Extreme Pampering
Chapter 105: Can’t I Follow Both?

Chapter 105: Chapter 105: Can’t I Follow Both?

The dinner party had ended past nine o’clock, and outside, a drizzle had begun. Shen Zhiyi walked ahead, holding Duan Jiaze’s hand, who frequently turned back, continuously throwing glances at Meng Qiming.

Meng Qiming helplessly met his gaze, signaling that things were not going smoothly.

"Sigh," Duan Jiaze sighed maturely, "Useless."

He wanted to make another effort, so he grabbed Shen Zhiyi’s hand, "Zhizhi, let’s take that uncle’s car."

Shen Zhiyi appeared troubled.

At that moment, Meng Qiming joined in the conversation, "My car has already arrived, Zhiyi, let me give you a ride."

Indeed, a car approached from not far away, barely visible through the rain curtain and night shadows. Meng Qiming took a few steps towards it, recognizing that it was not his car.

But the car was already driving their way.

Duan Jiaze was oblivious, fearing that Shen Zhiyi would disagree, he continued to act coquettishly, his child’s voice piercing through the night.

And the car had stopped.

The door opened, and a large black umbrella was raised in the rain; Pei Yu walked slowly, his leisurely pace uniquely his own. As he approached, he slightly tilted the umbrella revealing his brows and eyes soaked by the mist, his clear black pupils, and his faintly pink lips.

He paused under the eaves, slightly leaning forward to look at Duan Jiaze, his tone icy, "What did you just say?"

His voice was so loud that it could be heard even inside the car.

Duan Jiaze instinctively hid behind Shen Zhiyi, only sticking his head out, "Are you going to hit me?"

Pei Yu replied indifferently, "Say one more word, and I just might."

Duan Jiaze immediately shivered.

He had seen Pei Yu hit people in a boxing ring, not knowing it wasn’t really fighting, nor did he care. He only remembered the fierce look when Pei Yu threw punches, which scared Duan Jiaze so much that he had nightmares for several days thereafter. Since then, he both feared and admired Pei Yu.

"Don’t scare him," Shen Zhiyi held Duan Jiaze’s hand, seeing his genuine fear, "Did you come to take him away?"

Actually, he did not, but at that moment, looking at Duan Jiaze’s annoying demeanor, Pei Yu agreed indifferently, "Hmm."

"I won’t go back with you!"

Duan Jiaze immediately said, "I hate you, I don’t want you!"

He suddenly became agitated, startling Shen Zhiyi. Duan Jiaze had been well-behaved these past few days, which made people overlook that he was, after all, only four years old and had his moments of temper.

Shen Zhiyi tried to soothe him, "Why do you hate uncle?"

Previously he had been calling him ’uncle’ nonstop.

Looking into Shen Zhiyi’s eyes, Duan Jiaze seemed to find someone to support him, and his eyes gradually reddened.

This feeling was too rare, bearing in mind that in Duan Jiaze’s short life, even his mother was pretty scared of Pei Yu. She was not only unable to support him but would often blame him for not being likable enough to Pei Yu.

He vigorously wiped away his tears, "Uncle doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him either."

He was his only uncle, yet he was always so harsh. Uncles at other people’s homes weren’t like this. His mother said that Pei Yu was like this with everyone, but she was lying. Uncle was very gentle with Zhiyi; he must hate him, which is why he never spoke to him gently.

The more he thought, the sadder he became. Duan Jiaze liked this uncle so much but had suddenly realized that Pei Yu actually didn’t like him at all, which was a huge blow to him, and he sobbed, "Can I not go with Uncle?"

Shen Zhiyi couldn’t provide him with the answer he wanted; after all, he was someone else’s child, "I—"

In that moment of hesitation, Duan Jiaze’s emotions collapsed completely, and he cried as he ran out, "I don’t want to go with him!"

It wasn’t very late, and the traffic on the roads was incessant. Duan Jiaze headed straight towards the roadside, startling several adults quite badly.

Shen Zhiyi, without thinking, started to chase after him, but suddenly, someone handed her an umbrella, and in a blink of an eye, Pei Yu had caught up.

Duan Jiaze regretted running out as soon as he did it and stopped, dazed, in the middle of the road. The traffic continued to move around him, and for some reason, a black car did not slow down, slowly turning into a looming black dot in the view of the child.

He was so frightened that he couldn’t move until Pei Yu scooped him up.

Shen Zhiyi caught up, "Jiaze?"

The child, in Pei Yu’s arms, stared blankly and didn’t move, as if he had been scared stiff.

Shen Zhiyi was extremely worried as she reached for his hand, "It’s alright, it’s alright."

The child still didn’t speak or blink.

Pei Yu frowned, pinched the child’s chubby cheek to make him look up, and called out his name with a slightly stern tone, "Duan Jiaze, close your eyes."

Always complaining he was too harsh, yet at that moment, Duan Jiaze listened to him the most; he closed his eyes, and the next second, he burst into tears.

The wailing was miserable. Shen Zhiyi found it difficult to listen to and was still frightened by the scene that had just occurred; tears slowly gathered in her eyes.

Holding Duan Jiaze’s hand, Pei Yu grabbed it. With one hand, he held the child, and with the other, he touched her eye and sighed softly, "Can crying be contagious?"

She looked up at him once and then blinked a teardrop away as she looked down. Shen Zhiyi remained silent, quietly weeping. In Pei Yu’s eyes, her crying was louder and longer than Duan Jiaze’s, enveloping him tightly like a vast net.

Using the pad of his finger to wipe the teardrops from her cheeks, Pei Yu weighed the child in his arms, "Quick, comfort Zhizhi."

Duan Jiaze stretched out his hands wanting to hug, "Zhizhi—"

In the distance under the eaves, Meng Qiming watched the scene unfold and then turned away.

Once both the elder and the younger had calmed down, Pei Yu took them to the hospital to check; the child was just scared and had no other problems.

"You go with Zhizhi."

Pei Yu said, he had not planned to take Duan Jiaze with him so soon; he just intended to scare him a bit. The boy was not very brave, and scaring him revealed his true nature.

Suffering from the fright, Duan Jiaze now felt closer to his uncle and clung to his legs, not letting go.

Pei Yu looked down, moved his leg, and the child’s chubby body swayed slightly with him. He raised an eyebrow, "What, you want to go back with me now?"

"Then say goodbye to Zhizhi."

Duan Jiaze wavered for a long time, then carefully freed one hand to tightly hold Shen Zhiyi’s skirt, looked up and asked innocently, "Can’t I follow both of you?"

By now, he had forgiven his uncle for his harshness, feeling very safe with Pei Yu, yet he also liked Zhizhi very much and did not want to be separated from Zhizhi.

Pei Yu: "...Ask Zhizhi."

He couldn’t make a decision on this matter.

"Zhizhi," turning to embrace Shen Zhiyi, Duan Jiaze pleaded pitifully, "I want to be with uncle and with Zhizhi too."

He was on the verge of tears, "I was so scared, I almost got hit by a car—"

The child looked so pitiful, nearly getting into an accident, partly her fault for not taking better care of his feelings. Thinking of this made it even harder for her to reject him. Shen Zhiyi had no choice but to agree and took both the uncle and nephew back home with her.