.

The family ordered them to break up, but Pei Che not only disobeyed, he secretly had a child with that girl, thinking that once the deed was done the family would be lenient; however, Pei Che vastly underestimated the coldness and cruelty of the capitalists.

The girl and the child suddenly disappeared together, while Pei Che was locked up at home, where family law was enforced: they beat his legs relentlessly with a stick, replacing it whenever it broke, and a broken leg was not the end—only obedience could end the torment.

That night, the Pei Family mansion's icy-cold living room floor was stained with blood.

Three sticks were broken, Pei Che drenched in sweat from the pain, fainted and was revived with water countless times, yet he still refused to yield.

He had only one answer: he wanted them to be separated unless he died; if anything happened to that girl and child, he would not live alone either.

Every word seemed to be soaked in blood.

Upon meeting his son's gaze filled with hatred, after a long while Pei Qian actually loosened his lips.

But it was not because his father had gone soft.

He was essentially a product of the arranged marriage; Pei Qian felt little genuine paternal affection for this son, but in a dazed moment he saw his own past shadow in Pei Che, and… he was moved.

"You can be together." In Pei Che's incredulous, delighted gaze, Pei Qian said coldly, "The precondition is that you marry the Second Miss of the Hai Cheng Song family, Song Yunqiu, have an heir, and then you may divorce; after that, the Pei Family will no longer have anyone called Eldest Young Master Pei Che."

Pei Che knew this was the greatest concession Pei Qian could make.

Thus, a month later, the century wedding of the Pei and Song families caused a sensation.

The Pei Family's choice of the Song family was seen as a downward compromise; in fact, there were initially better matches, but because Pei Che's reputation for having an illegitimate son spread, no capable family would want a son-in-law with divided loyalties and too many uncertainties.

After the marriage, Pei Che refused to touch the Song family's Second Miss, Song Yunqiu, and had her undergo IVF; a year later, Song Yunqiu gave birth to a son, and Pei Che promptly divorced and left the Pei Family; however, two years later, the son born of that union was frail and sickly, and after a persistent high fever that would not subside, he died.

This originally had nothing to do with Pei Che; it did not involve him, and he had already fulfilled Pei Qian's demand, but fate played a trick: at this time his wife fell gravely ill, needing astronomical treatment costs, which were far beyond what the no-longer-Eldest Young Master Pei Che could afford.

Pei Qian came to his door, offering to pay the medical fees on the condition that one of Pei Che's two sons return to the Pei Family as its future heir.

Yes, Pei Che later had another son with his wife; at first he firmly refused Pei Qian's offer, but his wife was at death's door and needed immediate surgery, and he also wanted to say, as he had years before, that he would not live alone—yet this threat carried no weight against the current Pei Family.

Once a person has ties, they hesitate and waver, no longer steadfast; in the end, Pei Che could not hold out and compromised.

The elder son was sensible, while the younger was still too young; thus, between the two children, the older brother, Pei Du, was the one ultimately abandoned by their father.

After arriving at the Pei Family.

With Pei Che's failed example before him, Pei Qian had no intention of giving Pei Du a warm education of kind lies; he bluntly told Pei Du that he had been exchanged for fifty million taken from his father, and that no one would come to fetch him home afterward—from then on, the Pei Family would be his home.

According to the standard for heirs, Pei Qian set Pei Du an innumerable number of study tasks, forbidding him any entertainment time or playmates, and he also introduced Pei Du to Song Yunqiu.

"From now on, she will be your mother."

At that time, Pei Du was four years old; a four-year-old already has a firm concept of parents, so how could he readily change his address to call a strange woman mother, especially when that woman harbored no goodwill toward him?

Her husband's affection elsewhere made Song Yunqiu a laughingstock in the aristocratic circle; the son who was her sole emotional support had also died, and Song Yunqiu spent each day clutching her deceased son's clothes, washing her face with tears, her mental state in terrible shape.

The doctor diagnosed Song Yunqiu with depression, and her depressive symptoms "erupted" in Pei Du.

For a long stretch of time, Pei Du would wake in the middle of the night feeling suffocated, someone pressing a pillow over his mouth and nose; when he opened his eyes, he saw Song Yunqiu's frenzied face.

She kept saying to Pei Du, "It's all your fault! It's all your fault! Go die! Go die!"

Pei Qian was aware of this; he quietly watched Pei Du for a long time, then finally only softly sighed and said, "Ah Du, your mother has just lost a child; try to understand her."

Only once did Song Yunqiu nearly smother Pei Du to death with a pillow, after which Pei Qian had someone keep watch over her.

Pei Qian took pleasure in seeing Pei Du suffer "setbacks," believing in his view that a child grows only through setbacks.

