Seventh Year of My Secret Love for You

[7YrSecretLove] Chapter 7.1 — On His Mind

Luo Qi found a thin-strap dress from the closet and put it on, stood in front of the mirror for a while, and combed her long, slightly messed up hair.

She didn’t know if her mother was already asleep or not, so she opened and closed the bedroom door carefully.

As soon as she reached the front door, her mother’s bedroom door opened.

Jiang Yifang came out to go to the bathroom and saw her daughter changed into clothes for going out. “Where are you going so late? It’s not safe to go alone, mother will go with you.” 

“No need. Pei Shixiao is at the entrance of the alley.” 

“Shixiao is here?”

“En, he said it was a surprise for me.”

The man had already arrived at their doorstep, there was no reason not to invite him in.

Jiang Yifang went to tidy up the sofa, taking two steps for three, “You let Shixiao sit at home, it’s hot outside.”

While quickly arranging the pillows on the sofa, she told her daughter, “Try to stay outside for a quarter of an hour, buy me some time.”

“Mom, you don’t need to tidy up deliberately, the house is clean enough.” 

“That’s not good.” Jiang Yifang stuffed the odds and ends on the coffee table into a drawer, “Shixiao came back so late, I don’t know if he’s had dinner already. There’s also food in the kitchen.”

“I will ask him if he wants to eat.” 

Luo Qi opened the door and went out. The cool drizzle was still coming down on the courtyard. She ran out without an umbrella.

Pei Shixiao was standing by the stone bridge, waiting for her.

The backlight put his face in shadow.

Luo Qi braved the drizzle and trotted towards him.  

A scarlet light flickered in Pei Shixiao’s fingertips. When he saw her coming, he put out his cigarette and hurried over, “Be careful.” He held her against him with one hand. He reached into his car and brought out an umbrella. He wasn’t used to holding an umbrella in such a light drizzle, so he only opened it over Luo Qi to protect her from the rain.

“It’s raining, how could you come out without covering yourself.” He put his arms around her shoulders.

Luo Qi said nothing, clasping her hands behind his back.

Pei Shixiao lowered his head and pressed his lips against her hair.

Once they met again, he found that he missed her, just like before.

“Why aren’t you talking?” He gazed down at her.

Luo Qi felt his presence, but not all the familiar feelings came back.

She raised her head slightly, “I suddenly feel that we don’t know each other very well anymore.”

“Unfamiliar?”

“It’s just a feeling.”

Pei Shixiao hugged her hard, “Blame me, I’ve been too busy these few months, so I haven’t taken time to see you.”

Luo Qi shook her head, “I don’t blame you. Things will be better next year.”

She will go to Shanghai next year, and the distance between them will end. As long as the two of them don’t go on business trips, they can see each other every day. It won’t be like now, when it’s very difficult to meet each other face to face.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Luo Qi asked.

“No. I’ll go back for dinner later.”

“We still have food at home, come in and have some.”

Pei Shixiao looked at his watch, and it was ten forty in the evening, “No, it’s so late. I’ll disturb auntie’s rest.”

Luo Qi stood up in his arms, “My mother is not asleep. There are still rice and vegetables at home—let me take you home to eat.”

Pei Shixiao was not polite, “Then I will try Auntie’s cooking skills.”

He smiled down at her and said, “Finally, I can go in in a fair and honest way. It doesn’t matter how late, I can still eat at your home. The first time I ate at your house, I was so nervous I couldn’t eat much.”

“You still remember?”

“Of course, how could I forget.”

Luo Qi also remembered that day, she had an impression of everything that happened back then. The first time Pei Shixiao went to their house for dinner was when she was eighteen years old. At that time, her father’s company was in full swing and they still lived in a detached villa.

Her parents held an eighteen-year-old coming-of-age ceremony for her, entertained relatives and friends, and that weekend, her parents held a small birthday party for her, inviting her classmates this time to come to their house to play.

Pei Shixiao went to the same high school as her, one year older than her, and he was the star figure of their school, outstanding and dazzling. When she was in her third year of high school, he was already a college freshman studying abroad. She didn’t know how he learned that she was going to hold a coming-of-age ceremony, but he bought a plane ticket and flew back from abroad secretly without telling his parents, just so he could be there when she celebrated her eighteenth birthday.

After graduating from high school, she also went to study abroad, and Pei Shixiao’s school was in a different state. In order to chase her, he flew to see her whenever he was free on weekends and holidays.

At that time, he was young and enthusiastic, and his liking for her was straightforward and unbridled.

Luo Qi put away her thoughts, “Let’s go, I’ll take you home for dinner.”

Pei Shixiao gave her the umbrella and gestured for her to hold it up.

Luo Qi took the umbrella, and was about to walk forward, but before she could take a step, Pei Shixiao bent down and picked her up, asking, “You’re saying you aren’t familiar with me?” 

Luo Qi smiled at him, “Very familiar.” 

She patted him, “Let me down, the road is slippery.”

Pei Shixiao didn’t let her go, and carried her all the way to the courtyard.