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

The next day, just as the sky was turning light, Pei Luonan's black Maybach stopped steadily in front of the Gu family villa. Today, he was going to take his beloved girl on a romantic date in Osmanthus Valley.

He looked through the car window at the warm yellow light coming from the second floor, his fingers unconsciously stroking the bunch of pink roses covered with morning dew on the passenger seat.

The phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a message from Gu Fanxing: "Come downstairs in two minutes~"

When the carved iron gate of the villa slowly opened, Pei Luonan pushed open the door and went out to greet him.

Gu Fanxing was wearing an off-white knitted dress and carrying a wicker picnic basket. "Good morning!" Her eyes curved, and the water droplets on the ends of her hair swayed gently in the wind.

"Grandma isn't going?" Pei Luonan took the picnic basket and brushed his fingertips across her slightly cold wrist.

Gu Fanxing shook her head: "She said she wanted to go to the market to grab the freshest crabs." But she knew: in fact, grandma just didn't want to be a light bulb.

As the car drove out of the city, the mist was gradually dispelled by the sunlight.

The car's aromatherapy mixed with the faint scent of orange blossom on Gu Fanxing's body formed a gentle net in the small space.

After turning the last corner, the mountains of laurel trees suddenly unfold.

Golden, milky white and orange-red osmanthus flowers are dotted on the branches, and the morning dew condenses into tiny pearls on the petals.

Pei Luonan found a sunny slope to park the car and took out a moisture-proof mat and a bamboo lunch box from the trunk.

Gu Fanxing had already rushed into the osmanthus forest with a basket in her hand, and a few fallen petals were stuck to the hem of her skirt.

"Look at this!" She ran back, holding a heavy bunch of cinnabar osmanthus flowers. "I didn't know osmanthus flowers could have such a deep color!"

Pei Luonan took the branch and his fingertips accidentally touched her cold fingertips: "Be careful not to catch a cold." As he said that, he unbuttoned his cashmere cardigan and put it on her shoulders. The scent of cedar mixed with cinnamon instantly wrapped her up.

"This one is Zhuangyuanhong." She brushed her fingertips over branches dotted with crimson buds. "Grandma said that in the old days, only those who passed the imperial examination could afford to grow it."

Suddenly, a faint fragrance wafts from the depths of the flower forest.

Gu Fanxing suddenly grabbed Pei Luonan's sleeve and went into the bushes, her skirt sweeping across the dew-covered spider webs.

Under the half-human-high laurel tree, milky white flower spikes hung like a waterfall, and the morning light penetrated the branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on her face.

"Do they look like stars?" She tilted her head back, and a few petals of fallen flowers floated into her slightly open lips. Pei Luonan's Adam's apple rolled, and he raised his hand to brush away the broken gold in her hair for some unknown reason.

The bamboo basket was soon filled with colorful branches.

When Gu Fanxing tied the bundle with a ribbon, Pei Luonan discovered that her fingertips were scratched by the needle.

"Be careful." He pulled out a handkerchief to wrap around her fingers, but she grabbed it with her backhand. "Mr. Pei, do you know the story behind 'winning the laurel'?" She suddenly leaned in close, her hair brushing his earlobe. "In the Chu Ci, it says, 'Orchid dishes are steamed on orchid mats, and laurel wine and peppercorn juice are poured."

On the picnic blanket were placed grandma's secret osmanthus honey, handmade mung bean cakes and freshly ground coffee.

Gu Fanxing sat on the mat with her legs curled up, scooping up honey with a silver spoon: "Pei Luonan, do you know? Grandma said that appreciating osmanthus should be accompanied by crabs to suit the occasion." She suddenly smiled slyly, "But today there are only two of us..."

Before he could finish his words, a mountain wind suddenly blew up and a rumble like muffled thunder came from the distance.

Looking up, I saw lead-gray clouds gathering in the sky, and the mountain wind was blowing dead leaves into circles.

Pei Luonan's face changed slightly: "The weather forecast says it will be sunny today..." Before he finished speaking, raindrops as big as beans fell down cracklingly.

"Hurry up and collect your things!" When Pei Luonan pounced on the moisture-proof mat blown by the wind, Gu Fanxing was chasing the flying plates.

The moment she bent down, the silver osmanthus ornaments in her hair fell to the ground. Pei Luonan and Gu Fanxing stretched out their hands almost at the same time, and their foreheads collided heavily.

The moment she fell on the flower carpet, osmanthus flowers fluttered all over the sky. He could hear her violent heartbeat, mixed with the scent of orange blossom and osmanthus on her body, brewing an intoxicating wine in the air.

"Pei Luonan, your tie is entangled with the flowers." She smiled and untied it, her hair falling like a curtain, forming a small world around the two of them.

At this moment, the mountain breeze blows by, and the story of love is quietly growing in the osmanthus rain.

