Chapter 47 Forum Post "I am sincere and serious in pursuing...
Chapter 47: Forum Post
The old tree was covered with luxuriant branches and leaves, and the window was narrow and long, through which the hazy sunlight shone, framing the dense green outside the small attic like a picture frame.
Zhui Lian sat on a beige cushion, in front of her was a narrow white wooden table, on which lay her lesson plan and a stack of drawing paper for tomorrow's art class.
The theme is Christmas.
The outline of the elk was half drawn on the paper, but the remaining half was still not completed.
She held the paintbrush, feeling the sea breeze blowing over her again, bringing with it Pei Zhiyu's words on the terrace that morning—"Then I'll start pursuing you again, okay?"
What a mess.
After receiving her answer which was not really an answer, Pei Zhiyu has become a diligent and good neighbor in the past few days.
Every morning, he would enter Zhui Lian's shop on time with a steaming lunch box, which contained health-preserving porridge and side dishes that he had cooked in various ways. He said that his stomach could not handle food from outside, so he had to cook for himself. He would accidentally cook too much and asked Zhui Lian to help share some of the burden.
In the evenings, he'd arrive again, bringing a variety of dishes, meticulously prepared to suit her every taste. His excuse was the same old, hackneyed trick: innocently claiming he'd accidentally overcooked the meal and asking Zhui Lian to have some. Zhui Lian couldn't get rid of him, and so the two of them would strangely begin to eat together.
Her thoughts were in a tangle, and Zhui Lian took a deep breath, forcing herself to focus back on the lesson plan in front of her.
Christmas... This theme reminded her of her time studying in the UK, when she was studying at the School of Design.
The School of Design has a strong artistic atmosphere. Every December before Christmas Eve, the mistletoe path leading to their school becomes particularly romantic, like a quiet and distant fairy tale.
The windowsills of the ancient stone buildings are filled with bright red Christmas flowers, and the dark green holly branches are covered with plump red berries. Students in winter clothes walk by with books in their arms, laughing and stepping on the newly fallen snow.
Maybe... I can look for photos from that time and show the children the most authentic British Christmas.
Zhui Lian turned on the computer and entered a URL from memory. It was a forum for Chinese students at the university where she had studied.
Although the forum still existed, it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. There were very few new posts on the homepage. She logged into her long-dormant account and searched for a group of keywords: Design School, Christmas.
She scrolled through the posts, most of which were photos from past carnivals, but when she got to the end, a post with a very simple title caught her attention:
Is the School of Design located on South Campus?
What made her mouse stop the most was the poster's nickname and the time of posting.
The poster's nickname is [Qiao.], and the post was made in the winter six years ago.
Qiao?
Zhui Lian held her breath unconsciously. This pinyin, this pinyin... An ominous premonition quietly spread, and she clicked on the post.
The main post only had a polite inquiry with the same content as the title. At that time, this forum was still very popular, and there were quite a lot of alumni answering below. They were all very enthusiastic to help the poster confirm that the School of Design was in that location.
There were also some more gossipy and curious inquiries mixed in: "Are you here to look for someone?"
The ID replied: "Well, come find someone."
Immediately, someone on the next floor started to make a noise: "Who is it? Is it your girlfriend? Christmas is coming soon, are you here to give her a surprise?"
But amid all the teasing, Qiao simply replied: No, I just like him.
Looking at this information, Zhui Lian took a deep breath and subconsciously told herself that this was impossible. It was just the pinyin of the same surname. How could such a coincidence happen in the world? She tried to convince herself, but her hand continued to scroll down uncontrollably.
The post stopped at the end.
A photo appeared on the page, updated by Qiao. It was a Christmas snow scene. Snowflakes fell as grandly as goose down. Warm yellow street lights enveloped the famous mistletoe path of their college. Red bows and fresh fir branches decorated the surroundings of the path, making it almost unreal in beauty.
But the most eye-catching thing is not these, but the lower right corner of this photo——
The photographer's hand was accidentally caught in the frame, just enough to show his wrist, where there was a familiar scar.
That was the scar he had left on her.
So, this is the post posted by Qiao Xunli.
This is a post by Qiao Xunli six years ago.
At that time, she had just arrived in the UK, and he had traveled across the ocean to see her in the UK without letting her know.
The words on the screen seemed to be blurred and swaying vaguely, but they were all reflected in her pupils——
The caption for that photo was Qiao's final reply to the post, saying, "Thank you, alumni. The person has been found and seems to be living happily. I'm relieved."
All the sounds in the world suddenly became blank, and Zhui Lian suddenly felt that he could not hear anything.
