CH 61

Pei Yi brainstormed rapidly, his eyes shifting back and forth for several seconds.

He had never revealed anything about his work to Bo Yueming, and with the other party’s conduct, he would never open his private computer and secretly look at his information, so how could he know?

Could it be that he revealed his secret when he was drunk some time ago? No, there would be no need to wait until today to ask about it, right?

Bo Yueming was ten percent uncertain at first, but Pei Yi’s attitude right now was enough to explain everything—

The other party was the rookie architect in the gaming circle, Will.

Bo Yueming’s curiosity only rose. “Pei Yi, what’s wrong?”

Pei Yi couldn’t help but break the jar that was already cracked, and asked, “H-how did you know? When did you find out?”

“Last night.”

“Last night?”

Bo Yueming didn’t go around in circles with him or play charades. “You paid so much attention to Li Yuan last night. That kind of friendship couldn’t exist after just meeting two or three times, and you even called him “Pear Garden” when you were anxious.”

“……”

Pei Yi got stuck, apparently not expecting the fault to be because of an external address.

But then again, just based on this address, Bo Yueming surmised that he had a very close relationship with Li Yuan and was able to dig out his working identity. It was a bit too much.

Unresigned, Pei Yi continued to ask for details, “And then?”

“Li Yuan has partnered with GM. Our company did a full investigation on the relevant basic information about him in the gaming circle in the early stages of investment and always kept a copy.”

Bo Yueming found out that on the largest game forum in China, Youtu, Li Yuan’s ID was the “Pear Garden” that Pei Yi called out.

At the bidding meeting four months ago, his team’s Lou Yang revealed her ID as “Dehydration,” and said that there was another core member behind her and Li Yuan, who was the chief architect of the game “The Last Fog.”

“Dehydration and Pear Garden had two common friends on their Youtu watch list, and one was Southern Mountain.” Bo Yueming paused and looked at Pei Yi. “The other was Will.”

The abbreviated English word sounded different, and pleasant to the ears.

Pei Yi let out a muffled cough and took a drink of water.

Bo Yueming did a little research and discovered that the “Southern Mountain” ID user was Xiang Nansheng, who had participated in the bidding that day, but Will had no clear identity.

“It was originally not so easy to find out, but Lin Zhong reminded me that most game creators would have a corresponding Weibo account.”

When the four-character prefix “King of Alcohol Capacity” appeared before his eyes, Pei Yi’s drunken little red face automatically appeared in Bo Yueming’s mind, and all the dots floating on the surface and hidden in the dark were connected by lines.

As for the final blow of confirmation, Pei Yi had done that himself.

Pei Yi murmured unwillingly, “I clearly hid it very carefully.”

“Yes, it was well-hidden.”

Bo Yueming took the initiative to smooth the cat’s fur, and then brought up another matter. “I couldn’t figure it out at the beginning. You stayed at home well, so why did you use the lame reason of ‘playing games’ to follow me to GM?”

At that time, Bo Yueming was still jealous and suspicious — Pei Yi had become interested in his good friend Yan Cen, and deliberately wanted to go to the company for that reason.

Pei Yi remembered his reason for ‘playing the fool’ at that time, and twirled the water glass in embarrassment. He immediately adopted a resolute expression. “I didn’t intend to go through the back door. Our studio relies on pure capability!”

Naturally, Bo Yueming wouldn’t doubt this. He only asked, “You often lock the door and hide in your room just to work on the game?”

Pei Yi nodded, a hint of stubbornness accompanying his guilty conscience. “Because my identity is inconvenient, I haven’t shown up. If it wasn’t for what happened with Li Yuan last night, I definitely would have been able to continue hiding.”

Hearing this rhetoric, Bo Yueming’s deep desire to explore became stronger—

As everyone knew, the little young master of the Pei family had been a fool since he was ten years old, and often went crazy. But what about Pei Yi?

He knew wine, etiquette, and had principles, and now he had his own secret career.

This was very different from the little young master Pei in the eyes of outsiders!

As early as when Bo Yueming saw through Pei Yi’s “playing the fool,” Bo Yueming secretly suspected that Pei Yi was never that “Little Young Master Pei,” but that the family hired him to replace him in order to complete this commercial marriage.

But he denied this idea in the blink of an eye, because it was impossible for a person’s appearance to change that drastically, and based on previous contacts, the relationship between Pei Yi and the Pei family was indeed bad!

