Chapter 20

On the first day of June, the students of No. 1 Primary School were to hold a Children’s Day performance at the grand auditorium in the city center.

Xu Xiaoyan had dragged Yu Mian into signing up for the group dance. From mid-May onward, they rehearsed in the school’s music hall every day after class — ostensibly so that Yu Mian wouldn’t “study herself silly.”

At first, Yu Mian had been a little reluctant… until she saw the pretty red dance dresses, and her eyes lit up. Too pretty! She was definitely joining this performance!

Pei Songxi had been busy lately, coming home late every night. Several times Yu Mian had wanted to tell her about it, waiting in her room — but always drifted off to sleep without realizing, waking the next morning in her own bed. Sometimes a jar of orange hard candies sat on the nightstand, sometimes a thermos of soy milk to take to school.

By the last day of May, afraid she’d miss her chance, Yu Mian said to Wei Ming after school, “Uncle Wei, do you know where Auntie Pei’s company is? I want to go find her!”

Wei Ming smiled warmly. “Shall I call Wei Yi first and let President Pei know over the phone?”

Yu Mian puffed out her little cheeks, very serious. “No, I want to tell Auntie Pei in person.”

“All right, let’s go then.”

Traffic was heavy at rush hour. When they reached the building, Wei Ming called Wei Yi, who came running down in her high heels. “Mianmian, my precious! What brings you here!”

Yu Mian basked in the attention, blinking with a smile. “I came to see Auntie Pei! She’s been coming home so late lately.”

Wei Yi waved goodbye to Uncle Wei and took her hand, leading her inside. “But President Pei’s in a meeting right now. Let’s wait for her, okay?”

Yu Mian nodded obediently. “Okay. I’ll do my homework while I wait.”

Wei Yi was Pei Songxi’s chief assistant. Technically her position wasn’t high, but she was the most likely candidate for promotion, and everyone in the company treated her with respect. Seeing her carry in a little girl who looked like a soft dumpling, everyone drew a sharp breath. Assistant Wei actually dared to bring a child into the office — was she not afraid of President Pei at all?

Wei Yi led Yu Mian by the hand, carrying the little backpack in the other, ignoring everyone’s stares. Just as she was about to free a hand to press the elevator button, a slender, fair wrist reached out from beside them and pressed it. Ming Ran’s tone was cool and light. “You have a kid now?”

“President Ming,” Wei Yi said, her smile faintly amused, “you’ve met Mianmian before. Have you forgotten?”

Ming Ran froze, the tips of her snow-white ears quietly flushing red. “Oh. I don’t remember.”

She did remember… she’d seen this child before — the little girl at Songxi’s home.

The elevator chimed. Twelfth floor.

Wei Yi stepped in first; Ming Ran followed. “Floor twelve?”

“That’s right.”

The elevator car was sealed, and Ming Ran caught a faint, pleasant floral scent. She frowned slightly and took a step back.

Through the reflection in the elevator doors, Wei Yi caught the little movement, the corner of her lips curving. She said nothing.

When the elevator arrived, she walked straight out, bending slightly to speak to Yu Mian, her posture graceful.

Ming Ran gave a soft snort at the air, a self-mocking smile on her face.

And here she’d thought it was her love child.

Pei Songxi was in a meeting; her office was empty. Wei Yi brought Yu Mian in and poured her some hot water. “Hungry, Mianmian?”

Yu Mian climbed onto the chair and set her backpack on the desk. “No thanks, I’m doing homework here!”

Wei Yi’s phone kept ringing, and she had no time to keep her company. “All right, be good and stay here. Don’t wander off, okay?”

“Got it!”

Yu Mian took out her math workbook and pencil case, lowered her head, and her expression instantly turned serious and focused.

Pei Songxi’s office held two rows of bookshelves, a potted plant, a globe on the desk. The blinds were half-drawn. There was nothing else — as cold and spare as the woman herself.

And yet, somehow, a soft little dumpling popping up in such a stern, serious place didn’t feel out of place at all.

Wei Yi couldn’t help smiling as she pulled the door shut behind her.

In the conference room, a work report was underway.

Pei Songxi’s expression was cold as she watched the screen, her fingers tapping lightly on the table. “That’s all?”

The presenter began to sweat. “President Pei… the timeline this time was very tight. Our team put together this first draft overnight…”

He trailed off, unable to continue. The woman at the head of the table grew colder by the second, her gaze indifferent and sharp.

Pei Songxi’s voice was icy. “This is a work report, and you bring me a first draft? Zhao Xiangyang, you are wasting everyone’s time!”

The atmosphere in the conference room plunged to freezing point. Zhao Xiangyang and his team members all lowered their heads, awash with regret… They had known perfectly well how merciless the She-Devil was, so why had they let themselves hope to get away with secretly altering the data? Now…

Pei Songxi’s patience ran out. She was about to say more when the phone lying face-down on the table vibrated softly. She picked it up and glanced at it, thinking it was a call — but it was the reminder she’d set a few days ago: Tomorrow is Children’s Day. Remember to buy Mianmian a present.

