Seeing Pei Ying hang up the phone, Lü Meng was dumbfounded. Yingying, your boyfriend is so clingy.
No way, Yingying actually stayed on the phone with her boyfriend during class! Boohoo, she would gladly gorge herself on this premium dog food!
Lü Meng's voice was a bit loud, and some people nearby heard her. Pei Ying was sitting on the far side; when she faced Lü Meng, she could also see the people behind her.
The handsome, elegant boy was also looking their way with a somewhat complex expression. Pei Ying only glanced at him before looking away. The trace of regret from over two months ago had completely vanished at some point.
WeChat messages were still popping up, and Pei Ying suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Fine, she had to deal with this difficult guy first.
Time slowly flowed by, passing through days, months, spring, and summer.
Pei Ying's second semester of her freshman year was spent amidst heavy coursework, frequent phone calls, and various weekend dates. Over time, she actually slowly adapted to the rhythm.
The moment she received the summer vacation notice, Pei Ying stared at her phone for a long time, belatedly realizing that her freshman year was over.
And his graduation defense should be over too.
Some people and some things shouldn't be thought about too often; the moment you think about them, they tend to manifest.
[H]: Are you free the day after tomorrow?
Having fallen for his tricks many times, Pei Ying had gained some experience. She didn't answer immediately, but instead asked him what was going on.
[H]: There's a graduation party.
Upon graduating, many people would celebrate. Some celebrated by traveling, while others invited a few friends to get together.
Pei Ying was indeed free.
But his graduation party...
The party would definitely be full of his friends, most of whom she probably didn't know, making it boring to attend. However, Miss Zhao, who was in the same social circle as him, might also be there. If she, his girlfriend, didn't show up, it wouldn't make sense.
Seeing her delay in replying, the person on the other end seemed to guess what she was thinking and called her directly.
Pei Ying was only eighty percent right. They were indeed his friends, but it wasn't true that she didn't know any of them. Chen Quan and Xiang Cheng, whom she had met last time, would both be there. If her other friends were willing, they could come too. After all, one of her friends was high school classmates with Xiang Cheng, so they weren't strangers.
Pei Ying couldn't win against him and finally had to say, ...I'll go ask Momo and the others first.
Pei Ying and Tan Momo's dormitories were close to each other. Coincidentally, on the way back to the dorm, Pei Ying ran into her.
Momo. Pei Ying called out to her, then explained the graduation party and finally asked Tan Momo if she wanted to go with her.
Of course I'll go! Tan Momo said without hesitation.
Free food and drinks at a resort, free accommodation, and even a dedicated car for pick-up and drop-off—she definitely had to go. As for the fact that she might not know many people at the party, what did it matter? Extroverts fear nothing!
Pei Ying breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. I'll go ask Yezi too, and then we can all go together.
No need, your boyfriend will definitely come pick you up, so I won't be a hundred-thousand-volt third wheel. Yezi will probably go too, so I'll just tag along with her, Tan Momo said with a smile.
The graduation party was set for four days later. By then, S University had entered summer vacation, and the school, not wanting to bear any responsibility, shut off the water and electricity in the dormitories, tactfully refusing to let students stay on campus.
Pei Ying didn't return to City A immediately after the summer holidays began. Firstly, there was the party in a couple of days. Secondly, her parents and older brother were all busy with their own affairs; her parents flew domestically and internationally all year round, and her brother wasn't in City A either.
The house was empty, so it didn't matter where she spent her summer vacation.
In the blink of an eye, two days passed, and it was the day of the graduation party.
The party was located in the suburbs of City S, at a resort called Taoyuan. Taoyuan covered a very large area. Although called a resort, its facilities were incredibly diverse. Besides the townhouses and apartment-style low-rise buildings in the rest area, there was also an entertainment area that included a rock climbing site, a fencing hall, an artificial ski resort, and a horse riding arena.
It had mountains and water; the mountains were hills of suitable height, and the water was natural hot springs. If you didn't take a sightseeing buggy to get around, the walking would be exhausting.
