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

Pei Luonan set out for Yang County at six in the morning.

It was still dark outside, and the cold wind blew in through the car window, but he didn't feel cold at all - the warmth of the dark brown leather suitcase against his palms was like a burning charcoal fire, and even his heartbeat became hot.

The box contained not only items for the proposal, but also a childhood secret that he had hidden for over twenty years. It was a promise that spanned time and would finally be quietly revealed to Gu Fanxing today.

As the driver steadily drove the car onto the highway, Pei Luonan looked at the shadows of the trees receding outside the window, and his memory was suddenly pulled back to that afternoon twenty years ago.

He was only seven years old that year, and his grandfather sent him alone to the old house on the outskirts of the city on the pretext of "training him to be the successor."

There was no family to accompany him, no familiar toys, and he even had to go to the alley to buy his lunch every day with his own change.

That day, he was walking back with the meat buns he had just bought when three half-grown thugs suddenly rushed out of the alley, snatched the buns away and pushed him to the ground. The rough stones hurt his knees and the grievances in his heart surged up like a tide, and even the sunlight became dim.

Just when he was lying on the ground and about to collapse, a clear dog barking sound suddenly came.

He looked up and saw a little girl with pigtails standing at the entrance of the alley, holding a yellow and white local dog and an unopened steamed bun in her hand.

"Don't bully people!" The little girl stuffed the steamed buns into her pocket, rolled up her sleeves and rushed over. The local dog also bared its teeth and stood its furry tail straight up. After a fight between humans and dogs, the hooligans were so scared that they ran away cursing, and the puppy was also injured.

"Are you okay?" The little girl squatted down and carefully helped him up. She took out a handkerchief with small floral prints from her pocket and clumsily wiped the dust off his face.

Her eyes shone like stars in a summer night, and she spoke with a childish, nasal voice: "My name is Gu Fanxing, and this is my dog, Xiao Huang. He's very fierce, and if anyone bullies you again, I'll let him protect you!"

That day, Pei Luonan was sitting under the old locust tree at the entrance of the alley. Gu Fanxing took out the steamed bun from his pocket, broke it into two halves, handed one half to Xiao Huang's mouth, and stuffed the other half into his hand.

“My grandmother said that people who share food become good friends.”

She touched Xiao Huang's head and suddenly looked up at him with a serious light in her eyes.

"Little Huang doesn't have a mom or dad. How about I be his mom? Then you can be his dad! That way, Little Huang will have a family!"

He nodded blankly, and before he could react, he heard the little girl say, "Grandma also said that Mom and Dad should always be together. Then I'll marry you as your wife, and you'll marry me as your husband. We'll never be separated from Xiao Huang, okay?"

The wind blew the locust leaves down at their feet. Xiao Huang wagged his tail and rubbed their hands. Pei Luonan held the warm steamed bun in his hand and felt his heart suddenly warm.

At that time, he didn't quite understand what "wife" and "husband" meant. He only knew that the little girl and the dog in front of him were the people who had given him warmth for the first time, so he nodded vigorously: "Okay, we will never separate."

From then on, Gu Fanxing became the brightest light in Pei Luonan's childhood.

But this light suddenly went out when he was nine years old.

Grandpa suddenly sent someone to pick him up and take him back to the city, saying that "the training is over."

He packed up his things overnight and wanted to go to Gu Fanxing to say goodbye. He wanted to give her the small wooden sign he carved - the sign had the crooked words "Xiao Huang's Family" engraved on it, but he found out that her family had moved to another city.

It has been twenty years since we last met.

"Boss Pei, we're almost at the Yang County exit."

The driver's voice brought him back from his memories. Pei Luonan rubbed his sore eyes and looked down at the suitcase in his hand.

At the bottom of the box, in addition to the items for the proposal, there was also the small wooden sign that he had treasured for many years. The edge of the wooden sign had been rubbed smooth, but the words "Xiao Huang's Family" on it were still clear.

