After hotpot, Pei Xu drove Qiao Nan home.
The black Bentley sped to a halt in front of the Qiao family villa.
Pei Xu didn’t get out of the car.
He waved to Qiao Nan through the window, his face covered by light and shadow, with hidden dark emotions.
Only his gentle voice came through, urging, “Go on in.”
Qiao Nan reluctantly lingered, feeling like his brother was truly following the example of Yu the Great, who passed his home three times without entering!
This couldn’t go on.
But Pei Xu’s attitude was too firm, and his sulking was useless.
He could only enter the house alone, very unwillingly, his voice full of resentment, “Goodbye!”
His little mood was evident in the brief farewell.
Pei Xu watched him enter the main gate, saw Uncle Wang come out to greet him and say something, then drove back to Platinum Manor.
Upstairs, he untied his tie, took off his cufflinks, and went into the gym.
After an hour of core strength training, the agitation in his heart finally drained out with the dripping sweat.
He took a shower, casually wrapped a towel around himself, and stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing towards Riverside Villa, past countless city lights.
He bought this apartment not only because it was close to his company for convenient commuting, but also for a very important reason: on the map, Platinum Manor and Riverside Villa were almost on a straight line.
Platinum Manor was in an excellent location.
Although in the city center, there weren’t many obstructions around it. In particular, the floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side of the building he chose had almost no tall buildings blocking the view.
Theoretically, with high-powered binoculars, he could even see the Riverside Villa area directly.
For him, this was somewhat of a psychological comfort after moving out of the Qiao family home.
After standing still for a long time, Pei Xu took out his phone and made a call.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.
Cheng Yu’s unwilling voice came through, “Damn, I told you, can you stop calling me in the middle of the night? Do you know how I feel when I’m flirting with a cute junior I like, pull out my phone, and see it’s you calling? It’s like foreplay’s done, time for the main event, and then suddenly realizing you can’t get it up! It’s f**king terrifying, okay?!”
Cheng Yu clearly had a long-standing grievance.
Once he started talking, he just kept going, “Don’t tell me you want me to rush back and work overtime at this hour? I heard from Zhao Bo that you bolted at six today, leaving us to work overtime until eleven!”
Cheng Yu was Pei Xu’s university classmate and one of the founding members of Xu Nan Technology, currently responsible for product research and development.
Pei Xu didn’t have many friends he could genuinely talk to, and Cheng Yu was one of them.
After patiently listening to his complaints, and waiting for him to catch his breath, Pei Xu finally spoke, “Done complaining?”
Except when facing Qiao Nan, Pei Xu’s composure was always impeccable and exquisite.
Dynamic music came from Cheng Yu’s end.
He clearly had a string of curses saved up for his old classmate and boss, but having known Pei Xu for so long, he somewhat understood his temperament.
Sensing keenly that the other party’s mood wasn’t particularly pleasant at the moment, he immediately covered the speaker and entered the private room, saying begrudgingly, “I’m done. What do you want? Just tell me straight and put me out of my misery. After this overtime, I’m taking half a month of annual leave!”
“You mentioned earlier that your sister opened a gallery? Help me ask her if she knows Li Changli; I want to inquire about something.”
It wasn’t to call him back for overtime?
Cheng Yu’s mood swung wildly.
He collapsed onto the soft sofa as if granted amnesty, leisurely picked up a glass of wine, and his attitude improved, “Alright, I’ll ask her for you. Why are you asking about this? Is it for your beloved younger brother again?”
Everyone at Xu Nan Technology knew that their President Pei had a very beloved younger brother. He would give him anything he wanted.
If his younger brother wanted the stars in the sky, President Pei would reach for them.
As a good friend, Cheng Yu knew even more.
He had actually vaguely sensed that Pei Xu’s possessiveness towards Qiao Nan was unusually strong.
But just as Pei Xu never interfered in his private matters, he also adhered to the boundaries of their friendship.
If Pei Xu didn’t bring it up, he wouldn’t pry too much.
Pei Xu didn’t answer his question; instead, he said, “Find some time tomorrow to ask her for me, just send me a WeChat.”
Then he hung up the phone directly.
Cheng Yu looked at the ended call interface and couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it.”
***
The next day at noon, Cheng Yu sent the information he had gathered to Pei Xu.
Li Changli was the Old Li Qiao Nan referred to.
He was a slightly plump old man in his early fifties.
He was the vice-dean of the Oil Painting Department at Nanjiang Art Academy and the head of the First Studio.
Nanjiang Art Academy had several studios.
First-year students practiced basic skills in the foundation department, and after their second year, they could choose which studio to join based on their grades and study under their preferred mentors.
Qiao Nan had joined the First Studio, led by Li Changli.
In addition to his school work, Li Changli also established a personal studio outside the school, collaborating with the government and various public institutions to organize art exhibitions and the like.
According to the information provided by Cheng Yu’s sister, Li Changli was recently preparing an oil painting exhibition themed on Miao ethnic history and customs.
Li Changli was originally from the Miao ethnic group, born in the mountains of Guizhou North.
It was said that he had always intended to hold an exhibition centered on his hometown, but this idea had been delayed for various reasons until he finally started preparations this year.
