In the end, she didn’t want him anymore. She completely abandoned him into a shattered and incomplete darkness.
Before the family fell apart, he had seen how loving Gong Qinxin and Pei Yongxia were, but in times of adversity, who remembers those vows of growing old together?
People are just that realistic.
And because of this, he never believed in those so-called romantic relationships. From childhood to adulthood, he kept his distance from girls, even though many liked him, he never considered getting involved.
Because he knew, not many girls would choose him considering his family background, just like his mother.
He didn’t want to feel abandoned again.
°°°
A few days before the Lunar New Year, Pei Chen woke up around five in the morning.
Today, he was heading to a mountainous area near Lincheng, specifically to Yongyuan Mountain.
His ancestral home was in a village on the mountain. A few years ago, his grandfather passed away, and then a couple of years later, his grandmother also passed. Pei Chen hadn’t visited often since.
The journey was bumpy, with winding mountain roads, and after nearly three hours on the bus, he arrived at the village.
After visiting a few relatives, his main purpose today was to buy New Year’s goods for Liang Zhiyi.
He originally thought of going to the supermarket to buy some supplements, but he figured that those items would be easy for the Liang family to purchase. So, after discussing it with Pei Yongxia last night, they decided to buy something that was harder to find in the market.
Yongyuan Mountain’s wild red mushrooms are the most famous in the area. These mushrooms grow on the roots of certain special trees and cannot be cultivated artificially; they can only be harvested by hand, and the annual harvest is not large. While red mushrooms are available in the market, many are of mixed quality, so buying them locally is the best option, though they are more expensive.
Pei Chen remembered that Liang Zhiyi mentioned how hard her parents worked, and red mushrooms are known for their health benefits, such as strengthening the body, improving blood circulation, and relieving aches and pains.
So he found a local family that sold wild red mushrooms and spent several hundred yuan to buy a kilogram, along with some other nourishing mountain delicacies.
In the evening, it suddenly started to rain in the mountains. He packed the New Year’s goods into his bag, ran through the rain to the bus station, and caught the last bus back to Lincheng.
Once on the bus, he noticed that he was soaked through.
But fortunately, the things he bought were safe and dry.
His phone rang—it was a video call from Liang Zhiyi. He answered, and the girl appeared, leaning over her desk doing homework, her black hair cascading like a waterfall as she smiled at him with dimples. “Pei Chen—”
“Mm.”
“Where are you? Why are you all wet?”
“I went back to my hometown and got caught in the rain. I’m on the bus heading back to Lincheng now.”
The girl’s delicate eyebrows immediately furrowed. “Hurry and dry yourself with some tissues; don’t catch a cold.”
“It’s fine. What are you doing?”
She smiled, her eyebrows arching. “I’m doing my homework, and then I thought of you, so I couldn’t help but give you a call.”
He looked at her, feeling a bit softer inside.
Poking her cheek with her pen, Liang Zhiyi sighed, “Pei Chen, tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve already. Time flies so fast.”
Pei Chen said, “I bought some New Year’s goods. I’ll bring them to your house tomorrow morning. Will you be home?”
“Sure, give me a call when you arrive. There’s no need to be so formal.”
“It’s nothing. You brought a lot of things to my family before, didn’t you?”
Liang Zhiyi smiled and said, “Alright.”
She seemed like she wanted to say something more, but the nanny knocked on the door and came in to call her for dinner. Pei Chen said, “Go have your meal.”
“Okay, bye.”
After hanging up, he put down his phone and looked out at the pouring rain.
He had been rushing around all day and was now exhausted, but the thought that everything he did was for the girl made all the fatigue seem worth it.
The next day was New Year’s Eve.
The last day of the year.
After finishing breakfast in the morning, Pei Chen set aside some of the New Year’s goods he had bought for his family and organized the rest into bags to bring to Liang Zhiyi. Pei Yongxia also added a bag of handmade fried dough twists. “Zhiyi really loved these when she came to our house last time. Take some to her.”
Pei Chen nodded. After packing everything, he went back to his room, took out a card from a drawer, and wrote a few words:
“Zhiyi, Happy New Year.
These New Year’s goods are from my dad and me. Please help me thank your mom again for treating my leg.”
