Pei Yan stared at Hua Jin in a daze. This trembling kiss was too salty, so salty that his heart ached constantly. He felt like a fish exposed to the sun, blown ashore by the wind. When he thought there was no way forward, someone held him up and brought him into the sweet water.
Almost too good to be true.
"Pei Yanyan, thank you for the warmth you gave me." Hua Jin stood up and took out a wooden box and put it in Pei Yan's hand, "Thank you for letting them find their owners."
He opened the box with shaking hands. Inside was a lucky bag, a handkerchief, a belt, and a pair of red socks. The box was not heavy, but Pei Yan was shaking so much that he could hardly hold it. He looked at Hua Jin and said in a voice so light that it was almost inaudible: "That him, is it me?"
"Seven years ago, I was the one who crashed your sports car and got myself covered in oil. Six years ago, I was the one hiding under the tree and crying secretly. And the person you rescued from under Xu Changhui's car was also me." Hua Jin smiled, "When I was a girl, I almost never had a fairy tale dream. You are the only exception."
Pei Yan had only a few scattered impressions of these past events in his mind. He only remembered that the girl hiding under the tree and crying was as skinny as a stick, and the girl who was hit by Xu Changhui was covered in blood and looked very pitiful.
As for the car crash seven years ago, he had no recollection of it at all. Even if Hua Jin mentioned it now, he still couldn't remember it.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to return the coat you gave me that night, but I didn't expect that not only did I lose your coat, but I also troubled you again..."
Pei Yan reached out and hugged Hua Jin in his arms, and said with red eyes: "I'm sorry, I should have met you earlier." At that time, he should not have left Hua Jin alone in the hospital. How great would it be if he could pay more attention to her, take good care of her, and prevent her from suffering from an old illness?
When Pei Yan heard that the person Hua Jin liked was actually him, he was surrounded by endless panic and regret before he had time to be happy. If he hadn't suddenly made an appointment with Yang Shao to go on vacation to a villa in the suburbs that night, he would not have been able to save Hua Jin. What would have happened to Hua Jin?
He and Hua Jin had so many chances to meet by chance, but he missed her again and again. If he had known her and fallen in love with her earlier, she would not have suffered so many years of hardship and suffering...
"Don't talk nonsense." Hua Jin buried her face in Pei Yan's chest. "You six years ago would not fall in love with me six years ago. And I six years ago would never dare to dream of being with you."
Pei Yan hugged Hua Jin tightly without saying a word. At this moment, he couldn't say anything. He just wanted to hold her tightly, give her all the beauty in the world, and make up for all that she had missed.
"You don't know how disappointed I was when you drove a sports car and asked me frivolously if I wanted to ride half a year ago." Hua Jin said, "It's like seeing the most precious and perfect jewel in my heart suddenly have a crack. It turns out that the little sun in my heart can't escape the ravages of time and has become a frivolous and indecent man."
"I am not..."
"I know you're not that kind of person." Hua Jin nuzzled Pei Yan's chest, put her ear to his chest, and heard his rapid heartbeat. "Then I realized that you were worried that I would jump into the lake and commit suicide, so you said that on purpose."
"Have you ever thought about what people would say about you if I really jumped into the lake to commit suicide? They wouldn't praise you for wanting to help me. They would only say that a young woman had no choice but to jump into the lake because she couldn't stand the harassment from the rich second generation." Hua Jin laughed, "Have you wasted all these years of brains?"
"It's not in vain." Pei Yan smiled with red eyes, "Otherwise, how could I pursue you?"
Hua Jin leaned against his chest and smiled softly.
During that day, Pei Yan did not ask Hua Jin about her past. He had dinner with Hua Jin and sent her home. Then he returned to his home carrying the wooden box full of embroidery.
Opening the online notebook that once belonged to Hua Jin, Pei Yan read dozens of short essays over and over again until two or three in the morning, when he barely fell asleep.
Pei Yan had a dream. He was sitting in a sports car and talking on the phone with Yang Shao. Suddenly, the car made a loud noise. He opened the window and looked out. A broken bicycle fell beside the car. The ground was covered with spilled food oil. A skinny girl was lying beside it. She was wiping the food oil on his bike with her clothes with a look of horror on her face. Her head and face were covered with dust from the ground. There was a big hole at the knee of her right trouser leg, revealing the knee flesh oozing with blood.
He recognized the eyes. This was Hua Jin. The girl in an old shirt, torn jeans, and covered in dust was Hua Jin. She was so terrified and helpless at the moment. He wanted to get out of the car and tell her not to be afraid. He would take her to see a doctor and buy her new clothes. But his body was out of his control. He heard himself telling Hua Jin to leave indifferently and then drove away.
