After the tycoon went bankrupt, he was raised by the villainous female supporting character and beca

Chapter 45 was controlled by the system.
Qin Song had sneaked a snack while buying food, so she wasn't hungry at all. She couldn't finish such a large box of food, so she gave half to Pei Xingzhi.

"Why are you eating so little?" Pei Xingzhi looked at the little rice left in her bowl and couldn't help but worry. "Is it because you don't have a good appetite or do you not like the food? Do you want to eat something else? I'll go buy it for you."

Qin Song quickly declined, "No, no, I'm not hungry yet, so I don't want to eat too much."

"Not hungry?" Pei Xingzhi was somewhat skeptical. "You've been busy all afternoon, how could you not be hungry?"

"How could she be hungry?" Pei Lingxuan asked abruptly as she passed by after pouring water. "Just now, my sister-in-law ate a pork tenderloin pie, a steamer of xiaolongbao, and two starch sausages by herself. It wouldn't be normal if she were still hungry."

“…Really?” Pei Xingzhi’s eyes widened slightly.

"Hmph..." Qin Song smiled sheepishly.

"It's alright." Pei Xingzhi took out a pair of disposable chopsticks and handed them to her, pulling her chair closer. "As long as you can eat your fill, that's fine. But those street food stalls are very likely to be unsanitary. It's okay if you eat them once in a while, but don't eat them all the time."

Qin Song: "I know."

Pei Xingzhi noticed that there weren't many vegetables in her bowl, so he picked up a piece of his own and gave it to her: "Do you really like these snacks?"

Qin Song munched on a chicken wing: "It's alright, I just sometimes want to try it when I see it."

Pei Xingzhi looked at her and smiled: "If you want to eat this in the future, you can tell me, and I will learn to make it for you."

"You're learning to do this?" Qin Song couldn't hide his shock. "You're already busy enough with work, do you really have time for this?"

Pei Xingzhi: "It won't take much time to do this, I can do it."

"Ah..." Qin Song raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of anticipation, "Then I'll have to trouble you?"

Pei Xingzhi shook his head: "It's not hard for me, as long as you don't mind."

"You're so wonderful, how could I possibly dislike you..."

As he said this, Qin Song's voice suddenly became a little soft, and his cheeks visibly turned red.

Pei Xingzhi looked at her, and the corners of his mouth kept turning up involuntarily.

She finished eating the chicken wing in her hand, looked up and shook the stray hairs on her forehead. Her gaze inadvertently drifted to the opposite side, only to meet Shen Yanhui's jealous and resentful eyes.

Shen Yanhui had been spying on the two of them, and his already green face turned even greener after what he had just witnessed.

Qin Song calmly met her gaze, and after a moment, he subtly withdrew his eyes.

"Xingzhi, I want to tell you something." His mischievous nature got the better of him, and Qin Song suddenly wanted to tell Pei Xingzhi what Shen Yanhui had said.

Upon hearing this, Pei Xingzhi turned his head and asked seriously, "What is it?"

Qin Song put down his chopsticks: "When I went out to buy food just now, Shen Yan Hui... Shen Yan Hui... she..."

"What's wrong with her?" Pei Xingzhi asked anxiously as he heard no further explanation.

"She..." Qin Song tried hard to open her mouth, wanting to say what she had prepared, but for some reason, when she mentioned Shen Yanhui, her throat seemed to be glued shut, and she couldn't utter a single word.

“She…” Qin Song held her breath, and just repeating this one word took all her strength.

"What's wrong with her?" Pei Xingzhi finally realized something was wrong, his eyes fixed on Qin Song's mouth. "Xiao Song, can't you say it?"

"I can't say it." Qin Song gave up. She was panting heavily even though she hadn't done anything.

"Why can't you say it?" Pei Xingzhi asked in confusion.

Qin Song touched his throat, completely bewildered: "I don't know, but I just can't say it. I can talk about anything else normally, but I just can't say this. It's like I've been cursed."

"What?" Pei Xingzhi's expression changed, and almost instinctively grabbed Qin Song's hand. "I'll take you to the hospital to get checked out!"

"No need," Qin Song smiled to reassure him, then turned to look at Shen Yan Hui as if possessed. Shen Yan Hui was talking to Ye Ci, and when she noticed her gaze, she looked up at her.

"..." Their eyes met briefly, and neither of them spoke, yet something became clear in an instant.

Shen Yanhui curled her lips into a slight smile, the smugness in her smile almost blinding.

Qin Song laughed along with her, a nonchalant laugh.

"Xiao Song, what are you looking at?" Pei Xingzhi looked at her blankly, not understanding what she and Shen Yanhui were doing.

"It's nothing." Qin Song looked away, picked up his chopsticks and continued eating. "If you can't say it, then don't say it. I'll tell you when I can."

Pei Xingzhi was worried: "But your throat... I'm afraid something might go wrong."

Qin Song: "It's alright, look at me, I'm talking perfectly fine now."

"Let's eat. If I feel unwell, I'll ask you to take me to the hospital."

“…Alright.” Pei Xingzhi agreed. After she repented, she became more measured in her actions. Pei Xingzhi was willing to believe her.

After finishing their meal, the police officers stayed busy for a while before leaving. Pei Xingzhi, however, still had work to do with his clients, so he didn't rush to leave.

Qin Song stayed by his side and tried to bring up the matter again, but still couldn't say it.

Unwilling to give up, she thought of another way—

Typing on your phone? No way.

Write it down with a pen? That still won't work.

Relaying it to someone else? Even worse.

She seemed to be truly cursed; she couldn't utter a single word about anything related to Shen Yanhui.

She tried many methods but couldn't break the curse, and finally had no choice but to give up.

Eh……

She slumped onto the table and sighed dejectedly.

Those with systems are awesome... Why doesn't she get that kind of treatment?

……

With Shen Yanhui's involvement, the police officers at the station became much more serious about their work.

The following afternoon, Qin Song received news that Lin Jiahe had been cleared of suspicion.

"Lin Jiahe was not in the country at all on the day of the incident."

After finishing his work, Pei Xingzhi took a moment to call Qin Song. He stood on the balcony of his studio, holding his phone in one hand and taking off his glasses with the other.

His nearsightedness wasn't severe; even without his glasses, he could still see things roughly around him.

But to prevent his nearsightedness from worsening, he has insisted on wearing glasses all these years. The lenses obscure his beautiful eyes, and every time he takes off his glasses, Qin Song stares at him for a long time.

"I knew it wasn't Lin Jiahe a long time ago." Qin Song put his phone on speakerphone, placed it on the table, and edited the image while speaking.

“If Lin Jiahe really hated me that much, he wouldn’t have transferred the money to me.”

"Hmph..." Pei Xingzhi chuckled softly on the other end of the phone, "But besides him, who else has you had a romantic entanglement with?"

“That’s it.” Qin Song put down his pen, frowned, and thought carefully. “He’s the only person who has ever truly loved me. Apart from him, no one else has ever had feelings for me…”

"Huh? Does this 'love and hate' only refer to romantic love?"

(End of this chapter)