Doctors were accustomed to seeing life and death with loved ones. Realizing their mistake, they simply shook their heads at each other and silently wheeled the hospital bed away.
Fang Cheng heaved a deep sigh of relief when he saw Pei Yan. “Mr. Pei, Xiao Feng thought you were in a car accident. You have no idea how panicked he was just now. Fortunately, you’re alright. Otherwise, Xiao Feng would have…would have…”
Pei Yan understood. He had never seen Qi Feng look so lost and helpless, all because of him, for him. Whether Qi Feng liked him or not didn’t matter anymore because he had seen with his own eyes how much the boy cared for him.
Pei Yan’s heart ached terribly. Qi Feng was calm and aloof on the surface, but he had silently shouldered everything on his slender shoulders, including Pei Yan himself.
He held the boy’s trembling shoulders and whispered softly in his ear, “It’s my fault, I didn’t get a chance to call you and explain. I’m fine, I won’t die, not ever again. From now on, I’ll live well, if only to protect you.”
Qi Feng’s eyes were reddened, his face pale. A trail of tears glistened on his delicate eyelids. He opened his mouth as if to speak but swallowed his words.
“Qi Feng,” Pei Yan stroked the boy’s damp cheeks and said, “I know, you know it too. You don’t need to say anything. I’m not leaving. From now on, wherever you are, I’ll be there too.”
“Ge! What are you doing here? I’m shooting a scene…Ge?” Pei Wenwen came over with a bandage wrapped around her head. Seeing the boy in Pei Yan’s arms, she halted in surprise. “Xiao Feng-ge? What are you doing here? What’s going on?”
Behind her, Pei Junhai slowly approached as well.
Jolted alert, Qi Feng pushed Pei Yan away and retreated several steps. “Uncle Pei.” His voice still trembled slightly from the shock, tinged with tears.
Pei Wenwen: “Xiao Feng-ge, why were you crying? Did my brother bully you?” Her clear eyes glared accusingly at Pei Yan.
Seeing Qi Feng’s state, Pei Junhai frowned in confusion. “What exactly happened?”
“Yes, I made him cry.” Pei Yan went to take Qi Feng’s hand again and tilted his head defiantly at Pei Junhai. “So, I’ll need to spend my whole life making it up to him. Dad, get ready to take on a son-in-law to keep Wenwen company.”
Pei Junhai: ???
Pei Wenwen: …
“Ge, you must have hit your head too!”
Qi Feng anxiously glanced at Pei Junhai, trying to tug his hand out of Pei Yan’s firm grip. “No, Pei Yan, don’t talk nonsense. Don’t make Uncle Pei angry.”
“My father won’t be angry with you.” Pei Yan squeezed his hand gently but resolutely. “He’ll only scold me. Qi Feng, I’m not leaving. I’m staying by your side, and whenever you’re no longer upset with me and willing to talk to me again, we’ll get married.”
Married! This was the first time Pei Yan had made such a request to him. Qi Feng’s face flushed bright red. “Pei Yan, don’t…don’t talk nonsense…”
“Alright, that’s enough.” Pei Junhai had seen more than enough. “Stop all this tugging and pulling. Wenwen still needs to be kept for observation. Let’s go!”
Qi Feng wanted to leave, but Pei Yan gripped his hand tightly. With Pei Junhai present, he didn’t dare struggle against Pei Yan and could only let himself be led to the ward.
After some examination, Pei Wenwen fell asleep.
In the rest area, Pei Junhai sternly eyed the two standing together – the bastard Pei Yan gripping the other’s hand and refusing to let go, and Qi Feng with head bowed, not daring to even look up at him.
The slender boy was being forcibly held by his unfilial son, unable to break free no matter how he tried. Yet he was clearly making an effort to remain composed and well-mannered before Pei Junhai. However one looked at it, it made one’s heart ache for the boy.
Pei Junhai glared at his son. “Let go of his hand. Can’t you see he doesn’t like it? No wonder others look down on you.”
“No.” Like a stubborn child, Pei Yan kept his eyes fixed on the boy in front of him. Head lowered, he said softly, “You can scold or hit me later however you want. But I won’t let go of this hand again.”
Exasperated, Pei Junhai wanted to give his son a beating right then. “Go keep Wenwen company in the ward. I need to talk to Qi Feng.”
“What can’t you say in front of me!” Pei Yan refused sulkily. “You’re always like this, scaring Xiao Feng so he doesn’t dare say anything in front of you.”
Qi Feng pulled at his hand. “Pei Yan, go on out. Uncle Pei wants to talk to me privately.”
Pei Yan: …
He wouldn’t listen to Pei Junhai, but he had to listen to Qi Feng.
Reluctantly, under his father’s disgusted gaze, he let go of Qi Feng’s hand. As he left, he glared back at Pei Junhai, “If you dare say anything about him leaving me, I’ll disown you as my father!”
Pei Junhai: “Get lost!”
Left alone in the rest area, the boy stood cautiously before the stern elder. Nervously, he addressed Pei Junhai, “Uncle Pei.”
“Don’t be afraid of me,” Pei Junhai’s voice softened. “Before the accident, you called Pei Yan to get him to stop driving, right?”
Qi Feng nodded. “Yes.”
Pei Junhai: “So you knew beforehand that we would be in danger?”
Qi Feng pressed his lips together. If he told the truth, Pei Junhai would probably just think he was crazy.
