Xu Si hooked the corner of her lips. She didn’t bother to correct his thoughts; there was nothing to correct. She would not deceive her own heart—that was the very reason she had adopted Pei Zhen, except now there was a sprinkling of genuine feeling involved.
She just smiled and asked, "What if I asked you to do some bad things in the future?"
Pei Zhen followed behind her. Upon hearing this, he smiled faintly, sensing it was a tricky question—any answer would be fraught with thorns and pitfalls.
She had said she didn’t want him to go down the wrong path. But what if it was her request? If he complied, would she be pleased, or disappointed?
After a few brief seconds, Xu Si didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she changed her approach, using a current situation as an example and replacing the characters in her hypothetical story to pose a new question.
"What if you became very powerful in the future and I tried to manipulate you with family ties to take your money?"
This time, Pei Zhen responded decisively, without an iota of hesitation.
"If Auntie wants it, I’ll give it to you."
The urban breeze whispered past. The air tasted faintly sweet, and the sun, hesitating behind the clouds, emerged again, clear and comforting.
Xu Si laughed out loud. "Azhen, you’re really generous."
After laughing, a trace of indistinct pleasure surfaced. Hearing such promises often could indeed muddle one’s mind. But she believed even more that without the support of greater interests, no one could give so unreservedly.
「The parent-teacher conference had ended, and students could leave directly with their parents.」
Xu Si and Pei Zhen were an exceptionally striking pair. They were particularly noticeable among the others, leading many classmates to speculate that Pei Zhen had to call Xu Si ’sister’ at home.
Only Chen Shihua, trailing behind them, knew their relationship was more akin to that of an aunt and her nephew.
Owing to Xu Si’s sharp gaze and her dazzling, overwhelming presence, the others hadn’t approached Pei Zhen since she arrived. It was unclear whether this was because they were angry that Xu Si had beaten Chen Shihua’s older cousin, or because they felt guilty for having instigated trouble and bullied Pei Zhen first. In any case, the cousin hadn’t shown his face all day.
Xu Si drove her sports car, speeding back to Cloudtop Bay with Pei Zhen. However, at the entrance to the old mansion, she saw someone unexpected—Anshi.
He shouldn’t have been at the Xu Mansion at this time, as Xu Si had instructed Butler Ge to inform him that she would be attending Pei Zhen’s parent-teacher conference.
Suspecting trouble at the company, Xu Si immediately parked at the main entrance. She told Pei Zhen to go inside first and then got out of the car alone. A driver hurried over, took the keys, and drove the car away.
She looked at Anshi. "Whatever it is, just say it."
Anshi was straightforward and disliked beating around the bush. Seeing no one else around, he recounted what had happened at the company.
"Your two uncles came to the company this morning. They took a look around but couldn’t get to the top floor, so they left. Before leaving, they stuffed money into the hands of two clerks answering phones in the secretarial office."
Xu Si was still holding the report card from the parent-teacher conference. Her gaze was fixed, her fingers idly tracing the perfect scores. "Generous souls, aren’t they?" she remarked lightly.
The company’s situation was still unstable. They surely went looking for weaknesses to exploit. Money in the bank and company assets weren’t like antiques or gold that could be stolen or snatched on a whim. It was precisely because the company’s situation was precarious, and public opinion carried significant weight, that she hadn’t taken direct action against them yet.
Anshi hesitated. Even he felt that Xu Si’s two uncles clearly harbored ill intentions.
The air grew still for a moment. Then, Xu Si suddenly asked, "How is the company’s revenue now?"
"It dropped a few points a month ago, but since the activities you arranged were implemented, it has started to recover."
Xu Si mentally calculated for a moment. "Help me plant a story with the press that the Xu Family is going bankrupt. Paint a grim economic picture. Wait for half a month until public outcry is at its peak, then tie them all up for me."
Accustomed to her direct and often harsh methods, Anshi merely pondered why she would want to spread false news. As he thought, it dawned on him.
With a slight smile, he said, "Understood, Miss."