She could no longer hear the rustling of branches outside the window, nor the sound of waves crashing against the shore not far away. She could only hear the sound of snow falling on that mistletoe path that year.
Is she living a happy life?
Why did Xunli say that she looked very happy?
At that time, she had just arrived in the UK, and Pei Zhiyu had not yet shown such deep paranoia and madness. Her relationship with the other party was indeed quite peaceful. Although she did not consider herself happy, but from the surface... it seemed enough to confuse many people.
He would pick her up on time every day after class, and would wait outside her classroom early, leaning against the wall. In autumn, he would bring warm coffee and naturally take her heavy bag of painting supplies. When it snowed, he would tie the cashmere scarf he brought for her, and hand her sugar-roasted chestnuts that could only be bought by queuing up abroad, and hold them warm in her palms, just like a filial and good boyfriend.
And that day, the day Xun Li came——
The memory that flashed back to her was on Christmas Eve, and Pei Zhiyu came to pick her up from get out of class as usual.
Heavy snow fell, covering the mistletoe-covered path. All around was the hustle and bustle of after-school hours and the ringing of bells. The long vacation was approaching, and the atmosphere on the entire campus was lively and full of anticipation.
That Christmas Eve was so far away, so far away that what she remembered most was the mistletoe that year, and... that kiss under the mistletoe. Pei Zhiyu was walking beside her at that time, and suddenly called her softly, "Zhui Lian."
She subconsciously turned her head to look at him.
The next moment, a kiss fell.
The back of her head was held up, and the kiss came suddenly and deeply. The cold snowflakes fell on her overlapping eyelashes, making all the noise around her fade away.
She could only see the mistletoe reflected in her pupils when she couldn't help but tilt her head back due to the kiss.
The mistletoe grew exceptionally luxuriantly that year, with glossy dark green leaves and clusters of pearly white berries hanging down. Against the backdrop of warm yellow light and the pristine white snow, it emitted an almost holy aura.
She originally thought that the kiss was just Pei Zhiyu's momentary possessiveness.
But now it seems——
wrong.
A cold voice exploded in my heart.
Was that kiss...really just a spur-of-the-moment thing? Didn't he really do that suddenly because he saw Qiao Xunli in the distance?
Once suspicion arises, all the words that have been sorted out will be taken out and chewed over again.
What did Pei Zhiyu tell her?
He only said that when he returned to China that year, he met Qiao Xunli by chance at the airport.
But what was Qiao Xunli doing at the airport? Was he planning to come to England to find her? If he'd always had her in his heart, why did he vanish from the world for nearly three years after that, never trying to contact her again? What had happened to Qiao Xunli during those three years?
She found that she had never delved into these issues.
Pei Zhiyu's sacrifice, which almost cost him his life, had such a huge impact on her that she instinctively ignored some of the loopholes in his words that could not stand up to scrutiny, and instinctively believed the conclusion that Pei Qianhuang was the mastermind.
He must be hiding something more important.
Zhui Lian lowered her head and began to look through her phone address book, trying to find a mutual friend between her and Xun Li.
She needed to know the truth, the whole truth.
But when she swiped to the last person in the address book and found nothing, she suddenly remembered that Pei Zhiyu had forced her to cancel all her domestic communication accounts as early as when she first went abroad.
She had long since lost track of her ordinary classmates at No. 9 Middle School, and had completely severed ties with that ordinary school life.
Snap——
Zhui Lian took a deep breath and suddenly closed the computer screen.
She took out the pendant hanging around her neck and held it tightly in her hand, as if this would give her an answer.
*
At the same time, in the small yellow building next door.
With off-white curtains, textured linen carpets, and brightly colored potted plants on the shelves, the interior of the small building is very different from Pei Zhiyu's usual cold and luxurious style.
But it is quite similar to the decoration style of Zhui Lian's home.
The sofa was very soft, and Pei Zhiyu sank into it bonelessly, with his long legs crossed and an unlit cigarette between his fingertips.
Pei Zhiwei sat opposite him, wearing a well-tailored black suit.
"So," he asked lazily, raising his eyelids, "the old man finally decided to die?"
Pei Zhiwei ignored the harshness in his words and continued to speak calmly: "The funeral will be next Wednesday, and you must be there."
"must?"
Pei Zhiyu frowned. "What am I doing here? The young master of the Pei family is already dead. Now I am just—"
He emphasized the three characters of the name: "Yu, Pei, Zhi."
