Blank Cheque

The ward was very spacious, with intricately patterned parquet flooring, full-length windows and a ceiling with a design that resembled fog.

On the side of Ye Xingfei's hospital bed was a set of expensive leather couches, and a man was sitting on it. His fur coat was casually hung over his forearm, while he, dressed in a figure-hugging black shirt, sat quietly at the window smoking a cigarette.

Xia Ling came to a sudden stop. In the next few seconds, her mind was a blank.

He turned his head around and examined her without batting an eyelid — high and mighty, just like an emperor.

She took a few steps back, abruptly turned herself around and reached for the door. It was as if the thick, sturdy door had planted roots in the ground, it didn't budge a bit no matter how hard she pulled. She knocked herself against it a few times, and then Pei Ziheng's voice came from behind —

"Don't waste your efforts. The moment you walked in the door was locked from outside."

Xia Ling turned around, terrified, as she faced his dark, solemn eyes that looked too deep to decipher even in the light. She involuntarily tried to shrink herself; her back was glued against the smooth wooden door, badly wanting to integrate into it.

"You're very afraid of me." He looked at her and very slowly asked, "Why is that?"

She stiffened up, unable to say a word.

He took his time to quench his cigarette in the ashtray. "Chu Chen is a little rough when he handles things sometimes. If that frightened you, I'm sorry. Right, I haven't introduced myself, I am…"

"Pei Ziheng." Xia Ling tried to suppress the tremble in her voice. "Get your men to open the door. Let me out."

"So you know who I am." He smiled gently as he spoke. "Few have dared use that tone with me. I admire your courage."

In fact, she had no courage at all, her legs were giving way and all she wanted was to run out of the door.

Hiding her hands behind her back, she discreetly tried to pull the door handle. But no matter how she tried, the door stood strong like a mountain. Xia Ling broke out in cold sweat and was losing control of her senses, at the same time she was worried about how the parents had not arrived yet. How nice it would be if they could arrive now and open the door for her…

Pei Ziheng seemed to read her mind. "Give it up, there's no use in pinning hopes on your parents — I got Chu Chen to contact them, which is why they brought you here today."

She was shaking, her heart sank.

So, they were all in cahoots to deceive her, this trip had nothing to do with visiting Feifei.

In this life, she had been extremely careful, consciously distancing herself from everybody around her. Still, it was impossible to guard against everyone; she got utterly betrayed by the people around her anyway.

"What… benefits did you offer them?" she asked, hurt.

"Just a little money was enough to get them overwhelmed with gratitude." Pei Ziheng smiled, as usual. "Rather than bother about others, let's talk about us instead. Come sit over here, I'm not used to looking up when I talk."

He pointed to the couch opposite him.

Xia Ling did not move, she only said, "There is nothing to talk about between us."

He collectedly replied, "There's a limit to my patience, Ye Xingling. Do you want to come over here on your own, or do you need me to help you with that?"

Xia Ling sensed the danger that lurked in his voice. More than ten years of knowing this man taught her that the softer his voice and the gentler his disposition, the more horrific his ways of handling someone.

In this instant, the trauma that was buried deep in her soul took over like a curse inside her. She instinctively shuffled her feet, and before she snapped back to herself, she was already standing right before him and heading for the seat he assigned her.

He grinned in satisfaction. "That's a good girl."

She was startled, horrified by what just happened. What was going on? How was it that even after experiencing life and death, she still meekly responded to his every command?

She looked at him, flustered. Across the glass coffee table, his features were clearer than they were in the winter night. He was imposingly handsome, practically divine… Just as he always would exist in her memory, as her father, her teacher, her lover.

She felt a stab in her heart and decided to look away.

Pei Ziheng was still sizing her up, she knew it even with her head turned away. She could feel his line of sight like it was a scorching ray, peeling her clothes inch by inch, evaluating her body and broiling her soul.

With him, she never seemed to need even a thread of silk.

Xia Ling was frowning hard, she scrunched herself up in the couch in unbearable awkwardness and embarrassment.

He laughed condescendingly. "Up till this moment, you've been satisfactory to me." As he spoke, he reached for something in his pocket and tossed it on the table. "Maybe Chu Chen hasn't made it very clear to you but, if you come with me, you can get so much more than you could even imagine."

She looked down at the table. It was a blank cheque.

"As long as you're agreeable, you can fill the cheque with any amount you like."

She felt like she was in a trance in a moment of deja vu — that year, in a bid to pay for her sister's medical fees, twelve-year-old little Xia Ling followed Pei Ziheng home. And now, this man was offering money once again to tempt her to go with him?

Too bad, right now she was no longer the little Xia Ling that she was then. She would not make the same mistake.

Her voice was dry and hoarse. "I don't need such a thing."

Pei Ziheng patiently asked her, "What do you need then? Tell me."

She bit her lip instead, thinking to herself: Pei Ziheng, you can't give me what I want.

As such, she chose to remain silent.

He lit another cigarette. "Seems like Chu Chen wasn't wrong when he said that you're an insensible child." He puffed a ball of smoke, his eyes seemingly distant. "But you need to know this. There's no harm in throwing a tantrum once in a while, but if it gets overboard, there will be punishment…"

His voice deepened as he spoke, he seemed to be speaking to both her and himself.

Xia Ling's eyes were experiencing some discomfort, probably due to the smoke. She shut her eyes a little. The scenes of the past appeared before her eyes, the days of imprisonment, the terrifying memories…

She couldn't help but shiver a little, before garnering her guts., "D- Director Pei," She begged softly. "I'm just an insignificant nobody, I don't deserve this much attention on your part. Let me off, will you? So many others are waiting to be picked by you…"

"You're in no position to interfere with who I pick, Ye Xingling." He cut her off, his gaze now clear and alert. "What you need to do is simply to accept this check, or…"

He looked at her coldly. "Or maybe you'd like to watch what happens when your sister is taken off her IV tube."

Everyone used to speak of how cold and heartless the world was, except her — she was completely oblivious to the troubles that existed, because he was so incredibly nice to her, always showing the kind, gentle side of himself. And now, as she stood before him as a nobody and no longer as the Xia Ling who was the apple of everyone's eye, she truly felt the cold strength of solidarity.

In his eyes, crushing the Ye sisters to death was akin to crushing an ant.

But Xia Ling could not waver, the only outcome of it was doom. Either Ye Xingfei was doomed or she was — if her only option was to return to her past life of being treated like a pawn, she'd rather die once more.