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Chapter 4: Apologize to Me

It’s over. Everything’s over.

Tonight.

The moment he saw Zhong Yang’s face, Pei Yunzhe was already certain: not only did Pei Yongcheng ignore his warning, he deliberately let the same woman get close to him again.

Fine. A bold, shameless provocation.

He had to let Pei Yongcheng understand what should and shouldn’t be done.

So, Pei Yunzhe followed her.

But…

Looking at the woman in front of him now, he couldn’t help but feel doubt.

Could it have all been… a misunderstanding?

“Seriously, dude, you think I was sent here just to seduce you?” Zhong Yang let out a laugh of disbelief. “That greasy fat pig surnamed Yin did have that idea, but like you, he was just dreaming.”

“You, with your arrogance, your shallow tendency to judge people by appearance, and your narcissism that makes you slander others without hesitation—ugh, even if you chased me, I wouldn’t be interested. So, Mr. Pei, I demand that you apologize to me. Right now.”

Zhong Yang didn’t hold back one bit. Looking at the man’s dark, stormy face, her anger finally felt somewhat appeased.

“……”

The air between them grew silent for a long moment. Finally, Pei Yunzhe’s Adam’s apple moved, as if he was about to speak.

Buzz buzz buzz—his phone vibrated.

Zhong Yang answered Xu Youyou’s call without another glance at Mr. Pei, walking straight out of the courtyard. “Okay, give me one minute.”

Pei Yunzhe never did get the chance to speak. He could only watch her graceful figure vanish into the swirling mist, leaving not a trace behind.

The courtyard suddenly felt empty.

And his tightly clenched fists gradually relaxed, like he was finally able to exhale.

He returned to the private room, where everyone stood up to greet him.

“Mr. Pei, you’re back!”

Yin Qi glanced around and noticed Pei Yunzhe had returned alone. He feigned a scolding tone, “Why is Xiao Zhong taking so long in the restroom? This kid—I’ll have to talk to her later…”

Pei Yunzhe gave no response. He walked to his seat, grabbed his coat, and casually noticed a small handbag left on the chair next to him. His eyes paused.

“Give me her contact information.”

It was the first sentence he had actively spoken that night.

Yin Qi was stunned, then quickly nudged Zhang Yue. “Hurry, give Mr. Pei her number!”

Zhang Yue hastily scribbled down a string of numbers on a slip of paper and handed it to Pei Yunzhe.

Taking the note, Pei Yunzhe grabbed Zhong Yang’s handbag and prepared to leave—but was blocked by an arm.

“Mr. Pei, we haven’t finished dinner yet. Why leave now? Let’s talk more about that investment deal?”

Just then, a phrase flashed through Pei Yunzhe’s mind: That greasy fat pig surnamed Yin…

Pei Yunzhe glanced indifferently at the sycophantic man beside him.

Indeed. If it weren’t for Producer Yin, he wouldn’t have ended up looking so ridiculous in front of that woman tonight…

Because of that one cold glance, Yin Qi immediately felt a chill in his heart and shut up. He hurriedly led the others out, watching respectfully as Pei Yunzhe drove off in his Rolls-Royce.

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Meanwhile, Zhong Yang had already jumped into Xu Youyou’s red Porsche Panamera and was recounting the night’s events.

“Kindness gets you walked all over. There’s definitely something fishy when things go off script. Zhang Yue and Yin Qi must’ve planned to sell me out.”

“Sell you to who? That old guy?”

“No, not an old guy. He was young, handsome even, and had a good body. But his personality? Not so great.” Zhong Yang, a self-declared face-con, still felt it was a shame such a good-looking man had such a rotten character.

She shook her head, clicking her tongue. “All flash, no substance.”

“A lot of rich second-gens are like that. For someone like Yin to host a formal dinner, and for it to be a young guy…”

The elite circle in the capital wasn’t that big. Xu Youyou thought for a moment and guessed, “Was it the eldest son of the Zhang family? Or maybe President Li, who just took over Fengyuan Group?”

“His surname’s Pei. Everyone called him Mr. Pei. Ever heard of him?”

“In the capital, I’ve only ever heard of one Pei family…”

At a red light, Xu Youyou suddenly slammed on the brakes. Both women were jerked forward by inertia. Two seconds later, Xu Youyou said blankly, “Damn. Don’t tell me it was him.”

Zhong Yang blinked and asked, puzzled, “Who?”

Instead of answering, Xu Youyou pointed at a tall, brightly lit skyscraper. “Do you know what that is?”

“Xihua Tower. Why?”

Zhong Yang started to get a bad feeling.

“Exactly. And aside from that, there’s Jianghua Medical, Yuanhua Manufacturing, Ruihua Real Estate, Tuowen Tech—all subsidiaries of the Pei Group. Most of them are now under the control of Pei Yunzhe. He’s 29, 190 cm tall, ridiculously handsome, and fits your description perfectly!”

Zhong Yang didn’t know much about the rich and powerful in the capital, but even she had heard of those companies—each one a leader in its field…

“That can’t be him, right? Could Yin Qi really have enough clout to invite the chairman of the Pei Group?”

Even as she spoke, Zhong Yang hurriedly pulled out her phone to search for “Pei Yunzhe.”

The light turned green. Xu Youyou drove forward and glanced over curiously. “Well? Is it the same guy?”

Zhong Yang stared at the very familiar face on her screen and suddenly found it hard to breathe.

“…It is.”

“Don’t worry. You left without eating. Yin Qi might be mad, but Pei Yunzhe won’t be.”

Zhong Yang was stunned. She turned from the phone to look at Xu Youyou’s profile with hopeful eyes. “Really? He has a good temper? Like, if someone yells at him, he won’t care?”

“Nope! He just won’t notice you—as long as you stay far, far away.” Xu Youyou rolled her eyes. “Which honestly makes sense. If I were him, I’d be even more arrogant.”

She explained, “The Pei family is old money in the capital—prestigious since the founding of the country. They’ve always had power, status, and wealth. With the Pei Group this massive, my family’s nowhere near that level. Probably only the Qin family can compete with them in the entire capital.”

Zhong Yang held her forehead, her heart pounding. “…Okay. Okay. Okay.”

Xu Youyou continued spilling the tea: “Apparently people like him are all weirdos. I heard that once at a banquet, someone accidentally spilled wine on his suit, and he just shoved the woman to the ground and tried to beat her up…”

“Also, because his aunt—the one who raised him—said something he didn’t like, he kicked her entire family out of the Pei Group without a cent. Now she’s working odd jobs on the street and can barely afford rent. And there’s more…”

Ruthless. Moody. Cold-hearted. Vengeful.

Listening to Xu Youyou list Pei Yunzhe’s “crimes” one by one, Zhong Yang’s heart sank lower and lower. She knew Yin Qi had invited someone powerful, but she hadn’t realized it was this level of powerful—or that the man himself was this terrifying.

Zhong Yang turned to look out the window at the bleak night rushing past and murmured in a daze:

“It’s over. Everything’s over.”

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