“All right, all right, let’s give it a try~”
Su Shanshan fiddled at her front door for quite a while before finally completing her important task.
She had put in a great deal of effort to finally record Pei Xingyan’s fingerprint into her front gate.
Watching this girl who looked as excited as a child unwrapping a gift she’d been given, Pei Xingyan forced a smile and stepped forward, placing his finger on the sensor.
“Nice~”
Su Shanshan cheered for a while, then grabbed Pei Xingyan’s hand and pulled him inside.
The house’s layout was exactly as Pei Xingyan expected. The entrance on the first floor opened into a huge foyer, followed by an elevator connecting all five floors. Unless he was mistaken, Su Shanshan’s home was three stories above ground and two below.
She was definitely a wealthy lady.
Honestly, Pei Xingyan now had a very strange thought.
Tang Xin’s words echoed in his mind: no wonder Su Shanshan had handed over so much money like it was labor pay. Money from rich people is truly easy to earn; to make money, you need rich people’s money.
With that in mind, Pei Xingyan started complaining about how cruel fate was to him.
When he was still somewhat wealthy, he didn’t like spending money. Now that he’d become poor, the places where he needed to spend money had only increased.
He really must have done something wrong in his past life.
Su Shanshan was still fiddling at the door, casually tossing her shoes about haphazardly, even letting them land at Pei Xingyan’s feet.
He bent down helplessly to pick them up but worried that Su Shanshan might misunderstand his intentions.
So he used his foot to nudge the shoes back into a neat pile instead.
The girl who had just been far from ladylike suddenly transformed into a virtuous little wife.
She carefully pulled a pair of slippers from a cabinet and squatted politely in front of Pei Xingyan.
“Here, please change your shoes~”
Her voice was slightly higher pitched, and her posture proper—just like the image of a traditional Japanese Yamato Nadeshiko.
She wasn’t just joking either; her hand was already reaching toward the hem of Pei Xingyan’s pants.
“I can do it myself…”
Even back when he was at home, Pei Xingyan wasn’t used to being served, let alone by a young, pretty girl with sparkling eyes.
He quickly took the slippers from Su Shanshan’s hand and squatted down to put them on himself.
But the two of them were too close, and their heads bumped with a “bang.”
Su Shanshan rubbed her forehead in pain but instead smiled happily. “Getting married early, huh~” she said gleefully as she changed into her slippers.
She was a bit faster than Pei Xingyan and finished first. Then she stretched out her foot toward him and asked:
“I even painted my nails yesterday. What do you think? Do you like it?”
Pei Xingyan looked and saw her feet were flawless, the skin pale with a hint of rosy warmth, like they were wrapped in milk.
He felt a little embarrassed thinking such things but genuinely had the urge to bite her.
This girl was like a fairy, constantly stirring his heart.
He nodded and quickly looked away.
“Oh, don’t be shy~” Su Shanshan cupped his face and turned his gaze back to her, teasing, “According to the data I got while browsing P Station, liking feet is a pretty common hobby now. If you like it too, can you help me paint my nails next time?”
“Let’s talk about that next time…” Pei Xingyan closed his eyes, showing off his chivalrous demeanor.
“Tsk,” Su Shanshan had a look as if she’d long seen through him being an old pervert and stifled a laugh.
But after all, she was still an inexperienced girl. This whole interaction had flushed her cheeks red, and she fanned herself as she ran off.
Pei Xingyan followed behind her, slowly entering the room.
The house was decorated very simply, clearly not the flashy style of a nouveau riche, but a bit cold and empty.
There was nothing on the tables or sofas, just a few scattered items.
It seemed that Su Shanshan really lived here alone.
But that only made Pei Xingyan more curious: why did Su Shanshan live alone here? It wasn’t close to the school and wasn’t exactly convenient.
Girls her age usually lived with their parents…
Did she have some special reason?
Pei Xingyan wandered around casually, glancing about. On a low cabinet in the living room was a photo of Su Shanshan’s family.
Her father and mother were in their prime, with the look and attire of typical successful people.
Pei Xingyan had met plenty like them.
Usually, they were polite and friendly to others, but that was another matter when it came to the blond guy who’d kidnapped their daughter.
Pei Xingyan looked carefully and noticed something strange.
In the photo, the man and woman flanked their daughter, their faces full of doting affection.
But Su Shanshan’s expression was anything but happy.
She looked bitter, her face cold and expressionless as she stared blankly at the camera.
She looked like she was sulking after a fight with her parents.
Yet Pei Xingyan felt there was more to it.
He studied the photo closely and compared it to the lively girl fiddling with drinks at the water bar earlier, unable to be sure they were the same person.
At that moment, Pei Xingyan suddenly recalled the strange things that had happened around Su Shanshan before, and a chill ran down his spine.
He hurriedly moved away from the photo and went over to Su Shanshan.
“Baby, we’ll have to wait a bit longer. I seem to have forgotten how to use this thing…” Su Shanshan was struggling seriously with the water purifier panel installed on the wall, carefully operating the touchscreen.
“No problem, I’m not thirsty yet,” Pei Xingyan said casually and asked, “Do you know where your parents are?”
“Them? They live over in the east side of the city. It’s more convenient there,” Su Shanshan said without any hint of suspicion, quickly spilling the details of her family.
“Mom works over there, and Dad often has to go to the company, so they usually don’t come back here.”
“Still, they must trust you a lot to leave you alone. Aren’t they worried something might happen…?”
“Yeah, I get scared as soon as it gets dark~” She became a little spoiled, exaggerating her tone as she grabbed Pei Xingyan’s arm, “So from now on, baby, you have to come stay with me, okay? As long as you’re here, I won’t be scared!”
Pei Xingyan grumbled silently in his heart.
Just then, Su Shanshan finally won the battle with the water purifier.
She excitedly grabbed two cups and started looking for some effervescent vitamin C tablets in the kitchen cabinet.
“Baby, can you go to my room? It’s the first room on the left on the second floor.
Find some vitamin C tablets, okay? If they’re not in this cabinet, then they should be in my bedside drawer,” Su Shanshan kept digging and directed Pei Xingyan to help.
Pei Xingyan had no reason to refuse and dutifully headed upstairs.