[Momo]: Yingying, the driver has come to pick me up. We'll swing by to pick up Yezi in a bit, and then we're off! (Happy) (Starry eyes) (Picture)
It was a message from nine in the morning, which Pei Ying only saw after waking up at nine-thirty.
In the photo, Tan Momo was sitting sideways in the passenger seat flashing a peace sign, and she had also captured Xiang Cheng driving in the background.
Tan Momo was smiling like a flower, her good mood practically overflowing from the screen.
Looking at it, Pei Ying couldn't help but smile too.
[Yingyue]: I just woke up. Momo, did you guys pick up Yezi yet? How much longer until you arrive? (Curious)
[Momo]: We picked her up! It was the nine o'clock morning rush hour, so we were stuck in traffic for a bit earlier, but it got better once we hit the highway. We should be there by ten. By the way, I looked up the food at Taoyuan last night, and oh boy, there are over a dozen large restaurants alone! They have everything from Chinese and Western cuisine to Japanese food, hot pot, BBQ, and buffets. You can eat for free with a villa card. I was dumbfounded looking at it, so I left without eating breakfast this morning (drooling). Yingying, when are you coming over?
Pei Ying was still in bed wearing her pajamas at the moment.
[Yingyue]: Probably in the afternoon. I'll head out after lunch.
Right after she sent this message, [H]'s message popped up.
[H]: Are you up yet?
Pei Ying replied that she was awake but hadn't gotten out of bed yet.
It seemed that compared to texting, he preferred calling. Usually, a text paved the way, and then a phone call would come directly right after.
He asked her when she wanted to go to the resort, saying he would come pick her up.
Pei Ying answered truthfully, In the afternoon, around two-thirty. I'll rest for a bit after lunch before going.
Alright.
At two-thirty in the afternoon, a black Panamera was waiting downstairs at Pei Ying's place.
When Pei Ying went downstairs, she saw the window on the driver's side rolled down. He was sitting in the car, looking at his phone out of sheer boredom.
With a high nose bridge, phoenix eyes, and dark eyebrows as sharp as knives, the sunlight fell on his chiseled profile, making him look even more sharp and imposing, deterring people from easily approaching him.
Pei Ying's footsteps couldn't help but slow down. She didn't know if it was because she had been having too many bizarre dreams that made her a bit delirious, or if it was actually true, but she felt that Huo Junze's aura was very different from boys of his age.
Logically speaking, being in his early twenties with a great family background and a bright future, anyone else would be high-spirited and arrogant. Yet, he was like a jar of wine that had been aged for a long time; outsiders could still smell the fragrance of the wine, but it possessed an added mellowness deposited by the years.
Attracted by the sound of her footsteps, he looked over.
In Pei Ying's eyes, this scene seemed to be slowed down for a long time, turning into frame-by-frame slow motion. It also felt as if a kaleidoscope had fallen from a height, shattering into countless fragments upon hitting the ground. The fragments flashed past her eyes, turning into her past dreams.
A man clad in armor returned to his tent late at night. The cheers outside the tent were loud, seemingly shouting The Great General returns in a thunderous voice. The man had a smile in his eyes. Madam adores me, does she not?
The top of her head was gently pressed by someone, and the fragments suddenly completely vanished.
The dim military tent and the armor-clad man all disappeared, and only the person in front of her was clear. He had gotten out of the car at some point and was standing right in front of her.
What are you thinking about, looking so dazed? Huo Tingshan raised an eyebrow.
Pei Ying hurriedly lowered her eyes, not daring to look at him again. Ah, n-nothing...
Was her brain broken? Otherwise, why would she suddenly think of the scenes from her dream in broad daylight, and even equate the man in her dream with Huo Junze?
Seeing her distracted, Huo Tingshan led her to the passenger seat. We are going out to play today. Were you too excited to sleep last night?
Pei Ying mumbled a no in a muffled voice. It was not exactly appropriate to tell him about her dreams. After all, there was more than one kind of dream; she had even had steamy ones where she had seen him completely exposed...
Huo Tingshan closed the passenger door, not noticing her subtle, downward glance.
