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

111: Chapter 111 Cousin plans to gamble with Pei YunxiaoDeep in the night on the old streets of Jiangcheng, the greasy smoke from a barbecue stall, carrying the scent of cumin, drifted through the cold air. Meat skewers sizzled on the tin grill, grease bubbling up, while sparks occasionally flew off, landing on the oily ground.

Pei Yunxiao sat on a plastic stool, his neck pulled into his collar. In the plate before him lay a pile of gnawed chicken bones, and he clutched a half-finished bottle of ice-cold beer. Water droplets from the bottle trickled down between his fingers, making his fingertips red with cold.

He looked up toward the intersection, where the streetlights stretched shadows out long, and finally saw Ni Yi walking over with quick strides.

The man was dressed in a neat suit, though his tie hung loosely around his neck, and a few sequins from the banquet hall still clung to his hair, making him look completely out of place in this smoky, bustling barbecue stall.

”Cousin, you’re finally here!” Pei Yunxiao stood up in a hurry, his chair scraping against the ground with a harsh sound. ”How was the banquet? Did Zhiwei... did she mention me?”

Ni Yi didn’t rush to sit down. Instead, he took his phone from his pocket, opened the photo gallery, and handed it over. ”See for yourself. Chairman Song came in person, accompanied Song Zhiwei the entire time, and chatted with that kid Zhang Fan for quite a while; he seemed quite satisfied with him. When they signed the contract, the media cameras were all pointed at them. The way Song Zhiwei looked at Zhang Fan was completely different from how she used to look at you.”

Pei Yunxiao took the phone and scrolled through the photos. Song Zhiwei was wearing a champagne-colored long dress, standing beside Zhang Fan with a smile on her lips, her eyes shining brilliantly.

Meanwhile, Zhang Fan sat in his wheelchair, his demeanor calm and composed as he shook hands with Richest Man Song, showing no signs of nervousness at all.

The more he looked, the angrier he became. He gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles turning white. ”Impossible! She must be faking it! She loved me so much before, how could she possibly have feelings for someone else? It must be that kid Zhang Fan sowing discord, trying to make her angry at me on purpose!”

”Can you wake up to reality?” Ni Yi snatched the phone back and irritably scratched his hair. ”The security at Song Family Manor threw out all your and your mother’s belongings, and Song Zhiwei even had Butler Wang cut off all your cards. Isn’t that clear enough?”

Just as he finished speaking, Ruan Shu, who had been silent until now, gently pushed a plate of grilled chicken wings toward them, her voice as soft as water. ”Brother Ni, have something to eat first, and don’t be angry with Yunxiao. He is just too worried about Miss Song.”

Only then did Pei Yunxiao remember Ruan Shu was beside him. He quickly reined in his temper and gave her a forced smile. ”You’re the only one who understands me, Ashu.”

Ni Yi glanced at Ruan Shu but said nothing.

He had long heard of this girl and knew she was always hovering around Pei Yunxiao. But now that Pei Yunxiao had ended up in this state, why was she still tagging along? However, he had no energy to care about that; his own troubles were almost crushing him.

He picked up a skewer of grilled tendon and shoved it into his mouth, chewing vigorously. ”Let me tell you, the reason I’m helping you this time is because I have no other choice myself. Your parents borrowed a million from me before, saying they wanted to invest, but what was the result? One went to gamble, the other went to buy all sorts of useless things. Now the money is gone, and they still want to borrow from me!”

Pei Yunxiao’s face instantly flushed red, and he stammered, ”I... I didn’t know they borrowed that much...”

”You didn’t know?” Ni Yi sneered and slapped his phone onto the table. ”The reason I dared to lend it in the first place was because I saw you could manipulate Song Zhiwei, and I thought that amount of money was nothing to the Song family; once you made up with Song Zhiwei, you could easily pay it back. But look at you now! You’ve been kicked out of the Song family. That money was all kickbacks from people asking me to do things for them, and some of it was project funds from the company! If I can’t get it back, I won’t just lose my job, I’ll have to go to jail!”

