The Man in the Black Sweater - Chapter 19 — The Second Rival in Love

Pei Yan went to drink with Pei Heng again — only this time, he was the one who needed to get drunk.

Though the two were half-brothers — same father, different mothers — their bond was stronger than that of most full siblings.

Pei Heng’s feelings toward Pei Yan were complicated: respect, gratitude, affection… hard to define, yet deeply ingrained.
He also knew Pei Yan better than most — easily among the top three people who could read him.
So now, seeing the conflict on Pei Yan’s face, he didn’t need to ask to understand what was going on.

“Luo Xu’s a good girl. Looks like Tang Juan has pretty good taste,” Pei Heng said, swirling the wine in his glass and watching his older brother carefully, testing the waters.

Pei Yan drank in silence, ignoring him.

“Brother,” Pei Heng continued, “before Sister Yu passed away, you promised at her bedside that you’d take good care of her two children.”
His meaning was clear — don’t steal your nephew’s girl.

Pei Yu had died young. Instead of entrusting her children to their grandparents, she had held Pei Yan’s hand and asked him to look after them — to make sure they stayed on the right path and didn’t suffer.

Pei Yan tilted his head back and downed the whiskey in one gulp.
If it weren’t for Tang Juan, he wouldn’t be feeling this miserable.

“Brother,” Pei Heng said seriously, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, “you know which is more important. What you want… there’s no future in it. Wouldn’t it be better to let go sooner — for your own peace, and for their happiness too?”

Pei Yan set down his glass — now filled with only ice — and leaned back, closing his eyes.

“I know.” He pressed his fingers to his brow, rubbing away the tension there.

“Luo Xu not remembering you might actually be a good thing,” Pei Heng added. “You said it yourself — it spares you both some trouble.”

Pei Yan opened his eyes, their depths dark and clouded.
Trouble?
He didn’t see it as trouble anymore.

Her every smile, every frown, was etched into his mind.
Her innocence, her clumsy impulsiveness — even those small flaws had become charms.
He couldn’t understand how someone could make him feel both so helpless and so… happy.

“Brother, they’re the ones who belong together,” Pei Heng said gently. He hated seeing him like this, but the only way to heal a wound was to lance it open.

Pei Yan’s lips twitched in a faint smile. “I know. That’s why I haven’t done anything.”

He hadn’t sought her out.
Hadn’t shown her tenderness.
Hadn’t told her…
that somewhere along the way, he’d already fallen beneath her skirt’s hem.

Outside, Luo Xu walked Ross around the courtyard again and again, pausing every so often to listen for the sound of a car.
Woman and dog — same expression, same posture.

It was ten o’clock. Still no sign of a car engine outside.
Luo Xu hugged Ross tighter and went back inside, disappointed.

Well, she told herself, he’d already spent one evening keeping her company — it was New Year’s, after all.
She couldn’t expect him to stay by her side all the time.

Sighing, she pulled out her phone to vent her frustration on Tang Juan.

“When are you coming back, you jerk?!”

Tang Juan, half-asleep, blinked at his screen. “In a month! What’s wrong?”

“Hurry up and get back here! I can’t keep this act up anymore!”

“What happened? Did someone find out?” he asked, sitting upright immediately.

Luo Xu rested her hand on her belly and lied flawlessly. “Yeah. I think your uncle’s starting to suspect something. I feel guilty — if I lose my nerve and mess up, what then?”

“My uncle is kind of a tough one,” Tang Juan admitted. “What about my grandma? She didn’t give you a hard time, did she?”

“I’ve only met her once. I don’t think she likes me.”

Tang Juan sighed. “Come on, you’ve gotta see it through. At least help me keep Grandma happy until I’m back.”

“I’m already doing more than enough! I mean — me and this baby in my stomach are both doing our best for you!”

“Alright, alright, just hold on for another couple of weeks. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Better hurry. I’m running out of steam here…”

Every second she spent with Pei Yan was a test of her willpower — and her limits.
She couldn’t take much more of it.

If she had to describe it, falling in love felt like having an itch — one you couldn’t help but scratch.
The more you scratched, the worse it got.

Right now, Luo Xu was at the first stage of that feeling — and it was pure torture.

The next morning, dark circles bloomed under Luo Xu’s eyes — clear evidence of a sleepless night.

With no one else in the house, she drifted aimlessly from room to room like a wandering ghost — shuffling from the kitchen to the balcony and back again. After half a morning of mindless movement, she found herself holding a kettle of boiling water over a pot of clivia plants.

“Ah!” She quickly put it down — thank goodness she hadn’t poured it.

Realizing how dazed she was, Luo Xu sighed and crawled back into bed.
What she needed was sleep — clearly, mornings were not for her.

Pei Yan had breakfast at the old family residence and returned home soon after.
When he opened the door, he half-expected to see Luo Xu curled up on the sofa watching TV, surrounded by a mess of snacks.

