Volume One, Chapter Nine: Conflict—Who Among You Is Xiaoyu's Mother?

Wen Yu muttered a few curses under her breath as she gnawed on a chicken wing and vaguely summed up, “Anyway, the entire Pei family is no good.”

“Pei Jingmo is a given—an insincere, hypocritical high-class scoundrel. Stay far away from him!”

“The spoiled little princess is also difficult to get along with, and as for Pei Jingmo’s grandmother… I have a feeling something about her is off.”

Wen Yu set down the bone. “She seems nice on the surface, but when it comes to her own grandchildren, she lets them bully you without a word.”

As those words fell, Shen Shuhe paused, her gaze lingering deeply on her plate. She soon picked up her spoon and sipped her porridge as if nothing had happened.

“As for your son, I won’t even mention your biological child,” Wen Yu said, wiping her hands with a napkin and tossing it aside. “But Shuhe, don’t let anyone take advantage of your kindness.”

Shen Shuhe understood her meaning clearly. She had indeed been tolerant because of blood ties, but now that she had seen the truth, she promised herself she never would be again. She refused to lose her dignity.

Looking at Wen Yu, she said solemnly and firmly, “I won’t.”

Across the table, Wen Yu patted her on the head, and the two dropped the subject.

After finishing their meal and tidying up in the kitchen, Wen Yu brought up another matter.

“What did you decide about the thing I told you?”

Shen Shuhe handed her the bowl and replied, “It’s okay.”

Wen Yu knew it would work out. She reached out and wrapped her arm around Shen Shuhe’s waist, lifting her up. “Wonderful, darling! We can fight side by side now!”

“Don’t worry! With your perfect qualities, I’ll turn you into an international supermodel!”

“Then we’ll live the high life together. I’ll find you hundreds of men better than Pei Jingmo!”

Shen Shuhe couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, okay, put me down! I’m still holding my bowl!”

Wen Yu set her down, draping her arm around her shoulder and giving her a mischievous wink before planting a playful kiss on Shen Shuhe’s cheek.

Caught off guard by the sudden kiss, Shen Shuhe was speechless.

***

The next day, Shen Shuhe was preparing to return to Jiugang to resign.

Just as she woke early and got dressed to catch her flight, she received a call from her assistant.

Cai Sihui’s excited voice came through, “Good morning, President Shen! Guess where I am right now!”

Shen Shuhe raised an eyebrow. “Where?”

“Nanglin! Your hometown!” Cai Sihui exclaimed, unable to hide her joy. “I finally made it to the mainland!”

Cai Sihui was from Jiugang and had never left the port area, so everything was new and exciting to her.

“How did you get here?” Shen Shuhe asked, realizing she had an ongoing project with Cai Sihui.

With a distinct accent, Cai Sihui replied, “I’m not alone—everyone came!”

Shen Shuhe was puzzled.

***

An hour later, instead of rushing to catch her plane, Shen Shuhe found herself sitting in a hotel in Nanglin.

It was eight in the morning, and the sky was shrouded in mist.

Cai Sihui glanced from the window to Shen Shuhe. “President Shen, Nanglin is huge! It took us over an hour to get from the airport to the city!”

Shen Shuhe wasn’t in the mood to entertain Cai Sihui’s enthusiasm and answered casually.

She looked around at the group—all her team members, each wearing bright smiles.

Vice President Hua Bo said, “President Shen, we didn’t mean to keep it from you; we just wanted to surprise you.”

“I know Nanglin is your hometown and your family is there, so when we received the notice from above, we decided not to tell you.”

The others chimed in, “Yes, President Shen, aren’t you happy? You’ll be able to spend more time with your grandfather!”

“And your husband and son, too—you won’t have to call them every day anymore!”

But Shen Shuhe’s expression was hard to read.

Everyone meant well, but she felt troubled.

A few days ago, Hua Bo had learned during a meeting with Jiugang’s head that their department was going to merge with the Pei group’s headquarters in Nanglin—and no one had told her.

That meant her resignation letter would be handed over to the Pei family...

Shen Shuhe rubbed her temples.

In Jiugang, no one knew her identity, so quitting would have been easy without disturbing the grandmother or Pei Jingmo.

Now, if grandmother found out, she might not approve.

After all, when Shen Shuhe was pregnant, Pei Jingmo wanted to fire her immediately and even threatened to blacklist her in the industry. It was grandmother who saved her.

Shen Shuhe felt troubled.

No matter what kind of person He Wanrong was, at least she had felt sincerity from her.

Colleagues’ teasing congratulations kept ringing in her ears, and Shen Shuhe forced a smile in response.

Then she thought to herself: Pei Jingmo doesn’t like me anyway, so if he knew I was resigning voluntarily, he’d probably agree.

Grandmother would handle things on her side.

Thinking this way, Shen Shuhe felt suddenly enlightened; her mood brightened.

The vice president passionately laid out their promising future, but Shen Shuhe simply smiled.

The meal was fairly pleasant.

After eating, Shen Shuhe told everyone to contact her if needed in Nanglin, then said goodbye and left.

Back home, Wen Yu had woken up and was heading to the company to deal with Tong Xi’s matters.

Shen Shuhe didn’t tell her about the morning’s little incident, planning to wait until Wen Yu was free to talk.

Since she would officially report to the Pei family tomorrow, Shen Shuhe intended to bring her resignation letter then.

Today, she planned to stay home and rest.

But fate had other plans.

At ten-thirty in the morning, Shen Shuhe received a call from Teacher Xiao Yu.

She said Xiao Yu had gotten into a conflict with other children.

Hearing this, Shen Shuhe quickly got up and changed clothes.

If there was a fight, she didn’t know if Xiao Yu was hurt.

After all, he was her biological son, and Shen Shuhe needed to fulfill her duties as a mother.

Over an hour later, she arrived at Xiao Yu’s kindergarten in a hurry.

Guided by the teacher, she found the office of Xiao Yu’s teacher.

After knocking and getting a response, she entered.

“Sorry to bother you. I’m Pei Qiongyu’s mother. May I ask about—”

Before she could finish, Shen Shuhe froze in place.

Inside, she saw several people, the most eye-catching being a woman in an orange coat.

Her wavy hair was swept back, and she carried the latest designer handbag released just last month. Silver heels made her figure look taller and more slender.

When she turned to look, her delicate face was made up exquisitely and appropriately, exuding a dazzling and noble aura.

In contrast, Shen Shuhe wore a simple black jacket over a hoodie and black pants, with sneakers on her feet.

Xiao Yu frowned, wondering why his mother was here.

At that moment, the teacher stood up, glancing at the two strikingly different yet equally beautiful women in the room.

“Excuse me, but which one of you is actually Pei Qiongyu’s parent?”

In all her years of teaching, this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

Xiao Yu reached out to Song Qingyin nearby, about to speak, when a calm yet commanding voice sounded from behind.

“I am Pei Qiongyu’s biological mother. Teacher, you called me just now.”