Pei Chen heard this and realized that Pei Yongxia misunderstood the situation, assuming that that had happened. The heat that had just subsided on his face suddenly flared up again as he awkwardly explained:
“Dad, you misunderstood… there’s nothing between Zhi and me…”
Pei Yongxia noticed his son’s reluctance to explain further and showed his understanding, “I know you’re grown up now. Just be mindful and respectful.”
“…”
No, there’s nothing between us!
Pei Yongxia waved his hand, put on his reading glasses, and said to him, “Go on in. I’ll be out here watching TV. If my phone has any issues, I’ll figure it out myself.”
“…”
Pei Chen coughed lightly in response and could only return to his room.
Pei Yongxia watched the door close and, thinking back to the earlier scene, still felt a bit surprised. He smiled and sighed:
“Who would’ve thought this kid could be so proactive when it comes to dating…”
Meanwhile, Pei Chen returned to the room and saw Liang Zhiyi lying on the table, her fingers playing with the green leaves of the gardenia.
He closed the door and gently turned the lock. Liang Zhiyi heard the sound, glanced at him, and then huffed, burying her face in her arms.
Pei Chen was amused by her behavior, walked over to her, and ruffled her hair. He bent down to coax her, “Zhizhi, don’t be mad, okay?”
“Hmph, I’m ignoring you…”
She peeked out her head and pretended to glare at him angrily. But before she knew it, he had scooped her up from the chair. She leaned against the desk, and he held her in his arms, face-to-face. She tried to push him away, “Wait, what if Uncle Pei…”
“Don’t worry, I locked the door.”
The boy looked down at her slightly flushed cheeks, a smile forming in his clear eyes:
“Why are you so shy?”
“Since when did you become so thin-skinned?”
Liang Zhiyi: ???
“Do you think I’m thin-skinned?”
“What do you think?”
Liang Zhiyi thought back to all the times she had chased after him and pouted, “That was only in front of you! Now Uncle Pei saw it, and you’re just trying to embarrass me to death…”
Pei Chen let out a low laugh, “My dad was actually praising you, but he ended up criticizing me.”
“Huh? Criticizing you for what?”
Thinking about those words made his ears heat up a little, “Nothing.”
The girl insisted on knowing what was said, and after her repeated questioning, Pei Chen had no choice but to tell her what had just happened. After hearing it, Liang Zhiyi blushed, “Why did Uncle Pei think of that…”
They had only been together for less than a month…
She poked his chest and said proudly, “Serves you right for bullying me. Now your dad gave you a lecture, didn’t he?”
He narrowed his eyes, “And who was the one who first talked about doing something to others?”
“I was just joking, okay? Who could be more handsome than you in my eyes?”
The girl smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes bright, and whispered softly in his ear, “Pei Chen, do you think that every time I make you jealous, you’ll be as domineering as you were just now?”
Pei Chen looked down at her, recalling how she had been crying with tears in her eyes when he pressed her onto the bed and kissed her. The suppressed heat and desire that had just subsided surged again, making his throat dry. He stared at her intently, his voice huskier than before:
“You can try and see.”
Facing his intense, almost predatory gaze, she felt as if there was a fierce beast inside him, barely restrained. Her whole body tingled, and she quickly shook her head, “I promise to be good.”
The two of them spent some more time being sweet and affectionate. Then Liang Zhiyi noticed that the movie they had planned to watch after dinner was about to start in half an hour, so she got ready to leave.
They bid farewell to Pei Yongxia, who told them to go and have fun.
After they left, Pei Yongxia took out his phone and sent a text message. Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. He moved his wheelchair to the door.
When he opened the door, Gong Qinxin was standing outside. “Yongxia—”
Gong Qinxin was wearing a navy blue dress, her long hair tied up, and she looked a bit older, not as youthful as she used to be.
“Did you come here from your place so quickly?”
“No, I was just sitting at a nearby café, so when I got your message, I came over.”
