Chapter 64

Xie WenTao acted quickly, and Pei Kuang received his phone call in just a few days.

"Wow! This time Xie WenTao really went too far. The Xie family will probably be finished!"

Pei Kuang was not too surprised. If it wasn't a big mess, Zhang Man would not act so out of character.

"Tell me the details," said Pei Kuang.

Luo Yi agreed, and began to vividly recount the news he had gathered.

The story went like this - recently, Xie WenTao had made friends with several so-called "friends" who claimed they had connections that could make big money.

So he was fooled into taking a trip to Macau, where he racked up huge gambling debts. This time, the Xie family would probably have to put in half their assets to smooth things over.

"That much?" Pei Kuang confirmed, "Is the information definite?"

Although the Xie family had declined in recent years, they were still quite wealthy. Half their assets was no small sum.

Luo Yi said very confidently, "Absolutely certain. This is not much of a secret around here anymore. Just ask around a little and you can find out. When the Xie family patriarch was hospitalized from anger that day, Xie WenTao said it himself in front of many people. The Xie family can't cover this up."

"But that's not the most serious situation. I also heard another piece of news," said Luo Yi.

Pei Kuang asked, "What news?"

Luo Yi said, "Regarding the amount I just told you, that's not all of it. In fact, Xie WenTao concealed some things. The actual amount is even larger. It's said that even the entire Xie family fortune may not be enough to cover it."

That's why he said earlier that the Xie family would probably be finished this time.

Pei Kuang's brow furrowed deeply as he listened. "Where did you hear this news?"

"From Xie WenTao's driver. He is a distant relative of one of my brothers. I had someone specifically try to get information out of him," said Luo Yi.

Pei Kuang's gaze deepened.

If this was true, the Xie family really would have a hard time recovering this time.

But what did this have to do with him?

"The Xie family is in chaos now. Xie WenTao is desperately trying to take over from the Xie patriarch in order to fill in the hole left by the gambling debt. Otherwise they'll come knocking on his door," said Luo Yi.

He clicked his tongue and mysteriously said, "I also found out something else this time. Get ready."

Pei Kuang impatiently said, "Stop beating around the bush."

"I heard that on his hospital bed, the Xie family patriarch said that as long as you and Xie Yin get engaged, he will hand over the Xie family power. I guess Xie WenTao will have your mother go talk to you soon. You should be mentally prepared," said Luo Yi.

Pei Kuang was silent for a few seconds before saying, "She's already come to talk to me."

"What!" Luo Yi sat straight up in surprise. "Your mother is okay, right? Despite your poor relations, she wouldn't do that to her own son, right?"

Although he knew they had a bad relationship, even someone with half a brain wouldn't blatantly push their own son into a fire pit like that.

Pei Kuang said very calmly, "Why not? In her eyes, I am the enemy."

Luo Yi held it in for a good while before saying, "Xie WenTao must also be hiding the severity from your mother."

Pei Kuang laughed lowly, "Alright, stop that. I'm not that weak."

Luo Yi thought about it and realized it was true. He had known Pei Kuang for so many years, and his family circumstances were not anything new. He had indeed never seen Pei Kuang be weak because of it.

"I have to say, this Xie family patriarch really has his eye on you. He's set on you no matter what."

Initially, it was Xie WenTao's idea for Xie Yin and Pei Kuang to get engaged. At the time, he had secretly invested and lost quite a bit of money, so he wanted to use Pei Kuang to fill the hole.

Later, when Pei Kuang learned of this, he exposed it to the Xie patriarch and the matter was dropped.

But afterwards, the Xie patriarch also took notice of Pei Kuang. Upon learning that not only was he a celebrity, but also quite successful in investments, the patriarch actually started having such thoughts.

After all, Xie WenTao and Zhang Man did not have children, and Pei Kuang's household registration had never been with the Xie family, so there was nothing improper about it.