After placing the card in the bag, Pei Chen said to Pei Yongxia, “Dad, I’m heading out.”
Pei Yongxia smiled at his son, “If you meet Zhiyi’s parents, remember to greet them politely.”
Thinking about this made Pei Chen’s hands sweat with nervousness. “Mm.”
“Go on then.”
Pei Chen left the house with the bags, stopped by to buy some fruit, and then took the subway to the Liang family’s villa.
On the way, he called Liang Zhiyi, who had just woken up, and she told him to call her when he arrived at her building.
Half an hour later, he arrived at the entrance of Yunjing Ancheng and took a shuttle bus into the villa area.
He remembered the way from the last time he had come to tutor Liang Tongzhou, so he recognized the route.
When he reached the Liang family’s gate, he got off the bus.
Standing at the entrance, his heart started to beat faster. He called Liang Zhiyi, but she didn’t answer. He then tried calling Liang Tongzhou, but it also went unanswered.
He looked around and noticed that there wasn’t any sign of the nanny in the front yard.
He made a few more calls, but there was still no answer. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he suddenly heard the sound of a car approaching from behind. Turning around, he saw a black sedan driving up.
The car door opened, and the Zhang family couple stepped out.
They had come to drop off some New Year’s goods as well and to discuss where to take the elderly lady for the New Year’s Eve dinner that night.
Zhang’s mother stepped out of the car, adjusted her shawl, and noticed the young man standing at the entrance with some items in his hands. Her expression turned suspicious as she asked, “Who are you, and what are you doing at the door?”
Pei Chen, seeing the elegantly dressed stranger before him, paused for a moment before politely responding, “Hello, I’m Zhiyi’s classmate. I came to bring her some things.”
“Classmate?”
Seeing the disbelief on Zhang’s mother’s face, he introduced himself, “My name is Pei Chen.”
Zhang’s mother was momentarily startled but then seemed to recognize the name, giving a slight, dismissive smile. “So, it’s you.”
Pei Chen was a bit taken aback. Did she know him?
Zhang’s mother looked him up and down with a disdainful gaze, examining his attire. When she saw the New Year’s goods he was holding, she quickly grasped his intentions—he had come to curry favor with the Liang family.
Zhang’s father finished parking the car and walked over. Zhang’s mother took her husband’s arm and, with a lazy glance at Pei Chen, said, “It’s not easy to come all this way. I’m Zhiyi’s aunt. You can give the things to me; I’ll take them in for you.”
Pei Chen noticed the contempt in her tone, and his throat felt dry as he handed over the New Year’s goods. “Thank you.”
The Zhang couple turned and walked into the front yard, just as the nanny came out to greet them.
Pei Chen turned to leave, but he overheard Zhang’s mother muttering under her breath, “Fruits, fried dough twists… What kind of cheap stuff is this? It must have been bought at some wholesale market.”
“You might as well keep these things yourselves. Don’t show them to my sister. How could someone have the nerve to bring such low-class gifts to the Liang family…”
Zhang’s mother’s words were like knives, each one piercing Pei Chen’s ears.
His steps faltered, his eyes trembled as if something inside him shattered like glass.
He hung his head in shame, his fingers trembling, as a chill spread from his feet upwards.
He turned to see the Zhang couple walking into the house, the door closing behind them.
He felt like a complete outsider, shut out from their world.
In that moment, the anticipation he had felt about Zhiyi receiving the New Year’s goods and the joy of seeing her on New Year’s Eve was utterly crushed.
The humiliation washed over him like a bucket of ice-cold water, drenching him from head to toe.
Those were items he had carefully prepared, but because they lacked fancy packaging, they were dismissed as cheap wholesale goods, something that could be casually handed off to the nanny.
It dawned on him that no matter how hard he tried to give her the best, in the eyes of others, he simply wasn’t worthy.
Neither the things he gave, nor he himself.
He should have realized it long ago.
If even Liang Zhiyi’s aunt knew about him and treated him with such disdain, it might mean that the Liang family was also aware of his existence, and perhaps this was how they all viewed him…
The sunlight was harsh overhead.
But his world was shrouded in darkness, so deep that not a single ray of light could penetrate.
As he walked to the entrance of the villa complex, Pei Chen’s phone rang.
