Chapter 3. Uncomfortable.

In early May, Ye Peixiu took office.

During the day, after the inauguration ceremony, there were various meetings, dinners, and gatherings. Ye Peixiu was so busy that he didn't even have a proper meal.

At 11 p.m., he was finally helped out of the hotel by his secretary, Wang Jingzi.

After a group of people escorted him to the door, they watched as Ye Peixiu got into the car, leaned back in the back seat, closed his eyes and rubbed his brows. Someone cleverly grabbed Wang Jingzi, who was walking around the front of the car toward the driver's seat, and said, "Secretary Wang, I think Mr. Ye is quite drunk. Could you please go back and make him a bowl of sobering soup so he can drink it before going to sleep? Otherwise, he'll have a terrible hangover tomorrow."

Wang Jingzi laughed and said, "Don't worry."

The black Audi drove away and the people at the door dispersed.

Twenty minutes later, deep in the inner city, the car turned into a courtyard with a Su-style garden style and stopped in the exclusive parking lot outside the Moon Cave Gate.

Wang Jingzi opened the back door, and Ye Peixiu stepped out and walked steadily into the moon gate. Wang Jingzi locked the car and followed quickly.

A long time ago, this mansion was under the name of Ye Peixiu's great-grandfather. During the crisis, his grandfather handed over all the properties under his great-grandfather's name to the country, leaving only this one.

This place was once looted, vandalized, and burned, but it was completely renovated in the year Ye Peixiu was born. Relying on the original structure, it was renovated into a Suzhou-style garden with three entrances and exits. Today, it is surrounded by lush greenery, dotted with white-walled, green-tiled Suzhou-style buildings. Pavilions, winding water, and fish swimming around, still exude a tranquil and peaceful Zen atmosphere.

Ye Peixiu took off his suit jacket, washed his hands, drank half a cup of warm water handed to him by Wang Jingzi, took the fish food box, and pushed open the French windows.

A month had passed since he returned to the capital, yet the house still lacked any trace of life. Antique artifacts lay quietly, soaked in the years.

Wang Jingzi cooked a hangover soup as he was familiar with it. Just as he turned on the stove, his cell phone rang.

The call lasted five minutes. After hanging up, Wang Jingzi walked out of the room through the open French window.

Ye Peixiu stood with his back to the pond, holding the fish food box in one hand and pinching some fish with the other hand, but he was hesitant to throw them into the pond.

It was almost midnight, the sky was as dark as ink, large gray clouds blocked the moonlight, the air was a little stuffy, and the fish scrambled to float to the surface of the water to absorb oxygen.

Wang Jingzi looked up at the sky. "...My wife just called me. She was worried that you might have drunk too much after the dinner, so she asked me to take good care of you."

Ye Peixiu didn't say anything, but glanced to the side and behind him.

Wang Jingzi immediately understood what he meant. He moved the nanmu chair from under the eaves and placed it behind him. He added, "Madam also said that Miss Pei from her family is coming to the capital to study this autumn and asked if she could stay with you."

The wife Wang Jingzi mentioned is Ye Peixiu's mother Pei Yaxian.

Ye Peixiu sat cross-legged on the nanmu armchair, lazily tossing a handful of fish food into the pond. After a while, he hummed, "Ask her if this is a university dormitory or a guesthouse?"

Wang Jingzi didn't dare to reply for a moment before saying, "I refused for you, but judging from Madam's attitude, she wants you to tell her in person." He added, "...She invited you to have lunch at Manxianglou on Friday noon."

Ye Peixiu passed the fish food box to the side in mid-air. Wang Jingzi walked over and took it. He said, "Call her on Friday morning and tell her that I can't go at noon because I have something to do. Please help me prepare a car and go to the old house in the evening."

Wang Jingzi had followed him for many years and immediately understood the situation. He said, "Okay, I'll make the arrangements."

"You should go back first."

"Okay, Pei Xiu, you should get some rest."

Ye Peixiu raised his hand and said nothing.

At midnight, a slight breeze blew.

