After finishing the work at hand, it was already a little late when Qin Mingyuan left the company. He sent a message to Yun Pei to inform him of the box number he had reserved and asked him to order food when he arrived.
Because of work, the other party cooperated with his schedule. The dining place was not far from the Qin headquarters, and it only took fifteen minutes to drive there. However, the distance from Yun Pei's villa was not that close.
There is no other way. He will be going on a business trip abroad the day after tomorrow and he has to finish the work on hand. He can only try to save time as much as possible.
This time he chose a restaurant that specializes in food supplements. He chose this place mainly because he thought of what happened last time at his house.
Yun Pei fell in the bathroom, and he went in to help. The body he saw was so thin, and just came out of the hot water with a little bit of healthy-looking pink on it, and it still looked light when he picked it up.
Even if you can't walk, you still have to have a healthy body. At the very least, next time you fight, you can make your opponent stay in the hospital for a few days.
Qin Mingyuan drove to the restaurant and looked at his watch when he got out of the car. It was nearly twenty minutes later than the time they had agreed on. He quickened his pace and walked in with his long legs.
The private room was on the second floor. When he opened the door, he saw Yun Pei sitting in a wheelchair, looking at his phone. He looked up when he heard the noise. He stepped in and closed the door. "Sorry, I was delayed a little while dealing with work."
"It's okay, I didn't wait long." Yun Pei put away his phone, watched him sit down, and said, "I watched you order the dishes, you can order more if you don't like them."
"It's okay. I'm fine with it." Qin Mingyuan handed over the small gift bag in his hand. "Ms. Zeng called me several times to urge me about this."
Yun Pei hesitated and raised his hand to take it. He took out the velvet box and opened it to take a look. The brooch was finely crafted and it was obviously worth a lot of money. He closed the lid and pushed it back, "Tell Auntie that I appreciate it. I can't accept such a valuable gift."
Qin Mingyuan had already guessed his reaction, so he didn't try to persuade him. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll give her your contact information, and you can talk to her yourself."
“… No need, just tell Auntie for me.” Yun Pei remembered how enthusiastic that lady was last time. If he contacted her directly, he might not be able to say no.
Qin Mingyuan put his hands on the table, tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingertips, and looked at him calmly, "If my words were effective, would this thing still be in my hand?"
It must be very troublesome for a man to take time out of his busy schedule to see him. He must have no way to refuse his mother. Yun Pei pursed his lips and said, "But..."
"She wanted to invite you to her house for dinner before," Qin Mingyuan interrupted him before he could finish. "I declined for you. This gift is the next best thing."
Yun Pei never thought that such a thing had happened to him without his knowledge. He was already uncomfortable enough facing this man. If he had dinner with his parents... that would definitely be an awkward scene.
"Take it. This is something designed by her own clothing brand." Qin Mingyuan saw that he was a little shaken, and said, "It's not bought with money."
That being said, there must be a cost to it, but he had already said this, and it would be a bit ungrateful for Yun Pei to refuse, "Okay, thank Auntie for me, and I'll pay for the meal today."
Qin Mingyuan didn't argue with him about this and nodded in agreement.
The dishes had been ordered before he arrived, and the two of them had only spoken a few words when the waiter knocked on the door and came in with all the dishes.
Because they are nourishing dishes, they all have a faint medicinal aroma and a light taste, more or less with a little soup, but the chef's skills are very good, there is no strange taste, and it is delicious.
Yun Pei glanced sideways at the man who was eating quietly. There was no extra expression on the other's cold face.
I remember the first time I had dinner with Qin Mingyuan, the bowl of beef he ordered was pink and garnished with chopped peppers. So he must like spicy food, right
But these two times, they were both restaurants with light dishes. Yun Pei thought that they were probably catering to his taste. He was moved slightly, but he didn't ask for confirmation. He looked away and ate the dishes.
Qin Mingyuan still had a lot of work to deal with after dinner, and he also had a meeting in the afternoon. They didn't chat much and were concentrating on eating.
Only when he was about 70% full did he casually ask, "Are we going home directly later?"
Who knew Yun Pei shook his head, thought for a moment, and said, "I want to go to the gallery."
"Gallery?" Qin Mingyuan looked up at him. "You want to buy a painting?"
"No..." Yun Pei paused, thinking that he already knew about his mother, and there was nothing he couldn't tell her. "It's the gallery my mother left behind. Her paintings are now collected and exhibited there, and there is also an art studio."
Because Yun Haowei restricted her hobbies and career, she didn't tell him about these things. She usually hired someone to help take care of it. She would go over to take a look occasionally. Until now, none of the people in the Yun family knew that her mother had opened such a place.
Although Yun Pei was picked up and dropped off by a driver every time he went there, they all knew that he liked painting, so they didn't think it was strange for him to go to a gallery, and they didn't care. He also never let the driver accompany him in.
"Where are your paintings?" Qin Mingyuan asked. Seeing his puzzled expression, he added, "Where are your own paintings as well?"
"Yeah." Yun Pei nodded, "My paintings have basically all been sent there."
The ones he was not satisfied with were thrown into the warehouse, the ones he was satisfied with were hung up for sale, and the ones with commemorative value were just exhibited. There are also many of his paintings stored in the gallery now.
He seldom shows up, and the people currently running the studio are still basically the same people my mother once hired, with only a few replaced here and there.
