Chapter 63

Their appearance startled An Xiang awake from her sleep. An Zimo looked displeased, his expression becoming increasingly unfriendly.

Before she could react, she glanced at Pei Yizhou, then at the couple standing beside her, her expression instantly darkening. Involuntarily, she shielded An Zimo behind her.

Sheng Shu smiled politely and gently, "Miss An, don't be afraid. We've come to apologize to you."

An Xiang remain silent.

Sheng Shu subtly pushed Pei Jinglin, who staggered forward, head bowed, and stammered, "Daughter-in-law, that was an accident last time. I promise I'll never do it again."

The moment the words "daughter-in-law" were uttered, not only An Xiang's expression changed drastically, but Pei Yizhou's as well.

"What did you promise me this morning?" Pei Yizhou grabbed Pei Jinglin's wrist, lowering his voice and gritting his teeth, "Didn't I tell you not to say anything other than apologize?"

"... I didn't say anything wrong." Isn't that a proper apology?

Pei Jinglin didn't know what he had said wrong to upset his son. He gave him a few resentful glances, then lowered his head and dared not utter a sound.

An Xiang ran around all day yesterday and didn't sleep much last night, so she has a terrible headache now.

Her throat was very sore. She turned her back and coughed lightly twice, then got off the bed and let the others follow her out of the ward.

Pei Jinglin looked around, quite dissatisfied. "This hospital is no good, it's affecting my grandson's recovery. How about this, I'll contact someone to transfer Zimo to another hospital." He made the decision on his own, taking out his phone to make the transfer arrangements.

An Xiang felt a sharp pain in her temples and a thorn stuck in her throat.

"No need." She suppressed her discomfort, her expression calm.

"Huh? Why not use it? That hospital is much better than this one..."

"I said no, and that means no." An Xiang her words, her assertive tone immediately silencing Pei Jinglin.

Her eyes swept over the faces of the group, and without further ado, she stated bluntly, "To tell you both the truth, Mr. Pei and I don't have the kind of relationship you're thinking of. An Zimo is our child, that's true, but Mr. Pei and I have no connection whatsoever."

Pei Yizhou's eyes darkened slightly, and his fists slowly clenched.

An Xiang disregarded his unpleasant expression. "We had an agreement that I would allow you to visit the child anytime, since you are father and son. However, I did not agree to have contact with your family, so I hope you will stop disturbing my son and me, okay?"

Pei Jinglin was completely baffled. Who would say that it's okay to have a child already? That's utterly ridiculous.

But he quickly understood what she meant; the woman was saying this because she wanted a formal title, which was easy to understand.

"So, Miss An, if you marry Pei Yizhou, you'll get half of the property. Doesn't that make sense?"

An Xiang closed her eyes, took a deep breath to suppress her inner turmoil, and slowly said, "I've already said, he can see the child anytime he wants; he can marry someone else anytime he wants, he doesn't need to care about us."

Pei Jinglin was dumbfounded, "Ah, this..."

Pei Yizhou's lips were pressed tightly together, his eyes cold. "Shut up." He was angry, and an invisible chill enveloped him.

"Come here." Pei Yizhou grabbed An Xiang's wrist and forcibly pulled her to a corner, his tall body completely encircling her.

"An Xiang, don't worry about what my dad said; he's always been like this."

"Hmm." An Xiang putting her hands behind her back and turning her head away, showing him half of her slightly stubborn profile.

The air froze for a few seconds.

Pei Yizhou bent over, his posture humble and cautious. "You're angry with me, aren't you?" His lips were tightly pressed together, and his eyes flickered with helplessness.

"I don't."

"If you're not angry, why didn't Zimo call me during his surgery?"

Pei Yizhou couldn't get in touch with An Xiang all day, so he called the kindergarten teacher to inquire about the child's condition. He learned that An Xiang had already taken sick leave. If it weren't for that phone call, he would never have known that the child had undergone surgery that night and that she was all alone in the corridor.

