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

Gu Fanxing, wearing a dust mask, was using a bamboo stick to gently pick the clay shell of a Western Zhou pottery jar when his cell phone made a muffled sound on the shockproof workbench.

Pei Luonan's message with flashing location: We are waiting for you at the gate of the research institute, let's go to the Phoenix Mountain Observatory, iced American coffee with double espresso, the Taurim meteor shower will peak at 21:15, you will regret it for a whole year if you miss it!

She took off her mask, raised the corners of her mouth, adjusted the collar of her sweatshirt in front of the entrance mirror, and walked towards the door.

Seeing Gu Fanxing coming out, Pei Luonan, who was leaning against the car door, waved to her. After Gu Fanxing got in the car, Pei Luonan drove away in the Bentley.

The asphalt of the winding mountain road was steaming with the warmth of the sunset, and the Bentley trembled violently as it turned the third hairpin bend.

Pei Luonan stepped on the brakes, and the red light from the dashboard made him squint.

"The right rear tire is as flat as a persimmon." He loosened his tie, his cufflinks jingling against the steering wheel. "The service area is only three kilometers away."

Gu Fanxing leaned over and looked at the desolate mountain road. The last ray of sunset in the rearview mirror was being swallowed by the dusk.

"Get out of the way." She quickly rolled up her denim jacket, revealing her wrist, which was covered in a Band-Aid. "Back at the Qingsha Ruins, we interns changed three tires in a row."

Pei Luonan raised his eyebrows, unable to hide his smile: "Are future archaeologists trying to get Michelin certification? Next time my company's air conditioner breaks down, will I ask you to fix it?" As soon as he finished speaking, he took off his suit jacket and threw it into the back seat, with his white shirt rolled up to his elbows.

The jack was stuck in the chassis and didn't move. Pei Luonan suddenly knelt on one knee, his shoulder brushing against her knee.

"Watch the professionals operate it." He gripped the joystick and exerted force, his Adam's apple rolling in the twilight, and the thin sweat on the back of his neck soaked the collar of his shirt.

Gu Fanxing deliberately tilted the wrench as she handed it to him: "Boss Pei, if you post this pose on your WeChat Moments, you'll get 100,000 followers."

"It's all about someone's date under the starry sky." He chuckled, and his knuckles were suddenly cut open by metal.

Gu Fanxing screamed and rummaged through her canvas bag, pulling out a wrinkled Band-Aid - the one left over from when he treated the scratch on her pottery jar. "It's over," he shook his bleeding hand, "This hand that signed a 100 billion contract is gone.

It’s useless now. I can only rely on Dr. Gu for support from now on.

When the tire was changed, the mountain wind blew up with mist.

Pei Luonan draped his oil-stained suit over her shoulders, and a red warning suddenly popped up on the car screen: Rockfall ahead.

"Take the mountain path!" Gu Fanxing unfolded the archaeological GPS, the blue light from the screen illuminating the excitement in her eyes. "Last year, we explored a shortcut that will allow us to reach the peak before the end of the mountain."

The Bentley jolted violently as it rolled over the gravel road. Half an hour later, the car turned into a narrower mountain road, and dusk fell completely.

Pei Luonan turned on the ambient light on the roof. In the warm yellow light, Gu Fanxing caught a glimpse of the Band-Aid on his knuckles - the fingerprints she had pressed when bandaging him were still clearly imprinted on the tape.

"I suggest Mr. Pei file a work injury claim." She reached out and poked the back of his hand. "The medical expenses can be offset with the five VIP museum tours you owe me."

Suddenly, the wheels sank into the mud. Pei Luonan put the car in low gear and stepped on the accelerator, but the tires spun deeper and deeper.

The two men got out of the car and dug up the rubble. The mountain wind blew Gu Fanxing's ponytail across the back of his hand.

After a while of struggling, Pei Luonan suddenly stood up and the two almost bumped into each other.

When we got back on the road, the car clock showed 20:50.

Pei Luonan took out an old blanket and wrapped her up - there were still plaster fragments on the corners, which was what she used when she stayed up late to draw at the ruins last time.

After turning the last steep slope, the outline of the observatory pierced the night sky.

Pei Luonan slammed on the brakes, and Gu Fanxing fell forward due to inertia and almost crashed into his arms.

The first meteor streaked across the sky, its orange tail illuminating the tenderness surging in his eyes: "Make a wish quickly."

"I make a wish..." Gu Fanxing suddenly smiled slyly, "I hope Mr. Pei doesn't scratch his hand again when changing a tire next time - after all, he still needs to use this hand to sign a trillion-dollar deal."