This was their first time meeting since his graduation. Once he got into the car, Pei Ying said, I heard that national defense students get their ranks conferred right after graduating from the military academy, and they get assigned to a unit. While others are running around at job fairs, you can go straight to work. Huo Junze, congratulations on your graduation.
Huo Tingshan smiled, then said something that sounded completely irrelevant to Pei Ying. He asked her, Do you like traveling abroad?
Pei Ying did not catch the deeper meaning of his words and answered honestly, It is alright. There are quite a few fun places abroad.
He asked again, Do you want to be an official's wife?
This time, Pei Ying froze for a long while before suddenly understanding. She looked at him in astonishment. Huo Junze, do not tell me you want to leave the military just because of a couple of things I said. Do not do anything reckless, you need to prioritize your own future.
Active-duty military personnel and government officials had to go through layers of approval to go abroad. The higher the rank, or the more classified the unit, the harder it was to leave the country.
Huo Tingshan's tone was unreadable. Some things are actually quite meaningless when you do them all over again. Besides, in these peaceful times, military merits are hard to come by, and promotion is very slow.
Pei Ying found this utterly baffling.
What did he mean by meaningless when you do them all over again? He said it as if he had been an official before. He was even complaining about military merits being hard to accumulate and promotions being slow—did he want to reach the sky in a single bound?
Pei Ying fell into deep thought. It seemed she was not the only one whose brain was broken; his was pretty much ruined too.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, the Panamera arrived at Villa K in Taoyuan.
Even a single unit of the townhouses was massive. One villa had five floors—three above ground and two underground—with elevators connecting all five floors.
Pei Ying and Huo Tingshan arrived relatively late; by the time they got there, almost everyone else had already arrived.
Someone had decorated the main door of the villa with plenty of red, pink, and blue double-layered balloons. Many flowers were placed at the entrance, and there was even an exaggerated red banner strung up.
[Warm Congratulations to Young Master Ze and Little Quan on their Successful Graduation!!!]
It even had three bold exclamation marks at the end.
Seeing Huo Tingshan arrive, Chen Quan started cursing as if he had finally found someone to complain to. Which bastard made this banner? Since when am I Little Quan? What part of me is little? I am 182...
He seemed like he wanted to report another number, but upon seeing Pei Ying beside him, he forced the words back down and obediently called out, Sister-in-law.
Pei Ying: ...
Huo Tingshan led Pei Ying inside, asking Chen Quan as they walked, How many people are here?
Chen Quan: About twenty. Not too many. We did not let in some of the ones who just wanted to crash the party.
Aside from the first and second basement levels, the three above-ground floors all had bedrooms. There were single beds, as well as double and triple bed setups. It was more than enough to sleep over twenty people.
The first-floor lobby of the villa was also full of decorations. A spotless, giant crystal chandelier hung from the 9.9-meter high ceiling, directly above the spacious hall. On one side of the hall was a fifteen-meter-long continuous floor-to-ceiling window. Looking out from the inside, one could see a neat lawn as green as a carpet.
The backyard lawn was decorated too. Small camping canopies, folding tables and chairs, loops of camping lights, and barbecue grills had been set up there. Anyone could have a BBQ whenever they wanted.
Yingying!
Pei Ying was looking around at the time. There were both men and women in the villa, but there were visibly much more men. The women did not seem very familiar with each other, looking as though they had just tagged along with the guys.
Tan Momo, wearing a camisole, fluttered down from the second floor like a colorful butterfly. This place is so awesome, wuwuwu. I just took a tour around, and there is even a sauna room in the villa. It is too amazing. Let's go for a sauna tonight.
Pei Ying smiled and nodded, then asked about Ye Ziyi, Where is Yezi?
Ha, that girl went to have afternoon tea. There is a private chef on standby here who can make snacks at any time. Tan Momo could not help but let out a burp, smiling shyly. I just ate three little cakes. Suddenly, I feel like a day and a half is not nearly enough time for me to have fun.
Huo Tingshan casually chimed in, Then stay a few more days.
H-how could I... Tan Momo scratched her head.
The party was booked for today and tomorrow. Normally, they would have to leave before 4 PM tomorrow. For a villa this huge, renting it for a single day probably cost five figures.