"What about the painting?" Qin Mingyuan didn't say anything specific, but he felt that the other party should be able to understand.
Yun Pei understood immediately. He was silent for a long time, lowering his eyes to the plate in front of him. After a while, he said, "That painting is not worthy of being hung in my mother's gallery."
For a period of time after the car accident, Yun Pei was in a very dark state. He used painting as a way to vent his emotions. All kinds of ugly pictures appeared on paper, and even he didn't want to see them again. Later, he destroyed all of them.
Initially, he wanted to destroy the painting along with it, but in the end, he stared at the beam of light on the painting and decided to keep it.
He didn’t want to put the painting in his mother’s gallery, nor did he want to put it in front of him to remind him of the dark times he had experienced. He kept the painting for a long time, but finally chose to give it away.
Unexpectedly, it ended up in Qin Mingyuan's hands and was hung openly in the restaurant so that he could see it every day when eating.
When he saw the painting in his house, his first reaction was not sadness, but a little shame. He didn't understand why this person liked the painting so much.
Looking at the expression on his face, Qin Mingyuan did not ask any further questions, but simply said: "Different works only represent different stages. The style may be different, but the meaning is the same."
I didn't expect him to say such a thing. Yun Pei was stunned for a moment, pursed his lips, and didn't refute anything.
He had a knot in his heart, Qin Mingyuan could see it. After all, his father had an affair, his mother died, and he lost his leg. No matter who it happened to, the mentality would probably not be very healthy.
Perhaps it was this kind of emotion that fermented and caused him to do such extreme things later.
But now because of his arrival, many things have changed. Now that he can have contact with him, Yun Pei has more or less let down his guard. Even if there is anything abnormal in the future, he will be able to discover it in time, and everything is still in time.
But Qin Mingyuan was not in a hurry. He still had to take his time. He said nothing more after saying this. "Maybe next time I have a chance, I can go to your gallery to have a look?"
He took the initiative to change the subject, and Yun Pei nodded, "Of course."
The two continued to eat. He picked up some food with chopsticks and looked at the man again, feeling a little magical.
Thinking back to when they first met, he was very wary of President Qin, and the other party was also very indifferent, which always made him feel out of the loop.
It didn't seem like much time had passed, and they were able to sit together and eat and chat so calmly, just like... friends.
Yun Pei was a little stunned. Are they friends now
When Qin Mingyuan raised his eyes, he saw him biting his chopsticks in a daze. He had no idea what he was thinking and his expression was very dazed. He reached out and knocked on the table in front of him.
Yun Pei came back to his senses and met his gaze. He found that he was still biting the chopsticks. He quickly pulled them out, feeling a little embarrassed.
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he always felt that there was a hint of smile in the man's eyes. He lowered his gaze, trying to divert his attention, and said, "By the way, did you contact Yun Yuexian yesterday?"
Qin Mingyuan raised his eyebrows, "Why, are you still worried that I like him?"
Why does this conversation sound weird
Yun Pei was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head, "No, it's just that I went downstairs to drink water yesterday, and I vaguely heard him angrily calling your name, and he even smashed his phone."
When he saw me, he turned away with an angry look on his face without saying anything. Under normal circumstances, he would have said a few words to me if he met me, although he would never get any good results every time.
Qin Mingyuan probably remembered what happened after hearing this. He said, "He wanted to invite me to have lunch together today, but I refused."
"Just that?" Yun Pei felt that this shouldn't be the case. Although Yun Yuexian thought highly of herself and had a strong sense of self-esteem, she wouldn't get so angry about this.
Qin Mingyuan shook his head, raised one hand and placed it on the table, supporting his chin. "It's a bit annoying that he keeps sending messages, so I blocked him."
Yun Pei was stunned for a moment, and suddenly he wanted to laugh. He tried to hold it back, but still couldn't help but slightly raised the corner of his mouth, "No wonder, if he knew you came out to eat with me, he would be so angry that he would jump to his feet."
Seeing the rare lively expression on his face, Qin Mingyuan's irritable mood caused by the busy work during this period seemed to be better. "If you want to use me to make him angry, I don't mind."
Yun Pei didn't hold it back this time. He chuckled and his eyes curved. "Then he probably smashed more than just the phone. He probably smashed the entire Yun family villa."
Qin Mingyuan looked at him, his stern face softened slightly, and he thought to himself, this is probably how he should be.
Raising his hand and clenching his fist to his lips, Yun Pei suppressed the smile on his face, turned his head and looked at the man who seemed to have a less powerful aura today, and made a rare joke, "I'd better send less messages to bother Mr. Qin in the future, otherwise I might be the next person to be blocked."
The young man turned his head and looked up at him, with a smile still in his eyes, and he looked very soft without his thorns standing up.
Qin Mingyuan moved the fingers that supported his chin, wanting to pinch his face. Resisting the urge, he lowered his eyes, then raised them again, "I won't block you."
Yun Pei paused, a dazed expression fell into the other person's eyes. Those eyes were not as cold as before, and they looked at him without hesitation.
The atmosphere seemed to become more subtle, his heartbeat quickened a little, and he turned his face away to avoid that gaze.
Qin Mingyuan looked at him in confusion as he suddenly fell silent. He raised his eyebrows and looked away. Was there anything wrong with what he said
(End of this chapter)