The Man in the Black Sweater - Chapter 22 — I Have One Exactly Like It

While they were still in Pei Heng’s house, Pei Yan didn’t say a single word.
But the moment they stepped out the door, his expression changed — dark, cold, unreadable.

Sensing the danger, Luo Xu wisely kept silent and followed him to the car without a sound.

The drive home was heavy with silence.

Once they entered the house, Luo Xu bent down to change her shoes, her head lowered, saying nothing.

Then — bang!
The suitcase he’d been holding hit the floor hard, thrown into a corner.

Aunt Chen glanced between the two of them, immediately sensing that something was wrong. Luo Xu quickly gave her a small shake of the head, silently telling her not to speak.

Pei Yan had been holding his anger in all the way home. Now, though his voice was calm, his tone was cutting.
“Take it out.”

Luo Xu reached into her coat and pulled out the sweater she’d been hiding.

Pei Yan had assumed she’d taken something valuable — jewelry, perhaps.
He hadn’t expected… a sweater.
An old one, at that.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he finally burst out, unable to contain it any longer.

Luo Xu stood there awkwardly, clutching the sweater, unable to explain.

“What did I tell you before?” Pei Yan snapped. “I can ignore whatever you did in the past — I’ve let that go. But stealing something from Pei Heng’s house? Have you lost your mind?”

The sharp tone of his voice startled her; she stood frozen, unable to react.

Pei Yan stepped forward, yanking the sweater out of her hands. His voice lowered but grew even more intense.
“Why did you take this?”

Luo Xu’s nose stung — her throat tightened. She looked down, unable to answer.

Being misunderstood by someone you like, accused of being a thief… only she could end up in a situation like this.

“Speak.” His tone hardened.

Sniffling, Luo Xu whispered, “It wasn’t on purpose… I wasn’t trying to take it. Tang Yu suddenly came in, and I just—”

“Reflex?” Pei Yan sneered.

Luo Xu raised her head, defiance flickering in her teary eyes.
“You can question me if you want,” she said, “but do you have to do it like I’m a criminal?”

“With behavior like that,” he retorted coldly, “you’re not far from one.”

“I told you — it wasn’t on purpose.”

“Every thief says that when they get caught,” he shot back.

Luo Xu gave a soft, bitter laugh, wiping the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.
“You know,” she said quietly, “I don’t have to stand here and let you interrogate me.”

She shoved him aside and marched toward the stairs.

“If you live under my roof, you will follow my rules!” Pei Yan’s voice boomed behind her.

Luo Xu turned her head, a cold smile on her lips.
Then she faced forward again, climbed the stairs, and slammed her bedroom door so hard it shook the house.

Uncle Cui, who had witnessed everything from start to finish, walked over slowly and said, “Sir, weren’t your words just now a little too harsh? Girls aren’t like boys. You shouldn’t treat her the way you used to discipline the young master.”

Pei Yan’s jaw tightened.
“If she’s done something wrong, she should be criticized. Boy or girl — there’s no difference.”

He tossed the sweater aside, still fuming.

Uncle Cui shook his head and sighed before heading back to his room to rest.

Ten minutes later, Luo Xu came downstairs, dragging her suitcase behind her.

Seeing Pei Yan sitting silently on the sofa, she said evenly, “Thank you for taking care of me all this time. Goodbye.”

With that, she pulled her suitcase toward the door.

“Stop right there.”

Luo Xu paused for a moment but didn’t turn around. “Sorry for causing you trouble before. It won’t happen again.”

Aunt Chen appeared from somewhere — she must’ve been watching from the hallway the whole time. She hurried over and grabbed the handle of Luo Xu’s suitcase. “Don’t be like that, child. If something’s wrong, talk it out. Where are you going at this hour?”

Luo Xu’s neck stiffened, but she didn’t move.

Pei Yan spoke, his tone calm but firm. “A mistake doesn’t mean there’s no way to make it right. Tomorrow you’ll apologize, and after that, I won’t bring this up again.”

Luo Xu let out a short, humorless laugh and turned to him. “Apologize? Don’t you know? Habitual thieves never apologize.”

Her voice dripped with sarcasm, like she couldn’t care less about the accusation.

“Luo Xu!” Pei Yan’s voice rose sharply, his anger breaking through.

