The atmosphere in the car was subtle. No one said a word, and even the roar of the accelerator seemed noisy.
Jiang Wu hung her head low, not daring to look around. The heart that had been pounding in her throat finally settled down.
Fortunately... she didn't meet Pei Yunshen today.
The cold air from the air - conditioner blew straight at her, making goosebumps rise on her skin one after another.
Jiang Wu rubbed her right wrist uneasily.
"Beep!"
A soft electronic sound rang out. The air - conditioner vent that had been blowing at her turned, and the coldness in the car gradually lessened.
Jiang Wu raised her eyes and happened to see Pei Yan withdrawing his hand.
"It's a bit cold. Do you mind if I turn up the air - conditioner?" Pei Yan stared straight ahead, his tone casual.
Jiang Wu shook her head. "I don't mind."
However, the hand on her wrist slowly loosened.
There was a red light ahead. Pei Yan stepped on the brake, keeping a safe distance from the car in front.
Pei Yan glanced at the rear - view mirror from the corner of his eye. Looking at the familiar black SUV that had been following closely behind all the way, his fingertips tapped casually on the steering wheel.
"I haven't asked you yet. Do you want to go home or to the hospital?"
"To the hospital."
The hospital was closer. If he took her home, it would take three hours for a round - trip, which was too much trouble.
"Okay." Pei Yan signaled at the intersection and turned left, driving in the direction of the First Municipal Hospital.
The black SUV rolled over the tire marks on the road, overlapping Pei Yan's track.
When they arrived at the hospital, when Jiang Wu turned to thank him, she suddenly noticed the fine sweat on Pei Yan's forehead. Her pupils dilated slightly, and she subconsciously stroked her right wrist.
"Thank you, Brother Pei, for today. When you're free, can I invite you to dinner?"
While unbuckling his seat - belt, Pei Yan casually picked up the bag from the back seat.
"Sure. I've prepared some nutritional supplements for Auntie. I'll go up and see her now."
Jiang Wu waved her hands in panic. "No need, Brother Pei!"
Accepting his help today was already overstepping the line. If they went to see Jiang Shuhua together, she didn't dare to imagine what the Pei family would think of her.
"Is it very embarrassing for you?" Pei Yan held the nutritional supplements in his arms. His tone was a bit aggrieved, but the eyes behind his half - rimmed gold - framed glasses stared deeply at her, like a calm sea that was about to suck people in.
"If it's embarrassing, I won't go up, but you have to accept these things. They're good for Auntie's health."
Saying so, Pei Yan held the nutritional supplements firmly and showed no sign of letting go.
Jiang Wu opened her mouth. Looking at Pei Yan's handsome and sincere face, the words of refusal lingered on her lips but were finally swallowed back.
She said euphemistically, "Mom has already gone to bed at this time."
It wasn't a suitable time for a visit.
Pei Yan's deep and mellow voice carried a touch of pleasure, with the end of his tone rising. "It's okay. I can just take a look outside the ward."
Not rejecting him directly meant there was still room for negotiation.
As soon as he finished speaking, before Jiang Wu could stop him, Pei Yan had already stepped out of the car.
He walked around to the passenger side, opened the door for Jiang Wu, and said with a smile on his lips, "Aren't you getting out?"
Jiang Wu clasped her thumb and forefinger. Looking at Pei Yan in disbelief, she forced a smile and got out of the car.
Refusing again would make her seem ungrateful.
The two of them went up the elevator side by side.
The front of the black SUV emerged from the corner, and a tall and straight man got out of it.
The man stared gloomily at the two people chatting and laughing not far away, feeling nothing but irony.
With a thud, the window glass of the SUV shattered.
*
True to his word, Pei Yan just took a look outside the ward. After putting down the nutritional supplements, he left.
Jiang Wu sat beside the hospital bed, looking at the high - end paper bag on the table, and let out a soft sigh.
