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Chapter 62
Song Anan did not know that Zhao Ya was now very worried for her. After hanging up the phone, she wiped the dining table again and went to the kitchen to see if she could help, but was dismissed by Pei Kuang with a few words.
After coming to the living room, Song Anan looked around aimlessly.
She had come in such a hurry this morning and went straight to the bedroom that she hadn't had time to take a good look around until now.
After such a long time, Pei Kuang's home had hardly changed at all, still the same bleak emptiness as two years ago.
As far as the eye could see, there was basically no decorative furnishings.
After looking around the living room, Song Anan's eyes suddenly stopped at one spot.
On the TV cabinet was a photo frame with the beach photoshoot photos from that year's show.
She was standing barefoot on the beach, with Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang standing on either side behind her. Her skirt was blowing in the wind, falling perfectly at Pei Kuang's feet.
Of course Song Anan had seen this photo before, she even had it saved in her phone album.
Not long after that variety show was filmed, the set of beach photos of the guests was released. When the show's official Weibo account posted it, it even trended at the time.
Looking at the photo in her hand, it was as if time returned to that summer, she could almost smell the scent of the ocean.
At that time, there was still some baby fat on her face, looking quite naive. Maybe she was nervous in front of the camera, her smile was not very natural.
But Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang looked much more natural. Song Linchuan was not smiling, with a cool expression, while Pei Kuang smiled brilliantly.
"What are you looking at?" Pei Kuang came out from the kitchen and saw Song Anan standing with her back to him, not knowing what she was doing.
Song Anan was startled, quickly adjusted her facial expression, then turned around, "Nothing."
She raised the photo frame in her hand, "Looking at photos."
Pei Kuang walked over, looking at the photo frame in her hand, his eyes filled with nostalgia, "Feels like it was so long ago."
Song Anan was stunned for a few seconds before understanding the meaning of his words, "Yes, it's been a long time."
Three years was a long time. Everyone had changed a lot and experienced many things. Looking back now, it inevitably brought some nostalgia.
After dinner, the two took a walk around the neighborhood to aid digestion.
It had to be said, the environment of their neighborhood was quite nice. The greenery was excellent, and there was a large artificial lake in the neighborhood, with willow trees planted along the banks.
The two walked side by side along the lake. A night breeze blew by, bringing with it the whispering rustle of the tree leaves.
Since going downstairs, Song Anan had been very quiet, head lowered, not knowing what she was thinking about.
Pei Kuang turned his body to look at Song Anan with a smile, "What are you thinking about? Something on your mind?"
Song Anan gave a little "ah", shaking her head, "Nothing, nothing."
Pei Kuang raised his brow slightly. From the little girl's reaction, it was clearly not nothing, but he didn't continue asking.
After another minute or so of silence, Song Anan suddenly stopped.
She turned around to look at Pei Kuang and said, "Let me tell you about me."
Pei Kuang was startled, although he didn't quite understand Song Anan's intention, he still nodded in agreement.
"Okay, go ahead."
Song Anan seemed to have made a big decision, exhaling deeply, and said, "When I was eight years old, my parents passed away. I don't know if you know about this."
Pei Kuang paused for a few seconds, a trace of astonishment flashed across his face, "Yes, Linchuan mentioned it to me before."
Song Anan gave a soft "hmm", and continued, "Back then, I watched my parents die right in front of me. I felt like the sky was falling. For a long time after that, I didn't understand why God wanted to play such a joke on me when I hadn't done anything wrong..."
For Song Anan, that period of time was truly painful and gloomy. Although she had lain in bed sick for many years in her previous life, she had never been so pessimistic before. But when she lost her parents in this life, she really felt resentful.
Seeing her immersed in her memories, Pei Kuang felt a trace of distress well up in his heart.
He gently patted her head to comfort her, "If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."