"Don't go, send her to the hospital, send her to the hospital!" Pei Yan watched himself driving away and wanted to look back to see how Hua Jin was doing, but the dream turned into night and he saw himself walking from the noisy box to the open space outside the hotel.
There was a cold wind outside, and he stood at the door for a while, and was about to go back, but he heard suppressed crying. His grandfather had just passed away, and he was in a bad mood, and he didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but listening to the cold wind howling, he sighed and walked towards the direction of the crying.
Crossing the lush flowers, he saw a girl squatting on the ground with her legs hugged, wearing an ill-fitting, half-worn coat. Her body twitched from time to time, and she cried very sadly. Pei Yan saw his mouth move, but he couldn't hear what he said, but he saw the girl raised her head.
That was Hua Jin. Pei Yan recognized her at the first sight. Even though the girl looked thin and skinny, he could still recognize her at a glance. This was the eighteen-year-old Hua Jin.
As he got closer, he smelled the smell of oil on Hua Jin's body. Her hair was not dry yet and looked greasy, as if someone had poured oil all over her from head to toe.
He saw himself taking off his suit jacket, putting it on her, and sitting with her on the dusty flower bed.
“You’re not from here?”
"Yeah." Her hands, which were holding onto the suit, were shaking slightly.
"You look young, why don't you go to school? It's not easy to stay in a big city. How about I give you some money and send you back to school..."
"I won't go back. I can't go back." She shook her head violently. "If I go back, my life will be ruined."
"Okay." The girl's eyes were frighteningly bright. He stared at them and was absent-minded for a moment. "Don't get me wrong. I just think it's a pity that you don't study at such a young age."
"Thank you, I..." The girl wanted to say something else, but when she heard footsteps, she closed her mouth again.
"Where did Brother Pei go?"
"Are you going alone?"
He heard his companions coming to find him, so he stood up and said to the girl, "In the future, when the weather is cold, don't hide outside and cry secretly. If you get sick from the cold, no one will help you. If someone bullies you, find a way to bully them back, otherwise you will always be the one who suffers."
"I wish you a good life in this city."
"Thank you..." She hugged her suit sleeves and whispered, "Thank you."
But he had already walked away quickly and did not hear her words of thanks.
Pei Yan felt like an irrelevant bystander. He wanted to reach out and hug Hua Jin tightly, and wipe the oil stains on her hair for her. But now, he seemed like just a piece of air, and could only watch the past events that he could not interfere with.
When the wind blew, he came to another place.
The glaring lights and the two cars colliding with each other made him instantly understand what time it was.
He saw himself dragging Xu Changhui out of the car, kicking him hard, then taking out an umbrella from the car and holding it above the head of the person lying on the ground.
The man fell into the dirty water, and his blood and rain merged into a stream, winding out a long red line. He saw the man struggling to stretch out his hand little by little, touching his feet, and then shrinking back as if he had been electrocuted.
Thunder rumbled, and Pei Yan suddenly had a splitting headache, as if his whole body was torn into pieces.
He wanted to bend down and hold the trembling hand, but his heart felt like it was being stabbed by needles, and it was so painful that he couldn't breathe.
"Flower Brocade... Flower Brocade..."
"Mr. Pei, Mr. Pei, are you okay?"
Pei Yan slowly opened his eyes and looked at the light on the wall. Was that the morning sun shining in from the window?
It didn’t rain last night?
He tried to prop himself up and sit up, but was pushed back down by the maid and the family doctor.
"Mr. Pei, your high fever has not subsided yet. You need to rest." The family doctor changed a bottle of medicine for Pei Yan. "I'll go downstairs and sit for a while. I'll come back in half an hour."
The maid helped Pei Yan to press the quilt, turned up the air conditioner in the room by one degree, and sighed, "Mr. Pei, did you have a fight with Miss Hua?"
Pei Yan was still immersed in his dream and was dazed, so he ignored her.
"You just kept calling Miss Hua's name, and..." The maid glanced at Pei Yan's red and swollen eyes, "Teeth and tongue have such a good relationship, but sometimes they bite each other. Men need someone to take care of them when they are sick. Sometimes, if you act like a spoiled child and show weakness, people who like you will feel sorry for you and will not let you go."
So when you encounter a good opportunity to act pitiful, don't miss it.
Pei Yan glanced at the maid and asked her to get his cell phone.
The maid smiled with relief upon seeing this, and even knew how to act coquettishly towards his girlfriend. It seems that there is still hope for Mr. Pei in his love life.
After the maid left the room, Pei Yan called the assistant's cell phone.
"Speed up the acquisition of the Xu family's business. Also, collect all the criminal records of Xu Changhui and hand them over to the relevant departments."
"The sooner the better. Don't give Xu Changhui a chance to flee the country."
"Why?"
