Pei Huan was about to give him a brush off, but she swallowed her words upon seeing Bao and Aunt Zhang giggling happily in the living room. She didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere. “Bao and I are only here today to have a meal. You know it.” Her voice was soft but firm.
It made her feel uneasy when Li Heng fixed his gaze on her. Luckily, Aunt Zhang took the heat off her when she called them over, “Heng, Huan, what’s taking you so long? Did Huan manage to find her shoes? You told me Huan was back a couple of days ago, so I’ve already washed them clean and kept them in the shoe cupboard.”
“I found them, Aunt Zhang.” Pei Huan forced a smile as she changed into her house slippers and walked past Li Heng to head to the living room.
Li Heng’s gaze followed her figure until she vanished from sight. Time is on my side! I believe she will come back to me one day. I will wait for her.
Aunt Zhang was shooting the breeze with Bao. “Bao, are you hungry yet? Grandma has cooked a lot of food. We can eat now if you’re hungry. What do you think?”
“Alright.” Bao rubbed his tummy as he exclaimed, “I’m so so so hungry! I want grandma to feed me!”
“Okay! Grandma will feed you,” Aunt Zhang replied, indulging his request.
Pei Huan was looking at the two getting along with each other. Bao seems to have forgotten about what happened a year ago. Based on her observation, Bao seemed to be unaffected by the incident as he could get along with other people rather well since they were back in Jiang City.
However, he had been diagnosed as a child with low emotional intelligence when she brought him to a psychiatrist. Not only that, but he was also always plagued with nightmares when he was in Jiang City. She couldn’t help feeling suspicious because Bao had always behaved like a normal child in Jiang City.
“Let’s have dinner!” Aunt Zhang brought Bao to the dining hall. Li Heng slightly frowned upon seeing Pei Huan staring blankly into space. “If you really don’t like it here, I won’t force you to come over next time.”
Pei Huan snapped out of her trance. “Huh? What did you say?”
“It’s nothing.” Li Heng pursed his lips, knowing that he was still repulsive to Pei Huan. “I said if you really don’t like it here, I won’t force you to come again.” Then, he rose to his feet.
Before Pei Huan even realized it, she had grabbed hold of his hand.
Li Heng froze at once, but he didn’t dare look at her. Although he had his back to her, Pei Huan could feel his body stiffen, so she loosened her grip. Li Heng turned to face her and held her hand. “Are you giving me hope?”
“I… I have something to tell you.” She evaded his question.
“What is it?” Li Heng took a glance at Aunt Zhang and Bao in the dining hall. “Aunt Zhang, you and Bao can start eating first. Don’t feed him food that’s too spicy,” he reminded.
“I know, I know. I’m not yet a dotard!” Aunt Zhang complained, “Don’t you remember I’m the one who brought you up? Of course I know how to take care of a child.” She huffed in annoyance.
Li Heng let out a chuckle. Then, he shifted his gaze to Pei Huan. “Tell me, what is it that you wanted to say?”
Pei Huan shot a glance at Aunt Zhang before suggesting, “Let’s talk in the study.”
Li Heng was slightly bewildered, but he nodded and led the way up the stairs. Pei Huan looked around as they headed to the second floor and noticed that the decoration in the corridor looked exactly like how it used to be three years ago, with the same antiques and paintings. It made her heart pound like crazy.
When she decided to cut ties with Li Heng and left with a broken heart, there were times when she would think about him. However, she would always remind herself that Li Heng didn’t love her at all and he was only making use of her. At this moment, however, her thoughts wavered.
“We’re here.” Li Heng pushed the door open to let her in.
As expected, the decoration of the study remained unchanged. Everything in Wuyun Residence was a reminder to her of the times when they had first gotten married.
Li Heng knew she wasn’t unperturbed at all, but he remained silent while gesturing her to take a seat. “So tell me, what is it? Forget about it if you’re going to ask me to give up.”
“It concerns Bao,” she began.
Li Heng’s eyes flickered.
“I need your help to look into something…”
“Go on!”
“As you know, Bao was kidnapped a year ago. After that incident, I noticed Bao was behaving abnormally, so I brought him to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist said Bao has not worked through the trauma, and he has started showing signs of autism. And also… He said Bao has a low degree of emotional intelligence.”
Low emotional intelligence? Autism? Is it really that serious? Li Heng couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
From his contact with Bao the past few days, the boy seemed like a normal child.
“Do you think I’m lying? I was actually doubtful as well because Bao looks so normal when he’s with you. However, he’s slow on the draw, and there are times where I catch him blabbering to himself. Do you think I don’t wish to bring him to the amusement park? I can’t bring myself to do so because he was kidnapped before at the amusement park. I brought him there once, but that place repulses him.”
“What do you want me to do?” Li Heng knotted his brow. “Do you want me to look for an eminent psychiatrist? Or do you want me to look into the kidnapping incident? Weren’t you with Li Cenbei at that time? Didn’t he do anything about it?”