Song Anan shook her head, "Don't worry, I've figured it out already. Not all parents and children are fated to be together. Even if they are fated, the depth of that fate varies. "
Pei Kuang was startled, and his gaze towards Song Anan contained an inscrutable meaning.
It seemed he understood the girl's intentions.
Song Anan looked at him gently, "So, don't be obsessed with things you can't hold onto. We need to look forward."
-
After hanging up the video call, Song Linchuan still felt this whole thing was too absurd.
Mrs. Zhao really came up with ideas one after another. Perhaps only Comrade Song Zhenhui could tolerate her.
Jiang Han pushed the door open to see Song Linchuan sitting on the sofa giggling foolishly, "Why so happy? Win the lottery?"
Song Linchuan glanced at him lightly, "Do you think I need to buy lottery tickets?"
Jiang Han: "..."
Alright, the rich really do as they please. The life of a wealthy young master was not something an ordinary office worker like him could understand.
"Did you need me for something?" Song Linchuan asked.
"I do actually have something." Jiang Han nodded, "Did you see the hot search?"
Song Linchuan raised his brow slightly, "I've been living like a hermit in the deep mountains all day, how could I get on the hot search?"
Jiang Han let out a "heh" laugh, "Not you, your auntie."
Song Linchuan was startled, "What happened with my auntie?"
After speaking, he reached for the phone next to him, but he had flung it quite far away earlier, and struggled to grab it for a while but couldn't reach it.
Jiang Han sat down on the other sofa, throwing the phone over to him contemptuously.
Really, even getting up was tiring for him?
Song Linchuan didn't have time to bother with him at the moment. After getting the phone, he opened Weibo and saw the topic ranking #1 on the hot search.
#Pei Kuang stands up for Song Anan, starts fight with Han Ming on set#
Song Linchuan frowned as he tapped open the topic. The first Weibo under it was a video posted by a marketing account.
The video showed what happened after the filming ended, when Pei Kuang went to beat up Han Ming.
The director called to end filming, and Pei Kuang immediately stood up from his chair, radiating anger as he rushed at Han Ming, kicking over the chair Han Ming was sitting on.
- Pei Kuang, what the f*ck are you doing!
- If you have a grudge with Song Linchuan, go find him! Bullying a little girl here, where's your balls?
- I definitely won't let this go!
- I'll be waiting!
Finally, Han Ming left cursing angrily, but the camera panned and Song Anan was seen running in, drenched in sweat.
The video ended abruptly there.
【Damn! This marketing account knows how to hook people, stopping right at the climax!】
【Ahhhhhhh, seeing Auntie like this, she must have found out what happened here and rushed over worried about Pei Kuang!】
【Wuwuwuwu, Pei Kuang's kick was too badass! I love it!】
【Let's be fair, I saw the livestream too, Han Ming was asking for it this time. 】
【That's right, I knew Han Ming was targeting Song Anan for a reason, turns out he had an old grudge with Song Linchuan!】
【Pei Kuang is right, you don't take out your grudge on an unrelated little girl, how spineless is that?】
【Oh my god! Pei Kuang usually looks so gentle, who knew he looks so hot when beating someone up!】
【Heh, it's justified to beat someone nowadays? No choice, he's popular, who dares to mess with him?】
【Wuwuwu, poor my oppa, Pei Kuang was fading into obscurity before right, no wonder he's become hated, bad personality!】
【Han Ming fans upstairs, are you okay? Don't blame others when your idol is trash.】
【That's right, ever heard the saying, those who seduce are trash!】
【Ahhhhhhh, what happens next??? I'm dying to know!】
【I advise this marketing account to stop fishing for hype and release the rest soon, don't make me beg you!】
This marketing account didn't sell it for long before updating with a second video, showing what happened after Song Anan appeared.
- Pei Kuang: Why did you suddenly show up?
- Song Anan: I heard you got into a fight with Han Ming? Are you hurt?
