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Chapter 13 – Getting to Know Him: Are You Curious About Him?

Ding ding ding.
The subway arrived at the station. Zhong Yang stood up and walked out, feeling a little dazed.

Perhaps compared to ordinary people, those from elite, high-profile families reveal their humanity and desires more vividly.

For some reason, she felt the Pei Yunzhe she had seen with her own eyes didn’t match the version described by others.

Was it because she had benefited from him, so she saw him in a more favorable light?

Or were those so-called rumors simply fabrications, much like the slander she had once suffered?

If so, how was she any different from the people who blindly followed the crowd to hate her? Discarding independent thought, judging someone harshly based on a few vague phrases.

She had experienced the pain of being unable to defend herself, and often felt grievance and helplessness. Zhong Yang thought she needed to reflect.

To understand someone, one must truly and impartially approach them.

Even if one must listen to others, it should at least be people who actually know the person—and even then, you shouldn’t believe everything. Let alone those rumors that had been passed through countless versions; their credibility was almost zero.

Unknowingly, she had arrived at Lake. She pulled her thoughts back and pushed the door open. Chen Qingyue had already been waiting.

“Hey, you’re here.”

Zhong Yang glanced around—the place was completely empty. She felt guilty. “Sorry, am I the reason your business is suffering?”

Chen Qingyue looked listless. “It’s fine. Business will recover in a few days. Think of it as a break.”

“Let’s hope so.” Zhong Yang couldn’t force a smile either.

The two of them sat side by side at the bar. Suddenly, she remembered—this owner was childhood friends with Pei Yunzhe, right?

So he should know him quite well?

“Here, one glass each. It’s a new cocktail I mixed—called Heartbreak Night.” Chen Qingyue handed her a champagne flute.

Zhong Yang had heard some things from Xu Youyou. She knew what was weighing on Chen Qingyue’s mind, but she had always stayed out of others’ emotional entanglements. So she simply drank quietly with him.

After five minutes, Zhong Yang couldn’t suppress her curiosity any longer. She asked,
“Boss, do you know anything about Mr. Pei’s past?”

“Hmm?” Chen Qingyue narrowed his eyes, trying to read her expression. “Are you really that curious about him?”

Zhong Yang avoided his gaze, sipped her drink, and mumbled, “Just… gossiping a bit.”

Chen Qingyue raised his eyebrows, thinking—if he told her, maybe it would help build a better image for Pei Yunzhe?

Yes.
Though his own love life had hit a wall, his best brother, Pei Yunzhe, still deserved happiness!

He said, “Tell me first why you’re suddenly asking. Then I’ll tell you the rest.”

Zhong Yang frowned slightly and explained, “I heard today… he has a younger brother? And the two of them were raised by their aunt?”

“Ah, you really asked the right person!”

Chen Qingyue didn’t hesitate at all and spilled everything: “Legally, yes, Pei Yunzhe and Pei Shize were raised by their aunt.”

“You’ve probably also heard that he’s heartless, cold-blooded, ungrateful, right?” His tone was firm.

Zhong Yang nodded slowly. “Uh, you knew I’d heard that?”

“It’s all nonsense. Don’t believe it.” Chen Qingyue stared out the window, eyes seeming to drift to years ago…

“The first time I saw him was during a blizzard. My driver was picking me up. Pei Yunzhe was huddled under the garage roof at our house, holding his younger brother. They were in rags, faces dirty—I thought they were beggars. Can you imagine? It was minus ten degrees, and they were wearing flip-flops.”

Zhong Yang was stunned. “How old were they then?”

Chen Qingyue thought for a moment. “Pei Yunzhe was around eight. Pei Shize was five years younger—so three. Just little kids.”

“I brought them inside to warm up, and Pei Yunzhe suddenly knelt in front of my parents, still holding his brother… That’s when we realized his brother had a terrible fever.”

Chen Qingyue shook his head, deeply moved. “The family doctor said if they’d delayed any longer, the child’s brain might’ve been damaged—become mentally impaired. That was the first and last time I ever saw Pei Yunzhe cry.”

Zhong Yang frowned. “That serious? No one was taking care of them?”

Chen Qingyue’s expression grew more complicated. “All because of that idiot aunt of his. We thought they were abandoned or trafficked. But no—they were the Pei family’s orphaned children. His brother was sick, and no one in the aunt’s home would help. So Pei Yunzhe carried him around begging for help. But everyone mistook them for homeless beggars and chased them away.”

“They got to my house after being rejected by fourteen others.”

“In the middle of the night, their aunt showed up, slapped Pei Yunzhe across the face, then scolded my parents—accused them of abducting children.”

Zhong Yang couldn’t believe it. “So she was always that unreasonable…”

“Yeah, but it just so happened that my mom was the Minister of Education at the time. Sometimes having power helps.”

