Chapter 16: Pu Huaiyan: “Let Me Blow-Dry Your Hair.”
After collecting her task reward package, Shen Jiani went to sleep in sorrow. Opening her eyes the next morning, she got straight to work, pulling out her phone to send Shan Dai a message.
“Good morning, Ms. Shan! Did you happen not to contact President Pu last night? I just happened to get in touch with him in the middle of the night to discuss work, and I didn’t hear him mention you. So, I took the opportunity to show him some concern about his hand injury on your behalf. Sigh, the day before yesterday while out for a business dinner, his mind wandered due to stomach pain, and he accidentally bumped his hand against a table at Meiyuan, cracking the bone again. The doctor gave strict, repeated instructions that he needs total rest.”
Shan Dai was washing her hair at the time. She had just finished breakfast and was lying in bed using her phone to coordinate work when her charger cord accidentally snagged the milk glass on her nightstand. The glass tipped over, spilling milk all over her pillow and completely ruining her hair.
Her phone was resting on the bathroom vanity playing music. Hearing the notification chime, she picked it up while wiping her hair dry.
After reading the content, Shan Dai immediately replied: “Secretary Shen, I didn’t contact him last night. I had no idea President Pu’s condition was still so severe, and that it was caused by stomach pain. Is he still going to work these next two days?”
Shen Jiani: “Of course he is! To him, the doctor’s words are just a formality so they don’t get called irresponsible to their patient. He has never listened to medical advice. He worked until 1:00 AM last night, and now it’s not even 9:00 AM, yet he’s already arrived at the company. Yanxin Times doesn’t even start work until 9:30 AM—he’s truly a role model for our generation.”
“…” A wave of utter powerlessness filled Shan Dai’s heart.
She probably should still send him a message, right? Just to offer some greetings and persuade him to rest more and recover from his injury.
Shan Dai exited her chat window with Shen Jiani, scrolled down to a name buried in the middle of her chat list, and tapped into it.
She drafted her message while stepping out of the bathroom. Her wet hair partially blocked her sight, and failing to notice a water slick on the floor, her foot suddenly slipped, sending her knee slamming straight into the bathroom doorframe in the blink of an eye.
The hand she had instinctively reached out to steady herself missed its angle. Failing to catch the frame, it slid down against the wood and collided hard with the corner of a wooden storage box holding toothbrushes on the vanity, landing with a loud thud.
Shan Dai furrowed her brows as a sharp, piercing pain stabbed into her hand like a knife, causing tears to well up and stream out from the corners of her eyes without warning.
Her phone rolled onto the carpet outside the bathroom door. Taking two deep breaths, she pulled back her trembling hand, hesitantly lifted her stiffened knee, and stepped out. Slowly bending down to retrieve her phone, she carefully hopped toward the foot of the bed, using the edge to inch her way bit by bit back to the headboard.
Sitting down and looking down, her knee was already scraped and bleeding. As for her right hand, her wrist bone had hit the doorframe, and as it slid down, the entire side of her palm down to her pinky finger had been scraped raw by the frame. The worst injury was at the base of her thumb—the corner of the storage box had practically gouged a hole into her palm, and bright red blood was currently oozing out.
Shan Dai quickly pulled out a paper towel to press against her hand, which was still shaking violently from the pain.
Only after a good while did she feel the bleeding slow down. She used her fingers to wipe away the tears overflowing from her eyes, then picked up her phone.
To her surprise, there were already messages from Pu Huaiyan: “Hmm? Ms. Shan?” “What’s wrong? Why did you stop mid-sentence?” “Are you alright?”
Only then did Shan Dai realize that when her phone fell, she had accidentally hit send on the few characters she had typed. At this moment, the chat box held only a single line: “President Pu, I heard you…”
Shan Dai immediately set the phone on the bed, using her left hand to awkwardly tap out a reply on the screen: “Oh, I hadn’t finished typing and accidentally sent it. I’m sorry, President Pu.”
Just as she was about to continue writing, she noticed Shen Jiani had also sent her a message.
Secretary Shen: “By the way, Ms. Shan, how long are you staying in Beijing? I’m returning to the capital today! If you’re not in a rush to leave, let’s grab a meal together. It’s a rare chance for you to be in Beijing, I’m so happy.”
Since her message to Pu Huaiyan would likely take a while to finish, Shan Dai replied to her first, poking slowly at the keyboard with her left hand: “Sure, Secretary Shen, I’m not certain which day I’m leaving yet.” Even after the business was settled, she wasn’t in a rush to return to Lan City—she could treat it as a vacation.
Shen Jiani: “Awesome! Then I’ll take you to get something delicious tonight. Do you have plans today?”
Shan Dai: “No arrangements today, but how about tomorrow, Secretary Shen? It might not be convenient for me to go out and play today. I just took a fall and hit my leg.”