He also engraved half of the unfinished words on the inside of the ring - "Use porcelain as a witness, time as a bond, and yellow as a promise...", and the second half of the sentence "Together for the rest of our lives", he wanted to tell her in person when he proposed to her, and wanted to see what kind of light would appear in her eyes when she knew the truth.

He knew that Gu Fanxing had long forgotten the little boy from his childhood.

On the day they met again in the hospital, she had forgotten him, forgotten the past of her childhood, and already had a boyfriend whom she loved. He had intended to protect her silently behind her back.

But Gu Fanxing found him and wanted to cooperate with him, pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. He would help her get revenge, and she would be his girlfriend to deal with his family.

At that moment, Pei Luonan felt a little disappointed and a little relieved - disappointed that she had forgotten the promise, relieved that he still had a chance to let her get to know "that little boy" again and let her know that someone had kept the promise for twenty years and had been waiting for her.

The car finally stopped at the entrance of the ruins. Pei Luonan took a deep breath, picked up the suitcase and pushed open the door.

The early morning sun shone on him. In the distant exploration cell, staff were already busy. He saw the figure in blue work clothes at a glance - Gu Fanxing was squatting in the exploration cell, holding a small brush in his hand, carefully cleaning the dirt off the porcelain pieces.

"Mr. Pei, Miss Ling is waiting for you inside." Kong Haoyu walked over quickly and said in a low voice, "Miss Gu is still busy sorting the porcelain pieces and didn't notice anything unusual.

I added the little yellow illustration you asked the artist to draw to the projection material at the press conference. It should be able to evoke her memory when it is played later."

Pei Luonan nodded and followed Kong Haoyu to the backstage.

Pei Luonan took a deep breath and clenched the suitcase in his hand.

He recalled the moments he had spent with Gu Fanxing these days—in the flash flood, she had held his hand tightly and said, "Let's go out together." In the hospital, she had secretly brought him some sweet osmanthus cake, saying, "This is sweet, it will make you feel better."

In the tent at the ruins, she stayed up late to sort out the data on the porcelain fragments, the light in her eyes brighter than the stars.

These images are like beads, connecting his childhood and present, as well as his expectations for the future.

He imagined that later at the press conference, after Gu Fanxing finished introducing the research results on porcelain fragments, Xiao Huang's illustration would suddenly appear on the projection screen, showing a scene of digging porcelain fragments in the back mountain. She would be stunned on the spot, her eyes full of surprise.

Imagine him walking up to her, opening the velvet box, pointing to the words on the inside of the ring, and telling her, "I am the little boy you saved when we were young and who promised us that we would never be apart."

Imagine her slowly remembering everything, the little yellow dog, the little boy she rescued, the promise they made, and then tears welling up in her eyes, but she smiled and nodded and said "I do".

"Mr. Pei, the press conference is about to start. Miss Ling said Miss Gu is already here."

Kong Haoyu's voice came.

Pei Luonan adjusted the collar of his suit and checked the contents of the suitcase again - the ring, the consent form, the recorder, the brooch, and the small wooden tag, nothing was missing.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the backstage entrance.

Sunlight streamed in through the entrance, casting long shadows on the ground.

Pei Luonan knew that the secret he had been waiting for twenty years would finally be revealed today.

His story with Gu Fanxing is finally going to change from "first meeting" to "reunion after a long separation" - from the promise they made at the alley in their childhood, to today's proposal, from the time she has forgotten, to their future together.

He stood backstage, and Gu Fanxing's voice came from outside, clear and gentle, as he confirmed the details of the speech with the staff.

He clenched the suitcase in his hand, a determined smile on his face.

Stars, here I come.

With a childhood promise, twenty years of waiting, and a lifetime commitment, I come to tell you the secret that has been hidden for a long time - I am the little boy who told you "we will never be apart" back then, and today, I am here to marry you.