Pei Junhai: “Actually, Pei Yan told me some things before, and at the time, I thought he was out of his mind. But after investigating, I found out Cheng Yu did have problems, he really wanted Pei Yan dead. So those preposterous things Pei Yan told me, you knew about them too, right?”
Pei Yan had told Uncle Pei everything about their past lives. Qi Feng’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at Pei Junhai in surprise.
Pei Junhai smiled. “It seems we really do have that connection from fate.”
“I just watched the traffic camera footage of the accident. If you hadn’t called Pei Yan to get him to stop and slow down, that car probably would have hit our vehicle directly. At that time, Wenwen would have had more than just a minor concussion. Your call saved us. Qi Feng, thank you.”
He didn’t need to explain anything. Whether Pei Junhai knew who he was or not, that “I felt a great affinity when I first saw you” was enough.
Uncle Pei was still the uncle who had cared for him.
The boy looked at the elder, his calm clear eyes filled with gratitude. “Uncle Pei, you’ve saved me so much more. Without you, I wouldn’t have survived. A life-saving debt is profound, and to this day, I still haven’t repaid your kindness.”
“If what you say is true, then I was just fulfilling a father’s duty. There’s no need for repayment.” Pei Junhai felt strangely pained looking at the boy before him. Gently, he asked, “But you, child, have you suffered a lot?”
Qi Feng couldn’t hold back the bitter tears that welled up and overflowed from his eyes. “No, it’s all in the past.”
Though Qi Feng didn’t say anything, Pei Junhai felt uncontrollably grieved and pained. He had no memories, yet he knew the child before him was sensible and strong but had gone through sufferings no child should endure. He had to protect this child.
Pei Junhai wanted to reach out and wipe away his tears, to embrace this slender yet strong child in comfort. But he held himself back.
He said, “From now on, it will be better. With me here, no one will bully you again. You will get better and better, rising higher and higher. I can see Pei Yan cares a lot about you. Even when I’m gone one day, he will still protect you. That kid is stubborn and obstinate, but once he decides on something, he’ll never change his whole life. It’ll be the same with you.”
At the mention of Pei Yan, Qi Feng became nervous and uneasy. “Pei Yan and I…”
Pei Junhai patted Qi Feng’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t intervene between you two.”
“If you really have a connection from your past life, I have no right to intervene. But if you hate him, if you dislike his clinginess, I’ll send him away to keep him far from you…”
“No, no.” Qi Feng hurriedly said, “I don’t hate him, I…” He caught himself halfway, realizing it wasn’t appropriate to say so. He immediately shut his mouth, his face turning increasingly red.
Pei Junhai smiled kindly. “Then just let things take their course.”
He turned and shouted, “Pei Yan, stop eavesdropping and come in!”
Pei Yan hadn’t gone to keep Pei Wenwen company next door. He had stood outside the whole time, listening to their conversation. He heard Qi Feng say he didn’t hate him.
As long as Qi Feng didn’t dislike him, that was enough. In the long days to come, he would use all gentleness to make the boy like him.
He entered the room and went to the boy’s side, his dark profound eyes reflecting the boy’s elegant visage. Softly he asked, “Qi Feng, so can I court you now?”
Qi Feng: !
With Pei Junhai present, how could Qi Feng possibly say such things to Pei Yan? He averted his gaze, his fair and handsome face growing even redder.
“If you don’t answer, I’ll take it as consent.” Pei Yan didn’t care whether Pei Junhai was there or not. Thick-skinned as old leather, he shamelessly confessed, “Qi Feng, I like you, I love you, I want to be with you forever.”
“I’ll start over with you as an admirer. Until you’re no longer upset with me and forgive me, until you’re willing to accept me, I’ll stay by your side as your boyfriend, your lover. And on until you’re willing to become family with me, to accept my proposal.”
“No matter how long this process takes, I’ll keep waiting, keep giving, until you’re willing.
Qi Feng: …..
Pei Yan had their whole courtship planned out already, yet he hadn’t even said he liked Pei Yan! All he wanted was for Pei Yan to stop talking and spare him further embarrassment before Uncle Pei. Through gritted teeth, he warned softly, “I get it, stop talking now.”
Watching this soppy scene and listening to the cringe-worthy words, Pei Junhai glared at his son in disgust. “The plane takes off in half an hour. Are you still going to the airport? Still going abroad?”
Without a second thought, Pei Yan said, “No! Send whoever you want, but from now on, I won’t leave Qi Feng.”
Pei Junhai: “Then take him home. You can talk privately later. Stop all this tugging and pulling, it’s unseemly!”
Pei Yan pulled Qi Feng along to leave. “Xiao Feng, let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
“Pei…Pei Yan…” Stumbling as he was dragged away, the boy still remembered to bid Pei Junhai farewell. “Uncle Pei, goodbye.”
Pei Junhai shook his head with a smile.
Truly alone with each other now, Pei Yan became well-behaved. He quietly drove, glancing at the boy occasionally with bright, smiling eyes, not daring to say another annoying word.
The car was quiet, yet the atmosphere was strangely comfortable and reassuring.
Gazing out at the retreating cityscape, Qi Feng’s elegant and calm expression gradually softened into relief and peace.
Like the sky after a raging storm, freshly cleared into sunny warmth, soothing the long weary heart, anticipating a new beginning.
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