Chapter 27: using the land to deal with qin😮‍💨

The true nature of that emotion, however, was a horror story through and through.

Pei Xingyan found himself forced to fabricate a lie.

He stated, “This was left to me by my parents; I merely rediscovered it recently.”

Whether Ye Ziwei would believe him remained uncertain, yet he had no other recourse but to offer this explanation.

To openly confess that another girl had fastened it onto his wrist while cooing “baby” would undoubtedly ignite a scandal worthy of tomorrow’s headlines.

“Is that so?” Ye Ziwei asked, her smile benign as she gently took Pei Xingyan’s hand.

“Might Weiwei have a look if you remove it? I find myself quite curious.”

Pei Xingyan could only nod in reluctant assent.

Ye Ziwei unceremoniously untied the red string, showing not an ounce of care for it, but rather a hint of disdain.

She toyed with the object in her fingers, scrutinizing it intently, searching for any tell-tale mark.

Finding nothing on one side, she meticulously rubbed it, only to discover that the reverse appeared to bear something…

The reverse side was densely engraved with English letters.

She squinted, drawing nearer to examine them.

PXY❤Susan

Ye Ziwei drew a sharp, quiet breath, her mind suddenly reeling.

This was not merely a provocation; it was an outright declaration of war.

Raising her head, she inquired with a tone as gentle as she could muster, “Xingyan Gege, do you happen to know any foreign girls?”

“How could I possibly?” Pei Xingyan retorted, a newfound confidence bolstering his voice.

He genuinely knew no foreign girls, though he did recall a mixed-race acquaintance—an irritating fellow, but entirely unrelated to this predicament.

“I don’t know any foreign girls,” he declared with a flourish of dismissal.

“Why do you ask?”

Ye Ziwei simply rotated the object to reveal the engraved side, remaining silent as she presented it.

Pei Xingyan leaned closer as well, his eyes narrowing, and it took a considerable moment before he deciphered the inscription.

‘What is PXY?’

That was his initial query, though the answer quickly dawned on him: it was the abbreviation of his own name.

‘But who was Susan?’

This posed his second, more pressing question.

Susan… Su Shanshan…

Pei Xingyan suddenly recalled: this was Su Shanshan’s online handle.

He had glimpsed it on her phone, and indeed, she had a particular fondness for the name, owing to its phonetic resemblance.

‘A surge of indignation rushed through him. ‘Why would she engrave an abbreviation of her name onto this golden bead?!’

Yet, none of that truly mattered at this moment.

His immediate concern was navigating the treacherous waters he now found himself in.

Susan… Ye Ziwei, too, remained unaware of who Susan might be…

He suddenly burst into boisterous laughter, a sound akin to a general who had just narrowly escaped a perilous trap.

“W-what are you laughing at?” Ye Ziwei stammered, momentarily bewildered, her somber mood abruptly shattered.

“You don’t know?” Pei Xingyan questioned dramatically.

“You truly don’t know who Susan is?”

Ye Ziwei scoured her memories, yet no one came to mind who matched the name.

“Susan is my mother,” Pei Xingyan declared, the words dropping like a bombshell.

Before Ye Ziwei could react, he continued, explaining, “There was a period, wasn’t there, when major companies domestically all adopted ‘flower names’ (TL Note: professional nicknames)? My parents, always keen to follow trends, also decided to give themselves English names.”

While Ye Ziwei was intimately familiar with Pei Xingyan’s affairs, her knowledge of his parents was considerably less.

For a moment, she wavered, unsure whether to believe his audacious claim.

Noticing her hesitation, Pei Xingyan pressed on.

“I actually unearthed this from some forgotten corner.

I believe it was a gift from my mother for my junior high entrance, or something similar.

I never wore it, but now I’m contemplating selling it to recoup some funds.

So, I wore it for a couple of days, just to preserve a few memories.”

He spoke with such conviction, his words bearing no trace of deceit.

Ye Ziwei now found herself in a quandary.

Unsure of the truth, she was unable to press him further.

Beyond the unthinkable act of loving another, she strove to avoid contradicting or coercing Pei Xingyan, knowing such actions would only scar their nascent relationship.

As long as his gaze was solely fixed on her, she would harbor no grievances whatsoever.

