CH 7.2

Luo Qi knocked on the door; she didn’t bring a key with her.

Jiang Yifang was in the kitchen, came over to open the door, and warmly invited Pei Shixiao to enter.

Pei Shixiao has been to the old house a few times; the last time was when they first got engaged at the beginning of the year. At the time, the house was not so damp.

Luo Qi helped her mother put the congee and vegetables on the table. Jiang Yifang chatted a few words, then gave the two children some space to be alone. She made some excuses and went back to the bedroom.

Luo Qi propped her chin and sat at the dining table to accompany him.

Pei Shixiao picked up a small dish with chopsticks and held it to her mouth, “Take a bite.”

Luo Qi shook her head, “I’ve brushed my teeth.”

Pei Shixiao gave up and put it in his mouth.

Luo Qi looked down at the spaghetti strap dress on her body. In the past, whatever dress she wore, Pei Shixiao would always compliment her when they met—he would compliment her despite having already seen her wearing the same clothes a hundred times.

He didn’t pay attention to what she was wearing tonight.

“What time are we going to try on the wedding dress tomorrow?” She looked at Pei Shixiao.

Pei Shixiao was slightly taken aback. He had scooped up a spoonful of barley congee and now he put it back into the bowl.

Luo Qi understood from his hesitant eyes that he didn’t have time and that trying on wedding dresses was not in his itinerary.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re not free, my mother will accompany me.” The smile on her face faded a little, but she still gave him her understanding.

Pei Shixiao took out his mobile phone and forwarded a copy of the itinerary sent to him by his secretary to Luo Qi’s mailbox.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go with you.” It’s the second time he’s let her down in this matter. The words of explanation came to his lips but he couldn’t say them.

Luo Qi received the itinerary, which was for the next two weeks.

At ten o’clock tomorrow morning, he will attend a board meeting of a medical technology company. Their company invested in this medical technology company a few years ago, and he recently joined the board of directors.

She exited the mailbox, “Then you have to go back to Shanghai tonight?”

“En, I’m afraid I won’t be able to meet the appointment with tomorrow morning’s traffic.”

Luo Qi put her hand on his wrist, having this nagging feeling that there was something different between them, but at the same time, it felt like nothing has changed at all. He was still the same as before, rushing back just to see her and spend an extra half hour with her.

Pei Shixiao stayed until eleven o’clock. Before leaving, he washed the dishes and chopsticks and put them in the disinfection cabinet.

Luo Qi sent him to the door, “Tell the driver to drive slowly.”

Pei Shixiao took her in his arms and looked at her for a few seconds, “Why don’t you transfer to the Shanghai branch a few months in advance? Director Jiang will understand.” 

Luo Qi awkwardly said, “I am handling several important projects, and Director Jiang has not yet recovered from her operation. How could I have the nerve to ask for a transfer at this juncture. If your assistant did this, wouldn’t you be disappointed?”

Pei Shixiao was silent for a while and nodded.

Luo Qi wanted to send him to the stone bridge, but Pei Shixiao refused to let her go. He watched her go back inside her house and stayed until he heard her lock the door behind him. He picked up the umbrella by the door and left.

… … Seventh year of my secret love for you, translated by Maela at whitemoonlighttranslations.com

In the early hours of the morning, the rain started to fall again.

It rained for a long time, and it lasted for several hours.

Luo Qi woke up several times that night. She didn’t sleep well, and just after five o’clock, she woke up again.

It was already daylight, so she simply got up and planned to take a walk along the river and buy breakfast for her mother.

She gently pushed the door open, and found the living room lights turned on.

Her mother was sitting at the dining table, working on the computer. There was no study at home, and the dining table was used by her parents when working overtime.

“Mom, awake so early?”

“I feel uncomfortable if I don’t wake up early, unlike you young people who still want to go back to sleep.” In fact, Jiang Yifang had set the alarm and deliberately got up early to work overtime. She arranged for a meeting with a client at noon and she needs to finish the designs before then. She’s accompanying Luo Qi later so she can only finish the work now.

Luo Qi washed up, took the house keys and prepared to go out.

“Your eldest aunt may call you today,” Jiang Yifang called after her daughter.

“What does eldest aunt want from me?”

“I called her last night and declined her and your eldest uncle’s kindness, saying that you will get married from home. Your aunt said that she would persuade you today. I have said everything I need to say, and I can’t stop her from calling you. No matter what she says, just listen to it. Don’t worry about it. Mom has decided: you will marry from your own home. “

Luo Qi reassured her mother that she knew how to refuse politely and would not ignore her father’s feelings for her eldest uncle, “Mom, go back to what you were doing, I’m going out.”

“Wait,” Jiang Yifang called her daughter again. Some things could only be kept hidden for a while. Her daughter would know sooner or later, so it’s better to tell her by herself.

“Your eldest uncle paid off the money owed by our family in one lump sum two days ago, and asked us to save money for the next half year for your dowry. He also said that the money owed to him, after you get married, let us just pay it back slowly. As for how much, there is no need to pay it back on a monthly basis, and their family is not in a hurry to use this money.” 

Luo Qi took a long time to exhale, and for a while, she didn’t know what to say.

In the beginning, the money owed by their family could not be repaid at once. Later, after coordination with many parties, the other party agreed that their family could pay it back on a monthly basis, but the interest rate would be higher.

Now, there was finally no pressure to repay this amount every month. According to the current income of their family, they will be able to pay it off in four years at most. There was finally hope for a less stringent life.

But now they suddenly owe the eldest uncle’s family more than 10 million yuan. If the eldest uncle’s family needed money urgently someday, where would they go to raise the 10 million yuan?

Luo Qi only thought about these words in her heart, but didn’t say them out loud.