Abstinence Pei, don't be too sweet when chasing your wife

After the birthday banquet, Gu Fanxing returned to the Gu family villa and took off the earrings from her earlobes, with a lot of thoughts in her mind.

The moment the velvet box closed, she was reminded of the imperial green bracelet that Pei Ma gave her a year ago.

Gu Fanxing's fingertips were suspended in mid-air, as if being pulled by invisible threads. The images rushing through her memory trapped her in this dilemma.

The first time she went to Pei's house, Pei's mother handed her the bracelet and whispered softly, "You've given us so many gifts, this is a return gift."

At that time, she just thought it was a courtesy from a wealthy family, until Pei Luonan casually pointed it out in the car: "This is the Pei family's gift to their daughter-in-law." The coolness of the jade against her skin now made her wrist feel hot.

At the birthday party, Grandma Pei brought the earrings tremblingly, her cloudy eyes full of anticipation: "This is a gift from me, an old woman, to my grandson's wife. I can't refuse it..." The crystal chandelier in the banquet hall shattered into stars on the old woman's white hair, and she froze in place, hearing her own heartbeat that hurt her eardrums.

Moonlight flooded the jewelry box. Gu Fanxing curled up her fingers and dug her nails into her palms.

Are you going back?

That day, Mother Pei was in the kitchen teaching her how to make fish maw and chicken soup. While stirring the casserole, she said, "When Luonan was little, he always complained about the fishy taste of the soup. Now that you like it, you urge me to stew it every day." The smile lines at the corners of her eyes showed indulgence, and in her apron pocket was the tangerine peel candy she had mentioned casually.

Grandma Pei even wrote down her measurements in a mahogany dressing box. The Suzhou embroidery cheongsam she sent last month had such fine stitches that one could count each lotus flower. If the heirloom were returned now, wouldn't the sincerity hidden behind the jade be like a porcelain bowl being shattered in front of her face?

But what's the point of staying? She is just Pei Luonan's fake girlfriend, it would be inappropriate not to return her.

Jiang Chengjun's betrayal was like a poisonous snake biting her heart, and the excruciating pain of the day of her rebirth still lingered in her bones - Fang Wenwen's determination and the roar of the car out of control all turned into shackles that locked her throat.

Fortunately, Jiang Chengjun and Fang Wenwen have now been sent to prison and received the punishment they deserve.

But the fear of being hurt in the past still follows me like a shadow.

Although the Pei family's jade is gentle and warm, it cannot fit into a heart that is full of scars.

A heart that has been hurt will never dare to love again.

The night wind lifted the silk curtains, and Gu Fanxing suddenly remembered her mother teaching her when she was a child to identify the patterns in jade: "Good jade nourishes people. Wearing it for a long time will make you feel attached to it."

But she didn't dare fall in love with this pair of jades.

In her previous life, she had treasured the fake bracelet Jiang Chengjun had given her, bought at a street stall. That was until that rainstorm night when the bracelet flew apart during a sudden stop, and the glass shards mixed with rainwater cut her wrist.

Gu Fanxing put the velvet box and the bracelet box together, listening to the subtle sound of the velvet box and the bracelet box rubbing against each other, as if burying some secret expectation.

It takes courage to go back, and it takes even more courage to stay - the former will hurt the hearts of two people who are longing for their daughter-in-law, and the latter will have to face his own lies every day.

"Maybe after the agreement is over..." She murmured to the empty room, but even she could hear the hesitation in her tone.

The Pei family's kindness was like warm water, unknowingly flowing over the ankles.

Pei's mother's love for her like her own daughter, Pei Luonan's timely appearance every time she encountered difficulties, and the ginkgo bookmark that Grandma Pei hid in the poetry collection, all broke down the defense line she had carefully built.

The magnolia tree outside the window rustled. Gu Fanxing closed the safe. The moment the metal door closed, it seemed as if the tenderness of the entire spring was locked behind him.

The reflection in the dressing mirror trembled slightly as she stared at the dark circles under the eyes of the person in the mirror. Suddenly, she remembered the painting "Three Friends of Winter" in Grandma Pei's study. Among the brushstrokes of pine needles and bamboo, hidden was a poem circled in red by the old woman: "I want to send you a piece of colored paper and a piece of white paper, but I don't know where you are, amidst the mountains and rivers."

In the secret compartment on the second layer of the safe, there are photos of Pei family’s family banquets over the years.