Aunt Chen was startled. “Don’t be stubborn, child. Just listen to Mr. Pei and apologize, it’ll be fine.”

But Luo Xu pulled hard, wrenching the suitcase free from Aunt Chen’s grip. Her expression twisted into a bitter smile.
“You don’t need to lecture me. You’re not my family. What’s the point?”

“Luo Xu…” Aunt Chen tried to stop her.

Ignoring Pei Yan’s dark expression, Luo Xu continued, “I’ve done plenty of wrong things in my life. If I had to apologize for all of them one by one, how would I even have time to live?”

With that, she yanked her suitcase toward the door. Aunt Chen couldn’t stop her.

“Let her go.”

Pei Yan’s voice came from behind — cold, restrained. Aunt Chen’s hand fell away, and Luo Xu took the chance to leave.

The car she’d ordered on her phone just happened to pull up outside. She lifted her suitcase into the trunk with one hand, got into the back seat, and within moments, the taillights disappeared around the corner.

The house fell into silence. You could hear every breath.

Aunt Chen bent down and picked up the sweater lying on the floor, sighing.
“Sir, maybe you misunderstood her. She’s a young girl — what would she want with a man’s sweater…?”

Pei Yan froze. His head turned sharply. “A man’s sweater?”

“Yes,” Aunt Chen said, holding it up to the light. “It looks familiar — isn’t this one of Young Master Pei Heng’s? I remember you have one just like it…”

Pei Heng…

It was like someone had taken a hammer to Pei Yan’s chest, leaving a gaping hole.
And through that hole, icy water poured in, mercilessly filling him up.

—

On the road to the airport, Luo Xu thought she would burst into tears. It was, after all, the kind of heartbreak that should make anyone sob.
But she couldn’t cry. Her lips trembled, her chest ached, yet not a single tear came out. It just felt tight — like a wad of cotton was stuck in her lungs, making it hard to breathe.

She used the money Tang Huan had given her to buy a one-way ticket back to New York, departing at 5 a.m.

She couldn’t face Pei Yan again — didn’t want to.
She was nothing but an accident in his life, an unwanted variable. Better to disappear, quietly, than to stay and be a burden.

If the choice was between being remembered as a foolish woman who got pregnant after one night — or as a petty thief — well, the latter almost sounded cooler.

The driver glanced at her through the mirror and held out a box of tissues.

“Thanks,” Luo Xu said softly, shaking her head. “I don’t need it yet.”

“Take it anyway,” the driver said with a warm chuckle. “Might come in handy on the road.”

Luo Xu gave an awkward little smile and accepted the tissues, holding the box against her chest.

She turned her face toward the window, catching her reflection in the glass.

So pathetic, she thought.
Even the driver couldn’t help but pity her.

……

Pei Yan sat alone in the pitch-black living room.
He didn’t move for three whole hours.

—

Near the airport, hotel rooms were notoriously expensive. Luo Xu couldn’t bear to spend that kind of money. She set her suitcase beside her and curled up on one of the airport’s long benches, staring blankly at the big departure screen.

The bustling airport that had been full of travelers during the day had quieted down by midnight. People spoke in hushed voices or looked down at their phones, each finding their own way to kill time.

The news on the terminal screen was looping through its late-night broadcast.
Right then, it was reporting on the Pei Corporation — one of the city’s major taxpayers and charitable donors — which had just contributed a huge sum to help children with cerebral palsy.
The image beside the headline was of a young, handsome man — Pei Yan.

Luo Xu’s chest tightened.
He’s so good to other people’s children… so why is he so cruel to me?

A girl sitting nearby gasped softly, catching everyone’s attention. People turned to look at the screen where her gaze was fixed.

“So handsome,” she whispered excitedly to her boyfriend. “He’s got that cold, restrained vibe…”

“Tch,” her boyfriend scoffed, though his eyes still flicked toward the screen.

Luo Xu covered her ears. She didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to look — but even after walking miles and miles away, she still couldn’t escape his shadow. Her frustration boiled to its peak.

…

But gradually, she found herself lifting her head again, staring at the screen. The broadcast had already moved on to the next story — he was gone.

“So handsome,” the girl sighed dreamily. “His wife must be the luckiest woman alive.”

