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

When the funeral procession disappeared under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village, Gu Fanxing was helping her grandmother walk to the car parked on the side of the road.

The dirt road in the countryside was muddy from the rain the night before. My grandmother's cloth shoes were covered with thick yellow soil. She had to pause with every step, like a reed swaying in the wind.

"Wait a little longer... let me take one more look at her..." Grandma's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible. Her cloudy eyes looked in the direction where the hearse disappeared. Tears mixed with the dust in her wrinkles washed out two shallow marks on her face.

Gu Fanxing's heart seemed to be tightened by something. She took out a handkerchief and wanted to wipe her grandmother's face, but the old lady grabbed her hand.

Grandma's palms were rough and cold, with thick calluses from years of needlework, but they were shaking violently at the moment: "Xingxing, your aunt loves you the most... When you were a child, she always gave you the candies she was reluctant to eat..."

"I know." Gu Fanxing's voice choked with emotion. She recalled the time when she was little, visiting her aunt's house in the countryside with her grandmother. Her grandmother would always, like a magic trick, pull a piece of fruit candy from her pocket, peel off the candy wrapper, and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste of those frosted candies was the warmest background of her childhood.

As the car drove out of the village, Gu Fanxing looked back and suddenly remembered what Pei Luonan once said: "Some farewells are for better reunions." But in this world, there are always some farewells that will never end in a reunion.

When Gu Fanxing helped her grandmother sit down in the waiting room and took out her cell phone to check the time, a message suddenly popped up on the screen, causing her fingers holding the phone to tighten suddenly.

It was from the archaeological team leader, three messages in a row, each one more urgent than the last:

"Fanxing! Call back immediately when you see this message! It's urgent!"

"Something happened at the Yangxian ruins! The rainstorm destroyed the protective shed, and the newly unearthed porcelain fragments are all soaked in mud and water!"

"We're seriously short-staffed. You have the most experience cleaning Song Dynasty porcelain fragments, so you must come back and lend a hand! We can't afford to delay this!"

Gu Fanxing stared at the words on the screen, her fingertips cold.

She had an impression of the Yang County site. The exploration results were just released at the end of last year. It was said to be the most complete Song Dynasty folk kiln site discovered in recent years. The team leader had posted photos in the group a while ago, saying that the patterns on the porcelain pieces there were as clear as if they had just been fired, and it was of great research value.

She took a deep breath, walked to a quiet corner of the waiting room and answered the phone.

As soon as the receiver was placed to his ear, the captain's breathless voice exploded: "Fanxing, you finally answered the phone! Where are you now? Can you come over right away? If these pieces of porcelain are destroyed, all our efforts over the years will be wasted!"

"I... I'm on my way back to Huacheng." Gu Fanxing glanced at her grandmother who was dozing off on a chair not far away, and lowered her voice. "My grandmother just sent my great-aunt away, and she's not feeling well. I have to take care of her first..."

"What are you going to settle?" The captain was so anxious that he almost jumped up. "Find someone to look after your grandmother first! We really can't wait here in Yang County! The protective shed has collapsed, and mud and water are seeping into the ground. If we don't clear the silt, the patterns on those porcelain pieces will be gone! Think about it, those are Song Dynasty items. If they are destroyed, they can never be found again!"

Gu Fanxing's heart was beating fast.

She could imagine the scene the captain described—porcelain pieces soaked in mud and water, the lines slowly blurring in the dampness, like traces of history being erased. That was what she cared about most, and it tugged at her nerves more than anything else.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She was just worrying about how and where to escape when the opportunity came.

It's a good opportunity to take advantage of this emergency mission to leave completely.

Yang County is located in the mountains more than a thousand kilometers away from Huacheng. The mountain roads are rugged and the signal is intermittent.

If she went there, she could completely cut off contact with Pei Luonan for at least the next month. He wouldn't be able to find her, and she wouldn't have to face the tenderness that made her panic.

