Pei Huan went blank at his words before retaliating, “You’re an idiot, Li Heng!”
Li Heng teased, “If I’m an idiot, then what are you?”
Pei Huan gritted her teeth and glared at Li Heng angrily. “I’ve seen many shameless men, but none of them are as shameless as you!”
Li Heng’s grin widened. “Well, you can just ignore everyone later. If they put on a b*tchy face, you should show the same face to them. No matter what they do, do the exact opposite of what they want you to. If they curse you, curse them back. But if they want to hit you, it will be better for you to strike first.”
Li Heng drove and rambled on to Pei Huan seriously. The latter wanted to ignore him at first, but Li Heng kept rambling on and on, regardless of her lack of response. Finally, Pei Huan couldn’t take it anymore. “Fine, I get it. In short, I just have to go against every single person of the Li clan, and it would be best to piss them off so much that one or two of them died of infuriation. Am I right?”
“Exactly! I have confidence in your ability to do so.” Li Heng narrowed his eyes and smiled in agreement.
Pei Huan scoffed. “Li Heng, I’m warning you; I won’t be responsible for your grandfather’s death if the old man can’t take my harsh words and dies from shock.” Pei Huan did not favor the Li clan one bit. To her, they were all insane lunatics, except for Li Jing.
She actually didn’t like Li Heng’s parents as well.
Back then, almost the whole of the Li clan was against her relationship with Li Heng. Only Aunt Zhang from Wuyun Residence and Li Jing supported their relationship. That was the time she had seen for herself the Li clan’s evil means of separating her from Li Heng.
Every one of them had claimed how much they cared for Li Heng. They claimed that everything they did was for his own good. But they were simply trying to make use of him. That was because Li Heng was the smartest person in the family; he was the one who could keep the clan and their family business together. However, once Li Xufan became the head of the family or Li Cenbei returned, Li Xinzhi would then cut down Li Heng’s power and influence within the family. Pei Huan had witnessed that with her own eyes four years ago – she knew Li Xinzhi had always done so to Li Heng.
She bet Li Xinzhi was going to do the same thing for calling Li Heng back this time. Because Li Cenbei, the son of the most favored woman of Li Xinzhi, had returned.
Anger and sadness gathered in her eyes when Pei Huan thought of Li Cenbei. She might not love the man, but she had always regarded Li Cenbei as her family for the past few years.
Pei Huan knew the reason Li Heng brought her back. Li Xinzhi had always thought of himself as an upright elder who made sound judgments of a person’s character. Back then, he even resorted to lowly wicked means to destroy her marriage with Li Heng.
If Li Xinzhi came to know that Pei Huan had relationships with Li Heng and Li Xufan and became the wife of his most beloved son, he would definitely be shocked into a terrible stroke.
That was the reason why Pei Huan had agreed to follow Li Heng to the Li Residence.
Pei Huan was never a kind woman to start. She would always remember all their evil deeds; especially how the Li’s have mistreated her and harmed her whenever Li Heng was not around. As a member of the Fu clan, Pei Huan knew that kindness was not in her blood.
“What are you thinking about?”
Li Heng turned around to check on her, only to notice the vengeance in her eyes. “Huan?”
Pei Huan regained her composure and snorted. “I’m wondering how the old man will react after knowing that I’ve married his beloved youngest son. I wonder if he will vomit blood out of rage and go down with a stroke later.”
Li Heng narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “I’m saying this one last time – we are not divorced yet. You are still my wife!”
“What’s the point of fooling yourself?” Pei Huan lowered her eyes and stroked Bao’s face. “Actually, I’ve almost forgotten everything that happened to us last time. You see, I have been living very well for the past three years without you, and I see that you have been living just as well without me.”
“My life has never been well, Huan. It has never been well!”
Despite his pleas, Pei Huan closed her eyes and ignored Li Heng throughout the journey.
Seeing how she refused to respond to him, Li Heng had no choice but to shut his mouth and keep quiet.
They arrived at the Li Residence half an hour later. The butler had asked the servants to wait for Li Heng outside, and they immediately reported back the moment they saw his car. “Young Master Heng is back!”
Li Heng parked his car in the courtyard and got down from the car first. The butler then approached him with a smile. “Young Master Heng, you’re back. What a coincidence; Master Bei has also just arrived!”
Li Heng curled his lips in disdain. “Oh, really?”
He then went to the backseat and opened the car door for Pei Huan. “You can get down now.”
The butler couldn’t wrap his head around the situation. When he landed his gaze on the woman who came down from the car, his eyes nearly popped out from his sockets. “Ms… Ms. Pei!”
Pei Huan came down with Bao in her arms. Her arms were getting sore from carrying Bao for too long. Seeing that, Li Heng took the boy from her. “Give me my child!” Pei Huan protested.
Li Heng eyed the butler briefly before looking back at Pei Huan. “Aren’t your arms sore from carrying him for so long? You’re going to drop him soon.”
“I won’t!” Pei Huan retorted. “Bao is my son. I will never let him get hurt!” She would never let him get hurt, even if she had to injure herself from preventing that.
Li Heng frowned at her words. A hint of impatience flashed on his face when he saw the butler still standing rooted to his place. “Why? Aren’t you going back in?”
“Oh, I am. It’s just that the Old Master didn’t mention that Ms. Pei is…” The butler’s voice faltered when his eyes met with Li Heng’s stern ones.
Li Heng smirked icily. “You must be getting old for forgetting how to address her now. Pei Huan is my wife and the young mistress of the family.”
“Yes, yes. I’m sorry, Young Mistress Huan.”