Especially after Xie WenTao caused such a big disaster this time, the Xie patriarch became even more firm in this idea.

However, others may not realize this, but Luo Yi was very clear on Pei Kuang's capabilities and strength.

Without exaggerating, with Pei Kuang's current personal assets, the Xie family was in no position to be a match for him.

Of course, whether they were a match was beside the point. With Pei Kuang's disposition, he was not someone who could be easily manipulated.

"It's pretty interesting that Xie WenTao is still causing trouble at his age. Wouldn't it be better to just eat, drink and be merry? What's the point of all this nonsense?" Luo Yi really could not understand Xie WenTao's thought process.

Now look what happened, he squandered the family fortune in his old age. Wasn't that just asking for death?

Pei Kuang spoke in a very indifferent tone, "Who knows? He probably thinks too highly of himself."

Mediocre people who think too highly of themselves were the most dangerous.

Luo Yi suddenly thought of something and couldn't help asking, "Pei Kuang, if the Xie family really falls, regarding your mother's side, how do you plan to deal with it?"

No matter what, their blood ties were legally recognized and could not easily be severed.

Pei Kuang was silent for a long while before answering in a flat tone, "I'll do whatever is appropriate. If she comes asking me for alimony, I'll provide however much is legally required.

"As for anything else, let's forget about it."

-

Ever since bumping into Zhang Man at the neighborhood gates some days ago, Song Anan had gone straight to Pei Kuang's home after work for several consecutive days.

After covertly observing for many days and seeing no abnormalities with him, she finally felt reassured. Pei Kuang naturally knew what Song Anan was worried about, but he did not show it, allowing her to observe and be at ease.

The Xie family matter had indeed put Pei Kuang on guard for a period of time, and he had prepared for Zhang Man coming to harass him again.

But for some reason, Zhang Man had not come to bother him again for a long stretch of time. Perhaps the Xie family matters were already occupying all their attention.

Around late August and early September, Pei Kuang's vacation was also almost over, and work gradually picked up.

Song Anan also had to start school again. She was in her sixth year of the eight-year clinical medicine program at B University. Based on the curriculum plan, the first five years were the undergraduate portion, and the last three years were the master's and doctoral portions.

Having to complete six years of schooling in just three years naturally meant immense pressure.

Once school started, Song Anan became even busier. Per her advisor's arrangement, she was still doing an internship at the hospital for now, but would soon start rotating beyond just cardiology.

At the same time, there were other research requirements at school, packing her schedule full.

Therefore, after school started, Song Anan no longer lived at Song Linchuan's place, moving back to campus directly.

But during her occasional days off coinciding with Pei Kuang being home, she would still go over to "see Squibbles", though in fact she was still worried about Pei Kuang.

However, Pei Kuang's condition had improved more and more. His bouts of insomnia were becoming less frequent. At his last follow-up at the hospital, Dr. Xu also said he was recovering very well.

Everything seemed to be developing in a positive direction, but some matters were simply unavoidable.

That day, as Song Anan was leaving work, she saw a few nurses gossiping about something as she passed by the nurse's station from afar.

But as soon as she approached, the discussion instantly halted.

Song Anan was very familiar with the nurses, so she smiled and directly asked, "What is it this time, did you see some gossip about me online again?"

One young nurse said, "Anan, it's not you this time, it's Pei Kuang."

Song Anan was startled. "What happened to him?"

"It's quite major. Go check Weibo quickly," said the nurse.

Hearing it was quite major, Song Anan had a bad feeling. She immediately logged into Weibo to take a look.

#Insider exposé - he was once addicted to drugs#

Seeing this hashtag, Song Anan didn't even need to click into it to roughly guess what it was about.

She exited Weibo and ran out of the hospital. At the hospital entrance she called Pei Kuang, but no one picked up.

She found Li Dong's number and dialed.

The call connected, and Li Dong's side was noisy. "Auntie, you saw the hot search right? None of that is real, you..."