Pei Yizhou couldn't understand why An Xiang didn't try to rely on him, even though that child was also his.

"Mr. Pei, we're not that close. So I wouldn't call someone I'm not close to in the middle of the night."

Pei Yizhou never expected her to say that, and his whole body went completely cold.

Enrage followed, his eyes burning with fury. "What did you say?"

"I told you not to worry too much. I can take care of Momo by myself. You can come visit occasionally, but you don't need to do anything else."

Is it unnecessary?

She felt that helping them was unnecessary.

"An Xiang, have you always treated me like an outsider?"

An Xiang nodded without hesitation, turning her head away from his injured expression.

Pei Yizhou felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, unable to feel any warmth throughout his body.

She didn't want to get entangled with Pei Yizhou any longer, so she struggled free from the arm blocking her face and turned to leave without hesitation. But she had only taken one step when her wrist was grabbed.

Pei Yizhou stared at her, his face bearing an expression that An Xiang couldn't understand.

A moment later, an impulse surged within him, and he blurted out, "What if I didn't consider you an outsider?"

An Xiang was stunned, and in an instant she understood the emotion in his eyes.

She panicked for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Mr. Pei, do you have a virginity complex?"

Pei Yizhou was taken aback by An Xiang's question, paused for a moment, and then shook his head after a long silence. "No."

"I don't have a virginity complex, so you don't need to keep bringing up that night. Even if we have a child, it doesn't mean we have to be together."

After saying this, An Xiang shake off Pei Yizhou's hand and return to the ward, her back view elegant.

Pei Yizhou felt a lump in his throat, a fire burning in his chest, and the dark cloud between his brows did not dissipate even after he left the hospital.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Pei Jinglin asked, "Pei Yizhou, what An Xiang to say to you?"

His voice was like adding fuel to the fire. Pei Yizhou could no longer contain his anger and turned around to yell back, "Get out!"

"Hey, I was just asking you, why are you so angry?"

"Don't ever appear in front of me again." His eyes were cold, but he calmly looked away, turned, and got into his car.

**

That night, Pei Yizhou drank a lot at the bar, with Xu Chuan accompanying him. He had originally wanted to invite a few pretty girls to keep him company, but he sent them all away.

Pei Yizhou had a low alcohol tolerance; after just three cocktails, he was completely drunk and disoriented.

He was usually reserved and rational, and this was the first time he had ever tried to drown his sorrows in alcohol. Xu Chuan initially found it intriguing, but when he saw that he was about to continue, he panicked and quickly snatched the glass away to stop him.

"Alright, cousin, that's enough."

The music in the bar was blaring, the lights were flickering, and he slumped weakly onto the table, picking up the bottle and chugging it down his throat.

"Damn!" Xu Chuan was shocked. Who drinks like that?

"Sweetie, stop messing around, tell me what's wrong?"

Pei Yizhou's eyes were glazed over, and after a long while, he uttered four indistinct words. "... I'm heartbroken."

"But, you've never been in a relationship, have you?"

Pei Yizhou was slumped on the table, eyes closed, muttering a name over and over. Xu Chuan leaned closer and finally heard it—

"Think about it..."

Think about it?

Who do you think it is?

After a moment's thought, a face appeared before Xu Chuan's eyes.

"What, An Xiang reject you?"

These words were like salt sprinkled on Pei Yizhou's wounds. He struggled to get up, picked up his wine glass, and wanted to continue drinking.

"Stop fooling around, my little darling. I'll call An Xiang now and ask her to see you, okay?"

Pei Yizhou's fingers paused, his empty gaze slowly focused, and after a moment of contemplation, he nodded and uttered a single word. "Done."

Xu Chuan: "..." His brother is beyond saving.

Xu Chuan took out his phone from Pei Yizhou's suit pocket, scanned the drunken face, unlocked it, and searched through the phone book. Finally, he found a suspicious note in the long list of contacts.

