Chapter 188: I Won't Return the Ring

"Yinyin, lies can deceive people, but the subtle subconscious reactions of the body cannot be fooled."

Pei Du's voice was low and bland, yet his words were extremely sharp: "These all tell me that there is a sense of unfamiliarity between us caused by our long separation."

They broke up, weren't together, didn't marry, yet had a child.

The order is reversed.

Pei Du thought the situation was terrible to the point of being unable to get any worse.

He thought they were married, and he wanted to marry her.

"Although I don't know exactly what happened or why, Yinyin is willing to accommodate me, but I must have done something extremely excessive to Yinyin."

Having done something excessive, it caused them to break up.

Eighteen-year-old Pei Du had never imagined such a situation.

Since the moment they got together, he had never thought about separating from her.

Pei Du asked: "Yinyin, am I having a nightmare?"

But this nightmare is so real it hardly seems like a dream.

After finishing his self-deceiving question, Pei Du lowered his head, his back seeming to bend as if struck, his whole appearance about to be overwhelmed by helplessness and self-blame.

The air fell silent for a moment, and someone approached him.

"Pei Du, look at me." Shu Shu raised her hand to lift Pei Du's face, seeing him weakly lift his eyelids, she said: "What you just said was all correct."

After receiving verbal confirmation from Shu Shu, Pei Du's expression grew even darker.

He felt very sad and wronged.

"However, it's not a big deal, Pei Du."

Shu Shu called his name, with a hint of comfort, her tone light, saying that in his view, something as terrible as the sky falling was just a minor issue.

"We haven't held hands in a long time, so let's hold hands more often, until our palms sweat."

As she spoke, Shu Shu, like Pei Du just did, pulled his hand and interlaced their fingers.

"We haven't hugged in a long time, so let's hug until our arms ache."

Shu Shu then used one hand to wrap around Pei Du's waist.

"We haven't kissed in a long time—" Shu Shu slightly lifted her foot, and in Pei Du's faintly shining eyes, she lightly pecked the corner of his mouth: "Let's kiss again, until we become familiar with each other once more."

"Now only whether you like me matters." So she asked: "Do you like me?"

"Like."

Pei Du did not hesitate; looking into Shu Shu's eyes, a certain emotion surged intensely, uncontrollable, and he could not resist her closeness—when Shu Shu hugged him, he instinctively returned the embrace.

"I really, really like Yinyin."

"Hmm, that's enough." Shu Shu said: "We broke up, we can get back together, we aren't married—"

"Then we can also get married."

Half a month later, Pei Du proposed to Shu Shu.

After looking through many guides, this being my first time, I don't know if what I'm doing counts as standard.

Pei Du opened the small velvet box in his hand, revealing the beautiful diamond ring inside, then knelt on one knee before Shu Shu; he was a bit shy, but his actions were full of solemnity and determination.

He frankly said: "The ring is bought with money I borrowed from Xiao Chen."

Pei Du here still has no money.

However, the true situation of Pei Du's "borrowing money" is——

He not only borrowed a sum of money from Shu Lingchen, but also got a computer.

Shu Lingchen, the little rich man who owns a gold mine, gave it without hesitation—not only did he not ask Pei Du to repay, he even wanted to give more; Pei Du didn't ask for more, and then Shu Lingchen watched helplessly as the money in his account multiplied tenfold in less than a week.

Shu Lingchen was utterly astonished, his admiration for his father rising several floors higher.

In fact, Shu Lingchen's choice of the finance department was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

During that summer vacation at the summer villa, he once happened upon Pei Du working, and was attracted by the various data jumping like popping candy on Pei Du's computer screen.

Pei Du had no reservations, actively turning the screen to explain everything to Shu Lingchen; Shu Lingchen listened with great interest and immediately became interested, so his decision to major in finance was the seed planted then.

"Yinyin, will you marry me?"

"Before that, you must promise me one thing, Pei Du: no matter what happens in the future, you are not to hide anything from me; you must be completely honest."

"I promise."

"Okay, then I can marry you."

