CEFYMA: Chapter 121

In the hot French summer, the village of Pauillac was still crowded with tourists.

Under the blue sky, the retro buildings of the winery were faintly visible in the distance.

A SUV was driving steadily on the red brick road, raising clouds of dust. The sycamores and cypresses on both sides of the road covered the roof of the vehicle and blocked the harsh sunlight.

Little You Mian, who was seven years old at the time, was sleeping soundly on You Daijun’s lap. The cool air conditioning kept the temperature in the car very comfortable. When You Daijun lowered his head, he could see You Mian’s extremely long and thick eyelashes fluttering. Her chestnut brown curly hair felt soft to the touch.

Wagner, who was in the driver’s seat, raised his charming green eyes. He glanced sideways at little You Mian lying on You Daijun’s lap and said with a handsome smile, “We’ll be there soon, Sweetie. Wake up quickly.”

Once the car stopped, You Daijun gently pinched little You Mian’s face.

“Sweetie?”

Little You Mian sat up drowsily. He first hugged You Daijun, and called her Mom. Then he kissed her cheek before grasping the edge of the car window with both hands and leaning out.

“Where is this?” You Mian asked in a puzzled manner.

His round amber eyes were filled with cute questions. Before You Daijun could answer him, Wagner walked around the front of the car and had already reached the passenger seat. He let out a childish ‘wow’ and startled You Mian.

Little You Mian’s eyes widened, and he screamed in fear. Then he giggled. “Dad.”

There were few tourists around, but there were still a few cars parked in front of the winery gate.

Among them was an extremely luxurious, extended Lincoln.

Wagner took You Mian down from You Daijun’s lap, held his hand, and said, “This is the most famous winery in France.”

They came here to collect local cultural materials.

Little You Mian looked around a few times. His jade-like appearance, chestnut curly hair, and amber eyes made people feel sweet at first glance.

The moment others saw Wagner’s appearance, they realized that little You Mian was a mixed-race child.

You Daijun also got out of the car. Wagner took her bag and placed it on his left shoulder. The three of them walked into the winery together.

Little You Mian raised his hands high, holding Wagner and You Daijun. He skipped forward while the adults accommodated him by taking small steps.

Once he saw the expensive wine sealed in the glass display case, You Mian asked in a mixture of Chinese and German, “Is this wine sweet?”

You Daijun corrected him and told him not to confuse the two languages. Then she said, “This type of red wine should be more bitter, right?”

Wagner turned his head when he heard this and said, “Yes, that’s right.”

Little You Mian wrinkled his nose when he heard the word bitter, causing You Daijun and Wagner to laugh.

Wagner leaned on a wooden stake and looked up at the structure on top of the winery. He smiled and said, “Isn’t this structure very similar to the farmer’s wooden house in the south of France that you mentioned earlier/”

Of course, this winery had put a lot of thought into the selection of wood.

You Daijun took You Mian’s hand and walked closer. They looked up together along with Wagner.

Little You Mian couldn’t understand the topic that the two of them were talking about. He looked up eagerly but couldn’t ask any questions except for making sounds of doubt.

However, just by listening to the laughter of You Daijun and Wagner, You Mian’s round eyes curved into a crescent shape.

During this quiet tour of the winery, You Mian suddenly noticed a group of people walking on the other side.

The staff in suits led the way in front. Following them was a beautiful woman with her hair beautifully styled.

Little You Mian poked his head out from behind You Daijun’s thigh in confusion. Unexpectedly, he met a pair of dark and cold eyes. It startled him so much that his shoulders immediately shrank back.

The other person looked much older than him and could almost no longer be called a child.

The tall and slender boy with a cold face glanced at the child who was peeking at him before turning away in an expressionless manner.

The gesture was very cool.

This novel attitude that had never been seen before instantly caught You Mian’s attention.

He looked over enviously again, and saw the boy following two or three steps behind the beautiful woman, explaining the taste and characteristics of the red wine to her from time to time.

Qian Li saw Pei Huaiji’s awkward and stinky expression. She couldn’t help but pick up another bottle of red wine and ask, “What about this one, Baby?”

Pei Huaiji, a 15 year old middle school student, put his hands in his pockets and looked up indifferently. He turned his head away and said solemnly, “The auction price is around 6 million.”

Qian Li wowed in surprise and immediately praised him. “Baby is so smart!”

Pei Huaiji had no interest at all in the winery full of red wine in front of him. If Qian Li hadn’t insisted on dragging him here, he would’ve been skiing right now.

But this sour expression didn’t last long. Just as Pei Huaiji was about to follow Qian Li to continue looking inside, he felt a tug at the corners of his clothes.

