Pei Yingchen let out a soft scoff and exhaled a puff of white smoke.
His indifferent eyes looked gloomy under the play of light and shadow, and his complexion wasn’t good either. Too many upsetting things, he was very annoyed, and looked especially gloomy at that moment.
"Yingchen." Wei Chengzhuo poured him a glass of wine.
Pei Yingchen reached over and looked out through the wine glass, so blurry, so fucked up.
"Let’s not think about unhappy things!" Lu Yang gave a signal to the nearby waiter, "Come on, drink, we’re not going home sober today!"
Not going home sober was impossible.
Pei Yingchen couldn’t get drunk.
His alcohol tolerance had always been strong.
Even if everyone present passed out from drinking, he might still not be drunk.
"Not drinking anymore." Pei Yingchen stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, downed the wine in one go, then stood up, "When it’s time for my marriage banquet, none of you need to come, it’s meaningless anyway."
"When things here are settled, let’s go abroad and have some fun."
Pei Yingchen lifted his eyelids, his sharp eyes carrying a faint cold light.
"Ying... Yingchen, if you don’t like that person, why are you getting married to them? If it’s just for a well-matched marriage, actually, we could do that too." As if he had thought it over for a long time, Wei Chengzhuo tugged at his sleeve and suddenly spoke.
Pei Yingchen raised an eyebrow slightly, "Chengzhuo-ge, that’s a joke, right?"
He was still willing to leave them both some dignity.
Wei Chengzhuo looked at Pei Yingchen’s cold gaze, his Adam’s apple moved, and he quickly explained, "No, I didn’t mean that, I’m saying if it’s all about a business marriage, actually we could too. After marriage, you can do whatever you want, I won’t stop you, won’t control you… we’d still be friends."
"You are funny." After saying this, Pei Yingchen left.
The whole private room fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone quieted down.
They looked at each other, not saying a single word.
—
In the following two days, Pei Yingchen stayed in his room sleeping the whole time.
It wasn’t until the day before the wedding banquet that Jian Wenjun came to see him, and only then did he leave the room.
"Oh my, dear baby." Wenjun reached out her hand to touch Pei Yingchen’s thin and tired face, full of heartache, "Such a good child, how did you lose so much weight?"
Pei Yingchen leaned back against the wall, his eyelids half-lowered lazily, "Mom, I’m fine."
"You came because of tomorrow’s banquet, right?" Pei Yingchen said, "I know. I won’t mess it up tomorrow."
"No, child." Jian Wenjun shook her head and said, "I know you’re unhappy about this, so I discussed it with the Shen family. On the day of the wedding, you don’t need to show up. It’s just relatives from both families attending. You can continue living at home. It’s only for some important occasions that you’ll need to appear together with that heir from the Shen family."
According to Jian Wenjun, the two of them really were just strangers forced to be bound by some kind of relationship. Even when treated this way, that heir from the Shen family didn’t get angry. Maybe he himself wasn’t satisfied with this arranged marriage either.
"On the night of the wedding, I’ll meet with that person." To put it plainly, wasn’t it just because his position wasn’t stable yet, and he hadn’t fully gained control of the family assets?
Then if the Shen family heir’s position stabilized, and he gained full control of the assets, they could naturally dissolve the marriage right?
So if that was the case, then he could go meet the heir, explain how he could help him, and canceling the marriage contract would be totally reasonable, right?
"What is it..." Jian Wenjun saw Pei Yingchen lost in thought for a long time and couldn’t help but ask.
Pei Yingchen smiled back, "Just thinking of some things to say to the other side."
"Alright, then I’ll talk to the Shen family. On the night of the wedding, you’ll meet at the manor. That’s their wedding gift to both of you." Jian Wenjun said.
Pei Yingchen nodded, "Okay."
—
The wedding was held as scheduled.
Not a single mishap occurred.
Of course, the Shen family would never allow any mishap.
The people below told him that after the two separated, Shen Xianning returned to the previous rented apartment. As for the card Pei Yingchen gave him, Shen Xianning didn’t use a single cent of it. Well, based on what he knew of Shen Xianning, not using it was just disliking him.
The so-called marriage alliance was just the Shen family's own self-indulgence.
By the time Pei Yingchen woke up, the so-called banquet had already ended.
He glanced at his phone. It was past seven in the evening.
Speaking of which.
Was it really not obvious that this was just a so-called business marriage? One side of the marriage didn’t even show up. As for whether someone from the Shen family showed up, what did that have to do with him?
He sat up, ran a hand through his hair. His expression looked cold and distant, his hair slightly curled, appearing fierce in the shadow of the desk lamp.
He casually fixed his hairstyle, randomly put on a suit, and took the car to the manor.
The driver sat in the front, looking at Pei Yingchen with a “stay away from me” expression. He wisely didn’t speak.
The manor was in a remote location. The car took about an hour to get there.
The front and back yards were full of roses. Under the moonlight, the roses glowed with a cold light. Unfortunately, there was no moon tonight.
The auntie in the manor had received word early that Pei Yingchen was coming, so she had been waiting at the front.