Xiang Cheng, who had come over to say hello after hearing that Huo Tingshan and Pei Ying had arrived, happened to overhear Tan Momo's words and immediately laughed. What is the big deal? Taoyuan is a property of the Huo family. If Young Master Ze says it is fine, then it is fine.
Tan Momo: Dumbfounded.jpg
Pei Ying was also momentarily stunned and turned to look at him. It is your family's?
So even if he did not pursue a career in government or the military, he could totally just go home and inherit the family business. She had worried for nothing earlier.
Huo Tingshan just smiled and did not say anything.
They had their afternoon meal inside the villa. With over twenty people, they set up several tables. Young people did not like sticking to the rules, so this dinner had a wide variety of styles, including Chinese food, Western food, and barbecue.
Considering there would be late-night snacks and drinking games later, everyone tacitly left some room in their stomachs.
As the sky darkened layer by layer, the clusters of light strips in the backyard lit up. The bright, orange-yellow glow was as warm as a pool of spring water. Meanwhile, the KTV on the second basement level also started getting lively.
Chen Quan was a mic hog, but unfortunately, his singing was not very good. Huo Tingshan's ears hurt from the noise, so he took Pei Ying to the courtyard for a barbecue.
Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one around, Pei Ying whispered to him, Did that Miss Zhao not come?
Huo Tingshan scoffed with a smile, How could I let her come? Would not that be asking for trouble?
Pei Ying thought about it and felt it made sense, but on second thought, something did not seem right. She did not sneak in? For someone who gave you such a headache that you even had to find a fake girlfriend, she was handled surprisingly easily.
Huo Tingshan glanced at her; her brain worked quite fast. I gave a strict order today. Anyone who dares to leak the news will be cut off completely.
Pei Ying responded with an oh and finally stopped being curious.
After the two of them settled there, more people gradually gathered. Barbecuing, chatting, and drinking, the youths talked freely about the future, carefree and unrestrained.
Xiang Cheng brought out a few dice cups. Young Master Ze, Sister-in-law, want to play dice? Truth or Dare. It is simple and easy—the one with the lowest roll takes the punishment.
The villa had prepared a lot of card and board games: Monopoly, Werewolf, Poker, Truth or Dare, and so on.
The rules of the game were very simple. Roll the dice, and the person with the lowest points draws a card. If they draw a Dare, they just carry out the punishment written on it.
If they refuse the punishment, they have to drink.
To easily control the boundaries, the Truth game was played by spinning a bottle; whoever the bottle pointed to would be responsible for asking the question. There were no limits on what could be asked, and if someone didn't want to answer, they could simply accept the penalty of drinking.
"Come on, dice and alcohol, happiness everywhere you go."
"Hahaha, what the hell do you mean 'everywhere you go'."
Huo Tingshan looked at Pei Ying. "Want to play?"
Pei Ying: "Sure."
After the rules were explained, quite a few people signed up to play. It was an eight-person game, four men and four women. In front of each person sat a dice cup containing two dice.
Pei Ying picked up her dice cup, shook it twice, and opened it.
One showed a six, the other a four. Pei Ying thought to herself that she was safe; the maximum was twelve, and she had rolled a ten.
They revealed their dice one by one.
Surprisingly, the one with the lowest points was Huo Tingshan. He had rolled two ones.
"Oh ho, Young Master Ze gets to draw a card."
Huo Tingshan casually flipped a card, drawing a Truth, and then casually spun the bottle. It pointed to a girl who had come with Xiang Cheng and his group.
The girl asked carefully, "Young Master Ze, how many times have you been in a relationship?"
Xiang Cheng immediately groaned, exasperated at her missed opportunity. "No way, sister, that's all you're going to ask?"
Huo Tingshan leaned back in his canvas folding chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He looked lazy and relaxed, like a dozing lion. At that moment, he turned his head to look at Pei Ying beside him. "Just once."
"I can vouch for the authenticity of this answer. In the past, Young Master Ze was obsessed with racing cars and never flirted with girls."
"Hahaha, does he need you to vouch for him? Sister-in-law has probably interrogated him about everything in secret already."