“How about you accompany me next time I visit my mother? She mentioned missing you last time,” Pei Xingyan pressed on, seizing the advantage.

He simply could not countenance the fallout should Ye Ziwei uncover the full truth; he shuddered to imagine what this girl might be capable of.

The words struck a chord with Ye Ziwei.

She had long yearned to meet her future mother-in-law, seeing it as a profound form of acceptance.

Thus, she nodded obediently, then personally helped Pei Xingyan fasten the bracelet back onto his wrist.

“Then please, don’t sell such a precious item, alright?” she pleaded, reverting to her docile demeanor, already contemplating solutions for the boy beside her.

“Perhaps you could give it to me; consider it sold.

You can always take it back once you have the money.”

Pei Xingyan shook his head.

A sense of unease crept over her once more, and her gaze sharpened perceptibly.

Ye Ziwei knew, better than anyone, that Pei Xingyan was the most sentimental person alive.

Why, then, would he be so insistent on selling something gifted by his own mother?

She arched an eyebrow, her voice laced with renewed suspicion.

“Truly? You wouldn’t lie to me… would you?”

Pei Xingyan found himself in a profound dilemma.

He knew Ye Ziwei remained suspicious, yet he absolutely could not hand the object over to her.

Aside from the possibility of her using it to trace its true origins, the far more immediate problem was how he would ever explain its absence to Su Shanshan.

Ye Ziwei’s demeanor gradually darkened once more.

She slowly lowered her head, falling silent.

At such a critical juncture, Pei Xingyan realized he needed to make a drastic decision.

He gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and slid a hand beneath Ye Ziwei’s slender calf.

He then lifted the feather-light girl, drawing her into his embrace and settling her onto his lap.

Ye Ziwei gasped in surprise, then was utterly flustered by the sudden shift in her position.

All other thoughts vanished from her eyes, replaced only by profound disbelief.

She gazed up at the man who held her so tightly, her expression one of utter disbelief, before instinctively snuggling deeper into his embrace.

Though she understood neither the cause nor the reason for this sudden change, such affection was something she had yearned for relentlessly.

Pei Xingyan drew a deep, fortifying breath, imbued with a courage that admitted no retreat.

He knew he was resorting to a desperate, self-destructive measure, but it was his only recourse.

He could not risk Ye Ziwei disrupting his affairs, nor could he bear the thought of her potentially harming someone.

He murmured, “Ziwei, I don’t wish to use your money.

Do you understand why?”

“Why wouldn’t you… mine is yours…” Ye Ziwei mumbled, feeling utterly lightheaded, her words slurring softly.

“Because it concerns a man’s dignity,” he explained softly.

“One simply cannot humble oneself before the girl they cherish.”

Pei Xingyan’s gentle words, however, ignited a tempestuous storm within Ye Ziwei’s heart.

All thoughts of further questions, all her prior suspicions, vanished from her mind.

Her pupils contracted sharply, pinpoint small, as she gazed up at him, her breathing becoming increasingly erratic.

Ye Ziwei softly uttered the name she most frequently cherished, her voice trembling as if on the verge of tears.

“Xingyan Gege…”

“Shh…” Pei Xingyan gently hushed her.

“But let’s not speak of such things now.

Wait until I’ve resolved my own affairs, alright?”

Nestled in Pei Xingyan’s embrace, Ye Ziwei felt a sense of security unlike any she had known.

She felt she could acquiesce to his every wish, every command.

The prize was already in hand; did the timing of the award ceremony truly matter anymore?

Like a small kitten, she nuzzled her head against him, her lips curving into a sweet, skyward arc.

Her calves and feet twitched and brushed against him, a silent testament to her boundless joy.

Her fingers remained tightly clutched to the corner of his clothing.

This happiness, hard-won, felt fragile, and she feared it might slip through her grasp.

Regardless, she had reached her destination.

Everything else faded into insignificance; she no longer needed to concern herself with such trivialities.

Ye Ziwei lay serenely in his arms, savoring the feeling she had yearned for day and night.

Yet, above her, Pei Xingyan’s expression was one of profound anguish, as though his heart were being twisted by a blade.

He knew, with chilling clarity, that in his desperate attempt to avert a minor, immediate inconvenience, he had unwittingly invited a monumental disaster upon himself.