"Of course I know it's not real," Song Anan urgently cut him off. "Where's Pei Kuang? Why isn't he picking up my call?"

Li Dong was stunned.

This matter came up so suddenly. Seeing Song Anan's call, his first reaction was to explain things, not expecting that she would believe in Pei Kuang so much.

To be honest, when the hot search first came out, he was a little uncertain, especially after it was confirmed that the rumormonger was Pei Kuang's own mother.

However, although Pei Kuang was also quite surprised by this, he seemed to have been somewhat prepared. He gathered some information and phone numbers of contacts for himself, and briefly told Xie WenTao about the situation at home.

Although this matter was a bit tricky, it was not unsolvable, especially since Pei Kuang was completely innocent in this. Even with his own mother coming out to spread rumors, she could not distort the facts.

"Don't worry, Pei Kuang is fine. He's at home, probably with a dead phone," Li Dong said.

In any case, this mother was quite ruthless. Accusing a celebrity of drug use was clearly meant to ruin him. Anyone would feel terrible in this situation.

Li Dong thought for a moment, then added, "Auntie Song, if you have time, could you go accompany him? I'm afraid he'll feel awful being alone."

Song Anan readily agreed. Even without him saying so, she would have gone.

After hailing a taxi at the hospital entrance, she headed straight for Pei Kuang's home.

On the way there, Song Anan thought of many comforting words for Pei Kuang in her mind, but the more she thought about it, the more insubstantial they seemed.

Half an hour later, she stood at Pei Kuang's door and rang the bell.

Footsteps sounded from inside the house very quickly. The door opened and Pei Kuang appeared, wearing loungewear. He looked as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Seeing Song Anan, he smiled and asked, "What brings you here so suddenly?"

Song Anan opened and closed her mouth, stammering, "I, I'm here to eat snacks at your place. Lin Chuan has been really strict with me lately, I have nowhere else to go."

As she spoke, she held up the bag of snacks in her hand that she had randomly grabbed from the convenience store at the entrance of the residential complex.

Of course Pei Kuang could see through Song Anan's clumsy excuse, but he didn't expose her.

He smiled and said, "I'll take the snacks, go change your shoes."

Song Anan softly responded "okay" and handed over the plastic bag.

As she changed shoes, she tentatively asked, "What were you doing at home?"

Leaning against the wall, Pei Kuang pointed in the direction of the TV and replied, "I was just about to watch a movie, want to join?"

Song Anan nodded. "Sure."

On the TV, Pei Kuang had already queued up a movie. It really did look like he was about to watch one, just as he'd said.

"Is this movie okay? Or do you want to watch something else you like?" Pei Kuang looked at Song Anan and asked.

Song Anan quickly waved her hands. "No need, this one's good."

She wasn't really here to watch a movie anyway, so it didn't matter what they watched.

Pei Kuang softly responded "okay."

And so, the two sat on opposite ends of the sofa and started watching the movie.

However, Song Anan was clearly preoccupied. Five minutes into the movie and she still had no idea what was happening, unable to even tell who the main character was. She could only pick up the snack bag she'd brought and absentmindedly eat while watching the movie.

Watching her, Pei Kuang felt a little helpless. He paused the movie, then turned to look at Song Anan. "Do you have something to say to me?"

Song Anan's eyes widened as she hurriedly denied it. "No, nothing."

Pei Kuang's brow quirked upwards. "Haven't seen the hot search?"

Song Anan pursed her lips. "I saw it."

"But I believe you. It's not true."

Pei Kuang chuckled lowly. "You trust me that much?"

Song Anan nodded heavily.

A trace of warmth flashed through Pei Kuang's eyes. Such unconditional trust was touching, there was no denying that.

"So you came over to comfort me?"

Song Anan shook her head. "No."

"I just wanted to be here with you."

For something like this, no amount of sympathizing words would help.

She had realized on the way here that rather than saying frivolous things, it was better to just be with him properly.

