Once Pei Ling exited her father’s study, she ran into her mother who was waiting for her at the door. Mrs. Pei rushed over to ask in a concerned tone, “Are you alright, Pei Ling?”

Mrs. Pei really did care about her daughter but the hierarchical system within the family was so ingrained in her mind that it did not even cross her mind to go up against her husband for the sake of her daughter. She could only hope that her daughter would not hold that against her.

Pei Ling touched her mother’s hand because she knew the physical contact would be able to offer her mother some comfort. Against her mother’s concerned face, Pei Ling was still all smiles. She even added in a note of confidence, “I’m alright, mother. There’s no need for you to worry about me. Unlike what father would like to believe, this is not over yet, I have not lost. It is still too early to call the mission a failure.”

When Mrs. Pei heard that, a part of her just wanted to tell her daughter to stop. Nothing good was going to come out of this. Already, it had already become such a huge issue that worsened the father and daughter relationship.

However, she knew her advice would not be heeded. Perhaps it was true when they say the outsiders see things much clearer compared to those too close to the centre. The thing that Pei Ling and Mr. Pei failed to realize but Mrs. Pei saw a little too clearly was how similar the pair of father and daughter was in terms of attitude, personality and the way they went about things.

They both could be very stubborn and would stop at nothing once they had their eyes on something, even if it meant doing something less than honorable. It was due to their strong personality that they often butted head on things that she felt were quite inconsequential.

Looking at her daughter, Mrs. Pei could not help but wonder if life would be easier for Pei Ling if Pei Ling was more like her mother instead of her father. Mrs. Pei had a sense of resignation to her place in life and her passivity meant that she was a good complement to Mr. Pei’s assertiveness and dominance.

Before Mrs. Pei could offer her wisdom, Pei Ling patted her mother’s arm to show that she appreciated her concern and then walked away. There was nothing Mrs. Pei could have done but to sigh and pray for her daughter’s success.

...

The next day, it was a school day and Pei Ling accosted Jun Yang in the corridor before the class started. People were milling around them, going in and out of their classrooms but the two of them managed to find a rather secluded spot where they would not be disturbed.

Due to the proposition that Pei Ling offered yesterday, Jun Yang still felt quite uncomfortable and awkward around her. He had half a mind to escape from the scene but their years of friendship together stopped him from doing so. She deserved a chance to explain herself.

Pei Ling was a picture of diffidence and regret. She began in a sincere tone, “Jun Yang, I did not know what came over me yesterday.”

Jun Yang merely nodded and allowed her to continue.

“I guess I have misread some things and baseless conjectures have been building up in my mind.” The girl looked so apologetic. “I knew I should not have acted on them without respecting your privacy. It was my mistake to cross the line. But I hope that you will find it in you to forgive me.

“Let us forget what has happened yesterday. I really do value you as a friend and it would have been a waste to throw away years of friendship due to a little misunderstanding, right?”

Pei Ling then bowed 90 degree to Jun Yang. “Will you please accept my apology?”

Jun Yang knew it was not common for Pei Ling to apologize to others. As the young lady of the Pei family, giving apology was simply not in her nature. Admittedly, she was the one who had crossed the line first, but in retrospect, perhaps he had overreacted as well. He could have found a better way to deny her advance. Other than that, he did find some agreements in her statement. They had been friends for so many years, they should not let this get between them.

The seduction did seem really outrageous now but in the future, when they looked back, it might be nothing more than a bleep in their shared history, something for them to laugh over.

One misstep on her part shouldn’t doom their friendship, should it?

Other than that, there was another main contributing factor that made Jun Yang accept Pei Ling’s apology. It was guilt.

No matter what, it was true that he had thrown Pei Ling under the bus to get out from the engagement. She became the reason why, at least in his mother’s eyes, on why the engagement had fallen through. And Jun Yang did feel guilty about that.

He was not courageous enough to tell his mother the real reason so he opted for a cop-out which pushed the blame onto Pei Ling’s unsuitability and culpability.

Jun Yang also noticed Pei Ling did not bring up the broken engagement. He did now know whether that meant the girl had not heard of the news or she was purposely not bringing it up to help him save face. Either way, Jun Yang felt like he owed the girl something so he was compelled to accept her apology.

“Thank you, Jun Yang.” Pei Ling straightened up and smiled. She probably wanted to say something more but the bell already rang.

“Come on, let’s get back to class.” Jun Yang considered just wandering off alone but since they had just made amends, he thought it would be a sign of good faith for him to call Pei Ling, and then they walked back to their class together.