Hearing the old madam ask this, Jiang Congli shook his head: “Not yet, I plan to sound her out these next couple of days.”
Hearing him say this, Old Mrs. Jiang’s smile deepened even more: “It seems you haven’t completely lost your mind yet. I imagine although that Shu girl’s temperament is somewhat aloof, she likely has no shortage of her own ideas deep down. You’ll have quite the polishing to do.”
“Your grandson is willing.”
“Go back now, I won’t keep you for dinner. Go polish your heart’s delicate point.”
After dinner, Pei Shuyi was swinging on the swing in the courtyard.
The swing was something Jiang Congli had someone make a few days ago. The wooden seat was sanded smooth, two hemp ropes tied to the thickest branch of the ginkgo tree—not too high, not too low. When she sat on it, the tips of her feet just touched the ground.
Jiang Congli stood behind her, gently rocking the hemp ropes.
“Shu Yi.”
“Hmm.”
“What are your plans for the future?”
…
Pei Shuyi tapped her toes on the ground, slowing the swing.
Plans…
She tilted her head and thought for a moment. It seemed that ever since waking up in Boston, she hadn’t seriously considered this question.
Pei Shuyi thought for a while: “Recently, I’ll recuperate on the mountain, focus on getting my health back first.”
Jiang Congli walked around from behind her and sat on the stone stool in front of her. They faced each other, knees almost touching.
Dusk had settled, the lanterns in the courtyard not yet lit. The light was so dim they could only make out each other’s silhouettes. His gaze upon her was like the twilight pressing down on Qingtan Mountain—heavy.
“Have you ever thought about recuperating in Hong Kong?”
Hearing this, Pei Shuyi’s fingers slowly tightened on the swing ropes.
“Hong Kong’s medical facilities are no worse than Beijing’s.” Jiang Congli’s voice was neither loud nor soft as he spoke slowly, carrying a persuasive tone.
“I have a medical team under me, some from Hong Kong University, others who have worked abroad. If you go, they will be solely responsible for your health—regular check-ups, adjusting prescriptions. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”
As Jiang Congli spoke, Pei Shuyi kept her head lowered, looking at her hands resting on her knees.
“Up here on the mountain, Aunt He is the only one taking care of you. Although your brother sent people to check on you, after all, there’s no one truly close to you here. You living alone in this place, when you’re unwell and there’s no one by your side… I’m not very at ease.”
“If you come to Hong Kong, I can be by your side. You won’t need to have any worries. Leave health matters to the doctors, and everything else to me. I’ll arrange everything for you.”
Pei Shuyi could sense the weight of these words, especially given his identity as the head of the Jiang family.
Jiang Congli was using his resources, connections, and money to build her a safe harbor countless people dreamed of.
But…
“Jiang Congli.”
“I believe you have the ability to let me live a carefree life.”
Jiang Congli’s brow moved slightly.
“But if I go to Hong Kong now, under your protection every day, with nothing to worry about…”
“Over time, I would only become Jiang Congli’s girlfriend…”
“And not myself.”
Not Pei Shuyi.
This life of Pei Shuyi’s was bought back five years ago with the blood of many in the Blood Eagle. It was Pei Yanxiao who, over these past few years, expended great effort and sought out renowned doctors from around the world to treat and restore.
The courtyard fell quiet. The evening wind surged up from the valley floor, rustling the ginkgo leaves.
Pei Shuyi’s words fell into the silence like a stone sinking into a deep pool, with no echo for a long time.
“I refuse to go to Hong Kong with you.”
Jiang Congli didn’t interrupt her, quietly waiting for her to continue.
Pei Shuyi withdrew her hand from his palm, placed it on her knee, and lowered her head to look at her fingers.
“This body of mine, being able to survive until today, wasn’t something I endured alone. My brother has sought out many doctors over the years, spent a great deal of effort, traveling all over the world.”
“And there are others, whose names I don’t even know, who exchanged something else for my survival.”
“Yet I don’t even have the chance to repay them.”
Pei Shuyi looked up at Jiang Congli without any evasion:
“So, before I’ve even planned what I want to do in the future.”
“I refuse to go to Hong Kong with you as Jiang Congli’s girlfriend.”
……
Jiang Congli had been watching her from the moment she spoke her first sentence, watching for a long time.
Moonlight filtered through the clouds, falling on Pei Shuyi’s face, illuminating her calm expression clearly.
After a long while, the man reached out and once again took her hand resting on her knee, palm against the back of her hand, fingers lacing into hers, holding her gently.
“I’m sorry, Shu Yi, for only meeting you now.”
“If we had met a few years earlier, the one who saved you would have been me.”
Jiang Congli’s brief words made Pei Shuyi’s eyes sting.
Perhaps too much time had passed, or perhaps she had been too calm after waking up five years later, so much so that many people had overlooked the fact that, aside from losing her health in that accident five years ago…
She had also lost her father, Pei Ye.
That father who had been a hero in her heart since childhood, the father who had continuously provided her with a sense of security.
Pei Shuyi never expected that the sense of security she had long been missing would be felt in Jiang Congli.
The moment Jiang Congli saw her eyes redden, his brows immediately furrowed.
The next second, his hand moved from the back of her hand, directly wrapping around her shoulder, lifting her from the swing and pulling her into his embrace.
“Why are you crying now?” The man’s deep voice fell from above her head, carrying a gentleness Pei Shuyi had never heard before.
Pei Shuyi buried her face in his chest and shook her head.
She didn’t want to say, nor could she find the words.
The Pei family was too complicated, and she was too complicated.
The matter of the Blood Eagle…
Her father’s matter…
She wasn’t ready to tell Jiang Congli everything yet.
Seeing her remain silent, Jiang Congli didn’t press further.
One of the man’s hands pressed against the back of her head, his palm against her scalp, his thumb gently stroking the hairline behind her ear, soothing her.
His other arm wrapped around her waist, holding her firmly against him, ensuring she wouldn’t slip away.
But he still felt the dampness on his chest—the tears of the person in his arms seeping through his shirt, burning against his skin.
“Shu Yi.” Jiang Congli’s voice was muffled against the top of her head.
“If you don’t want to go, then don’t. I won’t force you.”
Jiang Congli rarely comforted anyone; the only one he had ever comforted was probably his little nephew.
His palm stroked Pei Shuyi’s head again and again, from the crown of her head to the nape of her neck, and back again.
Pei Shuyi buried her face in his chest, only one ear exposed, the tip of it red from crying.
Pei Shuyi’s current constitution couldn’t withstand her crying like this for long.
Jiang Congli’s thumb slid from behind her ear to the auricle, finally coming to rest gently on the earlobe, kneading with the utmost tenderness, while his thin lips pressed against her ear bone and whispered:
“Baby, don’t cry anymore, okay? You’re breaking my heart.”