For seven consecutive days, Jiang Congli was dedicated to waking Pei Shuyi up before eight o’clock every morning, rain or shine, so she could eat breakfast on time.
A week was enough to completely disrupt someone’s biological clock and then readjust it.
When Pei Shuyi opened her eyes, the light outside the window was just bright enough to see the grain of the wooden beams overhead.
She lay still for two seconds before sitting up.
Her long hair cascaded over her shoulders, and the collar of her pajamas was still askew. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she suddenly felt like something was missing…
Oh.
Jiang Congli was missing.
The soundproofing here wasn’t great. Last night at ten o’clock, steady footsteps could be heard from next door, treading over the stone slabs.
Then, Pei Shuyi’s phone lit up.
It was a message from Jiang Congli: “Something came up in Hong Kong. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon. Remember to wake up on your own tomorrow morning.”
In the side room, the faint morning light seeped in. Pei Shuyi sat dazedly on the bed, thinking about last night’s events, when her phone suddenly buzzed with a voice message from Jiang Congli.
“Time to get up, Shu Yi.”
The man’s voice was deep and refined. Pei Shuyi listened to it twice.
How could he reach so far? He was clearly thousands of miles away in Hong Kong, yet he still insisted on managing her wake-up routine.
Pei Shuyi closed her eyes, pretending she hadn’t seen it, turned off the screen, and got out of bed to freshen up.
Aunt He came out of the kitchen carrying breakfast and was taken aback to see her already washed up. “Miss, how did you manage to get up on your own?”
Pei Shuyi’s lips twitched. According to this, without Jiang Congli, she couldn’t even wake up by herself.
Was Jiang Congli’s charm that powerful? Even Aunt He had been won over.
Aunt He’s breakfast included eggs, perfectly soft-boiled with runny yolks, but Pei Shuyi felt they weren’t as sweet as osmanthus cakes.
At exactly nine o’clock.
Light footsteps sounded at the courtyard gate. Pei Shuyi looked up to see Old Mrs. Jiang walking toward her.
Her silver hair was neatly combed, and she looked even more spirited than she had in the past few days.
“Shu Yi!” Old Mrs. Jiang waved from afar with a smile.
Pei Shuyi stood up and went to greet her. “Grandmother, what brings you here?”
Old Mrs. Jiang took her hand, looked her up and down, and nodded in satisfaction. “Your complexion looks much better.”
Pei Shuyi smiled slightly in return.
Following someone’s instructions, the old lady casually glanced around as if asking offhandedly, “Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
“Yes.”
Old Mrs. Jiang nodded and said, “That’s perfect. Shu Yi, would you like to accompany me for a walk up the mountain today?”
Pei Shuyi was momentarily taken aback. Usually, it was Jiang Congli who accompanied the old lady. It seemed that since Jiang Congli wasn’t here today, she had come to find her instead.
“Of course, Grandmother, I’ll go with you,” Pei Shuyi said.
The two of them slowly made their way up the stone path of Qingtan Temple.
Old Mrs. Jiang was steady on her feet, but Pei Shuyi still slowed her pace, walking on the outer side and occasionally offering the old lady a hand.
“Shu Yi, what do you usually do when you’re alone?” the old lady asked.
“Drink tea, read books, sit in the courtyard,” Pei Shuyi thought for a moment. “Sometimes I practice calligraphy.”
“Don’t you get bored?”
Pei Shuyi smiled. “I’m used to it.”
Old Mrs. Jiang glanced at her but said nothing more, continuing to walk ahead.
Old Mrs. Jiang took a couple of steps toward the direction of the Guanyin Hall, then suddenly stopped. “When Congli was little, I took him to a temple in Hong Kong. He was just like this—taking a few steps, then stopping to wait for me. Back then, he was only as tall as my waist.”
Pei Shuyi curved the corners of her lips. “He still waits for you now.”
The old madam suddenly smiled meaningfully. “He doesn’t wait for me now—he waits for someone else instead.”
