PCMWF Chapter 205

The front desk girl covered her mouth in surprise. “No wonder you accompanied Qiqi on the variety show. Over a year without seeing him. She’s not here to extort you, is she?”

The front desk girl wasn’t speaking nonsense. Qiqi now had endless cooperation offers. The entertainment company with the best resources in the industry wanted to sign Pei Xu and train him. Qiqi’s fame was higher than child stars. His value soared. The products he advertised sold out instantly.

Hua Zhao held the child in her arms, her voice carrying a deliberately feigned inferiority. “Pei Yi and I just returned to China, and we have Qiqi. There are many places to spend money. Where would we have money for her to extort? She’s the one afraid we’ll extort her. Her husband is Cen Zheping.”

Cen Zheping? The famous actor? Rumored to be very wealthy.

The girl’s mouth opened wide. “Ah?”

Her voice was a bit loud, drawing several girls over to listen to gossip. Several young people gathered around Qiqi and Hua Zhao to chat. The front desk girl, afraid Qiqi would be upset seeing his biological mother, thoughtfully pulled a stool and sat in front of him, blocking his view.

Pei Yi’s assistant brought him a lunch box and opened it. “Engineer Pei, Sister Hua Zhao said you should eat first. Nothing is bigger than eating.”

His wife was here. Pei Yi felt secure. He picked up his chopsticks and ate, completely ignoring Fang Qin, whose face was pale. If she had the guts, she’d leave now. If not, she’d wait until he finished. In such an environment, Fang Qin was naturally on pins and needles. From the moment Pei Xu arrived, her eyes were tearful, looking at him expectantly. Hoping he would see her, come to her, and hold her, calling her Mom like before. Pei Xu, not far away, was surrounded. She couldn’t see him, but unpleasant words reached her ears.

“Even if she remarried, she can’t be like this. Qiqi is so young. Poor Qiqi.”

“Live long enough and you see everything. How can a mother be like this?”

In less than ten minutes, Hua Zhao had bonded with the studio’s young people. They already liked Qiqi. After hearing his story, they were deeply disgusted with Fang Qin. Hua Zhao held Qiqi, pinching his face reluctantly. “If your mom insists on taking you away, don’t forget Auntie, okay?”

Pei Qiqi grabbed her sleeve and shook his head.

Everyone who saw this was heartbroken. The front desk girl said indignantly, “No, we can’t let Qiqi go with her. She definitely won’t treat Qiqi well.”

Everyone nodded. Hua Zhao had laid the mass foundation. The enemy’s psychological defense was almost broken. She decided to prepare for battle.

She smiled at everyone and carefully pleaded: “Pei Yi and I are applying to be Qiqi’s legal guardians. The Cen family is rich and powerful. If we go to court, we might need everyone’s help.”

Cen Zheping’s reputation was falling. He couldn’t withstand having a wife who abandoned her child to marry into wealth. If Fang Qin still fought for custody, she wouldn’t mind using public opinion as a bargaining chip.

The front desk girl was righteous. “Okay, whatever I can do to help, I will.”

After eating the cookies, Hua Zhao carried the child to the door and found a small corner to talk to him.

“Qiqi, Uncle and Auntie have something to say to your mom. Can you wait outside for us?”

Pei Xu nodded obediently. On the way to the lounge area, he carefully held his aunt’s hand and looked up. “Auntie, why does Mom want to find me?”

Did Mom like him again?

Hua Zhao paused, her heart aching that four-year-old Qiqi had to think about such complex questions.

“Qiqi, do you like Auntie? Your uncle said you want to live with us in the future. Let’s pinky promise, okay?”

Pei Qiqi obediently pinky promised with his aunt and said: “I like Auntie. I love Auntie.”

Hua Zhao’s nose tingled. “Then if Auntie can’t help but say bad things about your mom, will you still like Auntie?”

Pei Qiqi still nodded. “I’ll always like Auntie.”

