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

Ling Jiuer slammed her tablet onto the sofa, and the tempered glass cracked with a crack, reminiscent of her throbbing temple. The screen was still stuck on the live broadcast of the Pei family dinner—as Long Weiwei was dragged out by bodyguards, her skirt caught on the steps, tearing a gaping hole. She looked as disheveled as a stray cat caught in the rain.

"You deserve it!" Ling Jiuer grabbed the pillow and smashed it against the screen, but when she saw the words "Mr. Pei has good tactics" and "It's very gratifying" in the comments, she suddenly lost her temper and collapsed back on the sofa.

She stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and the scene just now replayed in her mind like a movie: Pei Luonan stood under the spotlight, and in a steady tone, he presented evidence one by one, from the origin of the longevity lock to Long Weiwei's marital status. Every step was calculated precisely, like the calmest hunter, watching the prey struggle in the trap until the last moment.

It's a relief.

Any bystander would think that this counterattack was impeccable.

A woman like Long Weiwei who climbs up by stepping on others should be stripped naked to make her know the price of plotting against Pei Luonan.

But Ling Jiuer couldn't laugh.

Her fingertips slid across the photo of Gu Fanxing on the screen - that was the last photo Pei Luonan released. She was squatting beside the archaeological pit, holding half a piece of pottery in her hand. The sunlight dyed the ends of her hair golden brown, and her eyes were bright as if filled with starlight.

Unfortunately, the girl who could laugh at half a piece of pottery has now disappeared from the world.

Ling Jiuer sat up suddenly, grabbed her phone and looked through the chat history with Gu Fanxing.

There was only one message from beginning to end, lying alone in the dialog box from three days ago - it was sent by Fanxing: "Jiuer, I'm going out to relax. The signal is not good in the mountains, so don't worry if you can't contact me."

No address, no return date, not even a mention of what happened.

Immediately afterwards, the phone calls became unreachable, WeChat messages went unanswered, and Moments stopped updating on the day the excavation team was released from the ban.

Ling Jiuer tried every possible way of contacting them, from mutual friends to colleagues in the archaeological team, but all she got was "no contact" and "I don't know".

This is so unlike the stars.

How could the girl who was so close to me suddenly disappear and not even answer my phone calls?

The more Ling Jiuer thought about it, the more frightened she became. She kept poking the gray avatar on the phone screen with her fingertips, and her fingertips became hot from being rubbed.

The person who would not refuse to answer her call even if the sky fell, this time only left a sentence and then disappeared without a trace, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth. How could she not worry?

"Fool." Ling Jiuer buried her face in the pillow, her voice trembling, "Why don't you say something...even scold me..."

She clicked on Pei Luonan's WeChat profile picture and asked him frantically: "Pei Luonan, Fanxing is gone! She just sent a message saying she was going to the mountains to relax, and now her phone is turned off and she can't be found! Look at how well you did it..."

Ling Jiuer was so angry that she was shaking all over.

Pei Luonan was smart and had calculated Long Weiwei's situation clearly, but he hadn't calculated how fragile and desperate Fanxing was.

Ling Jiuer didn't dare to imagine how Fanxing felt when she saw the overwhelming reports of "Pei Luonan and Long Weiwei's engagement" after the closed excavation was over.

She came out of the isolated archaeological site, covered in mud and ignorant of the world, but was faced with such an overwhelming embarrassment.

She could even imagine Fanxing's look when she saw the news: she must have been frozen in place holding her phone, her fingers zooming in on the photo of Long Weiwei holding the longevity lock over and over again, her lips pursed until pale, but she refused to even utter a word of complaint.

Then what? She packed her backpack, bought a ticket to the mountains, sent that eerily calm message, and completely cut off contact.

"She's afraid..." Ling Jiuer muttered to herself in the empty room, tears suddenly falling on the phone screen, "She's afraid that we'll worry, afraid that others will question her, and even more afraid...that she won't be able to hold on."

She opened Weibo, and found that five of the top ten trending searches contained the term "Pei Luonan Long Weiwei".

