Mei Yeqin hadn't expected Pei Dai to agree so eagerly.
When the man asked when she would arrive in Jiangcheng, Mei Yeqin replied, "Today."
Pei Dai replied matter-of-factly that he had nothing to do and was going to pick her up at the airport.
Before Mei Yeqin could react, the person on the other end had already hung up.
Perhaps because he was driving, Pei Dai hadn't answered several calls. He rushed to the airport, but only when he arrived did he remember he hadn't asked what time Mei Yeqin's flight was.
After parking the car and pulling out his phone, he saw several missed calls, and his heart sank.
He pulled out his phone and called Mei Yeqin, but heard a busy tone.
That must have been on the plane.
Coincidentally, Mei Yeqin, who had intended to text Pei Dai, had just run out of battery.
So, Pei Dai waited at the airport for almost two hours before seeing the incoming call.
He eagerly answered the call.
"Qinqin."
In fact, Mei Yeqin felt that it was a little inappropriate. After breaking up, Pei Dai still called her like this, which seemed too intimate. But the man seemed to think it was nothing, and there was no need for her to emphasize it too much. She was also the kind of person who didn't care about trivial matters.
"Qinqin, you got off the plane. Where are you? I'll pick you up. I'm at the airport right now."
After not seeing each other for so many years, Pei Dai felt a little nervous. After finishing his words, he looked at his old clothes, pulled a tissue from his pocket, wiped his shoes, and then smoothed his hair through his glasses.
Although he'd never paid much attention to his appearance, Pei Dai, who had given it a moment's attention, was still slightly dissatisfied. He'd heard repeatedly that Qinqin favored good-looking people.
Over the years, he'd neither gained nor lost weight, yet he still lacked confidence.
Listening to Mei Yeqin's flight information in the phone, Pei Dai, always with a keen eye, walked to the VIP aisle.
The man, a little nervous, became incredibly quiet after that figure caught his eye.
His sharp features were subtly gentle, and his fingers rested against his trousers, a sort of military stance.
Mei Yeqin, dressed in a simple windbreaker and black boots, wore rimless glasses. Her skin was fair and translucent, and she stood 1.7 meters tall, pulling a suitcase.
She was a beautiful sight.
Pei Dai only slowly came back to his senses after Mei Yeqin approached.
"Qinqin."
He was still the same, at a loss when he met her, his cheeks even flushed a little under his eyes.
He still looked so youthful and fresh-faced, not quite like someone approaching thirty.
Mei Yeqin was stunned for a few seconds, then pursed her lips.
"Long time no see, Pei Dai."
It had been nearly seven years. Time favors beauty, and it hadn't left much of a mark on her face.
"Long time no see."
Pinching his palm, Pei Dai lowered his eyes and pulled Mei Yeqin's suitcase over.
It seemed as if the instinct to care for her was ingrained in his genes. At this moment, when he touched Mei Yeqin's fingers, he couldn't help but froze.
Her fingertips were still cold.
"It's not heavy. I can do it myself."
Unlike Mei Yeqin's natural grace, Pei Dai felt a certain pettiness in him, a quality he seemed to possess only around Mei Yeqin. His eyes fell on her suitcase, a vintage one still adorned with the stickers he'd bought her in the ancient town during his first internship.
He knew she wasn't particular about small matters and didn't care about these things, but Pei Dai's heart was still slightly moved.
Even after they got in the car, Pei Dai was still a little stunned.
With the car's heater cranked to full blast, Mei Yeqin sat in the passenger seat, and Pei Dai drove more conscientiously than usual.
When they arrived at their destination, he took Mei Yeqin's suitcase out of the trunk.
The journey was so short, arriving in no time. Pei Dai felt a little reluctant, but he still placed the suitcase in front of Mei Yeqin.
"Need..."
"Want to go upstairs for some tea?"
In the dimly lit parking lot, the two spoke simultaneously, but Pei Dai, always decisive, hesitated and was less forthright than Mei Yeqin.
He looked at those clear eyes, a bit stunned.
"Is it okay, Qinqin? It won't be too much trouble, and your family won't..."
He was being extremely cryptic. They'd only just met, but all that he'd suppressed, that controlled feeling within him, was now completely unleashed, like she'd called him to invite him to dinner.
He was over 1.8 m more tall, clearly half a head taller than Mei Yeqin, but somehow, in her presence, he looked like a little bird.
It was almost comical.
Mei Yeqin listened to Pei Dai's cryptic words, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Her eyes and eyebrows curved, and Pei Dai reminded her of the time in early college when she told him they were together. He'd blushed profusely and asked her if it seemed like she was playing both sides.
At that time, Mei Yeqin had no idea who was spreading rumors about her, and she didn't even know, but Pei Dai knew.
Mei Yeqin could see through his scheming and his hidden agenda.
"I'm not married, Officer Pei."
Officer Pei was specifically called. Pei Dai's eyes flashed with embarrassment, but it quickly faded. "Then I'll help you get your things up."
His relaxed brows held an inexhaustible tenderness.
Until the elevator door closed, Mei Yeqin stared at Pei Dai. Even after all these years, he was still the same. In front of her, he was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
For some reason, she inexplicably felt the urge to tease him.
"Ah Dai, if I had just said I was getting married, would you not have sent me upstairs?"
Pei Dai's grip on the luggage handle paused. Inside the elevator, they were so close he could even smell her perfume.
Pei Dai pursed his lips.
"No, I'm sending you up. But, Qinqin, is there still a possibility of divorce and remarriage?"
It was hard to imagine these words coming from a police officer.
Mei Yeqin was startled, and suddenly, a sentence Pei Dai had said to her earlier flashed through her mind.
"I'm willing to give you my whole person, but my soul will always be yours, Qinqin."
The shock this time was no less than that moment.
As the words fell, a strange warmth and a delicate ambiguity filled the air.
The moment the elevator rang, don't know who gave Pei Dai the courage.
He held Mei Yeqin's hand.
"Okay, Qinqin."