Volume 1, Chapter 158: Tricking You

Gu Rang was still hospitalized. After leaving the Gu family’s old residence, Pei Jingmo made a phone call to Fu Linhan.

Upon hearing that Pei Jingmo had a showdown with the old master of the Gu family, Fu Linhan knew something terrible was bound to happen. He rushed over at top speed, ignoring the several speeding tickets plastered onto his car.

Seeing Pei Jingmo’s face and clothes covered in blood, he was startled. "Damn it, did your old man try to murder you? This was an attempt on your life!"

"I'm not dead yet. Drive!"

The car started moving. Fu Linhan looked at his gloomy, terrifying face in the rearview mirror, his heart tightening in his chest.

Thinking about how Bai Yinian had a falling out with his family over coming out, and now Pei Jingmo was having a falling out with his family over a woman, Fu Linhan felt utterly unwell.

What the hell kind of mess was this!

Passing by a pharmacy, Fu Linhan pulled the car over to the side of the road.

Pei Jingmo frowned. "Drive, I want to go home to Qingqing."

"Qingqing, Qingqing, Qingqing—dammit, is Qingqing the only thing on your mind? Don't you see your forehead is still bleeding?"

Fu Linhan stepped out of the car and glared fiercely at him. "Aren't you afraid that Song Qingyu will faint the moment she sees you looking like this, even before you get to say a word?"

Pei Jingmo realized he had a point. "Remember to buy a change of clothes."

"Fuck! I must really owe you in this lifetime."

Grumbling curses, Fu Linhan bought the medicine and then went to the adjacent shopping mall to buy a set of clothes before getting back into the car.

After treating his wounds and changing into the new clothes, Pei Jingmo wanted to present his best self to see Song Qingyu.

Yet, no matter how he looked at it, the bandage wrapped around his head looked utterly absurd.

"Alright, rather than worrying about your face, you should be figuring out how to tell Song Qingyu that you are actually Gu Yuandong."

Keeping this secret from Song Qingyu had been agonizing for Pei Jingmo, but fortunately, he could finally confess the truth.

When Pei Jingmo returned home, he stood at the doorway for a long while, brewing his emotions before finally knocking on the door.

Since it was Saturday, Song Qingyu should be at home catching up on sleep and unlikely to go out.

He hoped that when the door opened, Song Qingyu would throw herself into his arms; he wanted so much, so very much, to hold her tight.

And then tell her everything.

"Woof, woof, woof—"

Instead of Song Qingyu, only Dingding's fierce and angry barking greeted him.

Sensing something was amiss, Pei Jingmo quickly entered the password and flung the door open.

Thinking an intruder had broken in, Dingding lunged forward to bite Pei Jingmo.

With lightning reflexes, Pei Jingmo clamped his hand over its snout, petting its head soothingly. "Stop messing around, it's me."

"Woof, woof, woof—"

As if lodging a complaint, Dingding barked even more furiously.

Pei Jingmo caught a faint, sharp scent of a sleeping potion. His expression shifted slightly. "Qingqing—Qingqing..."

Song Qingyu was nowhere to be found in any of the rooms. She had been drugged and taken away!

Pei Jingmo's expression turned dark and terrifying. His first instinct was that Gu Chengde had kidnapped Song Qingyu before he returned, and in a rage, Pei Jingmo dialed Gu Chengde's number.

"Where is Qingqing?"

"What?"

"Where did you take her?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Gu Chengde angrily hung up the phone, and Pei Jingmo cursed under his breath.

Gu Chengde wasn't the type to do something cowardly and refuse to admit it. Realizing that the person who took Qingqing wasn't him, Pei Jingmo was burning with frantic anxiety.

Suddenly remembering that Song Qingyu had installed a security camera some time ago just to see what Dingding was up to at home, Pei Jingmo quickly unlocked his phone and pulled up the surveillance logs.

Seeing that the person who took Song Qingyu away was actually Chu Xingzhi, his gaze turned bone-chillingly cold.

—

When Song Qingyu woke up once again, she found herself lying on a sofa, with both her hands and feet tightly bound.