Gu Fanxing went to catch the picnic basket that was blown away by the wind, and Pei Luonan also pulled over a moisture-proof mat to cover the food box.

By the time the two of them ran back to the car in a panic, they were soaked.

"That's good now," Gu Fanxing folded his arms and sneezed, "I ended up soaked to the skin after enjoying the osmanthus."

She fished out her phone and said, "It's over. Traffic will take two hours to get back to the city."

Pei Luonan turned on the heater and took off his suit jacket to put it on her: "There is a B&B on the hillside ahead, let's go take shelter there first?"

The car bumped along the winding mountain road and the rain was getting heavier.

Suddenly, the tires skidded over gravel and the car came to a screeching halt on the side of the road. The malfunction light on the dashboard lit up, and the tires hissed as they leaked air.

"The spare tire is in the trunk." Before Gu Fanxing finished speaking, Pei Luonan had already pushed the door and got out of the car.

Gu Fanxing took out the toolbox and jumped out of the car, but he stopped her: "Don't get off, it's dirty."

"Why are you trying so hard!" She squeezed to the back of the car. "I got a perfect score in my last car repair class."

Mud and water splashed on the trouser legs of the two men. They squatted beside the car, tightening screws and changing the spare tire, and rain mixed with sweat flowed down.

Gu Fanxing had water droplets hanging on her eyelashes, but she smiled with her eyebrows curved: "So Boss Pei can also be so embarrassed."

Pei Luonan turned on the flashlight on his phone and shone it on Gu Fanxing: "Your face..." He gently brushed his fingertips across her muddy cheek, "like a little cat."

Gu Fanxing suddenly leaned closer and wiped the corner of his mouth: "Mutual."

The red brick walls of the B&B are faintly visible in the rain and fog.

The proprietress, a middle-aged woman wearing glasses, saw the two people soaking wet and exclaimed, "Come in and warm yourself by the fire! There's hot water in the bathroom, and a change of clothes is in the closet." She put down the tray, "Ginger tea and roasted sweet potatoes, to keep the cold away."

The sound of rain outside the window gradually subsided. "Go take a shower." Pei Luonan looked at Gu Fanxing, "Don't catch a cold."

Gu Fanxing rushed into the bathroom as if fleeing. As the hot water washed over her skin, she heard the rustling of clothes outside the door. When she emerged, wrapped in a thick towel, she found a men's sweater and clean cotton pajamas on the bed. Pei Luonan was sitting by the window, wrapped in a plaid blanket, watching the rain.

"This is the only room left in the B&B." His voice was a little hoarse. "I'll sleep on the sofa."

Gu Fanxing looked at the small single sofa and shook his head: "Squeeze in a little, it must be uncomfortable for you to curl up with your height." After saying this, he realized how ambiguous the words were, and his ears instantly felt burning.

As night fell, the rain finally stopped.

The two of them huddled in the quilt, half an arm's length apart.

The chirping of autumn insects could be heard in the distance, mixed with Pei Luonan's steady breathing.

Gu Fanxing stared at the ceiling and suddenly remembered the string of cinnabar osmanthus flowers from the daytime: "Pei Luonan, do you think the osmanthus flowers will wither after being rained on?"

"No." He turned over and lay on his side, their eyes meeting in the moonlight, "In fact, it will be even more fragrant."

The long cry of a night owl was heard outside the window, and the embers in the fireplace suddenly burst into sparks.

Pei Luonan's hand fell on Gu Fanxing's damp hair: "Go to sleep, I'll take you to see the real Qiu Gui tomorrow."

When the morning light filled the room, Gu Fanxing was awakened by the sound of birds.

The bed beside me had grown cold. On the windowsill sat a string of dew-covered osmanthus flowers, with a note pressed against the branches: "Breakfast downstairs. I'll take you to catch the freshest crabs."

When he went downstairs, Pei Luonan was standing in the courtyard of the B&B, holding two bamboo baskets in his hands.

"It's harder to catch crabs than I thought." He shook the basket, and several crabs inside were waving their claws and teeth. "I almost got bit."

Gu Fanxing was laughing so hard that she fell backwards, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the red mark on the back of his hand.

"Does it hurt?" She reached out to touch it, but Pei Luonan held her hand. "I'll take you to see something." Under the old osmanthus tree on the back of the hillside, a few clusters of flowers bent by the rain stood straight in the morning light, and the petals with raindrops were scattering a delicate sweet fragrance. "I said, it will be more fragrant after the wind and rain."

A mountain breeze swept through the sea of osmanthus flowers, carrying with it a delicate fragrance. Two figures walked side by side toward the morning light. The occasional clacking of crabs in a bamboo basket combined with the sweet fragrance that permeated the mountains to create a gentle autumn melody.

When sweet osmanthus flowers bloom all over the mountains, some stories are just beginning to sprout.