The Man in the Black Sweater - 5.2: A Little Heartflutter

Luo Xu stared at his perfect jawline, her heart pounding as if it wanted to burst out of her chest and break through flesh and bone.
“Pei Yan…”
Two seconds later, Pei Yan turned his head. “You called me?”
Luo Xu pressed her lips together, picked up the cup, and stood up to return it to its place.
How could she forget—he was Tang Huang’s uncle… Luo Xu hid in the bathroom, knocking her head against the wall in frustration, scolding herself for being so carried away.
“No… no, this can’t happen…” She leaned against the door, lowering her head.
Guests kept arriving. At first, a few asked who Luo Xu was, but soon the room grew lively, and no one pressed further about the unfamiliar girl.
Luo Xu sat cross-legged on a single sofa by the fireplace, calculating how much Tang Huang should be paying her.
Shen Yuqing, holding a glass of champagne, glanced at the lonely figure in the corner and whispered something to Pei Heng.
Pei Heng swapped places with Pei Yan at the card table, saying, “I’ll take over here. You go keep your guest company.”
Pei Yan stood, looking at the girl across the room who sat quietly hugging her knees under a blanket. She wasn’t as noisy as she was at home—so she did know how to sit still after all.
“Fifteen thousand…” Luo Xu muttered, tapping away at the calculator on her phone. After a while she looked up. “Where was I just now?”
“Ten thousand or fifteen?” she murmured to herself.
Footsteps approached from behind, and Luo Xu instantly straightened her back, every pore tightening.
“You made a fuss about me bringing you out, and this is how you’re spending your time?” He stood beside her, looking down at her from above.
Luo Xu flipped her phone face-down. “The games they’re playing aren’t really my thing…”
“I thought you could blend in anywhere. Turns out not.” Pei Yan sat down on a wooden stool nearby, legs crossed.
Luo Xu forced a laugh. “You give me too much credit.”
Pei Yan said, “Tell me about your past Christmases. Why aren’t they worth celebrating?”
Luo Xu’s eyes unfocused, flashes of old scenes flickering through her mind. “Are you sure you want to hear?”
“Otherwise, why would I be sitting here?”
“I’m just afraid that after hearing my stories, you’ll never be in the mood to celebrate Christmas again. That’d be awkward.”
“You’re overthinking it. You don’t have that much influence over me.”
“Oh.”
Luo Xu lowered her head, tugging at the shawl over her shoulders. “Then which one do you want to hear? The Christmas when I was ten and my mom hid drugs in my mouth to get past security, or when I was twelve, got taken in by neighbors, downed my first bottle of whiskey, and ended up in the hospital for stomach pumping?”
Pei Yan looked at her, a faint smile touching his face.
“Oh, right. Want to hear the story of how I got my first turkey?” Luo Xu’s eyes lit up, suddenly excited.
“Sure.”
“I must’ve been fifteen or sixteen, I can’t remember exactly. Anyway, that year I really wanted to eat turkey, since I’d never had it before.” She smacked her lips as if recalling its taste. “So, I made a deal with a few kids on the street—we’d pass out flyers together, save the money, and buy a turkey.”
“Did you manage to buy one?”
Luo Xu grinned proudly. “We didn’t spend a dime and still ate turkey! The couple whose newspapers I used to deliver got into a huge fight—divorce-level fight—and flipped over all the food in the kitchen. I snatched the turkey in the chaos. So that year, none of us had to freeze on the streets!”
“Later, I heard from the neighbors that the husband had cheated and the wife caught him.” She blinked, looking rather pleased at her own lucky timing.
From Pei Yan’s perspective, her smile was so genuine, her storytelling vivid and animated, as if she were still immersed in that Christmas with the turkey. On her face, Pei Yan couldn’t see any hatred or resentment toward fate. Though the life she spoke of was so harsh, it seemed as if even the tips of her hair radiated happiness.
“Because it was the turkey I stole, I ate the most of it. After that, no turkey ever tasted the same,” Luo Xu said with a look of endless nostalgia, unsure whether she was hung up on that year’s turkey or the recklessness of that year.
“So that’s why you barely touched today’s turkey,” Pei Yan said.
Luo Xu raised a finger to her lips and whispered, “I think that’s my quirk—if it’s not stolen, it’s not delicious. Don’t tell anyone.”
Pei Yan pointed at himself. “I think I count as that ‘anyone.’”
Luo Xu froze. “You’re not going to kick me out because of this, are you?”
“No.”
Relieved, Luo Xu heard him add, “But if you dare steal again, that might be a different story.”
Luo Xu pressed her lips together tightly like a clam. She decided not to share her funny robbery stories with him anymore.
Pei Yan glanced at her. “How come you didn’t mistake me for someone else today?” There were plenty of people in this house—she had every chance to get it wrong.
Luo Xu smirked slyly, like a rat that had gotten into the lard. “Why don’t you guess?”
“You’ve found a way to remember me.”
Her smile fell. “That’s so boring…”
There wasn’t a single mark on Pei Yan’s face for Luo Xu to use as reference. Unlike others who might have a mole or some distinctive feature, his face was too flawless, the same impeccable handsomeness as all the men she constantly confused with each other.
But one thing set him apart: Pei Yan could stir her heart in a way no one else could.
“So what exactly is your method?” Pei Yan pressed.
Luo Xu stood, tightening her shawl. “If I tell you, you’re not allowed to get mad.”
“That depends.”
Her eyes darted everywhere as she said, “You’re like a thousand-year-old iceberg. The moment I see you, I freeze up. No exceptions.”
Pei Yan: “…”
Luo Xu: “Are you mad?”
Pei Yan: “No.”
Luo Xu: “Why not?”
Pei Yan: “Because I know you’re talking nonsense.”
Luo Xu: “Oh, you don’t believe me.”
Pei Yan’s gaze darkened. “When it comes to what you say, I’ll always apply a discount.”
“How much?”
“Fifty percent.” He gave her a sidelong glance, curious to see her reaction.
Luo Xu let out a breath of relief. “That’s not too bad.”