My Little Princess (Heart)

They even added a flashy heart shape.

Xu Chuan dialed the number.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is not being answered. Please try again later..."

Xu Chuan: "..."

Is this because they don't want to answer?

Xu Chuan glanced at Pei Yizhou, who was practically dying, and continued hitting him.

It's only eight o'clock now, An Xiang is at the hospital with her child, looking at her phone, completely ignoring the incessant ringing.

"It should be Uncle Pei's, aren't you going to answer it?"

Annoyed by the noise, An Zimo couldn't help but remind her.

An Xiang at the screen, hesitated for a few seconds, then got up and went out to answer the call.

"Hello, is this An Xiang?"

The voice sounded familiar; An Xiang quickly recognized Xu Chuan. "It's me."

My cousin is dying, you should come see him as soon as possible.

No, it's not working???

An Xiang's face turned deathly pale. "How... why can't he function?"

An Xiang remembered that he was fine this morning. Although life is unpredictable, Pei Yizhou is an adult Vampire Clan after all, so this theory of unpredictability should not apply to him.

An Xiang carefully and realized the background was a bit noisy, like a bar or karaoke room. She frowned and asked, "Is Pei Yizhou drinking?"

Xu Chuan, who had originally planned to lure the person over, fell silent instantly and stopped hiding anything. "My cousin can't hold his liquor. He kept chanting your name and chugging alcohol down his throat. No one, not even a ghost, could stand drinking like that. So... I'm asking you, little sister, to come and help me out."

"I'm not going," An Xiang refuse. "My son is in the hospital, I need to take care of him." She hung up the phone and returned to her ward.

An Zimo and Qiu Yang were engrossed in watching cartoons. An Zimo wasn't particularly interested in cartoons, but Qiu Yang was thoroughly enjoying himself.

She sat back down in her chair, peeled two apples, cut them in half, and gave one half to each of her two children.

"Thank you, Auntie."

Qiu Yang was very polite. An Xiang smiled at him and asked, "Aren't your family members coming to take care of you?"

Qiu Yang shook his head. "My parents live in another city, and my grandparents are old and have difficulty walking, so I don't want them to come."

He was very sensible; he ate his apple while intently watching TV.

An Xiang tell that Qiu Yang was not in good condition; his limbs were covered with tiny needle marks, probably because there was nowhere else to give him injections, and an indwelling needle was inserted into his scalp.

[bite.]

Several more messages came in WeChat.

In the picture, Pei Yizhou looks unwell, huddled awkwardly on the sofa. Compared to his former shrewdness and competence, the man now looks like a pitiful, helpless animal.

Xu Chuan sent her a message directly using Pei Yizhou's WeChat: [I have something to do later, so I can only take Pei Yizhou back to his house first. If you really don't have time, could you go check on him for me, in case he does anything while drunk? Address: Building 23, River Pavilion Tower.]

An Xiang's brows furrowed deeply again.

"Auntie, if you need to go, go ahead. I'll take care of Zimo." Qiu Yang was very good at reading people's expressions. Seeing that An Xiang's expression was not right, he immediately patted his chest and made a guarantee.

An Zimo's eyelids twitched. "Who's your brother? Don't get close to random people." After saying that, he looked at An Xiang and asked, "Is it Uncle Pei?"

"Hmm." An Xiang nodded. "He seems to be drowning his sorrows in alcohol."

An Zimo snorted coldly, and without any politeness, mocked Pei Yizhou, who was far away outside. "Men who drown their sorrows in alcohol are all useless."

An Xiang: "..."

Was it just her imagination? Why did she feel that her son suddenly harbored a great deal of prejudice against Pei Yizhou?

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

An Zimo: Waste, waste, waste, waste.

Pei Yizhou: You are the one, you are the one, you are the one.

**

Two hundred yuan red envelope.