SAHBQT 10

Chapter – 10

The Charismatic Miss — Playing with a Hammer

Through the crack in the door, she could see Pei Jingzhi’s upper body slumped across the bed, unconscious.

It looked like he’d passed out before even making it to the bed. You Mingming reached out and felt his forehead—it seemed a bit hot.

“Brother,” she called softly, “you have a fever. Should I take you to the hospital?”

Pei Jingzhi didn’t respond. You Mingming recalled the earlier diary entry, where the original host had mentioned that Pei Jingzhi absolutely despised going to the hospital. Even when he was young and got pushed off a second-floor balcony by peers his age, tumbling through a patch of brambles and ending up bloody and battered, he’d only had it bandaged at home.

The original host had even worried whether her brother might end up disfigured—

But amid her worry, she’d also harbored a faint, secret hope: that even if her brother were disfigured, it wouldn’t matter. That way, no one would want to get close to him, and he’d belong to her and her alone.

The system: “Seems like she’s the type who’s innocent to outsiders but has a possessive, yandere streak toward her brother. To avoid breaking character, we can’t overlook this either.”

You Mingming: “…”

It took you this long to realize that?

Still, as a mentor should encourage a student’s growth, seeing how earnestly naive the system was being, You Mingming praised it: “Oh my gosh! You’re so amazing.”

The system: “?”

The system: “So are you taking him to the hospital or not? I just asked my colleague, and she said all three of her hosts chose to take Pei Jingzhi to the hospital at this point.”

All three said Pei Jingzhi woke up and thanked them, showing no signs of discomfort. One other host had run into danger at the banquet and didn’t make it to this plot point, so her experience was irrelevant.

You Mingming: “No.”

Generally speaking, if someone would rather endure the pain than go to a hospital, there’s probably some deep-seated reason behind it. At times like this, You Mingming didn’t want to do anything that might backfire—like arrogantly dragging Pei Jingzhi to the hospital.

Some people won’t say it even when others do something they dislike.

Pei Jingzhi was probably one of those people.

You Mingming hadn’t forgotten the shock she felt when she first saw him, nor her initial instinct about him—

Born of darkness, destined to die in darkness.

Someone like that, if not for the mission, was really better off not getting close to.

She soaked a towel in cold water and placed it on Pei Jingzhi’s forehead, then went back to her room to get fever-reducing medicine.

While fetching the medicine, You Mingming pulled out the original host’s notebook and flipped to a page she’d previously skimmed over, rereading it carefully.

The diary entry recorded that Pei Qingqing, while staying home during school hours, had seen her brother return covered in blood. No matter how much she urged him, he refused to go to the hospital.

Shocked and frightened, she had the butler look into it and learned that Pei Jingzhi had been pushed off a second-floor balcony by someone while trying to save a girl.

At the end of the entry, a few words were written—the name of that saved girl:

Wen Suyue.

Hmm? Wen Suyue?

In a windowless, airtight room, the windows had been pasted over.

He could feel the fever burning in his body, his forehead scorching hot, but the people outside ignored it entirely… None of that mattered, though. What mattered was—how long had it been since he’d last seen the light?

He lay on the floor, counting on his fingers. Since his father had left home, about seven or eight days had passed.

On top of being locked in this storage room, he hadn’t had any water for a long time. His head ached terribly, his body burning up—

When he could no longer endure it, he called out to the people outside for water, but they paid him no attention. Until she came, and she said: Thirsty? Then cut open your hand and drink your own blood.

Oh dear, someone like you is really…

Brother? No, I didn’t do it. His very existence was never supposed to…

The woman’s voice shifted from smug satisfaction to sharp, panicked screams. And so he knew—he had won. Father had finally come back.

But he never expected that his father, instead of punishing that woman, would only say with regret—

“Still alive? What a shame.”

Still alive… what a shame.

That was the last thing he could clearly hear and understand.

Pei Jingzhi opened his eyes and habitually curved his lips upward, only to realize that someone was holding his hand.

He froze, clearly not expecting anyone to be by his side. All these years, neither the butler nor the maids had ever dared to enter this room without his explicit instruction.

