A heartbeat, a lifetime

Chapter 7 Devil's Contract (3)
I was embarrassed and said indiscriminately: "It's not like you don't know that I smoke."

He said "hmm" and fell silent.

As the car drove out of the urban area, he seemed to remember something, and threw the black thing on his lap to me: "Wipe your hair."

I took it, only to find that it was a sweater of his. The tentacles are extremely soft, and the texture is very good when you touch it.

I hesitated, "Forget it, it's quite warm in the car anyway, and your clothes are not towels, they don't absorb water."

"I'm sick during Chinese New Year, and no one will take care of you when you're alone at home." He said flatly.

I knew he meant well, so I wiped it carelessly, and felt that the car was stuffy, so I joked with him casually: "Can you take care of me..."

He turned his head when he heard the words, his expression seemed to be a bit inquiring, in the dark night, his narrow eyes were exceptionally bright, and he said, "Yes."

Immediately following this "um", is the rest of my joke: "...she might come back right away as soon as she gets jealous."

After the two of them finished talking, I realized how weird the atmosphere in the car was.His "um" was so natural, as if he really promised to take care of me... I turned my head, stretched out my hand and pressed on the door indiscriminately, the window was half down, and the late night wind blew in, and I immediately calmed down.

He moved faster than me, and raised the car window again, probably thinking that I was a little overkill, so he didn't say a word, and he didn't mention that I would blow my head like this.

"Did you think of me as her just now?" I tried to make my tone more cheerful, "The eyes are so gentle!"

After a long time, he said in a low voice: "Maybe."

The car drove very smoothly, the hot wind blew on my face, and we didn't talk to each other. I was a little sleepy, and I fell asleep against the car window in a daze.

Until a strong force in the dream pushed me forward and pulled me back.With my eyes still closed, I just felt that the back and forth in the darkness made my chest tight and painful, and I could only make a sound between whimpering and screaming, and my body curled up on the seat. Group, trembling constantly.

Someone hugged me, I smelled a faint smell of leather, and that person's body temperature was much higher than mine, I finally found the heat source like a stray kitten, and slowly stopped shaking.

After calming down for a long time, I suddenly realized who was hugging me, I quickly stretched out my hand, and with a little force, opened the distance between the two of them.

Following my strength, he let go of me, lifted my chin with one hand, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the left side of the car had indeed rubbed against the guardrail on the highway. Without thinking about it, I knew that he had slammed on the brakes just now and almost had a car accident. My face turned pale: "How did you drive?"

His brows and eyes sank slightly, but he didn't lose his temper. He explained: "A small animal suddenly jumped out just now. I avoided it, and the road was a little icy again..."

"Then why do you want me to go back?" I couldn't hear a word, "I said I hate cars! I hate long-distance cars at night!"

He blackened his face, restarted the car, and drove into the driveway.

The driveway was pitch black except for the headlights of our car, shining brightly into the deepest part of the darkness, like a lighthouse light in an abyss.I started biting my nails unconsciously. I stopped shaking just now. I don’t know why, but now I started shaking again. I just felt scared.

He was driving without looking at me, "I'm going to get off the highway soon."

I checked the time, and said "Yeah", "It's past four o'clock!"

He rubbed between his brows tiredly, took a sip of the cold coffee.

"You!" I suddenly remembered something, and raised my voice, "You got off the plane, and you didn't let the driver pick you up, and drove in the middle of the night?"

He glanced at me, "You know I've worked hard?"

"Did you know about fatigue driving?" I became angry again, "Mr. Shen, your life is much more valuable than mine! Don't think about it for me, think about it for yourself!"

He was probably too angry with me to speak, so he ignored me.

The car got off the highway and turned to the right. I was in good spirits at the moment, and I could recognize the way to Feihai. I couldn't help but say, "You have to take me home first, right?"

His heroic eyebrows slanted into his temples, the corners of his lips curled up, but there was no smile in his eyes, "I'm afraid that tired driving will hurt you, so go home and sleep first."

The car finally stopped in front of a Chinese-style mansion. In the night, only couplets were pasted on the dark gate, and two red lanterns swayed gently in the wind, spreading red warm light evenly in front of the gate.

You can tell that this house is old at first glance, I looked at the white wall two people tall, and asked curiously: "Do you live here?"

He took my luggage and led me in. When I walked through the courtyard, I heard the ding-dong sound of rainwater falling in the pond. It was like glass being lightly broken, ingenious and meticulous, faintly falling into people's hearts.

When we arrived at the lobby, a kind-faced aunt came over, "Are you back?"

