I brought your suit...

Shi Ling came home at noon, and his brothers waited on purpose to help him with his things. Since there was no room for them in the house, they put everything in the outhouse, but there weren't many boxes. After that, the young man went to see his mother. She had owned the local restaurant for nine years, where her sons helped her.

When the young spawn of Shi entered the restaurant, even a casual observer would have been able to tell at once that they were of the same blood. All three were slender and handsome. Shi Ling, as the eldest son, inherited his mother's soft facial features and wavy hair.

The middle one had her smile and nimble hands, and the youngest, now sixteen, was seriously studying cooking and preferred to hide out in the kitchen instead of socializing with friends. Years earlier, the father of the Shi family had been injured and his health had not recovered. He died after two years of useless treatment.

The family took the loss hard. To survive, Shi Meili sold her parents' house and used the compensation she received from the hospital to invest in a small restaurant. Fortunately, her natural talent and ability were a success.

After a while, Shi Meili's family restaurant became quite popular. It just so happened that plum trees were planted around this establishment by the previous owner. It took only a short time to clear and beautify the garden. Since then, Mei Yuan (Plum Orchard) has become famous for both its delicious food and its beautiful exterior.

It was here that Ling went to see his mother as soon as possible and to make sure that things were going well. As he approached the restaurant, he could smell the intoxicating scent of the flowers. It is rightly one of the most beautiful times of the year. Many tourists and lovers came especially to enjoy a special moment in the beautiful garden.

An interested woman looked out of the kitchen. Shi Meili attracted everyone with a kind of unfading beauty. She had inherited good genes from her youth. She had never had bad habits and loved walking. Therefore, when she lived to be forty-five years old, she looked as she did when she was twenty-five.

Pearly white teeth, clear deep eyes, charming dimples on her cheeks, thick hair, and a slender figure still drove half the city's bachelors crazy. But Shi Meili did not respond to their feelings. The meaning of her life was her sons and the restaurant.

When she saw Lin, she hurriedly wiped her hands of flour and went out into the hallway as well. The patrons watched the meeting of mother and son with interest. Everyone knew that her sons were her pride, especially the eldest, who had graduated from a prestigious university with his mind and efforts and got a very good job.

Shi Meili hugged her son tightly and stroked his head. They did not need many words to understand each other. Mrs. Shi could already see the sadness in her son's eyes, and she guessed that his arrival was due to the loss of his job. She put all talk aside for later and ordered that A-Ling be fed his favorite food.

Sitting opposite and smiling, she admired her boy. Wiping crumbs from his cheeks, Meili only shook her head, for A-Ling could only behave so freely around his mother. He was usually very strict with himself. Shi Meili's heart melted from this atmosphere of warmth and understanding. She ruffled her son's hair and returned to the kitchen. Shi Ling stayed behind to help in the restaurant.

It was hard for him to be idle. At first, he thought that running away from Jiang Wei would give him relief and joy, but gradually anxiety and doubts overtook his heart. So he busied himself with his work.

Since there were enough hands in the hall, he took a broom and went out to clear the paths. The plum trees were in active bloom, so everything around was covered with a carpet of petals. To keep the customers from dragging them into the restaurant, Ling took it upon himself to sweep the walkways.

There were hardly any people in the yard at this time of day. When he finished his work, he sweated and stopped under one of the plums. Breathing in the intoxicating aroma, he closed his eyes and raised his face to the sky. A pleasant breeze cooled his hot skin, and suddenly plucked a few petals and dropped them on Ling's face and neck.

He felt these light touches and opened his eyes in amazement. It was just like that dream in Jiang Wei's house. The young man closed his eyes again and exposed himself to this gentle snowfall. Soon his eyes reddened, and he wiped away the moisture in the corners of his eyes with surprise.

"Are you out of your mind?" He mentally scolded himself and walked briskly to the back room.

After finishing their business at the restaurant, the family loaded their bikes with the baskets of food that Meili had been carefully preparing all day. The motley company was returning home, and from the outside, it seemed like the cutest family picture.

When they returned, everyone got busy preparing for dinner. Although the food was ready, a large table had to be brought and set. In all these preparations, it was discovered that there were not enough greens and Shi Ling volunteered to run to the restaurant. While everyone was playing board games and waiting for him, he left the house.

On his way back, he was suddenly overtaken by an unfamiliar car. "I wonder which neighbor bought himself such an expensive car?" pondered Ling.

He was walking along the side of the road, confused in his thoughts when suddenly he saw a car parked outside their house. He stopped and hid in the shade of the trees.

Nothing happened for a while, and then the door opened and his boss came out! Shi Ling was covered in gooseflesh. He couldn't go forward, and he couldn't stay still for long either. If he didn't come back in ten minutes, they would start looking for him.

"What is he doing here?" The young man asked himself, moving stealthily closer.

He walked over to the car and hid again. This way he could get a better look at Jiang Wei, but he was just staring at the windows and seemed to be immersed in his thoughts. Then he walked close to the fence.

"What is he up to?" - Shi Ling was frightened.

He suddenly imagined the boss breaking into his house and talking some arrogant nonsense, scaring his mother and brothers. The thought sent him into a fever so high that he began to pant. Silently and carefully he took off his jacket and tried to calm down.