- Pei Kuang: There was no fight, I just talked some sense into him... You didn't rush over here to try to mediate, did you?
Song Anan: It's not that... I'm afraid you can't beat him, so I'm here to help you!
[Hahahaha, I'm really going to be laughed to death by auntie Song, why is she always so unexpected]
[Goodness, 'afraid you can't beat him, so I'm here to help you', what the hell is this, so auntie Song rushed over to join the gang fight!]
[Woo woo, the fierce and biased auntie Song is so cute!]
[Hahaha, can't stop laughing, 'I'm just having a chat with him', Pei Kuang do you call this having a chat, oh my god, if not for the previous video, I would have believed his nonsense!]
[Tsk tsk, look at Pei Kuang's guilty look, a typical reaction when caught doing something bad by parents!]
[Woo woo woo, who said my cp doesn't give sweetness, look, such a big candy!]
[Oh my god, Pei Kuang, how dare you make my well-behaved, soft and squishy auntie Song join a gang fight for you]
[Sigh, always subconsciously ignoring auntie Song's combat power. Speaking of which, do you still remember when auntie Song caught two big men with bare hands?]
[Oh yeah, now that you reminded me, auntie Song is not to be messed with!]
[Han Ming: Thank goodness I ran fast!]
[This killed me! Song Anan and Pei Kuang look so matchy, people who care for each other like this, it's simply unjust if they don't get together!]
[Upstairs sister, let me lend you my pen, I'll write them a million words!]
...
After sending Song Anan home, as soon as Pei Kuang walked through the door, he received a call from Song Linchuan.
He casually tapped the answer button while changing shoes in the foyer: "Yo, you busy man, how do you have time to call me."
Song Linchuan didn't bother with pleasantries, and directly got to the point: "Have you seen the trending search?"
Hearing that it was about this matter, Pei's smile faded a little. "I saw it, don't worry, Li Dong's side is already handling it."
That video was leaked when they were having dinner, and Pei was afraid Song Anan would worry, so he didn't mention it.
It was probably filmed secretly by the staff at the scene, then sold to marketing accounts afterwards.
However, Pei was prepared for this matter. At that time, he thought it would be Han Ming's side trying to shift the blame, he didn't expect it to be exposed like this.
But overall, this situation was still favorable to their side, it was Han Ming's side that should be worried.
Of course Song Linchuan trusted him, so he just called to ask about it.
Although Song Anan didn't join the entertainment industry, she had participated in two variety shows after all, and had quite high popularity and exposure. Usually PR control over public opinion online was handled by Jiang Han.
"Alright, keep an eye on it and speak up if needed." Song Linchuan said.
Pei lightly chuckled in acknowledgment. After changing his shoes, he casually closed the door behind him.
Hearing the sound of the door closing, Song Linchuan casually asked: "Where are you now? Out?"
Pei turned on the lights in the living room and sat down on the sofa, casually stretching out his long legs. "Yeah, just took a walk around the neighborhood."
Song Linchuan let out a "oh", "You seem quite free, who were you with? Surely not walking that little mutt of yours."
Pei's brow quirked as he asked back: "What, can I not go by myself?"
Song Linchuan scoffed: "Come on, I know you. You don't have such leisure and elegance."
If he said it was for exercising, it would still be believable that he went for a jog, but taking a walk, something so time-consuming yet low in efficiency, was not something he would do.
Pei smiled and briefly recounted Song Anan's visit today, also mentioning yesterday's hospital visit.
"What happened to you, going to the hospital for a checkup?" Song Linchuan asked, surprised. "What were the checkup results?"
Pei replied: "It's nothing, just been under a lot of pressure these two years, having some trouble sleeping. Little girl found out and insisted on taking me for a checkup."
Song Linchuan didn't beat around the bush. Hearing it was nothing serious, he was relieved.
"What, you sound a little unhappy? Don't be ungrateful, this is my little niece caring about you."