I looked around, the sofa furniture in the living room were all made of mahogany, the color was mellow, and looked very heavy, but the floor was covered with cashmere carpet, and the chandelier was extraordinarily bright and gorgeous.Such a historical house inevitably carries the style of the times, not only the Chinese antique flavor, but also the Western Baroque style that was just introduced at that time, showing the fashion of Western learning at that time.

"Go to bed with auntie." Shen Qinjun said to auntie, "She is my friend, her surname is Bai."

"Miss Bai, come with me." Auntie looked at me with a smile, "Come back so late, isn't it cold?"

I glanced at Shen Qinjun, but he looked at me like a demonstrator, and said lightly: "I am driving tired, if you are not afraid of death, I will take you home."

I was really tired, so I stopped insisting and followed my aunt to the guest room to sleep.

The room is very warm, with a big bed, soft and fluffy quilt, and a set of brand new coral fleece pajamas on it.I changed without saying a word, lay down and went to sleep.

This sleep was really good, and I woke up naturally without dreams or nights.

When I woke up in the morning, I thought I was at home, so I stretched out and walked out of the room to wash.

When they reached the door, they were completely awakened by the faint sound of conversation.Looking out from my angle, through the revolving corridor, I can vaguely see Shen Qinjun sitting on the sofa, talking about something, with an unusually appropriate and peaceful voice.

The other person didn't know what to say, Shen Qinjun said with a smile: "Understood, grandpa."

I was taken aback. Mr. Shen was sitting below?
I subconsciously looked at the pajamas I was wearing, and was confused for a moment, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.

Suddenly someone below called me: "Bai Xi, are you awake?"

I let out a "hey" and saw Shen Qinjuan quickly walking around the stairs and walking towards me, "Come down."

Although I was dressed tightly, I still felt that wearing this pajamas was too inappropriate for the boss, so I hesitated and said, "I'm going to change clothes."

"Come on. There's not that much fuss at home." He said to me with a smile. "We also dress casually at home."

I looked at him intently, but it was a soft T-shirt with a dark sweater casually worn over it. The sharpness of the whole person faded a lot, and he was restored to a gentle and ordinary young man.

But I'm still apprehensive, especially when going down.

"Grandpa, the most dedicated employee in our company, was working overtime yesterday and almost couldn't make it back." He introduced me to Mr. Shen, "Bai Xi."

Mr. Shen wore a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose, which were half faded to the tip of his nose. His silver hair was shining very brightly, and he looked at me with a smile: "Bai Xi, I know her. I met at the annual meeting, the little girl who chose the lens."

I saw the old man's benevolent and gentle smile, and for some reason, I suddenly became less nervous, and I forgot to call him "Chairman", and blurted out "Grandpa Shen".

He looked even happier, patted the place beside him, and motioned for me to sit down, "Little girl, stay at home for the New Year? Let's make dumplings in a while."

I sat beside him and took a tentative look at Shen Qinjun.

He didn't respond, and sat on the other side noncommittally.

I thought about it for a while, and seeing the old man looking at me with a smile all the time, my heart suddenly warmed up, and I said hotly, "Okay!"

Mr. Shen didn't ask me why I didn't go home alone, but he repeatedly told his aunt to start preparing, and the whole family mobilized to make dumplings.The aunt served the kneaded dough and stuffing, and the old man took off his coat happily and greeted us: "Come on, do it yourself."

I volunteered, "I'll roll the dough."

Shen Qinjun had already picked up the rolling pin, but now he handed it to me, as if he wanted to laugh at me.I ignored him and rolled out one by one, each one was plump and round, worthy of making large dumplings with meaty and thin skin.

"Good workmanship!" The old man praised me.

"I used to celebrate the New Year at school every year, and everyone made dumplings by themselves!" I said proudly, "Even our principal said that I am good at craftsmanship."

The old man glanced at me, thought of something, and sighed softly, "What a good boy."

"Grandpa, speaking of it, I haven't thanked you enough yet." I said sincerely, "I was able to finish college because of you."

"Oh?" The old man was startled.

"Didn't you set up the Qingyuan Scholarship in our school? My university's living expenses and tuition fees depend on it!" I said sincerely, "Thank you!"

The old man froze for a moment, then laughed, "That's great! That's great!"

I saw him smile so that the wrinkles on his face loosened, and I was very happy... Maybe it's because I don't have such an amiable elder, but when I see him, I always feel very close.

While the dumplings were in the pot, I walked around the house, and when I came back, my nose and cheeks were red from the cold, I asked Mr. Shen, "Grandpa, do you usually live here alone?"

The old man pointed at Shen Qinjun, "He will come back to live with me when he is not busy. Sometimes, some old friends will come to chat." I think he refers to the old directors of Roewe, but it seems, He is still lonely.

I said naturally: "Then I will come over to talk with you next time when I am free, and I can also make dumplings for you to eat."