……
Pei Shuyi rarely didn’t respond, pretending she hadn’t understood.
The two slowly climbed the stone steps and arrived in front of the Guanyin Hall.
The hall wasn’t large, but the incense was thriving, with fresh flowers and fruits covering the offering table.
Old Mrs. Jiang lit three sticks of incense, while Pei Shuyi waited for her outside the hall.
When the old madam came out, she was holding two bottles of water and handed one to Pei Shuyi.
“Thirsty? Have some water.”
Pei Shuyi took the water and drank a sip. The two sat on a stone bench outside the hall to rest.
“Shu Yi, are your family at ease with you being alone on the mountain?”
Pei Shuyi’s fingers lightly brushed against the bottle.
“There’s only my older brother and me left in my family.”
“Your older brother?” The old madam’s voice softened.
“My parents are no longer here. I have an older brother, but he’s busy with the family business.”
“I grew up abroad and lived alone in a boarding school since my teens, so being alone doesn’t feel like anything to me.”
The Pei family seemed to be people of extremely detached temperaments, indifferent to having shallow bonds with relatives.
But what Old Mrs. Jiang heard was another version.
Parents no longer here.
Older brother too busy for her.
Living alone in a boarding school since her teens.
Lonely and helpless, with no one to rely on.
The old madam’s hand holding the water bottle tightened slightly.
“What about during holidays? Alone then too?”
Pei Shuyi thought for a moment. “When I was abroad before, sometimes I’d go to a classmate’s house, sometimes I’d spend it alone.”
Pei Shuyi’s father was the leader of the Blood Eagle, with many matters to attend to, and truthfully, he couldn’t spare much attention for her.
Her mother had passed away early, so for Pei Shuyi, she was indeed accustomed to being alone.
Looking at the woman’s calm expression before her, the old madam took a deep breath and looked up at the ginkgo tree overhead.
“Shu Yi.” Her voice was somewhat tight.
“Hmm?” Pei Shuyi turned to look at the old madam.
“Come to Hong Kong for the New Year in the future.”
“Congli is in Hong Kong, and so am I. The New Year is for family to be together. Staying alone in a hotel—what kind of way is that to spend it?”
Pei Shuyi opened her mouth slightly.
“Grandmother, you don’t even know who I am, yet you dare invite me to your home for the New Year?”
Old Mrs. Jiang took her hand, her thumb gently stroking the back of it.
“This old woman has been judging people all her life. What kind of person you are, I can tell at a glance.”
Pei Shuyi lowered her head, looking at the old madam’s hand holding hers.
Warm, dry, carrying a faint scent of hand cream.
Pei Shuyi felt a warmth in her heart.
“Grandmother.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
The old madam tightened her grip on her hand. “Let’s go. There’s another hall ahead. After we finish looking around, we’ll go back for lunch.”
The two continued walking up the stone steps, the sunlight stretching their shadows long.
“Shu Yi.”
“Hmm.”
“Congli has never been in a relationship before, and he might not be good at saying sweet things. I’ll trouble you to be patient with him.”
Old Mrs. Jiang didn’t turn around, her tone casual as if chatting about everyday matters. “If he does anything that upsets you, tell me, and I’ll deal with him.”
Pei Shuyi shook her head, “Grandmother, he didn’t upset me.”
“That’s good.” Old Mrs. Jiang nodded, her smile deepening as she lowered her head.
Jiang Congli arrived precisely at four in the afternoon.
A discreet luxury car stopped outside the temple gate.
As Jiang Congli stepped out of the car, he instantly drew the attention of many worshippers.
The man was dressed in dark-colored clothes, just as he had been when he left, impeccably pressed without a single wrinkle. However, the faint shadows under his eyes suggested he likely hadn’t slept much the previous night in Hong Kong.
He bent down to retrieve a small paper bag from the back seat, holding it in his hand as he walked toward the courtyard.