During the New Year, the main residence ate the reunion dinner; the various cousins received red envelopes from their elders, and one younger cousin eyed the fireworks-patterned red envelope in Pei Du's hand, crying and wanting it.

Pei Du gave it to him, which made Pei Qian very displeased; he immediately punished Pei Du by forbidding him dinner, and thus the whole Pei Family knew Pei Du was out of favor.

The following winter, several cousins played a prank, locking Pei Du in a storage room at the rear of the main residence.

After two days and nights, Pei Du was starving and frozen to the point of losing consciousness; Pei Qian thought this time Pei Du should have learned some survival skills, and as the Pei Family's heir, not competing or fighting meant being trampled underfoot.

But Pei Du came down with a serious illness; after recovering, he became unable to speak and grew ever more silent.

Pei Qian took him to see a psychiatrist.

The doctor said Pei Du had autistic tendencies and needed a place to recuperate alone; that same year, Pei Du was sent to a villa.

Regarding Pei Du, Pei Qian always felt he could easily control and manipulate him.

On the thirtieth day of his fast, Pei Du was roused by a burst of infant crying, as if waking from a heavy slumber; his eyelids twitched slightly, then he lifted them and turned his head to look.

By the bedside, the baby in the cradle cried until the tip of its nose turned red; hearing that cry, an inexplicable fine pain spread through Pei Du's chest.

He had no strength whatsoever, slowly sitting up; the bodyguards beside him stared at him tensely, fearing he might harm himself, but Pei Du merely gazed at the child in the cradle.

A few traces of confusion rose in his eyes, as if he were wondering… who is this?

"Ah Du, she is your daughter."

Pei Qian walked over and, in Pei Du's vacant gaze, told him: "She was born before Xie Shuyin's accident; after her accident, the child has been cared for by the hospital."

Pei Du's brows were furrowed, his eyes showing clear wariness and disgust; he did not trust Pei Qian's words.

"I'm not lying to you, Ah Du; you can really take a good look at her face—doesn't it seem familiar?"

Pei Du's gaze fell on the child again, his eyes carefully tracing her small chin, small mouth, small nose, to her plump little forehead.

The more he gazed at Pei Du, the faster his heart beat.

She... she really is just like her.

Of course, Adu, if you're still doubtful, I can arrange a paternity test for you and her.

Pei Qian's tone was composed; he was utterly unafraid of Pei Du's verification.

Pei Du gazed at the child, who cried feeling wronged, occasionally pouting and waving her hands as if anxiously searching for something; he instinctively reached out his hand, and almost immediately his fingers were clenched in hers.

It was a soft, warm touch like cotton candy that gently took hold of him.

At that moment, Pei Du's eyes welled with hot tears.

His dry, chapped lips trembled uncontrollably as he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his heart wrenched like a knife, a dull ache persisting.

Adu, Xie Shuyin has no family left; you are this child's only relative. Are you really going to keep destroying yourself?

Later, Pei Du started eating on his own and actively cooperated with the doctor's treatment.

Even without an appetite, he forced himself to eat, for otherwise he wouldn't have the strength to hold his daughter.

Pei Qian watched Pei Du's transformation with satisfaction, thanks to his habit of always leaving a safety net.

Looking back, a family doctor employed by the Pei family, seeking personal gain, came to inform him that the girl who had been with the young master was pregnant.

Pei Qian had someone monitor her, and later learned she was carrying twins; at first he had no particular thoughts about the two children, but now, to get Pei Du back on his feet, he had no choice but to focus his plan on one of them.

At that time, Pei Qian thought he didn't need a son, believing Pei Du would eventually have a child through marriage, so he used a 'steal the dragon, replace the phoenix' scheme to take the daughter, intending her to become Pei Du's new weakness.

Pei Du left the hospital, taking his daughter back to the villa in Zhubei District and also bringing back Da Fu.

The long-silent house was filled with life again.

Pei Du set a condition: he wanted to raise his daughter alone, without Pei Qian or anyone else interfering, and he wouldn't allow them to visit; his daughter would not have Pei Qian as her great-grandfather, nor Song Yunqiu as her grandmother.

Is the daughter the reason Pei Du wants to live again? No.

She's gone, and Pei Du hasn't had a day when he didn't want to die, but his daughter is his responsibility; even if he still wants to die, he must pull himself together, doing everything he can to care for his daughter with his own life, to care for... their daughter.

The room was tranquil, suffused with the scent of tea.

A document was tossed over; Pei Qian, with his good memory, instantly recognized the person in the photo as that doctor from back then.

You know all of this? Pei Qian wasn't surprised, nor did he feel guilty; instead, he felt no pressure and asked Pei Du: "So Adu, what are you planning to do to me? Take my life? Or torture me first and then take my life?"