Gong Qinxin changed her shoes and walked into the house, sitting down on the sofa. Pei Yongxia poured her a glass of water, and after some small talk, he asked her about what she had mentioned earlier that morning.
“I just wanted to discuss Pei Chen’s future university plans with you. Didn’t you say that Pei Chen wants to go to C University? C University is up north, so if he goes to study there, what will you do?”
Pei Yongxia sighed, “I’ve actually been thinking about this for a few days now. I hope he can go to C University, but with my current condition…”
He couldn’t take care of himself; what would he do in the future?
Gong Qinxin understood his concerns, “I’ve thought about it and came up with three possible solutions. The first one is that he doesn’t go to C University and studies locally in Lincheng, so he can take care of you.”
Pei Yongxia shook his head immediately upon hearing this. How could he let his son give up on his dream university just for his sake?
“The second option is to bring you to another province, rent a place near the university, and Pei Chen can study while working part-time, taking care of you at the same time. But that would be very exhausting for him, and your expenses would be high,” Gong Qinxin suggested.
Pei Yongxia also found this idea impractical. “And the third option?”
“The third option is to leave you in Lincheng and hire someone to take care of you. But I don’t think Pei Chen would be willing to leave you here alone. Besides, hiring a caregiver is expensive, and he probably wouldn’t trust just anyone to take care of you,” Gong Qinxin explained.
She looked at him and continued, “No matter which of these three options you choose, it will be difficult for Pei Chen.”
Pei Yongxia’s face fell, and he looked troubled. “I can’t think of any other solution. Even if my upcoming test results are good and I can have surgery, the recovery time will be long. I can’t avoid burdening my son in the short term…”
“Actually, I have another idea. Would you like to hear it?” Gong Qinxin offered.
“What is it?”
“Let me take care of you, so Pei Chen can go to university without any worries,” she suggested.
Pei Yongxia was stunned for a moment and immediately rejected the idea, “You taking care of me? How would that even work? It’s absolutely out of the question…”
She had her own family now. How could she come and take care of her ex-husband? It was simply absurd!
Gong Qinxin fell silent for a moment before speaking calmly, “Actually, I’m already divorced.”
Pei Yongxia was taken aback.
She gave a bitter smile and slowly explained her situation to him. “I got divorced last summer. That man cheated on me. We negotiated the divorce, and I ended up with half of his assets.”
After she married that man, they had always wanted a child, but she could never get pregnant, and her health had been poor. The man’s attitude towards her grew worse over time.
Eventually, he had three children with another woman, who gave him a daughter that he adored. He was rarely home, and Gong Qinxin wasn’t even welcomed by the other son. She felt unwanted everywhere and finally couldn’t take it anymore, so she divorced him.
“I bought an apartment in Lincheng and settled down here,” Gong Qinxin said, recounting her past with a hint of self-mockery. “In the end, this is my karma.”
Back then, she had betrayed and abandoned Pei Yongxia and Pei Chen for wealth and luxury. Now, the heavens had returned the favor.
She shook her head, her eyes reddening. “I wronged you, and I wronged our son even more. It wasn’t until Pei Chen confronted me on his birthday that I realized how much harm I had caused him. I don’t deserve to be his mother.”
She had once valued material wealth, thinking that a life of money was the best. But that confrontation with Pei Chen woke her up completely. She had spent half her life chasing after riches, and in the end, she did have money, but she was left all alone, with even her son refusing to acknowledge her. She deeply regretted it.
After her divorce last year, she had originally decided never to bother the Pei family again. But now, with Pei Chen going to university and the issue of who would take care of Pei Yongxia looming, she approached them with the intention of atoning for her past mistakes.
Gong Qinxin said to Pei Yongxia, “I know that my sudden offer to take care of you must be something you’re unwilling to accept. But I don’t have any ulterior motives. I just want to ease Pei Chen’s worries so that he can go to C University with peace of mind. Once he graduates and can return to take care of you, I’ll leave. When he’s home on breaks, I promise I won’t come over to disturb you.”