Pei Huaiji turned sideways in confusion and lowered his head.

He saw a child with very beautiful eyes grabbing at his clothes with cold white hands, smiling and calling out to him. “Brother.”

Pei Huaiji was wearing a sky blue short-sleeved shirt today with the colorful English letters ‘Destiny’ printed on his chest.

Little You Mian happily pointed to the orange letter ‘T” on his chest and said in very standard English, “Destiny.”

Pei Huaiji always had an expression that said ‘no strangers allowed’ on his face, so no one had ever called him Brother so intimately before.

Suddenly a feeling of awkwardness rose from the bottom of his heart. He didn’t know whether he was shy or angry. Pei Huaiji pressed on You Mian’s head with his right hand and asked, “Why are you calling me?”

Little You Mian seemed unable to move after his head was held down. His beautiful round eyes rolled around, and he whispered again, “Brother, the color of your ‘shirt’ is very ‘beautiful’.”

Pei Huaiji kept holding the child’s head and was so surprised that he didn’t have time to react.

What was this strange language that was a mixture of Chinese and English?

Little You Mian didn’t notice Pei Huaiji’s daze. He was intently staring at the beautiful mottled colors on Pei Huaiji’s chest. His eyes were shining brightly, and he felt attracted from the bottom of his heart.

Pei Huaiji’s hair was pure black, and the color of his eyes was also pitch black like obsidian.

Little You Mian was used to his father’s green eyes. So when he saw such a pure black, he was almost knocked down by curiosity.

Pei Huaiji held down You Mian’s head, intending to find the parents of this strange child. However, the curly hair touching his palm was too soft, making him itchy, and he let go.

You Mian regained his freedom. He finally relaxed his neck and looked up into Pei Huaiji’s eyes.

“Brother.”

Little You Mian smiled and said, “You look good.”

Pei Huaiji pretended to be expressionless as he stretched out a hand to him, saying, “Hold on. I’ll take you to find your mother.”

“Do you know where your mother is?”

You Mian blinked. He moved closer, tiptoed, and held Pei Huaiji’s hand.

The overly soft touch almost made Pei Huaiji unable to maintain his cold expression.

“I know.” Little You Mian raised his head and pointed above him, saying, “They are looking at the wood.”

You Mian had traveled with You Daijun and Wagner since he was young. He might be very young, but he had not only been to big rivers but also climbed snow-capped mountains.

However, his soft and clingy appearance made Pei Huaiji feel that he was just a delicate little bird.

Wood?

Pei Huaiji frowned slightly. This winery was full of wood.

He looked around. There were a few scattered tourists in the area, but most of them were guided by staff members and concentrating on looking at the display cases and scattered wine bottles. It seemed that none of them were the child’s parents.

Pei Huaiji held You Mian by the hand and worriedly looked for his parents, but the child himself didn’t look worried at all. Instead, he walked with Pei Huaiji in the spacious and cool winery, looking quite excited.

“Brother, what is your name?” You Mian asked in a low voice.

The child spoke Chinese with a subtle accent. Some tones that shouldn’t be emphasized were pronounced particularly clearly, making Pei Huaiji want to laugh.

But he held back and said in a deep voice, “Pei Huaiji.”

You Mian didn’t care whether he understood or not. After saying ‘oh’, he introduced himself, “My name is You Mian. You as in Youqi (especially) and Mian as in mian qin lu yin (the sleeping guqin under the green shade).”

The moment this four character idiom appeared, Pei Huaiji couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. He pursed his lips to regain his cold expression and asked, “Do you know idioms?”

The little curly-haired boy puffed out his chest. “I’m 7 years old. Of course, I can.”

Pei Huaiji took You Mian around for quite a while but didn’t see the other party’s parents. He couldn’t help becoming more worried.

Was he really lost?

Just as Pei Huaiji was about to ask the child if he remembered his family’s phone number, the child beside him gently shook his hand.

Pei Huaiji lowered his head and saw You Mian pointing at a bottle of red wine beside him, asking in a low voice, “Is this wine sweet?”

Pei Huaiji was stunned. After thinking for a few seconds, he answered, “It is sweet.”

You Mian let go of his hand and pinched his right index finger and thumb into a tiny gesture. “Brother, can I have a taste?”

They could pick up the wine in the display cases and taste them at will.

There was indeed a wine glass in front of the wine that You Mian was pointing at.

But this proposal was sternly rejected by Pei Huaiji. “No.”

You Mian’s eyes instantly drooped as he asked, “Why?”

Couldn’t he drink sweet wine?

