83: Chapter 83 Pei Yunxiao, I was wrong
The gate of Jiangcheng Noble School was grand and imposing, and a black maybach parked under the plane trees stood out conspicuously.
Pei Yunxiao leaned against the car door, toying with the car keys in his left hand. As he raised his right hand, the Patek Philippe watch on his wrist glinted in the sunlight.
That was the gift Song Zhiwei had bought for him last year with her own pocket money for his birthday, yet whenever he met someone, he would claim it was an "adult gift from his family."
"Young Master Pei, this maybach is really cool! It must cost several million, right?" A few boys crowded around, their tones full of flattery.
Pei Yunxiao smiled with feigned modesty, though his eyes betrayed his smugness. "It's nothing, just a car to get around. By the way, I've booked a private room at Xinghui Hotel for tonight. Want to go and hang out together?"
A chorus of agreement immediately rang out around him. No one noticed that he was deliberately hiding the character "Song" engraved on the car key in his palm.
Song Zhiwei sat in the passenger seat, her fingernails digging deeply into her palms.
In her past life, she had been just like this, watching Pei Yunxiao use her things to pretend to be a wealthy second-generation heir, yet she had foolishly thought, "As long as he's happy, it's fine."
Now, seeing this scene again, she only felt disgusted.
"Aren't you getting out?" Zhang Fan asked.
"I'm waiting for my roommates." Song Zhiwei took out her phone and dialed her roommate's number, her tone calm and flat. "I'm at the school gate. Where are you?"
Before ten minutes had passed, three girls walked over quickly.
The leader was her roommate Lin Meng. As soon as she arrived, she grabbed onto the car window, her tone filled with a sense of "bitter disappointment" at someone not living up to expectations. "Zhiwei, you're finally here! Hurry up and apologize to Young Master Pei. He told us everything—you broke his favorite antique vase at his house, and it cost several million!"
"I broke his vase?" Song Zhiwei was stunned, then laughed out loud, her eyes full of mockery. "How long has it been since I've even been to his house? Besides, what kind of multi-million dollar vase does his Pei family have that I don't know about?"
The roommate next to her, Li Na, immediately chimed in, her tone sharp and acrid. "Still being stubborn! If Young Master Pei says you broke it, then you broke it. Otherwise, why would you run away from his house? Even your parents can't reach you—if this isn't avoiding responsibility, what is?"
"Zhiwei, listen to us and go apologize to Young Master Pei." Another roommate, Wang Ting, tugged at her arm, her tone filled with hypocritical concern. "Young Master Pei treats you so well, paying your tuition and buying you things. If you apologize, he will definitely forgive you."
"Paying my tuition?" Song Zhiwei finally couldn't hold back. She pushed open the car door and stepped out, her voice clear and bright. "Since when did my tuition need Pei Yunxiao to pay it? Your full subsidies were something I had my father apply for with the school. What on earth does it have to do with Pei Yunxiao?"
Lin Meng's face turned pale, but she quickly hardened her stance again. "Don't flatter yourself! Young Master Pei told us it was him who spoke to the school that got us the subsidies! Song Zhiwei, don't be ungrateful. We're only advising you to apologize because we care about you!"
"Care about me?" Song Zhiwei looked at the three roommates she had once helped, her heart feeling as cold as ice. "When I gave you coats in the winter, you turned around and told others 'Young Master Pei gave them to us.' I helped you secure internship spots, and you didn't even say thank you. Instead, you joined Ruan Shu in watching and laughing when I was locked in the bathroom—is this your version of caring?"
Li Na was exposed and flew into a rage from embarrassment. "Song Zhiwei! Don't be ungrateful! Without Young Master Pei, what are you? Your parents are just the Pei family's driver and nanny. You were only able to get into this school because you benefited from the Pei family's status. How dare you talk back to Young Master Pei?"
"Exactly!" Wang Ting chimed in as well. "If you don't apologize, do you want your parents to be implicated too? If Young Master Pei is unhappy and makes your parents lose their jobs, let's see you all go hungry!"
Song Zhiwei took a deep breath, suppressing her turbulent emotions, and her voice turned cold. "Are you all sick? I was able to come here to study based on my own grades. It has nothing to do with Pei Yunxiao!"
"How can you talk like that!" Lin Meng was also getting anxious and let go of her arm. "We're kindly advising you, and you're being ungrateful!"
People around them gradually gathered, pointing and whispering at Song Zhiwei.
Someone whispered, "So she's the girl Young Master Pei keeps? I heard her parents are servants for the Pei family. How dare she throw a tantrum at Young Master Pei?"
"She's really ungrateful. Young Master Pei gives her so many benefits, and she still dares to run away from home."
Pei Yunxiao had long noticed the commotion here. Seeing Song Zhiwei speechless from being confronted, he felt smug and sauntered over, followed by several classmates who had been fawning over him earlier.
"Song Zhiwei, you've got some nerve, huh?" He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his tone full of disdain. "You broke my vase, dared to run away, and now you dare to talk back to me?"
Song Zhiwei looked up. Seeing Pei Yunxiao's face, her mind suddenly went blank. It felt as if something was pulling at her consciousness, making her instinctively want to lower her head and apologize, wanting to say, just like in her past life, "Pei Yunxiao, I was wrong, please don't be angry."
Just at that moment, Zhang Fan's hand gently patted her shoulder.
"Don't panic." Zhang Fan's voice was very soft, but it was like a thunderclap, jolting Song Zhiwei's consciousness awake.
Her body shuddered, and the confusion in her eyes instantly faded, replaced by clarity and determination.
That's right, she was no longer the Song Zhiwei from her past life who had been trapped by the "lowered intelligence" halo. She had Zhang Fan by her side; she didn't need to be afraid of Pei Yunxiao anymore.
Song Zhiwei took a deep breath and looked at Pei Yunxiao, her tone calm but filled with strength. "Pei Yunxiao, it's good that you're here. There are some things I should settle with you."
The surrounding classmates were all stunned—who didn't know that Song Zhiwei was Pei Yunxiao's "little follower"? Usually, if Pei Yunxiao said east, she wouldn't dare say west. Now, she actually dared to "settle accounts" with Pei Yunxiao? A yellow-haired boy immediately sneered, "Song Zhiwei, have you lost your mind? Young Master Pei keeps you, and you dare to challenge him?"
Pei Yunxiao had initially been somewhat arrogant, but when he saw Zhang Fan beside Song Zhiwei, he felt an inexplicable panic. This man's aura was too strong; he couldn't read him. But thinking about it again, with everyone around him on his side, he stiffened his spine once more.
He walked up to Song Zhiwei and deliberately raised his voice. "Song Zhiwei, you've got some nerve, huh? You broke my vase, dared to run away, and now you dare to talk to me like this?"
The murmurs around them grew louder. A few boys even started to help Pei Yunxiao build momentum. "Young Master Pei, don't waste your breath on her. Make her apologize!"
"Exactly, just a servant's daughter, and she dares to challenge Young Master Pei!"
Pei Yunxiao felt increasingly smug hearing this. He reached out to grab Song Zhiwei's arm. "Alright, for the sake of your parents, I won't blame you for the vase. Don't run away from home again in the future. Come back with me, and we'll call it a day."
Song Zhiwei suddenly stepped back, avoiding his hand. She looked at Pei Yunxiao and suddenly smiled—a smile that made Pei Yunxiao feel a chill down his spine. Then, she spoke slowly, her voice clear and carrying across the entire scene: "Pei Yunxiao, I was wrong."