Endless Fall

On the way home, she couldn’t help but call Lin Jiao. “Jiaojiao, I just told him about my feelings.”

Lin Jiao pressed the pause button on the television.

She repeated what Pei Yilan said twice to make sure she had heard correctly before asking, “What did he say?”

“He said he still treats me as a friend.”

Pei Yilan repeated the conversation she had with Jiang Ye.

She turned the steering wheel to the right and sighed. “Although I like his honesty, I’m still a little disappointed.”

“Disappointment is only temporary.”

Lin Jiao removed the facial mask from her face and wiped her fingertips. “You haven’t known each other for long. It’s normal that he isn’t tempted.”

“Then when will he be tempted?”

“…I’m not sure.” She didn’t know enough about men. “But you have to be prepared that he may never be tempted.”

“I don’t want to be prepared for this.”

“Yilan, love is mutual. If you are constantly thinking about being reciprocated, I’m afraid it’ll be even harder for him to fall for you.”

Pei Yilan took a deep breath.

She looked at the couples on the sidewalk and perked up again. “Jiaojiao, I’ve decided to chase him for a year. If I still can’t make him love me, I’ll give up.”

“A year?”

“Do you think it’s too short?”

“No.” Lin Jiao just couldn’t believe her ears.

Lin Jiao nibbled on the apple in her hand and gave her an idea. “Ask Qian Yue. She’s very good at dealing with men.”

“Does her way work for me?”

“Works or not, you’ll only find out after giving it a try.”

“Sure.” Pei Yilan drove the car into the courtyard.

She turned off the engine and parked the car. She tapped on the keyboard twice. “I’ll ask her in person when she gets back to Lin City.”

“She won’t be back until the end of next month.”

“It’s fine. I’m not in a hurry.”

“Alright.” Lin Jiao hung up.

She opened the WeChat message from Yan Jingshun and replied with a good night emoji before continuing to play the costume drama that she had yet to finish watching.

Perhaps the storyline of this episode was more tragic.

After she fell asleep, she had another dream.

The scene in her dream was still set in an ancient city.

She sat in a pavilion filled with lotus flowers and was so focused on embroidering that she did not even notice a person approaching.

“Madam.” A deep voice sounded.

She looked up, and the smile on her lips disappeared when she saw him in silver armor.

“Why are armored?”

“There are enemies on the border. Emperor has entrusted me with the task of going to the border to clean the enemies.””

He put his arm around her waist and said guiltily, “I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you again. You must take good care of yourself.”

“Husband… can you not go?”

Her eyes were red and wet with tears. “We’ve only been married for less than three months. I don’t want to be separated from you.”

“The imperial edict has been issued.”

He wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Even though he had expected this scene, when she really cried, his heart still ached.

“Then I’ll go to the border with you.”

“Madam, don’t be willful.”

He could not possibly defy the Emperor’s order.

She knew this.

However, she couldn’t come to terms with reality.

“Wait for me to come back.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. When he heard the drumming outside the mansion, he pulled away from her.

She watched him leave in a daze.

She waited from day to night and from spring to winter.

She thought that waiting day after day, year after year, would bring about the result she was looking forward to.

However, the bad news from the border shattered her fantasy and completely dragged her into a swamp she could not escape from.

...

The day the corpse was brought back to the capital.

She asked someone to carry his corpse back to her bedroom and pushed a chair to block the door, isolating her from the outside world.

“Husband.” She sat on the bed and stroked his face. Her voice was no longer filled with joy, but sorrow.

She smiled and cried. “I’ll come to keep you company.”

The room was so silent that even the tiniest sound seemed to echo.

No longer able to get a response from him, she put on the hairpin he had crafted for her and hugged his waist tightly.

A porcelain bottle fell to the ground when she turned around.

The brown liquid flowed towards the table with the bottle. The rolling bottle knocked back and forth against the corner of the table, making a despairing sound.

Soon, everything in the mansion was on fire.

Long after Lin Jiao woke up from the tragic dream, she still couldn’t calm herself down.

When she got into the car with swollen eyes, Pei Zhi frowned.

He asked softly, “Why are you crying?”

“I had a dream.”

“What did you dream about that made you cry like this?”

“You died in battle.” Lin Jiao did not tell him about their relationship in the dream and only summarized it in one sentence.

She took out an air cushion from her bag and patted it against her eyes. “I’ll never watch a costume drama again.”

Pei Zhi smiled gently.

He patted her head and said, “Dreams are fake. Don’t get too hung up on it.”

“I know.” Lin Jiao sniffed.

She took the steamed dumplings from him and chatted with him all the way to the company. “Look at my face. Does it look normal now?”

Pei Zhi touched her eyelids with his fingertips.

“It’s still a little swollen.” He swiped the screen of his phone and said calmly, “I’ll get Qu Shao to send two bottles of ice water down. You can apply it on your face.”

Seeing that there was enough time, Lin Jiao did not refuse.

She adjusted the height of the seat and waited for Qu Shao to bring the ice water over. She leaned back and applied the bottle to her eyes for ten minutes.

“Uncle, it’s not obvious now, right?”

“Not particularly.”

“That’s good.”

Pei Zhi unbuckled her seatbelt.

They took the elevator up together. After separating, Qu Shao couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, did you make her cry?”

Pei Zhi smiled faintly, “Sort of.”