With Pei Yi’s personality and way of doing things, how could he be controlled by others? Would he “impersonate” someone for no reason to complete this commercial marriage that didn’t give him any benefits in the first place?

His speculations and desire to explore mixed into a ball.

Bo Yueming had never encountered anything more difficult to figure out than this, but Pei Yi didn’t want to say it, and he never thought about forcing the other party to explain everything.

In any case, Bo Yueming could definitely confirm—

From acquaintance to heartfelt affection, from living together to formally meeting, from acknowledgement to sincere liking, who he was facing was Pei Yi himself, not the rumored “Little Young Master Pei.”

Seeing that Bo Yueming hadn’t spoken for a long time, Pei Yi felt a little uneasy. “Er-ge?”

“En?”

“I, I was afraid of my identity being exposed at first, but after I got stable, I felt that there was no reason to speak up.” Pei Yi sighed and apologized. “I know it was wrong to hide it from you, but I just wanted to have my own career.”

Pei Yi met Bo Yueming’s gaze, and stated his point earnestly and briefly. “We have a marriage relationship. From outsiders’ point of view, I can enjoy the protection of you and Old Mrs. Bo with peace of mind.”

It was a beautiful day when you had someone to take care of you and not have to worry about three meals a day. Just drifting along, eating and waiting to die, was very good.

Pei Yi understood this, but didn’t need it. “I don’t want to depend on anyone to live. Only when I earn enough money by myself can I feel secure.”

Pei Yi knew that his words and opinions were very worldly, but it was the truth—

He had tried the experience of having no money when he was young, when even a piece of poor-quality dessert could cause crying and countless fights.

He had also tried the experience of being attached to others, and using other people’s families as his own shelter from the wind. However,  he finally understood that other people’s money and protection could bring him temporary stability, but in the end, there would be a day when it vanished like smoke into thin air.

No matter which world or environment he was in, living strong by himself was of the highest importance.

Pei Yi’s Adam’s apple rolled. “Do you understand what I mean?”

Bo Yueming’s lips curved up, and he gave timely affirmation and encouragement. “Pei Yi, you are outstanding.”

Those five simple words were worth a thousand of them.

Pei Yi met Bo Yueming’s admiring eyes, and his heart palpitated continuously. “You aren’t angry, ah? If you didn’t find out, I, I didn’t intend to tell you.”

Bo Yueming chuckled and asked back, “I guessed it myself, so you aren’t going to be angry, right?”

Pei Yi nodded. “Of course not.”

His secret identity was leaked by himself, and he couldn’t hide it. Naturally, he couldn’t blame the other party for being able to figure it out by following the clues.

It became clear to Bo Yueming that he hadn’t touched Pei Yi’s bottom line, and his heartstrings slightly loosened. “Pei Yi, everyone has their own secrets and has the right to choose whether they tell them or not. I said that I wouldn’t force you.”

Bo Yueming promised again and again, and said with magnanimous expectation, “However, I hope that one day in the future, you will take the initiative to share them with me.”

“…….”

A rush of impulse surged up in Pei Yi’s heart, and he almost wanted to nod and say yes. “Er-ge, let me tell you something else.”

“What is it?”

“Starting tomorrow, I need to go in to the studio.”

According to the plot of the original next, both the Pei family and An Yang should go to Li Yuan again. Pei Yi was afraid that these people would affect his friend’s mood to work, so he wanted to take the initiative to share some of the burden with the other party.

In addition, the upcoming “The Last Fog 1.0” also required his more comprehensive supervision.

Bo Yueming knew that Pei Yi was discussing this with him, not asking for his consent. “Of course you can, but aren’t you afraid of revealing your secret in front of others?”

Pei Yi had considered this issue. “Li Yuan and Sister Yang are trustworthy, and the other employees should not know the situation in the wealthy circle. I’ll wear a mask and hat when I go out. I just need to hand out the key points to the head of the department, and it should be stable for a while.”

“Okay, then I’ll have Lao Fu pick you up from work and drop you off.”

“En!”

Pei Yi’s smile widened. Compared with the initial depression of “losing his vest,” he felt a kind of secret kind of joy in his heart—

Because Bo Yueming appreciated him, understood him, and respected all of his decisions!

. . . . . . .

The next morning, a tightly concealed Pei Yi stepped through the seventh floor door.

On the wall behind the front desk were the strong, vigorous characters, “Dawn Games.” It was said that Xiao Li wrote them himself, and now there was a cute cat icon under the signboard—

YWY Studios.

