The white bandage on his right hand was especially eye - catching in the dim light.
Pei Jiangmu was extremely agitated. It felt as if countless ants were gnawing at his sanity.
He yearned to see her.
But since he couldn't, every second of waiting was like being fried in a pan.
Just as he took a deep puff of his cigarette, trying to suppress the raging violence in his throat with nicotine.
The lights at the revolving door of the hospital entrance suddenly brightened, clearly outlining two figures hurrying in.
One of the slender and familiar figures was like a sharp arrow with strong light.
In an instant, it pierced through all his gloom and restlessness and accurately nailed itself into his pupils!
It was Meng Ruochao, whom he had just parted with a few hours ago!
Pei Jiangmu's breath suddenly caught in his throat.
The fingers holding the cigarette suddenly stiffened, and the burning cigarette butt flickered in the night wind.
Almost simultaneously, his body seemed to have a certain instinctive switch pressed - his thumb and index finger subconsciously pinched hard.
The scalding cigarette butt was instantly extinguished in his palm!
The movement was incredibly fast, with a kind of almost flustered haste, as if he was afraid of being caught in the act.
It was as if smoking was something so disgraceful that she would strictly forbid it.
However, Meng Ruochao was lowering her head and whispering something to a young woman beside her.
She walked in a hurry, her eyes fixed straight ahead, and she didn't notice the rigid figure standing in the shadow of the side door at all.
She had changed her clothes. It wasn't the dress she had worn when they met during the day.
Instead, she was wearing a simple knitted sweater and jeans, and her face looked a little pale under the light.
Pei Jiangmu's heart was pounding wildly in his chest, hitting his ribs with a dull sound.
It was so late. Why was she here?
Who was the woman beside her?
She looked in a hurry. Was she not feeling well?
Or... was it related to that report?
Countless thoughts exploded in his confused mind like boiling water.
The next second, a stronger thought coiled around all his thoughts like a poisonous vine - he couldn't let her see him like this!
It wasn't that he was afraid of her seeing him smoking, but his current appearance!
The impeccable and expensive suit, the cold and detached pretense of an elite.
This outfit and this posture belonged to the "young master of the Pei family".
It belonged to Pei Jiangmu, the one she loathed and tried every means to escape from!
Not the poor puppy she knew now.
He immediately stepped deeper into the shadow.
At the same time, without any hesitation, he quickly took out his phone.
His fingertips trembled imperceptibly as he quickly dialed Qi Yu's number.
His voice was extremely low, but it was full of urgent and undeniable commands.
"Right now! Bring me a set of clothes! You know the specific requirements. Hurry! I'll send you the address!"
He hung up the phone without even waiting for Qi Yu's response.
His eyes were like magnets, firmly following the backs of Meng Ruochao and her companion as they hurried into the hospital.
He was eager to strip off this suit that symbolized "noble" and put on the clothes she remembered "him" wearing.
Then he could "naturally" appear in front of her.
Let her see this injury and get the comfort he craved.
That impatience and paranoia almost overflowed from his tense body.
He was completely unlike the Pei Jiangmu who was in full control at the negotiation table and flawless in front of his family.
All this, from his instinctive reaction of extinguishing the cigarette butt the moment he saw Meng Ruochao.
To his rigid body and the suddenly bright but confused look in his eyes after recognizing her.
To his urgent call to change the "symbol of identity" suit.
And his current posture of anxiously following Meng Ruochao's back like a predator locking in on its prey.
Every subtle change in his expression, every rapid rise and fall of his breath.
All were quietly taken in by Cui Ran not far away.
She didn't follow too closely. She just stood in the shadow of the VIP - channel exit, keeping a proper distance.
She watched Pei Jiangmu's almost flustered action of extinguishing the cigarette butt, and the uncontrollable eagerness in his voice when he made the call.
There was a rare, almost vulnerable tone in his voice, just for changing a set of clothes?
What was wrong? Did he think he was so unseemly now?
Cui Ran couldn't help but look at the expensive suit on him.
It clearly made him look elegant and noble, able to look down on everyone.
Cui Ran didn't understand.
But after following his line of sight.
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly upward.
It wasn't mockery, but a knowing arc with complex emotions.
In her beautiful eyes that were always full of shrewd calculations, Pei Jiangmu's disheveled figure was clearly reflected at this moment.
She saw the crack in his hard shell that only opened for Meng Ruochao.
She saw the crazy possessiveness that was enough to burn all his sanity.
She also saw the terrifying, morbid dependence behind his impatience and vulnerability at this moment.
So, the seemingly invincible and cold - as - a - mountain Pei Jiangmu also had such a side.
She had seen that girl from afar before.
From the day she set her eyes on Pei Jiangmu, she had secretly collected information about this girl.
At that time, it wasn't so difficult to get her information.
So she knew that her name was Meng Ruochao, and she and Pei Jiangmu were childhood sweethearts.
Her parents were ordinary employees of the Pei Corporation, but their family was harmonious, and they doted on her very much.
At that time, she didn't take Meng Ruochao seriously.
It was not a rare story that a girl got to know the boss's child because of her parents' work.
But later, Meng Ruochao went abroad to study, and Pei Jiangmu followed her to work in France.
She smelled something fishy. After a thorough investigation, she found out that Meng Ruochao wasn't the biological daughter of her current parents.
To be precise, she was picked up by Pei Jiangmu when she was seven or eight years old.
And her current parents were chosen by Pei Jiangmu himself.
As for why Pei Jiangmu picked up Meng Ruochao, why he didn't send her back to her original family, and why he didn't let her stay in the Pei family.
She had no idea.
But she guessed that probably from the day he picked up Meng Ruochao, she had become Pei Jiangmu's possession.
From her parents to her future plans, he had arranged everything for her.
She had also tried to peek into their life in France, but all their whereabouts were well - protected.
Even the Pei family didn't know their specific situation there.
But at least in the Pei family, they were not in a romantic relationship.
Because Pei's mother had told her in person that Pei Jiangmu had never been in a relationship, so he might not know how to please girls, and she should be more tolerant.
And now, seeing Pei Jiangmu like this.
Cui Ran really wanted to ask, had he really never been in a relationship and didn't know how to please girls?
She gently pulled her coat closer. The night wind made her feel a little cold.
She looked at Pei Jiangmu.
In fact, he wasn't staring fixedly at the direction where Meng Ruochao disappeared. It seemed like just a casual glance.
But still, it made people feel that his world seemed to have only that one focal point left.
Cui Ran didn't say a word. She just stood there quietly, like a calm onlooker.
But whether she was really calm or not, only she knew.