Across the pond, a cluster of green bamboos rustled in the opposite corner, and the swaying slender figures cast subtle shadows.

Sitting on a nanmu armchair, Ye Peixiu lit a cigarette, took a single puff, and then rested his arm on the armrest for a long moment, motionless. The hazy smoke, the scent of agarwood carried by the tobacco, drifted through the air.

The stuffiness in the air had been dispelled by the wind, replaced by a slight dampness.

It's about to rain.

The delicate fragrance of the crabapple blossoms by the pond lingers on your nose.

After this rain, the crabapple blossoms will probably fall.

In the silence, half drunk, Ye Peixiu inexplicably recalled the girl he had met on the veranda that night. He remembered the way she had sniffed the crabapple blossoms, the way she had looked up in surprise as they met in the narrow path under the veranda.

With willow-shaped eyebrows and eyes like deep pools, she is graceful and elegant, with a calm and profound aura.

He raised his hand and took a puff of his cigarette.

-

After class on Friday afternoon, Xia Qingwan took a taxi back to the compound.

After having dinner with her grandmother, she went upstairs to take a shower. When she was drying her hair, Grandma Xi came up to give her some snacks.

"Your grandmother Liang will be here later."

"Then I won't go down."

Every time Grandma Liang came over, the two elderly people would have a long talk. Xia Qingwan rarely went over to disturb them, unless Grandma Liang said she wanted to see her.

"Rest now, I'll call you if anything happens."

Grandma Xi put down the tray and said.

"good."

Xia Qingwan dried her hair, changed her clothes, and sat down at the desk by the window to memorize her notes.

After a while, I heard the sound of a car, followed by a faint voice. I guessed that Grandma and Grandma Liang had met up.

Phonology was dizzying. After reading for an hour and a half, Xia Qingwan put down the book and let out a long sigh. To relax, she casually flipped through the Song Dynasty poems lying next to her.

"Fallen petals pave the path to the tranquil pond, and a light rain falls after the clear sky."

A short poem by Qin Guan.

After reading this poem, she looked up and became dazed.

I smelled a faint fragrance unconsciously.

It rained for several days in a row the day before yesterday. The crabapple blossoms in the backyard must have withered. How come they still smell fragrant?

Just then, Grandma Xi knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Miss, please change your clothes and come downstairs. The old lady wants you to come down and have a talk with her."

Xia Qingwan reacted for a moment, "...Oh, okay."

Grandma Xi lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "It seems that Grandma Liang bought you something."

"Give me?"

"That's right," said Grandma Xi with a smile on her face, "Just now, the two old ladies kept praising you."

Xia Qingwan put on a shawl over her long nightgown and followed Grandma Xi downstairs.

When she reached the last few steps of the stairs, she heard the laughter of two elderly people coming from the side hall. She walked across the corridor and called out, "Grandma Liang" before she even reached them.

"Hey, Qingwan, come here and let me take a look."

Grandma Liang put down the teacup, smiled kindly and stretched out her hand.

Xia Qingwan took a few steps forward, turned away from her blind spot, and was caught off guard to see a man sitting on a single sofa in front of another window deep in the side hall.

The sofa was placed against the window, and the man was facing the direction she came from, sitting with his legs crossed in a suit and tie. His posture was relaxed and unrestrained, but he had a noble and elegant demeanor.

That Mr. Ye.

Mr. Ye was looking at her with the same gaze as he had last weekend under the corridor of Beiguanfang Hutong.

She withdrew her gaze, subconsciously tightened her shawl, and walked towards Grandma Liang.

Grandma Liang took her hand, fiddled with it, and spun her around in front of her lap. She looked her up and down carefully, "You're still too thin. Doesn't your grandma always let you eat enough?"

"That's just my physique."

Xia Qingwan smiled softly.

"She's getting more and more beautiful. Has she grown taller? She looks like she's about 1.7 meters tall, right?"

Xia Qingwan couldn't help but smile, "I'm 19 years old now, I'm not growing any taller, I'm 1.68 meters now."

