Chapter 31

Pei Qian stood steadily under the shade of a tree. The weather was fine as if giving her trip to this mountainous area a blessing.

She was here to visit her maternal uncle who died when she was fifteen. She was the closest to her uncle back then so she felt very emotional about losing him. It had been a few months since she last visited but she suddenly felt the need to come here after a long time.

Maybe the loss of Li Junfeng had made her become aware of the fleeting moment called life and that death was imminent to anybody.

Pei Qian didn't tell anyone in her family about the visit but her brother might know. He sometimes would accompany her here but today he had an important meeting with some close clients. So she came alone.

"I'll visit often from now on, uncle. You died young too back then. And it broke my heart that I felt that I was left behind," Pei Qian muttered in a tone that was too soft to be heard. She had been here for half an hour and thought that it was time to go back.

"My lover died young too... sometimes I wonder why the people I love are all taken away from me," Pei Qian smiled as she recalled the face of the man she had loved.

Somehow, the recent death of Li Junfeng caused her to bring back bad memories from when her uncle died. Her uncle was the youngest in the family. He was her mother's little brother. He would spoil her rotten whenever they were together. Pei Zeyan was also spoiled rotten by him when he was smaller. They often competed to gain favor from this uncle back then and it was fun.

After sorting out her thoughts, she stood up ready to go back. But when she turned around, a tall figure was the first thing she saw, accompanied by the fresh smell of grass.

It was a broad back cladded in a simple, white-collared shirt. Pei Qian thought she was hallucinating. She was sure the man in front of her was Li Shaoze. She could actually tell Li Junfeng and his brother apart because she knew all too well about Li Junfeng's figure and gait.

Then, she saw the same scene where Li Shaoze was mumbling something as if he was talking to someone. But again, nobody was by his side. However, he looked so serious as if he was sane and that what he did was normal.

His gaze was fixed straight to the tombstone in front of him yet his body was a little tilted to his left where it looked as if he was talking to someone by his side.

Pei Qian recalled his confession about being able to see dead people's souls. Strangely, she didn't feel taken aback anymore by the possibility but was a hundred percent convinced that he wasn't lying.

Amidst her working brain, she suddenly saw Li Shaoze turn to leave. Unexpectedly, his eyes were coincidentally facing where she was. Their eyes then met. Both were inwardly surprised, but for different reasons.

Li Shaoze was surprised because it wasn't a person he would expect to encounter at such a place.

And Pei Qian was surprised to see a lingering trace of woe at the corner of his eyes.

Li Junfeng was the most surprised between the three of them present but he was also the quickest to gain his senses. He automatically smiled like a boy in love, happy at the familiar face he saw after some time, ignoring the bitter aftertaste of past sadness.

Li Junfeng came closer to Li Shaoze and decided to cheer his brother up. He knew Li Shaoze was down because of Qin Meili but didn't show it. So he wanted to take this godsend opportunity to help Li Shaoze.

"Go and talk to her. Why are you being so rude by standing still?" Li Junfeng said as if dissatisfied. His change of attitude baffled Li Shaoze but it was better not to ask.

Li Shaoze looked a tad bit unsure but he kept his composure. He saw Pei Qian walking towards him and he gave a polite greeting.

"Should I say it's a fancy meeting you here?" Pei Qian was the one who talked first, seemingly joking about their choice of place where graves were scattered.

"... Likewise?" hearing such answer, Li Junfeng nudged Li Shaoze's hand and he was habitually startled as a result. He subtly glared at the ghost by his side.

Pei Qian saw his strange reaction and thought it was so contrasting with the expresionless vibe Li Shaoze usually gave off.

'Why is it so cute when he jumped a little?'

They maintained a fairly positive conversation and Li Shaoze was the first to excuse himself. He initially wasn't in the mood for a talk so it was obvious that he would want to get away.

Pei Qian didn't hold him back and as he passed by her, she instinctively smelled a unique fragrant of grass that was unnoticeable. The scent was as if nature was enshrouded in the after-rain, fresh and long-lasting. It was mild but it was enough for a delicate impression.

Pei Qian didn't know it but she was left there staring hard at his back until he disappeared. For some reason, the grass smell on his body made her become static as electricity coursed through her entire body.

She recalled their past encounters and finally realized that he carried such smell even on their first meeting. She just didn't notice it before. Did he wear a cologne?

'What am I thinking...' Pei Qian covered her heated face. Embarrassed for having such thoughts.

When she wanted to run away in embarrassment, she glanced slightly at the tombstone where Li Shaoze was standing at earlier. She thought it would be a name she wouldn't recognize but surprisingly, she knew Qin Meili!

Everyone on the upper business circle would be an idiot not to know her. Especially Pei Qian who envisioned to become like her. Qin Meili was her role model. It was a shame for her to die young when she was just in her mid fourties.

'But what does it have to do with Li Shaoze...?' Pei Qian became puzzled. They had no obvious ties to each other.

Li Shaoze had always been abroad. And Qin Meili had always been operating Quze Industries in the city. Or was she mistaken? Maybe it was just a person with the same name?

For some reason, Pei Qian thought there was more to it but she felt it wasn't her right to be curious about other people's life. A slight frown appeared on her pretty face.

She just couldn't stop thinking about it...

Before Pei Qian realized, she was already running after the man who was long gone, searching for his track.