The message had just been sent when Gu Yan’s voice, warm yet tinged with surprise, sounded in Pei Cheng’s ear: "It’s been so many years since your aunt passed away; this is the first time I’ve seen you smile."
Gu Yan looked at him with curiosity, testing the waters with a seemingly casual question: "Have you started dating?"
Pei Cheng looked up, his expression already back to normal as he replied coolly: "No. Just an ordinary friend."
Gu Yan raised an eyebrow, his tone playful: "An ordinary friend? A man or a woman?"
Pei Cheng glanced at him, his voice calm and laced with a hint of languor: "A man."
Gu Yan smiled, lifted his teacup for a sip, and teased, "Is it really a man?"
Pei Cheng casually brushed his bangs from his forehead, leaning back against the chair with a careless look. "Since when did Brother Yan become such a gossip?"
Gu Yan watched him and shook his head with a smile: "It seems this 'friend' is not so ordinary to you after all."
Pei Cheng did not respond. He simply picked up his teacup and took a sip, his gaze drifting into the distance.
Seeing this, Gu Yan stopped pressing and shifted back to the previous topic: "A-cheng, you should find some time to talk to your uncle. You’re family, after all; you can’t keep things so tense forever."
Pei Cheng frowned, his tone impatient: "Don't worry about my business with him."
Gu Yan sighed, wanting to say more, but Pei Cheng had already stood up. "It’s getting late. I’m leaving."
Without waiting for Gu Yan’s reply, he turned and walked out.
Watching his back, Gu Yan shook his head helplessly: "This kid, still as stubborn as ever."
Pei Cheng stepped out of Gu Yan's house. The night breeze was cool, brushing away the restlessness in his heart.
He looked up at the night sky; the stars were sparse, and the moonlight was cold and clear.
He walked over to the black Ducati parked in the yard. Its lines were sleek, shimmering with a cold luster under the moon. He reached out, his slender fingers brushing gently over the body of the bike, his movements casual yet elegant.
Picking up the helmet nearby, he put it on with a fluid motion. Most of his face was obscured, leaving only his ink-black eyes visible—cold, sharp, and intense.
He threw a long leg over the motorcycle, mounting it with a decisive, effortless grace that radiated innate nobility and defiance. He gripped the handlebars, his wrists tensing slightly, and the bike erupted into a low roar, like a sleeping beast being awakened.
A faint smile touched the corner of Pei Cheng’s lips, full of recklessness and flair.
The next second, he twisted the throttle hard. The motorcycle surged forward like an arrow released from a bow, the roar of the engine piercing the silence of the night.
The night wind whistled past, flipping the hem of his clothes and revealing a lean waistline. He raced through the darkness like a black bolt of lightning, moving with a speed and power that made one’s heart race.
The lights along the street blurred into streaks behind him, as if paving a road toward the unknown.
Pei Cheng’s gaze remained calm and focused, his lips set in a firm, cold line beneath the helmet.
Seeing Pei Cheng’s reply, Xu Huan’s heart skipped a beat. Her fingertips lightly brushed the screen, as if she could feel the playfulness and languor in his tone through the words.
She held the phone against her chest, her fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of her blanket, at a loss for how to reply.
Pei Cheng’s mention of a "kept boyfriend" felt like a stone cast into the calm lake of her heart, sending ripples outward.
Just then, the door pushed open with a soft click.
Xu Huan instinctively hid the phone under her quilt, her movements swift and flustered.
She looked up to see Xu Yan walking in, stepping elegantly on high heels with that familiar, unpleasant smile on her face.
"What are you here for?" Xu Huan’s voice turned cold, her eyes filled with wariness and annoyance.
Xu Yan stood by the bed, looking down at her with a smug, meaningful smirk. "What’s wrong? Can’t your younger sister come to see you?"
Her tone was soft, yet laced with a subtle mockery, like a cat teasing a mouse, making one feel deeply uncomfortable.
Xu Huan pressed her lips together, her expression icy. "I don’t need it. My business is none of your concern."
Xu Yan chuckled, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed. She traced a finger over the sheets with a nonchalant air. "I heard our brothers are planning to send you abroad."
She tutted, adopting a detached attitude despite being the one who had caused the harm. "How pathetic. To have a home and yet be unable to return to it."
Xu Huan clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms, her voice thick with suppressed anger: "Why?"
"Why what?" Xu Yan tilted her head, blinking with feigned innocence, the corners of her mouth curling into a sneer.
"Why do you try to frame me at every turn?" Xu Huan looked up, staring directly into Xu Yan’s eyes, her voice trembling with frustration. "I have never done anything to wrong you. Why are you so obsessed with targeting me?"
"Why?" The smile in Xu Yan’s eyes faded, replaced by a chilling, sinister intensity.
She leaned forward, bringing her face close to Xu Huan’s. Her voice was as soft as a whisper, yet carried a bone-chilling coldness. "Of course, it’s because I hate you."
Her gaze was like a serpent’s tongue, licking across Xu Huan’s face with undisguised malice. "How dare you? The moment you returned, all of our brothers' attention turned to you. How is it that you, relying on nothing but that pathetic blood relation, can effortlessly obtain the love and care I’ve spent my entire life trying to earn?"
Xu Huan froze, her brow furrowing in confusion. "The brothers' attention... on me? Xu Yan, you’re mistaken. Their attention has clearly always been on you!"
Her voice was full of bewilderment, as if she had heard something utterly absurd.
Since she was brought back to the Xu Family, when had she ever received their attention? Whether it was the welcome banquet or family outings, their eyes were always fixed on Xu Yan.
Yet here she was, claiming she targeted her because they cared for her.
It was as if Xu Yan had killed someone for no reason and then invented a non-existent crime to justify it.
Seeing Xu Huan’s blank expression, Xu Yan curled her lip in a cold, mocking smile. "That’s because I traded for it through reincarnation!"
"Reincarnation?" Xu Huan’s pupils shrank. She looked at Xu Yan in shock.
"Xu Huan, did you know? Everything you are experiencing now is what I lived through in my past life."
Xu Yan’s voice was ethereal, as if coming from a great distance. "In my past life, you were the Xu Family heiress held in everyone’s palms, while I was nothing more than a disposable adopted daughter. Our brothers had eyes only for you. I tried my best, but I could never gain their approval."
"And all of this was simply because you were the female protagonist, and I was the vicious villainess!"