"Hello, Uncle Wu, I'm Yun Pei." Although the other person was a housekeeper, he was also an elder, so Yun Pei greeted him politely.
"Hello, Young Master Yun Pei." Uncle Wu smiled kindly, looked the man over calmly, and politely avoided touching his legs which would make him sensitive.
He had heard the conversation between the lady and the young master several times. Today, the lady also specifically instructed that someone should come to the house. Uncle Wu knew that the child in front of him who looked a little introverted was the one the young master liked, so he couldn't help but observe him more.
After the two of them greeted each other, Qin Mingyuan handed the painting to the housekeeper to hold it, then he bent down and reached into the car to carry Yun Pei out and put him on the wheelchair.
Uncle Wu held the picture frame and looked at their young master's considerate behavior with satisfaction. This is how one should treat someone you like.
Yun Pei was already accustomed to being carried in and out of the car by Qin Mingyuan, but this time there were other people watching him, people with whom he had been living for many years. He felt a little embarrassed, and his ears turned red under Uncle Wu's friendly gaze.
When Qin Mingyuan saw the small mimosa with its leaves curled up, he raised the corners of his mouth silently, but the faint smile did not stay on his face for long.
The three of them walked towards the villa. When they passed the garden, he gestured to Yun Pei, "The photo I took of you before was taken here."
Yun Pei recalled for a moment and then remembered that it was the photo of gardenia, but unfortunately the flowers had fallen now and he couldn't see the real thing.
But the surprise was that the Endless Summer and Hydrangeas on the other side of the garden were in full bloom, with large patches of blue, pink and purple piled together, which was very eye-catching.
"Do you want to take a photo?" Qin Mingyuan asked with his head down when he saw where his gaze was. Painters always seemed to be attracted by beautiful things, let alone such rich colors.
"Are you hot?" Yun Pei first looked up at him, squinting slightly because of the strong light. Although the sun was still relatively mild at the moment, it was summer and it was never really cool.
Qin Mingyuan took a step forward, used his shadow to cover the man, and shook his head. "It's just a photo. It will be quick. Uncle Wu, take your things in first."
Uncle Wu responded tactfully and left without disturbing the two of them. He was thinking about preparing some chilled fruits to cool them down later.
"Come to think of it, there didn't seem to be any gardenias in the videos you updated after that." Qin Mingyuan later checked them out. Up to now, you have updated quite a few videos, but there were no gardenias. "No paintings?"
"I drew it." Yun Pei followed him to the flowers, "I just didn't take a video."
He didn't know why, he just simply drew the picture that time, and he felt inexplicably good after finishing it.
Qin Mingyuan lowered his eyes and watched him reach out to touch the blue and pink flower ball, and said, "That's a pity. Maybe I can have a chance to see the original painting?"
Yun Pei turned back and met his gaze. He couldn't see the man's expression clearly, but he felt that the other person's gaze was very gentle. He nodded gently, "Of course."
The pink, blue and purple flower balls were reflected next to them. The hot summer light did not make Qin Mingyuan feel anxious. The young man's obedient expression made him reach out his hand and touch his hair. He stroked it lightly as if he was taking something off, "I'll take a picture for you."
The place that was touched felt inexplicably itchy. Yun Pei moved his fingertips and resisted the urge to touch it. He waited until the man took two steps back before coming back to his senses. He swallowed the words "I just wanted to take a picture of the flowers" when the other party took out his mobile phone.
"Move back a little." Qin Mingyuan opened the camera software and instructed the person who was farther away from the flowers to move forward, while raising his phone to frame him in the screen.
Yun Pei felt a little stiff as he hadn't taken a photo for a long time. He obediently controlled the wheelchair to lean back until the back of his hand rubbed the bouquet. He subconsciously looked down and heard a "click". He looked up and saw the other party pressing the shutter again at this moment.
The young man was immersed in the brightly colored flower balls, with the scorching sun shining brightly. He didn't even need to choose how to compose the picture or adjust the angle. Just snap a perfect photo.
"I was wondering why you two took so long to go in. So you were hiding here taking pictures."
Zeng Lianyi walked over wearing a white dress. The fabric was draped and looked very comfortable. Her skin was so white that it glowed in the sun. She didn't look like someone in her early fifties at all. People would believe she was in her thirties.
After teasing them, she trotted over to Yun Pei, held onto his wheelchair and leaned in closer, "Quick, take a picture of me and Xiao Pei too."
Yun Pei was stunned by her appearance, and only came back to his senses when she came closer. In addition to the scent of flowers, he also smelled the light scent of perfume on the other person. For some reason, he felt that it was very similar to the one his mother used before, although that was a very old scent.
He looked dazed for a moment, then turned his head to look at the camera, a rare faint smile on his face.
When her son said "OK" and put down his phone, Zeng Lianyi walked over, took out the phone and looked at the photo. She nodded with satisfaction, then rolled her eyes and nudged her son with her elbow, "Come over here, I'll take a photo of the two of you."
"I don't need it." Qin Mingyuan personally doesn't like taking photos, so he doesn't like to be interviewed by reporters.
"Yes, hurry over there, how can you not take photos on your birthday today!" Zeng Lianyi held the phone in one hand and pushed him with the other.
Qin Mingyuan could only walk over helplessly. Shouldn't his birthday be celebrated according to his wishes? Why did it have to be arranged so clearly from morning on
The man walked towards him step by step in the golden sunlight. Yun Pei didn't know why he suddenly felt a little nervous. He clenched his fingers and lowered his eyes, feeling as if he was going to be burned by the other person's glare.
Qin Mingyuan walked over and stood next to the wheelchair, his hands in his pockets, looking at the camera expressionlessly. It seemed that the flowers next to him were about to wilt under the shock of his aura.
