Chapter 103

Pei Kuang took Song Anan's hand under the table and smiled at her.

"I haven't had a chance to tell Anan yet. I'm taking this opportunity today to share that I'll also be going abroad for further studies for a period of time."

Song Anan's eyes widened, "What? You're going abroad too!"

Pei Kuang laughed lightly, "That's right, the school application has been approved already. It's not far from your lab."

"Surprised? Unexpected?"

Song Anan: "..."

What's so surprising or unexpected about this?

When did he make this decision? It's so sudden.

"What about your work?" She was visibly anxious.

"Don't worry, it's all arranged." Pei Kuang squeezed her hand and said softly, "I'll explain when we get home."

Song Anan then remembered they weren't in an appropriate place to discuss this. She pursed her lips and didn't say anything more.

When their group left the restaurant, it was already past 9 pm.

Today, Pei Kuang had intentionally driven a large SUV to give Song Anan and her friends a ride back later.

After dropping off the three girls at the school gate, Pei Kuang and Song Anan went straight home.

Song Anan had held it in the entire ride back. As soon as they got home, she couldn't resist asking anymore.

"Why are you suddenly going abroad? Is it because of what I said about being worried long distance would affect our relationship?"

"No, I was just thinking poorly that day. I'm not worried at all anymore, really. I've thought it through, long distance isn't a big deal as long as..." Song Anan spoke faster and faster, getting visibly agitated.

Pei Kuang reached out and pulled her into his embrace on the sofa, speaking gently to calm her down, "Anan, don't get worked up. Listen to me first, okay?"

Song Anan settled down, then nodded.

Pei Kuang said, "Actually, studying abroad isn't a rash decision. I've been considering it for years already. My career has developed to a certain stage, so it's a good opportunity. "

This wasn't a lie. When he was transitioning his career years ago, Pei Kuang had thought about studying abroad as a bridge. But then the relationship turmoil happened, delaying those plans.

Song Anan still wasn't fully convinced, "Really?"

Pei Kuang laughed, "Of course it's true."

He held her fingers, eyes gazing down as he said softly, "I didn't go to college. I've always regretted that. This is a good chance to make up for it, to study and improve myself. Also, we won't have to be apart. It's a win-win-win. You wouldn't want me to miss this opportunity, right?"

Song Anan shook her head, eyes glistening.

He had given so many reasons, but she wasn't stupid. His decision definitely also had to do with her, and not a small part.

"It really won't affect your work?" Song Anan was still worried.

After all, she had witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for him during his low point those years ago.

Pei Kuang smiled, "Don't worry, I have my agency and team backing me up. It's not a decision I can make on a whim. They did professional evaluations and there's no issue."

Song Anan was somewhat persuaded, "What did your agent say then?"

She didn't interact with Li Dong much, but had gotten quite familiar with Jiang Han these past two years and trusted his professional judgement.

Pei Kuang answered smoothly, "He of course supports it."

"He's always telling me to take the opportunity to study and improve my acting skills if possible. You can ask him sometime if you don't believe me."

Hearing this, Song Anan was fully reassured. "That's good then."

At that moment, Li Dong, who was working overtime in his office to redo Pei Kuang's plans due to the sudden study abroad decision, inexplicably sneezed.

If he knew Pei Kuang was pushing the blame onto him behind his back, he would definitely yell 'shameless!'

True, he had advised Pei Kuang before to take opportunities to study and improve. But he didn't tell him to rush it like this.

However, nothing could be done about it. His artist having his own stubborn ways wasn't anything new. Recalling the previous times Pei Kuang had inexplicably convinced him, Li Dong couldn't help feeling chagrined. Hmph, honeyed words hide nasty motives. Ultimately it still boiled down to accompanying his girlfriend.

Oh well, there were no perfect solutions in life, only trade-offs and choices.

Moreover, Pei Kuang didn't have a formal acting education. Studying abroad for a year under strict training would indeed be more beneficial for his performing career.

After clearing the air, Song Anan was clearly more excited, chattering nonstop with questions about this and that.

When agitated, she would fidget restlessly.

Since they were sitting together embraced already, this was quite tormenting for Pei Kuang. He could only press her down with a hand the next time she squirmed, warning, "Stop moving!"

"If you keep at it, I'll have to kiss you."

Song Anan giggled, not the least bit deterred. She took the initiative to kiss him first.

"I kiss first."

Pei Kuang's brows quirked up, his gaze somewhat dangerous. "You're the one provoking me first."

With that said, he directly flipped their positions, pressing Song Anan under him.

But just as he was leaning down to kiss her, a phone on the side suddenly rang. Some killjoy with terrible timing.

Song Anan quickly pushed him. "Answer the call first."

Pei Kuang didn't budge an inch. "Ignore it, they'll hang up if no one picks up."

But the phone seemed intent on provoking him, ringing persistently as if it wouldn't give up until answered.

Left with no choice, Pei Kuang reluctantly got up and looked at the caller ID. It was an unfamiliar number.

He tapped the answer button. "This is Pei Kuang, who's calling?"

Song Anan also sat up beside him. But she didn't know what was said on the other end. Pei Kuang's expression clearly changed though, no longer normal.

After hanging up, Song Anan asked concernedly, "What's wrong? Whose call was it?"

Pei Kuang looked at her. "Xie family's nanny."

It took Song Anan several seconds before she reacted to what Xie family meant.

"Did something happen?"

Pei Kuang nodded. "Anan, I need to go back for a bit."