Her expression softened without her noticing, if only for an instant. Then she realized her emotions had eased — and that the employees had probably seen it too. It was no longer a good moment to keep criticizing. So she called out a name. “Zhao Xiangyang, bring your team’s core members to my office.”

Coming out of the conference room, she glanced at the sky, ready to speed things up. From a distance she saw Wei Yi waving at her from the flight of stairs above. She gave a faint nod and didn’t look again.

Pei Songxi walked ahead and pushed open the door, Zhao Xiangyang and the others trailing behind her like a line of quails. But the moment the door opened, a soft little dumpling of a girl hopped down from the chair and flung herself over, her voice sweet. “Auntie Pei!”

Pei Songxi froze, then smiled, sweeping her up in one arm, her voice gentle. “Mianmian, what brings you here?”

Zhao Xiangyang and the others were dumbfounded: Holy crap, holy crap — is this still the She-Devil?

They stood rooted in place, exchanging looks.

“Holy crap, is that President Pei’s love child?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Her belly’s never even been big. As if she could give birth!”

“I have a bold idea. I want to squeeze the little dumpling’s cheeks…”

“I think you want to die.”

Everyone took a collective step back. The sound of shuffling feet brought Pei Songxi back to her senses. With her back to them, she said, somewhat resigned, “I’ll give you two more days. Final report the day after tomorrow.”

Oh my god!

So lucky! This little girl must be a Lucky Star!

Zhao Xiangyang suppressed the urge to celebrate his narrow escape. “Thank you, President Pei! We won’t let you down this time!”

“Mm. Go on.”

The office was finally quiet. Pei Songxi carried Yu Mian to the desk and saw several math olympiad workbooks, pencils, an eraser, and a ruler laid out by the computer. She almost laughed. “Mianmian, have you been doing problems here this whole time?”

“Mm-hm. Doing problems while I waited for you.”

Pei Songxi set her down on the desk and gathered up her notebooks. “I’m off work now. Let’s go home. Was there something you came to tell me?”

Yu Mian nodded, a little shy. “Auntie Pei… our Children’s Day performance is tomorrow. Will you come watch… watch me?”

“Are you in one of the programs?”

“Yep! A group dance! Can you come?”

Pei Songxi picked up her little backpack and pinched the tip of her nose. “Of course.”

Yu Mian draped herself over her shoulder, giggling.

As time went on, she still rarely made requests of Pei Songxi, but after the first-grade parent-teacher meeting, she would occasionally ask her to come watch her.

Pei Songxi carried her out. The elevator was packed; the moment she stepped in, everyone pressed back against the walls, though their eyes kept darting to Yu Mian’s face — where on earth had the She-Devil stolen such an adorable child!

Yu Mian stared right back without a trace of fear. Only in the car did she say, “Auntie Pei, they all look so scared of you.”

Pei Songxi nodded. “They are. All of them. Are you scared of me, Mianmian?”

Yu Mian tilted her head up, smiling. “I’m not scared of you at all.”

She wasn’t scared of Auntie Pei, not one bit.

Auntie Pei was just a paper tiger!

The night of Children’s Day.

Before the performances began, sitting amid the clamoring crowd, Pei Songxi couldn’t help rubbing her temples… It was really rather loud. Surrounded by emotionally charged parents, she felt somewhat out of place. In the end, she simply didn’t like crowded venues.

Soon the emcee began reading out the program.

The group dance was the opening act. The auditorium’s lights plunged into darkness; two beams swept back and forth across the stage. The dark-red curtain slowly parted, revealing row upon row of young, bright faces.

The parents clapped hard, applause surging like waves. She clapped along, the corners of her lips slowly lifting.

The girls in their red dresses danced gracefully under the lights — swirling skirts, lively smiles, spinning to the beat of the music like flowers just beginning to bloom, still beaded with the morning’s dew, utterly pure and lovely.

Pei Songxi found Yu Mian in the crowd at a glance.

She took the camera out of her bag and, amid the commotion, pressed the shutter, capturing the moment.

The little girl in the red dress, radiant smile, bright eyes, stretching into herself like a lotus bud just breaking the water, her whole face full of light.

Like a seed, slowly growing.

In that instant Pei Songxi felt something strange. Immersed in the music, her thoughts gradually emptied, her gaze fixed on the performance on stage.

The sense of distance that had always kept her floating outside the mortal world dissolved; in this moment she felt, concretely, a kind of true belonging.

Like standing at the bottom of a deep sea where the water kept surging in — and then a shaft of daylight fell, piercing the dark, cold reality.

As if… she had picked up a star.