In the midst of Pei Muyin being moved to tears and Shu Lingchen's face showing the expression "My dad's 'borrowing money' was actually to quietly do something big," Shu Shu extended her hand.

Pei Du almost tremblingly placed that ring on Shu Shu's finger.

It was late at night.

Pei Du, who should have been asleep, found himself sitting in the car.

Through the rearview mirror, he saw behind him a stylish building; through the lowered car window, he was speaking to someone outside the car like an assistant, as if giving instructions.

After speaking, he started the car.

The car's speed was neither fast nor slow, and soon it went up a grandly constructed bridge.

This is Jing Shi's landmark building, Guan Hong Qiao.

Pei Du wondered how he had come here and where he was preparing to go.

He wanted to pull over to the side.

However, his body was out of control, his hands and feet as if bound by something, all his actions dissociated from consciousness.

Suddenly, a huge flash of fire burst before his eyes, like a snow-white blade fiercely piercing his vision.

Pei Du instinctively closed his eyes; at that very moment he suddenly recalled that he had "settled" Pei Qian, just having left the sanatorium——

When he opened his eyes again, Pei Du only felt dizzy and bloated-headed, accompanied by a faint tinnitus, the scene before him alternating between clear and blurry.

Someone was touching his forehead.

"He still has a fever."

He grabbed that hand, his throat dry: "... Yinyin?"

"It's me."

In his palm was her soft wrist, her touch, her voice; the blur in Pei Du's vision receded, becoming completely clear, and he could see her completely.

Shu Shu sat on the bedside, leaned in and asked him: "Do you feel better?"

Pei Du stared at Shu Shu without blinking, didn't answer, only softly called again: "Yinyin."

"Hmm?"

He still called her: "Yinyin."

"What's up." Shu Shu found it a bit funny, still patiently answered him, teasing: "You're like a Pei Du-brand repeater."

Pei Du's Adam's apple moved unconsciously, his breathing deepened, his gaze on Shu Shu became so focused it seemed he wanted to look into her heart.

Shu Shu waved another hand in front of Pei Du's eyes: "Are you stupid?"

Pei Du caught a silvery shadow.

From the diamond ring on her slender finger—just two days ago, "he" had proposed to her.

She accepted.

"All done, looks like the fever really addled him." Shu Shu picked up the cup from the bedside table, brought it to Pei Du's lips, and fed him: "Then hurry up and take your medicine."

Pei Du reached for it: "I'll do it myself."

"Fine."

On the weekend with no classes, Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin came running early, carrying big and small bags of ingredients.

The siblings inherited their mother's "mantle," and now they can also cook a delicious meal.

It was almost noon.

Pei Du walked into the kitchen and said he'd take care of lunch.

"No need, Dad." Pei Muyin waved her hand: "Just rest well when you're sick."

"I agree." Shu Lingchen, apron tied, held a pot in one hand and a spatula in the other, echoed his sister's words, his expression somewhat remorseful: "Xiao Pei, it's all my fault—if it hadn't rained yesterday, I would still have had you stay to finish the last two games with me, and you wouldn't have caught a cold from the rain."

"Xiao Pei."

Pei Du silently listened to this changed address, then gave a faint smile: "It's not Xiao Chen's fault; I just need to train harder."

After eating.

Pei Du returned to his room to rest; before resting he still needed to take a dose of medicine.

Shu Shu broke a pill from the packaging and handed it to Pei Du, watching him take it: "All right, go to sleep; after a nap you should be almost better."

She got up to leave, but was called back.

"Yinyin."

Pei Du said he had something he wanted to tell her.

Shu Shu sat down again, ready to listen.

A long silence followed.

Pei Du's dark eyes fixed on Shu Shu as he opened his lips, voice calm: "Yinyin, I've remembered everything."

"To be precise, the person before you now is not merely eighteen-year-old Pei Du."

Shu Shu smiled and continued: "Or rather, thirty-seven-year-old Pei Du, with an eighteen-year-old body and a thirty-seven-year-old soul."

Pei Du stared, stunned by the realization: "Yinyin... you know?"

"Mm." Shu Shu didn't deny it: "I knew as soon as you woke up last night."