Pei laughed: "I'm not unhappy, nor ungrateful, I'm touched."
"That's more like it." Song Linchuan arrogantly said: "Alright, seeing as you beat up that bastard Han Ming, I'll begrudgingly give you half of my little niece."
Pei let out a low chuckle but didn't respond.
When Song Linchuan mentioned Han Ming, he was full of anger, and wouldn't be satisfied until he cursed the bastard out.
"Tell the truth, when you saw my little niece run over, were you afraid she would scold you?"
Pei thought back to the scene and smiled: "I was a little."
Song Linchuan tutted and smugly said: "I can tell you don't understand my little niece. She's been biased since she was little. Back in middle school when I was fighting, my little niece who was just a pipsqueak charged over like a rocket. At that time both I and the other guy were dumbfounded..."
Pei imagined the scene in his head and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Being able to say 'helping my own not helping who's right' was quite biased indeed.
-
After taking a shower, when Pei Kuang came back to the bedroom and turned on the lights, he was taken aback seeing the refreshed and brand new room.
It took him several seconds to remember what had happened.
He had to admit, such a bright and lively room really took some getting used to.
But unaccustomed as he was, Pei didn't think to change anything again. In any case, this was the little girl's sincerity.
Besides, he had always been able to adapt to new environments quickly. Thus, after taking a turn around the room, that sense of discomfort quickly disappeared.
Remembering the girl's instructions from the day, before going to bed he picked up the lighter and lit the aromatherapy oils on the nightstand.
Lying in bed with eyes closed, the faint scent of sandalwood quickly spread and lingered around his nose, gradually calming his emotions and relaxing his mood considerably.
He turned off the bedside lamp, ready for sleep, when his phone beside him suddenly rang with a text message alert tone.
In the darkness, Pei's body stiffened involuntarily. He seemed to guess who had sent the message.
After half a minute, he still fished around to get up, turn on the lights, pick up his phone, and open the text messages, two in a row.
-"Pei Kuang! I'm your mother, whether you admit it or not, my blood flows in you, you'll never get away from me in this life!"
-"You're a curse, I shouldn't have given birth to you. If not for you, your father wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't have..."
Pei didn't read to the end, directly exiting the messages page and deleting the texts and blocking the number.
He was no stranger to these curses, Zhang Man had been sending him similar messages every so often over the past two years, changing numbers when blocked.
Pei's mouth curled into a sneer. She really had perseverance to be so persistent.
Without thinking, he could guess Zhang Man must have been mistreated by the Xie family again, and the reason was most likely related to him in some way.
To tell the truth, it was laughable. Two years ago, he had agreed to the Xie family's request, and fulfilled it.
Within the three month time limit, Xie Yin did manage to raise her profile in the industry by leveraging the hype over their relationship, and for a time offers came pouring in.
But this way was destined to be short-lived, and in about half a year, Xie Yin's career tanked again.
The laughable thing was, at this time the Xie family actually still wanted to make it real, asking him to really marry Xie Yin.
Only after Pei had someone investigate did he find out the Xie family had failed in some investments and lost a lot of money, but somehow caught wind that he had invested in many lucrative ventures and was quite wealthy. That was why they came up with this idea.
Put simply, they wanted him to plug holes in the Xie family's finances.
Hah, wishful thinking.
He ignored the Xie family, and they were powerless against him, but Zhang Man obviously didn't have such good fortune, likely not being treated well by the Xie family.
So Zhang Man blamed all her misfortunes in life on him, hence this texting stunt.
In fact for Pei, this matter was quite easy to resolve, just change his number. After all the Xie family was only declining, not completely bankrupt, so Zhang Man still wouldn't tear down her lady's fa?ade to confront him in person.
But for some self-punishing reason, he had kept the same number all this time.
Sometimes even Pei himself didn't know what he was persisting for.
Parents and children also need affinity.