Zeng Lianyi was obviously dissatisfied, and she shifted her gaze from the phone screen to the person herself, "Baby, can you please stop looking like you're going to discuss a project, and get closer to Xiao Pei, like your mother did just now."
After hearing her words, Qin Mingyuan lowered his head to glance at the person next to him. From this angle he could only see the other person's hair whorls. After thinking for a while, he lowered his body, but not by bending over. Instead, he bent his knees and squatted next to the wheelchair.
Yun Pei looked at him in surprise. Except when they were sitting, this was the first time that his eyes were level with each other and they were so close.
Qin Mingyuan subconsciously put his hand on it as she said, but what he touched was not cold metal and leather, but a smooth and slightly cool hand. He paused.
Yun Pei was also stunned. When he heard Aunt Zeng's words, he wanted to withdraw his hand, but before he could do so, a hot hand held it, and his fingertips stiffened for a moment.
"Yes, yes, you can just hold hands like this. It will make you look closer. Just stay still." Zeng Lianyi quickly pressed the shutter a few times.
It was an accident in itself, so they could just let go, but after what she said, it would seem like they couldn't let go, and being so hesitant would be even more awkward.
It's not like they haven't held hands before, so Qin Mingyuan thought so and simply bent his fingers and completely held the hand he was holding. The slightly cool temperature was very comfortable in his slightly warm palm.
Yun Pei thought he was used to it even though he held his hand for a long time that night. However, he still felt stiff when he was held by him again. He glanced at the man who looked normal and pursed his lips slightly, perhaps because the other party was too sober.
Looking at the beautiful picture of two people holding hands among the flowers, Zeng Lianyi couldn't suppress a smile. She kept pressing the shutter button with her hands, finding several angles, and only stopped when she was sweating all over.
"Okay, okay, the photos are great. Let's go in quickly. The sun is so strong, it will be too hot if we go in later."
Yun Pei and Qin Mingyuan, who had been acting as tools for posing for photos for a long time, both breathed a sigh of relief.
Qin Mingyuan stood up, grabbed the handle of the wheelchair, and pushed the person towards the villa.
Yun Pei lowered his head slightly, took back the hand that had been held, and curled up his fingertips.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
"Happy birthday!"
As soon as Qin Mingyuan entered the room, colorful ribbons floated down from the sky, landing on his hair and clothes. Even Yun Pei, who was being pushed by him, was affected and submerged in a large area of colorful ribbons. Zeng Lianyi opened her arms and turned around with a bright smile to stand in front of them, "Surprised? Unexpected?"
Qin Pei stood beside her with an expressionless face, holding a used ribbon tube in his hand. It was obvious that he was forced to do business. Besides him, there were also Uncle Wu and several servants.
Qin Mingyuan calmly lifted the colored pieces off his shoulders and said, "Didn't we say we would celebrate in the evening?"
"Today is your birthday all day long, so of course we have to celebrate it all the time, including in the evening. Don't worry!" Zeng Lianyi was obviously having a lot of fun.
But Qin Mingyuan was not very reassured. He didn't want to be on guard all the time, fearing that he would be hit by ribbons as soon as he opened a door.
He sighed in his heart, lowered his eyes slightly, and decided not to disturb their interest. He just wanted to use his birthday as an opportunity to liven up this villa that had been silent for a long time.
In his lowered sight was the top of Yun Pei's head, which was still stained with a few colored strips. Without thinking, he naturally reached out and took them off one by one, his fingertips sliding across the other's hair from time to time.
Yun Pei felt the touch on his head and his body stiffened. He lowered his eyes a little uncomfortably and didn't dare to look at other people.
Zeng Lianyi looked at this scene with great satisfaction. She took her husband's arm and leaned on his shoulder. She was so happy!
Uncle Wu left first with a few servants to supervise the kitchen in preparing today's lunch, leaving the space for the masters.
Yun Pei changed into the slippers specially prepared for him and followed them to the sofa. There were two fruit plates on the coffee table with a layer of ice underneath.
"Xiao Pei hasn't met your Uncle Qin yet. Come, say hello to each other." Zeng Lianyi put her husband's arm and patted him.
"Hello." Qin Pei greeted with a cold face.
The face that looked very similar to Qin Mingyuan had an even more similar expression. Yun Pei couldn't find a suitable expression for a moment, so he could only greet as usual, "Hello, Uncle Qin."
Zeng Lianyi looked at their expressions, one cold and the other indifferent, and inexplicably wanted to laugh. She raised her hand to cover her lips and said, "Okay, okay, eat some fruit."
She reached out and used a fruit fork to pick up some red strawberries and handed them to Yun Pei, "Try them now, they are grown at home."
Yun Pei quickly took it in his hand. The strawberry was too big to be finished in one bite. He took a small bite of it. It was chilled and tasted cool and sweet. "Delicious."
"I'm glad you like it. I can pack two boxes for you when we go back." Zeng Lianyi also picked one up and put it in her mouth, nodding with satisfaction.
Qin Mingyuan didn't like strawberries very much, so he picked up a piece of watermelon cut into squares. As soon as he bit into it, the juice flowed into his mouth, quenching his thirst after being outside for a long time.
Yun Pei has been in poor health since the car accident that year. He has a cold body. Chilled fruits are delicious and can relieve heat, but he can't eat too much. He ate a few strawberries and two pieces of watermelon and then stopped.
After the heat brought in from outside dissipated, the temperature of the central air-conditioning in the villa became a little cold for him, and he unconsciously wrapped his arms around himself.
Qin Mingyuan noticed it when he raised his eyes. He got up and left without saying a word. Everyone else thought he was going to the bathroom and didn't ask any questions.
(End of this chapter)