The sunlight was scorching, so hot the asphalt road seemed to be steaming.
Wen Sui leaned against the car window, listening to the cicadas outside, and honestly suspected that if any cicada accidentally fell from a tree, its bottom would be cooked through within half a second of hitting the ground.
Behind her, Pei Yuli hung up his phone.
She turned around, and the handsome, mature Pei Yuli smiled at her:
“Your documents will all be reissued by tomorrow. I’ll go with you.”
Wen Sui nodded. ”Once the documents are done, can I go to school?”
The man patted her head. ”Yes.”
Wen Sui said, “I want to meet up with my old friends too!”
Pei Yuli said, “Of course.”
The car wound up the mountain road, flanked by dense shade trees. The towering mountain looked solemn in the sunlight, its glossy green leaves reflecting the light, embracing the magnificent palace halfway up the mountainside.
Wen Sui’s attention was caught. ”Pei Yuli, where are we going?”
The man followed her gaze, the corners of his lips curving upward.
“Home.”
“Home!”
Wen Sui was stunned. She turned her head:
“Little Pei, you’ve gotten this rich already?!”
Her eyes were round, her expression exaggerated.
Pei Yuli was amused by her and nodded rather modestly.
“It’s alright. I’ve managed to save up a little.”
A little? Hardly!
Wen Sui got out of the car, led by the hand by Pei Yuli, and gazed at the European-style building gleaming in the sunlight. Trees swayed on both sides, and in the summer breeze, the whole estate looked all the more grand and magnificent.
Wide-eyed with awe, Wen Sui wandered along, stopping and starting, as Pei Yuli smilingly showed her around—this was the private collection hall, where everything inside could be taken out to play with; that was the natural lake, home to a few adorable waterbirds and little swans, though the spray from the waterfall was a bit heavy, so when she got close, she should remember to have a servant hold an umbrella so her hair wouldn’t get wet…
Rare olive trees dotted the courtyard, and neatly manicured lawns stretched into the distance, where a middle-aged man in a gardener’s outfit could be faintly seen tending the plants in the glass-domed conservatory.
Wen Sui caught the scent of freesias.
She sniffed, and her gaze happened to sweep over a tall building on the other side. She stopped in her tracks:
“What’s that big building? Why does it look so cold and forbidding?”
Pei Yuli’s eyes darkened slightly. He didn’t look in the direction she was pointing, only gazing at the girl’s bright, lovely profile.
“A medical center.”
His little childhood sweetheart turned to face him, her black-and-white eyes exceptionally clear, her grip on his hand tightening a little:
“Is your health often poor?”
The man’s handsome face was bathed in sunlight, the light tracing his sharply defined jawline with a cold, keen edge.
“I’m fine, Suisui.”
As if worried that this reason wasn’t enough to convince her, Pei Yuli smiled a moment later and added weight to his explanation:
“The Pei family has invested heavily in biotech over the years. This building was originally meant as a research facility for the α team, and since I’m no layman in the field either, I set aside space for it at home.”
“But this building is separate—it has another entrance that leads directly outside the estate, and they don’t move around inside the grounds, so I just forgot to explain earlier.”
“Were you worried about me, Suisui?”
The man’s tall figure leaned down slightly, his strikingly handsome face filling her vision, his voice tender and lingering.
Wen Sui, who had been listening attentively to his introduction just moments ago, instinctively held her breath, her lashes trembling.
She stared at Pei Yuli before her, feeling that his face in the sunlight was simply dazzling—handsome to the absolute extreme.
Wen Sui’s cheeks burned, and she quickly looked away, too flustered to keep asking questions. She hurriedly rubbed her face, her words coming out mumbled:
“Of course, of course… with the relationship we have, of course I care about you…”
The man’s low chuckle rang out, his sharp gaze sweeping over the towering building, silent and unreadable.
He naturally caught up to her in a few strides, took hold of the girl’s fingers, and changed the subject.
Only upon stepping into the main building did Wen Sui realize that the shock of the exterior was merely superficial.
