Both City B and City C had rain throughout the night. The next day, the rain stopped, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and rainwater.
At eight in the morning, Huo Xu opened the hotel door and stepped out. It was Labor Day, and the small city was quiet. The flowers in the flower beds looked wilted and lifeless, but Huo Xu was in a good mood.
May was the final deadline he had given the Bei family. He assumed Zhao Zhilan had considered it thoroughly by now.
This time, he didn’t visit alone. His assistant and bodyguards accompanied him. The assistant stepped forward and knocked on the door. Zhao Zhilan, cautious, raised her voice and asked, "Who is it?"
The assistant glanced at Huo Xu and replied, "Ms. Zhao, Young Master Huo is here to visit. Please open the door."
Zhao Zhilan felt both nervous and angry. "There’s no need for a visit. Our family isn’t worthy of associating with someone like Young Master Huo."
The smile faded from Huo Xu’s eyes.
What? After all this time, she still hadn’t made up her mind?
He spoke up, "Are you determined to keep Bei Yao and me apart?"
Zhao Zhilan wanted to curse him for scheming against her daughter, but she remembered he had brought people with him. Starting a conflict wouldn’t be wise, especially with little Bei Jun still at home. For the child’s safety, she couldn’t act impulsively.
Zhao Zhilan said, "My daughter is already married. Young Master Huo, please don’t come again. You should leave."
Huo Xu thought she was lying and sneered, "Married? To whom? I’m not pleased to hear such lies. Since you won’t invite us in, we’ll have to let ourselves in."
He signaled to the men behind him, "Break it down."
Without a word, several bodyguards stepped forward and began ramming the door. The neighborhood was old, and the door had seen many years. The loud banging echoed as if they would break through at any moment.
Bei Licai frowned, his heart sinking. "Take Bei Jun to the room and see if you can call the police. I—"
Suddenly, the banging outside stopped, replaced by the dull thuds of fists hitting flesh.
A dozen burly men had arrived and, without a word, began beating Huo Xu and his men.
Huo Xu was knocked to the ground by one of them. Covering his face, he glared angrily and demanded, "Who are you people?"
The leader, with a toothpick in his mouth, messy hair, and wearing slippers, retorted, "Who are you? Making such a racket early in the morning, disturbing me and my brothers’ sleep!"
Huo Xu threatened, "Try hitting me again, and I’ll make sure you don’t see tomorrow’s sun!"
The man scoffed, grabbed him, and landed several more punches and kicks on Huo Xu.
Huo Xu turned pale, clutching his chest.
His assistant was also howling in pain.
Huo Xu wasn’t foolish. These men meant trouble—they had started beating them without any explanation and refused to give any information. It couldn’t just be because of the noise from breaking down the door. Huo Xu asked, "Who sent you?"
The leader replied, "Why so many questions? Who cares who sent me! Just get lost. If you harass this family again, I’ll make sure you leave here horizontally."
Huo Xu’s expression turned extremely grim.
But reality had taught him a lesson. He had wealth and power, so he could force his way into Zhao Zhilan’s home. He had been confident that even the local police wouldn’t be able to stop him.
But who could have expected a group of thugs who started beating people without a word!
And there were over ten of them, all tall and burly, filling the hallway!
Huo Xu had only brought four bodyguards, as he had thought today was about getting the household register. He hadn’t expected to bring a large entourage, only to end up getting beaten.Huo Xu was helped to his feet, and no matter how unwilling he was, he had to leave.
Just which bastard had sent people to block him! And they even resorted to underhanded methods.
After Huo Xu left, the burly man knocked on the door and said as his employer had instructed: "Auntie, don't panic, those bastards... people have already been driven away. If there's any commotion, we'll come over immediately, so rest assured."
The burly man left cheerfully—this job was really worth it! It wasn't illegal, and he got to fight violence with violence!
The employer had said that this morning, several men in suits would definitely show up. If they harassed this family, he and his brothers were to beat them up.
The employer was a cold, detached man, his tone icy: "Beat the leader harder, just don't kill him. Besides that, for every extra hit, you get an extra thousand yuan."
Holy shit!
The burly man counted on his fingers how many times he had hit Huo Xu, ecstatic inside. This money came way too easily!