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, his voice rising several notches. ”Before, relying on your family’s connections with the Song family, who didn’t suck up to me? People looking for me to get things done could line up from the company entrance to the end of the street. But now? I’ve taken the money but can’t get things done, and they’ve even blocked my front door! Pei Yunxiao, I’m telling you, if you can’t make up with Song Zhiwei, we’re both finished!”

Pei Yunxiao shrank back from his shouting, but he still wouldn’t give up. He clenched his fists and said, ”Cousin, believe me! Zhiwei must still be in the heat of anger. She used to listen to me so much; whatever I said, she was willing to do. How could she really have broken things off with me?”

Once these words were out, Ni Yi’s expression softened slightly.

He had indeed seen it with his own eyes. Last year at Song Family Manor, Pei’s mother, Wang Cuihua, was sitting on the sofa eating melon seeds, pointing at the dirty clothes in a basin and telling Song Zhiwei to wash them quickly, saying, ”The washing machine doesn’t clean them well; intimate clothing must be washed by hand.”

At that time, Song Zhiwei had frozen for a moment, but then she really did roll up her sleeves and squat by the basin to scrub them.

That scene still made Ni Yi feel it was unbelievable even now.

The daughter of the illustrious Richest Man Song was actually washing clothes for a servant, and the most private underwear and socks at that.

From then on, he truly believed that Song Zhiwei was completely under Pei Yunxiao’s thumb, which was why he wavered now when Pei Yunxiao said this.

”But... her attitude this time is just too firm.” Ni Yi frowned, still a bit worried. ”Chairman Song even stepped in and specially rushed back to attend the banquet; it’s obvious he’s backing Zhang Fan.”

”That’s because Zhang Fan helped her!” Pei Yunxiao said quickly. ”She must feel she owes Zhang Fan a favor, which is why she’s helping him out. Once she thinks it through, she’ll know who truly treats her well. Cousin, you just need to help me keep an eye on her, see who she’s with every day, and if she’s getting too close to Zhang Fan, and I’ll find a way to make her have a change of heart.”

He paused, a glimmer of calculation flashing in his eyes. ”Once I make up with her, I’ll have her tell Chairman Song to give you a promotion, and then pay back that million. I guarantee you’ll be even more prominent than before!”

Ni Yi looked at Pei Yunxiao’s confident demeanor, and the scales in his heart slowly tipped.

He had no way out now; he could only take a gamble, betting that Pei Yunxiao could truly manipulate Song Zhiwei again.

”Fine, I’ll help you.” He took a deep breath, as if making up his mind. ”I’ll go check Song Zhiwei’s schedule tomorrow to see where she usually goes. But you have to promise me that once there’s an opportunity, you must make up with her as soon as possible; we can’t drag this out any longer.”

”No problem!” Pei Yunxiao nodded immediately, a smile finally appearing on his face. ”Cousin, don’t worry, it won’t be long before we can return to the days we had before!”

Ruan Shu, who had been listening quietly from the side, toyed with a half-eaten skewer of grilled corn, a trace of imperceptible coldness flashing in her eyes.

She took a gentle bite of the corn, her voice remaining soft. ”Yunxiao, Brother Ni, don’t be too anxious. Take it slow; Miss Song is so kind, she will definitely forgive you.”

Pei Yunxiao looked at her, his eyes filled with gratitude. ”Ashu, you’re the best, unlike some people who stay far away once they see I’ve fallen on hard times.”

Ni Yi didn’t notice anything unusual about Ruan Shu and was only thinking about resolving his own troubles quickly. He picked up the beer bottle, took a sip, and asked again, ”By the way, where are your parents now? Don’t let them go gambling again. If Chairman Song finds out, things will be even harder to handle.”

Mentioning his parents, Pei Yunxiao’s expression darkened again. ”I don’t know either. They had an argument with me yesterday and said they were going out to borrow money from friends, and they haven’t come back yet.”

Ni Yi frowned, feeling even more annoyed. This family was simply a bottomless pit.

He didn’t ask any more questions and just urged Pei Yunxiao to finish eating quickly and go back to rest early, so they could start tracking Song Zhiwei’s schedule tomorrow.