Li Heng side-eyed the butler and went in with Bao.
Pei Huan’s eyes widened when Li Heng carried Bao away. When she returned her gaze to the butler, her eyes were cold. She smiled frostily. “I bet you don’t wish to see me here. The same goes for me, actually. But, Li Heng told me that there will be a good show today, so I’ve come over to enjoy it.”
“Young Mistress Huan, you… That child?”
Pei Huan did not answer him and only followed Li Heng in.
Upon stepping foot into the residence, Pei Huan could clearly feel the tension in the air. Almost all members of the Li clan had arrived. Other than Li Cenbei, whom she had never known before, the rest were all familiar faces from three years ago. Li Heng’s parents were there, and Li Jing and Li Xinzhi were sitting in the middle. Beside them were Li Min and Li Xufan, but what surprised her was the woman sitting beside him with a little girl. That woman beside Li Xufan… isn’t that Jiang Xinyuan?
Pei Huan was shocked by the sight. She quickly landed her eyes on the girl in Jiang Xinyuan’s arms.
Jiang Xinyuan is sitting with Li Min and Li Xufan. That means Li Heng did not lie to me when he said that her baby belongs to a member of the Li clan. But don’t tell me that Li is not Li Heng, but Li Xufan?
Pei Huan suddenly felt nauseous. Back then, Li Xufan had chosen Lin Yunjia over her. He had dumped her just to be with his old and sallow adopted mother. She had thought that Lin Yunjia was his only true love if he could overcome the huge age gap between them. Never had she expected him to hook up with Jiang Xinyuan at the same time.
Pei Huan then shifted her gaze to Li Cenbei, who was sitting beside Li Xinzhi. The way he had dressed himself today was a huge contrast with the He Beiting she thought she had known for the past three years.
Pursing her lips bitterly, she suddenly realized that Li Cenbei’s eyes were on her too.
Not just Li Cenbei; all of the Li clan had their eyes set on her and Li Heng, and especially on Bao, who was sleeping quietly in Li Heng’s arms.
The living room was spacious, but with so many people crowded in the same place, Pei Huan somehow felt herself suffocating in the crowded room.
Li Xinzhi glared hard at the child in Li Heng’s arms before turning to Pei Huan. “Heng, what do you mean by this? Why are you bringing this indecent woman to our home?”
Indecent?
Pei Huan smirked at the remark. “Hey, old man. After a few years of not seeing you, your way of insulting is still so old-fashioned and not in time.”
“You!” Li Xinzhi’s face reddened in rage as he pointed at Pei Huan angrily. “You… you ill-mannered woman! You’re not fit to be my granddaughter-in-law!” He then turned to look at Li Heng in disappointment. “Are you going against me now? I told you to break up with this woman, and you did very well for the past three years without her. Now, why are you losing your mind the moment she returns? You really disappoint me, Heng.”
Li Xinzhi then glared at Li Cennan reprovingly. “Look at what kind of son you’ve raised!”
Li Cennan and his wife dared not say anything to defend their son, considering how old Li Xinzhi was. But their gazes were filled with warning as they looked at Li Heng.
But Li Heng merely ignored them and curled his lips in disdain. “Pei Huan is my wife, not some indecent woman with ill manners. Actually, just as how you don’t want Pei Huan to step foot in the residence, I don’t want to be here as well. If it weren’t because of you, who insisted on having me here, I would not have brought Pei Huan over.”
“You! Are you trying to give me a heart attack! Didn’t you hear what I said? I will never recognize Pei Huan as part of the Li clan, and that she shall never marry into the Li clan!”
“I never said she is part of the Li clan. In fact, I’m not either,” Li Heng retorted calmly. That was enough to throw Li Xinzhi off his feet. Luckily, Li Cenbei was there to catch Li Xinzhi before the latter collapsed. “Are you alright?”
Li Xinzhi shook his head and took a deep breath before sitting down again, but his cruel eyes were still on Pei Huan. “I’ve never seen such a shameless woman before.”
“Same here,” Pei Huan retaliated. “Regardless of whether I’ve divorced Li Heng or still married to him, I have never said that I want to be a part of your clan. Old man, I bet you’ve forgotten that you were the one who removed his name from the family register decades ago. Don’t you remember that?”
“You!”
Agitated by her words, Li Xinzhi almost fainted on the spot. Once again, Li Cenbei calmed his father down from his anger.
Li Cenbei uttered with a slight frown, “Pei Huan… you…”
“I what?” Pei Huan landed her gaze on Li Cenbei, and then returned her gaze to Li Xinzhi. “Old man, I have a piece of good news to tell you. I may have nothing to do with Li Heng now, but I now have something going on with your youngest son, Li Cenbei. I got married to him in C Country three years ago, and I even have a child with him.” Pei Huan pointed at Bao, showing him off with a smile. “I think our relationship is pretty complicated now. Should I address you as Great-grandpa, or should I address you as Grandpa? I am Li Heng’s ex-wife, after all. Or should I call you Dad like how my husband Li Cenbei calls you?”
“You!” This time, Li Xinzhi felt the blood rushing to his head and was on the brink of fainting.
“Dad! Are you alright?” Li Cenbei caught Li Xinzhi and pinched his philtrum. “Dad?”
Li Xinzhi slowly regained his consciousness and grabbed hold of Li Cenbei. “Tell me, Bei. This woman is spouting nonsense, right? What she said isn’t true, right?”
“I…” Li Cenbei hesitated. His gaze was filled with mixed emotions when he turned to Pei Huan, but the woman only smirked at him. “ Old man, you’d better think properly about how you want me to address you to make you feel better.”