Pei Jingzhi turned to the side and saw a small, delicate figure.

It was his stepsister.

Come to think of it, by the time Pei Qingqing had come to the household, he was already fourteen or fifteen and rarely came home, so they’d had almost no interaction at all.

But every time he came back, he could feel that scorching, joyful gaze behind him.

A sticky, damp sensation came from his palm. He lowered his gaze and saw faint traces of blood seeping through where their hands were tightly clasped together.

The clock on the wall showed it was past 4 AM. In the past, when he had dreams like this, the pain in his palm would naturally wake him up, reminding him to pull himself out of the dream early.

Not today. Those traces of blood didn’t come from his own hand.

A towel had been placed on his forehead—it was still cool to the touch now. He could imagine the girl staying by his side all night, prying open his clenched fist and holding his hand, all the way until now.

“I’ve already deliberately kept my distance from you,”

“Why… do you still come close to me…”

People like him were always greedy. Once they’d tasted even a sliver of warmth, they’d rather die than let go.

Pei Jingzhi looked down at the girl by his bed. His pupils were extremely dark, half-hidden beneath his long lashes. His gaze held pity and sorrow, yet the corners of his lips still curved upward in a smile—a profoundly contradictory expression.

—

Early the next morning, the maids of the Pei household saw the eldest young master’s figure in the kitchen. They exchanged glances with one another, rubbed their eyes, and confirmed that it really was their eldest young master.

But ever since they’d started working at the Pei residence, the number of times they’d seen the eldest young master in a year could be counted on one hand.

So why was he suddenly back now?

Not only back, but… apparently making soup?

Although Pei Jingzhi was the true owner of this villa, the maids weren’t very familiar with him. Most of what they knew came from the old butler or from outsiders—and even then, the information they’d gathered about him boiled down to just two things: gentle and lazy.

Now this notoriously lazy eldest young master was making soup? Before they could recover from their shock, the maids saw the young lady coming down from the second floor, and noticed that her right hand was wrapped in gauze—she was injured.

“Oh my god, Miss, what happened to your hand?”

“I’ll get you some medicine… no, no, I’d better call the family doctor.”

Compared to the eldest young master, who was rarely home but had suddenly returned, the maids’ hearts leaned far more toward the young lady they spent every day with.

“No need, it’s just a small wound. It’s already healed—I just can’t get it wet for now,” You Mingming said. She’d been roused by a rich, savory aroma. Coming downstairs, she spotted a familiar figure in the kitchen at the corner of the living room and knew her little act of playing on sympathy had worked.

Her eyes lit up, and she called out, “Brother!”

“Mm,” Pei Jingzhi ladled out a bowl of thick, creamy matsutake and pork bone soup, set it on the table, and smiled at You Mingming. “Want to give it a try?”

The milky-white bone broth was garnished with a sprinkle of chopped scallions. You Mingming paused, subtly blowing the scallions to the side before lowering her head to take a small sip. For a long while, she didn’t look up or speak.

“Is it not good?” Pei Jingzhi’s voice came through, soft as a breeze threading through an alley—just like the feeling he gave others.

“It’s delicious.” You Mingming looked up with a smile, her eyes curving like crescent moons, but a crystalline tear slipped from within.

A person who was obsessive and possessive might do anything, no matter how unscrupulous, to get the one they loved. But once they were truly with that person, even the most ordinary moments could leave them at a loss.

You Mingming quickly lowered her head again, taking small, careful sips to cover up. But suddenly, her chin was gently lifted, and a delicate sensation brushed against her cheek.

That tear was softly wiped away. She met Pei Jingzhi’s beautiful peach-blossom eyes, veiled in mist like the banks of a river at dawn.

Pei Jingzhi: “Don’t cry.”

He didn’t ask why his sister was crying. Someone as perceptive as him had likely already glimpsed the truth from You Mingming’s far-too-transparent gaze.

“Brother,” You Mingming said, having already composed herself in that brief moment, tentatively testing the waters, “could you… stay with me a little longer today?”