"You have a good figure, which makes you look tall."

Grandma Liang praised her profusely, and then realized, "Oh, yes, look at my memory. I asked you to come down because I have a gift for you."

Xia Huiqing said from the side, "I told you not to buy anything for her."

Grandma Liang glared at her and said, "What do you know? She's my granddaughter too. Do you think you're the only one allowed to be nice to her? Besides, it's not just Qingwan's, it's yours too. I've already taken your measurements at the tailor. Once the clothes are made, if I like them, I'll have the tailor make a few sets for you too. I'll call you when the time comes."

Only Grandma Liang dared to speak to Xia Huiqing like this.

Xia Qingwan subconsciously looked at her grandmother's expression. Xia Huiqing's face was soft, and although she didn't smile much, it was obvious that she was in a good mood.

Grandma Liang turned around and called out, "Pei Xiu, where are the things I brought with me?"

Ye Peixiu had already stood up, picked up a rectangular flat paper box from the boxwood table, and walked over.

At this time, Grandma Liang leaned close to Xia Huiqing's ear and whispered, "They should be considered from the same generation, right?"

What do you think?

Xia Huiqing was speechless.

"But Pei Xiu should be much older than Qing Wan, right?" Grandma Liang said, looking up and smiling, "Qing Wan, this is my grandson, Ye Pei Xiu, you can just call him brother."

Xia Qingwan was reaching out to take the box when he heard it. He paused and looked away. "...Brother Pei Xiu," he said, taking it and adding, "Thank you."

Grandma Liang interrupted, "Pei Xiu is taking advantage. There are so many adults around, and they still have to call you brother."

"You're welcome."

Ye Peixiu replied to Xia Qingwan in a proper and respectful manner.

Xia Qingwan felt that he was indeed much older than her, with a deep and slow voice, which had the calm and steady quality of a mature man.

Ye Peixiu sat down on the nearby sofa and said to Grandma Liang with a smile, "Isn't she taking advantage of me? She is eight years younger than me, so calling me uncle is enough."

Xia Qingwan didn't expect him to be so casual in speaking to her since they were total strangers. Her face flushed instantly.

Grandma Liang laughed and scolded him, "You are so shameless. You are so young, but you are already taking advantage of your age."

Ye Peixiu raised her eyes and said, "There's a skirt inside. Go up and try it on."

Hearing the voice, Xia Qingwan looked up and realized that he was talking to her. He was sitting right next to her, and she was standing beside his crossed knees. The posture was really like a parent helping his child out of trouble and asking her to go upstairs.

"Yes, yes, go try it on and put it on for grandma to see."

Grandma Liang also spoke up.

Xia Qing went upstairs to her bedroom at night.

The paper box has a simple and elegant texture, a dark green hue, dark bamboo leaf patterns on the front, and a rough feel from fine polishing.

After getting dressed in front of the mirror, Xia Qingwan hesitated at the thought of going downstairs. It would have been fine if there were only two elderly people, but there had to be Mr. Ye as well.

It makes people uncomfortable.

With this concern in mind, I went downstairs to the side hall and subconsciously looked for Mr. Ye.

He had left his original position and was standing by the window making a phone call, his eyes half-lowered as he looked out the window.

Xia Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief.

Grandma Liang kept saying it was beautiful.

The pine needle green halter-neck long skirt has a wide drape with only pleats naturally formed due to the looseness. There is no modification at the waist, which makes it look more slender, smart and graceful.

"Thank you, Grandma Liang."

Xia Qingwan said politely.

"Why are you being so polite, Grandma?" Grandma Liang said with a smile. "It just happened that Pei Xiu took me to try on clothes last week. I saw this design that the tailor had just drawn and I thought it would suit you right away, so I asked the tailor to make it for you right away."

He is also quite filial.

Xia Qingwan couldn't help but look towards the window.

Mr. Ye happened to turn around.

At that moment, Xia Qingwan inexplicably smelled the subtle fragrance of the crabapple tree again.

A note from the author:

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