Rose Manor

Rose Manor.

The warm autumn sun shines in through the window, filtered by the lush camphor tree outside, and casts a halo of light on the floor. When the cool autumn wind blows, the shadows of the trees sway, and the dots of light dance like the ripples on the lake.

The young and pretty girl was lying on the dark-colored bed, wearing a British-style school uniform, with the pleated skirt barely covering her thighs. She held her face with two white and slender hands, a girl's comic book was spread out in front of her, and her calves were resting on the bed. Against the pure dark background, her skin was so soft and delicate that it was dazzling.

"Ache, have you finished your math homework?" The girl turned over a page of comics, raised her head, yawned, and a layer of tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

She is a little sleepy.

The boy sitting at the desk didn't even turn his head, and asked knowingly with a smile in his gentle tone: "What do you want to do?"

The girl turned another page of the comic book. The girl raised her eyes lazily, looked at his back, and said in a soft and coquettish voice: "You know it."

"Do your own thing." The boy stopped writing, and placed one of his long, bony hands on the edge of the table. When he turned around, his eyes and eyebrows were stained with the sunlight from the window. "You barely passed the math test last time. Pay more attention, my little Nian."

The girl with fair and translucent skin wrinkled her chubby face, revealing a little baby fat, which made her originally pure face even more adorable. She said "oh" reluctantly and continued to read the comics. Her two legs were unconsciously lifted up and dangling in the air.

The hem of her skirt rolled up, revealing more thigh skin.

With a quick glance, the boy's earlobe suddenly turned a thin red. He hurriedly sat up straight and quickly wrote the questions with a pen to cover up the unnatural feeling.

After a long while, he coughed softly, as if he was compromising, but also as if he had no other choice: "You read the book first, I'll help you with math when I'm done, but you can't copy homework."

I didn't hear any response from the person behind me.

Are you angry?

Pei Che turned his head in panic, only to see Shen Jianian lying on the bed, sleeping with her head resting on her arm. The shadow of her eyelashes fell on her pretty oval face, and her cheeks were rosy, like a half-ripe peach on a branch in early summer.

The sunlight shone on her, dyeing her hair a warm light golden color, and the fine hair on the tip of her nose could be clearly seen.

The whole picture looks like a real-life girl's comic.

"What a sleepy little lazy pig."

Pei Che muttered to himself, walked to the bedside quietly, pulled the thin quilt over the girl, and sat down on the bed. His fingertips gently touched her cheek, making a shallow dimple.

He felt helpless about her behavior of falling asleep before finishing her homework, but he was still willing to indulge her and let her sleep soundly, and prayed that she would have a good dream, preferably dreaming about him.

…

The bizarre scene flashed by, and the next scene was the airport lobby.

Flight information was scrolling on the big screen, and the flight from North City to New York was at 2 pm.

The melancholy of parting lingered in the bustling crowd, and the sound of the suitcase wheels sounded more like sobbing. A boy and a girl hugged each other, and the girl looked up, her watery eyes filled with reluctance: "When you arrive in New York, you must eat on time, remember to put on more clothes when it's cold, take care of yourself, and don't let me worry about you in China. I will wait for you!"

Pei Che stroked her face, his amber eyes showing more reluctance than hers: "I really want to pack Xiao Nian into a suitcase and take her to New York."

Shen Jianian burst out laughing at his amusement, stepped back on tiptoe, put his hands behind his back, and stared at him infatuatedly without blinking: "Then just take me away."

"My uncle and aunt will chase me to New York and kill me."

"No, no, they are so nice to you."

"Xiao Nian, wait for me to come back..."

When I come back, we will be together and never separate.

I want to make you the happiest girl in the world. I want you to wear a white wedding dress and marry me. From now on, we will walk hand in hand and support each other until we grow old.

"Shen Jianian, Shen Jianian, don't sleep anymore, we are almost there. You won't wake up even after being called so much, are you dead?"

The shrill female voice was filled with impatience, as if she was going to take action if the sleeping person didn't wake up.

Shen Jianian's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes. What he saw was Yin Shuyao's disgusted face. Her watery eyes were about to spit fire, full of annoyance.

Rubbing his aching forehead, Shen Jianian's mind gradually became clear, and he realized that he had fallen asleep on the way in the car and had a very long and confusing dream.

In the dream, there was seventeen-year-old Shen Jianian and eighteen-year-old Shen Jianian.

Pei Che has been in New York for four years.

They haven't seen each other for more than a year.

The last time Pei Che returned to China, her father had just had a heart attack. They met in a hurry in the hospital and had no time to talk to each other.

If it weren't for her father's illness, she should have gone abroad with Pei Che three years ago, becoming a pair of golden boy and jade girl that everyone envied, and only waited until they reached the legal age to marry and walked into the marriage hall hand in hand.

However, things are unpredictable...

Shen Jianian couldn't help but imagine what it would be like when they met again. With an irreconcilable hatred between them, they would only torture each other and could never go back to the way they were before.

She didn't want to hate Pei Che, but reality left her no choice.

A tear quietly slid down the corner of his eye. Shen Jianian raised his hand to wipe it away, pretending nothing had happened. He moved his body, which was stiff from sleeping too deeply, and turned to look out the window. His eyes were filled with water and felt sore and unbearable.

At some point, a drizzle began to fall outside, and the clean window glass was covered with fine and dense raindrops, making it hazy. The neon lights along the street were projected on it, like an ethereal dream.

I wish I were still in the dream, and would never wake up.

In that case, she would still be the little girl who didn't know the feeling of worry, the apple of her parents' eyes, and the treasure in Pei Che's palm.

