Chapter 43#

Chapter 43 Side Story — Eighteen

When Mo Xi came out of the bedroom, Pei Hao had already set out the takeout he ordered and was waiting for him. Yang’s Roast Chicken, Hu Long Tang’s Crab Roe Soup Dumplings, Lin’s Eight Treasure Rice… all were foods he missed dearly in the US and would drool over just thinking about them.

Pei Hao was simply a roundworm in his heart; he knew exactly what he liked.

He wanted to say there was no need to go to such trouble for him, but the words were swallowed back when they reached his lips. Thinking of Pei Hao’s actions after their breakup and the photo in his bedroom, he believed Pei Hao still cared about him. Perhaps Pei Hao really still loved him, and asking himself honestly, he hadn’t forgotten their past moments in these two years either.

But being in a relationship isn’t as simple as one plus one equals two, nor does it mean that two people can be together just because they still have love. The problem between him and Pei Hao was that he had lost trust in this relationship. Leaving aside how much Pei Hao still loved him or how long he could love him, even if they reconciled right now, he couldn’t love Pei Hao fearlessly like in the beginning. The uneasiness and suspicion rooted deep in his heart would pop up from time to time to poke at this relationship that was still in the recovery period. It was already riddled with holes; how many more tosses could it withstand?

At that time, Pei Hao could just walk away. With his good conditions, he could easily find someone else. But what about him? He spent more than two years and still couldn’t get over the previous relationship. If he plunged into it again this time, it would be a bottomless abyss, and he might spend a lifetime trying to forget.

He wouldn’t be foolish enough to step into that trap again. It was impossible. He knew the final result would only be torturing himself.

Pei Hao noticed Mo Xi’s complicated expression and thought he might still be embarrassed about what happened during the day. He didn’t dare mention it again, but pretended to be calm, flicked Mo Xi’s forehead, and said, “What are you thinking about? Eat quickly.”

Mo Xi came back from his thoughts and didn’t stand on ceremony with Pei Hao. He sat down and started eating. He didn’t eat enough on the plane and had no appetite at noon, so he was already starving.

Pei Hao looked at Mo Xi, who was gobbling down food, with a smile on his lips. These were the things Mo Xi nagged to Wan Tong on WeChat every day that he wanted to eat. He had always thought about finding a chance to take Mo Xi to eat them all when he came back. He didn’t expect the chance to come so quickly.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Mo Xi glanced at Pei Hao while shoveling rice into his mouth and found that this person wasn’t eating either, just sitting on the chair staring at him and smiling, making him very uncomfortable.

“I can eat these every day. You eat more.” The corners of Pei Hao’s mouth rose involuntarily. He felt that if there were a mirror now, he would definitely see his particularly silly smile. But it didn’t matter; he couldn’t control it now, nor did he want to.

During the meal, Pei Hao answered two calls. One was from Fu Bing asking him to prepare to meet a client on Monday, and the other was from Chen Xu asking him about some materials to prepare for meeting the client.

Mo Xi listened quietly on the side. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pei Hao sometimes frowning in deep thought, sometimes pacing slowly, his expression serious and solemn. He suddenly felt that this person had really changed, completely different from the Pei Hao who didn’t care about anything before.

Just two cycles of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, they had both been polished by life and were no longer the young and impetuous teenagers back then.

Mo Xi ate for about half an hour. During this time, Pei Hao chatted with him about recent life with great propriety. Both of them tacitly didn’t mention the irrational kiss in the afternoon, complaining about work and sighing about life like old friends who hadn’t seen each other for years. If Pei Hao moved his affectionate eyes away from him, it would be even more perfect.

After eating, Mo Xi’s belly was a circle bigger. He leaned back in the chair and sighed that it was still better in China; the Chinese food in the US was inedible.

Pei Hao casually added, “Then come back early.” There was no special expression on his face; it looked like just a passing remark. Only he knew how serious this sentence was in his heart.

“Talk about it later.” Mo Xi lowered his eyes. He hadn’t decided whether to stay in the US for work. Although programmers in the US had high salaries, he always felt that there were more things worth missing in China.

Moreover, whether he could find a job and get a US work visa after graduation was still a problem.

Pei Hao didn’t say anything more. He actually thought that if Mo Xi didn’t want to return to China, he would find a way to go to the US. Studying again or changing jobs would be fine; these could be solved. Of course, the premise was that Mo Xi was still willing to accept him.

Pei Hao simply tidied up the dining table, checked the time, and asked Mo Xi, “Going to the hospital now?”

“Yes,” Mo Xi stood up from the chair, went into the bedroom to take out his packed backpack, and bowed seriously to Pei Hao, “Thank you for your trouble today. Don’t go tonight, rest well at home.”

Pei Hao’s heart instantly cooled by half. Such a polite attitude immediately erected a barrier in the atmosphere that had just eased. Their relationship, which was still a bit ambiguous in the afternoon, instantly turned into unfamiliar friends, clearly separated. But he had gotten used to Mo Xi’s cold attitude in the past two years. He lifted the corners of his mouth, tried hard to squeeze out a smile, and said as if joking, “The hospital isn’t owned by your family. I go if I want to.” While speaking, the corners of his eyes couldn’t hide the disappointment.

“Don’t be like this.” Mo Xi lowered his head. The disappointment that flashed in Pei Hao’s eyes just now was caught by him, and now the pretending-to-be-happy Pei Hao actually made him feel a little sad.

