Endless Fall

110  Meeting Pei Zhi on a Blind Date

Linxi Kindergarten.

Rows of children carried their bags and followed the teacher to the door, waiting for their parents to pick them up.

When the children from the junior class to the senior class were picked up, the children from the preschool also appeared behind the gate.

Xue Jing, who saw his sister, stood on his tiptoes and waved at her, his eyes filled with joy.

He was wearing an embroidered black and white baseball jacket with khaki pants, looking like a young hipster.

Lin Jiao held his hand and said goodbye to the teacher. When they had gone to a distance, she lowered her head and praised him, "Jing is especially handsome today."

"Hanhan said the same."

"Is she a good friend of yours?"

"She used to be, but not anymore." Xue Jing stood by the road with her and waited obediently for the traffic light to turn green.

"Why?"

"I rejected her when she confessed to me today. She said that she would never be my friend again."

Lin Jiao held his hand and crossed the road, paying attention to the cars around them. "Did you make her cry?"

"No, she's very strong."

"Then do you still want to be friends with her?"

Xue Jing shook his head and nodded.

He thought for a moment. "I'll make up with her when she falls in love with another classmate."

"What if she only likes you?"

"Impossible. She has crushes on a lot of people."

Lin Jiao chuckled.

She did not ask any more questions. She hailed a taxi and asked him to tell the driver the address.

"Sister." He lifted his head up and stared at her lips that weren't red enough. "Do you want to put on some lipstick?"

"I already did."

"Then apply more makeup."

Lin Jiao, who thought that her makeup was smudged, took out a mirror from her bag to take a look. "It's already enough. I don't wanna scare people with heavy makeup."

"No, you won't" Xue Jing pushed aside the long hair on her shoulder and insisted that she apply some more makeup.

Lin Jiao had no choice but to go through the motion.

She turned around. "Is this enough?"

"Yes," Xue Jing replied seriously.

He leaned against the car window to look at the view flashing past outside.

The taxi stopped at the entrance of an alley in the old city.

The mottled walls and the not-so-flat road added a different feeling to the alley.

The sound of pedestrians talking and laughing, the bell of bicycles, and the sound of vendors selling goods entered their ears. It was inexplicably lively.

"Jing, are we dining at a special restaurant tonight?" Lin Jiao held his hand and walked into the alley.

"That's right."

"What's the restaurant called?"

"Valley House." Xue Jing led her to the restaurant and politely told the waiter the private room number.

When they were following the waiter into the restaurant, he reminded Lin Jiao like an adult, "Sister, you have to watch your expression."

"How?"

"Smile more. Don't pull a long face."

The more Lin Jiao listened, the stranger she felt.

Just as she was about to ask him, the waiter in front pushed open a door.

What immediately came into view was a screen embroidered with beautiful mountains and rivers.

A man's figure was reflected on the screen. He was sitting sideways, and one could vaguely see his well-defined outline.

"Hello." Xue Jing walked to the screen.

He recited the lines he'd committed to memory. "Xue Taiyao is my son. He asked me to bring my sister over for a blind date."

"He's your son?"

"Yes… No, I'm his son."

Lin Jiao, whose mind was buzzing, finally came back to her senses when she heard the man chuckle.

She leaned closer to the screen to take a look. Both her intuition and that voice of the man reminded her of someone.

She asked tentatively, "Uncle?"

"Yes." Pei Zhi reached out a hand and waited for her soft palm to be placed on it.

Xue Jing, who ran past the screen, was puzzled when he saw Pei Zhi. "Big Brother, why are you here?"

"On a blind date with your sister."

"Dad didn't even tell me about this."

"I just found out too." Pei Zhi and Lin Jiao exchanged a look and both of them understood what was going on.

He picked up Xue Jing and placed him on the child's seat. He poured him a glass of warm water. "Where are your parents?"

"At home."

"Aren't they coming over?"

"No." Xue Jing held the cup with both hands. "Dad said that having me around to keep an eye on you, it's enough."

Lin Jiao rubbed his chubby face, feeling angry and amused at the same time. "When did you learn to lie to me?"

"I didn't lie to you." He said in all seriousness, "I told you last time that I would ask Dad to introduce a boyfriend to you."

"When?"

"When Mom was hospitalized."

Lin Jiao retracted her hand and asked, "Then why didn't you tell me on our way here?"

"I wanted to give you a surprise." Xue Jing looked at Pei Zhi. "Dad said that he's a good man."

"What else did he say?"

"He's a good match for you."

"That's true." Pei Zhi smiled and raised an eyebrow.

He handed the tablet to Lin Jiao and said to Xue Jing while she was ordering dishes, "I'm already with your sister."

"Really?!"

"Really."

Xue Jing grinned happily until his eyes narrowed into a line.

His gaze wandered between the two of them. "Brother-in-law, when did you get together with my sister?"

Pei Zhi was delighted to be called brother-in-law.

"August." He remembered the time Lin Jiao told him. "I forgot to tell you before."

Xue Jing did not mind that he wasn't informed.

He only wished his sister wouldn't die in loneliness.

He asked many questions in a row and memorized all the answers so that when he went back home, he could report to his parents.

"Let's eat first." Lin Jiao scooped a spoonful of his favorite golden corn into his bowl.

"I have one more question."

"Ask away."

"Will you two get married?" Xue Jing held the spoon, as if he wouldn't eat unless he got an answer.

"Yes," Pei Zhi replied firmly.

He scooped a bowl of soup for the two of them. "When the time comes, I'll make you a ring-bearer, okay?"

"I want to be a flower girl."

"The flower girl is for girls."

Only then did Xue Jing understand the difference between the two.

He lowered his head and ate sweet corn as he thought about the scene of him being the ring-bearer.

Lin Jiao and Pei Zhi were both amused by the serious look on Xue Jing's face.

When night fell, Pei Zicheng, who was worried that something would go wrong, couldn't help but call Pei Zhi.

He cleared his throat lightly. "Did you see her?"

"I did."

"How's that?"

"How's what?" Pei Zhi looked at the hand that was holding the tissue and wiping the corner of his lips.

Pei Zicheng could not tell if Pei Zhi was happy or angry just by his voice.

He couldn't be bothered to beat around the bush anymore. "Do you have any feelings for her?"

"Yes, but…"

"But what but? You're almost 30 years old, and you still have the cheek to be picky? If you have a feeling for her, hurry up and grab the chance, understand?"

Pei Zhi could imagine how anxious he was.

"But." He deliberately paused and said with a smile, "We've already been together for a while."