At least let him know that no matter what happened, someone would always be by his side.

Pei Kuang's heart thudded heavily, and his expression seemed to freeze for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Song Anan asked uncertainly.

Had she said something wrong?

Meeting the girl's clear, innocent gaze, Pei Kuang's Adam's apple bobbed as he said, "It's nothing, let's watch the movie."

Still confused, Song Anan simply responded "oh".

The movie continued playing. Having confirmed Pei Kuang was truly alright, Song Anan also began to relax.

However, not having watched the beginning of the movie, she still couldn't follow what was happening now. She couldn't even tell who the main character was. All she could do was take the snack bag she'd brought and absently eat while watching.

Unknowingly, Song Anan had at some point dozed off on the sofa.

Pei Kuang only noticed when she was already fast asleep, one hand propping up her chin while the other lightly held up half a potato chip, sleeping soundly.

He shook his head helplessly. Lowering the TV volume to minimum, he got up and took a blanket from the side, approaching Song Anan.

Sleeping, she looked very serene. Long lashes cast a light shadow over her fair cheeks, which were flushed pink, like a doll.

Perhaps because she was sleeping uneasily, Song Anan suddenly stirred, tilting her head until it rested on a nearby pillow. Her whole body shifted until she seemed to find a comfortable position before settling down again.

Amazingly, through this whole process, the hand holding that half-eaten potato chip remained lightly raised, as if she couldn't bear to put it down even in sleep.

Watching this, Pei Kuang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He crouched down, originally intending to take a closer look at the potato chip that seemed to possess some mysterious power.

But in the next moment, on some sudden impulse, he inexplicably leaned in and ate the potato chip from her hand.

Only when the taste spread over his tongue did Pei Kuang suddenly realize what he had just done.

At that moment, an absurd thought flashed through his mind.

Pei Kuang carefully helped tuck her in with the blanket, then went out to the balcony.

The night breeze cleared his thoughts somewhat. He lit a cigarette and his mind started turning.

Too much had happened today. Pei Kuang truly hadn't expected Zhang Man to agree to an interview and say those things.

It would be a lie to say he was completely unaffected, but he didn't have the heartbroken feelings others probably imagined. Mostly it was just irritating.

How to put it - he just found it meaningless.

-

Song Anan slept quite deeply. When she woke up, the sky outside was already dark.

Pei Kuang simply cooked two bowls of noodles and after their dinner, he drove Song Anan back to school.

Naturally, Song Anan didn't want Pei Kuang to go through the trouble this late, but she couldn't resist his insistence on sending her to the school gate.

"That's far enough, don't park at the school gate, hurry back," she said as she undid her seatbelt, not even giving Pei Kuang a chance to speak before getting out of the car.

Pei Kuang didn't insist further either. Mainly because it wasn't too late yet and there were still many people coming and going at the school gate. If he followed her in now and got recognized, it would be troublesome.

Watching Song Anan enter the campus, he started the car, planning to circle around and turn back at the intersection up ahead.

But at that moment, his phone suddenly rang in the car.

Glancing over, Pei Kuang realized Song Anan had left her phone in the passenger seat.

Disregarding whether he might get recognized or not, he quickly found a nearby parking spot. Wearing a mask and hat, he got out of the car.

Having come with Song Anan to get some things from her dorm during the summer vacation, Pei Kuang was quite familiar with the place now. He briskly made his way over.

He had thought he could catch up to Song Anan halfway, but possibly because parking had delayed him, he was surprised to see her figure in the distance only when he reached the bottom of her dorm building.

She seemed to be talking to someone.

Drawing a little closer, Pei Kuang realized it was someone he also recognized.

It was Jing Fan.

Without thinking too much, Pei Kuang just wanted to hurry over and return the phone to Song Anan, so as not to hold her up.

But as he approached, he realized Jing Fan was actually holding a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

This scene was clearly a love confession!