The meteor shower suddenly erupted intensively, and thousands of streams of light fell.

Gu Fanxing suddenly recalled many late nights when he broke into the restoration room with midnight snacks.

She remembered that he secretly bought the out-of-print "Ancient Star Atlas" that she casually mentioned.

She remembered how he would snatch the box from her with a cold face every time she moved something heavy.

Pei Luonan suddenly pulled a brown paper bag from the compartment of his briefcase. Inside was a replica of a newly unearthed astronomical fragment. The edges of the ink were marked with his fluorescent pen marks. "I cut it off at an auction last week. The star map on it...is a bit similar to what you found at the Qingsha Ruins."

As he spoke, his fingertips unconsciously stroked the ends of her hair. "Actually, half a year ago, I asked someone to keep an eye on all the astrological artifacts, thinking that one day..."

"It turns out that President Pei had planned this all along."

Gu Fanxing flipped through the remaining fragments and his eyes suddenly felt hot.

“These fluorescent annotations…are more detailed than my instructor’s.”

Pei Luonan turned off the car lights. In the starlit car, the meteorite ring on his ring finger hooked around her pinkie: "Next time I'll take you to see the Han Dynasty astrological lacquer plate. If you dare to say that my explanation is worse than yours, I'll punish you..."

He suddenly leaned in close, his breath brushing against her ear, "Watch three hundred meteor showers with me, and I'll have to listen to your complaints about each one."

Gu Fanxing smiled and patted his shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a corner of the passenger compartment exposed - it was a ticket for two to Egypt. The note column of the itinerary read: "Pyramid Star Map Decryption Plan, with the risk of being buried in the sand during desert camping."

They returned in the early morning, and the moonlight gave their shadows a silver edge.

At the same time, the car radio suddenly switched to an emotional program. The host's gentle voice mixed with the sound of electricity came: "The next song is dedicated to all the lovers who met on the road to chasing stars..."

The prelude sounded, and it turned out to be the old song that Gu Fanxing hummed in the restoration room last week.

Pei Luonan frantically changed the channel: "This must be a random broadcast!"

Outside the car window, the Milky Way spread over the mountains, but brighter than the stars was the smile that Pei Luonan couldn't hide in the rearview mirror.

Her profile was reflected in it, as well as the small light points gradually forming on the observatory in the distance, which looked very much like the romance forever frozen on the Han Dynasty lacquer star plate in his collection.

Suddenly, Pei Luonan slammed the steering wheel: "Oh no!"

Gu Fanxing was so frightened that he sat up straight. He tugged at his tie in frustration and said, "The starry sky cake in the trunk must have been turned into star sand porridge."

When he turned around, there was a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Doctor Gu, why don't you consider an early inspection? After all, 'damaged cultural relics need to be rescued immediately.'"

Without waiting for her to answer, Pei Luonan had already turned the car into the open space on the side of the road.

The moment the trunk was opened, candlelight suddenly lit up - six starry sky projection lights cast a rotating constellation of Celestial Beings on the roof, the cake in the insulated box was intact, and the Milky Way drawn with strawberry jam meandered among the cream.

"Actually, I changed the shockproof case a while ago." He shook his phone, and the screen showed a screenshot of the logistics company's real-time monitoring. "Last time I saw you using a shockproof sponge to repair pottery, so I secretly learned a trick."

Gu Fanxing stood on tiptoe and poked him in the chest: "Mr. Pei is so scheming. It would be a shame if he didn't go into the archaeology field and become a detective."

She took the cherry blossom spoon he handed her, but when she dug into the cake, she found a small bronze shovel - it was the miniature Luoyang shovel model she had lost, with the handle engraved with fine star patterns.

"Last time I heard you spent three hours searching the ruins." Pei Luonan lowered his voice, stroking the pale blue under her eyes with his fingertips. "Then I saw a replica at an auction... and I thought, from now on, let me keep all your treasures."

Pei Luonan suddenly took her hand and spun her around, the hem of his suit, stained with motor oil, sweeping across the starlight on the ground: "Researcher Gu, I now formally invite you to participate in the 'Pei Family Centennial Starry Sky Project' -"

He suddenly slipped on one foot, and they both fell into the soft cushions in the trunk, laughing. "The project content includes but is not limited to: repairing astrological artifacts, tasting starry sky cakes... and being legally 'archaeologist' by me for the rest of your life."

As the first rays of morning light crested the hilltop, the Bentley's rear windshield was covered with fingerprint-painted stars.

Pei Luonan whispered softly in the morning light: "From now on, every star of mine will be signed with your name and will belong to you forever."