Seeing his confusion, Shu Shu voluntarily explained: "Because you clearly wanted to hug me, but you didn't."

When sick, eighteen-year-old Pei Du would cling to her more, never missing a chance to be close; eighteen-year-old Pei Du wouldn't restrain himself, but thirty-seven-year-old Pei Du would.

After repeatedly agonizing over the whole morning's thoughts, he clarified it in less than two minutes.

"Are all my affairs already known to you, Yinyin?"

Pei Du was referring to his background, the scar hidden beneath his wrist guard…

Shu Shu didn't first answer whether it was true or not: "Why are you asking this?"

Pei Du pressed his lips, speaking with some difficulty: "As I said before, Yinyin accommodates me."

Shu Shu understood.

"So you think I agreed to your proposal out of pity."

Being so bluntly laid bare, Pei Du's eyelashes trembled.

Then he heard her ask him again.

"Do you want me to return the ring to you?"

The oxygen in the air suddenly drained, someone's breath was constricted, the painful feeling like a stone lodged in the throat.

"If I say I don't need it, could you not return it, Yinyin?"

Shu Shu: "You don't mind that I pity you?"

"Probably it's a recessive gene acting up." Pei Du tugged at his lip with self-mockery: "I wouldn't mind it at all; on the contrary, I'd selfishly think that if this could make Yinyin soften toward me, I'd play the pitiful role to the fullest extent possible."

"A sly person."

Shu Shu: "Then I'll answer your question: the ring, I won't give it back to you."

Pei Du lifted his gaze and met her eyes, unhidden and trying not to laugh—she had just been teasing him on purpose.

"Pei Du, let me tell you about a dream I had when I was near death: in the dream it said Xiao Chen and Muyin were doing terribly, while at the same time you would fall for someone else and live happily ever after with her and her children."

Shu Shu told Pei Du that later the dream's content was verified, it was true, but only until they met the Xu family in Gang Cheng that night did the latter half of the dream's truth seem to have a problem.

Shu Shu knows what state Pei Du is in when he likes someone; in short, it won't be like a dead pool where you throw a stone and get no reaction at all, utterly lifeless.

"Pei Du, I won't sacrifice my personal feelings out of pity or sympathy; I agree, but only because I like you."

On the day Ms. Lin passed away, Shu Shu, as usual, accompanied her to sit in the garden and bask in the sun.

"Yinyin, love isn't a mandatory question in life, but it can be a multiple‑choice one."

Ms. Lin lovingly patted Shu Shu's hand and said to her.

"If one day you also encounter this multiple‑choice question, the person you choose should not only be good to you, but also be a good person in himself."

And having once been moved by someone who is already good, being moved a second time wouldn't be all that difficult.

Shu Shu thought that once her feelings were set, any wavering, hesitation, or wandering was just taking a detour — pointless.

So far, what has happened to them has been too unbelievable.

No one can predict what tomorrow will bring; rather than being anxious and restless, it's better to focus on the present and enjoy the moment.

"Well, after saying all that, finally I asked the question I once asked eighteen‑year‑old Pei Du, and now I ask it again of the thirty‑seven‑year‑old Pei Du."

"Pei Du, do you like me?"

"Yinyin, I love you."

Shu Shu raised an eyebrow: "Oh, so how long are you going to stay dumbfounded?"

The next second.

Shu Shu was drawn into a broad, warm embrace and held tightly.

Pei Du buried his face in Shu Shu's neck, on the verge of tears.

A day he never dared to hope for has actually come again.

"Pei Du, you're not crying, are you?"

"... No."

"Really? Let me see."

Shu Shu said she was going to look at Pei Du, but then he held her even tighter: "Yinyin, I love you."

He repeated it many times in her ear.

Shu Shu said she knew already, stop saying that, it's so cheesy.

At that moment.

The bedroom door was furtively lifted, and two sneaky heads popped up, one above the other.

Shu Lingchen: "Hmph, you two are being over the top."

Pei Muyin laughed happily: "What a melodramatic scene."

Shu Lingchen and Pei Muyin said in unison: "You didn't even bring us along."

——End of text——