Pei thought of how the little girl had painstakingly tried to comfort him, willing to reopen her old wounds for him. At that moment, his heart was
What Does It Feel Like to Appear on Hot Search.
“Yeah, no need to be too attached.”
Pei Kuang put down his phone, laid flat on the bed, and his expression softened as the corners of his mouth slowly curved up.
Let’s go change my phone number tomorrow.
-
Song Anan didn't find out about the hot search incident until the next morning.
There was a group for the interns who participated in the show. Someone @ her when she woke up in the morning, so that's how she found out about it. She immediately called Pei Kuang.
Before she could ask, Pei Kuang seemed to have guessed her intention already and told her directly that the matter had been resolved and asked her not to take it to heart.
Song Anan was still a little unsure: "It really didn't affect you?"
Pei Kuang chuckled softly and explained, "Really not, we're in the right in this matter, no need to worry."
Hearing this, Song Anan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Pei Kuang added another sentence: "But if you think about it seriously, you're the one who should be worried."
Song Anan was a little confused, "What's wrong with me?"
She wasn't a celebrity, how could this affect her?
And to take a step back, it wasn't her who was fighting anyway.
"Although you didn't fight, you broke your image too." Pei Kuang's fragmented laughter came through the receiver.
"Now everyone knows you get into group fights."
Song Anan naturally heard the ridicule in his words. Her face flushed red for a moment as she argued, "That wasn't a group fight either."
Pei Kuang's mouth curved up slightly, "Oh?"
Song Anan nodded and said, "I think I could handle it alone."
If it was one-on-one, it wouldn't count as a group fight, at most just a fight.
Pei Kuang: "......"
-
Although Pei Kuang said it didn't affect him, Song Anan was still worried. After hanging up the phone, she called Jiang Han again.
Only after getting confirmation from the other party did she finally relax.
After finishing the show's recording, the hospital gave Song Anan a few days off. Today was the day she had to go back to work.
She went to the department early in the morning. Seeing the head nurse, she smiled and greeted her. The head nurse saw Song Anan and walked over with a concerned look on her face. She had obviously seen the online news too.
However, what the head nurse was more concerned about was another point. "Anan, don't listen to Han Ming's nonsense. You're the best and will become a great doctor. Everyone likes you very much."
In the head nurse's eyes, although Song Anan was young, she had a gentle temperament that made patients and their families feel more at ease. This was her strength.
Not to mention her talent and ability were recognized by the hospital. So Han Ming saying Song Anan wouldn't make it in medical circles was nonsense.
Song Anan was stunned for a few seconds before reacting to the head nurse's meaning.
She smiled lightly, "Sister Wu, I didn't take it to heart, don't worry."
Song Anan really didn't care that much anymore. She had heard what Han Ming said that day, but didn't take it seriously at all.
But it seemed that people around her were quite concerned, the head nurse was one, and Pei Kuang was another.
After returning to her original department, Song Anan continued her internship life.
Although it was summer vacation now, for medical students, participating in internships meant no summer vacation.
The familiar environment and people, working hours, everything seemed unchanged.
But there were still changes. For example, Song Anan was worried about Pei Kuang, so she temporarily moved from the dormitory to live with Song Linchuan.
To alleviate insomnia symptoms, of course, she had to regulate from multiple dimensions. Just decorating the room alone could only play an auxiliary role.
The most important thing was to relax and not bottle everything up inside.
Living at Song Linchuan's place, Song Anan could find Pei Kuang for meals or go to his house to see Furball from time to time.
She wasn't a psychologist and didn't know Pei Kuang's specific situation. The only thing she could think of was to spend more time with him so he wouldn't be alone.
It was too hot in the summer. Song Anan liked to eat watermelon so Pei Kuang would buy it every day. Sometimes she would bring some snacks over herself, and they would watch TV shows and movies while eating.
If they finished dinner at night, the two of them would also exercise in the community for a while, either jogging or walking, which felt nice and cool at this time. They both really enjoyed it and said it felt like summer.
