Pei Jiangmu did smile indeed.
The smile on his face deepened a bit compared to his usual one.
It formed a more perfect arc, just like a carefully carved mask.
However, if Meng Ruozhao were to look directly into his eyes at this moment,
she would be shocked to find that the once-clear bottom of his eyes was now as deep as a cold pool.
All the gentle starlight had vanished in an instant, completely swallowed by a thick and icy black ink.
It wasn't the flame of anger but a silent and bone-chilling cold wave.
But Meng Ruozhao didn't look at him. She just stared at the milk tea in front of her.
Was she thinking about that jerk?
Pei Jiangmu's long fingers resting on his thigh twitched imperceptibly.
The knuckles turned slightly white due to excessive force, and the veins under the thin skin were clearly visible.
It was as if he was desperately suppressing a ferocious beast about to break free from its cage.
He didn't continue to provoke her.
Instead, with an elegant gesture, he very slowly ran his fingertip of the other hand along the cup wall.
The liquid in the cup rippled with the slight tremor of his fingertip, creating a series of delicate and dangerous ripples.
The movement was carried out with a kind of almost cruel concentration and calmness.
It was as if he was confirming whether everything was still under his absolute control.
Then, he gently blinked his eyes and became the gentle and harmless college student again.
"Sister has a really good relationship with her boyfriend."
He stopped there without further ado.
Meng Ruozhao didn't say anything either. She just gave him a perfunctory smile, looking preoccupied.
The two strolled around the snack street for a while longer. Seeing that she was really absent-minded, Pei Jiangmu offered to go back.
Meng Ruozhao seemed to let out a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement.
When they went to the street corner to wait for a taxi, the atmosphere between them was a bit delicate.
Pei Jiangmu seemed calm, but the occasional glances he cast were full of inquiry and a hint of unnoticeable persistence.
Meng Ruozhao, on the other hand, was immersed in her own thoughts and didn't notice at all.
"Are you sure you don't need me to see you off?"
It was only when the taxi arrived that Meng Ruozhao came back to her senses.
Just now, Pei Jiangmu had said that he was going back to school and could take the bus.
"No, thanks. It's very convenient for me to take the bus."
Pei Jiangmu took out his bus card from his pocket and waved it.
"Okay then. Be careful on your way."
Meng Ruozhao pursed her lips and forced a relaxed smile.
She was in a bad mood, but she shouldn't pass this kind of emotion on to others.
Soon, her taxi came first. She waved to Pei Jiangmu before getting in.
"I'll be leaving then."
Pei Jiangmu also smiled, but at this moment, he stepped forward and asked, "Will you go to the store tomorrow, sister?"
Tomorrow?
Meng Ruozhao thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes, I will."
Pei Jiangmu stood still beside the car door, looking at her intently. "Okay, see you tomorrow."
His voice was deep and pleasant, with his usual smile.
Even after Meng Ruozhao got into the car, he helped her close the door himself.
Every move of his was almost flawless.
Meng Ruozhao nodded without noticing anything, and even waved to him when the car started.
Just as the car drove away -
The gentle smile on Pei Jiangmu's lips seemed to have lost all its warmth in an instant and froze at the corner of his mouth.
Then, at an extremely slow pace, it sank bit by bit, coldly.
He maintained the posture of watching her leave. His tall and straight figure cast a long and lonely shadow in the midday sun.
However, the once-clear and innocent bottom of his eyes now seemed to have been filled with boiling magma.
All the camouflaged calm was instantly evaporated, leaving only a surging and almost violent black vortex.
Was she in such a hurry to leave to meet Yan Qiubai?
What was it that she had to avoid him and talk about after going back?
She had a secret with another man that he wasn't allowed to know!
This realization was like a red-hot branding iron, burning fiercely on Pei Jiangmu's heart.
The heart in his chest suddenly contracted.
Then it started to pound wildly and out of control, hitting the ribs and making a dull echo that made his eardrums buzz.
The venom of jealousy instantly filled his whole body, burning his reason.
At this moment, the black sedan that had been following them for a long time quietly pulled up beside Pei Jiangmu.
Qi Yu got out of the car and opened the door for him, welcoming him into the car.
"Boss, Miss Meng went to the hospital this morning to retrieve a surgery record from the year before last."
Hearing this, Pei Jiangmu, who had already been frowning, suddenly looked over.
A shadow of doubt flashed across his always-deep and unfathomable eyes.
"Surgery? What surgery?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it was like cold metal scraping across the ground, making Qi Yu lower his head even more.
Qi Yu took out a thin kraft paper file bag. Holding it like it was a red-hot branding iron, his cold sweat almost soaked the back of his shirt collar.
"I... I don't know the specific content either. The hospital's file management is very strict. Even Miss Meng herself had to use her ID to retrieve the original record."
The assistant's voice got smaller and smaller. Finally, as if he had exhausted all his courage, he gently handed over the file bag.
"This is... this is a copy of the report that Miss Meng retrieved. She took the original with her."
The air in the car was as stagnant as solidified mercury.
Qi Yu's words were full of loopholes, which showed how nervous he was.
Pei Jiangmu's gaze fell on the ordinary-looking file bag.
The year before last?
That was the year when he and Ruozhao were the closest.
He had managed to get a job on an overseas assignment in France.
The company was very close to Meng Ruozhao's school.
The two of them were like newlyweds there, deeply in love.
They even went back to Haicheng together during the Chinese New Year.
He thought he knew everything about her, from her academic plan to her daily food preferences.
Surgery? He had never heard that she had any surgery in the year before last.
A very faint sense of unease, like a stone thrown into a stagnant pool, rippled in his heart.
But soon, he thought that it must be that damned Du Feng who had fabricated some past for her.
Junk No. 1 Middle School, a third-rate university, a non-existent fiancé...
In order to cover up the fact that he had lost her back then and to keep Meng Ruozhao, who had lost her memory, from being estranged from the Du family, Du Feng had fabricated a bunch of lies.
Yes, this must be one of them.
He was going to see what kind of surgery Du Feng had fabricated for her.
Others might not know, but he knew better than anyone that there wasn't a single scar on his Ruozhao's body.
Where did the surgery come from?
No wonder Meng Ruozhao was suspicious and went to the hospital to request the record.
Presumably, she was also suspicious of what the Du family had said, which was why she had looked so preoccupied today.
Thinking of this, half of Pei Jiangmu's worries were gone.
He stretched out his long fingers, and his movements were even a bit casually elegant as he untied the string on the file bag.
His fingertips took out the thin pages inside.
His gaze swept across the title of the report.
Time seemed to be firmly grasped by an invisible hand at this moment and completely stopped.
It was an abortion surgery report.