Shen Jiani: “What, you fell, Ms. Shan? Where are you staying? My flight lands this afternoon, wait for me to come see you!!”
Shan Dai was deeply touched: “No need, Secretary Shen, don’t go to the trouble. Having dinner together tomorrow is fine. I’ll check my injuries in a bit, and if it’s bad, I’ll head to the hospital this afternoon. I should be able to go out tomorrow.” The injury on her leg wasn’t as severe as her hand.
Shen Jiani: “Don’t go by yourself, I’ll accompany you!! Give me your address, Ms. Shan! Since you’re not heading to the hospital until the afternoon anyway, let me keep you company. I should be in Beijing by then.”
Touched by how wonderfully kind both she and Pu Huaiyan were, Shan Dai could only send her the address: “Room 6, 12th Floor, Oriental Rose. Thank you, Secretary Shen.”
“You’re welcome, you’re welcome! Rest up first, Ms. Shan. Call the hotel to bring up a first-aid kit to do a simple basic treatment, and then wait for me, wait for me! Definitely don’t go out on your own arbitrarily.”
“Okay. Thank you so much.”
It looked like she wouldn’t be going anywhere today. Shan Dai messaged the client’s representative to reschedule their meeting for another day, then immediately went back to reply to Pu Huaiyan: “President Pu, I heard your hand was accidentally injured due to stomach pain, and now it’s even worse. Is that true?”
After sending it, for some reason, Pu Huaiyan didn’t reply for a long time.
Shan Dai looked at her hand. She wanted to blow-dry her hair, but her hand hurt so badly that she didn’t even seem to have the strength to crawl over and pick up the landline to call the hotel staff. She needed a moment to recover before she could do anything.
In her dazed state, she thought she heard the doorbell ring.
Assuming it was for the neighboring room, Shan Dai didn’t move right away. Only when the doorbell rang a second time did she curiously and painfully crawl up from the bed, limping slightly as she went to open the door.
The corridor breeze carried a faint, cool cedar fragrance. Under the wall lamp at the doorway, a man in a black suit and black trousers cast a gaze filled with burning concern.
Shan Dai froze, “…President Pu?”
The corners of the man’s lips pulled up slightly as he looked at the woman whose palm-sized face was wrapped in wet hair. Her pink skin was covered in a thin layer of water droplets, her fox-like eyes tilted upward in vivid, striking surprise that remained utterly romantic.
He gave a slight nod, greeting her with polished propriety: “Secretary Shen’s flight was delayed. Worried about your injuries, she asked me to come check on Ms. Shan in advance.”
Shan Dai was suddenly caught between laughter and tears, “How could that be okay? It’s working hours right now. I’m fine, President Pu, please hurry back to work. I’ve really troubled you.”
A helpless curve touched the corners of the man’s mouth: “Did I make this trip just to say a single sentence to Ms. Shan and leave, without even learning about your injuries?” He flicked his gaze toward her room, “Won’t you invite me in to sit for a moment? You were showing concern for my injuries just a moment ago.”
Shan Dai was struck speechless, then immediately opened the door wider, “Please come in, President Pu. Sorry for troubling you.”
She was staying in a standard executive king room. She had originally wanted to book an executive suite, but since it was booked on short notice, none were available that day. Fortunately, the room wasn’t small, and there was a tea table set near the entrance; otherwise, there wouldn’t even be a place to sit.
Pu Huaiyan pushed the door to, leaving it slightly ajar rather than completely closed.
Then, a hand reached over to support her: “Your hand is injured too?” Seeing her palm wrapped in a thick layer of paper towels, his tone was filled with surprise.
Shan Dai let out a dry laugh, “Yeah, I was too careless.” As the words left her mouth, she suddenly realized she was wearing a bathrobe—having not gone out after getting up in the morning, she hadn’t changed her clothes yet.
In an instant, her face flushed red as blood.
Pu Huaiyan helped her sit down on the sofa, then glanced around the room. Seeing no coat in sight, he realized she probably hadn’t brought any thick clothes for a business trip in the dead of summer.
Shan Dai didn’t know what he was looking for, until the next second, she saw the man suddenly take off his suit jacket, unfurl it, and drape it over her lap down to her knees.
She froze. Then, the man dropped to one knee before her, carefully lifting the hem of the suit jacket and rolling it up slightly until her knee injury was exposed, stopping immediately.
Seeing her scraped, bleeding knee, the man’s brows instantly knitted together, “The wound is so deep. How did you manage this?”
Shan Dai’s gaze rested on the suit jacket over her knees. The red on her face was already matching her wrist bone, and her breathing was completely erratic, “I was washing my hair in the bathroom earlier and got the floor wet. Afterward, I was walking while looking at my phone and slipped.” She offered a dry laugh.