The old man nodded repeatedly, put on his presbyopic glasses, took a phone book from the phone on the coffee table, turned to a certain page, and said in multiple voices: "Please write down my driver's phone number. If you want to come, let me He's going to pick you up."

I took out my mobile phone and wrote it down. When I turned around, I saw Shen Qinjun sitting beside me with a half-smile. I probably didn't expect that the old man and I hit it off so well.

"But I'm very busy with work." I sighed, not complaining, just like seeing my grandfather, I couldn't help but want to complain.

The old man raised his gray eyebrows and said to Shen Qinjun, "That's right! What's the matter with you? You push the little girl so hard, how can you have time to find a good partner?"

When I saw Shen Qinjun's expressionless expression, I suddenly found it very interesting.

"Xiaoxi, have you found your partner?" The old man looked at me seriously and asked, "If you haven't found it, Grandpa will help you pay attention."

I sneaked a glance at Shen Qinjun, saw his calm expression, and said, "Not yet."

Just as I was talking, my aunt came in with a pot of hot dumplings, "Okay, okay, you can eat."

Sitting at the dining table, my aunt poured mature vinegar for me. I couldn't wait to scoop one out with a spoon, and swallowed most of it like a jujube.

Shen Qinjun on the opposite side frowned, as if he was very dissatisfied with my eating.I glared back at him, and for some reason, I felt somewhat confident in front of the old man.

Unexpectedly, this time the old man sighed and said: "Xiaoxi, eat slowly. No one will grab the dumplings with you."

I choked in my throat, and saw Shen Qinjun holding back a smile, and said sullenly: "I see."

But the old man has not finished his lesson: "It's not a matter of eating or not. When you are young, you are impatient and eat too fast. When you are old, you must have a stomach problem."

I lowered my head, convinced, "I see."

The second dumpling bento was eaten slowly, and when I bit into it, a mouthful of tender and sweet sesame filling flowed out. I was surprised, "Sweet dumplings?"

The old man looked at me with a smile, "Is it delicious?"

I really have never eaten sweet dumplings. I don’t know why, but I feel very happy, “It’s delicious! I haven’t eaten it yet! Grandpa, do you know? It never happened!"

The old man looked at me with a smile, and then turned to look at his grandson. I clearly saw the smile on the corner of the old man's lips, and I was vaguely relieved.

Halfway through the meal, there were already loud fireworks and firecrackers outside the house. The old man took out two red envelopes from his pocket, one for me and one for Shen Qinjun.

I didn't dare to answer it.

Shen Qinjun had already taken it, and said to his grandfather with a smile: "Thank you, Grandpa, I wish you a long life and a happy New Year." Then he gave me a slow look and motioned for me to take it.

I looked at the red envelope, and at a glance, I knew it was a thick stack, and there must be a lot of money.In this way, I am even more embarrassed to ask for it, but the old man's eyes are eager, and I am really embarrassed to refuse.

After thinking for a while, I took it and pulled out a banknote from inside, "Grandpa, let me take one, just make up your mind."

The old man raised his eyebrows in displeasure, and I rushed to say, "Grandpa, Roewe gave me a lot of year-end bonuses this year, and that counts as the lucky money you gave me."

But the old man became stubborn and refused to take back the red envelope, only saying: "There is no reason to take back what the old man gave."

I looked at Shen Qinjun in embarrassment, and he gave me a wink, so I could only take it and said loudly, "Thank you, grandpa! I also wish you a long life!"

He laughed, "That's good."

As the dinner was coming to an end, Shen Qinjun suddenly got up to answer the phone, and when he came back, his handsome face was slightly anxious.

"Grandpa, I'm going out first, I'm in a hurry." He leaned over and whispered in the old man's ear.

"What is so urgent?"

I also looked at him curiously.

He hesitated for a while, then said in a low voice: "Yiyi's father is in the hospital and is going to have an operation soon, so I'll go and have a look."

The old man was silent for a while, then waved his hand, "You go."

Yiyi?

I was at a loss, and vaguely felt that the name was somewhat familiar.

He glanced at me again, and there was something complicated in his eyes that I didn't understand. Then he took the car keys from his aunt, turned around and left.I looked at his back and heard him answer the phone again: "...Yes, don't let Miss Qin know for now...I will come here in person..."

Yiyi...Miss Qin...

I suddenly realized.

The sweet stuffing seemed to turn bitter in an instant.I drank my orange juice sullenly, as if a knife was cutting my heart and lungs over and over again, but I couldn't anesthetize myself, I had to remind myself that all this was just a contract.

I am a stand-in, and compared to his Yiyi, I am insignificant.

Even the warmth at this moment is nothing more than the remaining warmth given to me by that person who is far away on the other side of the ocean...

(End of this chapter)