Pei Mingyuan still refused to give up. "Then at least give me a chance to court you!"
Xu Zixi evaded the question. "Sorry, Mr. Pei. I'd like to take a few days off. I need to adjust my state."
Pei Mingyuan deliberately used a light tone. "I thought you'd tell me you wanted to quit and leave Pei's. If it's just taking time off, I approve. The design competition is over. There's a short break. I'll give you five days off. Just rest at home these five days. Come back to work when you're ready."
Xu Zixi nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Pei, for driving me back. It's getting late and the temperature has dropped suddenly. You'd better go back early to avoid catching a cold."
She never looked up at Pei Mingyuan from start to finish.
Pei Mingyuan actually had many questions for her. Like how hard it had been for her to raise the kids alone all these years, and how sad she'd felt when everyone laughed at her...
But seeing how exhausted she looked and didn't want to talk anymore, Pei Mingyuan had to put away all his thoughts. "Take good care of yourself. If you need anything, just come to me. I'll do anything I can for you."
As Pei Mingyuan's figure gradually faded away and the car lights disappeared from sight, Xu Zixi turned around and walked into the villa. In the living room, the two kids were playing with toys under the company of maid Zhang Ma. Hearing the sound of the door opening, they turned around and happily rushed over to hug Xu Zixi on each side.
"Mama, you're back! Baby misses you!" Yuan Xiaoxu rubbed against her affectionately.
Xu Zixi looked down at the kids' faces and finally saw some resemblance to Yan Yincheng. Their eyes, noses, and lips were as delicate and elegant as hers, but when they had no expression or frowned, they looked exactly like him.
How ridiculous that she'd lived with him for so long but never noticed.
Not hearing a response from Mama, Yuan Xiaoxuan looked up and saw Mama's red eyes! He frowned and said, "Why is Mama crying? Did someone bully Mama outside?"
Yuan Xiaoxu quickly looked up and also noticed Xu Zixi's abnormality. He waved his little fist. "Whoever dares to bully my Mama, Xiaoxu will beat him up!"
Xu Zixi squatted down and hugged the two kids in her arms. She asked with a smile, "Babies, shall we move to a new place to live?"
Yuan Xiaoxuan had always been the most obedient. He hugged Xu Zixi's neck and nodded. "Okay. Baby will listen to Mama."
Yuan Xiaoxu also said, "If big brother agrees, Xiaoxu agrees too!"
Xu Zixi looked up at Zhang Ma behind the kids. "Zhang Ma, pack up. We're leaving right away."
Professionalism made Zhang Ma not ask any more questions. She immediately nodded and went upstairs to pack luggage for the three of them. Xu Zixi took out her phone and dialed Hu Yuankang's number. "Brother Hu, I need your help with something..."
"Miss, is the competition over? Did you win the first prize? Hehe, I knew you'd be the best! Wait for me. I'll come pick you up right away!" Hu Yuankang said cheerfully.
"I'm already back in the south of the city," Xu Zixi said. "Brother Hu, I'd like you to find me a new place to live. Preferably I can move in right away, and the farther from here the better."
Hu Yuankang sensed something was wrong. "Move right now? So suddenly? Did that guy surnamed Yin do something to you? Wait for me. I'll bring my brothers over to support you right away!"
Then he hung up the phone in a hurry.
When Hu Yuankang and his brothers stormed into the villa aggressively, the bodyguards left by Yan Yincheng blocked in front of Xu Zixi and wouldn't let her leave.
"Madam, please calm down. Third Master really didn't mean to deceive you. He had his own difficulties. Please put down your luggage first and wait for Third Master to come back, okay?"
Right in front of the bodyguards, Xu Zixi tore the engagement agreement she'd signed into pieces. The pieces of paper fluttered down like snowflakes in the air. She said coldly,
"Don't call me that. I'm not your madam. Get out of my way."
Seeing this, Hu Yuankang's brothers immediately rushed forward. One grabbed the bodyguard's throat, one tied his hands, and one hugged his legs, then dragged him aside and beat him up.
"You're tired of living! How dare you stop our boss's boss! I'll teach you a lesson today!"
With Hu Yuankang's help, the path finally cleared up. Xu Zixi left without hesitation, taking the kids and luggage towards the door. When passing by the living room, she suddenly stopped and looked towards the corner. The pure white grand piano was lying there quietly. The guitar was placed on the piano chair, leaning against the piano. The brownish-red paint glowed mellowly under the light.
The music they'd played while waiting for the sunrise last night still echoed in her ears. Who would have thought that less than a day had passed, and everything had changed.
Yuan Xiaoxu followed her gaze and also noticed the guitar. He shook Xu Zixi's finger and asked, "Mama, shall we take that thing? Xiaoxu likes to listen to it!"
Xu Zixi forced herself to look away from the guitar. "It belongs to someone else. If you like it, Mama will buy you a new one."
Yuan Xiaoxu looked at the guitar reluctantly for a few more times. "Oh... okay."
On the way away, Hu Yuankang carefully sized up Xu Zixi through the rearview mirror. Noticing his hesitation, Xu Zixi said, "Just say what you want to say."
"Miss, did you and Mr. Yin have a fight? Actually, there's something I don't know if I should tell you."
"He doesn't have the surname Yin. His surname is Yan," Xu Zixi said indifferently.
Hu Yuankang slapped his thigh hard. "Hey! Miss, that's exactly what I wanted to tell you! I was so confused before. How could there be a rich guy driving a Maybach in Haicheng and I didn't hear a single thing about it? After I dropped you off at Pei's today, I went back and had someone check. It turns out there's no one named Yin Cheng at all. His surname is Yan!"
Look, even Hu Yuankang had noticed something was wrong, but she'd never doubted him. Did her IQ drop after she got a new body?
"He concealed his real name when getting engaged to me. So this engagement is naturally invalid. From now on, we'll be strangers with nothing to do with each other."
"Miss is really decisive. Such a deceiving gigolo should be kicked away!" Hu Yuankang said angrily. "Don't worry, Miss. With Brother Hu around, I'll never let him get within three meters of you!"
In the end, Xu Zixi took the two kids and Zhang Ma to Hu Yuankang's duplex apartment in the west of the city.
The location of this duplex apartment was excellent. It was on the top floor and had two stories, covering an area of 300 square meters. The most amazing thing was the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, which offered a view of the West Coast. The scenery was no less beautiful than that of the villa in the south of the city. Moreover, the room was fully equipped with electrical appliances and furniture, so they could move in directly.