He was utterly candid: "If that's the case, go ahead; I won't resist."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Dehou stepped forward to shield Pei Qian, staring at Pei Du with full vigilance.

Sir is your grandfather! You must not be disrespectful to him!

The next second, Lin Dehou was roughly forced to his knees by the bodyguards; Pei Du didn't even give him a glance, his expression blank.

You deserve to die, but taking only your life would be too lenient.

Pei Qian instinctively felt something odd about that remark: "What do you mean?"

Zhou Zhi stepped forward again, spreading out a stack of documents before Pei Qian's eyes; the moment he saw the contents clearly, Pei Qian's formerly relaxed expression shifted, his voice turning grim: "Pei Du, you've gone mad! Do you want to destroy the entire Pei family?!"

So what if it is?

Pei Du once said that a family unable to protect its children has no reason to exist; they might as well all die early, and that saying still applies now.

Speaking ironically, this is also learned from Pei Qian: strike a snake at its seventh inch, pinch a person at his weak spot; Pei Qian has been 'loyal' to the Pei family his whole life, and whatever fate befell him, the Pei family will naturally share the same outcome.

The Pei family has stood firm for so many years; no matter how they try to avoid it, they cannot avoid having something unsavory that cannot be exposed to the public.

Pei Qian took a deep breath; meeting Pei Du's calm gaze, he sensed a frenzy spreading within, like jade and stone burning together.

Pei Du is serious.

After Pei Du's car accident, Pei Qian hired a hypnotist to make Pei Du lose all his memories—not only to make him forget his feelings for Xie Shuyin, but also to make him forget his past with the Pei family.

Because Pei Qian also knows deep down that he owes this grandson, Pei Du still hasn't grown close to the Pei family.

Adu, you've been frequently running to An City this past year; you know, right, that Xie Shuyin is still alive. Pei Qian narrowed his eyes sharply and said, "You found her, didn't you?"

Cold intent flickered in Pei Du's pitch-black pupils, yet he felt no panic; his expression didn't change in response to Pei Qian's ambiguous words—he was no longer the eighteen-year-old who could be manipulated by Pei Qian.

The situation had already changed.

Pei Du, you need to understand: you are now the head of the Pei family; if you act against the family, you cannot remain uninvolved! Do you also want to destroy yourself?! Seeing Pei Du not take the bait, Pei Qian's long-held confidence—having everything under his control—finally cracked: "You can retaliate against me however you like, I'll accept it, but the Pei family..."

No one listened to him continue speaking.

Pei Du stood up and left.

Outside the corridor, a bolt of lightning suddenly split the sky for an instant, and the heavens instantly darkened.

This is a sign of the impending storm.

Boom——

Shu Shu was awakened by the sound of thunder and lightning, jerking upright from bed.

She breathed heavily, instinctively raising a hand to cover her chest; the painful, sour emotions from the dream still lingered there.

It feels awful.

Was that dream real? Did everything that happened in the dream actually occur?

Outside the gap of the loosely drawn curtains was a deep blue; raindrops continually struck the transparent window.

A downpour had begun.

Shu Shu turned her head to check the time, stunned; it was seven in the evening, and she had actually slept the whole day. Her mouth was a little dry, so she lifted the blanket to get a drink, but as soon as she picked up the cup, her hand slipped.

Bang.

Glass shattered everywhere.

For some reason, Shu Shu's heartbeat also skipped a beat; she constantly felt that something bad was about to happen.

At that moment, her daughter pushed open the bedroom door and walked in, her eyes red.

Muyin, what's wrong?

Pei Muyin hadn't yet spoken, tears fell first, the girl sobbed uncontrollably: "Mom, Dad… Dad… something happened to Dad."

Pei Du told Shu Shu, "I will give you an explanation regarding your daughter's matter."

Shu Shu had been waiting.

And at the same time, what also arrived was — news of his death.

Jing Shi local real-time social news:

「A serious traffic accident occurred at Guan Hong Qiao in our city; the vehicle spontaneously caught fire for unknown reasons, resulting in one fatality. When rescue personnel arrived at the scene, the victim showed no signs of life, and it has been confirmed that the victim is Pei Du, chairman of the Pei Group. 」

「……」

「The former chairman of the Pei Group, Pei Qian — grandfather of the current chairman Pei Du — was found dead in a wealthy sanatorium in the suburbs; preliminary on-site assessment indicates homicide, with suspicion falling on Pei Qian's longtime steward Lin Houde, who is now in police custody. 」

「……」

「The Pei Clan's internal exposure revealed numerous violations, including financial fraud, commercial bribery, and illegal operations; relevant departments have formed a special task force to intervene, sealing the archives and finance department. In just three days, the once-glorious Pei Clan has been subjected to various investigations, with countless personnel involved, the massive corporation now teetering on the brink, its former glory gone. 」