Deciding that it wasn’t a conversation that she wanted to hear, Ning Xi clenched her fists and said, “I should help out in the kitchen.”
After Ning Xi left, Li Heng curled his lips. “Are you sure that the Ning family will accept her?”
Pei Jingxiu gave him a stern look and rebuked, “There’s nothing that I can’t do!”
“I know, but she’s innocent!” Li Heng got up and patted Pei Jingxiu on the back. “Jingxiu, I’m sure there are other approaches…”
“I’m not going to change my decision. Mind your own business.” Pei Jingxiu removed Li Heng’s hand from his back forcefully. “Didn’t you tell me that Uncle Bei will be back soon? After all, he’s your grandfather’s favorite son. They probably only want you back because he’s missing.”
“I know.” Li Heng’s gaze darkened. Despite his unwillingness, his family didn’t let him off. “How are things at the company?”
“Everything’s fine, don’t worry.” Pei Jingxiu smiled vaguely when the door was flung open again. Fu Chengyan wasn’t surprised to see him. After pausing to take off his shoes, he joined the two other men in the living room.
Fu Chengyan asked Li Heng, “Do you know He Beiting?”
Li Heng frowned at the mention of the name. Fumbling with the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, he answered absent-mindedly, “I think I’ve heard of that name before, but I can’t remember who he is.”
He had quit smoking ever since Pei Huan became pregnant. After their separation, he still had regular cravings for it, but he never smoked.
“I remember that guy vaguely. My source from C Country tells me that he usually travels back and forth between C Country and other neighboring countries. He’s indeed married to Huan, but they aren’t really together. Huan must have married him for other reasons.”
Li Heng nodded. “I know that.”
“Where’s Bao?” Realizing that the kid was missing from the living room, Fu Chengyan frowned.
“He’s upstairs.” But as Li Heng pronounced the words, he had a terrible feeling that something was very, very wrong.
He sprung up from his seat and dashed upstairs immediately. After exchanging worried glances, Fu Chengyan and Pei Jingxiu followed him.
The terrible feeling at the back of his head got stronger when he reached the upper floor. Rushing toward Bao’s room, he only had enough time to react when the shadow in the room discovered him and launched an attack on him.
Soon, Li Heng and the man in black were fighting in Bao’s room.
The man was exceptionally skillful in combat. Li Heng couldn’t get the upper hand when the man attacked with such ferocity.
When Fu Chengyan and Pei Jingxiu saw the fight between Li Heng and the man, Pei Jingxiu joined the fight and helped Li Heng subdue the man by kicking him hard.
Pei Jingxiu moved forward to grab the man, but he was temporarily blinded by a substance sprayed at his eyes.
The man was gone before the others could catch him. Instead of joining the pursuit, which would be fruitless, they turned to Li Heng. “Are you okay?”
Li Heng’s brows were still knitted, but he relaxed slightly at the sight of Bao asleep. However, he tensed up when he saw the syringe on the floor.
“Wait!” Fu Chengyan called Zhou Zheng immediately and ordered him to investigate the names of the visitors that day and strengthen Wutong Residence’s security system. After hanging up, he stared warily at the syringe in Li Heng’s hand.
“Someone is trying to make a move!”
The color drained from Li Heng’s face. Pei Jingxiu gave him a pat on the back and said, “That must be Qin Xiao, the Qin clan’s most skillful assassin. He was the one who attacked Chengyan…”
Fu Chengyan said, “I’ll get Shaoqing up here to take a look at the syringe’s contents. Bao…” Li Heng hurried over to Bao’s bed to check on him. He was still sleeping soundly.
However, when he lifted Bao’s blanket, he spotted a tiny puncture on Bao’s arm. Li Heng’s eyes were filled with a fierceness that only a protective father could possess. But as he scooped Bao up and made his way to leave, Pei Jingxiu halted him. “Wait! We should let Shaoqing have a look at him first. And what would Pei Huan think if you carry Bao off without a valid explanation?”
Li Heng knitted his brows. “But…”
“Let Shaoqing have a look first.”
Fu Chengyan appeared at the door with Su Shaoqing behind him. The latter had already wiped off his usual cheeky grin and had a stern look on his face. Walking toward Li Heng, he said, “Put Bao down on the bed.”
Li Heng followed his instructions. After checking Bao’s body and temperature, Su Shaoqing said, “He’s fine currently, but I have to analyze the contents of the syringe and draw Bao’s blood for a thorough check-up.”
“Do whatever you have to!” Li Heng nodded.
“If the contents of the syringe prove to be some kind of virus, Bao may… If I can’t prove anything, I may need to proceed with more lab tests. Meanwhile, you have to be prepared that anything can happen, since different viruses have different incubation periods. As for Pei Huan…”
“Don’t tell her first.” Li Heng’s voice was gruff. “She’ll definitely panic!”
