The old lady finished speaking and gestured for Zhi Xia to hurry up and follow her.
Zhi Xia thought for a moment. The other party had been beaten because of her, and was already injured. She should go see them out of both personal affection and social propriety.
The Pei family gate was open. The old man was a familiar face here, so he brought Zhi Xia directly inside.
Before they even arrived, the old man's shouts could already be heard from the gate.
Pei JianGuo came out from the living room and laughed, "Uncle An, my grandfather is waiting for you inside."
The old man made a sound of acknowledgement. Remembering his wife's instructions, he looked at Zhi Xia and said, "JianGuo, I have some things to discuss with your grandfather. Why don't you take Zhi Xia to see your uncle?"
"Alright, don't worry sir, I will take good care of sister Zhi Xia," Pei JianGuo replied.
The old man wanted to say they shouldn't be calling each other brother and sister anymore, but then he thought about how convoluted the relationships between these young ones were. The marriage discussions had only started last night, and it was unclear if the young ones even knew yet.
Oh well, let old Pei explain it himself, the old man thought.
After the old man went inside, Pei JianGuo moved closer to Zhi Xia with a smile. But suddenly, the smile disappeared and was replaced with a sneer. "I'm surprised, sister Zhi Xia hasn't been back long but already knows how to seduce men."
Zhi Xia immediately sensed the malice coming from him and took two steps back to keep her distance. Her eyes turned cold. "I'm also surprised that someone as kind as grandfather Pei could raise such an ill-mannered grandson with vicious words."
She could guess what happened. At their last meeting, he didn't harbor this much malice and his words of looking out for her carried sincerity. But now, in just a short time, he had changed. Gao Meiyun must have had a hand in this.
It was just as well. In her last life, she had learned some things from Gao Meiyun, so she never intended to get too close with Pei's main family anyway.
Even if she married Pei Jing in the future, they would have nothing more than courtesy between in-laws at most.
She didn't expect that before even reaching that point, the other side would already bare their malice.
"Am I wrong?" Pei JianGuo said coldly. "First auntie wanted to introduce you to a cousin, and my mom kept telling me to get closer to you. But now you're going to marry my uncle who's a whole 8 years older than you and one generation above. Aren't you ashamed? In just one month, your ambition is really something."
Meiyun was right. This Zhi Xia went through a lot of trouble to come back from the countryside. Her intentions are clearly not pure.
It turned out to be true. After she came back, Meiyun was first sent down to the countryside. Then she was forced to marry Lin Hao. I just didn't expect the Lin family to have this kind of incident.
In hindsight, Pei JianGuo regretted that if he had known earlier how miserably Zhi Xia had forced Meiyun, he would not have let her end up marrying someone like Lin Hao even if his mother disagreed to him marrying Meiyun.
What an unpredictable world, he thought. Just today, he broke his leg over Meiyun's matter but didn't even get to see the enemy, so it's no wonder he felt so annoyed.
Unfortunately, he took out his anger on the wrong person.
Zhi Xia raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
"An Zhi Xia!" Pei JianGuo's expression grew increasingly livid as he clenched his fist in anger.
Zhi Xia knew she was no match for him and had no intention of fighting back. After slapping him, she turned and ran into the Pei's living room.
"Grandpa, come quick and save me!"
Zhi Xia's panicked voice shocked the two old men. They hurriedly got up.
By now, Zhi Xia had run over to them. "Grandpa, hurry and save me. Pei JianGuo wants to hit me."
Now that she had elders on her side, she was no longer the helpless victim who silently endured bullying. How could she just let herself be bullied again? She felt no guilt about tattling whatsoever.
Outside in the living room, when Pei JianGuo heard Zhi Xia's words, his already furious face darkened even more. He strode in angrily, "An Zhi Xia, do you have no shame? Who hit who exactly?"
The slap mark on his face was still distinct. Luckily his skin was good, so the evidence was clear.
Of course, the old man also saw the slap mark on Pei JianGuo's face, but he didn't rush to blame Zhi Xia. Instead, he asked her, "Zhi Xia, what happened?"
"Just now, he told me to go find Pei Jing...but when you went inside, he immediately said I was seducing people and something about his mom telling him to get close to me, things I don't even know about since we've barely talked. Isn't that deliberately insulting me? And also, he said Pei Jing is a whole generation above me and that I'm shameless."
Zhi Xia blinked, looking more and more wronged.
"Did you say that?"
With just one line from the old man Pei, Pei JianGuo's face instantly paled.
Of course he had said those words. He wasn't some wimp who didn't dare admit what came out of his mouth.
"It's true I wanted to marry Meiyun but my mom didn't agree. If you didn't deliberately act in front of my mom, how could she have possibly said to get close to you?"
Pei JianGuo had just nodded when the old man Pei scolded, "Pei JianGuo, I had you read books and write since you were little. Did it all go to the dog's stomach? What your mom told you to do, what does it have to do with Zhi Xia? Did Zhi Xia deliberately run in front of you to show off?"
Pei JianGuo had feared old man Pei since he was little. Now seeing his anger flare up, he was instantly frightened. "Grandpa, I was wrong."
He just wanted to vent about things behind their backs. He never thought it would escalate to the two old men. Now he had lost all face.
"Get out!" Old man Pei waved his hand. His mind was already decided.
Just a few days ago, second uncle had suggested moving out. The children had all grown up now. Having so many people with different thoughts all together everyday really wasn't good. Might as well have them move out and get some peace and quiet.
Pei JianGuo didn't expect that he just wanted to boast some empty threats to get revenge for Meiyun, but it ended up causing old man Pei to consider splitting up the family.
Old man Pei didn't even have the face to look at the other old man's expression. Just a moment ago, he had guaranteed that Zhi Xia would absolutely not be bullied once she joined their family. Yet the very next second, his face was slapped.
Seeing old man Pei's distressed appearance, Zhi Xia did not regret tattling.
If Pei JianGuo dared to cause trouble, why shouldn't she protect herself?
"Zhi Xia, today's matter is all JianGuo's fault. I will teach him a lesson when his parents get back. Don't worry, in the future when you join our family, I definitely won't let anyone bully you," old man Pei suddenly felt that the issue of how to address her was a huge problem.
He called for the housekeeper and had her take Zhi Xia to find Pei Jing.
Zhi Xia had just left the living room when she saw Pei Jing and Pei JianGuo talking by the side door. She didn't know what they were discussing.
Pei Jing stood tall and straight, looking very dignified and authoritative, while Pei JianGuo seemed much inferior in comparison.
If they weren't side by side, Pei JianGuo would still seem quite handsome. But compared to Pei Jing's outstanding looks and bearing, he didn't seem to have any advantages besides slightly fairer skin.