“Let’s go.” Pei Hao didn’t continue the conversation but directly pulled one of Mo Xi’s cuffs to the elevator entrance, walked to the main road, and hailed a taxi.

After getting in the car, Mo Xi remembered that he was playing games with Wan Tong when he received Xiao Jun’s call yesterday, and then he suddenly disappeared. He vaguely remembered that Wan Tong sent several more messages asking if he was okay, but he forgot to reply because he was busy calling to borrow money and booking flight tickets.

Mo Xi took out his phone and quickly sent a message to Wan Tong: Sorry, something happened at home yesterday, so I came back to China directly. I’m in City X now.

Wan Tong said he was also in City X. Because he helped Mo Xi a lot, Mo Xi said he would treat him to a meal when he came back. If his sister could get better in the next few days, meeting Wan Tong wouldn’t be impossible.

The moment the message was sent, the WeChat notification sound on Pei Hao’s phone rang.

Mo Xi turned his head to look at Pei Hao in disbelief. It wasn’t the first or second time he felt Wan Tong had Pei Hao’s shadow. Could it really be?

Pei Hao was baffled by his look. He looked blank: “What’s wrong with you?”

“You have a message.” Mo Xi narrowed his eyes, staring tightly at Pei Hao’s pocket, where the phone light was flashing.

“Oh.” Pei Hao took out his phone. When he saw the name displayed on the screen, cold sweat broke out in his heart. But he quickly calmed down because he had changed the remark name, which said “XF” (Wife). Even if Mo Xi saw these letters, he couldn’t be sure who “XF” was. Then he changed to a posture where Mo Xi couldn’t see the screen, opened WeChat, and calmly logged out of Wan Tong’s account.

“Brother Dan is looking for me,” Pei Hao pretended not to know anything and asked, “Why is your reaction so big?”

Mo Xi was skeptical. Pei Hao moved too fast just now; he didn’t see anything. It wasn’t appropriate to lean over to see clearly now, right? He didn’t have the standing.

But Mo Xi didn’t give up. He took out his phone again and sent a second message to Wan Tong: Where are you?

This time Pei Hao’s phone didn’t ring again; it remained dark. Mo Xi felt a little relieved. Maybe he was really too tired these days, so he was suspicious.

“Nothing, my brain isn’t very clear,” Mo Xi shook his head, suddenly remembered something and asked, “Where’s your car?”

He remembered Pei Hao had an SUV, but he hadn’t seen him drive it today. They had been taking taxis to and from the hospital.

“Returned it to my dad.” Pei Hao replied nonchalantly. After speaking, he turned to look at the scenery outside the car window without giving further explanation.

Mo Xi felt that based on how much Pei Yixin spoiled his precious son before, he should have bought him another one to fit the character setting. Why would he ask him to return the car? It was a bit strange, but this was Pei Hao’s family matter, and it wasn’t convenient for him to ask more.

When the two arrived at the hospital, Xiao Jun had already arrived. Mo Zi still hadn’t woken up. The doctor said all her physical indicators were normal, and waking up should only be a matter of time.

Mo Xi wanted to take turns with Xiao Jun to watch his sister because the two elderly people in the Xiao family were not as tough as young people, and they had to help take care of the baby. It wasn’t good to let them come to the hospital to watch every day. Finally, they discussed that he would watch at night and Xiao Jun would watch during the day. This was perfect; he didn’t even need to adjust to the time difference.

After Xiao Jun left with his parents at night, only Mo Xi and Pei Hao were left. Theoretically, ICU patients couldn’t have family members accompanying them because of the fear of bacterial cross-infection. So the two of them could only watch outside. Mo Xi wasn’t sleepy because night in China was day for him.

But Pei Hao was miserable. He didn’t sleep at all yesterday and didn’t sleep well this afternoon. Dark circles under his eyes looked like they were drawn with a brush, and a circle of fine stubble grew on his chin, looking very haggard.

Mo Xi persuaded him several times to go home to sleep, but he turned a deaf ear. Later, Mo Xi was too lazy to persuade him; anyway, that person wouldn’t listen.

Outside the window, the moon was bright and stars were sparse. After midnight, more than half of the lights in the ICU corridor were turned off, and the entire aisle darkened. Pei Hao sat in front of a window, resting his chin on one hand and carefully examining Mo Xi’s side profile by the moonlight coming in. With the other hand, he secretly traced Mo Xi’s handsome outline back and forth hundreds of times on the corner of his clothes.

He didn’t feel sleepy at all; the more he looked, the more fascinated he became. Why go home to sleep on such a quiet and beautiful night where he could be alone with Mo Xi? He only hated that he couldn’t split one minute into two to remember the appearance of the person in front of him more deeply.

Even if Mo Xi really didn’t want to be with him in the future, at least he had possessed such a moment: quietly admiring the frowns and smiles of his beloved at a distance where he could touch him by reaching out.

Mo Xi was a little creeped out by his staring. No matter what posture he changed to, Pei Hao stared straight at him, making no secret of the love and smile in his eyes, and could appropriately maintain a certain distance.

“Did your eyes grow on me?” Mo Xi frowned and retorted.

“Xiao Xi,” Pei Hao didn’t answer his question but looked at him deeply and said solemnly: “I miss you so much.”