Chapter 250: Would You Like to Live Together?

After Zhu Yuan woke up from her afternoon nap, she heard some movement coming from the courtyard.

She walked downstairs in confusion to investigate the courtyard, only to see Pei Ling shirtless on a stepladder, in the spot where she rested in the shade every day, holding a wooden stake with one hand and a hammer in the other, hammering the stake into the ground.

Beyond the spot where he was currently working, five stakes had already been set.

As he gripped the hammer and struck the stake, the muscles in his chest and abdomen rippled.

His wheat-colored skin was slick with sweat, looking as if it had been coated in beeswax.

The moment she appeared, Pei Ling had already noticed her.

Unfortunately, he had left his clothes in the house earlier and didn't have time to go get them to put on.

He had many scars on his body and was afraid of scaring her.

But then he thought, if Zhu Yuan could be scared by these things, then she wouldn't be Zhu Yuan.

"Come here." Pei Ling beckoned to her.

Watching the man, overflowing with masculine hormones as he worked, Zhu Yuan walked over without changing her expression, stopped under the ladder, and looked up at Pei Ling, "What are you doing?"

"You like eating grapes." Pei Ling stood above, his broad palm resting on the stake, looking down into her eyes with a cigarette between his lips, "I'm building a trellis to plant grapevines."

Zhu Yuan was just about to ask, since he grew up in Kyoto City, a bustling metropolis, where would he have had a place to do manual labor, and how would he know how to build a trellis or plant grapes?

But she suddenly remembered his childhood experiences; he had suffered a great deal in the Pei Family.

Zhu Yuan didn't want to trouble him too much, nor did she want this matter to make him recall the misfortunes of his childhood.

So she urged him to come down, "I can just buy ready-made grapes. Besides, you're planting grapevines now, when will I be able to eat grapes? You should come down quickly."

"Next year." Pei Ling stared at her with earnest eyes and said with certainty.

After that person let him out of the dog cage, he worked for the Pei Family.

The first job he ever did was building a trellis to plant grapes for Pei Shaoshen.

It just so happened that the grape variety Pei Shaoshen wanted to eat was very difficult to grow successfully in Kyoto City.

But Pei Shaoshen made a fuss about wanting to eat them, so that person whipped him, demanding he must grow the grapes.

Hard work pays off, and he finally managed to get the grapes to grow, but Pei Shaoshen said he suddenly didn't want to eat them anymore.

In the past, he was beaten and forced to plant grapes.

Now, he was willing to plant grapes for her.

Whatever she likes, he wants to personally present it to her.

Besides, once the grapevines covered the trellis, it would be more comfortable for her to rest in the shade during the day.

Zhu Yuan couldn't sway Pei Ling, but it was mid-afternoon, and although Licheng wouldn't be very hot, it was truly exhausting for him to do this.

She hurried back into the house and poured a glass of water.

She stood under the ladder, looking up at Pei Ling as he placed a piece of wood horizontally between two stakes and secured it.

"Brother Pei, drink some water. Don't let me miss out on the grapes while you get sun-dried into a raisin yourself."

Pei Ling quickly hammered a few nails to secure the wood, looked down at Zhu Yuan, and was slightly stunned.

He climbed down from the ladder, stood before her, and seeing the fine beads of sweat on her forehead, he frowned, "You could have just had someone bring it to me."

"I'm free anyway." Zhu Yuan handed the water glass to him.

Pei Ling had just been sawing wood, and both his hands were very dirty.

He looked at the water glass, then at his own hands, "I won't drink yet."

Zhu Yuan spoke with understanding, "Are you worried your hands are dirty and you'll soil the glass?"

Pei Ling raised an eyebrow slightly, "Do you want to feed..."

"I guessed it!" Zhu Yuan revealed a triumphant smile and held up a straw in her other hand.

Her expression looked exactly like she was saying: Hurry up and praise me for being smart!

It wasn't that she was insensitive, nor was it that she didn't understand.

She was not a woman who didn't understand romance; on the contrary, she could also create plenty of romance for someone she liked.

But she had never reached that point with Pei Ling.

She was grateful to Pei Ling, but that didn't mean she would accept the next relationship.

As for matters of the heart, experiencing it once was enough.

There were so many other things to do in a person's life; it wasn't necessary to find a man to rely on.

Watching her insert the straw into the glass and hand it to him, it felt more distant and polite than if she had held the glass to feed him directly.

Pei Ling gave her a look that was half-smile, half-not, and lowered his head to bite the end of the straw.

As he drank the water, his gaze remained fixed on Zhu Yuan.

He was shirtless and had sweated some more; even though he wasn't standing very close, a wave of hot air rushed toward her.

Zhu Yuan shifted her gaze away, feeling ill at ease.

It wasn't that she was shy; it was truly that Pei Ling's gaze was too aggressive, making one afraid to look directly at him.

She had felt this kind of look from that person before.

Suddenly, a broad hand pressed onto the back of Zhu Yuan's hand, "Raise it a little higher. You're holding it so low, are you trying to watch me perform a turtle drinking water?"

Caught by his hand, and with the thought of that person just having crossed her mind, Zhu Yuan was startled and let go.

With a bang, the glass shattered upon impact.

Zhu Yuan came back to her senses and immediately crouched down to pick up the glass shards.

Suddenly, she was pulled into a full embrace by Pei Ling.

In the past, he always felt that he smelled foul from his time in the dog cage, so every time before he went to see her, he would specifically take a shower.

He was afraid she would smell the stench on him.

She was so clean, spotless, and her whole being was fragrant and soft.

He stood before her, feeling both inferior and sensitive.

But at this moment, he forgot his misgivings and suddenly wanted very much to hold her.

Zhu Yuan's arms, hanging at her sides, stiffened.

Pei Ling was holding her too tightly.

She had just wanted to push him away, but he wasn't wearing any clothes; the moment she touched his hard muscles, it was as if her fingertips had been scalded, and she abruptly pulled her hands back, not daring to touch him.

"Pei Ling, let me go first."

However, Pei Ling only held her tighter, burying his face in her shoulder and sniffing the reassuring scent on her body.

"How about we live together from now on?"

Zhu Yuan was stunned, thinking she had misheard.

But immediately after, Pei Ling slowly lifted his face from her shoulder, and whether it was his nose tip or something else, he lightly brushed against her earlobe.

"Yuanyuan."

……

Sheng Group, Chairman's Office.

Sheng Yu's lips were as pale as cherry petals, and he wore a pair of rimless blue-light blocking glasses on the bridge of his nose as he flipped through documents and signed them.

His injuries had not yet healed, yet he insisted on coming to the company to handle affairs, and no matter who tried to persuade him, they could not stop him.

Only Situ hit the nail on the head: Young Master Yu was working for Miss Zhu.

Suddenly, a stiff, numbing pain spread across his chest; his vision went black, and as his fingers tightened, the fountain pen was actually snapped into two pieces by him.

With a "Crack!", the broken edge sharply pierced his finger.

Fresh blood welled up.

"Young Master Yu!" Situ, who was organizing documents to the side, was startled at the sight.

Sheng Yu tossed aside the broken pen and pressed his palm lightly against his chest, attempting to alleviate the uncomfortable sensation.

Yet, the moment his heart began to ache, the image of Zhu Yuan appeared in his mind.

It was as if the feeling of losing her, which he had felt when he first saw the note she left behind, had reawakened.

The cold wind whistled, and the snow fell even more heavily, burying the traces of the carriage tracks in an instant.