Pei Jingzhi gazed quietly at You Mingming. After a long pause, he replied, “Alright.”

Just like that, the second mission’s progress bar suddenly surged by forty points. Combined with what she’d had before, rounding up, that was ten million… A look of genuine, joyful delight spread across You Mingming’s face.

In others’ eyes, it looked like she was simply satisfied just to have her brother’s company for a little while.

The old butler’s expression softened with sympathy, and he said, “Miss hasn’t gone out in a long time. Jingzhi, since it’s the Prayer Festival right now, why not take her out for a stroll and let her enjoy the lively atmosphere? What do you think?”

“And besides, it’s too dangerous for her to go out like this. Why don’t you try making a perfume that can mask her natural scent?”

“Sure.” Pei Jingzhi agreed with his usual smile on his face. He didn’t object to the butler’s latter suggestion—almost as if by tacit consent.

A wild thought suddenly surfaced in You Mingming’s mind… The butler probably had no idea how difficult his suggestion was for a perfumer. She’d browsed countless posts on Xunfangchen forums, and aside from the two big names—Hua Jing and X… plus herself—she’d never seen anyone else who could mask someone’s natural body scent through perfumery alone.

Could Pei Jingzhi be Hua Jing?

No… surely that couldn’t be possible, right?

—

At 7 PM, the butler and the maids left on time.

You Mingming looked at her hair in the mirror and found that no matter how she combed it, the final style never looked quite right. The original young lady had thick, jet-black, lustrous hair—fluffy and soft, impossible to gather completely with one hand.

This meant that she, whose right hand was wrapped up like Doraemon’s, was completely helpless against this beautiful mane.

Pei Jingzhi was still in his room, blending perfume.

Just as You Mingming was feeling stuck, the doorbell rang a few times.

She found it a bit strange. The butler and the maids usually never came back before midnight, and besides, even if they did have business to return to, they should have keys, right?

Walking over to the door, You Mingming glanced at the security monitor and saw that it was Bai Qiyao outside.

Unlike his previous appearances in military uniform, today he was dressed in casual clothes. Still, the habits ingrained from years of being in the military kept his back straight—he stood in the night like a drawn blade.

A person like that, no matter what he wore, would always stand out in a crowd.

“Why are you here all of a sudden?” You Mingming opened the door, looking at Bai Qiyao with visible delight. This made Bai Qiyao a little uncomfortable, and he averted his gaze elsewhere for a moment…

But he quickly composed himself. In just a few days, they would be engaged. Since he’d already made up his mind, he shouldn’t be so evasive with his fiancée. He soon met her eyes again, his obsidian-like gaze firm and bright in the night.

Bai Qiyao looked seriously at You Mingming and said, “Today is the Prayer Festival. I heard Jiangping Street will be very lively, so I came to invite you out for a walk.”

It was then that he noticed her messy hair and her injured hand, wrapped tightly in bandages.

“What happened to your hand?”

“I got scratched by a cat.”

The two spoke at the same time. After exchanging glances, they both fell silent for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh.

“So… you can’t brush your hair?” Bai Qiyao thought for a few seconds and said, “Let me help you.”

You Mingming scratched her head, not quite sure how to refuse, so she simply sat down in the living room and let Bai Qiyao’s slender fingers run through her hair, the comb slowly gliding down. She could tell his movements were clumsy, but surprisingly, she didn’t feel any pain at all.

You Mingming: “Love it, love it.”

The system: “…”

The system: “Your brother is watching from the side.”

You Mingming slowly shifted her gaze and indeed saw Pei Jingzhi standing in the shadows of the staircase. Though a gentle smile still hung on his face, there was an inexplicably twisted quality to it.

She squinted for a closer look and realized that his expression hadn’t actually changed from usual—it was just an illusion caused by the shifting light.

Just then, her phone on the sofa lit up briefly. You Mingming picked it up and glanced at it—it was the little wolf cub, Jiang Huai.

Jiang Huai: Sister, are you home? I’ll come pick you up and take you out to have some fun?

You Mingming: Fun, my foot.