CH 22

Pei You was a person who understood boundaries and manners. He merely offered a supporting hand and didn’t actually embrace Zhou Qingbai’s waist.

But even so, the proximity was too close. Zhou Qingbai could easily catch a whiff of the fragrance from Pei You’s body.

White tea, pine wood, and a faint hint of lemon – the scent was very light, just like Pei You’s personality. From a distance, he seemed plain and uninteresting, but up close, one could discover what kind of person he really was.

Zhou Qingbai wasn’t particularly fond of such light fragrances, but when it was on Pei You, there was a comforting feeling of just the right amount.

Smells quite nice, Zhou Qingbai thought. I wonder what brand it is; it’s somewhat familiar, but hard to identify.

He took a deep breath and followed the gentle force from Pei You’s hand to step onto the steps.

Although his vision was a bit blurry, his step was firm and steady, showing no sign of wavering.

Zhou Qingbai turned his head to the direction of Pei You, raised an eyebrow, and smiled proudly, saying, “see, i’m doing great.”

Pei You was good at encouragement and guidance. When Zhou Qingbai was confident, he wouldn’t hesitate to praise him. He nodded in acknowledgment.

“One more step,” Pei You said, “Almost there.”

Pei You’s voice was light, as if afraid of disturbing something in the deep night. He maintained a distance neither too close nor too far, focusing on the steps under Zhou Qingbai’s feet, preventing him from stepping into the void.

Zhou Qingbai had never received such careful attention before—his father, Zhou Jiangguo, believed in the philosophy of “a tree sapling without straightening will not grow straight.”while Zhou Cangshan, following in his father’s footsteps, believed that men in the family should shed blood and sweat, not tears. Even if he rolled down a flight of stairs, as long as there were no major injuries, he should dust off and stand up as if nothing had happened.

Although Zhou Qingbai’s mother cared for him a lot, she was busy with work, and her close relationship with Zhou Jiangguo divided her attention. It was challenging for her to focus on every aspect of Zhou Qingbai’s life.

Growing up, Zhou Qingbai had never experienced such detailed care and concern before, and Pei You was the first.

He wondered how Pei You had grown up, and that inexplicable feeling of being moved touched his heart. His heart inexplicably softened, and a strange sense of familiarity surged within him.

Zhou Qingbai couldn’t understand that fleeting sense of familiarity, but for the first time in his life, he felt curious about someone else, starting from their choice of perfume brand to the blank life that had never intersected with his.

“Do you treat everyone like this?” Zhou Qingbai suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?” Pei You inquired.

“I mean,” Zhou Qingbai said, “Do you show this level of concern to everyone?”

“Of course not. I’m not Superman; it’s impossible to care for everyone,” Pei You didn’t know why Zhou Qingbai suddenly asked that question, but he earnestly replied, “Human attention is limited, so it’s essential to prioritize those around us who deserve our attention.”

“So, do you treat everyone worth your attention like you treat me?” Zhou Qingbai pondered for a moment and added, “Just like this?”

Not really, Pei You thought. Nobody else is quite like you—

Pei You’s thoughts stalled for a moment, and then a term unexpectedly popped into his mind, surprising even himself.

—Spoiled, Pei You thought.

Pei You instinctively felt that using that term to describe Zhou Qingbai wasn’t quite appropriate, but he couldn’t come up with a more suitable description.

Zhou Qingbai wasn’t a spoiled person, but he had a carefree nature and was unwilling to compromise. That made him seem somewhat spoiled. Pei You had a hard time getting a read on him and made more mistakes when examining him, so he got used to investing more attention in him.

However, that answer clearly couldn’t be said out loud. Based on Pei You’s experience of dealing with Zhou Qingbai, if he said that, Zhou Qingbai would undoubtedly come up with countless retorts. Then, he would be defeated by Zhou Qingbai’s meticulous logic, and once again, he would receive “after-class assignments” from Teacher Zhou.

Pei You’s hesitation seemed to give Zhou Qingbai a certain impression. Zhou Qingbai thought he had understood Pei You’s silent answer and couldn’t help but sigh with a sense of concern. 

Being too easygoing made one vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Zhou Qingbai increasingly felt that Pei You was suitable for work, but if he were to genuinely enter into a relationship, he might be taken advantage of and become a person who had to be obedient and too submissive to others.

For some reason, in a flash of thought, Zhou Qingbai had already acted out in his mind a thousand and eight hundred episodes of the melodramatic TV drama “The Misguided Pei You.” The more he thought about it, the more he felt chills, so he couldn’t help but sigh deeply, glancing at Pei You.

