Daily Intelligence: Forced to Save the Beautiful President at the Beginning

80: Chapter 80 The Self-Cultivation of a Pure LotusThe deliberate, faked sweetness in her tone didn’t annoy Pei Yunxiao; instead, he found it incredibly soothing, and it even dispelled most of the irritation he’d felt over Song Zhiwei’s ”disappearance.”

He leaned back in the seat of his maybach, his fingers unconsciously tracing the leather armrest, his tone softening slightly: ”Forget about it if you didn’t see her. What have you been busy with at home over the break? I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

Ruan Shu felt a secret thrill. She twisted the hem of her shirt gently, her voice becoming even softer: ”I haven’t been up to much, just helping my mom with housework and reading some books. Unlike some girls, who only know how to play during the break and have no ambition at all.”

She paused deliberately as she said this, hinting at Song Zhiwei. In her past life, she had often used such provocations in front of Pei Yunxiao, and they had always succeeded in pleasing him.

Sure enough, Pei Yunxiao’s tone softened: ”You’re still the sensible one. I’m thinking of getting a few classmates in Jiangcheng together. Are you free?”

Ruan Shu’s heart skipped a beat, and her face flushed instantly. She forced down her excitement and replied with feigned reserve: ”Of course, a gathering would be fine. But it’s the holidays, and there aren’t many of our classmates in Jiangcheng, are there? It seems like just you, me, and... Song Zhiwei?”

When she mentioned ”Song Zhiwei,” her voice held a hint of subtle disdain, as if speaking of something unsightly, and she quickly added, ”But if she’s busy, it’s fine not to invite her. It would be just as nice with just the two of us.”

These words hit the nail on the head for Pei Yunxiao.

The more he thought about it, the more pleasing he found Ruan Shu. Look at how sensible she was! Even during the holidays, she knew to stay home, do her homework, and study—her focus was entirely on the right things.

Unlike that brainless bitch, Song Zhiwei. In the past, she did nothing but hover around him, never having a life of her own. And now? She’d grown bold—not only did she dare to go missing on him, but she also dared to ”keep” other men behind his back?

The mere thought of Song Zhiwei potentially being with Zhang Fan made his anger flare up again.

”She must be invited.” Pei Yunxiao’s tone turned cold, carrying an unquestionable command. ”You contact Song Zhiwei for me. Tell her she must be there tomorrow night. I’ll send you the location tomorrow.”

”Huh? Just the three of us?” Ruan Shu was stunned, not even noticing the melon seed shells in her hand falling onto the bedsheet.

She had originally assumed this was Pei Yunxiao’s excuse to ask her out alone. Why on earth did he have to bring Song Zhiwei along?

That woman who only knew how to follow behind Pei Yunxiao like a dog—what right did she have to intrude on her time alone with Young Master Pei?

”Just contact her like I told you. Why so much nonsense?” Pei Yunxiao frowned impatiently. He had no interest in explaining his motives to Ruan Shu.

He wanted to show Song Zhiwei that even without her, he still had other girls orbiting around him.

Furthermore, he intended to use this dinner to see exactly what kind of relationship Song Zhiwei and Zhang Fan had. If there was really something fishy going on, he wouldn’t mind embarrassing Song Zhiwei in public.

With that, he hung up the phone.

A busy tone came from the receiver. Ruan Shu finally snapped back to reality, frowning at her phone screen, her heart filled with confusion and dissatisfaction.

She bit her lip, her fingers tapping unconsciously against the bed frame as she scrambled to invent a reason in her mind—it must be that Song Zhiwei was acting as an ”informant” for the Pei family!

After all, Song Zhiwei’s parents were the Pei family’s driver and nanny. Young Master Pei must be afraid that Song Zhiwei would badmouth him in front of his parents, so he had to bring her along to every gathering to keep an eye on her every move.

”Hmph, what an annoying bitch!” Ruan Shu cursed under her breath and tossed her phone onto the bed.

She had already planned what to wear tomorrow—that white dress she’d saved three months of living expenses to buy. She had intended to use this gathering to chat more with Pei Yunxiao; maybe she could have even gotten him to buy her a designer bag or a new phone. Now, it was all ruined by Song Zhiwei.

But dissatisfaction was one thing; she didn’t dare to disobey Young Master Pei’s orders.