"Now?" Song Anan was somewhat surprised. "That urgent?"

Pei Kuang lightly hmm-ed.

Song Anan didn't ask anything more. She directly said, "Alright, I'll go with you then."

Pei Kuang hesitated. "I'll probably be gone for a few days this time. Do you have time?"

Song Anan nodded, "Time is no issue. I don't have anything going on recently."

The two immediately bought the earliest available flight to T City.

On the way there, Pei Kuang gave Song Anan a simple rundown.

The one who called claiming to be Xie family's nanny told Pei Kuang to go pick up Zhang Man, who had been kicked out by the Xies.

What was even more troublesome was that she said Zhang Man had lost her mind and couldn't recognize people anymore.

"How did she suddenly become mentally ill? Was she triggered by something?" Song Anan asked.

Pei Kuang shook his head. "Not sure yet. I already had Luo Yi go over first. We'll probably get results by the time we arrive."

Song Anan knew they didn't have a good mother-son relationship, but they were still not strangers to each other after all. He probably wasn't taking it too well.

Not knowing what to say, she could only silently hold his hand.

Pei Kuang smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

To be honest, aside from feeling a bit surprised, he really didn't have much emotion about it.

He and Zhang Man never had a mother-son bond to begin with. Their relationship was even worse than strangers. He was only going back now because he was her legal guardian and had that nominal duty to her.

Just like he told Luo Yi before, the only thing between him and Zhang Man was that legal obligation.

The two arrived in T City at 7 am. Exiting the airport, they saw Luo Yi waiting to pick them up at the gate.

Once in the car, they went straight to a hospital in T City.

"Don't worry, I've already sent her to the hospital. The director there is someone I know and I gave him a heads up too. They're probably running tests on her now." Luo Yi said.

Pei Kuang lightly hmm-ed. "Do you know exactly what happened? Did you find out anything?"

Luo Yi nodded and relayed what he had dug up.

Ever since Xie WenTao gambled himself into massive debt, the Xies had gone bankrupt trying to repay it. They were ousted from control of the company with the shares taken over by other stakeholders. Even the Xie family home that spanned generations had been mortgaged away.

Old Master Xie passed away last year, leaving only his daughter Xie Yin and his son Xie WenTao, along with Zhang Man, in the Xie family.

Xie Yin was still working as an artist in the entertainment industry, although her career wasn't going too well, she could barely make ends meet.

After moving out of the Xie family mansion, Xie WenTao and Zhang Man now lived in an apartment under Xie Yin's name. Xie Yin had also hired a nanny to take care of the two of them. Their lifestyle couldn't compare to before, but at least they didn't have to worry about food or shelter.

However, Zhang Man was recently diagnosed with a mental disorder. At first she was just moody and unwilling to interact with others, but her condition gradually worsened to the point where she could no longer recognize people.

A poor couple has a hundred troubles.

With the Xie family's current situation, how could they possibly afford to take care of someone with a mental disorder? So they drove her out.

"In my opinion, the so-called driving her out by the Xie family was actually just them trying to push the responsibility onto you," Luo Yi said.

Pei Kuang's reaction was very calm: "I guessed as much."

There's no way the Xie family's nanny would have his number, this was clearly the Xie family's doing.

"But legally, the Xie family doesn't have this obligation either," Pei Kuang said.

Both Luo Yi and Song Anan were taken aback, looking at him in bewilderment.

Luo Yi asked, "What do you mean?"

Pei Kuang calmly replied, "They didn't get a marriage certificate, so legally they are not considered spouses."

The Xie family had been wary of Zhang Man back then and didn't let Xie WenTao marry her officially. This was something he had always known.

So for all these years, Zhang Man's so-called title as the wife of a wealthy family was nothing but a facade.

Song Anan was a little surprised by the lack of a marriage certificate, but what she cared about was, "Did they say what suddenly caused her mental disorder?"

It was unlikely for a healthy person to suddenly become like this for no reason.

Luo Yi shook his head and said, "I asked the nanny privately, she only said Zhang Man had been in low spirits for some time, nothing else."

Pei Kuang lowered his eyes and didn't speak.

He had a rough guess as to the cause of Zhang Man's current condition.

In fact, before coming over, he had checked the old cell phone number he used to use, and as expected, Zhang Man had sent many more messages.

The content was basically no different from before, mostly curses and vilification.

Notably, the messages came even more frequently when his relationship with Song Anan went public.

But amidst all those curses, some things could still be gleaned.

In short, she simply couldn't accept the blow and couldn't stand to see him doing well.

In fact, Zhang Man had been competing with him her whole life. Back when she married his father for love in her youth, the daily grind eventually wore away all passion.

She then competed with her son Pei Kuang, blaming all her misfortunes on him.

Later, she abandoned her own son to "marry" into the Xie family.

All these years, every time Zhang Man saw Pei Kuang, she acted condescending, even treating him as her imagined enemy.

So with the decline of the Xie family, the things she had once taken pride in were gone, while Pei Kuang was doing better and better. The dual blows drove her into a corner.

It had to be admitted, there really were parents in this world who treated their children as enemies and couldn't stand to see them do well.

Just as Song Anan had said before, there needed to be affinity between parents and children.

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor was examining Zhang Man.

Standing outside the door, Pei Kuang felt somewhat complicated as he watched the situation inside.

Song Anan moved to his side and took the initiative to hold his hand.

Pei Kuang didn't turn his head, but he grasped her hand in return.

The two held each other's hands tightly, palm to palm.