She gritted her teeth. "Brother, I don't want to talk about it."
If her brother found out that she had given the jade pendant he gifted her to Shang Muye, he would certainly be thoroughly disappointed in her. She just had to wait for Zhou Die to return the pendant, and then she would act as if the whole incident had never happened.
"Oh, so you don't want to tell me," Pei Zongzhi stated calmly.
Jiang Juyou looked over at him. "Brother, you must come to my birthday party." In her past life, she had made her brother angry, so he hadn't attended her birthday banquet. That had been Jiang Juyou's greatest regret.
"Would you rather have me there, or Shang Muye?"
Jiang Juyou stumbled over her words. "I—what does Shang Muye have to do with this? I don't want him to come! I only want you there."
"Heh." Pei Zongzhi did not believe the cunning little fox's words. Regardless, if she dared to do something foolish for Shang Muye again, he would make sure Shang Muye was driven out of Jing City.
Thinking of the recent moves made by the Shang Family, Pei Zongzhi picked up his phone—a phone with a cutesy, pastel pink case. He handed the phone over to her.
Jiang Juyou only then remembered she needed to return his phone. "Oh, I added someone. Let me send the contact card, and then I'll give it back to you."
As she operated the phone, she added, "Brother, I also spent three thousand yuan of yours..." She glanced sideways. "How come you still haven't changed the password?"
When they were children, she and Pei Zongzhi used to play Chinese checkers. Whenever Pei Zongzhi lost, Jiang Juyou would make him change all his passwords to her birthday for a year. But after all these years... he still hadn't changed them.
"Too lazy to bother," Pei Zongzhi said in a cold voice, masking the momentary panic in his heart. He turned his cheek away. Seeing that Jiang Juyou didn't react, he let out a soft, relieved breath.
After Jiang Juyou sent the contact card to herself, she grabbed her own phone to add the person. Pei Zongzhi took his phone back. Neither of them remembered to delete the Zhou Die contact that had been added to his phone. Once he had his phone back, Pei Zongzhi immediately messaged his vice president.
As the car pulled into the Jiang Family villa in Xinghe Bay, Pei Zongzhi’s phone chimed. He lowered his eyes; it was a message from the vice president: "There are currently conflicts of interest regarding the real estate project we were collaborating on with the Shang Family; it is not easy to make a move just yet."
He put the phone away. The Shang Family was a notable name in Jing City; he had never intended to bite off more than he could chew in one go anyway.
Pei Zongzhi looked at Jiang Juyou beside him and naturally took the bag from her hands. "How do you want to spend your birthday?"
Jiang Juyou stiffened, remembering how in her past life, Shang Muye had publicly confessed his love for her at her birthday banquet—all because of a bet he had made with Zhou Die.
"Should we host the banquet at the estate, or would you like to go out? How about a cruise ship?"
"I haven't decided yet."
As soon as they entered, Mother Jiang and Jiang Fuping hurried over, full of joy. "Guai Bao is home."
Jiang Juyou went over and hugged them. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry. I was so inconsiderate before."
The parents exchanged glances, surprised. Why was their precious daughter suddenly so sensible? Even when she had pretended to make peace with them for Shang Muye’s sake in the past, she had never had such a sincere attitude.
"This time..." Jiang Fuping swallowed hard. "Tell us, what does the Shang Family want now?"
Jiang Juyou was stunned. Back when the Shang Family knew she liked Shang Muye, they would often drop hints, pressuring her to promise benefits to them. To please Shang Muye, she had basically granted every request. But Shang Muye didn't know this; he only saw her as an annoying hanger-on.
"No, Mom and Dad... I'm not trying to get anything for the Shang Family."
Jiang Juyou thought of a real estate partnership the Shang Family had desperately wanted six months ago. The Jiang Family had many options for partners, but because Shang Muye's mother had invited her to dinner and brought up Shang Muye, Jiang Juyou had come home and thrown a tantrum, insisting her parents and brother grant the contract to the Shang Family. Her parents, who had never liked Shang Muye, refused. She had locked herself in her room and gone on a hunger strike. In the end, Pei Zongzhi had come home from the office, slammed the signed contract with the Shang Family onto her bed, and growled, "Get downstairs and eat."
Now, the Shang Family was raking in profits from that deal, and Shang Muye's allowance was several times higher than usual. Yet he knew nothing of this, believing the partnership was something his family had earned on their own.
"Then what is it you want this time?" Jiang Fuping watched his daughter acting affectionately and assumed she was trying to give money to the Shang Family again.
"I..." Jiang Juyou wanted to say she didn't want anything, she just wanted their family to be happy together. But she knew that, for now, her words held no weight in their eyes. "I just want to eat." She rubbed her stomach and looked at the dining table.
Jiang Fuping laughed. "We wouldn't let our little princess go hungry, would we?"
The family sat down to eat in high spirits. Jiang Juyou made a point to sit next to Pei Zongzhi. Her father wasn't happy about it. "Why aren't you sitting next to me?"
Mother Jiang shot him a look. "The siblings finally made up, stop meddling."
Jiang Juyou looked at Pei Zongzhi. "Brother, see how much I love you? I even made Dad angry just to sit by you."
Pei Zongzhi paused in the middle of cutting his steak. His slender fingers tightened around the knife handle.
Mother Jiang spoke up, "So, Juyou, do you love Mom and Dad more, or your brother?"
Pei Zongzhi loosened his grip and looked over. This was a question that had plagued Jiang Juyou for over a decade. Ever since she could talk, almost every time they met, all three of them would ask her this.
"Hmm... I guess I love Brother the most, since I made him angry today," she said with a smile toward Pei Zongzhi.
Her father looked at Pei Zongzhi. "What’s wrong? Did the little girl make you angry again?"
"She told me this morning she’d stay by my side all day, and the moment I turned around for a meeting, she vanished."
Both parents guessed who she had gone to see. It was a delicate subject; in the past, a single disparaging word about Shang Muye would upset her and only make her feel more protective of him. Gradually, the whole family had learned to avoid the name "Shang Muye" when speaking to her. They avoided it now as well. "Well then, you’d better make it up to your brother."
Jiang Juyou plucked the small white flower decoration off her steak. "A little flower for you, Brother. Don't be angry anymore, okay?"
She smiled innocently, her doe eyes sparkling with happiness. Pei Zongzhi took it and, reaching out, tucked the flower behind her ear. "Keep it on all night. Don't let it fall off."
Jiang Juyou opened her mouth to speak but froze, afraid to move her head. Pei Zongzhi held the piece of steak he had cut out to her lips. "Don't move."
Jiang Juyou opened her mouth, then cried, "Dad, Mom, help me!"
"Don't talk, Guai Bao. If you move and the flower falls off, you won't be able to coax your brother back," Mother Jiang said, standing up to feed her.