After sending off Lin Xiaoyu, who had endless things she wanted to say, Pei Xingyan remained sitting in the milk tea shop.
He had spent almost the entire day here, to the point where the shop staff were beginning to recognize him.
Just now, when he went to buy milk tea for Lin Xiaoyu, the clerk beat him to it by saying, “You want a full-sugar iced Yang Zhi Gan Lu, right?”
He couldn’t help but admire them silently—no wonder this was a milk tea shop near the university, the part-time staff had such strong memories.
Back when he was delivering takeout elsewhere, his coworkers were all good people, but their memories weren’t so sharp; they’d forget where their orders were within five minutes, causing them to take longer routes.
Pei Xingyan had worked two months as a delivery rider and earned the monthly gold medal for efficient route planning.
But that was only for two months. Those two months taught Pei Xingyan just one thing: working as a wage earner would never make you rich; effort and hardship counted for nothing.
So he quit and sought another way…
Lost in thought, he shook his head and snapped out of the memories.
The reason he hadn’t left yet was because he was waiting for someone.
Waiting for Ye Ziwei.
Ye Ziwei found excuses every few days to come see him, and refusing was pointless. Whether Pei Xingyan was genuinely busy or just pretending, “coincidence” would always bring her nearby, and she’d approach him with a delighted expression.
Pei Xingyan sometimes suspected there might be a tracking chip implanted somewhere in his phone or under his skin by Ye Ziwei.
To save himself some walking, he registered the shop’s location and sat in the same spot, waiting.
The sky was darkening, the mall was getting busier, and couples were starting to pair up, leaning on each other affectionately, swaying as they walked, causing blockages in traffic.
Although they were clingy and blocking the way, the smiles on their faces were genuine.
Pei Xingyan quietly watched them through the glass.
In truth, from a certain perspective, he did crave love—who wouldn’t want a partner who understood, supported, and loved you?
But his current situation wasn’t suitable. To prevent his mother’s sentence from becoming unbearably long, to stop his father from having his head smashed in a “bang” — well, it seemed executions were now done by injection — Pei Xingyan had taken on a massive amount of debt, astronomical by any standard.
Besides, in this society, few people are willing to endure hardship together; not just partners, but friends as well. No one wants to sink into misery over some intangible emotions.
But honestly… Ye Ziwei was exactly that kind of person. Pei Xingyan was certain she was the type who would never leave him.
More than that, she was the type who wouldn’t let him leave her. If it weren’t for maintaining the appearance of a normal person, who knows what she might have done.
But he was genuinely afraid of her, especially after witnessing many of her methods.
Ye Ziwei was perfect in every way except for being somewhat obsessive. And after her illness worsened, she became even more so.
During the most critical period, Pei Xingyan was the one taking care of her. So after she started recovering, she became a little dependent, even unable to be without him. Their feelings twisted, and she began clearing away the girls around him—by any means necessary.
Of course, the timing and motives were Pei Xingyan’s own deductions. He didn’t know exactly when Ye Ziwei’s gaze changed toward him—perhaps from the very beginning her intentions weren’t pure. There’s a saying: bad seeds are born that way.
So Ye Ziwei’s schemes were probably innate. She just happened to fixate on him as her target…
His butt went numb from sitting too long, so he stood up to stretch.
Just then, he saw Ye Ziwei staggering through the crowd.
She leaned on her cane, moving with difficulty and effort, but her presence was strong. Her brows furrowed as she looked left and right, and the men and women around her parted to make way, like an empress inspecting her domain.
When she spotted Pei Xingyan standing by the door, her eyes immediately softened, and her pace quickened.
Whether intentionally or not, just as she reached him, the cane she was leaning on suddenly slipped, causing her to lose balance.
She lunged into Pei Xingyan’s arms.
But she wasn’t panicked. Instead, she looked at him happily and smiled. She hugged his waist, tilted her head back to look up at his face, and shyly stuck out a small tip of her tongue, then scrunched her neck and shook her head slightly to show embarrassment.
Pei Xingyan chuckled and smiled in response.
Although this girl’s intentions were sometimes wicked enough to deserve the label “malicious,” her beauty was undeniably real. Even sickly, she still held people’s gazes captive.
“I can’t walk anymore~” she coquettishly complained.
Pei Xingyan bent down to support her.
She happily leaned her body against his shoulder, as if they were embracing, and with the momentum of newlyweds entering the wedding hall, they walked into the milk tea shop together.
…
“Why did you invite me to a place like this?” Ye Ziwei asked. “Aren’t you the one who hates sweet things the most?”
She sat restlessly in the chair, pressing her hand repeatedly on her calf—a motion to stimulate blood flow.
“I’ll do it for you. You almost passed out from exhaustion…” Pei Xingyan volunteered to help.
“Okay~”
Ye Ziwei didn’t hesitate. She stretched out her leg, placing her foot on his thigh.
Just as Ye Ziwei pretended to be an innocent, harmless girl in front of him, Pei Xingyan had to put on an act as well.
He had to present himself as someone who liked Ye Ziwei too, sometimes taking the initiative, being a little closer, even making slight physical contact, to make Ye Ziwei feel she was in control, that he actually liked her too.
Though this act was fraught with future trouble, it was the best option given the current situation.
He carefully pressed and stroked Ye Ziwei’s calf. The girl’s breathing grew heavier, perhaps because he was pressing too hard, or maybe because she was too excited.
Her legs were pale and delicate, but without the sickly look of someone who rarely moved. Her feet were bare, with no socks—neither long nor short stockings. The smooth, exquisite skin was fully exposed before him.
Today, she wore ballet-style flats. She didn’t dance, but wore them because her legs were weak and soft-soled shoes were inconvenient. Her feet were small, the blue-green veins on the instep faintly visible.
When her small foot moved slightly, it tugged at one’s heart as if it were swaying along.
“Xingyan gege…” she lowered her head and shyly asked, “Is… is… Wēi Wēi’s… pretty?”
She was too embarrassed to say the word out loud, curling her neck and covering her mouth, perfectly embodying the image of a pure and innocent girl.
“Hm, pretty.” Pei Xingyan nodded without looking up, affirming her.
He sneered inwardly. Ye Ziwei’s acting was really good—her bashful look was so vivid that an outsider might think she was a genuine innocent.
But in reality, he knew all too well that the answer Ye Ziwei really wanted to hear was not a simple “pretty,” but something added after, like “show me in your mouth.”
She was a woman who had filled the valley of her heart with desire.