Although the studio had been established for nearly four months, this was Pei Yi’s first time here. The corners of his mouth underneath the mas raised up, and he had the wonderful feeling that “his career before and after transmigrating” had connected together.

The receptionist said politely, “Hello, Sir. Who are you looking for?”

Pei Yi stepped forward. “I’m looking for your Mr. Li.”

Before the lingering sound fell, another voice came over. “Will, over here!”

Li Yuan unlocked the access door of the front lobby with his fingerprint and waved to his friend. “What are you doing here so early?”

When the receptionist heard this, her eyes widened in surprise. “Teacher Will?”

“En, hello.”

Pei Yi tapped the front desk and smiled at the receptionist, then approached his friend without haste.

The two entered the company together.

Pei Yi’s voice was weakened through the barrier of the mask. “I thought you would call me Pei Yi in public.”

Li Yuan replied, “Didn’t you ask me to keep it secret?”

Pei Yi remembered his vest falling off unexpectedly last night, and stopped talking for the sake of face.

He took the opportunity to look around the entire layout of Dawn Games, which was a two-story structure like a building within a building.

The art team and technical team were on the first floor, and the copywriting team was on the second floor, with other break rooms and conference rooms scattered on both sides.

It was still early for work, and other than the technical development staff, the employees in other positions had not yet all arrived.

Li Yuan lightly patted Pei Yi’s shoulder, saying, “Let’s go to the second floor first.”

“By the way, if you don’t mind, will you share an office with me temporarily? Later, after Sister Yang and Brother Xiang come to work, shall I bring them alone to meet you?”

Pei Yi thought that Li Yuan was acting the same as usual, and was relieved. “Yes, I’ll follow your arrangements.”

Half an hour later, the office door opened again.

Li Yuan entered first, followed by two figures. Sister Yang, Brother Xiang, this is Will.”

Pei YI saw familiar faces he hadn’t seen in a long time. Setting aside the operation for the upcoming reveal plan, he took the initiative to get up and take off the mask and peaked cap.

“Sister Yang, Director Xiang, long time no see.”

“…….”

The second Xiang Nansheng saw Pei Yi’s true face, he exclaimed in surprise, “Mr. Li, you say it’s……him?”

“Brother Nan, he is one of the partners of our studio, the core architect of The Last Fog, Will.”

Li Yuan gave the introduction he had prepared, and didn’t forget to add, “This is the little young master we met at the bidding, Pei Yi.”

Pei Yi trusted Lou Yang and Xiang Nansheng a lot, and was very willing to let Li Yuan be honest on his behalf. “Director Xiang, can you react?”

Xiang Nansheng’s lips curved. “Barely.”

It must be known that Pei Yi’s “playing the fool” was very vivid at the bidding scene that time, and it was very difficult to overlap those images at this time.

Pei Yi glanced at Lou Yang next to him and greeted her with a smile, “Sister Yang.”

He hadn’t seen her in nearly four months. Lou Yang’s hair had grown a lot, and she used a large clip to hold it all behind her head, looking as capable as ever. 

Facing Pei Yi’s voluntary appearance, Lou Yang was unreasonably calm.

Li Yuan was curious. “Sister Yang, why aren’t you surprised at all?”

Lou Yang took a sip of the coffee in her hand. “Of course I’m not surprised, I guessed it long ago.”

“……”

When these words were spoken, the three men present were simultaneously stunned.

Pei Yi was uncertain. “Sister Yang, you’d already guessed it?”

Li Yuan said, “Right, ah, how did you guess that?”

He had been in contact with Pei Yi four or five times, and had also been “acted for” by the other party until he knew the truth yesterday morning.

Lou Yang glanced at Xiang Nansheng. “The last night when the bidding ended, Will told us he offered an olive branch to Xiang Nansheng.”

Pei Yi didn’t say a word, but vaguely recalled one thing—

At that time, he had said that he had an acquaintance within the GM investment department and thought that he had evaded Lou Yang’s questioning, but never expected that the other party didn’t believe it at all.

“I recalled all the people at the bidding scene that night, and then eliminated them one by one. My intuition pointed to Pei Yi, because his appearance with the identity of ‘Little Young Master Pei’ was the strangest.”

“……”

There was a trace of reasonableness in the absurdity.

Sure enough, was this a woman’s innate sixth sense? It was terribly accurate!

“Of course, due to Pei Yi’s ‘foolish’ reaction, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure at the time, until……” Lou Yang looked around, deliberately fishing.

Xiang Nansheng was the first to take the bait. “Until what?”