They were originally just a bunch of idle hooligans and ruffians—not good for much else, but they had strength in numbers and were skilled at fighting! Taking money to solve problems for others. If that leader came after them, he and his brothers would just run away! After all, they had no fixed abode anyway!
Inside, Zhao Zhilan and Bei Licai looked at each other. Zhao Zhilan said, "This..." She had been frightened too, afraid of what Huo Xu and his men might do, but they hadn't even managed to get through the door.
Bei Licai also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "He's a capable man; he should be able to protect Yaoyao."
The couple was unusually emotional.
In City B, the morning light was hazy. Pei Chuan opened his eyes; he had only fallen asleep in the latter half of the night. On his bare chest rested a small, loosely curled hand. As daylight broke, he glanced down at the person in his arms, his heart filled with tenderness.
He gently held that small hand and moved it away.
Her long lashes were lowered; she hadn't woken yet.
Had the wedding exhausted her these past few days?
Pei Chuan's movements were light, like a breeze brushing against the face. Yet, Bei Yao woke immediately. Early in the morning, a man's chest was scorching hot—it was always different from sleeping alone.
She secretly cracked her eyes open a slit, watching as Pei Chuan used his arms to support himself and shift to the foot of the bed.
In the morning light, his movements were slow, as if veiled in a soft layer of white mist.
The man's movements were not strained, as if he had performed them skillfully thousands upon thousands of times. With his back to her, he began putting on his prosthetic leg.
The lower half of his pant leg hung empty; his tall figure was silent.
Bei Yao recalled his words from last night. She closed her eyes, not looking at his private moments. If he minded, even if he didn't know, she wouldn't do it.
Pei Chuan's phone rang. Afraid of waking Bei Yao, he quickly pressed to hang up.
He instinctively looked at her—she had already opened her eyes, her dark, bright pupils fixed on him. "Who was it?" she asked.
Pei Chuan could guess who it was. Bei Yao still didn't know that Huo Xu had threatened her family. Pei Chuan said, "Something for work."
She nodded, letting out a soft yawn, a layer of moisture clouding her eyes.
Pei Chuan tapped the screen and sent the payment. Only then did he say to Bei Yao, "It's nothing now. Want to sleep a little longer?"
She shook her head and sat up in bed. "No, I usually wake up early anyway."
She was about to get up to wash up. Lifting the blanket, she saw her bare long legs and her pale, delicate feet exposed in the spring morning. A beat later, she slowly remembered what she was wearing.
Bei Yao looked down. The man's shirt hung loosely and crumpled on her. She abruptly looked up at Pei Chuan.He also silently watched her, this time without shifting his gaze away.
From her crumpled shirt down to the tips of her toes.
The shirt had ridden up to her thighs, making her blush. She slipped on her slippers and, as if possessed, blurted out, "We're married." So what if she looked like this!
He said nothing.
The air was quiet and still. She tried her best to appear less shy and walked toward the bathroom to wash up.
The moment Bei Yao entered the bathroom, her composure shattered. She stared at her reflection in the mirror—there were so many little "strawberries" on her neck. She was stunned. How could there be so many?
The marks left by the man’s kisses trailed downward from her fair, delicate chin.
She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and looked at the marks on her chest in the mirror. Bei Yao’s cheeks flushed crimson.
Although they hadn’t done anything last night, it seemed they hadn’t done nothing either.
Only then did the belated rush of embarrassment wash over her. The bathroom door was pushed open.
She turned her head and saw Pei Chuan standing at the doorway. The situation was somewhat awkward.
Her collar was still open. Bei Yao nearly jumped. "Why didn’t you knock?"
He lowered his gaze. "You said we’re married."
Bei Yao froze for several seconds, her face reddening as she buttoned up her collar. Being caught staring at herself in the mirror like that was truly mortifying.
He paused for a moment, then walked over.
He wanted to be with her for a lifetime, so he had to get used to living with her.
Without hurting her, he hoped Bei Yao could also grow accustomed to having someone as unique as him as her partner.
"Are you going to class today?"
She shook her head. "It’s Labor Day holiday."
Pei Chuan looked at her and, after a long moment, asked, "Can I… give you a good morning kiss?"
Bei Yao’s ears turned bright red. "Mm." Couldn’t you just do it without asking, Pei Chuan?
As he drew closer, she suddenly remembered and turned her face away. "I haven’t brushed my teeth yet. Not now."
He paused, lowered his eyes, and said, "Mm."