Hua Zhao was flattered but didn’t want him to live with resentment toward his mother. That would be too tiring.

“Qiqi, the adult world is complex. When you’re older, you’ll understand. Everyone has their own difficulties. Under the weighing of interests, you have to make choices. The choice may be right or wrong. But no matter the result, everyone has to pay for their choices.”

Pei Qiqi thought. “Does Mom have difficulties too?”

Hua Zhao’s mouth twitched, her tone certain. “Your mom is purely bad.”

Seeing the child’s expression unchanged, Hua Zhao continued: “Leaving you behind, that was her choice. Now she wants to come back and take you. Uncle and I firmly disagree.”

Pei Qiqi felt his aunt’s anger and gently patted her back with his little hand. Hua Zhao was a bit moved, and then remembered that Qiqi had probably seen Fang Qin just now.

“Did you see your mom just now?”

Pei Qiqi nodded. Hua Zhao asked him how he felt. Pei Qiqi couldn’t put the feeling into words. When he first came in, he actually hadn’t recognized her as his mother. His mother’s appearance had become very blurry in his memory. When Doctor Du was “chatting” with him, he had shown him many photos of his mother. Doctor Du had him talk to his mother, and he asked his mother why she hadn’t come to pick him up and take him home. Of course, the photos couldn’t answer him. It was just one of Doctor Du’s treatment methods. Later, he saw with his own eyes that his mother had a new son. His mother was no longer his mother.

“I think I… forgot Mom.” The child blinked and said, word by word.

He felt very unfamiliar with his mother, with no desire to get close. When their eyes met, he didn’t react as strongly as he had in the hospital back then, and his heart didn’t ache at all anymore.

Hua Zhao hugged him, her palm stroking his soft short hair. “If you forgot, then you forgot. From now on, only remember the happy things.

Youyou’s birthday is coming up soon. When your uncle gets off work, we’ll go buy Youyou a birthday present, okay?”

Hua Zhao handed Pei Qiqi over to the front desk girl to look after, and went to Pei Yi’s office herself. Only the three of them were left in the office. Pei Yi walked to the window and pressed the glass switch. The frosted effect blocked all lines of sight outside the window. Fang Qin had come for the house in P City. In her words, she was Pei Xu’s biological mother, and half of the money Pei Ye used to buy the house was hers too. Pei Yi was so angry he nearly needed oxygen. Hua Zhao crossed her arms and walked up to her, looking her up and down, then down and up again.

“You don’t look like you’re short on money. If you really had no money, just selling your bags and jewelry secondhand would earn you a few million, wouldn’t it? You’re even fighting over the house a dead husband left for his son. How is your skin thicker than the corner of a city wall?” Her tone was light.

Fang Qin was a woman who cared greatly about appearances. When she went out, her makeup was always exquisite; she was always dazzling, and wherever she went, she had to be the center of attention.

“Sell my bags? How could I sell my bags?” Fang Qin was like a cat whose foot had been stepped on, jumping up in a panic. “Who told you I was short on money? My husband has plenty of money.”

The woman before her had a distorted face. Her exquisite makeup couldn’t hide her deep exhaustion. After that cocktail party, Hua Zhao had never seen her at any banquet. She had been collectively excluded by Leah and the wealthy ladies of Beicheng’s upper class. Once, Old Mrs. Cen took her to a lady’s birthday banquet, and Leah told Old Mrs. Cen at the birthday party that Fang Qin had abandoned her own son.

Old Mrs. Cen felt humiliated. She said a word to the host and left in a hurry. After that, the Cen family forbade Cen Zheping from giving her any more money, and forbade her from getting close to Cen Yuankai. Her own paintings hanging in the gallery hadn’t sold a single one. But life had to go on. She was used to luxury. Her monthly luxury goods couldn’t stop; she had to buy any artwork she liked at art exhibitions, and her monthly spa bills ran into seven figures…

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