"Xingxing, what's wrong?" Grandma had woken up at some point and was squinting at her. "Why are you so pale? Are you tired?"

"It's okay, grandma." Gu Fanxing turned around and forced a smile. "It's just... there's something urgent on the team, so I may not be able to stay home with you anymore."

She briefly told her grandmother about the ruins, trying to avoid the anxiety that "the porcelain pieces might be destroyed", and only said "I need your help to clean it up."

After listening to this, grandma was silent for a moment, and suddenly held her hand.

Although the old man's hands were shaking, he was firm and unquestionable: "Go, work is important."

Gu Fanxing's eyes suddenly became hot.

Grandma is always like this, always giving her the most solid support at the most critical moments.

"But you..."

"I'm fine." Grandma patted the back of Gu Fanxing's hand, "Aunt Zhang is taking care of me. Go and do your own thing, don't worry about me. It's just that..." The old lady paused, a trace of worry flashing in her cloudy eyes, "That... young man from the Pei family, he... won't blame you, right?"

Gu Fanxing's heart trembled slightly, "He won't." She lowered her head, her voice a little unclear, "He...he knows the nature of my work."

When we returned to the Gu family villa, Aunt Zhang hurried over and took Grandma's luggage. "Grandma, you haven't eaten well these days, have you? I made you some chicken soup..."

Gu Fanxing handed her grandmother over to Aunt Zhang, repeatedly reminded her to "take medicine on time" and "don't overwork", and then hurried to the high-speed rail station.

As soon as I arrived at the high-speed rail station, my phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from Pei Luonan: "Have you arrived? I asked the driver to wait for you at the exit."

Gu Fanxing stared at the message, her fingertips hovering on the screen for a long time, but she didn't reply. She turned her phone to silent mode and stuffed it deep into her backpack, as if burying a secret she didn't want to be discovered.

Gu Fanxing leaned against the car window, looking at his blurry reflection in the glass, feeling relieved.

She once again chose to flee, using work as an excuse and responsibility as a shield, escaping with a clear conscience and a clean escape.

But why do I feel a little empty inside?

The tenderness that she had deliberately ignored now surged up like a tide, flooding the dam she had built with great difficulty.

"What are you running away from?" she asked herself.

Was she trying to escape the seriousness in his eyes? Was she trying to escape the unspoken throbbing in her heart? Or was she trying to escape... her own wavering heart?

When the high-speed train entered the tunnel, Gu Fanxing closed his eyes and felt warm liquid sliding from the corners of his eyes and dripping onto the back of his cold hands.

What she didn't know was that at this moment, Pei Luonan was sitting in the living room of the apartment, looking at the unanswered message on the screen of his mobile phone, his brows slightly furrowed.

The assistant just sent a message saying that he found out that Gu Fanxing bought a high-speed rail ticket to Yang County.

He should have thought of it earlier.

The thought of "leaving" in her heart never disappeared.

But he didn't expect that she would choose to do it in this way - she was too stingy to even say "goodbye".

He knew where she had been and why she had gone.

But he didn't understand, all those days and nights they spent together, all those concerns that couldn't be hidden, could it be that they really couldn't keep her?

When light appeared at the end of the tunnel, Gu Fanxing took out his cell phone.

There was still no message on the screen, as quiet as a sleeping lake.

She took a deep breath, opened the chat box with the captain, and sent a message: "I will arrive in Yang County at 7 o'clock in the evening. I will contact you when I get there."

When the notification of successful sending popped up, she felt like she had finally unloaded a heavy burden, but also like she had lost something most important.

This double escape, which started with family affection and continued with work, finally became a reality.

Some escapes seem to be heading towards freedom, but in fact they trap themselves in deeper concerns.

Just like Gu Fanxing at this moment, she thought that after leaving Huacheng, she could return to her original life, but she didn't know that the heart that she had deliberately suppressed had already quietly changed direction with the figure of someone.