The interior was even more astonishing.
Pei Yuli had prepared a room for her, its decor a 1:1 replica of the bedroom in the Wen family’s small villa—only scaled up considerably.
The enormous walk-in closet was stuffed with all her favorite styles. Familiar ornaments sat on the desk, the bedding was embroidered with her favorite patterns, and a pop-art-style blanket lay draped over the lounge chair…
It was as if nineteen-year-old Wen Suisui had simply gone to the bathroom after growing tired of lying down.
As if she had never left at all.
She turned her head to look at Pei Yuli.
Standing in the shadows, Pei Yuli said nothing, only reached out his hand, his well-defined fingers crossing the boundary between shadow and sunlight, waiting for her in midair.
Wen Sui didn’t hesitate, reaching out to rest her hand in his.
“I’ve prepared some gifts for you, Suisui.”
So saying, Pei Yuli pushed open another door.
Wen Sui had no time to ask how Pei Yuli knew she would come back.
In the spacious room, gifts were arranged in sections on shelves of varying heights, each labeled with a year and her birthday.
Wen Sui’s eyes reddened. She let go of Pei Yuli’s hand, sat down on the floor hugging the gifts, and began slowly unwrapping them.
Pei Yuli stayed by her side, occasionally helping her with a sharp pair of scissors.
Electronics, dresses, jewelry, expired concert tickets, plane tickets yellowed from sitting too long, a car key with a Snow White charm, a property deed and photos for a doll shop…
The girl’s fingertips brushed over them one by one, unable to erase the marks left by the years. Only moist tears overflowed from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks.
The man’s large hand wiped the tears from her face, and the slender girl threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
So those seven years hadn’t been a single unconscious night.
The matured Pei Yuli, her divorced parents, gifts bought and sorted year after year, kept for a her who might never appear again…
“Don’t cry anymore, Suisui.”
The man’s voice sounded above her head, his large hand gently stroking her back.
“Your gege swears—from now on, no more gifts will ever be late.”
Wen Sui cried her heart out, her eyes swelling up.
Even Pei Yuli was soaked through by her tears.
After applying compresses to her eyes, Pei Yuli went to take a shower.
But just as he stepped into the bathroom, before the foam was even rinsed off, he heard a polite knock at the door.
Light footsteps sounded, and a figure pressed against the frosted glass door. His little childhood sweetheart’s anxious voice came through the door crack:
“Pei Yuli, what do you mean my QQ Pet died? Didn’t you keep paying for it?”
“Also, my phone seems to be broken. The 4G network is as laggy as 5G. Pei Yuli, did you buy a knockoff phone?”
“It really is a knockoff phone—even my fingerprint unlock doesn’t work!”
“Why is everyone talking about ‘electronic pickled vegetables’? Is that something you buy to feed an electronic pet? Can my QQ pet eat it?”
“Pei Yuli, you people are way too heartless now—making a little baby work as a delivery driver bringing milk tea!”
The sound of running water inside stopped. The bathroom door slid open, and damp heat rushed out.
Wen Sui instinctively looked up—
Inside the doorway stood a lean, athletic man with a bath towel wrapped around his waist, his bathrobe hanging wide open.
Broad shoulders, narrow waist, clearly defined abs. The sleek V-line of his hips disappeared into the white towel, droplets of water rolling down his mature male body, radiating an unapologetic sensuality.
The man ran a large, damp hand through his hair, revealing a sharply chiseled face. His phoenix eyes were elegant, his thin lips flushed red from the steam, looking almost soft.
He braced one arm against the doorframe, his nearly six-foot-four frame standing tall and imposing, his overwhelming presence threatening to swallow her whole.
Pei Yuli looked at her with a smile, ever so patient:
“Suisui, do you want me to answer now?”
Faced with the half-naked beauty before her, Wen Sui’s words stumbled to a halt.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she scratched her head.
“Forget it, then.”
Wen Sui turned to make her escape, but her foot slipped, and she lurched forward with a whoosh—
yanking Pei Yuli’s bath towel right off.