“Mr. Pei, Mr. Shen is already waiting for you in the study.” The auntie led Pei Yingchen into the manor.
The manor had only been simply decorated. Inside, there was no sign that a newlywed couple would be moving in. The Shen family probably also knew that Pei Yingchen was unhappy with the marriage, so they didn’t decorate extravagantly in places he could see.
Pei Yingchen nodded slightly, hands in his pockets, following her upstairs carelessly.
To be honest.
This place was filled with a familiar scent.
“Mr. Shen is in the study, please go in.” The auntie didn’t enter herself, only brought Pei Yingchen to the door of the study.
Pei Yingchen let out a troubled “mn,” raised his hand to press the doorknob, then walked in.
The study was large.
Inside, there was even a big bed and a private bathroom. Pei Yingchen frowned slightly.
Because in the visible space, he didn’t see that heir from the Shen family.
Annoying.
He heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.
Buzz.
The pheromone detection band on his wrist suddenly made a slight vibration.
This detector hadn’t made any reaction since he and Shen Xianning separated. Now...
Pei Yingchen raised his wrist and saw the number on it: 68%.
A concentration almost enough to leave a personal scent on a lover.
More importantly, this detector would only react to that one person.
Pei Yingchen seemed to realize something.
He looked up at the glass door of the bathroom. About ten seconds later, the glass door was opened from the inside.
A man wearing a white suit walked out.
What kind of face was that?
Beautiful, cold, aloof.
A pair of misty blue eyes carried a faint chill, yet couldn’t hide the deep affection in their depths.
The face he longed for day and night appeared here, catching him off guard.
“Shen – Xian – Ning.” Pei Yingchen called his name word by word.
Shen Xianning looked up at Pei Yingchen. His eyes were misty, looking pitiful, but he avoided Pei Yingchen’s questioning gaze.
Pei Yingchen stood up, forcing Shen Xianning to sit back on the floor-to-ceiling windowsill.
Shen Xianning turned his head away, ears red, and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Ha.” Pei Yingchen leaned back and exhaled, sounding like he was laughing from anger. “So you’re that heir the Shen family kept hidden outside?”
Shen Xianning nodded with difficulty.
Pei Yingchen: “Then our marriage alliance?”
Shen Xianning: “I begged for it.”
Pei Yingchen completely laughed in anger. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with an enamel lighter, took a deep drag, and exhaled white smoke.
He never smoked in front of Shen Xianning, because he knew the other hated the smell. But now, he had to rely on this bitter taste to suppress his rising fury.
He wasn’t just angry. He felt ridiculous.
But he wouldn’t get angry at Shen Xianning.
So after exhaling a breath, he lifted his lips calmly: “You have one cigarette’s time to explain.”
He paused and said, “No matter what your explanation is, after I finish this cigarette, I’m going to fck you.”
He tilted his chin slightly, eyes looking down, filled with strong pressure.
His aura was completely natural.
Shen Xianning’s hands on his knees suddenly clenched. “A-Chen, Shen Zeming cheated with another woman. Mom left the Shen family in anger. I... I chose to leave with her.”
“I know my younger brother caused trouble, so they’ve been trying to bring me back. But I wouldn’t come back. More importantly, Mom never forgave the Shen family. She wouldn’t go back, and I...
“What happened between you and me, I also found it very unexpected. After Mom passed away, the Shen family found me."
“They said they could let me be with you because they had the marriage contract between you and the Shen family. The condition was that I had to return to the Shen family. At first, I didn’t agree, because we... I felt our relationship didn’t need a contract to hold it together. But they said the one to marry into the Pei family had to be the Shen family heir"
“If I didn’t return, it would be my younger brother overseas who’d marry you. I didn’t want you to marry that person, so I could only agree to return to the Shen family. I kept it from you because I was afraid you’d be angry.”
That was his explanation, but Pei Yingchen could already guess the real reason. It was nothing more than thinking Pei Yingchen didn’t love him enough. He couldn’t be sure of Pei Yingchen’s feelings, so he used this way to tie them together.
Shen Xianning actually loved Pei Yingchen more than he thought.
Shen Xianning finished speaking.
Pei Yingchen also finished the cigarette in his hand.
He stubbed the cigarette out on the windowsill. A wisp of white smoke rose from the butt.
Pei Yingchen exhaled his last breath of smoke, bent down to meet Shen Xianning’s gaze, and said, “A-Ning, you lied again.”
Shen Xianning’s face turned pale.
“No, I didn’t.”
But Pei Yingchen no longer had the patience to listen.
He suddenly picked the man up and slung him over his shoulder, then walked to the bed and threw Shen Xianning onto it.
Under Shen Xianning’s shocked gaze, he took off his tie and bound Shen Xianning’s wrists, then slowly began to unbutton his shirt. “A-Ning, I said, after I finish that cigarette, I’ll fck you.”
“No, wait.” Pei Yingchen’s eyes were ones Shen Xianning had never seen before.
desire, darkness, possession...
Pei Yingchen bent down, grabbed Shen Xianning’s ankle, and dragged him beneath him.
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