After all, Pei Yunxiao was the only ”wealthy young master” she could get close to. If she offended him, she would never have the chance to escape her current life.

She took a deep breath and opened her WeChat chat with Song Zhiwei—a contact that Song Zhiwei had begged to add. Later, finding her annoying, Ruan Shu had blocked her several times. If it weren’t for Pei Yunxiao’s order to contact her, she would have deleted Song Zhiwei long ago.

The chat window was blank, save for the last message from her past life, sent by Song Zhiwei: ”Zhiwei, could you help me talk to Young Master Pei? I didn’t mean to make him angry.”

Ruan Shu looked at the message, a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips. Her fingers tapped rapidly across the screen: ”Zhiwei, are you free tomorrow night? Young Master Pei and I would like to have dinner with you.”

After sending the message, Ruan Shu tossed her phone onto the bed and let out a heavy sigh.

She rose and walked to the window, looking down at the dim streetlights below, silently swearing to herself: At this gathering, she would make sure Young Master Pei saw her worth and realized that Song Zhiwei was simply not good enough for him.

As for Song Zhiwei... as long as she stayed sensible and didn’t make herself an eyesore in front of Young Master Pei, she might still be ”polite” to her.

But if she dared to cause trouble, she wouldn’t mind making her taste the feeling of being isolated and bullied again once school started next semester.

Meanwhile, in Zhang Fan’s apartment, Song Zhiwei was sitting on the sofa scrolling through her phone, while Zhang Fan was on the other side, reviewing the player feedback report for ”star path: reboot.”

Her phone suddenly vibrated. She picked it up, and upon seeing the name ”Ruan Shu,” her face instantly changed, and her fingers began to tremble.

”What’s wrong?” Zhang Fan noticed her odd behavior and asked with concern.

Song Zhiwei clutched the phone to her chest, her voice trembling slightly: ”It’s a classmate... She invited me to have dinner tomorrow night.”

Memories of her past life surged back like a tide—Ruan Shu locking her in the restroom, tearing up her homework, spreading rumors among classmates that she ”relied on the Pei family’s charity to go to school,” and finally, Ruan Shu and Pei Yunxiao standing together at her funeral, laughing as they discussed how to divide the Song family’s assets... Those images left her chilled to the bone.

Zhang Fan looked at Song Zhiwei’s pale face and understood instantly—this ”classmate” was the person who had harmed her in her past life.

He didn’t ask who it was. Instead, he leaned back against the sofa, his tone suddenly becoming straightforward and down-to-earth: ”Look, aren’t you being a bit too soft? If your kindness and honesty don’t earn you respect but instead invite bullying, why bother being polite? Just flip the table and stop caring!”

The words were blunt but true. Song Zhiwei was amused by his ”if someone messes with you, just mess right back” attitude, and she let out a small laugh, the fear in her eyes dissipating slightly.

She looked up into Zhang Fan’s earnest eyes, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally relented, her voice tinged with a cautious sense of reliance: ”Then... could you come with me?”

Zhang Fan looked at the plea in her eyes, and his mind immediately started grumbling: Why is this girl’s train of thought so convoluted?

In his view, why make life so complicated? If you don’t want to go, just refuse; there’s no need to subject yourself to unnecessary annoyance. Instead of compromising yourself to deal with people with ill intentions, you’re better off looking out for yourself.

His own life motto had always been ”take life and death in stride, and if you’re not happy, just fight back.” Where did all this hesitation and overthinking come from?

Besides, when she could clearly just stay far away, why did she have to actively go and throw herself into the mix? And if she was going to do that, why drag him along—what am I, a lucky charm?

But complaining aside, he remembered that his system task was to help Song Zhiwei achieve her revenge. He also remembered the 1 million in rent Song Zhiwei paid him every month—when renting his apartment out normally would only get him 2,000—which was equivalent to a 500-fold return.

When you put it that way, accompanying her to dinner didn’t seem like such a bad deal, did it?

He rolled his eyes and feigned a look of helplessness, though his tone was very straightforward: ”Fine, consider yourself lucky. I’ll go with you! But let’s get one thing straight: if those two dare to pull any tricks, I won’t care about any classmate relations—I’m going to shut them down for you right then and there.”

Song Zhiwei looked at his expression—which screamed ”this is such a loss for me” while simultaneously being incredibly reliable—and the weight on her heart finally lifted. A genuine smile tugged at the corners of her lips.