"That's true too!"
He could have just answered the question, but he had to look at her. Amidst the crowd's teasing, the tips of Pei Ying's ears slowly turned red.
Xiang Cheng was secretly sending text messages.
After another two rounds, Chen Quan, who had been hogging the microphone in the karaoke room, rushed over and shouted, "Brother Ze, that's not cool, playing games without inviting me! Here, move over a bit, make room for me."
The fourth round of the dice game began.
In the previous three rounds, Pei Ying's points had been almost as high as they could go. There is a saying that extreme sorrow turns to joy, but she felt that her extreme joy was now turning to sorrow, and her bad luck was beginning.
This round she rolled a one and a two, adding up to only three points, which wasn't even as big as a single die from the others.
"Sister-in-law, if you please." Chen Quan smiled and made an inviting gesture.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Pei Ying reached out and drew a card: Truth. Some things were just too coincidental; Chen Quan had been yapping away this round, and the mouth of the bottle happened to point right at him.
It was his turn to ask.
Chen Quan's eyes darted around mischievously, and he finally smiled at Huo Tingshan. "Brother Ze, don't say I'm not a good bro. I'll help you ask a question. I guarantee you'll be happy to hear the answer. If you're not happy, you can beat me up."
Then he looked at Pei Ying. "Sister-in-law, how much do you love our Brother Ze?"
Pei Ying froze, not expecting him to ask this.
Truth...
The truth was, she didn't love Huo Junze that much. She owed him a huge favor that couldn't be repaid with money, which was why she was pretending to be his girlfriend.
But could she say that? Obviously not.
Everyone was waiting for Pei Ying to answer, only to see her reach for her drink.
Chen Quan: "???"
"No way, Sister-in-law, is this question that hard?" Chen Quan was greatly shocked.
Xiang Cheng quickly glanced at Huo Tingshan's face, but couldn't read anything from it, so he guessed, "Could it be that Sister-in-law is just too shy to say it?"
"I think that's it. She's definitely saving those kinds of words to whisper secretly to Young Master Ze when they go back tonight, keeping it away from idle bystanders."
Chen Quan scratched his head. Something seemed a bit off. He decided to keep observing.
So, when Pei Ying drew Truth again, Chen Quan, who had just secretly created a small group chat, remotely manipulated the person asking the question. That guy asked, "Sister-in-law, please name any two gifts you have given to Young Master Ze."
Pei Ying: "..."
Gifts, and two of them?
Let alone two, she had never even given him one.
After staring blankly for a long time, Pei Ying silently reached for the wine bottle.
Chen Quan: "!"
A few rounds later, they asked Pei Ying again.
"When was the last time you said 'I love you' or 'I like you' to Young Master Ze?"
Pei Ying: "..."
Pei Ying still silently reached for the wine bottle.
Chen Quan: "!!"
At this point, it wasn't just Chen Quan; the others also noticed that something was amiss, but they weren't entirely sure. This was because the other party involved had a normal expression, showing absolutely no sign of the embarrassment or anger of being exposed.
Two rounds later, it was Huo Tingshan's turn for Truth.
Questioner: Xiang Cheng
After several rounds, quite a few people had been drinking, and the atmosphere was much more lively than at the beginning. Everyone had loosened up. However, when it was Huo Tingshan's turn for Truth, everyone involuntarily quieted down.
With Chen Quan frantically signaling him from behind, Xiang Cheng finally stiffened his neck and asked, "Young Master Ze, how far along are you and Sister-in-law in your relationship? Have you hit a home run yet?"
Huo Tingshan said slowly, "Those are two questions."
Xiang Cheng paused; it seemed he was right.
Chen Quan secretly pointed backward with his index finger, and Xiang Cheng immediately understood. "Then I'll just ask one: have you hit a home run yet?"
Huo Tingshan's expression didn't change: "No."
Chen Quan felt like he heard a crack; what shattered was Brother Ze's image in his heart.
Dating for a semester, no gifts received, no sweet words heard recently, and definitely no home run.
No way, how did his brother become so worthless!
