Fake Pregnancy? Oops, It’s Real — and So Is the Husband - Chapter 23

Shen Lai suddenly snapped back to reality.

She realized Pei Jingyan wasn’t about to leave, he was reenacting the moment he had descended the stairs back then.

Pei Jingyan was dressed in a dark suit today, and with his face now fully grown, there was a fleeting moment when Shen Lai truly felt as if she had traveled back to her childhood, to the first time she had ever seen him.

Quickly composing herself, Shen Lai picked up a plate from the table as a prop and walked over.

“Hello, I…”

“Move.”

Pei Jingyan didn’t even glance at her, brushing past her without hesitation.

[??? What is this???]

[Don’t tell me this is how they first met???]

[I never could’ve predicted this kind of opening, it’s just too… absurd…]

[The fact that you two still ended up together despite this is nothing short of legendary.]

[Other people have K-drama meet-cutes, but you two had a deranged meet-disaster.]

[No wonder they say they’re mortal enemies. I finally get it now. President Pei, you were way too arrogant toward your wife back then! Aren’t you afraid of a “chasing-your-wife-into-the-crematorium” scenario?]

The live-stream audience had been expecting a romantic scene, but this was not what they had in mind.

Bai Hansui, who had been smiling just moments ago, froze in shock, while Huo Chilin’s expression darkened even further.

The two of them had been at odds since childhood, how could they have ended up together?

Could it be that Pei Jingyan had liked Shen Lai even back then?

A dangerous alarm blared in Huo Chilin’s mind. He clenched his fists tightly, immediately dismissing the thought.

Impossible.

Pei Jingyan had seemed to despise Shen Lai as a child, there was no way it was love at first sight.

He must have gotten together with her just to torment and take revenge on her.

That had to be it!

Huo Chilin kept reassuring himself, but his chest felt as if it had cracked open, something spilling out uncontrollably, too fast to grasp.

As the reenactment continued, Shen Lai truly felt as if she were seeing the infuriating Pei Jingyan from her childhood again. It wasn’t until Director Miao announced that they had passed the challenge that she slowly snapped out of it.

“Good teamwork,” Pei Jingyan remarked, offering rare praise.

More than that, Shen Lai was surprised that Pei Jingyan even remembered something from so long ago. She had almost thought they were going to lose.

She muttered awkwardly, “You still remember things from back then?”

Pei Jingyan raised an eyebrow. “You remember, so why is it strange that I do?”

Shen Lai retorted indignantly, “That’s because I was the one who got the short end of the stick, of course I’d remember!”

But Pei Jingyan? Back then, he hadn’t cared about her at all. She had assumed he hadd long forgotten.

Pei Jingyan gave her a meaningful look. “You were dressed like a peacock back then, how could I forget?”

Shen Lai’s eyes widened in outrage.

Who was he calling a peacock?!

“You’re the peacock!” she fumed. “Wearing a suit at that age, you were the pretentious one!”

The corner of Pei Jingyan’s lips curled slightly. “So, you were a peacock, and I was pretentious. Sounds like we are a perfect match?”

Shen Lai’s ears burned. “W-Who’s a perfect match with you?”

If anything, they’d sooner tear each other apart.

Then, Pei Jingyan suddenly asked, “If you hated me so much back then, why did you save me later?”

Shen Lai paused, lifting her gaze to meet Pei Jingyan’s deep eyes fixed upon her. There was something flickering in them that she couldn’t quite decipher.

Her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to that day, half a month after little Pei Jingyan’s birthday party.

One evening, as she passed by the Pei family’s house, she saw little Pei Jingyan sitting on the ground, a toppled bicycle beside him, his knee scraped and bleeding.

Little Shen Lai had initially intended to walk past without a second glance, but seeing him struggle to get up, she couldn’t bear it and eventually went over to help him.

When little Pei Jingyan saw it was her, he said coldly, “I don’t need your fake kindness.”

Little Shen Lai retorted, “Do you think I want to help you? Your bike is blocking my way.”

Pei Jingyan glanced at the bicycle lying on the ground, its wheels still spinning idly, and replied stiffly, “The road is wide enough. You could walk somewhere else.”

Little Shen Lai snorted. “I want to walk here. What is it to you?”

Pei Jingyan fell silent, his aloofness mirroring his demeanor at the birthday party.

Little Shen Lai helped him back to the villa. Noticing his bleeding knee, she asked curiously, “Were you learning to ride a bike?”

Pei Jingyan shot her a look. “What is it to you?”

His ungrateful attitude after she would helped him annoyed her. “Like I even care,” she huffed.

After settling him onto the sofa, she glanced around. “Where are your family’s servants?”

“They’re off work.”

“Oh.”

Hesitating as she eyed his injury, she asked, “Do you have a first-aid kit at home?”

Pei Jingyan frowned. “Probably.”

“Do you know where it is?”

He shook his head. “The servants always put it away. How would I know?”

Little Shen Lai sighed in exasperation. “Then wait here.”

With that, she dashed off.

A while later, she returned, panting, clutching something in her hand.

Noticing Pei Jingyan staring at the first-aid kit, she explained, “I brought this from my house.”

She took out alcohol and cotton swabs and began cleaning his wound.

Pei Jingyan watched the top of her head. “How do you know how to do this?”

Without looking up, her voice still childlike, she replied, “Last time I got hurt, my parents treated me like this.”

A quiet moment passed, broken only by the crisp rustling of medical supplies.

After a while, little Shen Lai stood up. “Done.”

Pei Jingyan looked down at the clumsily wrapped bandage on his knee, his brows furrowing as he bluntly remarked, “You did a terrible job.”

Little Shen Lai hadn’t expected such harsh words after going out of her way to help him. Annoyed, she grabbed the first-aid kit. “If you don’t like it, get your parents to do it. I’m leaving.”

Her thoughts abruptly cut off there. Shen Lai snorted. “I was being the bigger person back then.”

At the time, she had helped Pei Jingyan, only for him to complain about her bandaging skills, infuriating her so much that she swore inwardly she’d never spare him another glance even if he broke his leg next time.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered in Pei Jingyan’s eyes. “Then why didn’t you come to see me afterward?”

Shen Lai lifted her chin haughtily. “You ignored me, why would I go out of my way for you?”

Back then, although she was young, it didn’t mean she understood nothing. Pei Jingyan clearly disliked her, so she wasn’t about to go out of her way to annoy him.

Later, she heard from her parents that after Pei Jingyan got injured, his parents took him to the hospital for treatment. So she quickly put the matter out of her mind, and the next time they met was when kindergarten started.

Pei Jingyan lowered his gaze, concealing the emotions in his eyes, lost in thought.

For a moment, they forgot the camera was still on them, and their conversation was broadcast live to the audience without missing a word.

[President Pei, you’re really something, who calls their own wife’s bandaging ugly? Hahaha!]

[President Pei’s sharp tongue has been like this since childhood. It’s a miracle he even has a wife.]

[Wait, have you two always been this adorable? Taking care of your rival and even applying medicine for them? I’m impressed!]

[Am I the only one curious about how these two, who started off on such bad terms, ended up together?]

[I want to know too! Please explain!!]

The live audience was busy fawning over Shen Lai and Pei Jingyan’s unconventional couple dynamic. It wasn’t until much later that someone in the chat noticed Dai Jingxuan and Tong Miaoling, the last pair to take the stage, seemed to be having some trouble.

Unlike the other guests who smoothly reenacted their scenes, Dai Jingxuan and Tong Miaoling stood frozen in place, unable to utter a single line.