The temperature was rising day by day, and Jiang City had entered early sumr.
The ward where Shen Jianian stayed was still as warm and pleasant as spring, but she could hear the noisy cicadas chirping from the locust tree outside the window, especially clear when the night was quiet.
Her body was getting better day by day, although she still had occasional emotional breakdowns. Most tis, she remained relatively stable and had learned to self-regulate.
Her parents still hadn’t co to see her. She had a vague premonition and no longer sought confirmation from Pei Che. Perhaps in her heart, as long as she didn’t ask, as long as she didn’t hear that answer, she could hold onto beautiful fantasies.
Pei Che squeezed in a trip back to Beicheng, not disturbing anyone, handled so issues of the Pei Family, and returned to Jiang City past eight in the evening.
He went straight to the hospital from the airport, having not seen Shen Jianian all day, missing her greatly.
Pei Che bought a bouquet of roses on the way, nad Cappuccino, a gentle grey-pink with so light brown at the edges. They looked warm, wrapped in packaging paper with an old newspaper style, carrying a retro beauty.
Arriving at Jiangcheng First Hospital, Pei Che familiarly reached the top floor, where Shen Jianian’s room was, and knocked lightly on the door twice.
The caregiver ca to open the door, surprised to see Pei Che: "Mr. Pei, why are you here so late?"
"Went out of town to handle so matters, just landed in Jiang City." Pei Che heard the sound of the TV from the ward, seemingly broadcasting so gossip news, lighthearted and interesting, "Little Nian hasn’t gone to sleep?"
"Slept most of the afternoon, not yet sleepy at this point, asked to turn on the TV."
"I’ll accompany her for a while, Aunt Zheng, you go rest." Pei Che handed her a paper bag, "These are snacks I bought. Little Nian can’t eat much, you take them ho to share with your family."
Aunt Zheng, gentle in nature, responded softly: "It’s such a trouble."
"Take them." Pei Che pushed the paper bag forward slightly, "It’s nothing of value."
Aunt Zheng couldn’t refuse further, accepted it with both hands, recognized the label printed on the bag as an old reputable brand from Beicheng, not cheap, and thanked him with a smile.
Pei Che entered the ward, closed the door casually, smiling at Shen Jianian who leaned against the hospital bed.
While he spoke with Aunt Zheng, Shen Jianian already turned her head to look towards the door. At that mont, her gaze fell on the roses in his arms, a gentle smile appeared: "Did you go back to Beicheng today?"
Pei Che placed the flowers and snacks on the table, raised an eyebrow at her words: "How did you know?"
Shen Jianian pointed at the snack bag on the table: "I can read."
Pei Che suddenly understood, smiled wryly, took a box of snacks from the bag: "Can you eat so now?"
"I haven’t had them in a long ti, kind of miss them."
Pei Che opened the lid and handed it to her, sitting down beside the bed, noticing her good spirits today, which uplifted his mood too: "Try whether it still tastes like before."
The bed rose to a suitable height, Shen Jianian leaned back comfortably with a pillow, relaxed, reached into the box for a peach blossom-shaped pastry, taking a small bite, soft and delicate in texture.
"It’s the sa taste as before."
"Is it? Let try." Pei Che casually replied, "I haven’t had dinner yet, just right to fill the stomach."
"You didn’t have dinner?" Shen Jianian paused, her gaze lingering on his face, not overlooking the exhaustion between his brows and the bloodshot eyes.
"The matter was more complicated than I expected, finished handling it quite late, afraid of missing the last flight, so I didn’t eat." Pei Che took a piece from the box and finished it in two bites.
The taste was too sweet for him, but his hunger didn’t allow for pickiness.
"You don’t need to..." Shen Jianian’s eyes lowered, hesitant to speak, "Actually, I an to say, you don’t need to co to the hospital every day to see , Aunt Zheng is ticulous and can take good care of . I can call the nurse anyti if needed, plus there’s a duty doctor, nothing serious will happen."
Worried she’d overthink, Pei Che hastily explained: "I’m not that busy, my uncle is in charge at the company, no need for to be concerned, just so procedures require my personal handling. Once the company gets through this turbulent phase, stabilizes, I won’t need to go back."
He was particularly worried that Little Nian might overthink and consider herself a burden to others, so he inadvertently said too much.
