This year, Wangjing seemed exceptionally cold since winter set in. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, thick as goose feathers, light as willow catkins.
Yet at this moment, the hall where a funeral was being held was unusually warm.
“Give my Sweetie back to me.”
Under the bright lights, Pei Yu stood in a deep black suit, his face deathly pale, his figure swaying as if about to collapse.
Xie Changyan sneered coldly, suppressing his anger to avoid disturbing Shen Lishu, who lay sleeping in the nearby coffin. “Your Sweetie?”
“Our Little Chu was ill-fated and could never have aspired to someone as noble and precious as you, President Pei.”
In Wangjing today, who didn’t know Pei Yu? Who didn’t want to climb onto his lofty branch?
The Pei family was truly one of Wangjing’s old-guard top-tier aristocratic clans.
As the sole heir of the main Pei lineage, Pei Yu should have lived a life of luxury and privilege. Unexpectedly, when he was ten, Father Pei and his mother died in an accident, allowing the collateral branches to seize power.
Pei Yu endured in silence for years, finally carving a bloody path back with his formidable, cloud-grasping tactics, reclaiming everything that belonged to him. At a young age, he now controlled the Pei family, which held sway over seventy percent of Wangjing’s economic lifeline.
Yet even such a currently red-hot figure could only set aside all dignity in the face of Xie Changyan’s mockery, kneeling publicly in despair. “Xie Changyan, I beg you, just let me see her once.”
The two had been rivals for years, and this was the first time Xie Changyan had seen Pei Yu yield to him. Yet he felt no satisfaction in his heart.
Still, Xie Changyan knew he couldn’t stop Pei Yu. He sneered, “Fine, I’ll grant your wish, President Pei.”
Pei Yu rose, enduring the sharp pain in his chest, and walked step by step to the dark coffin on the hall’s raised platform. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the lid open with force.
The moment it fully opened, Pei Yu froze completely, then a violent surge of joy erupted in his eyes.
The coffin was filled with a layer of freshly bloomed, vibrant roses, their slightly curled petals velvety in texture, filling the air with a rich, sweet fragrance.
There was no body.
“Where is my Sweetie!”
“Where have you hidden my Sweetie?”
Like a dying man clutching at his last straw, Pei Yu rushed back, grabbed Xie Changyan by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, demanding fiercely.
Watching Pei Yu’s maddened actions up close, Xie Changyan found it utterly laughable. He pulled Pei Yu’s hand away and, without a word, turned and walked toward the coffin.
Pei Yu followed closely, step by step.
Xie Changyan had arranged the coffin himself. He gently brushed aside the bouquet at its center, revealing a small jade box.
Inside the jade box lay a segment of bone from the right little finger.
Near the lower part of the bone, there was also a faint but distinct old scar.
The moment Pei Yu saw it clearly, his heart felt as if gripped and twisted by an invisible hand.
This scar was from when Shen Lishu had protected Pei Yu long ago—her little finger had nearly been severed.
Shen Lishu had always been frail since childhood, and this deep, bone-exposing wound took her a long time to heal.
Later, in the depths of every night, Pei Yu would hold Shen Lishu, only daring to fall into deep sleep when he felt her intact right little finger.
“The night Little Chu was kidnapped, why didn’t you answer the phone?”
“She was frozen to death alive, then devoured by wild beasts.”
“Those beasts who wanted revenge on you, after they kidnapped Xiao Chu, to escape my pursuit, they knocked her unconscious and threw her onto the border snow mountain.”
“Moreover, that mountain range is frequented by large carnivores year-round, and this period is a time of food scarcity. I only found this piece of finger bone.”
Pei Yu’s eyes were wide with fury, his crimson gaze dark and heavy, as if something within them was slowly, completely extinguishing.
Shen Lishu had been cherished and pampered in Pei Yu’s hands for so many years.
She was so afraid of the cold, so afraid of pain, yet she was frozen to death alive in the snow. After death, she was devoured by wild beasts, not even leaving her body intact.
The first time Pei Yu and Shen Lishu argued and broke up after so many years directly caused him to lose the love of his life forever.
How could Pei Yu ever come to terms with this?
Gazing at that piece of finger bone, Pei Yu clearly wanted to reach out and touch it, yet he stopped abruptly just before making contact.
Pei Yu suddenly knelt beside the heavy black coffin, his brows and eyes gentle, yet his smile was filled with despair. He murmured, “Sweetie, don’t be afraid. It’s not cold anymore, and it doesn’t hurt anymore. Let me take you home, okay?”
The moment he had said those words to break up, he had already regretted it.
It was just that Pei Yu’s nature was too proud.
Later, Pei Yu thought, once he had finished handling all the matters at hand, he would take the initiative to find Shen Lishu and apologize.
And propose.
That proposal ceremony, Pei Yu had prepared for a full three years.
But from then on, they would never have a future again.
.
Several months later.
On the endless, snow-covered mountains.
From a distance, a small black dot could be seen moving slowly.
Pei Yu had striking brow bones and a sharply defined jawline. At his age, he should have been spirited and confident, yet he was shrouded in an unshakeable, lingering sorrow.
Due to digging in the snow for so long, all ten of Pei Yu’s fingertips had turned necrotic, appearing as blackened stumps.
Finally, Pei Yu reached his destination.
—The place where Shen Lishu had frozen to death.
Pei Yu let out a soft laugh, gently setting down the large backpack he carried on his back. He unzipped it and carefully took out the bones inside, piecing them together one by one.
Soon, a faint human shape began to take form on the snow.
After completing everything, Pei Yu sat beside ‘Shen Lishu,’ leisurely removing the heavy coat he wore for warmth, leaving only a thin black shirt.
Finally, Pei Yu drew a dagger and, without hesitation, plunged it into his own heart, then twisted it sideways.
After pulling out the dagger, a large hole appeared in his chest. Pei Yu’s expression remained as calm and smiling as ever.
He then took out the piece of finger bone he always kept with him and gently placed it into the hole he had carved in his own chest.
As if feeling no pain, Pei Yu even shifted into a position lying beside Shen Lishu.
The intense cold, the pain in his chest—everything made Pei Yu’s blood boil.
A gentle smile played on Pei Yu’s lips as he spoke softly.
“Does Sweetie hate me? Is that why you never come to me in my dreams?”
“But it’s okay. Then I’ll go find Sweetie instead. I’ll come to you soon, just wait a little longer.”
“After we’re reunited, Sweetie can hit me, scold me, but just don’t ignore me, or I’ll be very sad…”
A loud roar echoed from the distance.
Then, the avalanche struck.
A massive flow of snow, like a flood, thundered toward them with earth-shaking force.
The smile on Pei Yu’s lips grew wider and wider. He had waited for this day for a very, very long time.
Let him and his Sweetie rest here together forever.