34. Reunion

Lingcheng Airport buzzed with noise. Pei Yan had been waiting at the exit for some time when Pei Huan emerged with the crowd. Seeing him, she waved and quickly made her way over. “Didn’t I tell you not to pick me up?”

“Our young lady Pei Huan is moving back to Lingcheng to work. As your brother, how could I not come?” Pei Yan raised an eyebrow.

Pei Yan’s business had flourished in recent years. He’d started his own venture back in college, and his company had grown to a considerable size, earning him not only wealth but also the heart of his longtime love.

Pei Huan greeted the woman standing beside Pei Yan, “Hello, sister-in-law.”

Xia Qing smiled gently. “Hello, Pei Huan, welcome back.”

Pei Huan had met Xia Qing before. Xia Qing was gentle and dignified, a stark contrast to Pei Huan’s own temperament, yet the two got along surprisingly well. At their first meeting, it felt as if they were kindred spirits, chatting for ages while Pei Yan could barely get a word in.

After getting in the car, Pei Huan and Xia Qing sat in the back while Pei Yan drove. On the way, Pei Yan asked, “Did you find a job here yet?”

“I did. Once I unpack and have lunch, I’ll be heading to an interview this afternoon,” Pei Huan replied honestly.

Pei Yan was surprised. “That’s a tight schedule.”

“No choice,” Pei Huan shrugged. “The interview just happens to be today.”

“Have you found a place to live?” Pei Yan asked.

“Not yet. It’s either too expensive or in a bad location. I haven’t found anything suitable,” Pei Huan said with a hint of frustration.

“I bought apartments for you and for our parents. Why don’t you stay in one of them? I checked—the location is great and it won’t take long to get anywhere,” Pei Yan said, turning the steering wheel.

“Really? Do I have to pay you back?” Pei Huan joked.

“Within two years,” Pei Yan replied, expressionless.

Despite having worked elsewhere for three years after university, the bond between the siblings remained strong, and they always enjoyed teasing each other when they met.

Xia Qing watched their playful banter with a smile.

Once Pei Huan settled into her new home and finished a takeaway lunch, she began preparing for her afternoon interview. Despite having three years of work experience, she took this interview seriously.

Rumor had it that the company’s president came from a powerful family but chose to strike out on his own rather than inherit the family business. The company showed great potential, and its future strength was not to be underestimated.

When Pei Huan arrived at the company, several other candidates were already waiting outside the interview room. Some looked nervous, others at ease, but Pei Huan seemed inconspicuous among them.

Soon it was her turn. She answered the interviewer’s questions with calm assurance, and by the end, felt confident about her chances. She left the interview room with poise, bidding farewell to the interviewer.

Those still waiting outside saw Pei Huan emerge looking relaxed, which only heightened their own anxiety—legs began to bounce nervously as they sat on the chairs.

Pei Huan headed toward the elevator. Two men approached from the opposite direction. She didn’t recognize them at first, but one of the men recognized her and called out in surprise, “Pei Huan?”

She stopped, studied the two men, then her face lit up with surprise. “It’s you two.”

“You still remember us?” The man raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I do,” Pei Huan replied with a smile, looking first at the man on the left. “You were the keyboardist, Lu Feng,” then turning to the one who’d spoken, “and you were the drummer, Kang Shi.”

Kang Shi looked at her, feigning nonchalance. “Impressive, you remember so clearly.”

“It was our heyday. Hard to forget, really,” Pei Huan joked with easy familiarity.

Lu Feng regarded her without a smile and asked, “You disappeared for a long time.”

Pei Huan understood what he meant, meeting his intense gaze without flinching. “Is that so?”

“My cousin’s been searching for you for years,” Lu Feng said solemnly.

The air grew tense between the three of them. Kang Shi, aware of the underlying meaning, looked at Pei Huan. “Did you ever try to find him?”

Silence followed. After a moment, Pei Huan shook her head. “No. I made a promise to someone.”

Neither Kang Shi nor Lu Feng asked who that someone was. Pei Huan smiled again. “Are you two here for interviews as well?”

The somber mood lifted. Kang Shi grinned. “No, Lu Feng and I are here to inspect the company.”

“Inspect?” Pei Huan was puzzled.

“Didn’t you do your homework before coming, Pei Huan?” Kang Shi teased. “Lu Feng and I are the owners of this company.”

Pei Huan was first stunned, then her face showed true surprise. “You two are that impressive?”

“Of course,” Kang Shi replied with a flourish.

They chatted a bit more, then parted ways, each with their own business to attend to.

