Chapter 244 Modern Era: Encounter on a Rainy Night
[Time: Late autumn, 202X. Location: City A.]
The torrential rain soaked this bustling steel jungle to the bone.
A black Maybach slowly shuffled along the congested overpass. The windshield wipers were whirring wildly, making a "scratching, scraping" sound.
In the back seat, Pei Yunjing kept his eyes tightly closed, his face as pale as paper.
"Mr. Pei, there seems to be a car accident on the road ahead, it's a huge traffic jam. Should we take a detour?"
The driver's cautious voice came through.
But to Pei Yunjing, the sound was amplified countless times, as if someone was screaming through a megaphone pressed against his eardrums.
In addition, there was the sound of rain outside the window, the honking of cars in the distance, and the vibration of engines...
Ubiquitous, maddening noise.
He is the youngest and most ruthless leader of the Pei Group. Rumors circulate that he is violent, capricious, and a complete madman.
But no one knew that he suffered from a rare, incurable neurosis—severe hyperacusis.
To him, the world was a giant, noisy execution ground.
He suffered from chronic insomnia and neurasthenia, enduring the agony of his brains exploding every single second.
"parking."
Pei Yunjing suddenly opened his eyes, his phoenix eyes, bloodshot and filled with a barely contained ferocity.
"Mr. Pei? This is an elevated highway..."
"I told you to stop the car!"
Pei Yunjing shouted, startling the driver so much that he slammed on the brakes.
Before the car had even come to a complete stop, he pushed open the car door and, ignoring the torrential rain outside, stumbled and rushed into the downpour.
He couldn't take it anymore.
The cramped train carriage and the noisy road made him want to kill and destroy everything.
He needs quiet, even the quiet of death.
Pei Yunjing climbed over the railing and rushed down the pedestrian stairs into a deep alley in the old city.
Here, far from the main road, the lights are dim, and the sound of rain seems to have lessened.
But he still felt a splitting headache.
He wandered aimlessly through the alley, soaking wet, like a lost soul.
At the end of the alley, a warm yellow light appeared.
It was a small, unassuming shop.
The wooden signboard was a bit old, with the words "Relief Pet Shop" written on it.
As if by some strange twist of fate, Pei Yunjing stopped in his tracks.
He felt as if a strange magic was beckoning him from behind that glass door.
"jingle--"
With a soft tinkling of the wind chimes, Pei Yunjing pushed open the door and entered.
In that instant, the sounds of wind and rain outside seemed to be blocked out by an invisible barrier.
The shop wasn't big, but it was clean and cozy. The air was filled with a faint scent of shower gel and... a pleasant milky aroma.
There wasn't the noisy barking of a pet store that I had imagined.
The animals here are very quiet.
Several puppies were sleeping in their kennel, the hamster in the cage was eating, and even the parrot, which usually loved to chatter, just tilted its head and glanced at him without making a sound.
Welcome!
A clear, gentle voice came from behind the counter.
Pei Yunjing froze.
This sound... isn't noisy, it's even quite pleasant.
He looked up, raindrops dripping from his hair, blurring his vision.
Behind the counter stood a young girl.
She was wearing a simple beige apron, her long hair was casually tied into a bun, and she was holding a chubby orange cat in her arms, while she was stroking the cat's fur with a comb in her hand.
Those are crabapple trees.
The owner of this quiet pet shop.
Tang Li stared blankly at the man standing at the door, soaking wet and with a fierce and desperate look in his eyes.
This guy looks... like a fugitive who just killed someone and is about to run away.
If it were anyone else, they would probably have been so scared that they would have called the police.
But Tang Li is naturally bold (or perhaps carefree), and she has a special constitution—
All the animals were drawn to her, and all the "wild beasts" became docile in her presence.
Her intuition told her that this man was not a bad person.
He was just... in too much pain.
Meow~
The orange cat "Dahuang" in my arms let out a lazy meow, as if to say: This person is so pitiful, give him some water.
Tangli put the cat down.
She turned around, took a steaming cup of cocoa from the coffee machine next to her, then walked around the counter and stood in front of the man who exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay.
"gentlemen."
Tang Li handed over the cup of hot cocoa, a warm and comforting smile on her face:
"It's raining too hard outside, come inside and take shelter."
Pei Yunjing stared intently at her, desperately suppressing the urge to destroy everything.
"Don't be afraid."
Tang Li seemed to notice his tension, pointed to the orange cat rubbing against his trouser leg, and spoke in a gentle tone, as if coaxing a child:
"Look, even the cat isn't afraid of you."
"It doesn't bite."
Pei Yunjing lowered his head, and the orange cat was rubbing its fluffy head against his ankle, purring softly.
This kind of sound usually annoys him.
But at this moment... he actually felt somewhat at ease.
He reached out with trembling hands to take the cup of hot cocoa. The instant their fingertips touched, it felt as if an electric current traveled along their skin and spread throughout Pei Yunjing's entire body.
boom--!
The endless roaring, screaming, and noise that had tormented him for over twenty years...
Everything disappeared, and the world became completely quiet.
"Thump, thump, thump."
Only the sound of a heartbeat remained.
Pei Yunjing stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
The feeling of liberation, of instantly ascending from hell to heaven, almost brought him to tears.
He gripped the cup tightly, and also held that warm little hand.
"Sir?" Tang Li looked at him with some surprise.
Why is this person holding my hand so tightly?
Pei Yunjing slowly raised his head. His eyes, which were originally bloodshot and fierce, were now unusually focused, even with a hint of bewildered inquiry.
He looked at the face in front of him, a face he was seeing for the first time.
But why... do I feel an urge to cry deep in my soul?
It's as if he had walked alone in the long darkness for a thousand years and finally found the lamp that belonged to him.
"us……"
Pei Yunjing's voice was hoarse, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.
He stared intently into Tang Li's eyes and asked the question that even he himself found absurd:
"Have I... seen you somewhere before?"
Tang Li was stunned.
Looking at this excessively handsome yet bizarrely strange man, her heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
This way of striking up a conversation... is so outdated!
But for some reason, looking into his eyes, she couldn't find the words to refute him.
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