“When was this?” He raised his head to ask.
“Right when I messaged you…” Mid-sentence, Shan Dai hit the emergency brakes, but it was already too late. Pu Huaiyan’s expression changed visibly to the naked eye, the darkness in his eyes sinking like a splash of ink flowing across his pupils.
“When you messaged me—that’s when you crashed.” Even his voice seemed to change.
Shan Dai immediately shook her head, saying nervously, “It was my own fault for walking without looking at the path. I was chatting with other people at the time too, not just President Pu.”
With other people—at this hour, who else could be contacting her while she was on a business trip, if not Shen Jiani?
Seeing his expression shifting through layers of dark emotions, Shan Dai subconsciously reached out to grab his hand, “President Pu…”
The man’s gaze flickered, falling softly onto her hand. Realizing what she was doing, Shan Dai self-consciously released his shirt sleeve and pulled her hand back, “It’s really fine, it has nothing to do with you. It was truly caused by my own lack of attention.”
Pu Huaiyan took a deep breath and reached for her right hand. Lifting the paper towel to take a look, the ink in his eyes churned completely, “It’s this severe.” It was practically a bloody hole.
He raised his eyelids to look at her, “I’ll take you to get X-rays and get it bandaged. I’m sorry…”
“There’s no need to apologize, really.” Shan Dai shook her head. She truly didn’t want to trouble him, but feeling that he couldn’t possibly abandon her and leave right now, she could only nod, “Then I’ll trouble you. Once we’re done, you can go back to work early, President Pu.”
“It’s rare for me to steal a moment of leisure, yet Ms. Shan insists on sending me off to suffer,” he suddenly remarked.
“…” She laughed and shook her head, “No, I’m just worried President Pu will have to work late overtime again tonight. By the way, what about your own injury, President Pu?” She looked at his hand, “Have the bandages already been removed?”
Pu Huaiyan’s heart practically ached with pain, utterly despising himself from last night… He said in a raspy voice: “Yes. It’s mostly healed.”
“Hmm? Secretary Shen said this morning that you bumped it again over these past two days and needed total rest. I was very worried. Actually, yesterday I… wanted to send you a message, but…” She offered a slightly awkward, faint smile, “I was afraid of disturbing you.”
“It wasn’t bumped.” He raised his head, looking straight at her, “She asked me last night if you had contacted me, and I said no. She said you wanted to ask about my injury. I said you didn’t ask, and she said you were probably too busy and forgot.”
Shan Dai was so embarrassed she could hardly breathe, “I, I… was because…”
Pu Huaiyan looked straight into her deeply uncomfortable eyes: “I said Ms. Shan didn’t seem like she forgot, but that it was intentional. I told her to tell you I was in severe condition, to see if you would reach out to me.”
“…” Shan Dai’s eyes widened.
Pu Huaiyan pulled up a half-smile, supporting her injured hand, his voice raspy, “I’m sorry.”
Shan Dai gradually snapped back to reality, ultimately lowering her head in guilt, “I broke my promise. It was caused by me failing to send a greeting to President Pu. You two have helped me so much, yet I constantly feel like I should buy a meal or express my thanks, only to turn around and… feel like it’s inconvenient.”
Her eye rims reddened, and she stole a peek at his hand: “So, is your hand really okay?”
“It’s fine.”
“That’s good. Then, what about your stomach? Does it hurt?”
Pu Huaiyan looked up and took a deep breath. After a moment, he lowered his gaze to stare straight at her swollen, red palm, “My stomach is fine too. I know why you didn’t reach out to me—you simply feel that with Lu Zhixing standing between us, our relationship is inconvenient…”
Shan Dai’s face flushed completely red.
Pu Huaiyan: “But,” he raised his eyelids, meeting her gaze with complete sincerity, “Beijing is an unfamiliar place to you. I still really wanted to play the host. So I lied to you. I’m sorry.”
Shan Dai shook her head directly, her eye rims so hot and wet she could barely speak, her voice almost choked with tears: “How could that not be my good fortune? How does it have anything to do with being sorry? Please don’t be like this, President Pu. I didn’t contact you, but if you weren’t in this city, I wouldn’t have wanted to come here anytime soon.”
Pu Huaiyan’s heart skipped a beat. Slowly clenching his fist, he suppressed the dense, aching pain and regret in his chest, as well as the words bursting to come out.
If you weren’t here— explicit words coming from someone unaware of her own heart held the greatest power, causing his mind to shake to its very foundation.
A droplet of water fell from Shan Dai’s hair onto his arm, making her realize she hadn’t blown her hair dry yet.
In an instant, her face flushed red again, and she whispered softly: “Please sit for a moment, President Pu. I’ll go blow-dry my hair, and then we can set off.”
“I’ll blow-dry it for you.”
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