Pei Huan’s face darkened at the mention of Li Cenbei’s name. “He was not there when the incident happened, and I never told him about it afterward either.”
Li Heng frowned slightly. “Leave it to me; I will look into it.”
Pei Huan was relieved. “Thank you.” However, Li Heng was displeased by her distant manner. “You don’t need to thank me for this. After all, Bao is my son as well.”
“I…” Pei Huan intended to refute his claim, but then she saw the ambiguous smile on his face. He is too clever to let someone pull the wool over his eyes!
“I know you haven’t forgiven me for what happened three years ago, but trust me, I will get to the bottom of it. And about Bao… Anyone can tell that he and I look alike, and taking a DNA paternity test is just a matter of formality. If you really need a paternity test report to prove that we are blood-related, it’s a cinch for me to obtain one, but I don’t wish to do it that way.” Li Heng bore straight into her eyes. “Huan, please give me some time.”
Pei Huan bit her lips and fell silent. For the first time, she didn’t come back at him. Instead, his words made her rethink whether it was the right decision to leave Jiang City three years ago. What if it’s all a conspiracy? Otherwise, wouldn’t it be too coincidental that Li Heng’s uncle, Li Cenbei, happened to be the one who came to the rescue?
“Come on! Let’s join them for dinner.”
“Li Heng!” Pei Huan called out. “Don’t tell my brother about Bao’s condition just yet.”
Li Heng narrowed his eyes. “Alright!” Bao is my son, so of course, I will take matters into my own hand.
Even though Fu Chengyan was his buddy and Pei Huan’s brother, he would sometimes be jealous of him for having such a close relationship with her. Bao and Pei Huan were the most important people to him. Li heng was unwilling to share them with anyone else, not even Fu Chengyan.
Pei Huan had no idea that Li Heng was acting like a green-eyed monster. Since Ning Xin was in poor condition and Fu Chengyan had to take care of her, she was reluctant to bother Fu Chengyan.
When Li Heng and Pei Huan went downstairs, they noticed Aunt Zhang telling Bao a story. The boy’s eyes were full of excitement – he was completely absorbed in the story.
With his one hand and in his pocket, Li Heng approached them with a smile. “Bao, are you done eating?”
“Daddy!” Bao hopped off the chair and clung to Li Heng’s thigh. “Grandma is amazing! She knows a lot more stories than Mommy does.”
Li Heng narrowed his eyes, casting a glance at Pei Huan. “Really? What kind of stories does your mommy tell you?”
Bao tilted his head as he tried to recall. “Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Snow White, and The Seven Dwarfs, and also The Prince and The Frog.” Bao added sheepishly, “Actually, Mommy knows a lot of stories, but she has run out of stories because she needs to tell me one story every day.”
Li Heng grinned. “Bao, do you enjoy listening to stories?”
“I love it!” Bao gave a firm nod.
“But Mommy does get tired sometimes… Why don’t we let your grandma tell you stories in the future?”
“That’s great!” Bao cheered while clapping his hands. Then, he trotted toward Aunt Zhang and held her hand. “Grandma, tell me a bedtime story tonight!”
“Alright!” Aunt Zhang nodded. “Heng, you and Huan must be hungry. I’m going to take Bao for a walk. The two of you can have your meals.”
On the other hand, the Li Residence was in chaos, unlike the peaceful atmosphere in Wuyun Residence.
Li Xinzhi had passed out after being driven up the wall by Li Heng, but the latter had left with Pei Huan. The whole Li clan was thrown into a chaotic state. When the family physician arrived, he couldn’t believe that the invincible patriarch of the Li clan had fainted.
Li Xinzhi regained consciousness an hour later, and the first thing he did was summon all Li clan family members. Soon, everyone was there except Li Heng and Pei Huan.
Li Xinzhi stared at Li Cenbei with his sunken eyes. “Bei, tell me you have nothing to do with Pei Huan!”
“Dad, I…”
“Hmph! That lady is up to no good! First, she hurt Xufan, then Heng, and now you’re the next target! Has she blinded all of you? She is nothing but trouble! I demand you to divorce Pei Huan immediately, or else I will not show you any mercy!”
“Dad, I will never divorce Pei Huan!”
“You bastard! Heng has already made me mad. Are you going to be the death of me as well? Since you’re back, I think you shouldn’t leave Jiang City again. I will put you in office in Li Group once you divorce Pei Huan. Whereas Li Heng… He’s so disappointing. Li Group is no place for someone like him.”
“Dad…” Li Cennan regarded Li Xinzhi with disbelief. “Heng has worked for Li Group for years…”
“Hmph! If I don’t give him some punishment, he will be too full of himself. I’m going to teach him a lesson to show him that he can’t achieve anything if he’s not a member of the Li clan and Li Group.”
