The person across from him suddenly spoke, catching Pei Shiyi completely off guard. He stared at Jing Meng, dazed, hardly able to believe his ears.
"My hand has already healed. I appreciate the care you've shown me these past few days, but my identity is ultimately a hassle. After thinking it over, it's best for me to leave sooner rather than later."
Pei Shiyi silently stifled the flash of displeasure in his heart, asking with forced patience, "That maid... she hasn't been found yet..."
"She's just a pawn," Jing Meng replied coolly. "I know who the mastermind is. I only stayed before because I was worried she'd try something else. Now that my body has mostly recovered, it's time to settle the score."
Pei Cheng finally looked up from his bowl, his mouth puckering as if he were about to burst into tears.
"Mengmeng, you don't want me anymore!"
Having spent so much time with him lately, Jing Meng was well-acquainted with this little ancestor's habit of being all thunder and no rain. She remained unmoved, resting her chin on her hand.
Pei Cheng couldn't squeeze out a single tear for the longest time, and in his frustration, he looked ready to smash his bowl.
Jing Meng quickly reached out to stop him. "I'm not leaving you!"
She sighed and, like a magician, pulled a small robot from behind her something she had spent the last few days assembling.
"This robot has a degree of autonomous thought. You can voice chat with him or give him simple instructions, like playing chess or ball. When you miss me, just call my name and tell him to call me. These eyes will project a holographic projection of me. However, the calculation rules are quite complex, so it can only be used twice a day for five minutes at a time."
She placed the robot in Pei Cheng's palm and hooked her pinky with his. "Mengmeng has very, very important things to do. Chengcheng is such a good boy, surely you'll understand, right?"
Pei Cheng sniffed and stared at her for a long while. "Then... then you have to come back and see me often!"
Jing Meng rubbed his head. "Whenever I have time, I'll come play with you."
After soothing Pei Cheng, Jing Meng breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to bid farewell to Pei Shiyi, only to see the man holding a stern, handsome face, reaching out his hand toward her with a look of dead seriousness.
"Where's mine?"
His eyes were strikingly beautiful, resembling a vast ocean reflecting the starry sky, where the waves cut the starlight into tassels of brilliant light.
Jing Meng felt as though she were drowning in his gaze. She pursed her lips, forcing down the heat rising in her cheeks.
Taking a deep breath, she unbuckled her watch and fastened it onto Pei Shiyi's wrist. Fortunately, she preferred wearing men's watches; by shifting it back a few notches, it fit him perfectly.
"The functions of this watch are more complex. I'll send you the full instructions later."
Jing Meng spoke slowly, tapping three times on Pei Shiyi's wrist with her index finger. "If you want to find me, just tap three times right here. There's a real-time monitoring probe that will contact me immediately."
"Will there be a holographic projection?" Pei Shiyi asked out of the blue.
"In your dreams!" Jing Meng shot him a glare.
Pei Shiyi touched the watch, watching as Jing Meng packed her things. She had arrived with nothing and was leaving just as empty-handed, wearing only a simple tracksuit. With a casual wave, she walked out with an air of effortless grace.
Standing beside his father, Pei Cheng felt more wronged the more he thought about it. The "Mommy" he finally had in his grasp how was she just gone?
He tilted his small head back to look at the tall man beside him. It was all his old man's fault for not knowing how to coax a lady. He wasn't charming enough for Mengmeng, and that's why she wanted to leave. After all the effort he'd put in, his useless father still couldn't make her stay.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Pei Cheng lifted his short leg and stomped hard on Pei Shiyi's foot before huffing and marching back toward the villa with his head held high.
Pei Shiyi looked down at the footprint on his shoe, feeling helpless, though his mind was entirely occupied by another matter.
He pulled an earring from his suit pocket and contemplated it for a long while.
What exactly was the connection between that woman from years ago and Jing Meng? What secret was Jing Meng hiding that she insisted on completing alone?
As soon as Jing Meng reached the entrance of the villa complex, she sensed she was being followed. She didn't care, casually hailing a taxi and directing the driver toward a hotel.
Once inside the car, she pressed a spot on her neck and whispered in a low voice, "Xiaoxue, disrupt the navigation system of the Mercedes-Benz behind us."
These past few days at the Pei house, she had spent her time playing with Pei Cheng. The tech she had used then was elementary at best; Xiaoxue hadn't been activated for a real task in a long time.
"Plant a Trojan."
Jing Meng leaned against the window, covering her mouth with her hand, speaking in little more than a breath.
Xiaoxue's voice sounded softly. "Implantation complete. The vehicle is still tracking."
"Infiltrate the car's intelligent system. At the next corner, trigger the windshield washers."
She counted the seconds, leaning her head back with her eyes closed to rest. The taxi was moving slowly through a congested stretch, but it finally found a gap at a turn and surged forward!
"Target vehicle has lost direction. Tracking has stopped."
Jing Meng slowly opened her eyes, her exquisite phoenix eyes touched with a frost-like indifference.
"Run the Trojan. Reverse track."
"In ten minutes, I want to know exactly where that car went."
Jing Meng got out of the taxi at the hotel and quickly turned into an alleyway, finding a small computer shop.
This was a shop she used to frequent years ago to configure her gadgets. The stock wasn't comprehensive, but the quality was top-notch, and the owner was a local who was reliable and tight-lipped.
After gathering a pile of components, Jing Meng paid via Bitcoin and turned to leave.
"Someone came by to ask about you two days ago..." The owner, who had been sitting in the corner reading a newspaper, suddenly spoke.
"Asked how many parts you bought here four years ago and how many things you built."
Jing Meng froze, asking warily, "What kind of people?"
"Two men. Tall, nasty temperaments. When I said I didn't know, they smashed a keyboard I just got in." The owner clicked his tongue twice.
"I'll compensate you for the keyboard. If anyone comes again, tell me immediately."
She gathered her things and left the shop, her mind racing over the owner's words. She couldn't fathom who would come looking for her there.
Useless fools like Pei Gong and Bai Xi wouldn't even know how to use scientific research results if they were handed to them on a silver platter; there was no way they could follow the trail to this place. But if it wasn't them, then who was it, and what were they after?
Her heart was a whirlwind of thoughts. She bought a hat, forged an identity on the fly, and checked into the hotel.
By the time she was lying on the bed, Xiaoxue's information had been transmitted back.
Jing Meng took out her newly purchased iPad and data cable, connecting the chip.
In an instant, a vast, all-encompassing satellite map appeared before her eyes.
Her hands moved without pause, tapping through a few operations to open the location tracker. The rising red dot on the map continued to zoom in further and further until it finally pinned itself to a single spot.
The precise location flashed frantically on the map. Jing Meng's hand trembled slightly, and her eyes suddenly widened.
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