Pei Huaiji frowned when he heard the words drinking. His young face was deliberately stern when facing You Mian.

“Drinking alcohol will give you a headache and cause you to vomit. In short, it is very bad for your health,” Pei Huaiji said.

The moment he heard that he would have a headache and could vomit, You Mian’s eyes widened immediately, but his gaze was still glued to the display case.

Pei Huaiji realized he couldn’t divert You Mian’s attention, so he bent down, picked the person up, and held the child in his arms. “Let’s go and find your parents first.”

You Mian hugged Pei Huaiji’s neck and leaned against him intimately, whispering, “But you said it was sweet.”

He wanted to taste everything sweet.

Pei Huaiji realized what was wrong and said, “It is indeed sweet at first, but it will only be sweet for a few seconds. Then it will be spicy.”

Little You Mian was shocked. “Spicy?”

Pei Huaiji explained vividly, “It is like a needle pricking your tongue.”

After hearing the word ‘needle’, You Mian never mentioned drinking again. He lay in Pei Huaiji’s arms very obediently the whole time, looking around with amber eyes.

“Brother.”

Pei Huaiji ignored him.

“Brother!”

Pei Huaiji still didn’t say anything.

“Sweetie?”

Pei Huaiji’s footsteps paused suddenly. He frowned and said, “What nonsense are you saying?”

You Mian saw that he had attracted Pei Huaiji’s attention, so he ignored the boy’s tone and smiled happily. “There are drinks over there.”

Pei Huaiji didn’t look at it and said, “That is also spicy.”

Little You Mian sighed. “France is so spicy.”

Pei Huaiji couldn’t help feeling distressed when he heard this. Finally, he turned to a cake stall beside him.

Once You Daijun and Wagner followed the address on the phone, they saw You Mian and a boy around 14 or 154 years old sitting in front of a cake stand outside the winery.

Every time You Mian took a bite, he would turn around and ask Pei Huaiji if he wanted to eat it. It was only after getting an answer of no that he would take the next bite.

Then before taking the next bite, he would turn around and ask if Pei Huaiji wanted to eat it.

Pei Huaiji always said, “I won’t eat.”

This strange and extremely patient scene made You Daijun put away all her worries and laugh out loud.

“Sweetie!” Wagner immediately called out to him.

You Mian’s curly hair shook, and he stood up from the bench in an instant. “Dad!”

Pei Huaiji took You Mian and walked toward his parents. Finally, he figured out who the child had learned to call ‘Sweetie’ from.

You Daijun smiled gratefully at Pei Huaiji. “Thank you for taking care of You Mian. Are you alone? Do you need our help to contact your family?”

Pei Huaiji shook his head. ‘He is very well-behaved.”

“I’m familiar with this area, so I don’t need to contact my family. Thank you, Auntie.”

You Daijun rubbed You Mian’s head and asked, “Did you say thanks after eating the cake your brother gave you?”

You Mian raised his head. “I said it.”

Pei Huaiji had just waved his hand when he saw that You Mian, who had walked a few steps away, ran back and hugged him gently, saying, “Brother, the cake is delicious.”

“Goodbye!” The child waved at him. The jewel-like eyes were so beautiful.

Pei Huaiji couldn’t help but instinctively curl his lips as he smiled and said, “Goodbye.”

It wasn’t until You Daijun carried You Mian away that Pei Huaiji heard You Mian saying in a vivid voice from a distance of over ten steps, “Mom, don’t drink red wine. If you drink red wine… you will vomit!”

“And… headache!”

“It is like a needle!”

Pei Huaiji: “……”

The next day, Qian Li was still praising Pei Huaiji for helping the child find his family yesterday.

“I didn’t expect Baby to learn to help others.” Qian Li smiled as she sat in the cable car. “You accompanied me to visit the winery for a day yesterday. Today, I am taking you to ski. How about it?”

Pei Huaiji was wearing a ski suit and didn’t have a sullen expression like he did yesterday.

They took the cable car halfway up the mountain. Pei Huaiji was sitting on the snow and tying his shoelaces when he heard a muffled voice behind him. “Brother.”

Pei Huaiji was stunned. As he turned around, he saw a big-eyed child with chestnut curly hair running towards him.

Little You Mian rushed into Pei Huaiji’s arms. He looked up and shouted with a smile, “Brother, are you coming to ski too?”

Pei Huaiji didn’t react at first until the curly hair rubbed his nose. Then he came to his senses.

He never thought they would meet again. Hearing the lively voice in his ears, he suddenly felt that this holiday seemed different from the past. It wasn’t so boring.