Chapter 59

"Oh my, the more I look at this, the more he looks like Pei Yizhou when he was a child. Why bother with a paternity test?"

In the spacious study, Pei Jinglin held the hand that An Zimo Pei Yizhou had taken care of when he was a child, and looked An Ziming up and down.

His face lit up with a smile, and he opened his arms to An Zimo: "Come here, let Grandpa give you a kiss."

Fuck your mother!

An Zimo didn't hold back and kicked him.

Pei Jinglin quickly dodged, "Oh ho, quite the spirited one, just like your grandfather when he was young."

An Zimo's lips were tightly pressed together, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

Pei Yizhou sent someone to pick them up today. The driver was a stranger, but Pei Nuo and Pei Yan said they knew him, so they got in the car without suspicion. However, halfway there, they realized something was wrong. The road was getting farther and farther away, and the scenery was completely unfamiliar.

Next, Pei Jinglin sent the twins to the amusement park, leaving him alone in this unfamiliar house.

An Zimo felt agitated, and his breathing became more and more rapid.

"Let me go home." He suppressed his anger, uttering those four words through gritted teeth.

"Going home? This is your home from now on." Pei Jinglin squatted down in front of him, teasing him. "To tell you the truth, your Mommy doesn't want you anymore. She's decided to leave you with us to raise. Hehe, didn't expect that, did you?"

An Zimo is cute when she gets angry; the flesh on her face trembles with her anger, and her eyes look like those of a small animal locked in a cage—fierce but actually harmless.

"Come here, Grandpa will give you a kiss."

This sight made Pei Jinglin want to tease him even more, and he reached out his hand. An Zimo lowered his head, opened his mouth, and bit down hard on that finger.

"Holy crap!!" Pei Jinglin jumped up in pain, staring in disbelief at the two bloody teeth marks on his fingers.

--And it really did bite!

An Zimo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes flashing with a sinister glint. "Get lost, I don't believe your nonsense."

"I didn't lie to you! Otherwise, how do you think you got here?" Pei Jinglin was determined to teach this disobedient child a lesson, and continued to lie without changing his expression, "Your mother is human, and humans only live for a few decades. After she dies, you'll have to live with us, won't you?"

His words inexplicably annoyed An Zimo, but she didn't know why she felt uncomfortable. So she glared at him even more fiercely and repeated, "Let me go home."

I've already told you, this is my home.

"If you don't let me go back, I'll kill you."

As he spoke, An Zimo's face was expressionless, his dark pupils devoid of light, appearing unusually deep and fierce.

Pei Jinglin shuddered involuntarily, his eyes immediately reddening with fear. "You... you mustn't yell at me, okay?"

Waaaaaah, where are you, my love?

Pei Jinglin was timid and started thinking about his wife again, but he was also a little afraid of her. After all, it was her idea to secretly bring their grandson over, and if his wife found out, she would probably scold him.

An Zimo heard every word of these inner thoughts.

He gritted his teeth, finding the person in front of him increasingly repulsive. If he had a knife, he would have stabbed him without hesitation.

"Mr. Pei, it's the gentleman on the phone."

A knock sounded on the door, and the housekeeper handed over his phone.

Pei Jinglin instantly exploded, "Who are you calling 'Old Pei'? He's still young!" He then waved his hand dismissively, "I won't take it, tell him to get lost!"

If he accepts the offer now, that unfilial son will definitely scold him; he can't accept it.

Pei Jinglin had made his plan: to secretly take An Zimo away for a while, without anyone noticing.

He chuckled to himself; no expression or thought escaped An Zimo's eyes.

"Are you going to answer the lady's call?"

"It's your wife..." Pei Jinglin frowned again and again, "Answer it, answer it." He wouldn't dare hang up on his wife even if he had ten lives!

Pei Jinglin took the phone and sneakily went to the door to answer it.

An Zimo was the only one left in the study. He had observed the surroundings when he came in. The house was built on the mountainside and was as big as a castle, but there was no one guarding it. He was small, so it would be easy for him to sneak out.

An Zimo leaned out the window and looked down. It was the first floor; even if he jumped, he wouldn't die.

Having made up his mind, he pulled the safety latch on the window, threw all the sofa cushions out, and then, without hesitation, flipped over and jumped out the window, landing safely on the cushions without a scratch. He dusted himself off, stood up, and ran outside via a side path.

An Zimo has an amazing memory. He had memorized the route he had taken before he arrived, and he even had a general idea of the layout of the mansion. Now that it was getting dark, the dim background would be his best camouflage.

An Zimo gritted his teeth and weaved through the grass. He was small to begin with, and with the twilight making him difficult to spot, he walked for a long time before reaching the back gate. An Zimo climbed over the railing and ran down the mountain in a flash.

Pei Jinglin is unfriendly; he would rather die than leave with that kind of person. Who knows where he might take him? It would be difficult to escape then.

The road ahead stretched into the depths of the moonlight, with hardly any vehicles or people in sight. His small figure walked along the deserted and long road, the bewildering darkness seeming to want to swallow him whole.

An Zimo was never afraid, no matter how unfamiliar the scenery or how dark the night; no matter how rugged and difficult the road was.

He just wanted to go home.

**

The clock had struck eight when An Xiang was picked up by Pei Yizhou's driver and taken to the Pei Family. He had just returned from C City.