It was Liang Zhiyi.
He stared at the name on the screen, his fingers gripping the phone so tightly they turned white. After a few seconds, he answered:
“Hello.”
The girl’s cheerful voice came through, “Pei Chen, thank you for the New Year’s gifts. When you called me earlier, I was brushing my teeth and washing my face. Why did you leave so quickly without waiting for me…”
Pei Chen’s throat felt tight, and he responded flatly, “I had something to take care of at home, so I left.”
“Okay… I saw your card, and I told my mom what you said. She was really touched and said the things you prepared were wonderful. She asked me to thank you.”
Pei Chen wasn’t sure if her words were meant to comfort him.
He was silent for a few seconds before replying, “It’s nothing. I’m glad you like them.”
Liang Zhiyi picked up on the odd tone in his voice. “Pei Chen, are you okay? You don’t sound too happy.”
“…No, I’m fine. I’m about to take the subway home, so I’ll talk to you later.”
The girl responded with an “okay,” and he hung up the phone.
He stared down at his phone, his thoughts a tangled mix of darkness and confusion.
After a while, he made his way back home.
As soon as he walked in the door, Pei Yongxia looked at him and asked, “So, did you deliver the New Year’s goods to Zhiyi?”
Pei Chen lowered his eyelashes and replied, “Mm.”
Pei Yongxia immediately noticed that something was off with his son and frowned slightly, “Did something happen?”
Pei Chen shook his head lightly, “It’s nothing.”
“Did they refuse to accept the gifts?”
Pei Chen’s throat tightened, and he forced a smile, “No, it’s just… they don’t really need anything.”
Pei Yongxia was stunned.
Pei Chen walked towards his room, and as Pei Yongxia watched him, he seemed to understand something. Finally, he sighed.
Meanwhile, at the Liang family’s villa.
Liang Zhiyi had just returned to her room and saw that Pei Chen had called her three times. The nanny hadn’t taken Pei Chen’s New Year’s gifts away; instead, she had given them to Liang Zhiyi, who then brought them to her mother. Zhong Xinrou looked at the gifts and immediately recognized that they included some rare mountain delicacies, with the quality of the red mushrooms being particularly excellent.
Zhong Xinrou smiled and said, “Make sure you properly thank Pei Chen for me. He really put thought into this.”
“Mm,” Zhiyi replied.
However, after her call with Pei Chen, she felt that something was off about his demeanor, though she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
She had planned to call Pei Chen again after he got home, but since he mentioned that he was busy, she decided to wait until later in the evening to contact him.
After lunch, Zhong Xinrou went to put up window decorations and couplets. Downstairs, Liang Zhiyi was playing a game on the console with Liang Tongzhou. The nanny brought them a plate of freshly cut oranges.
After losing a round, Zhiyi pouted and said, “That round doesn’t count. My buttons weren’t working.”
Liang Tongzhou smirked, “You’ve been a sore loser since we were kids. Can’t you act a bit more like a big sister?”
“Even if I’m a sore loser, I’m still your sister. I’m done playing—I’m going to take a nap.”
“Are you a pig or what, sleeping all day…”
She huffed, stood up from the carpet, and noticed the nanny holding another plate of fruit. “Auntie Wang, are you taking those to my dad?”
“Yes, the chairman is in his study.”
“Give it to me; I’m heading upstairs anyway.”
“Alright.”
Carrying the plate of fruit, Liang Zhiyi slowly made her way upstairs. When she reached the study door and was about to push it open, she heard her father’s voice from inside:
“Yes, please take care of things in Province W for me. After the New Year, I’ll take Zhiyi and Tongzhou there to complete the enrollment procedures…”
Liang Ming was standing by the window, speaking on the phone. After a while, he ended the call and turned around, noticing that the study door had been opened. His daughter stood outside, looking stunned.
“Dad, what enrollment procedures?” Zhiyi asked in confusion.
Liang Ming’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at her and gently said, “Zhiyi, I was planning to tell you about this after the New Year.”
“What…” she whispered, still in shock.
Liang Ming said softly, “I’ve already arranged everything. Starting next semester, you and Tongzhou will transfer to a high school in Province W.”
Liang Zhiyi suddenly froze in shock.