I should find him a good partner, Zhou Qingbai earnestly thought. At the very least, it should be someone with impeccable character, a good family background, and no black marks in the past three generations.

As he was thinking this, they had already arrived at the car. Pei You let go of his hold on Zhou Qingbai and started placing their suitcases into the car. Then, he heard Zhou Qingbai sigh softly from behind and say, “Hey, what do you think you would do without me?”

Pei You: “…?”

Pei You was completely puzzled, unsure of what random thoughts Zhou Qingbai had come up with this time. He turned his head and found Zhou Qingbai leaning against the car door, wearing a worried expression as if looking at a pitiful lost soul.

Pei You: “…”

Pei You instinctively felt that the thoughts in Zhou Qingbai’s head were a bit outlandish. He wanted to explain a few words to change his image in Zhou Qingbai’s mind, but he didn’t know where to start and couldn’t find the right words to say. After hesitating for a long time, he finally gave up.

“…Hurry up and get in the car.” Pei You said helplessly.

Zhou Qingbai responded with an “Oh” and turned his head to get into the car. However, he misjudged the position of the car door and almost bumped his head on the door frame, but Pei You quickly grabbed him.

Pei You had almost no patience left for Zhou Qingbai’s antics. He sighed heavily and looked even more helpless than Zhou Qingbai. He couldn’t help but pat Zhou Qingbai’s back and guided him into the car.

It then started pouring outside the Xianyang International Airport.

The airport had completely suspended operations, and the car they were in was speeding through the heavy rain under the cover of the night, heading towards Weinan City via the expressway.

Zhou Qingbai was used to staying up late, and at 3:30 in the morning, he was still relatively alert. However, Pei You, who didn’t usually work overtime, had a more regular schedule and couldn’t hold up after staying awake the whole night. He began to feel drowsy as soon as he got in the car.

The rain outside was pouring, and the late-night streets were deserted with hardly any cars in sight. The car windows were blurred by the rain, with faint lights occasionally passing by in a regular rhythm.

Gradually, Zhou Qingbai’s eyes adjusted from the night blindness, and the chaotic colors of the world became clear again with distinct outlines.

Outside the car, the rain was falling rhythmically, and the windshield wipers were on. Zhou Qingbai couldn’t see the rain outside clearly, so he looked at the person beside him instead.

Pei You was leaning slightly in his seat, already asleep with his head turned to the side. His laptop bag was resting at his feet, moving with the car’s motion as it drove over the speed bumps.

Pei You slept quite peacefully, with his eyebrows relaxed, looking gentle and peaceful.

The occasional passing lights from outside cast a faint halo over him as they brushed past him.

Zhou Qingbai stared at Pei You for a while, and for some unknown reason, he took out his phone and unlocked it, secretly taking a photo of Pei You’s sleeping face.

Taking a sneaky photo was clearly not very ethical, and after taking the picture, Zhou Qingbai also found it strange himself, not knowing why he suddenly did such a thing. The moral boundary in his heart made him feel uncomfortable all over, so he shook his head and tried to delete the photo.

However, as soon as he opened the photo album and saw the picture, he hesitated.

The photo was taken impulsively, and he was nervous, so the focus was not that great. But coincidentally, just as he pressed the shutter, a streak of light passed by, and half of Pei You’s body was bathed in the light, while the other half remained in the darkness, with only one of his eyes catching the light and leaving a narrow highlight in the photo.

Zhou Qingbai didn’t know much about photography, but he thought that the candid moment and the lighting made it look like a movie poster.

So his finger hovered over the delete button for a while, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to press it.

Forget it, Zhou Qingbai thought, I’ll tell him about it tomorrow, then it won’t be considered sneaky.

He imagined the conversation in his mind and believed that Pei You wouldn’t mind such a trivial matter. So, feeling justified, he saved the photo in his album.

Due to the heavy rain, the journey from Xianyang International Airport to Weinan City, which should have taken only an hour, was delayed. It was nearly 5 o’clock when they arrived at their destination.

Because of the rain, the sky was still dark at 5 o’clock in the morning in Weinan City, with only a slight hint of gray on the horizon.

After being on the road all night, even Zhou Qingbai, who was used to staying up late, was a bit exhausted. He yawned as he stood at the hotel entrance.

Pei You, on the other hand, managed to get some rest in the car and was still energetic. He patted Zhou Qingbai’s shoulder as they passed by, suggesting, “Don’t stand outside and catch a cold. Go in and rest.”