Gong Qinxin also mentioned the surgery, saying, “If you can have the surgery, I can help with the cost. I don’t want Pei Chen to have to work so hard to earn money, especially since his leg hasn’t fully healed yet. If it’s really necessary, consider the money as a loan from me. Would that be okay?”
She emphasized that everything she was doing was for Pei Chen’s sake.
Pei Yongxia listened to her and carefully considered her words. At his age, he no longer thought about the past feelings between him and Gong Qinxin, but as she had pointed out, for Pei Chen’s sake and for him to be able to attend a good university, this might be a feasible solution.
“Even if I could accept it, I doubt Pei Chen would agree,” Pei Yongxia said with difficulty, sighing. “Let me think about it some more, and I’ll figure out how to talk to Pei Chen.”
Gong Qinxin nodded. “If he absolutely refuses, then we can think of another solution. Don’t force him.”
She didn’t want Pei Chen to hate her even more.
“Alright.”
She then asked, “By the way, is Pei Chen with that girl named ‘Zhi’ now?”
“Yes.”
“And what does the Liang family think of Pei Chen?”
“They seem to approve.”
Pei Yongxia mentioned that the Liang family had invited Pei Chen to their home for dinner and that it was at their request that Pei Chen had his leg examined.
After hearing this, Gong Qinxin felt even more guilty, recalling the time she had rashly told Pei Chen that he wasn’t qualified to date Liang Zhiyi. “I deeply regret saying those things to him back then. I knew how much he liked that girl, yet I still hurt his pride like that.”
Every time Gong Qinxin thought about it, she wanted to slap herself.
Pei Yongxia said, “Fortunately, they’re together now. Pei Chen has become more cheerful and less self-conscious.”
They chatted a bit more before Gong Qinxin left, telling him to contact her if anything came up.
After she left, Pei Yongxia looked down at his legs and sighed deeply, lost in thought.
Pei Yongxia didn’t immediately tell Pei Chen about his conversation with Gong Qinxin. During the days while they waited for his test results, he subtly probed Pei Chen about his plans for university, but the boy didn’t give a definitive answer.
He knew his son was also considering how to balance his studies and taking care of him.
A few days later, in the afternoon, Pei Chen and Liang Zhiyi were at a bookstore reading when the girl received a call from her mother. She was informed that Pei Yongxia’s test results had come back and that Pei Chen should come to their house.
The two of them quickly went to Liang Zhiyi’s home, where they found Zhong Xinrou and Liang Tianming in the study.
Pei Chen anxiously asked about his father’s condition, and Zhong Xinrou handed him the report, smiling gently. “It seems your father has a chance of recovering, but because his injury was quite severe back then, and so many years have passed, a full recovery is unlikely. However, with surgery, he might regain about sixty percent of his mobility, perhaps enough to walk with a cane.”
Back then, Pei Yongxia suffered a spinal injury due to a chest vertebrae fracture. At the time, they didn’t have the money for proper treatment, and the young Pei Chen couldn’t help his father with rehabilitation exercises. Fortunately, Pei Yongxia’s chest vertebrae injury was incomplete, and with the advancements in modern medical technology, Zhong Xinrou explained that Pei Yongxia could undergo surgery for partial repair, followed by postoperative rehabilitation.
This was undoubtedly good news for Pei Chen, but alongside his excitement, he also felt some concern. “What about the cost of the surgery?” he asked.
Zhong Xinrou mentioned the surgery costs, which were not insignificant. “After the surgery, your father will need to stay in the hospital for rehabilitation. Conservatively, it could take a year, and even if it’s only a few months, the expenses could still run into tens of thousands. Some of it can be reimbursed through insurance, though.”
Hearing this, Pei Chen frowned and fell into silence.