He doesn’t have a wife, Luo Xu thought bitterly.

“That kind of man’s never home anyway,” the boyfriend muttered. “What’s there to swoon over?”

That kind of man… when he cares for someone, he’s impossibly gentle.

“You’re just jealous!”

“I think you’re the jealous one — jealous of his imaginary wife!”

“Fine! I admit it. Do you?”

The couple bickered playfully, like it was a game between them — lighthearted and sweet.

Luo Xu envied them.
She envied whoever would have Pei Yan’s heart someday.

Before she realized it, her face was wet.
She touched her cheek — tears. Cold and endless.

She wiped them away clumsily and pulled out her phone to call Tang Huan.
When he picked up, she said quietly, “I’m pulling out. I’m done.”

“You and my uncle had a fight? Wait — you two can even fight?” Tang Huan sounded genuinely shocked.

“He thinks I’m some kind of thief,” Luo Xu said angrily.

“What did you steal? His wallet?”

“I took… a piece of clothing. From your uncle Pei Heng.”

Tang Huan blinked. “Why does my other uncle suddenly come into this? You’ve really stretched this battlefield out, haven’t you?”

Luo Xu hesitated, mumbling, “Your uncle Pei Heng… I think he might be the man I was with that night…”

Tang Huan nearly fell out of bed.

“You still alive over there?” Luo Xu grimaced, half-apologetic.

“…Barely,” Tang Huan said through clenched teeth. “What the hell do you mean? Explain it clearly!”

“I only remembered a black sweater,” Luo Xu said, her voice trembling. “The style was so distinct, I couldn’t forget it. But yesterday, when I—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

Someone was standing in front of her.

She looked up — he was there, holding a phone in one hand, his tall figure casting a shadow over her like a mountain. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Pei Yan said, his voice low, a little hoarse.

Luo Xu immediately hung up the call and stood up. “Why are you here?”

Sweat glistened faintly on his forehead. He had been worried sick, calling her over and over on the road but unable to get through.
He was afraid she’d leave — more afraid something might happen to her.

“Come back with me.”

That he had come all the way here said everything about where he stood.

Luo Xu avoided his eyes. “If you misunderstand me that deeply, then I don’t think we should keep living under the same roof.”

She wasn’t a thief.
Those stories she used to tell — the ones that made people laugh — were nothing but dark humor drawn from her own suffering. She had never been proud of them, and she wasn’t about to repeat her past mistakes.

“I didn’t mean to look down on you,” Pei Yan said quietly. “I was just afraid you’d go astray — the same way I worry about Tang Huan.” His tone had softened, sincere and calm.

“I’m not Tang Huan,” she replied sharply. “And you don’t have the right to lecture me like that.”

Something in his chest twisted painfully. “…You’re right. I don’t.”

“You’re Tang Huan’s uncle — not mine.” Luo Xu turned her head away, her voice trembling just slightly.

“When you two get married, then—”

“We won’t.”

He froze. “What did you say?”

“No one ever said getting pregnant means you have to get married.”

“You and Tang Huan aren’t even… together?” Pei Yan asked, surprise flickering in his voice — and underneath it, a strange, guilty sense of relief.

“We haven’t even talked about that yet,” Luo Xu said flatly. “We’re not in that kind of relationship.”

Pei Yan didn’t argue. Even if he had no inappropriate thoughts toward her — which, lately, he wasn’t so sure about — he still wouldn’t have forced them into marriage.

“Fine,” he said after a long pause. “I’ll respect that.”

Luo Xu nodded. “Then you can go back now.”

“You’re coming with me,” he said firmly.

She sat back down on the bench, turning her head away. “I can’t. I still feel hurt. I don’t want to go back.”

“What would it take for you to forgive me?” Pei Yan’s fingers tightened around his phone.

“I don’t know.”

He took a deep breath, forcing down the ache rising in his chest. “If you like that sweater so much, then keep it.”

Luo Xu stared at him, almost laughing — He really thought that was what mattered to her?
It was never about the sweater. Not once.

“I’ll return that one to Pei Heng,” Pei Yan said, his voice stiff. “You can have mine. I have one exactly like it.”

Luo Xu blinked — then her whole body jolted.
Her face went completely white.

“What… did you just say?” she whispered. “You have one exactly like it?”