If Pei Yan had been a bit harsher on her, she might have really made up her mind to break off contact with him. But on the contrary, he was too kind to her.
Even the single - person ward for Jiang Shuhua now was arranged by him.
"Jiang Wu..." Jiang Shuhua's weak and tired voice sounded.
"I'm here, Mom. Do you feel unwell?" Jiang Wu leaned over, put her hand on her mother's forehead, looking worried. "I'll go call the doctor."
Jiang Wu was about to leave when her fingertip was suddenly hooked.
"No need. I'm fine."
Jiang Shuhua propped herself up on the bed. Jiang Wu quickly raised the head of the hospital bed.
"Did I wake you up?" Jiang Wu tucked in the corner of the quilt. "I'll be quieter."
Jiang Shuhua pulled her hand over, stared at the wristband on her hand mournfully, and said with a choking voice, "Was it Pei Yan who came just now?"
"Um..."
"What do you think?" Jiang Shuhua pulled off the loose thread on the wristband, tidied it up carefully, covering the scars on her wrist tightly. Her wrinkled fingertips trembled as they stroked the folds on the wristband.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you like Pei Yan? I think he's also interested in you. Why don't you give it a try?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Wu's face turned deathly pale. She withdrew her hand, her tone stiff. "Mom... don't say such things again in the future."
Jiang Shuhua didn't know that her imprisonment back then was the work of the Pei family, and even less did she know... that she had once been in love with Pei Yunshen, the younger brother of Pei Yan's immediate family.
Seven years ago, she was still a sophomore majoring in civil engineering at Jing University.
Just after her twentieth birthday, she had stood out among a group of competitors with her excellent professional achievements and practical experience and became an intern in the engineering department of the Pei Group.
Pei Yunshen joined the engineering department a week later than her. It was said that he was admitted through a supplementary recruitment.
The two of them were in different groups. During work, there were inevitably frictions and unpleasantness.
She once regarded this person as her competitor. After all, a person who was only eighteen and just entered college could be admitted by the well - structured and hierarchical Pei Group, so he must have something extraordinary.
As they got in touch with each other at work, she found that she might be wrong. Pei Yunshen should have got in through connections. As for whose connections, she didn't bother to find out.
But no one could have imagined that a month later, Pei Yunshen, who couldn't even draw the simplest engineering drawing, had transformed into a proficient person who could precisely calculate the load - bearing structure data of a building, and he even faintly showed a tendency to surpass her.
Besides being shocked, she also dispelled her previous prejudice against him.
It was also from then on that Pei Yunshen showed signs of pursuing her.
His way of courting was green and clumsy, but it was full of the sincerity of a young man, which showed that it was his first time chasing someone.
Only then did she bother to take a good look at him. Looking closely, she found that his appearance was somewhat similar to Pei Yan's!
With his outstanding ability, enthusiasm, and sincerity, offering both emotional and economic value, and that face that was somewhat similar to Pei Yan's.
Even if the king of heaven came, he would be smitten, let alone her.
However, before they got together, she put forward a requirement - their relationship couldn't be made public for the time being.
Although Pei Yunshen was puzzled, he still agreed.
Obeying her every word - this was her first impression of him after they fell in love.
Although she didn't know Pei Yunshen's family background back then, from the details of his daily clothes and consumption, she could still tell that he came from a wealthy family.
And she was just an adopted orphan, and her adoptive mother, Jiang Shuhua, was just an ordinary woman who barely made a living by sewing.
In the capital city, a family like hers was at the very bottom of the social ladder, the kind of family that everyone would avoid in marriage choices.
She wanted to become strong enough to be worthy of him before making their relationship public.
So during their relationship, she deliberately didn't explore his family and worked hard to improve herself.
But before she could catch up with his pace, the substitute incident was exposed, and she was pushed out by the Pei Group as a scapegoat.
All this happened so fast. In just a month, her life had changed dramatically, and even Jiang Shuhua, who had always been in good health, fell ill.