Instead, the house was silent — empty, still.
Only a SpongeBob pillow tossed in the corner of the sofa proved she was still around somewhere.

He stood there for a moment, then went upstairs.

The bedroom door wasn’t fully closed — a thin crack of light peeked through.
He pushed it open quietly.

One slipper lay by the sofa, the other under the bed — definitely not the footprint of someone who had gone to sleep in a dignified manner.
On the bed, the girl was curled into a ball, only the top of her black head visible above the blanket.

Ross barked once, bursting out from under a small blanket and wagging his tail eagerly at Pei Yan.
He was hungry — finally, a human!

Pei Yan picked him up, glanced at the sleeping figure on the bed, then quietly pulled the door closed and took the dog downstairs to feed him.

Luo Xu sat up groggily a few minutes later, blinking in confusion.
Did she just hear that dumb dog?
Probably her imagination.

Whatever — if Ross was hungry, he’d definitely wake her up himself.
So Luo Xu flopped back down and went right back to sleep.

Pei Yan sat downstairs for most of the morning.
The TV was on, but his eyes kept drifting toward the staircase.
The door upstairs stayed closed. Not a sound.

Then — bang!
The door flew open.

Something halfway between a human and a ghost appeared: hair in disarray, face pale as paper.
Yawning, Luo Xu stretched as she descended the stairs — until she heard the sound of the TV.

Thud!
On the last step, her knees gave out. She grabbed the railing for dear life.

She was so hungry her legs had gone weak.

Pei Yan quickly went to help her up — only for her to jerk her hand back in surprise.

“What, you don’t recognize me now?” His tone darkened; his expression was pitch-black, like ink or octopus ink.

“Hahaha… how could I not!” Luo Xu gave a nervous laugh, scratching her head.

Once. Twice. Then she suddenly turned around and bolted up the stairs, half-running, half-crawling.

“What are you running for?” Pei Yan called after her, frowning.

“Washing my hair!” she shouted back.

(One way to tell if a woman likes you: she’ll make sure her hair is washed before seeing you.
Clearly, the dignified Mr. Pei had no idea.)

Luo Xu washed her hair, tidied herself up, and gave herself a quick pep talk before heading downstairs again.

But when she got to the living room — no one was there.

She looked around and stopped at the kitchen door.
Pushing it open, she saw a tall figure standing with his back to her, cooking.

The gleaming countertops, the sunlight streaming in, his composed silhouette — it was, without a doubt, one of the most collectible scenes in her entire life.

“Smells amazing,” she said, walking in.
He was pan-frying cod, and next to it, a plate of golden fries.

Luo Xu reached out to grab one — only for a large hand to catch her midair.

“Hehehe.” She grinned sheepishly. “Just wanted to see if it’s good.”

“It’s hot. Wait a minute,” Pei Yan said.

“Okay…”

“Mhm.”

Luo Xu wriggled her fingers. “I just want one. You’re not actually planning to break my hand, are you…?”

Pei Yan let go, turned down the heat, and lifted the cod from the pan.

Luo Xu leaned in to sniff. “Wow, smells so good. I want this!”

“Mm.” He answered simply, still focused on the pan.

Luo Xu tilted her head. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, come on. You totally look like you’re in a bad mood.” She leaned on the counter, trying to catch his eyes. “You can tell me, you know. I might not be as smart as you, but I can at least comfort you a little.”

“You couldn’t comfort me,” he said quietly.

Because if she knew the truth — his secret feelings — what would she think of him?
Probably that he was sick.

Luo Xu blinked, her mind spinning fast. “Wait… is it a love problem?”

She asked boldly, testing the waters.

“Mm.”

Her eyelid twitched. Wait — what did she just ask? And did he just agree?

“It is a love problem…” she muttered, smiling faintly, the corners of her lips tight.

Pei Yan held out his hand. “Pass me the salt.”

Luo Xu handed him the shaker. “Didn’t expect someone like you to get bothered by love troubles. I thought people like you always had it all figured out.”

Pei Yan hesitated before sprinkling it, then turned to look at her.

“What? Did I say something wrong again?” she asked nervously.

He lifted the white shaker slightly. “This is sugar. You want sweet-and-sour steak instead?”

“Oh—oops.” Luo Xu quickly swapped it for another one, pointing at the label. “This one’s definitely salt.”

Pei Yan took it, sprinkled a light dusting over the meat, and said, “Go set the table.”

“Okay.”

After a moment, she came back from the dining area and asked out of nowhere, “Is it because of Miss Linru?”

No context. No lead-in. Just straight to the point.

Pei Yan came out with the fries she’d been eyeing all morning. “No.”

Luo Xu’s shoulders slumped. Damn it, she thought. Just how many love rivals do I have now?!

Miss Linru was already enough trouble — but who was this second woman?

She looked up at him, radiating pure jealousy.

“What?” he asked.

“I’d rather it was Miss Linru,” she huffed, taking the plate of fries from him and plunking it down on the table.

Pei Yan froze.
Did she even realize what she’d just said?