“After she was scared off, we asked the kids more questions. Turns out, from spring to winter—for a full year—they’d been treated like dogs. Collars on their necks, chained in the garage, sleeping on the floor. Meals were up to the maid’s mood.”

Chen Qingyue’s tone turned sarcastic. “Who would’ve thought? That massive villa in Bay One, with ten servants, all with their own beds—but not a place for two kids.”

He opened another bottle of whiskey, filled his glass, and downed it in one go to calm himself.

“The chairman’s will said whoever raised the two boys would receive a huge monthly support fund.”

“That damned aunt only became their guardian for the money. She probably wished they’d die quickly but didn’t dare actually kill them…”

That small boy curled up in a snowstorm, helpless and adrift, his dark eyes filled with fear and despair—was nothing like today’s composed and dignified Mr. Pei.

Zhong Yang couldn’t imagine how he had survived such a grim childhood. But surely, it was worse than anything she’d imagined.

So Pei Yunzhe wasn’t the golden child she’d assumed.

He was just a survivor—someone who had been cruelly mistreated by fate.

Zhong Yang didn’t know what to say. Anything seemed too light in the face of such a heavy past.

She remained silent. She could only remain silent.

Chen Qingyue wiped away his tears, poured another full glass, and downed it again.
“Zhong Yang… you know, right? He’s really not a bad person.”

Zhong Yang lowered her eyes, hiding the sympathy in her gaze.
“I know…”

She knew how he had deliberately kept his distance that night. Knew the care and attentiveness beneath his cold exterior.

“I’m calling him!” Chen Qingyue’s cheeks were red with drink, and his crying grew worse.

He sobbed, “Waaahh—I want to drink with the best brother I’ve ever had!”

He dialed Pei Yunzhe.
“Hey, Old Pei, come to Lake and drink with me… waaahhh…”

Who knew what Pei Yunzhe must have thought, hearing that call.

But twenty minutes later, he arrived.

That meant the moment he got the call, he had immediately left the office.

Pei Yunzhe calmly entered the bar, completely unfazed by the sobbing mess.

“You’re here, bro!” Chen Qingyue hugged him tightly, tears and snot flowing. “Even though you told me to screw off, I knew you’d come!”

“What are you crying for?” Pei Yunzhe looked disgusted and slapped a tissue on his face.
“Drank too much?”

His second question was aimed at Zhong Yang.

“Uh… looks like it,” Zhong Yang raised two empty whiskey bottles as evidence.

“What happened to him?”

“Well… he got emotional talking about the past,” she said guiltily. If she hadn’t asked Chen Qingyue, none of this would’ve happened.

Pei Yunzhe frowned slightly. “What past?”

Zhong Yang: “Um… yours, actually.”

“…”

Pei Yunzhe dragged Chen Qingyue to a booth and dropped him on the couch. “Enough crying.”

“Bro, you have to find happiness.” Chen Qingyue blew his nose hard. “I—I’m not happy, but it’s okay—waaahh—I can’t find her…”

Pei Yunzhe looked at Zhong Yang again. “Her—who?”

“He means my friend, Xu Youyou. Long story short, they had some emotional entanglement, then broke up.” Zhong Yang explained briefly, then poured two glasses of lemon water—one for Pei Yunzhe, and one for the crying mess.

She comforted Chen Qingyue, “Don’t cry. Youyou doesn’t actually hate you.”

Xu Youyou and Chen Qingyue had met in a game, hit it off, confessed, and met up. They kept it secret since the relationship was new. But it turned out they’d both faked identities.

When they got detained and the truth came out, Xu Youyou ended the relationship. She said she’d fallen for the hardworking, humble man he pretended to be—and he, too, had liked the version of her that wasn’t real.

Her exact words:
“This isn’t real love. I’d rather not have it.”

Zhong Yang didn’t fully get their “new-age love story,” but she remembered Youyou also said:
“Chen Qingyue’s kind of childish, but honestly, I liked him because he was such a fool.”

Honestly, Zhong Yang thought so too. The more she got to know him, the more foolish he seemed.

The ‘fool’ Chen Qingyue asked, tearfully, “Where’s Youyou?”

“…She’s vacationing in the Maldives.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier!”

“You didn’t ask.”

Anyway, Youyou hadn’t said to keep it secret. Maybe it was time they cleared things up. No point in one moping and the other escaping heartbreak.

Chen Qingyue suddenly stood up, patted Pei Yunzhe on the shoulder, and—wobbling—headed into the lounge.
“I’m going to find her!”

Once he left, only Pei Yunzhe and Zhong Yang were left, awkwardly facing each other.

“Um, Mr. Pei, please… have a seat.”

She still remembered the last time they met at Lake—how she had been terrified, begging him not to retaliate.

Thinking of that, Zhong Yang bit her lip.

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