Lou Yang smiled back. “Weibo and Youtu both have account IP location. Whoever traveled back and forth between the Imperial Capital and Wencheng during that period was it.”

Pei Yi was silent under the heavy blow. He used to think that his vest was well-protected—

As a result, he bumped into Bo Yueming last night, and ran into Lou Yang again today.

En, it was a crushing defeat.

“I guessed that you would tell us one day, and even though I knew, I wouldn’t reveal it to others. 

Lou Yang saw Pei Yi’s small bit of melancholy, and teased him like a sister, “Okay, la, welcome back to the team, Little Mr. Yi?”

Pei Yi followed suit with a smile. “Sister Yang, Pear Garden is the little one, I don’t use childhood nicknames.”

Li Yuan scoffed coldly. “Okay, Little Mr Yi.”

. . . . . . .

Both Lou Yang and Xiang Nansheng were reliable people who didn’t meddle in other people’s business. Even though they knew Pei Yi’s identity behind his vest, neither of them asked too much about his previous “playing the fool.”

The four of them quickly reached an agreement on work and dedicated themselves to the project.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to leave work. 

Lou Yang, who had always adhered to the idea of “leaving work on time,” knocked on the office door. “Xiao Yi, Pear Garden, are you free tonight? Do you want to come to my house for dinner?”

It was rare for the four of them to meet together offline, and they weren’t completely absorbed in work.

Li Yuan thought of everything he was suffering now, and agreed as if looking for a safe haven. “Okay, ah.”

Pei Yi nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

Having received positive replies from the two, Lou Yang said, “Then I’ll take Nansheng’s car to buy ingredients first. Li Yuan, you know where I live, so how about going later with Xiao Yi?”

“All right.”

Lou Yang suddenly remembered something, and teased Pei Yi before leaving, “By the way, family members are allowed at this dinner.”

Family members?

Bo Yueming?

Pei Yi’s ears felt hot.

Lou Yang turned to leave, and in the next second, a phone vibrated.

Li Yuan saw the caller ID on the phone and his expression froze slightly. “Pei Yi, I’ll go downstairs first. Can we meet up in the parking lot in ten minutes?”

Pei Yi sensed that something was wrong. “Are you okay?”

Li Yuan clenched the phone tightly and said in a low voice, “It’s fine, I can handle it.”

Pei Yi nodded. “Okay. Tell me if you have any trouble, don’t put on a brave face.”

“All right.”

Li Yuan seemed calm, but there was still a bit of haste in his departing footsteps.

Pei Yi picked up his long-neglected phone and decided to send a WeChat message to Bo Yueming to report in. After all, when he didn’t come home on time on the first day of work, he feared that the other party would be worried.

. . . . . .

Ten minutes later, the freshly dressed Pei Yi arrived at the parking lot.

Driver Lao Fu recognized his figure and approached to say in a whisper, “Little Sir, I saw Li Yuan enter the access door on that side, being pulled by a middle-aged woman. It seemed that the interaction was not very pleasant.”

Middle-aged woman?

Was it An Yang or Deng Xiuya?

Pei Yi didn’t have a clear answer, but was still afraid that Li Yuan would be bullied. “Lao Fu, wait here for a while, I’ll go over and check it out.”

Lao Fu nodded.

Pei Yi slowed down as he approached the access door, and when he reached it, he heard Li Yuan’s plea—

“Mom, I beg you, just leave me alone for a while, okay? Whatever the result of the paternity test is, that doesn’t matter to me.”

“Not important? Xiao An, how could it not be important?”

Pei Yi recognized An Yang’s voice, and heard the other party apologize, “Mom knows she was sick a few days ago, and couldn’t help saying a lot of things that shouldn’t be said, which indirectly hurt your feelings.”

“I’m sorry, Mom didn’t mean to.”

“…….”

“But it happened, and we’ve got to figure it out, don’t we?” An Yang painstakingly explained, “Now that the Pei family knows about it, they want to invite you to cooperate for a paternity test, as long as……”

Li Yuan retorted at once, “I don’t want to!”

Maybe it was the suddenly raised voice that frightened An Yang, but she grew a little bit tearful. “Xiao An?”

Li Yuan took a deep breath, and said with pain and powerlessness, “Mom, why do you have to force me and the Pei family to take a paternity test? So what if the results come out?”

Did she want him to stay in this family, or push him back to the Pei family, who had no feelings for him?

