Endless Fall

80 Going to Paris

Pei Yilan said seriously, “He rarely talked to me about himself before. Now that he opened himself up to me, isn’t that progress?”

“How useless.” Pei Zhen glanced at her and bragged, “Back then, I only took two months to win your grandmother’s heart.”

Pei Yilan leaned forward. “How?”

She did not have a deep impression of her grandmother, who had long passed away, nor had she heard anything about their romantic stories.

Seeing that her curiosity was written all over her face, Pei Zhen slowly said, “Other than delivering food and helping her out, every time I went to look for her, I always picked a few wild flowers by the roadside to make her happy.”

“That’s all?”

“Life was hard back then.” Pei Zhi said, “Sending flowers was already considered a very romantic act.”

Pei Yilan thought about it and agreed.

She looked at Pei Zhen again. “Did you confess to Grandma back then?”

“No.” Pei Zhen lifted the lid of the teacup and blew away the tea leaves on the edge of the cup. “I only asked her if she wanted to live with me.”

“She agreed directly?”

“What makes you think you’d be here if she rejected me?”

Pei Yilan thought of a possibility. “I think Grandma was already in love with you. Otherwise, she wouldn’t say yes so readily.”

“That makes sense.” Pei Zhen thought of her shy expression and a trace of nostalgia flashed across his eyes.

He told many stories about the past and occasionally let out a hearty laugh, causing the birds outside the courtyard to chirp.

When night fell, the lights in the living room were turned off one by one.

With the sound of the door closing, the entire house fell silent, leaving only the bright moon hanging high in the sky.

Pei Zhi, who was leaning against the bed, opened Wechat. His fingertips looked even fairer against the screen.

“Did you sleep?”

The night owl replied quickly, “Not yet.”

“Are you watching a drama again?”

“Nod.jpg.” Lin Jiao took a photo of the drama she was watching. “It’s almost over.”

Pei Zhi clicked on the photo.

After seeing the costumes of the actors in the show, a faint smile flashed across his eyes. “Are you really not going to watch costume dramas again?”

“Never!”

While paying attention to the plot, she typed on the keyboard, “Are you home?”

“I’ll stay at the old mansion tonight.” Pei Zhi took a photo and sent it to her.

Lin Jiao stared at the left hand on the bedsheets.

Under the dim light, veins were bulging under his skin, making him look indescribably sexy.

“Uncle, your hands are so pretty.” Perhaps it was because she was especially attracted to pretty hands, she couldn’t help but praise him.

Pei Zhi raised his hand and observed it for a long time, but he did not find anything pretty about it.

He subconsciously typed, “As long as you like it.” Before he sent it, he realized that it wasn’t appropriate, so instead, he said, “It’s just alright.”

Perhaps he felt that this reply was too short, so he sent another emoji and said, “Rest early. I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock tomorrow.”

“Alright, good night.”

Not long after receiving his reply, Lin Jiao turned off the iPad and the night light. She muttered “Don’t dream” three times before falling asleep.

Perhaps it was because she didn’t watch drama, she didn’t dream that night.

After a good night’s sleep, she got up earlier to dress up and went downstairs before Pei Zhi arrived.

Gingko leaves that had been completely dyed yellow by the autumn filled the streets of Lin City.

The wheels that rolled over the fallen leaves also swept up the dust below the building for the last time at the end of September.

“Jiaojiao, open the door.” A deep voice came from the other end of the line. Lin Jiao put down the clothes in her hand and ran to the entrance.

When the door opened, followed by dazzling lights, the man smiled.

He changed into slippers. “Are you done packing?”

“Soon.” Afraid that they would be late, Lin Jiao ran back. “Uncle, help me pack the cosmetics on the table.”

Pei Zhi nodded and followed her in.

He walked to the dressing table and, at her instruction, put the bottles into her makeup bag. “What else do you have to put in there?”

“That’s all.” Lin Jiao stared at the box. After thinking for a moment, she opened the closet and took out a few small clothes from the drawer.

Pei Zhi saw everything she did.

He cleared his throat and looked away from the lace underwear. He slowly opened her bag to check if she had put in all the necessary cards.

“Where’s your ID card?”

“In my bag.”

Lin Jiao stood up and handed him her identity card. “Uncle, help me keep it.”

She was forgetful and would occasionally lose things.

When she went to Thailand with Pei Yilan last year, she lost her ID card once. She really did not want to panic anymore.

“Alright.” Pei Zhi took a photo of her passport, ID card, and bank card.

He zipped up the heavy suitcase and waited for her to put on her coat before leaving.

It took about an hour to get to the airport from Ming Xin Mansion.

It was eleven o’clock in the evening when they arrived at the airport. There was still half an hour before boarding.

After checking in, they walked along the boarding bridge and entered the first-class cabin. Under the guidance of the stewardess, they found their seats.

After the plane took off, Pei Zhi adjusted the height of her seat. “Are you sleepy?”

“I’m not sleepy.” She was actually a little excited.

Lin Jiao closed the window beside her and picked up the iPad to find a good show. “Uncle, do you want to watch it?”

“Face slapping?”

“No face slapping this time. We’re watching a Korean drama.”

Pei Zhi took the earphone from her.

He listened to the opening song and changed to a more comfortable position to watch it. “What are the previous episodes about?”

“The secretary who has worked for the CEO for nine years is going to resign. Then, the CEO will try his best to make her stay.”

“He likes the secretary?”

Lin Jiao nodded. “The secretary is tempted too.”

Seeing that she was watching with relish and would occasionally smile, a thought suddenly struck Pei Zhi.

He turned to look at Qu Shao, who was playing games, and thought to himself that Qushao had so much workload everyday and really needed someone to help him.

Qu Shao felt a chill run down his spine and subconsciously looked up.

He met Pei Zhi’s gaze and asked in confusion, “Boss, is there anything else you want me to do?”

“No, nothing.”

“Then you…”

“You’ve been working too hard recently. Rest early.”

Qu Shao hung up the phone. Just as he was about to have a heart-to-heart conversation with him, Pei Zhi put a finger to his lips, signaling him to keep quiet.

Qu Shao swallowed the words that were at the tip of his tongue and mouthed good night before covering himself with the blanket and gradually falling asleep.

This night was especially long.

When the plane entered French airspace, it was already noon, but due to the time difference, France was still early in the morning.

Lin Jiao, who had slept for eight hours, touched her slightly dry face.

She yawned, her beautiful eyes filled with tears. “Uncle, pass me my bag.”