Pei Yuzhou set her down in a chair.
The servant brought out breakfast. There was millet congee, steamed egg custard, and vegetable broth—light dishes specially prepared for her.
Meng Shuyao grew hungry at the aroma and picked up a spoon to eat.
Pei Yuzhou instructed, "Get her a pair of shoes."
"Yes, sir." The servant turned and fetched a pair of pink slippers from the shoe cabinet in the foyer.
Meng Shuyao lowered her head to put them on, asking curiously, "Are there other women in your house?"
The servant understood Chinese and hurriedly explained, "Please don't misunderstand, Miss. I just bought these from the supermarket yesterday. There were no women's slippers in the house, and I didn't know your size, so I bought them a little large."
Meng Shuyao's lips curved slightly. "I didn't misunderstand. I was just asking casually."
Before going to his study, Pei Yuzhou told the servant, "When she's finished eating, watch her take her medicine."
"Yes, Mr. Pei."
Meng Shuyao had originally planned to muddle through it.
Ever since she was young, she had struggled to take medicine. Pills and capsules were difficult to swallow; she could only accept granules or oral liquid formulations.
The servant had already placed her anti-inflammatory medicine on the dining table.
Meng Shuyao sighed and deliberately ate her breakfast slowly, dragging it out for as long as she could.
She remembered to look for her phone. "Have you seen my bag? A black lambskin one."
She'd slept for so long; there were definitely a bunch of messages and missed calls.
The servant said, "It's upstairs. I'll go get it."
"Please just bring down the phone and charger from inside. Thank you."
"Yes, Miss."
Meng Shuyao finished the last mouthful of congee.
The servant quickly returned and handed her the items.
The phone had died and shut down automatically.
Meng Shuyao went to the living room to find an outlet and charge it.
As expected, once it turned on, there were more than a dozen missed calls and over twenty messages, mostly from Wen Ni.
"Whatcha doing, Yaoyao? Did you go to get your documents replaced?"
"Why aren't you answering me?"
"Do you have some other little darling out there?"
"This is what women are like. When they love you, they treat you to meals and bubble tea. When they don't, they won't even return your messages."
"It's been a whole day. Where are you?"
"Your phone's unreachable too. Did something happen?"
"If you don't call back, I'm reporting you missing to the police."
Meng Shuyao quickly called her back.
After a few rings, the call connected.
"Alright, speak. Did a man pin your hands down so you couldn't text?" Wen Ni wasn't worried at all at this point.
Meng Shuyao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "No, I've been sick these past two days. I slept for a long time."
"How did you get sick out of nowhere?"
"Caught a cold from the rain."
Wen Ni said with feigned seriousness, "Fine. I thought you were pinned to the bed by Mr. Pei and couldn't get up."
"What are you talking about?" Meng Shuyao's face flushed. "How did you know I was with Mr. Pei?"
"I asked Young Master Zhao," Wen Ni said. "I was so anxious I almost called the police."
Meng Shuyao apologized sincerely, "Sorry, sorry. I made you worry."
"Fine, I forgive you." Wen Ni switched to gossip mode in a second. "Are you and Mr. Pei together now?"
Meng Shuyao lowered her voice. "I suppose so."
"What do you mean, 'suppose so?'" Wen Ni asked. "Have you made it official?"
"...It's not important."
She wasn't after status anyway. As long as Pei Yuzhou protected her, that was enough.
Besides, with someone of Mr. Pei's status, even if he didn't enter an arranged marriage now, he would eventually marry a wife from an equally prestigious family.
And she would return to her home country after graduation.
There wouldn't be a future either way, so what did it matter whether they had an official status or not?
"You're lovesick, Yaoyao. Men who won't define the relationship with you are scumbags, don't you get that?" Wen Ni had the urge to knock some sense into her.
"It's not what you think." Meng Shuyao couldn't explain too much. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Wen Ni was convinced she'd been blinded by male beauty. "What do you know? You can't lower your standards just because he's handsome. Don't get in too deep and get yourself hurt."
"Mmm, I won't."
"It's fine if you're just into his looks. Just sleep with him. Don't fall for him emotionally."
Although the logic wasn't bad, the delivery was far too crude.
They chatted for twenty minutes before ending the call.
After she hung up, the servant reminded her, "Miss, please take your medicine."
Meng Shuyao still couldn't escape it. She returned to the dining table with a resigned-to-death expression, struggled immensely to swallow the pills, nearly choked on them, and downed two glasses of water to force them down.
Pei Yuzhou had been busy in his study the whole time. She didn't disturb him and wandered around the house.
The place was too large. Without a servant leading her, she would probably get lost.
The basement floor had storage rooms, including a three-hundred-square-meter temperature-controlled wine cellar. Rare bottles that cost hundreds of thousands outside were commonplace here.
The entire second floor consisted of bedrooms and walk-in closets. The third floor was Mr. Pei's office area; no one was allowed to set foot there without permission.
Meng Shuyao loved the large terrace on the top floor most of all. The view was excellent, the scenery beautiful. Sitting on the sofa there for afternoon tea was especially pleasant.
Pei Yuzhou went to the company in the afternoon, and she never found an opportunity to talk to him about her internship.
He only returned at ten in the evening.
Meng Shuyao heard the car downstairs, opened her door, and waited for him in the hallway.
A moment later, the man's figure emerged from the elevator.
Long strides carried him forward beneath black dress pants, a suit jacket draped over the crook of his left arm.
He approached and stopped. "Not asleep yet?"
Under the lights, his shadow enveloped her.
"Mr. Pei, I have something to tell you." He was too tall; Meng Shuyao had to lift her head to meet his eyes. "I found an internship earlier. The gallery is in Brooklyn. I want to rent a place there and go take a look tomorrow."
Pei Yuzhou undid his shirt cuffs, his tone indifferent. "You can't stay here?"
"I'm just afraid it will be inconvenient when I'm busy and working late."
That wasn't actually the reason. Meng Shuyao simply felt that she still needed her own small space. She couldn't rely on him for everything. Otherwise, if they argued someday and she was kicked out, she wouldn't even have a place to go.
Pei Yuzhou looked into her eyes. "What's inconvenient about a half-hour drive?"
"But I need somewhere to put all my art supplies. Renting a place near the gallery would be more convenient."
"Fine." He relented. "I'll have the driver take you over tomorrow."
"Thank you, Mr. Pei." The corners of Meng Shuyao's eyes curved gently. "Then I'll go to sleep."
Just as she was about to turn, he hooked an arm around her waist. "What are you running for?"
Pei Yuzhou pressed her against the wall. His large hand covered the small of her back, the veins on the back of his hand distinct, rising and falling like mountain ridges.
His palm was warm. Through the fabric of her pajamas, her skin burned slightly.
Their eyes met. Lamplight fell across their faces, creating varying depths of shadow.
He lowered his head, pressing his thin lips down.
A cool, pleasant masculine scent filled her nostrils.
Meng Shuyao's long eyelashes fluttered. She quickly reached out to cover her mouth and said softly, "I have a cold. I'll infect you."
Pei Yuzhou's lips curved. "You think your little cold can infect me?"
Meng Shuyao stated in advance, "Then if you get infected, don't blame me."
She added, "You can't bite me."
"If you don't hide, I won't bite."
That was an instinctive reaction, okay?
Pei Yuzhou pulled her hand away and kissed her deeply.
Meng Shuyao parted her lips, letting him invade.