Lu Feng and Kang Shi took the elevator upstairs. As they waited, Lu Feng glanced toward Pei Huan’s retreating figure.

“Should we tell my cousin?” Lu Feng asked.

Kang Shi also looked in her direction, the corners of his mouth lifting. “Let’s not. In a city this small, they’re bound to run into each other again. If we tell him now, what’s left of the surprise?” He glanced at Lu Feng. “Don’t you think so, President Lu?”

Lu Feng pursed his lips and said nothing.

In the years since Pei Huan left, she’d broken off contact with almost everyone except her family. Even Tang Yue and the others couldn’t find her—let alone Lu Yinghuai. Despite his powerful position, he’d found no trace of her.

Her new home was sparsely furnished, so after dinner Pei Huan took a taxi to a nearby mall to shop for essentials.

She’d only returned to Lingcheng for the New Year in recent years, spending most of her time in a neighboring city. Lingcheng had changed dramatically, and Pei Huan gazed out the taxi window in astonishment at the towering buildings rising everywhere.

Inside the mall, she pushed a shopping cart through the bustling aisles, unhurriedly browsing the goods and selecting what she needed.

In the condiments aisle, she focused on finding her preferred seasonings and pushed her cart forward, not noticing another cart coming the other way. The two carts collided with a loud “thud.” Pei Huan paused, turned to apologize, but when her gaze met the person opposite, she froze on the spot.

So did the man across from her. The face that had haunted his dreams for years was suddenly there, right before him; he stared in disbelief.

Pei Huan was the first to recover. She smiled at Lu Yinghuai. “Long time no see, Lu Yinghuai.”

She had imagined countless scenarios for their reunion—a rain-washed evening, a coffee shop filled with the aroma of coffee, or a chance meeting on the street—but never that they would cross paths in the noisy chaos of a supermarket.

Lu Yinghuai stared at her, dazed. She had changed so much. Gone was the shy girl of years past; now she was strikingly beautiful, her features more refined, her gaze calm and mature.

He had searched for her for so many years, and here she was, by chance. Words crowded his mind, but he didn't know where to begin. Just then, someone behind Pei Huan tapped her on the shoulder. “Young lady, if you’re done picking, please move aside. I can’t get through.”

Pei Huan snapped out of it, smiled apologetically at Lu Yinghuai, nodded, and stepped aside to let the woman pass. By the time Lu Yinghuai regained his senses, Pei Huan had vanished. He searched around in a panic, but she was nowhere to be seen. Lowering his head, self-mockery filled his eyes.

Perhaps it had all been an illusion.

Even as she queued at the checkout, Pei Huan had not recovered from the encounter.

Lu Yinghuai, too, had changed in all these years. The once youthful boy had become a man of imposing presence. His features were sharper, his eyes colder and more piercing, his face chiseled with maturity. He truly had grown up.

Pei Huan paid for her things in a daze and waited outside for a taxi. None came, no matter how long she waited. Just then, a black car pulled up in front of her. The passenger window lowered, and Lu Yinghuai’s cold voice came from within: “Get in.”

With no better option—the mall was some distance from her home—Pei Huan opened the door and got in.

Silence filled the car. She hadn’t told Lu Yinghuai her address, yet he drove as if he knew the way by heart. Pei Huan watched the familiar scenery drift by and suddenly spoke, “You looked me up.”

He said nothing. His silence was an admission. Pei Huan glanced at him but said nothing more.

His profile was stern, his whole presence radiating the wildness of a mature man. He was even colder than before; the emotions in his dark eyes were impossible to read. Pei Huan could no longer guess what he was thinking.

He stopped the car steadily at the entrance to her apartment complex. Pei Huan unbuckled her seatbelt, gathered her things, and turned to him with a faint smile. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll be going now.”

She stepped out and was about to shut the door when Lu Yinghuai, silent until now, suddenly called out, "Pei Huan."

After seven years, hearing him call her name again left Pei Huan momentarily dazed. Her reply escaped her lips before she could think. Lu Yinghuai looked at her for a long time before finally turning away and saying coldly, “You can go.”

Pei Huan hesitated, then closed the door and walked toward the entrance.

Lu Yinghuai sat behind the wheel, watching her retreating figure. The ever-cold depths of his eyes seemed to roil with hidden currents. He could not begin to describe the emotions surging within him. He wanted nothing more than to reach out, grab her hand, and demand why she had left him behind.

But what right did he have to say such things now?

An ex-boyfriend?

That hardly seemed accurate.

After all, all those years ago, Pei Huan had ruthlessly deleted every way he had to contact her.

Lu Yinghuai looked at the road ahead and laughed at himself.