Extreme Pampering
Chapter 222 - 218: If We Had Been Together Sooner (Part 7)

Chapter 222: Chapter 218: If We Had Been Together Sooner (Part 7)

After the encounter in the billiard room, Shen Zhiyi hadn’t seen Pei Yu at school for several days. According to Qin Xiaoran, his father, Father Pei, had taken him out of the country again.

Shen Zhiyi increasingly felt that these people did not live in the same world as her. Although still students, many had already begun to come into contact with their family businesses to a greater or lesser extent, and Pei Yu was one of the most conspicuous among them.

She studied quietly and gradually caught up with the pace, and her relationship with Qin Xiaoran also got better and better; they were almost inseparable.

Walking on the campus path, Qin Xiaoran gossiped with her while Shen Zhiyi hugged her stack of notes, listening and pondering a problem she hadn’t solved.

Suddenly, Qin Xiaoran grabbed her, "Hey, it’s Qin Fang."

Where there was Qin Fang... Shen Zhiyi stopped and looked ahead.

Several young men walked out of the teaching building, wearing neat, uniform school clothes. Qin Fang said something, trying to drape his arm over Pei Yu’s shoulder but was met with a cold glance and lamely withdrew it.

"Your aversion to being touched is getting worse by the day," Qin Fang muttered discontentedly.

Pei Yu couldn’t be bothered with him and took a few steps out of the shadow. The sunlight blurred his features; the youth squinted slightly, his demeanor somewhat relaxed and casual, seemingly in a good mood.

Until Qin Fang suddenly brought up another topic, "...I heard you’re going to get engaged to Huo An’an?"

Arranged marriages within their families were common; Pei Yu’s several brothers had also married daughters of family partners.

Pei Yu glanced at him, his expression turning slightly cold.

"Qin Fang!" Qin Xiaoran suddenly trotted over.

"Call me ’brother,’" his attention diverted by her interruption, Qin Fang didn’t continue the talk of engagements, "Did your quiz results come out?"

"Why bring that up," Qin Xiaoran swiftly changed the subject, "Zhiyi did so well! She..."

"Eh?" Qin Xiaoran turned to look at where Shen Zhiyi had just been standing, "Where did she go?"

Pei Yu’s gaze lingered there for a moment, his frown subtle but noticeable.

Shen Zhiyi had gone back to the classroom before Qin Xiaoran, organizing her recently completed papers and staring blankly at the unsolved problem.

Engagement...

To her, it was a very distant matter; so, the wealthy got engaged this early.

Her thoughts drifted aimlessly as she had previously agreed to go to Qin Xiaoran’s house to do homework together, so after school that day, she got into Qin Family’s car.

"We have to wait for Qin Fang," Qin Xiaoran sat in the car, handing Shen Zhiyi some snacks, "He’ll be out soon."

Shen Zhiyi sat by the car window and inadvertently glanced at the school gate, where Qin Fang’s figure appeared in her line of sight, next to Pei Yu. The youth was looking down at his cellphone, the lines of his profile especially attractive, emitting a cool, clean temperament.

Relying on her position inside the car, Shen Zhiyi boldly sized him up; every aspect of the youth was appealing. Even just standing there, he seemed tall and noble, his long legs eye-catching.

Qin Fang was talking to him when he suddenly looked back. Following that, a girl with long, curly hair ran up, greeted him with smiles, said something to Pei Yu, and walked towards the Pei Family’s car with him.

Shen Zhiyi pulled her gaze back, not looking anymore.

She turned up the volume of her earphones, and her phone vibrated—a message from Pei Yu, asking where she was now.

She didn’t know why he was asking, and almost without thinking, she told him she was already home.

But in fact, she was planning to stay at Qin Family’s house that day.

On the other side, when Pei Yu saw this message, his brows furrowed slightly, and his mood chilled.

It had been several days since he had last seen Shen Zhiyi.

"Pei Yu," the girl beside him whispered his name, "Uncle Pei invited me to dine at your house. Are you unhappy?"

The engagement was certainly not a groundless rumor; Father Pei had this in mind, but Pei Yu was very clear that his brothers and sisters would not agree. He was already highly valued by Father Pei, and finding a powerful Yue family to marry into would make him even more competitive compared to them.

So this marriage would not happen, and someone was likely to take action tonight.

Pei Yu didn’t answer, and the girl looked at him for a while before falling silent as well.

Everyone knew that the young master of the Pei Family had a bad temper and disliked talking to people. When he was young and not highly regarded, no one wanted to please him, now that he was grown up, pleasing him became a very difficult task, and girls were no exception; he was not one to pity or indulge them.

At the Qin Family.

Shen Zhiyi finished homework with Qin Xiaoran and played together for a while. She always had a regular schedule and got sleepy on time, so she couldn’t stay up late with Qin Xiaoran and went to bed after washing up.

Tomorrow was the weekend, and Qin Xiaoran indulged himself by playing into the middle of the night until he bumped into Qin Fang coming back from outside, clearly having had a drink.

"Tsk, turning into a drunkard at such a young age," Qin Xiaoran teased, arms folded, "if you keep drinking like this, your face will collapse before you’re twenty."

Qin Fang’s eyelids twitched. "I only had a little! Songzhi drank too, why don’t you mention him?"

Fu Songzhi was standing right beside him, his coat draped over his elbow and still looking quite sober. "Didn’t drink much, he said he’d come back to drink."

"You again stole Dad’s alcohol," Qin Xiaoran said this but quickly took out several bottles of fine liquor, "will you play a game with me for a while?"

"Sure," Qin Fang picked up a game controller, "I’ll make you lose until you call me brother and beg for mercy."

The three played for a while downstairs, and just as Qin Fang was feeling sleepy, he received a text message.

"Brother Pei is coming."

He hurriedly stood up. "Gotta sober up, lately he’s been especially annoyed with drinking."

Having been brought to several drinking sessions by Father Pei, Pei Yu had grown quite sick of alcohol recently.

"So late," Qin Xiaoran munched on snacks, "that’s unusual."

"It might be that he’s in a bad mood," Qin Fang speculated recklessly. "Isn’t he about to get engaged to Huo An’an? He doesn’t like the type of girl Huo An’an is."

"Then what type does he like?" Qin Xiaoran grew interested.

"Huo An’an is too reserved. If Brother Pei likes anyone, it’s the cheerful type, like me." Qin Fang boasted unabashedly.

"...," Qin Xiaoran rolled his eyes, "I must be sick in the head to ask you."

Not reliable at all.

The group made a racket in the living room, alternating between gaming and singing, and even with good soundproofing, Shen Zhiyi was still woken up by these noises.

She glanced at the time; it was two in the morning.

Sitting on the bed for a while, Shen Zhiyi slowly climbed out, intending to go downstairs and see what Qin Xiaoran was playing, and she seemed to have heard Qin Fang’s voice as well.

As she opened the door, Qin Fang’s singing became very clear, covering up the sound of Shen Zhiyi’s footsteps as she descended the stairs, still groggy and sleepy.

The group having fun downstairs all had their backs to her, all but Pei Yu.

The young man was dressed in a snow-white shirt, black pants, and adopted a leisurely pose. He looked up and locked eyes with her.

Shen Zhiyi stood frozen in place.

Why was he here?