She began washing up, but even the sound of running water couldn’t drown out the pounding of her heart.
Pei Chuan walked out. There was another bathroom outside the bedroom. Under the morning light, he meticulously washed up.
By the time he returned, Bei Yao had already changed her clothes.
She sat in front of the dressing table, wearing a spring-style half-sleeved red blouse that Zhao Zhilan had specially picked out for her, hoping it would bring good luck for her to wear on the day after her wedding.
The clasps were elegant, and her exposed forearms looked as tender and delicate as lotus roots.
She was brushing her hair.
As Bei Yao’s long hair cascaded down, Pei Chuan was suddenly reminded of the boy he once was, rummaging through garbage heaps.
Pei Chuan asked her, "Why don’t you use that kind of ribbon anymore?"
Bei Yao said, "What ribbon?"
"The one with the tie on the flower bud."
When she was little, she used to wear a tender green flower bud clip, lively and adorable. Later, when she started elementary school, she switched to a ponytail. For a long time after that, Pei Chuan would look at the old ribbon he had picked up and brood silently, wondering why she no longer wore it.
Bei Yao tilted her head, suppressing a laugh. "That’s for little kids, Pei Chuan. Do you think it looked good?"
He rarely admitted to liking anything, but he had never told anyone. In his life, his earliest understanding of beauty was the image of a silly, adorable little girl wearing a soft and beautiful ribbon.
After a moment of silence, he replied somewhat awkwardly, "Mm." He really did like it.
Seeing the man so reticent, likely admitting for the first time that he liked some small thing, her heart softened.Bei Yao stood up and went to search through the backpack she had brought from home. Inside was a garment tied with a large red silk ribbon. She untied the ribbon and placed it in Pei Chuan’s palm.
The man looked at her, and Bei Yao asked, “Do you want to try tying it for me?”
He replied softly, “Okay.”
Bei Yao sat back down in front of the dressing table, smiling as she said, “When you’re grown up, you can’t tie two—just one. Lift a bit of my hair and use this to tie a knot.”
He tried several times. The man’s hands were clumsy, and the ribbon was difficult to tie. At one point, a strand of her hair accidentally got tangled and broke.
Bei Yao held back from speaking, but his expression instantly darkened. “Did it hurt? Let’s not tie it.”
She shook her head with a smile and said gently, “It doesn’t hurt. Take your time.”
He lowered his gaze, his movements noticeably more hesitant.
Girls weren’t that delicate, but in his heart, she was more precious than anything else.
After a long while, he finally managed to tie a loose knot. His dark eyes lingered on her hair, restrained yet full of affection.
Bei Yao found it amusing but also felt a pang of sadness. This was Pei Chuan’s first time in his life liking something, yet he restrained himself excessively.
Bei Yao said, “Pei Chuan, if you like something, you can tell me. There’s no need to hold back.”
He lowered his gaze. “I don’t… particularly like anything.”
Bei Yao said, “Everyone has things they like, special preferences. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
His fingers twitched, then gently rested on her hair.
He stroked her long hair, his fingers curling around the ribbon in her hair before sliding down to her slightly curled ends.
She blinked, obediently offering encouragement, her gaze tolerant and gentle.
He paused, his Adam’s apple moving slightly.
Finally, he leaned in and kissed from the top of her head down to the ends of her hair.
Inch by inch, his lips brushed against the ribbon, reverent and infatuated.
Those unspeakable things, the preferences he never had as a child. After he became disabled, the most outrageous thing he had done as a child was digging through Zhao Zhilan’s discarded trash to retrieve the old ribbon she had used. He simply thought it looked incredibly beautiful tied in her hair. Why had she stopped wearing it? Why had she thrown it away? He had felt lost for a long time.
Bei Yao also found it remarkable.
During her senior year of high school, she visited his home in City C. Pei Chuan’s home was simply decorated, and his life was plain and uninteresting. Back then, it seemed he had no likes or interests in anything.
Yet, as he tried to get closer to her, he also revealed his restraint and his unspeakable preferences to her.
He adored her soft, cool hair and the way she looked up at him. Pei Chuan untied the ribbon and tied it again for her, over and over.
In the lingering warmth of spring, on the first day of their marriage, she indulged the man. She told him he was worthy of having things he liked, that he didn’t need to suppress them—he could show them.
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