Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Zhang Manhua watched Pei Ge hurry out of the house. Once the heavy metal gate closed, she leaned on the sofa weakly, her face revealing a bitter smile.

  How did she contract such a sickness?

  She laughed bitterly as she picked up their family photo on the coffee table. Her fingers lightly ran across the photograph.

  “Haiii, hubby, what should I do? I don’t want to find you so soon. Our princess has yet to settle down; I still want to see her get married and have kids.” Tears began to brim in her eyes.

  “Hubby, you must pray for my full recovery up there. Otherwise, what will we do if we leave our daughter all by herself……”


  She said as she wiped her tears and tightly held the photo frame. On Pei Ge’s end, she ran while wiping her tears as well.

  The moment she exited their neighborhood, she headed to the bus stop and sat on the bench there.

  In the chilliness of the evening, her lips formed a thin line as her eyes became filled with helplessness and sadness.

  Why? Why would her mother be diagnosed with cancer? She clearly looked healthy.

  She deeply inhaled through her nose and lifted her head to gaze up at the inky-blue sky, doing her best to stay calm and not break down.

  After a long time, her emotions finally settled.

  She was about to take her phone and call for a taxi when she saw an occupied taxi driving over.

  As it was just after the working hours, she guessed that the passenger was from her neighborhood.

  Indeed, she was right. The cab stopped at the entrance to her neighborhood before driving toward the taxi stand and stopping right in front of her.

  “Miss, are you waiting for a taxi?” the driver asked politely.

  She nodded, opened the cab’s door, and got in.

  Providing him the address to her second uncle’s villa, the taxi drove off.

  What she did not know was that, when the taxi drove away, a particular CEO became so frustrated he banged the hood of his poor car.

  Ji Ziming was so depressed at the sight of Pei Ge leaving in that taxi.

  He had followed her up to her neighborhood’s entrance but did not leave even after she went in.

  He parked the car somewhere hidden in a bid to collect his thoughts.

  Who knew that he had not been there for long when she came running out with puffy eyes?

  Seeing her pitiful appearance, he got off the car.

  He watched her from afar.

  He saw how upset she was as she sat on that long bench and wanted to ask her what had made her so sad, but before he could do so, she got into a taxi.

  “Damn it!” he muttered in frustration at the growing distance between him and the taxi. He had no choice but to hurriedly get inside his car and step on the accelerator.

  Presently, Pei Ge was oblivious to Ji Ziming following the taxi she was in. Actually, if she only looked behind her, she would easily spot his car.

  However, she was only full of thoughts about her mother and was not in the mood to look out the window.

  This uneasy feeling accompanied her to her second uncle’s villa.

  “Miss, we have arrived,” the taxi driver lightly reminded when he saw her in a daze.

  She collected her thoughts at his reminder.

  “Keep the change.” She did not bother to get the change from the driver after passing a few red bills and just quickly exited the taxi.

  The moment she got off it, she ran straight toward the villa.

  The ringing of the doorbell caused the person inside to grumble as she opened the door.

  “Ge Ge? What……” Before the nanny could finish, she interrupted her.

  “Is my second uncle around?” she asked hurriedly.

  “Ah, sir just came home.”


  At that, she quickly removed her shoes and walked into the living room without wearing the indoor slippers.

  “Ge Ge, what brings you over at this hour?”


  Pei Zhenghui, who had just reached home and did not even have the chance to go to his study room, was chatting with Liu Yan in the living room when she walked in. Her sudden appearance shocked him to the core.

  “Second Uncle……” she trailed off as she burst into tears.

  Although he had disappointed her previously and their relationship had become somewhat strained, today’s discovery of her mother’s illness had really shaken her.

  As such, when she saw her relatives, no matter how distant they seemed recently, she revealed her fragility. They were still her family, after all.

  “Yo, Ge Ge, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Liu Yan asked curiously when she saw her niece burst into tears without a word after rushing to their home.

  She knew how strong her niece was and vaguely remembered that the last time she had cried was when her father passed away.

  “Ge Ge, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” he asked curiously.

  She sobbed even harder when she heard their questions.

  “Second Uncle…… my mo – mother was diagnosed with gastric cancer……” she revealed between tears.

  The two were stunned.

  “W – What? Gastric cancer?” Liu Yan widened her eyes in disbelief.

  “Mhm. The doctor said that it is stage 2 gastric cancer.” She nodded, her voice quivering.

  “Heavens! Why would such a thing happen?! Is there a mistake……” Liu Yan’s jaw dropped as she muttered.

  This was not a normal sickness but cancer, and to an average person, it was synonymous to fatal.

  “Second Uncle, the doctor said that there is a high chance for my mother’s sickness to be treated. I – I’d like to borrow some money from you,” she pleaded. Wiping her tears, she tried to get hold of her emotions.

  However, at her request, the initially panicking Liu Yan exclaimed.

  “What?! Borrow money?!”