Gu Mian's pupils suddenly constricted as she pushed Li Tingshen with all her might.
Li Tingshen, disturbed by someone, hadn't planned on continuing and was easily pushed away by her.
Pei Jinchuan's gaze fell on Gu Mian.
The girl's face was as red as a ripe tomato, full of embarrassment. She dared not meet his eyes and lowered her gaze, softly greeting him, "Mr. Pei."
Pei Jinchuan smiled and looked toward the man next to her, "It seems that President Li is very interested in my caregiver."
Gu Mian was startled; they actually knew each other!
Compared to Gu Mian's embarrassment, Li Tingshen appeared calm as if the incident that had just happened had nothing to do with him.
He looked at Pei Jinchuan with a flawlessly handsome face that betrayed no emotion, "I wondered why Gu Mian had such guts to oppose me, it turns out she has President Pei backing her. However..."
"However, what?"
Li Tingshen smiled slyly, lifting his hand to embrace Gu Mian's shoulders, pulling her into his arms, "Has Gu Mian not told you about the relationship between us?"
Pei Jinchuan responded nonchalantly, "I have known Gu Mian for many days, and she has never mentioned you. Moreover, from the scene that just unfolded, she seemed unwilling."
Li Tingshen nodded, "It looks like President Pei knows my wife quite well."
Shock flashed through Pei Jinchuan's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure, "I really didn't expect that Gu Mian is Madam Li. Who would have thought that the lady of the Li Corporation would do such hard work as caregiving to earn a little money? President Li, a woman should be cherished."
"The little pleasures between my wife and me need not concern President Pei, I'll take my wife home now."
Saying this, he was about to take Gu Mian away.
"Wait a moment." Pei Jinchuan extended a hand to stop them, "Gu Mian is my hired caregiver, and she hasn't finished her work today. She can't leave—President Li should understand that, right?"
Li Tingshen gave a faint smile, his handsome face cold, "Do you think I would let my wife continue to serve someone else knowing what I know?"
"Regardless, she should complete her work for the day." Pei Jinchuan looked at Gu Mian, "Gu Mian, what do you say?"
"Mr. Pei is right." Gu Mian pushed Li Tingshen's hand away, "You go home first. I have to work."
Before Li Tingshen could speak, she added, "This is a public place; it doesn't look good."
Perhaps because of their high attractiveness, many passersby had already begun to look their way, imagining a melodramatic love triangle in their minds.
Li Tingshen always hated being watched and scrutinized. He did not insist and just looked at Gu Mian, "Come back early; I'll wait for you."
Gu Mian wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but his words felt like a devil's call, sending shivers down her spine.
"Gu Mian... Gu Mian?"
When Gu Mian snapped back to reality upon hearing Pei Jinchuan's voice, Li Tingshen had already left.
She let out a sigh of relief, "Mr. Pei, thank you for helping me."
"It was no trouble at all."
A flicker of unease crossed Pei Jinchuan's mind.
He clearly was not the type to meddle, and Li Tingshen was not someone easily dealt with.
Yet, for some reason, he still intervened.
"Gu Mian, considering your young age, I didn't expect you to be married already, and to Li Tingshen no less."
Gu Mian chuckled, "Did you know each other before?"
"We met once at a dinner banquet, but we're not close."
"Oh."
"Let's head upstairs."
On the way back to the ward, Gu Mian had already explained the incident to Pei Jinchuan, ".... it's my fault; buying the cake took quite a bit of time."
"I know my son; if he wants a cake, he must have it. It's not your fault."
"Thank you, Mr. Pei."
"I'll handle this matter; you don't need to worry."
"Right."
When they returned to the ward, the crying child saw Gu Mian and immediately ran to embrace her, "Mommy, you're finally back! Did that bad man bully you?"
Gu Mian remembered the scene in the elevator, her cheeks reddening again, "No, Xiao Bao, I'm fine."
Xiao Bao then complained to Pei Jinchuan, "Daddy, just now a bad aunt bullied me, but luckily Mommy protected me. See how much Mommy loves me!"
Gu Mian was extremely embarrassed, to those unaware it seemed as if she had deliberately taught Xiao Bao to say this to gain favor!
Pei Jinchuan patted his head, "Daddy knows. Didn't you want to eat Western food yesterday? Let's go tonight."
"Okay!"
Pei Jinchuan turned to Gu Mian, "Gu Mian, join us for dinner."
"No need."
"Today, you protected Xiao Bao, and he was fine because of you. I should thank you." Pei Jinchuan said, "And Xiao Bao definitely wants to eat with you too."
Xiao Bao immediately added, "Of course, if Mommy isn't there, I won't eat."
Unable to resist, Gu Mian conceded, "Alright, then."
"Let's go now, it's a good opportunity to take Xiao Bao out for some fresh air."
Gu Mian changed Xiao Bao out of his hospital gown, and the three of them left together.
Xiao Bao held a hand of Pei Jinchuan and another of Gu Mian, jumping around happily.
In the next hospital room, Yin Luoxue was holding her phone, snapping this heartwarming moment through the crack of the door, and sent it to Li Tingshen.
As she was contemplating how Li Tingshen would deal with Gu Mian after seeing the video, her room door was knocked.
"Come in."
A young man in a suit entered, and Yin Luoxue asked, "Who are you?"
"Hello, I'm the assistant to the father of the child next door. I heard Xiao Bao damaged your bracelet, I am here to compensate."
With a sneer, Yin Luoxue replied, "My bracelet is very expensive, can you afford it?"
"Although Xiao Bao did not do it intentionally, the principle of compensating for damaged goods is still understood. I don't know how much this bracelet is worth."
"Twenty-eight million," Yin Luoxue proudly declared, "I've only worn it for over a month. Even considering depreciation, it would still be twenty-five million."
The assistant said nothing.
"Nothing to say, right? I knew you couldn't afford it." Yin Luoxue scoffed, "If you can't afford it, have that child and his nanny come and apologize to me. Maybe if I feel generous, I might forgive them..."
The assistant took out his phone, "Give me the bank account number."
"...You're really going to compensate?"
"Give it to me."
Still skeptical, Yin Luoxue gave him the account number, and within less than two minutes, she received the notification on her phone—twenty-eight million, not a cent less.
While Yin Luoxue was still in shock, she heard the assistant speak again, "We've compensated for the bracelet, now let's settle your account for hitting our young master."
"I..."
Before Yin Luoxue could speak, a slap landed heavily on her face!
Men were already stronger, and he didn't hold back, causing stars to appear before Yin Luoxue's eyes, "You... how dare you hit me? Do you know who I am... smack!"
Another slap fell, causing blood to appear at the corner of her mouth!
In pain and fury, Yin Luoxue argued, "I only slapped him once, why did you hit me twice!"
"Who told you that I'd only hit you twice?" The assistant flexed his wrist, continuing to fiercely strike.
"Ah—help—"
The screams and pleas for mercy from Yin Luoxue echoed incessantly through the hospital room.
...
When the phone rang, Li Tingshen was staring gloomily at the video sent by Yin Luoxue.
He wasn't in the mood to answer the call, so he silenced it and threw the phone aside.
Soon after, the assistant rushed in, urgently reporting, "President Li, something terrible has happened, Miss Yin has been beaten!"