"Do you think those old foxes in the Pei Family Elders' Council are all stupid?" Pei Zhiwei sneered. "You opened the old house, went to Emerald Island, and investigated Qingjiang. With so much fanfare, how could they not have guessed that you were not dead at all?"
"I guessed it, so what?"
Pei Zhiyu turned his head and looked in the direction of Zhui Lian's shop. His nonchalant eyes were tinged with a hint of tenderness and affection. "Besides, I don't have time. I'm busy."
"What are you busy with? Busy being a pervert here, playing your game of starting over?" Pei Zhiwei followed his gaze and couldn't help but sneered.
"Yes." Pei Zhiyu turned his gaze back and tutted, "But I have to correct you. This is not a joke."
His beautiful eyes curved up, and his expression was full of smiles: "I am sincere and serious in pursuing my ex-wife."
He emphasized the word "ex-wife" with an ambiguous possessiveness.
He really meant it this time.
This time, he gave the choice to Zhui Lian, and wanted her to fall in love with him willingly. This was more difficult and challenging than forcible imprisonment, but if he succeeded, he would truly have her forever.
"No matter what, you must come back with me." Pei Zhiwei suppressed her anger and spoke in a firm tone, "Pei Qianhuang is dead, and the mess he left behind needs to be cleaned up. The Pei family cannot be in chaos, and this is also your responsibility."
"responsibility?"
Pei Zhiyu scoffed, her shoulders shrugging slightly, as if she had heard some ridiculous joke. "Sister, why didn't you talk to me about responsibility when you promised to fake my death because you wanted my shares?"
When mentioning this matter, Pei Zhiwei did droop her eyelashes.
Yes, Zhui Lian was able to escape from that prison in England thanks to Pei Zhiwei.
Pei Zhiwei took the initiative to find Zhui Lian and told her that she could help her escape from Pei Zhiyu, but the condition was that she kill him. Zhui Lian agreed and did it, she stabbed Pei Zhiyu.
But Pei Zhiyu was not dead.
Because before Pei Zhiwei took the initiative to find Zhui Lian, it was Pei Zhiyu who took the initiative to find Pei Zhiwei first. He made a deal with her. She helped him fake his death, and he gave her shares.
Then, she will help him return to Zhui Lian so that Zhui Lian can fall in love with him again and truly.
I fell in love with the character he played named Yu Peizhi.
At this moment, Pei Zhiyu's eyes seemed to be smiling: "Why, now you want to trick me back to the Pei family for what?"
Pei Zhiwei raised her eyes, her gaze calm: "Ayu, I don't mean to do anything to you. I've already got the shares, and our deal is long overdue."
"I'm asking you to go back now because I don't want the Pei family to have any unnecessary trouble and involve me." She paused, her tone slowing down, but still with a forceful tone that brooked no argument. "Besides, if we don't talk about responsibility, we should also talk about chasing Lian."
After hearing the name, Pei Zhiyu looked at her calmly for a moment and said, "Okay, go ahead."
Pei Zhiwei leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice in a cold reminder: "Do you think that having plastic surgery for her and going crazy for her is something glorious in the eyes of those old stubborn people in the Presbyterian Church?"
Pei Zhiyu licked his upper teeth lightly and said, "What's shameful about pursuing what you love?"
"Okay, of course you think it's okay." Pei Zhiwei looked at him deeply and said, "But are you sure that if there is one Gu Hong, there won't be a second or third one?"
The smile on Pei Zhiyu's face faded.
The first Gu Hong was an accident, but who says that humans can’t create accidents again?
Pei Zhiwei looked at her brother's suddenly gloomy expression, but continued, "Once the situation stabilizes, do you think they will allow you, the former heir, to continue to bring shame to the Pei family because of a disaster? Who will they attack first then?"
She didn't say it explicitly, but her meaning was clear.
Pei Zhiyu stared at her. The unlit cigarette had been pressed into the ashtray by him. The indifference in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by a deep coldness.
"Take her back to S City and show up at the funeral."
Pei Zhiwei wasn't afraid of his gaze. She smiled at him and said, "This will at least give her the identity of being the daughter-in-law of the Pei family, making those old guys who love face a little wary."
The casserole in the kitchen made a gurgling sound. Pei Zhiyu stood up. There was a pot of corn and pork ribs soup cooking there. He made it specially for Zhui Lian.
A soft hiss escaped his mouth.
"OK."
He walked towards the kitchen and said calmly, "But later, the soup I'm going to make for Lianlian is almost overcooked."
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The author has something to say: There's no storyline about the struggles of wealthy families, because with my IQ, it's actually difficult to write one. Don't worry, this is a very pure emotional flow! [Breaking down in tears]
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