Sometimes when she didn't have work the next day, Song Anan would also ride her e-bike at night and take Pei Kuang out to eat under the cover of darkness.
Of course, they were fully equipped, with masks and hats on, and didn't dare go to crowded places.
Ever since advising Pei Kuang in a roundabout way that night, Song Anan never brought it up again. She just tried to accompany him as much as possible every day.
She would check the data on his sleep app and the amount of sleeping pills he took. In her words, this was the duty of a private doctor.
Pei Kuang also cooperated very well, as if to reassure Song Anan. In the meantime, he also went back to Dr. Xu for a follow-up visit.
As for the results, he didn't say, and she still didn't ask.
But Song Anan could clearly feel that Pei Kuang was getting better and better.
That day, Song Anan had just gotten off from a night shift at the hospital when she received a message from Pei Kuang.
He said he had left in a hurry that morning and forgot to put food and water out for Furball, asking if she had time to stop by.
After entering the community, Song Anan went straight to Pei Kuang's home.
She knew the password to his place. Opening the door, she saw Furball crouching in front of the food bowl with a pitiful expression, as if saying, "Look, my dad is starving me!"
Song Anan's heart melted at the cuteness, but she didn't rush to feed the kitten. Instead, she excitedly took out her phone and recorded a short video.
Then she sent it to Pei Kuang and edited a message.
"You're toast. Look how upset you made the kid, I'm afraid nothing less than three cans will appease him tonight."
After gloating for a bit, Song Anan's conscience kicked in and she hurried to pour food for the kitten.
The little guy must have been starving. He wolfed it down, eating voraciously while meowing, which sounded quite foul.
When Pei Kuang received Song Anan's message, he was in the waiting room backstage of an event. He had been busy since early morning and finally had a chance to take a break.
He looked at the message first, then clicked to open the video, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Li Dong was sitting next to Pei Kuang and, seeing him laugh like that, his gossip instincts instantly exploded.
"Whose message is that to make you laugh like this?" He craned his neck to peek at the phone.
Pei Kuang didn't hide it and slid the phone over to him. "Furball. I forgot to put out food and water for it this morning."
Li Dong laughed too: "Yo, the little guy is really upset, huh?"
Pei Kuang smiled and nodded. Right, the kitten did look quite upset.
Seeing Pei Kuang's state wasn't bad lately, Li Dong also felt much more relieved.
"It was your little sister-in-law who went to feed the cat for you?" Li Dong asked.
Pei Kuang nodded lightly. "She just got off a night shift and went right over."
Li Dong couldn't help but tease, "Yo, little sister-in-law knows your door password? Tsk tsk, after being your agent for so many years, even I don't know it."
Pei Kuang glanced at Li Dong expressionlessly without replying.
Li Dong chuckled at him: "If you ask me, little sister-in-law is really great. Are you two...?"
Pei Kuang glared at him. "Don't talk nonsense."
He remembered she seemed bothered when their CP was brought up last time.
"Saying this kind of joke in front of me is fine, but the girl has thin skin. Don't make these kinds of jokes in front of her."
Li Dong immediately made a zipping motion. "Don't worry, I still have that much tact."
He was just joking around in front of Pei Kuang. To be honest, he really couldn't make these kinds of jokes in front of a pure girl like Song Anan.
-
After feeding the cat, Song Anan didn't leave in a hurry either. She stayed and played with Furball with a cat teaser for a while.
But after working a long night shift, she soon couldn't keep her eyes open and had to leave.
After leaving Pei Kuang's building, Song Anan ran into a rather strange woman at the door. She was dressed quite sophisticatedly, kept looking around at the door, but didn't go in.
She didn't seem to live there.
Song Anan felt the woman looked a bit familiar, and glanced at her a few more times, but couldn't remember where she had seen her.
Unable to recall, she didn't dwell on it and went straight home.