In the latest photo, Grandma Pei is wearing reading glasses and putting crab meat into her bowl. Pei Luonan's chopsticks are hanging in the air, and the camera captures his profile as he seems to be hesitant to speak.

A faint glow gleamed around the edge of the photo, revealing small words written in gold chalk by Pei's mother: "Eighth Dinner with Xing'er." These fragments, deliberately forgotten, now expanded in her memory like the cotton grain of jade.

"What is Miss Gu hiding from?" Pei Luonan's voice suddenly emerged from the depths of his memory.

It was outside the school gate. He was leaning against the black Maybach, twirling her lost emerald hairpin between his fingers.

The setting sun stretched his shadow so long that it almost covered her trembling ankles. "The rules of pretending to be a girlfriend don't include running away when you see the real guy."

The ending tone of his words when he said this was like ice cubes soaked in whiskey, and thinking back on it now, it was filled with some hidden worry.

The night wind blew the magnolia petals against the floor-to-ceiling windows, making a slight tapping sound.

Gu Fanxing's life has returned to normal. Without the interference of Jiang Chengjun and Fang Wenwen, she should feel relaxed.

But for some reason, there is always a void in my heart. Although the warmth of the Pei family has filled part of it, I still feel a little uneasy.

She took out her cell phone and subconsciously opened the chat history with Pei Luonan. Those trivial yet warm daily memories made her eyes a little sore.

Gu Fanxing suddenly remembered the warmth of Pei Ma's hair when she was teaching her to style it. The old woman's wrinkled hands combed through her long hair, and a few silver threads fell between the sandalwood comb teeth: "When I was choosing a wife for Luo Nan's father, I was hoping for a girl like you." She froze in front of the dressing table at that time.

In the secret pocket at the bottom of the safe, the corners of the agreement and contract had been rubbed to the point of being fuzzy.

She recalled a rainy night when he braved the rain to bring her an umbrella with muddy water dripping from its handle and dark water marks on the shoulders of his suit. He smiled and shook the thermos in his hand, "This is the hangover soup Mom made for you. She said you drank too much at a social gathering last night."

The magnolia tree outside the window swayed in the wind, and the cool breeze pulled her back to reality - the warmth of Pei Luonan's palm, the tangerine peel porridge cooked by Pei's mother, the amulet stuffed in her pocket by Grandma Pei, these real warmth were seeping out from the lines of memory, breaking down her defenses inch by inch.

At this moment, the phone vibrated again. It was a voice message from Pei's mother: "Xing'er, I'll send you freshly baked scones tomorrow morning. Luo Nan said you like the Earl Grey flavor." In the background, Pei's grandmother's laughter and scolding came unexpectedly: "Tell that kid to stop stealing!" As Gu Fanxing listened, a salty and bitter taste rose in her throat.

It turned out that while she was desperately calculating the contract deadline, the Pei family had already woven her preferences into every morning and evening.

The blue light of the safe's combination lock went out, but Gu Fanxing did not close the door.

The moonlight flowed into the secret compartment, illuminating the fountain pen that Pei Luonan had given her. The pen cap was engraved with "May everything be successful." The tip of the pen glowed silver in the moonlight, interweaving with the dark green of the emerald to form a net, trapping her in this tenderness that was difficult to distinguish between true and false.

When the morning mist spread over the windowsill, Gu Fanxing was still sitting in front of the dressing table.

She took out the tungsten steel clavicle chain from around her neck, but the rose thorns no longer hurt - Pei Luonan had carved a small magnolia flower on the back of the pendant at some point, and the edges of the petals were polished smooth.

As the morning light broke, the sound of a car engine came from downstairs, and Gu Fanxing opened the curtains.

Pei Luonan stood under the magnolia tree, looking up. A half-open red velvet box appeared from his suit pocket. It was the lipstick she had left behind at the old house. When he raised his hand to greet her, the glare from the limited edition watch on his wrist dazzled her.

In the morning light, his shadow was entangled with the magnolia branches, just like her confused mood at the moment.

In the secret compartment of the safe, the agreement contract and jade jewelry are quietly placed side by side.

Gu Fanxing knew that some promises were heavier than paper deeds, and some were warmer than jade.

Pei Luonan's footsteps were getting closer. The morning breeze was cool, and the coolness flowed into the blood through the fingertips, but turned into a ball of warmth in the heart. It turned out that the heart that was frozen by betrayal might be shattered into stars all over the ground in another kind of sincerity.