Focusing his attention back on his boss, Ling noted that he was dressed very lightly: the light-colored shirt looked expensive, and the sleeves rolled up to the elbow gave the impression of carelessness. And yet Jiang Wei was cold.

He shuddered in the cold wind and shoved his hands into his pockets. The young man acted so impulsively that he surprised even himself. Seeing his ex-boss shivering from the cold, he abruptly stepped out of the shadows and, after taking a few steps, covered the man with his jacket.

Jiang Wei turned to the secretary in amazement. The care awakened pleasant memories in the man's soul. Without thinking, he stepped forward and embraced the young man.

Expecting the latter to start resisting, he was prepared for such a reaction, but all he heard in response was a quiet sigh. Jiang Wei was even more confused and looked into Ling's face, but he couldn't read anything on it because of the darkness.

"I'm sorry for coming unannounced," the boss said in a completely different tone. Ling froze in surprise, trying to figure out where this meeting would take him.

"Nothing," he finally replied, "actually, I'm glad to see you. Is there a problem again?" the young man suggested.

"How can I say this," Wei hesitated, continuing to hold Ling in his arms, "I brought your suit..."

"So I'm exposed?" startled the young man and was ready to fall through the ground. He backed away.

"Why didn't you talk about what happened?" Jiang Wei went on the offensive.

"I didn't expect you to forget everything. And then... a lot of time passed and it didn't matter."

"Doesn't matter to who?" asked Jiang Wei.

"Can't we just forget?" tried to cheat fate Ling and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"So you'd like to forget everything?" the man asked doomfully, and his question turned into a painful needle.

Ling stood at a loss before a man whose thoughts he could not read. Had he come to this neck of the woods just to remind him of that night? He seemed to care. Did that mean their story might have a different, more hopeful outcome? After assessing the situation, Ling decided to take the initiative.

In the next moment, he firmly grasped his boss under the elbow and pulled him into the house. Knocking the ground out from under his feet, he was going to find out the truth. Jiang Wei was completely confused for a moment, while Ling was confident and calm. On the threshold, he stopped and in a serious tone ordered his boss to behave politely. With surprise, Jiang Wei opened his mouth to say something but failed to do so.

The brothers stared at the guest studying and concluded that he was a man from a different social stratum, much, much higher than them. Jiang Wei emerged from his daze and bowed silently in greeting. As they stood side by side, it was obvious that the man was definitely five or six years older and half a head taller than Ling.

Shi Meili frowned slightly, and a vague guess as to the man's identity showed on her face. But she did not give away her suspicions in any way, greeted her guest, and invited him to join her for dinner.

Jiang Wei hesitated, and Shi Ling, coughing, announced to the family that this was his boss, Jiang Wei, the CEO of the company. The faces of those present involuntarily stretched, and Shi Ling nonchalantly led Wei to the table and seated him beside himself, opposite his astonished mother and brothers.

Shi Meili was the first to come to her senses and politely hustled around her guest. Dinner passed in a slightly strained atmosphere. Jiang Wei felt terribly out of place. He was aware that he had disrupted the peaceful flow of the Shi family's life with his intrusion, and no one dared to laugh or joke in his presence.

It made him press his lips together and furrow his brow, but he suddenly felt Shi Ling move in and touch his knee with his own. This made Jiang Wei freeze, and the blood rushed to his head. He choked and Ling calmly gave him a glass of water with a close and eloquent look in his eyes.

"Damn it!" Jiang Wei thought to himself, "What does that mean?"

But Ling acted casual as if nothing had happened, talking to his brothers and his mother. In the end, the boss also got some air in his lungs and noted that the house was very cozy and the whole family was very similar to each other.

He told me that for some reason he had to leave town and leave his job for a couple of months. Everyone listened attentively, believing every word. Jiang Wei regained his confidence and eloquence, told the strangers about the inspection at the company, and the disgraced director (began to play the unfortunate victim card as he planned) and confessed that the only one he could rely on now was Ling.

Saying this, Jiang Wei put his hand on the young man's shoulder, which made him look at his boss with surprise.

Jiang Wei shifted his attention to Shi Meili and asked if she could recommend a hotel or knew where to rent an apartment for a couple of months, preferably close to their home since he would need the secretary's help every day.

Shi Ling lowered his eyes to the floor, which did not escape Shi Meili's attention. She hesitated to answer, looking at her eldest son, but then surprised her guest by strongly suggesting that he stay with them. Shi's family never failed to shock Jiang Wei with their eccentricity.

The woman considered that her son had worked for the man for a year and had never complained to her. And now he brought him into the house at night, so Shi Meili reasoned that they probably had a good relationship and it would be impolite to kick Jiang Wei out into the night.

Besides, she felt safer having the new man who had so affected her son's moods under her watchful eye. Although from the outside her decision seemed strange and inappropriate, nevertheless, Jiang Wei himself kindly accepted the offer, which meant that everything was fine.

The man was shocked by Shi Meili's proposal and could hardly hide his feelings. He coughed again, referring to the fact that he had a cold. Then he thanked politely and felt Shi Ling fidgeting under the table, touching his knee again.