Pei Yan looked at the drops falling down one by one, and said expressionlessly: "He is too ugly and his actions are too immoral. I am disgusted by him. I am getting rid of this evil for the people."
After hanging up the phone, Pei Yan rubbed his stiff face and dialed Hua Jin's cell phone.
"Hua Xiaojin, my sick boyfriend needs your loving comfort."
"Huahua, I was not here yesterday. Who bullied you and made you cry? Your eyes are so swollen?" Tan Yuan came late in the morning because he was sick. When he entered the room, he saw Hua Jin's eyes that looked like goldfish and he was shocked.
"I was so thirsty last night that I couldn't help but drink a glass of water. This is what happened when I woke up this morning." Hua Jin touched his eyes. "How are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'll be a good man again after eating, drinking and sleeping well." Tan Yuan looked at Hua Jin worriedly. "I saw that you drank not a glass of water but a bucket of water last night. Otherwise, how could you be so swollen? When Mr. Pei comes and sees you like this, he will be heartbroken."
When Hua Jin heard Tan Yuan mention Pei Yan, her smile brightened a little: "Nonsense."
Seeing her smile so happily, Tan Yuan felt relieved. It seemed that she didn't have a conflict with Mr. Pei. "Huahua, the custom-made products in our store are in short supply. Even if we hire one more embroiderer, we can't keep up with the customers' demands. What do you think, should we hire a few more embroiderers?"
She had a feeling that after Mr. Mark's fashion conference was over, Hua Jin would become even more famous. By then, there would be only a few of them in the studio, and she would probably not be able to handle the work even if she didn't eat, drink or sleep for 24 hours.
Hua Jin nodded: "It's time to find a few embroiderers with good character and skills. To put it in a flattering way, if we can provide a livelihood for one more person working in the handicraft industry, it will help strengthen the traditional industry."
Hearing this, Tan Yuan was touched. She heard from her mother that after the embroidery factory closed down, many embroiderers lost their jobs. In order to survive, many people had to change their careers and do other things. Most of those who still insisted on doing this business could barely make ends meet. Only a very few lucky people like her mother could take root in the big city with their skills.
In the eyes of some uninformed people, the works of masters in the traditional handicraft industry are expensive and they must be able to make a lot of money. In fact, the craftsmen who can receive such treatment are only a drop in the ocean. More traditional craftsmen are faced with the misunderstanding of their families and the dilemma of having no one to carry on their skills.
Hua Jin and Tan Yuan both know that there is little they can do, but as long as they can do a little more for the traditional craft industry, it is also good, at least it is worthy of the skills they have learned.
The two were discussing recruiting. Tan Yuan saw Hua Jin's expression change after receiving a phone call, so he asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"
"Pei Yan is sick, I want to go see him." Hua Jin stood up and picked up the bag in the cabinet, "Tangyuan, I'll go over and take a look first."
"You should go quickly. Mr. Pei has no family to accompany him. You should go and keep him company. He will recover faster if he is in a good mood." Tan Yuan saw Hua Jin's anxious look and said, "Don't worry. I saw the weather forecast says it will rain today. You should..."
Before she could finish her words, she saw Hua Jin running out of the store. She couldn't help but open the door and yelled outside, "Don't run too fast!"
Hua Jin waved at her and got into a taxi.
When Hua Jin arrived at Pei Yan's house, the family doctor was sitting on the sofa drinking tea. The maid saw Hua Jin and greeted her warmly: "Miss Hua, you are here. When Mr. Pei was sick and sleeping, he was still muttering your name."
"How is he now?" Hua Jin changed her shoes and handed the purchased fruits and vegetables to the maid.
"This is..." The maid saw that Hua Jin's eyes were also a little swollen, and it seemed that the two young people really had a quarrel. Mr. Pei was lucky to have this illness, and both of them had a way out.
"These fruits and vegetables are good for the patient's health." Hua Jin didn't have time to greet the maid and hurried upstairs. "Auntie, I'll go upstairs to see him first."
"Okay, that's fine." The maid agreed with a smile.
The family doctor looked at the maid in confusion. He had been Pei Yan's family doctor for five or six years, and had never seen the maid smile happily after Pei Yan fell ill. He couldn't help but feel curious: "That person just now..."
"Mr. Pei's girlfriend and the two young people are in a good relationship."
"Is it Ms. Hua Jin that Mr. Pei talked about in his dreams when he was sick?" The family doctor nodded in understanding. "Then I'll wait a while, or wait until they call me up."
So as not to cause dislike.
Pei Yan, who was sitting on the bed reading a book, heard footsteps outside. He quickly threw the book to the bedside and huddled into the quilt, revealing only a sickly face. He looked at the door with a weak, lonely and desolate look: "Huahua, is that you?"
The author has something to say: Pei Yan: lonely, isolated, weak, but able to eat.
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