Currently, he was still in the stage of preparing paintings and securing sponsors.
***
Combined with Qiao Nan’s words, Li Changli bringing his students to Guizhou North for sketching was clearly preparation for this very art exhibition.
Li Changli had a minor reputation in the art world in his early years, but after his peak, he fell into a long period of stagnation.
His exquisite and mature painting techniques couldn’t help him break through the bottleneck.
For over ten years, apart from teaching students, he had almost no new works released.
The value of artwork, besides its inherent skill and expressed ideas, is also closely related to the painter’s reputation.
Li Changli had been dormant for many years, and there were rumors of him being stuck in a bottleneck.
Now that news of his re-emergence had spread, while it attracted significant attention, from a businessman’s profit-driven perspective, his value was still in the assessment phase.
In simpler terms, his progress in securing sponsors wasn’t going smoothly.
To host an art exhibition at the Nanjiang KM Art Center required a considerable investment.
Pei Xu lowered his gaze in thought, having already quickly devised a countermeasure.
He just needed to find someone to step forward and invest.
Given Li Changli’s emphasis on the exhibition, and faced with a choice, he would inevitably prioritize cooperation negotiations.
Pei Xu would then arrange for the negotiation process to be deliberately prolonged.
In that case, this Guizhou North sketching trip could be declared aborted.
Qiao Nan would then not leave Nanjiang.
Pei Xu gently tapped the table with his fingers, his expression shifting uncertainly.
At six in the afternoon, the indecisive Pei Xu drove to Riverside Villa.
He didn’t return to the Qiao family home but parked his car on Qiao Nan’s usual dog-walking route, waiting quietly.
—To avoid being discovered by Qiao Nan, he didn’t drive his usual Bentley Flying Spur but borrowed a regular Audi A6 from Cheng Yu.
The black Audi A6 wasn’t conspicuous in the Riverside Villa area, which was filled with luxury cars.
Pei Xu parked by the roadside and looked towards the tree-lined path on the left through the privacy-filmed gray car window.
After waiting for about twenty minutes, the young man with his dog slowly walked from the end of the tree-lined path.
Qiao Xiaobai, with a backpack, trotted ahead, the yellow backpack seemingly holding drinking water and garbage bags.
Limited by the leash, he couldn’t run far, occasionally turning back to look at Qiao Nan, barking twice, as if urging him to hurry up.
Qiao Nan held the leash, sometimes being pulled forward a couple of steps by Qiao Xiaobai.
The swaying tree shadows on his pure white T-shirt, and the grass-green shirt worn over it, fluttering in the wind, felt like a dense, intense summer descending from the sky, carrying with it hot wind and cicada chirps, instantly roaring through Pei Xu.
Pei Xu’s heart skipped a beat, then pounded more fiercely with each subsequent beat, as if it wanted to burst from his chest and rush towards the young man on the tree-lined path.
The car cabin filled with a warmth that even the air conditioning couldn’t disperse.
Pei Xu lowered the car window, his gaze following the young man and his dog as they walked towards the other end.
The young man was as vibrant and lively as midsummer.
Pei Xu gazed for a long time, until the figure turned the corner and was no longer visible.
Only then did he raise the car window and slump back into the seat, defeated.
After a long while, he called Cheng Yu.
“Do me a favor. In your sister’s or someone else’s name, give Li Changli a sponsorship.”
Cheng Yu waited for him to continue, and after several seconds of silence, realized he had finished.
He asked, doubtfully, “That’s it? Nothing else?”
“Nothing.”
Pei Xu took off his glasses, resting his head on the neck pillow.
That intense midsummer image swayed before his eyes, wrapping him entirely in its heat.
As if convincing himself, he reiterated, “Nothing else.”
***
Because he suddenly received a sponsorship, Li Changli’s preparation of the contract and negotiations were delayed by a week, so the trip to Guizhou North was set for July 10th.
On the day of departure, Pei Xu drove Qiao Nan to the airport.
Qiao Nan sat in the passenger seat, enthusiastically describing the trip Li Changli had painted for him.
It wasn’t until it was time to check his ticket and enter the gate that he looked back at Pei Xu, standing outside the boarding gate, and reluctance finally overshadowed his excitement.
He felt like he had never been away from Pei Xu for so long.
Running out of the boarding line, Qiao Nan rushed to Pei Xu and hugged him tightly, “I’m off! I’ll bring you specialties when I get back.”
Pei Xu discreetly pressed his back, countless obscure and dark emotions carefully hidden from view. He revealed a gentle smile, “Okay, message me when you land.”
Qiao Nan returned to the boarding line, looking back every few steps.
At 1:55 PM, the flight from Nanjiang to Guizhou North took off on schedule.
The silver-white plane whistled as it cut through the clouds.
Pei Xu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in the terminal, watching his “midsummer” rush towards the distance.
A sudden phone ring broke his contemplation.
Pei Xu answered without looking, “Hello?”
Old K’s voice came from the other end, “President Pei, Young Master Qiao has taken off. Should I follow?”
Pei Xu was silent for a moment before saying, “Follow.”