106: Chapter 106 Let's talk again once you've calmed down.

“Brother Gu, don't listen to his nonsense!” Ignoring Pei Yunxiao's questioning, Song Zhiwei hurried over to Gu Jingshen. Her tone was urgent as she explained, her eyes slightly red. “I didn't use Zhang Fan. I genuinely want to be friends with you all, and I am genuinely worried about Zhang Fan's injury...”

She wanted to explain everything clearly. She wanted to tell Gu Jingshen that she had long wanted to cut ties with Pei Yunxiao, and she wanted to explain that her concern for Zhang Fan was not fake.

But there were some things she couldn't say—the secret of her rebirth, that damned “intelligence-lowering halo,” and how stupid she had been in the past to be deceived by Pei Yunxiao... If she said these things out loud, they would only be taken as the ravings of a madwoman.

“Whether it's nonsense or not isn't decided by words alone.” Gu Jingshen's tone softened, yet it still carried a hint of reservation. “Zhang Fan is still waiting inside; don't make him worry.”

Having said that, he didn't linger. He turned and pushed open the hospital room door, walking inside. When the door closed, he deliberately left a crack, clearly worried that something else might happen outside and wanting to be able to come out at any moment.

Song Zhiwei stood where she was, staring at the crack in the door, feeling a mix of bitterness and soreness in her heart. She knew that Gu Jingshen still didn't fully trust her, but she had no other choice; she could only prove herself slowly through her future actions.

Suddenly, Pei Yunxiao's voice came from behind her, sharp with a sense of embarrassment-induced anger: “Song Zhiwei, stop acting! I can see your little schemes clearly!”

Song Zhiwei turned around abruptly to see Pei Yunxiao lower the hand covering his face. The red mark on his cheek was glaringly obvious, yet his gaze remained arrogant, as if the slap from just before wasn't a lesson, but just a little lovers' spat.

He hurried forward and reached out to grab Song Zhiwei's wrist, his tone filled with condescending arrogance: “Alright, I know you're angry because I talked back to you just now. Here's the deal: I'll give you a chance—apologize to me now, say you shouldn't have gotten so close to that little white face, and I'll forgive you for what happened these past few times. We can go back to how things were.”

Song Zhiwei dodged to the side, avoiding his hand, her gaze sweeping over the crack in the hospital room door. When Gu Jingshen went in just now, she thought she heard Zhang Fan's voice; he must have been woken up by the commotion outside. She wondered if Zhou Yurou and Gu Jingshen would tell him about what was happening outside.

She was worried about Zhang Fan and didn't want to waste any more time with Pei Yunxiao; she just wanted to drive him away quickly so she could go in and check on Zhang Fan's condition.

“Pei Yunxiao, please stop pestering me.” Song Zhiwei's voice was as cold as ice. “You and your parents are nothing more than servants hired by our Song family. And now, you've taken over the nest and want me to apologize to you? Is your brain filled with crap?”

“How can you talk like that!” Pei Yunxiao was stung in his sore spot, his face instantly turning the color of pig liver. “If you hadn't insisted on blocking us from entering the villa today, would all of this have happened? This is all your doing! Especially that person lying in the room; it's all your fault!”

“Pei Yunxiao, you...” Song Zhiwei was trembling with rage. She had truly never seen someone so capable of turning black into white.

It was clearly Pei Yunxiao who condoned the yellow-haired man's actions, yet now he was pushing all the responsibility onto her and Zhang Fan. His train of thought was absurd to the extreme.

But Pei Yunxiao didn't notice her anger at all; instead, he thought she had been moved by his words and was starting to reflect.

He leaned in closer, squeezing a “loving” expression onto his face, and reached out his hands again, trying to grab Song Zhiwei's hand: “Alright, Weiwei, stop being angry, let's make up. Look, I know you've been spoiled at home and have a bit of a temper. If you change in the future and become a bit more sensible, and stop making things difficult for me and my parents, we can be just fine.”

Song Zhiwei looked at his reaching hand and felt only disgust. She took a big step back, a playful smile curling at the corner of her lips: “Alright, since you find it difficult, then I'll give you a chance—starting today, you and your mother get out of the Song family villa together, and never appear again.”

Pei Yunxiao's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, the loving expression on his face instantly stiffening, as if he hadn't heard clearly: “What did you say? Song Zhiwei, you've really gone crazy! Did Ruan Shu say something to you? I can tell you, there's nothing between her and me! Really, we're just ordinary classmates. She approached me, I've never paid her any mind! Don't worry, I'm definitely going to be with you in the future, I won't let her affect us.”

He thought Song Zhiwei was jealous of Ruan Shu and hurriedly explained, his tone urgent and slightly ingratiating, as if all he had to do was deny it, and Song Zhiwei would be like she was before—foolishly believing him.

Song Zhiwei looked at his clumsy performance, and the mockery in her heart grew even stronger.

She softly murmured the name “Ruan Shu,” and images from her past life suddenly flashed through her mind—a cold, rainy night where she was pushed down the stairs by Ruan Shu and fell in front of Pei Yunxiao. She explained the situation to Pei Yunxiao, only to be slapped by him, accused of framing Ruan Shu, and even demanded to apologize to Ruan Shu. Back then, Ruan Shu had been holding Pei Yunxiao's arm, laughing triumphantly and cruelly.

And the wedding that should have been hers; at the end of the red carpet, it was Ruan Shu wearing the wedding dress, Pei Yunxiao holding Ruan Shu's hand, while she lay in the storage room next to the wedding venue, a knife stabbed into her chest by the two of them.

Those images pierced her heart like needles, making her breathing heavy.

She looked up at Pei Yunxiao, the playfulness in her eyes gone, replaced only by cold hatred: “Pei Yunxiao, are you done? Who told you I want to be with you? Where do you get the confidence to think that I, the daughter of the wealthy Song family, would absolutely have to date a gigolo who relies on women to eat?”

Pei Yunxiao was stung pale by her words and finally realized something was wrong.

At this moment, Song Zhiwei's gaze wasn't one of jealousy or anger; it was genuine disgust, the kind of look one gives to trash.

He opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but found he didn't know what to say and could only stand there, stunned.

After a long while, he finally found his voice, his tone filled with self-consolation: “Fine, if you don't want to, then you don't want to... It's probably because your friend was beaten today, you're in a bad mood, and that's why you're saying these angry things to me.”

He paused, then began to hypnotize himself again, “It's okay, I don't blame you. We'll talk again when you've calmed down next time. You loved me so much before, you'll definitely forgive me, I know.”

Hearing his words, Song Zhiwei only felt it was laughable—this person was still living in his own dream, thinking she was still the fool from her past life who was easily coaxed around by him.

Seeing that Song Zhiwei didn't say anything, Pei Yunxiao leaned in closer again, his tone softening with a hint of pleading: “But... Weiwei, can my parents not be fired? They've worked at the Song family for so long and haven't made any mistakes. If they get fired, it'll be hard for them to find work...”

In the end, what he cared about most was still his parents' jobs, and whether they could continue to suck the blood of the Song family.

“Get out!” Song Zhiwei was completely enraged. She could no longer hold back, pulled her phone from her bag, and her fingertips flew as she searched for Butler Wang's number. “Do you not understand human language? I'm calling Butler Wang right now to have him kick you and your mother out of the villa tonight. If you dare to pester me again, I'm calling the police!”