The old house, bathed in the night, has a history of over a hundred years and stands majestically in the darkness.

An Xiang had no time to appreciate the beauty of the old house and hurried to the inner hall.

"Momo--!"

She called out, but found no trace of An Zimo in the large living room. Pei Jinglin and Sheng Shu were sitting on the sofa. Pei Jinglin had obviously just been scolded, his eyes were red, and Sheng Shu's expression was not good, her eyes were icy cold.

"Where's Zimo?" Pei Yizhou stepped forward and pressed, a storm brewing beneath his calm expression.

Pei Jinglin unconsciously moved closer to his wife, barely daring to breathe, let alone meet her gaze. "When I... when I was on the phone, she... she just disappeared."

Where did you go?

"I don't know! The child jumped out of the window and ran away. By the time I sent people to look for him, he was long gone."

If Pei Jinglin had known earlier that the child was so bold, he would never have left him alone in the study.

Pei Yizhou clenched his fists, his eyes hardening with icy coldness.

An Xiang she was about to run out of breath. She rubbed her forehead, which was burning from anxiety. Outside the French windows was a bottomless darkness, and her bewildered reflection was also visible.

"Pei Jinglin, why didn't you tell me when you took him away?"

Pei Yizhou didn't call him "Dad," and he didn't dare to hold it against him anymore. He said guiltily, "... I just wanted to get closer to my grandson and experience what it's like to take care of a child."

"Taking care of a child?" Pei Yizhou scoffed as if he'd heard a joke. "You didn't want to take care of me when I was little, but now you know how to take care of a child? Do you know how much trouble your willfulness causes others? Do you know how annoying you are!"

Pei Yizhou's tone was agitated, barely containing his indignation. "I told you not to interfere in my affairs!"

Pei Jinglin burst into tears from the outburst, shrinking in front of his wife despite his height of over 1.8 meters. "I wanted to take you with me, but you wouldn't let me. You wouldn't let me take care of Nuo Nuo and Yanyan, and you wouldn't let me take care of Pei Chen either. You wouldn't let me do anything, and now you're blaming me. I... I didn't mean to lose the children."

"Enough." Pei Yizhou closed his eyes, unwilling to hear another word of his father's explanation.

He knew that Pei Jinglin had never suffered hardship since childhood. He was born into wealth, pampered by his brothers, and spoiled by his mother after marriage. He had never experienced hardship or setbacks; he was born a privileged son of heaven. This kind of life made him willful and reckless, never considering the consequences, and never treating him as a father.

Pei Yizhou had never held any expectations for him, and now only felt annoyance and disappointment.

An Xiang couldn't help but cry behind him. Pei Yizhou turned around, paused, and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "Don't cry. Momo is smart. He'll be alright."

An Xiang wiped away her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand, shook off Pei Yizhou's hands, and turned to walk outside.

She blamed him.

Pei Yizhou pursed her lips, her gaze towards Pei Jinglin icy cold. "You'd better pray the child is alright, or I won't let you off the hook."

"I'll send more people to look for it, son, don't yell at me!"

Pei Jinglin shakily took out his phone and mobilized all the manpower he could muster. He refused to believe that a child not even four years old could run off to.

Rain began to fall, An Xiang stumbled out of the rain.

She wasn't paying attention to the steps, and just as she was about to fall, a large, strong hand grabbed her wrist.

An Xiang glanced at him absentmindedly, trying to calm her rapid breathing. "Momo, Momo shouldn't be running around anymore. I think he'll come home, but I'm afraid he'll get lost." The mountain road is dangerous, and it's raining. He could easily tumble over the guardrail or run into a vehicle.

"Okay, let's look again." Pei Yizhou checked the location; An Zimo's schoolbag was left in the house, and his watch was naturally gone too.

He forced himself to remain calm, opened the car door, and let An Xiang get in.

The black sedan drove alone on the night road. Neither of the two people in the car spoke. Suddenly, a vibration broke the silence.

It was a private message on Weibo.

An Xiang for a moment and then clicked on it.

[I won't change my name until I lose 10 pounds: Hello, is this your son? [Image]]

An Xiang clicked to open the larger image. In the driver's seat, An Zimo, his face dirty, was huddled in the chair.

She was stunned, and her eyes reddened again.

[Think Think Catfish: Yes, it's my son. He got lost. How can I contact you?]

[I won't change my name until I lose 10 pounds: We found him on the street. We originally wanted to take him to the police, but the child said he had his Mommy's contact information, so we found you through the Weibo account he gave us. We are about to take him home now. This is my phone number: 130... If you want to talk to him, we can wake him up.]

[Think Think Catfish: It's okay, let him sleep if he's asleep, we'll go back right away.]

An Xiang also sent her phone number and thanked him repeatedly. She sniffled, holding back her tears, and said to Pei Yizhou, "Mo... Momo has been found by a kind person, and we're taking him home now."

Hearing this, Pei Yizhou breathed a sigh of relief and adjusted the navigation, "Okay, let's go home then."

"Mmm!" An Xiang emphatically, her eyes red as she stared at the screen.

The kind person seemed afraid that An Xiang would worry, so they kept sending her videos of An Zimo and reporting his location every five minutes.

As she watched the endless stream of messages arrive, her heart warmed, her eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Master Pei is a terrible example of what parents should do! Don't follow his example!

Two hundred red envelopes, and one more chapter to come.