"Ge Ge, what are you doing here?"
As the intimate-looking couple walked toward her, Pei Ge looked down to avoid seeing the happiness evident on their faces.
Liu Yue felt bewildered when the couple started walking toward them. They did not seem like people who would be in the same social strata as Pei Ge just from their attire or looks.
Curious, Liu Yue tugged at Pei Ge, who was currently hanging her head down, and asked softly, "Ge Ge, do you know them?"
"Yes," Pei Ge answered, her eyes filled with bitterness.
"Ge Ge?" Pei Shishi called out in a voice much softer than she did before, feeling uneasy that Pei Ge was ignoring her.
"I came to shop with my colleague." When Pei Ge finally raised her head again, the bitter expression she had on was gone and in its place was a smile for Pei Shishi. Yes. She only looked at Pei Shishi's direction.
She did not spare Zhou Zhuoyang even a glance, treating him as air.
Zhou Zhuoyang was enraged by this.
"Can you even afford the clothes in here?" he mocked.
Pei Ge's face whitened at Zhou Zhuoyang's remark. Despite that, she refused to look or even respond at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. Miss Pei is a spendthrift who is very skilled at seducing the rich. Looks like you've found yourself a new sugar daddy." Zhou Zhuoyang sneered, his voice dripping with scorn, when he saw Pei Ge remaining unperturbed.
"Zhuoyang!" Pei Shishi exclaimed as she directed a disapproving gaze at him.
Pei Ge clasped her hands tightly together. Those malicious words, as though they were arrows, tore deeply at her heart, and she had the urge to cry.
Her first love, who used to be so gentle toward her and would speak sweet-nothings to her, was now treating her with disdain. How could she remain unaffected?
"Excuse me, sir. Do I know you?" The corner of her lips turned up as she smiled at him coldly. Pei Ge refused to let the sorrow and agony she felt show on her face.
"In addition, this sir here, even if I am to go after the rich, what has that got to do with you?" Pei Ge smirked, continuing aloofly, "A newsmonger like you isn't really what a man should be. Rather, you seem more like one of those old ladies who have nothing better to do."
"Pei Ge!" Zhou Zhuoyang bellowed, fiercely glaring at her. "How dare you say that you don't know me?!"
"Ge Ge, what you said is going too far. Zhuoyang is, after all, your brother-in-law." Pei Shishi regarded Pei Ge with a disapproving look as well.
However, the two quarreling people were busy glaring at each other, as though no one else besides them existed, so how could they notice Pei Shishi's look?
"He he… Do I really know you?" Pei Ge laughed coldly at Zhou Zhuoyang as she looked at him with eyes full of ridicule.
"You! Pei Ge, how dare you say you don't know me! We—" Zhou Zhuoyang spoke through gritted teeth as he glared at Pei Ge. He was the one who had initially wanted to ruffle Pei Ge's feathers, yet he was the one who had ended up being enraged, instead.
Pei Ge interrupted Zhou Zhuoyang in a cold tone, "The Zhou Zhuoyang I know died the moment he went missing! Therefore, I really don't know you, 'Brother-in-law'."
Her emphasis on the words 'brother-in-law' stunned Zhou Zhuoyang, the rage on his face diminishing as a result.
The ignored Pei Shishi, who was standing on the side, wore a sullen face.
"Ge Ge, how can you say that of Zhuoyang? I know that you hate us for being together, but – but didn't you stop loving him already?" Pei Shishi's eyes reddened as she looked at Pei Ge in a pitiful way.
"I know that I've let you down when I didn't tell you of Zhuoyang's decision to be with me, instead. Please don't be angry anymore; I really don't want to see you guys like this…" Pei Shishi choked, her face filled with guilt.
When Zhou Zhuoyang, who got stunned by Pei Ge's words, saw Pei Shishi's fragility, he could not help but feel protective of her.
"Shishi, don't apologize to a person like her!" Despite pulling Pei Shishi into his embrace, Zhou Zhuoyang still stared at Pei Ge fervently.
Heh…'A person like me'…
Pei Ge's lips curled up in mockery as her heart grew colder.
Not wanting to listen to Zhou Zhuoyang's hurtful words, Pei Ge put on a slight smile and softly said to Pei Shishi, "Cousin, I still have something on. I'll get going first. You can continue shopping."
"Ge Ge…" Pei Shishi looked at Pei Ge worriedly, as though she wanted to stop her from leaving.
Without giving Pei Shishi a chance to stop her, Pei Ge decisively left the place with Liu Yue, who had been standing quietly on the side all the while.
Only after taking the elevator and leaving Newfoundland with Liu Yue did Pei Ge finally stop her hasty footsteps.
"Ge Ge, are you alright? Why are you walking so fast?" Liu Yue asked this to Pei Ge with a pout once they finally stopped walking fast.
With a face filled with fatigue, Pei Ge looked at Liu Yue, "Xiaoyue, I won't be accompanying you today. I want to go home already."
"Ge Ge, what's going on between you and those two people?" However, the ever-curious Liu Yue refused to let Pei Ge leave just like that.
"Xiaoyue, I don't wish to talk about them," Pei Ge said lightly.
Abashed, Liu Yue stuck out her tongue at Pei Ge. "I'm sorry. I only felt that it's odd."
"It's fine." Pei Ge reassured Liu Yue with a shake of her head.
"Ge Ge, you must not be feeling very good. As a good friend, let me bring you to a place that will make you happier!" Liu Yue said mysteriously.
"Huh? What place?" Pei Ge controlled her urge to laugh, her heart warming from Liu Yue's concern.
"You'll know when we get there!"