Sure enough, Shen Jianian’s attention shifted, puzzled: "Why is your uncle overseeing your company’s affairs? What about your father?"
Pei Che suddenly lost the words.
During the ti he was injured in a car accident and lost contact with his family, his father was overwheld with grief, coupled with simultaneous internal and external company issues, his mother described, after completing his "funeral," his father unexpectedly suffered a stroke and was hospitalized, with half of his body paralyzed, though not completely losing consciousness. Overwrought with concern, his health deteriorated, eventually accidentally fell from his hospital bed, injuring his head and passed away.
As a son, he was unfilial, never allowing his parents a day of happiness, instead causing them constant worry for him.
Now his mother lived in seclusion, leading a life withdrawn from the world. He planned to settle matters in Jiang City before bringing her over to be close to her, fulfill his filial duties, and conveniently care for Little Nian.
On this matter, Pei Che did not hide: "My father passed away."
Shen Jianian was completely stunned, not masking her surprise, the half piece of pastry in her hand fell onto the blanket, with no mory in her mind about the incident, just how much had she forgotten?
"When?" After a while, she heard her own dry voice, looking at Pei Che with a rather complicated expression.
"It’s been a long ti, no need to ntion it." Pei Che lowered his head, tugged slightly at the corners of his mouth, unable to squeeze out a smile to comfort her, "Please don’t look at with that expression, I am no longer upset."
To say he wasn’t upset was false, just unwilling to bring negative emotions to her; she needed more joy and positive energy, not allowing bad things to take up her mind.
The entertainnt news on the TV continued, the host had finished narrating a male star’s long history of affairs, suddenly switching to a serious tone, speaking about secrets in Beicheng’s upper circles, where the Fu Family’s eldest son had a car accident on Fuzhou Road on the evening of May 19, died despite hospital rescue efforts, the funeral day was truly spectacular.
Pei Che’s gaze followed the TV, it was an event from a long ti ago.
While the host explained, images accompanied the narration, leading with a Benz car with a paper crane tied to the hood. The convoy stretched over a hundred ters, neatly arranged, white cloth strips tied to rearview mirrors, fluttering in the dim light of dawn, creating a grand scene.
Shen Jianian’s understanding of the Fu Family was limited to hearing about such a prominent family in Beicheng, knowing nothing else. She asked Pei Che: "Who was the eldest son of the Fu Family?"
Pei Che looked at her face, answered: "Fu Zhengjun." Fu Jichen’s father.
Shen Jianian had no impression of this person, so she didn’t continue asking, muttered: "Why bring up sothing from May now..."
Pei Che chuckled slightly at this, "These gossip news stories don’t care much about tiliness, no matter how much ti passes, there’s always soone who doesn’t know. Saying it still can grab attention, especially matters tied to prominent families, soone’s bound to recount them periodically."
"You know a lot."
The photos accompanying the entertainnt news switched several tis, the host spoke mysteriously: "Soone captured photos of the Fu Family eldest son’s offspring escorting the coffin, heard this person is the current head of Junshan Group. Indeed, their appearance shows a decisiveness."
Originally withdrawing his gaze, Pei Che heard several sensitive words, promptly looked up, the TV screen suddenly enlarged the photo, the host’s image shrank, occupying only a small square in the lower right corner.
In the photo, Fu Jichen descended from a Benz car, clad in a deep, restrained black suit, with striking facial features, giving a sense of cold and relentless severity, coupled with a solemn expression, as the host ntioned, bearing an aura of decisiveness.
The so-called "escorting the coffin" refers to Fu Jichen holding the ash box. Bathed in the sunlight of dawn, surrounded by an aura of somber indifference.
Shen Jianian’s gaze fixed on that face, stunned for a full half minute.
Pei Che’s heart suddenly suspended.
Shen Jianian stared unwaveringly at the TV, not noticing Pei Che watching her, for a mont, the quiet ward echoed only the TV sounds, neither spoke.
Seeing Shen Jianian’s calm deanor, without a trace of anomaly, Pei Che’s heart, nearly leaping out of his throat, settled back, he casually suggested, "Why don’t we change the channel?"
Unexpectedly, Shen Jianian turned and asked him, "Did I know this person before?" Sohow feeling familiar, inexplicably.
She was certain she hadn’t interacted with anyone from the Fu Family.
Reviews
All reviews (0)