"Stop daydreaming and wake up quickly. No one will be able to have an easy life if we mess up tonight." Yin Shuyao raised her voice, and her sharp voice pierced Shen Jianian's eardrums with every word, interrupting his fantasy.

The autumn in Yicheng is much warmer than that in Beicheng, but it can’t warm Shen Jianian’s heart.

She hugged her bare arms and did not respond to Yin Shuyao.

Being ignored again and again, Yin Shuyao got angry and ridiculed her more mercilessly: "Cousin, let me remind you that you are no longer a high-ranking rich lady. I advise you not to put on airs and lower your posture to please Mr. Qin. Mr. Qin is a merchant nobleman. If he is happy, he can do so much good with a wave of his hand. It is not impossible to take back Lingyue Group from Pei's hands. Did you hear what I said?"

Lingyue Group is the Shen family's business.

"I heard it." Shen Jianian didn't want to get into a meaningless argument, so he responded calmly.

Her attitude was as calm and indifferent as a peaceful lake. She was not as disappointed as Yin Shuyao expected. Naturally, she was not satisfied. She snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "Your parents are both dead and you are penniless. I don't know where you feel superior. If my father hadn't taken you in, you would be begging on the street now! Don't forget that the dress you are wearing was given to you by me out of kindness."

In the past, she was always outshined by Shen Jianian, including beauty, figure, family background, and even the men who liked Shen Jianian. Now that the Shen family has failed and Shen Jianian has no one to support her, she can finally hold her head high and vent her long-suppressed anger.

Shen Jianian knew that she was living under someone else's roof, so she had to accept it and believed that she would not dare to refute a single word.

Fortunately, the car was parked under the porch of the Yunshui Hotel. Shen Jianian didn't have to listen to Yin Shuyao's sarcasm one after another. He lowered his eyes and sighed silently.

A doorman in a black suit stepped forward, opened the back door with his white-gloved hand, and put his other hand on the roof of the car to prevent the distinguished guest from hitting his head.

Yin Shuyao was still angry. She rolled her eyes at the people around her and got out of the car holding up her skirt.

Stepping on the soft red carpet, she walked into the hotel lobby with swaying steps without waiting for Shen Jianian in the car.

Without bothering the doorman, Shen Jianian pushed open the door on the other side by herself, stepped on the ground with her toes, moved carefully, held up her star-studded skirt with her hands, and got out of the car.

The dress didn't fit her well, so she had to be careful, otherwise if she ruined it, Yin Shuyao would take the opportunity to get angry again.

The two people's current status is very different, and Yin Shuyao always takes pleasure in suppressing her.

She really can't afford to pay for such a dress now.

Shen Jianian had no other decorations on her body. Her long, smooth, black hair was loosely tied into a bun with just an ordinary black hairpin, and the rest of her hair fell down her back.

An autumn breeze blew, his hair fluttered, and his profile looked calm and indifferent.

In such a cold night, there is a special kind of charming charm.

Shen Jianian took out the cello from the trunk and put it on his back, then slowly walked into the hotel and walked towards the elevator on the right.

Perhaps because there were so many guests attending Old Lady Qin’s birthday party tonight, Yin Shuyao, who came in before her, was still waiting anxiously in front of the elevator.

There were two tall and straight men standing in front of another elevator. Shen Jianian didn't look sideways, but focused on the red numbers jumping above the elevator. It was just that his peripheral vision happened to catch a glimpse of the two tall figures.

After waiting for a while, another elevator opened and two men stepped in.

Yin Shuyao couldn't wait any longer, so she pulled Shen Jianian and said she disliked her dullness and inflexibility: "Why are you still standing there? Are you waiting to die? Didn't you see this elevator arrive?"

The high heels didn't fit Shen Jianian well, and she was suddenly pulled by a strong force. The heavy cello on her back tilted to one side, and the force made her stagger.

After barely standing steady, he followed Yin Shuyao into the elevator.

"Stand over there, you're stepping on my skirt! Shen Jianian, do you have eyes for venting your anger?"

Just as Shen Jianian stood firm, Yin Shuyao pushed her hard, causing her to take two steps back. The heavy white cello case she was carrying hit the man's chest.

The man who was poked in the chin frowned and had no choice but to raise his neck and turn his head to avoid the attack.

Lu Yanzhi, who was standing by, witnessed this scene and stroked his nose and chuckled, "Old Fu, make way. You are getting in the way of others by standing here."

The man called "Old Fu" had a distant and cold look in his eyes. He glanced over lightly, and just one look was full of cold warning.

Lu Yanzhi surrendered on the spot and remained silent.

Who made this guy have such a cold and ruthless face? He is very intimidating.

The atmosphere in the car was eerie and made people feel nervous. After Shen Jianian steadied himself, he immediately turned around and apologized. The cello case almost poked the "Old Fu" in the face again.

The man retreated again with a gloomy face, and heard the girl say in a clear and low voice: "I'm sorry, sir."

Lu Yanzhi was stunned for a moment, looking at the girl in front of him whose appearance could be described as stunning, and smiled faintly in his heart. It was the first time he saw someone who was more indifferent than Fu Da, and the other party was a young girl.

Yin Shuyao's focus was always on her dress and makeup, fearing that there was something not perfect and appropriate about her and that she would be outdone by Shen Jianian beside her. Only then did she have time to pay attention to the other man in the elevator.

When she looked carefully, her attention was immediately drawn to the man on her left.

The light on the top of the elevator was particularly bright, a cold white light, covering the man's clear and three-dimensional facial features. His facial features were so delicate that they seemed to be carefully drawn