I clicked in and took a look. Three days ago, the comments were still calling Gu Fanxing a "mistress" and a "scheming woman", but now the tone has completely changed. All of them are "I feel sorry for Miss Gu" and "Mr. Pei, go find someone quickly."

But what's the point of feeling sorry for her? Even if the wind blew faster, could the girl who had gone deep into the mountains see her? Which mountain was she on now? Was she staying at an inn? Did she eat well? It was cold in the mountains at night. Did she bring warm clothes? What if... what if she got upset...

Ling Jiuer didn't dare to think any further. She grabbed her coat and tried to rush out, but just as she stepped out of the door, she stopped abruptly.

Fanxing said, "The signal is not good in the mountains."

She didn't even have a direction. Where could she find the direction in such vast mountains?

She collapsed back on the sofa, grabbed the lemon tea on the table and took a gulp. She frowned because of the sour taste, but her tears flowed even more violently.

It felt like her junior year, searching for the lost Fanxing in a rainstorm, and finally finding her huddled behind a tent at the archaeological site—back then, at least she knew where she was, at least she could rush over, hug her, and say, "It's okay." But now, she couldn't even touch Fanxing's shadow.

She opened the chat box with Pei Luonan, typed and deleted, deleted and typed again.

Finally, he sent a message: "Pei Luonan, you defeated Long Weiwei, but forced Fanxing into the mountains. If she makes any mistakes, you will regret it!"

After the message was sent, it still fell on deaf ears.

Ling Jiuer guessed that he was probably surrounded by reporters right now, or discussing the follow-up with the Pei family. Maybe... he didn't realize that the girl he ignored had become so fragile that she needed to hide in the mountains to lick her wounds.

She opened her WeChat Moments and saw a post from Kong Haoyu ten minutes ago: "The dust has settled. Justice may be late, but it will never be absent."

The accompanying picture shows Pei Luonan's silhouette standing in front of the big screen, with his back straight, like a general who has won a battle.

There are a lot of likes and comments below, all of which are "Mr. Pei is awesome" and "Well done."

Awesome? Next, I’ll see how you chase the crematorium! Ling Jiuer roared.

Ling Jiuer stared at the post, her fingertips turning white from exertion. Finally, she trembled and commented below: "Your boss has won the whole world, but he might drive a girl to despair. Is this what you call justice?"

She turned off her phone after sending it. She was afraid that if she continued to read it, she would lose control and rush downstairs to the Pei Group building.

She walked to the window and looked at the busy traffic downstairs.

The night in Hwaseong is still as bright as ever, and the neon lights dye the sky orange, as if it were on fire.

Yet, amidst this bustling city, a girl hides alone in the mountains, listening to the wind through the trees, wondering what she's thinking. Will she ever feel lonely? Will she feel sad and heartbroken on rainy nights, recalling the past?

Ling Jiuer pressed her hands together against her forehead, repeating to herself over and over again: "Xingxing, please don't do anything stupid. Don't you love those old things the most? They've been buried underground for thousands of years, waiting to be seen again. How could you not wait?"

"Pei Luonan, Pei Luonan," Ling Jiuer growled at the night sky outside the window, her voice filled with tears and desperate threats, "You'd better find her now! Immediately! Right now! Otherwise, I don't care who you are, I will let you know the price of driving Xingxing away!"

She seemed to have seen the worst scene: the search and rescue team was traveling through the mountains, Pei Luonan was shouting the name of the stars like crazy, and she...

Ling Jiuer shook her head violently to get rid of the terrible thought.

No, Fanxing loves archaeology so much and cherishes those "things forgotten by time" so much, how could she be willing to be forgotten by time?

Xingxing, come back soon, I'm still waiting to sort out the excavation notes with you. Ling Jiuer sent another message to Gu Fanxing.

As the night deepens, the sound of the wind outside the window seems more and more like the echo in the deep mountains.

Ling Jiuer opened her red eyes, with only one thought in her mind: Xingxing, you must be well. When you come back, I will help you settle the score with Pei Luonan, as long as you come back.