There was a tremor in Li Yuan’s voice. “These two days, I really couldn’t figure out—”

“What am I to you? If, I mean if, the condition for Pei Huan to come back to you is to drive me away, would you agree?”

An Yang sidestepped the question. “Xiao An, from beginning to end, I’m doing things for your own good. Mom doesn’t want to keep watching you work so hard, understand?”

Outside the access door, Pei Yi heard this rhetoric and pushed open the door, unable to endure it.

—Bang!

Li Yuan and An Yang were startled by the opening of the door, and both glanced over.

Pei Yi didn’t feel guilty about interrupting the mother-and-child conversation, and calmly stepped in front of his friend. “Sorry, Madam An, I really can’t let this go on.”

“Who are you?”

An Yang didn’t recognize the “fully equipped” Pei Yi for a moment, but on the verge of losing control of her emotions, she was very dissatisfied with the interruption of a stranger.

“You don’t need to intervene in matters between a mother and child.”

Mother and child?

Pei Yi caught the key word and asked disapprovingly, “Ever since you got the paternity test report, have you ever regarded him as your own child?”

An Yang was self-righteous, and unhappy at being questioned. “Of course! I have raised him for more than twenty years! How could I not?”

“Yes, ah, a family relationship formed over twenty years of nurturing and spending time together can’t be broken overnight.”

As an outsider, Pei Yi saw it more clearly.

He couldn’t bear for his friend to continue living in such “family bondage,” so he put the bloody facts on the table for him.

“But you’ll secretly blame him for not being your own, and because the bone marrow wasn’t a match? Then do you still think that if Pei Yi was the one who did the bone marrow transplant, the results would be different?”

Thinking about it every day, asking about it every night, this relationship began to sour.

“You are unwilling to accept President Li’s death. Gradually, you’ve developed uncontrollable resentment for this series of misfortunes, and even attached this emotion to Yuan.”

And An Yang’s schizophrenia was the best breeding ground for this resentment.

An Yang shook her head, and denied shakily, “No, I didn’t!”

A trace of loss appeared in Li Yuan’s eyes, and the fog in his heart dispersed along with his friend’s words.

Pei Yi was indifferent to An Yang’s tears, and questioned on his friend’s behalf, “Madam An, you keep saying that it’s for Yuan’s good? Why didn’t you go directly to the Pei family to clarify? Why not let the two of them switch back?”

“You let Pei Huan continue to stay at the Pei residence and live the life of a young master without telling anyone, but Yuan, who really should have been enjoying all of that, had to support Dawn Games for you when it was about to go bankrupt!”

“You obviously wanted to recognize Pei Huan, but you were afraid that he would suffer with you. Did Yuan deserve all that injustice? May I ask if you have noticed his filial piety, forbearance, and grievances?”

The affection of upbringing was important, and the bond of blood was deep, but it should never have been handled this way!

Facing Pei Yi’s loud and repeated questioning, An Yang could only shake her head persistently, “No, that’s not the case!”

She suddenly lost control and pushed Pei Yi away, holding Li Yuan’s shoulders firmly with both hands. “Xiao An, you have to believe me, Mom has never been partial. I miss Pei Huan, but I also hate to part with you, ah!”

Li Yuan looked at An Yang with tears in his eyes, but he had to acknowledge in his heart that what Pei Yi said was something he had never dared to admit.

“Never been partial? Mom, let me ask you—”

“The investment competition plan in my sophomore year, was it Pei Huan who wanted to buy it? Or did you take the initiative to give it to him?”

Li Yuan ignored the gradual loosening of the grip on his shoulders, with the last gleam of extravagant hope hidden deep in his eyes. “Tell me, even if just a word of truth.”

A spreading silence engulfed them, and everything was quiet.

Li Yuan saw through everything, and shook off An Yang’s hands in abject despair. “I won’t do the paternity test, and I won’t recognize the Pei family. Go find your precious son and give him everything. I don’t need it anymore.”

An Yang was stunned in place, and instantly paled.

Li Yuan no longer cared like before, and left without saying a word.

He would be in pain, but he would no longer torture himself.

From today on, he would have his own career and his own friends. He would no longer be so foolish as to live for his dead father and a mother who didn’t love him!

Seeing his friend’s resolute back, Pei Yis heartstrings loosened slightly.

He looked at An Yang, who was unable to respond, and ruthlessly exposed her selfish nature. “Madam An, ever since you decided to give Pei Huan those plans, you should have expected such a day to come.”

If you use family affection as a bargaining chip, you should expect to lose everything!