Chen Quan was confused, and Pei Ying was also confused. The former was confused by the questions, while the latter was confused from drinking.
She didn't want to answer the Truth questions, and there were some Dares she didn't want to do either, so she had no choice but to drink. Her alcohol tolerance was low, so even though the drinks weren't strong, drinking too much still made her dizzy.
They ate barbecue, drank alcohol, and played games. The group partied wildly until 2:30 in the morning before finally returning to their rooms, fully satisfied.
Pei Ying was with Huo Tingshan, and Huo Tingshan supported her as they walked. Their room was on the top floor, the third floor. The third floor had a master bedroom area, which included a walk-in closet, an outdoor bathtub, a bathroom with frosted glass doors, and an oversized double bed.
Of course, apart from the master bedroom area, the third floor also had a guest room, which was relatively much smaller and didn't have an en-suite bathroom.
When supporting her out of the elevator, Huo Tingshan wanted to take her to the master bedroom. It made no sense to abandon a comfortable place to sleep and go to a small room instead.
As for there being only one bed, it didn't matter; they could just chat under the covers. The water hadn't boiled yet, and before it did, he wouldn't act rashly.
While stepping out of the elevator, Pei Ying stumbled.
Huo Tingshan caught her in time. The person in his arms looked up, her cheeks tinged with pink, and her watery eyes were very gentle as she looked at him.
In Pei Ying's vision, the kaleidoscope that had once shattered appeared again. The fragments were blown up by the wind, flashing past her eyes like swirling fallen leaves.
In a maple forest as red as fire, the face of a man dressed in a black robe gradually overlapped with the person in front of her, finally merging completely without a single gap.
"Huo Tingshan..."
Huo Tingshan's footsteps paused, and he looked down at her. "Madam remembers?"
Pei Ying reached out and hooked her arms around his neck. "Why are you here?"
Huo Tingshan took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her waist and picked her up. "Perhaps it's destiny."
Pei Ying murmured softly, using her other hand to touch his face. Her fingers traced from his forehead down to his high, straight nose, and then to his lips: "It's actually real."
"Of course it's true." Huo Tingshan smiled and kissed her hand. He placed her on the bed, and just as he tried to straighten up, she hooked onto him. He chuckled, "Wait a moment, let me get something."
The bedside lamp in the master bedroom stayed on for the latter half of the night, peeking into the intoxicating darkness. Crimson marks were pressed onto skin as fair and smooth as cream, leaving a faint, flushed glow.
Beautiful and alluring, completely lost in passion.
Pei Ying slept straight through to noon the next day. As her consciousness returned, she immediately felt that something was off. Her body was sore and weak, her waist and legs feeling as if they had been folded back and forth repeatedly. Frowning, she sat up. The thin quilt slipped down, revealing a stretch of snow-white skin mottled with red marks.
In that moment, Pei Ying's mind buzzed with a jolt.
Last night, she...
There was movement from the direction of the bathroom. Soon, the young man walked out wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
His black hair was wet, and the belt of his robe was tied loosely and casually. Through the open collar, a firm, muscular chest was visible. And right now, there were several scratch marks from fingernails trailing across his chest.
Pei Ying was so shocked she was completely dazed.
Seeing her expression, Huo Tingshan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Don't remember?"
Pei Ying was still in a daze.
Huo Tingshan picked up his phone and handed it over. "Last night wasn't just a one-sided intention on my part. If you don't believe me, listen to your own voice messages."
Wrapping the quilt around herself, Pei Ying stiffly looked down. The phone screen was stopped on their chat window. Several voice messages had been sent from his end.
Her fingers trembling, Pei Ying hesitated for a long time before finally pressing play.
A male voice asked: "Are you sure this is what you want? You're not going to use the alcohol as an excuse to do as you please, only to refuse to admit it when you wake up, right?"
She heard herself let out a hum, softly muttering that he was being too slow.
Huo Tingshan's lips curled up. "I'm not a casual man. You're the only girlfriend I've ever had growing up. Classmate Pei wouldn't be irresponsible, would she?"
Pei Ying: "..." I'm... I'm doomed.
