Chapter 103: Little Aunt 0103

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. Fiind updated novels at novelhall.com

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.

"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.