He overheard Shi Nuan and Pei Huan’s entire conversation in the kitchen earlier. Pei Huan hadn’t been doing well for the past three years, and Bao was almost kidnapped. The woman would be heartbroken to know that her son was hurt.
“But the truth will be revealed sooner or later! She’s Bao’s mother, and therefore she has the right to know!”
“Let’s listen to Li Heng first. We’ll decide whether to tell Huan once we know what is in the syringe.” Fu Chengyan patted Su Shaoqing on the back and spoke firmly. “We’ll leave this to you then.”
“Alright.” Although Su Shaoqing seemed unreliable at times, they could still count on him at crucial times. “How did you know there was an intruder?”
Li Heng frowned. “I just knew.”
He wasn’t sure how he knew either. It just suddenly occurred to him that the atmosphere was quieter than usual, and the fact that Bao was nearly kidnapped in the past. If the perpetrator were aiming for them, Bao could be hurt.
Su Shaoqing was immersed in his own thoughts. After a long silence, he spoke, “I shall not stay for dinner. It’s best to analyze the contents of the syringe right away.”
“Yes.” Li Heng nodded in agreement. “We’ll have to trouble you then.”
Su Shaoqing arched his eyebrow. “You owe me a dinner. I’d better get going!” He left hurriedly after drawing Bao’s blood.
Awakened by the pricking of the syringe, Bao started crying and wailing in pain.
Pei Huan was wondering why Su Shaoqing left in a hurry when she heard Bao crying. Li Heng was at a loss on how to coax Bao to stop crying. Fu Chengyan and Pei Jingxiu were feeling helpless as well, but they couldn’t help laughing at Li Heng’s clumsiness.
When Pei Huan reached Bao’s room at top speed and saw Li Heng coaxing Bao, she frowned angrily and yelled, “What are you doing?”
She took Bao into her arms and caressed him gently. “Don’t cry, Bao. Mommy’s here. What happened? Did you miss me?”
“Mommy, it hurts!” Bao wailed and wrapped his arms tightly around Pei Huan’s neck.
Pei Huan shot Li Heng a suspicious look. “Why is Bao crying in pain? What have you done to him?”
Li Heng frowned at the accusation. “I did nothing!” Keeping a straight face, he lied, “He fell off the bed while sleeping, and I didn’t know how to coax him back to sleep.”
Pei Huan obviously didn’t believe him. She turned to Fu Chengyan and Pei Jingxiu, “Chengyan…”
“He’s telling the truth. We heard a noise and came upstairs. You know that we’re not good at coaxing kids.” Having said that, Fu Chengyan shot Pei Jingxiu a look, signaling him to say something. The latter chimed in with a smile on his face, “Seems like Li Heng’s not great at playing the role of a father!”
It took a while for Pei Jingxiu to realize that he had uttered something that he shouldn’t have when neither of them gave him a reply. Feigning a cough to cover up his mistake, he changed the subject by praising, “Bao is so cute. He looks exactly like a miniature Li Heng!”
Pei Jingxiu really had a flair of making bad conversations. However, what he said was the truth, and it was a truth that made Pei Huan feel awkward.
Nevertheless, she scoffed, “You need an optometrist, Mr. Pei. How can Bao look like Mr. Li? He’s not his father.”
Li Heng narrowed his eyes. “Pei Huan, even if he’s not my son, I’ll make sure he becomes my son one day. Just wait and see!”
Then, Li Heng went downstairs with Pei Jingxiu. Pei Huan was shaking with anger at what Li Heng said earlier. When he finally disappeared out of sight, she yelled, “You a*shole!”
“Huan!” Fu Chengyan shook his head disapprovingly. “How did you know He Beiting in the first place?”
Pei Huan was taken aback by the question. “Chengyan, why are you asking me this all of a sudden?”
Fu Chengyan didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he reached out to carry Bao from Pei Huan’s arms and proceeded to head downstairs. Pei Huan followed him hastily. “Chengyan, you haven’t answered my question. Why are you asking about Beiting? What…”
“Even if you don’t tell me, I will be able to find out about him too, Huan.” He stared into her eyes firmly. “I have been looking for you for three years but to no avail. Don’t you think that he has something to do with it?”
Pei Huan shuddered from the thought of it. “That’s impossible! Beiting… He… I don’t think he’s capable of that. I met him by chance four years ago when he saved my life. I…”
Fu Chengyan patted her shoulder gently. “Let’s set this matter aside first. What did the doctor tell you today?”
“Dr. Su thinks I still need a full body checkup because it has been years. He’s worried that my mother will face transplant rejection. The results for the checkup won’t be out soon though.”
Pei Huan was overwhelmed by sadness every time she talked about Ning Xin’s illness. “By the way, Ning Xi… The girl that Mr. Pei brought… Is she…”
“I think she’s your uncle’s long-lost daughter.”
