Jian Jinci’s back hurt so much she couldn’t speak, obediently letting Pei Yanzhou carry her out of the banquet hall.
Outside the banquet hall, a Maybach was parked at the entrance. A man in formal attire stood beside the car, looking somewhat familiar to Jian Jinci. She guessed he must have been the one she saw the night she got drunk.
He was Pei Yanzhou’s assistant, named Qin Huai, and had been by Pei Yanzhou’s side for six years.
Seeing Pei Yanzhou approach, Qin Huai respectfully opened the car door.
Pei Yanzhou placed Jian Jinci in the back seat. She could clearly feel his gentle movements, as if he were afraid of touching the wound on her back.
As soon as Pei Yanzhou settled her in, she tried to get out.
She had seen plenty of luxury cars, but after her grandfather passed away, she had never ridden in one again. Pei Yanzhou’s car was worth a fortune, and with the stains of alcohol and blood on her, she was afraid of dirtying it.
Pei Yanzhou pressed her shoulder, forcing her to sit back down, his voice carrying a commanding tone: “Don’t move.”
Feeling the warmth of his fingertips on her shoulder, her heart skipped a beat. She took a deep breath and said, “I’m dirty. Besides, I’m not familiar enough with you to have you personally take me to the hospital. Thank you, I’ll just take a taxi. I don’t want to dirty your car.”
She was grateful to him—grateful that he had taken her to a nearby hotel when she was drunk and grateful that he had helped her when she was injured. But Pei Yanzhou was a dangerous figure. At just twenty-eight years old, his newly listed Jingche Group had gained immense influence in Beijing in just a few days, and Pei Yanzhou himself had become someone everyone in the business circle wanted to curry favor with and build connections to.
Jian Jinci couldn’t handle someone like Pei Yanzhou. She just wanted to live her life simply and didn’t want to have any involvement with him.
Pei Yanzhou: “Not familiar?”
His jaw tightened. Jian Jinci looked up: “Are we that familiar?”
Pei Yanzhou leaned in, close to her ear: “Not familiar enough to give me your first kiss?”
His warm breath brushed against her neck, and combined with the words he spoke, Jian Jinci’s cheeks instantly flushed.
She stammered: “I… that night… did I kiss you?”
Pei Yanzhou: “What do you think?”
Jian Jinci: “…”
Pei Yanzhou walked around to the other side, opened the car door, and sat down. He glanced at Qin Huai in the driver’s seat: “To the hospital.”
Sitting next to Pei Yanzhou, her heart raced nervously: “Then, at the hotel…”
She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
He feigned ignorance: “What about at the hotel?”
The next part was embarrassing for Jian Jinci. She mumbled hesitantly: “When I woke up… I wasn’t wearing any clothes…”
A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Pei Yanzhou’s lips. He gazed out the window nonchalantly: “Nothing happened. You took off your clothes yourself.”
Jian Jinci breathed a sigh of relief, secretly relieved that nothing had happened.
“But,” Pei Yanzhou added, “I saw everything—what should be seen and what shouldn’t.”
His words struck her like a bolt from the blue, and Jian Jinci’s mind went blank.
Her innocence was gone…
Alcohol really wasn’t a good thing.
“Ouch~” The car reached an intersection, and the brakes were applied a bit abruptly. Jian Jinci’s back hit the seat.
“Are you okay?” Pei Yanzhou turned his head, his voice carrying a subtle softness.
Jian Jinci shook her head, indicating she was fine.
Pei Yanzhou shot a cold glance at Qin Huai in the driver’s seat, his eyes icy and sharp. Even through the rearview mirror, Qin Huai could feel the pressure. He swallowed hard and kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
Qin Huai suddenly grew curious about Jian Jinci’s identity beyond being the eldest daughter of the Jian family. How had she managed to get Pei Yanzhou to personally take her to the hospital after only meeting him twice?
“Want a candy?” Pei Yanzhou extended his hand toward her, a single candy resting in his palm—just like the lychee-flavored one from the night she was drunk.
Jian Jinci took it, unwrapped the candy, and placed it in her mouth, saying, “Thank you.”
At the hospital, the doctor cleaned and bandaged her wound, extracting several shards of glass from it. Her face was pale—the pain during the treatment was real.
Finally, the doctor gave a few more instructions on precautions.
When she came out, she had assumed Pei Yanzhou would have already left. Instead, she saw him leaning against the wall, his back slightly hunched.
Holding Pei Yanzhou’s suit jacket, she walked up to him. “Thank you for bringing me to the hospital. I’ve dirtied your clothes—I’ll wash them and return them, or I can pay for them.”
Pei Yanzhou stared at her for a few seconds. “Bring them to Wanjiang Mansion when they’re ready.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Wanjiang Mansion was located in the bustling suburbs of the capital—a place where money alone couldn’t guarantee residence.
Pei Yanzhou glanced at the prescription in her hand and took it. “Wait here.”
His tone left no room for refusal. Jian Jinci obediently sat on the hallway bench and waited.
About ten minutes later, he returned with a bag of medicine. Time seemed to slow as Pei Yanzhou strode toward her with his long legs.
It was impossible to say she wasn’t moved. Even her own father had been unwilling to offer her a shred of warmth, yet this person she’d only met twice had made her feel cared for.
He was dangerous, yet he made her feel warm.
By the time Pei Yanzhou drove her home, it was already dark. Before she got out of the car, he said, “Open the door at ten tomorrow morning.”
Back home, she still couldn’t figure out what Pei Yanzhou had meant by that.
She poured herself a glass of water, took a few sips, and headed to the bathroom. Carefully avoiding the wound on her back, she took a shower, changed into clean pajamas, and lay down in bed. The cocktail party had left her physically and mentally exhausted, and she fell into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
That night, she slept soundly, without any dreams.
It had been a long time since she’d slept so well.
The next day, she was awakened by the doorbell. Sitting up in bed, her hair disheveled, she fumbled under her pillow for her phone and checked the time—ten in the morning.
Remembering what Pei Yanzhou had said the night before, she hurriedly got up and quickly freshened up in the bathroom.
She had expected it to be Pei Yanzhou, but when she opened the door, a young woman stood outside holding a medical kit.
The woman was like a blooming rose—warm and vibrant. She smiled and said, “Jinci, hello. I’m Xie Qingyun, a doctor and a friend of Pei Yanzhou.”
Jian Jinci was a bit confused. “This is…”
Xie Qingyun chuckled lightly and explained, “Pei Yanzhou asked me to come help you apply your medicine.”
Jian Jinci couldn’t help but feel touched. Her wound was on her back, making it difficult to apply medicine herself. Pei Yanzhou had been thoughtful enough to anticipate this, and a warm feeling spread through her heart.