Clusters of blooming flowers surrounded her on all sides, and she recognized the place at a single glance.

It was the greenhouse that Chu Xingzhi's father had left behind.

It was very warm inside the greenhouse; even though she was wearing only her pajamas, Song Qingyu felt no chill, especially since Chu Xingzhi's jacket had been draped over her.

Melodious music drifted slowly from a gramophone—the very songs Song Qingzhi and Chu Xingzhi used to listen to together back when they were dating.

Chu Xingzhi was humming a tune while watering the plants.

"Mmph..."

Song Qingyu didn't know why Chu Xingzhi had tied her up and brought her here, but his current state was clearly abnormal.

Hearing Song Qingzhi stir, Chu Xingzhi immediately set down the watering can and walked over to her with a smile. "Xiaoyu, you're awake?"

The smile on his face looked utterly creepy no matter how she looked at it. Song Qingyu frowned at him. "Mmph, mmph—"

"I was afraid you'd want to run away once you woke up, so I had no choice but to tie you up first. I'll untie you right now."

Fearing that Song Qingzhi might hurt herself, Chu Xingzhi gently peeled the tape off her mouth.

Song Qingzhi demanded angrily, "Why did you tie me up and bring me here?"

Chu Xingzhi affectionately stroked Song Qingyu's cheek, remaining unbothered when she flinched away.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You're the person I love most in the world, how could I ever bear to hurt you?"

Song Qingyu frowned, refusing to believe him.

If he wouldn't hurt her, why kidnap her in the first place?

"I brought you here simply to show you something."

"Will you let me go after I look at it?"

Chu Xingzhi smiled with enigmatic depth, pulling Song Qingzhi up to sit on the sofa and gathering her entirely within his embrace.

"Let me go!"

At this point, Chu Xingzhi's touch filled Song Qingyu with disgust and revulsion.

Instead of letting go, Chu Xingzhi tightened his grip around her. "Don't be in such a hurry."

With that, he produced a photograph and placed it right in front of Song Qingyu. "Take a look."

Song Qingyu glanced down. The photo featured a young man wearing the uniform of Shangjing No. 1 High School, his jacket unzipped, radiating a rebellious, carefree swagger.

Yet it failed to obscure his remarkably handsome features.

Song Qingyu's expression altered drastically as she began to struggle. "What did you do to Pei Jingmo?"

"Ha,哈哈..."

Chu Xingzhi suddenly burst into laughter, laughing with a wild, manic intensity that brought tears to his eyes.

"So you also think he's Pei Jingmo, right?"

With her back turned to Chu Xingzhi, Song Qingyu couldn't see the expression on his face, but her own looked ghastly. "What do you mean?"

"Just take a good look at the school uniform he's wearing. Which school does it belong to?"

Song Qingyu stared at the characters for 'Shangjing No. 1 High School', her expression shifting slightly.

"Shangjing No. 1 High School is a renowned elite private school. Isn't Pei Jingmo just a country boy, a construction worker? How could he possibly afford to attend Shangjing No. 1 High School?"

Song Qingyu had no idea why things had turned out this way, but a terrible premonition told her that if this conversation continued, something catastrophic would happen.

"I don't want to know! Let me go home!"

Chu Xingzhi tucked a stray strand of hair behind Song Qingyu's ear, murmuring softly and tenderly against her ear, "Do you know who the person in this photo is?"

Panic and unease gnawed at Song Qingyu's heart as she struggled furiously. "What on earth are you trying to say?"

"You know him too. His name is Gu Yuandong."

Song Qingyu abruptly ceased her struggling, her mind turning completely blank.

The person in the photograph was clearly Pei Jingmo—how could it possibly be Gu Yuandong?

Yet if he really was Pei Jingmo, then just as Chu Xingzhi had pointed out, how on earth could he have ever attended Shangjing No. 1 High School?

"Xiaoyu, your beloved husband Pei Jingmo, and your supervisor Pei Jingmo are the exact same person. He has been lying to you all along, playing you for a complete fool."