"They all said you were dead back then, but I didn't believe them. I searched for you for a long time, but I couldn't find you. To keep myself from giving up, I created this periodic table."
Qin Beiting said this and turned to look at the periodic table on the wall.
Yu He gazed at the periodic table on the wall. The glass was wiped so clean, it was evident someone cleaned it daily.
"I searched for you for a year, collecting two elements each year. If I couldn't find you even after completing the periodic table, I would give up," Qin Beiting said.
Yu He's gaze shifted to Qin Beiting, looking at his sharply defined, handsome profile. Her heart pounded heavily.
The periodic table had 118 elements. Collecting two a year meant it would take 59 years!
Twelve years ago, Qin Beiting was only a thirteen-year-old boy. To find her, he made such a stubborn decision.
And before that, she had been blaming him, resenting him for not going to her grandmother's with her and for deliberately avoiding her.
"Why didn't you come to the station to pick me up back then?" Yu He asked.
After her adoptive father was imprisoned, her adoptive mother spent months investigating to help him overturn the case. She finally found some clues but received death threats from a mysterious person.
Her adoptive mother didn't want them to be implicated and planned to take them to her grandmother's for safety.
But just before they were about to leave, Qin Beiting suddenly changed his mind and refused to go.
It was on that day that her adoptive mother took her to her grandmother's and was killed in a car accident on her way back to the Qin family alone.
When Yu He received the news of her adoptive mother's accident, she cried and wanted to go back to the Qin family to find her adoptive mother. But her grandmother wouldn't let her, saying that if she went back, she might never come out again, and the Qin family wanted to silence everyone.
Yu He didn't believe it. She secretly called Qin Beiting and asked him to pick her up and take her back to the Qin family.
Then, at the appointed time, she slipped out of her grandmother's house without her grandmother noticing.
But that day, Yu He waited at the station until nightfall, but Qin Beiting never came. She was eventually kidnapped by two human traffickers.
She couldn't remember anything after being kidnapped.
She only vaguely recalled that two days later, her grandmother found her, and then they went into hiding, living under assumed names for half a year, finally settling in a mountain village on the border.
If Qin Beiting had gone with her to her grandmother's house back then, perhaps they wouldn't have been separated for so many years.
"I went, but I was captured by Qin Yongchao's men on the way. By the time I escaped and reached the station, you were already gone. I went to Old Mrs. Yu's house, but it was nothing but ashes by then," Qin Beiting said in a deep voice.
He stared at the periodic table on the wall, his gaze unfocused, his eyelids half-closed, as if recalling painful memories of the past. He looked somewhat gloomy.
It was true that before her grandmother took her to escape, she had set her own house on fire and cut off all communication, faking her death.
Yu He looked at the man, then at the periodic table on the wall, and instantly felt at peace.
Her lips moved, wanting to say something to comfort Qin Beiting, but she didn't know how.
"So, you searched for me for so long just because I'm your little niece?" she changed the subject.
Qin Beiting: "Not entirely."
Yu He realized something and leaned her head closer to him, "Oh?"
Qin Beiting saw her eyes filled with curious gossip and suddenly didn't know how to explain.
If the young girl knew he had impure thoughts about her since he was young, would she think he was a pervert?
He raised an eyebrow and mimicked her tone, "Oh?"
Seeing that he wasn't going to elaborate, Yu He changed her approach and asked, "When did you start liking me?"
Qin Beiting: "..."
Qin Beiting: "Figure it out yourself."
Hah, men!
He wasn't like this when he was chasing after her back then! Now that he had her, his true nature was showing?!
Yu He: "You're not allowed to copy my words!"
Just then, the sound of the gate opening could be heard from outside the courtyard.
Qin Beiting made an excuse, "Chen Dong is here. I'll go fry you a steak," and turned to leave.
Tsk, the more he refused to say, the more curious Yu He became, and she followed him.
"Don't tell me you had ill intentions towards me when you were so young?"
Qin Beiting, who was being exposed to the truth: "..."
"You're such a pervert. I was practically your nominal niece back then!" Yu He teased.
Qin Beiting: "........."
He suddenly stopped and turned around. Yu He, who was behind him, was caught off guard and bumped into him.
Qin Beiting raised his hand, tilted her chin, and a roguish smile curved his lips. "So, are you scared of falling into the hands of a pervert? Hmm?"
Yu He: "..."
Chen Dong, who had come to deliver something, walked into the courtyard and was force-fed a large helping of PDA. He quietly took the items to the kitchen, and when he came out, the two were still openly affectionate in the courtyard.
You don't have to torture people like this!
Behind the main hall of the west wing were the kitchen and dining room. Qin Beiting took a box of cake from the items Chen Dong brought and handed it to Yu He.
"Eat some cake to tide you over. Don't eat too much, or you won't be able to eat your steak later."
"Okay." Yu He sat down at the dining table, opened the cake box, and found her favorite tiramisu cake inside.
As she ate the cake, she watched Qin Beiting busy himself in the kitchen, and suddenly felt that this kind of life was quite happy.
Before, she had never thought about what kind of life she would lead besides avenging her adoptive mother and vindicating her adoptive father. Now, she had it.
"Brother Ting," she suddenly called out.
Qin Beiting, who was marinating the steak, responded with a hum, "Mm?"
"Let's continue collecting the periodic table. We'll collect one element a year together and finish the rest," Yu He said.
Qin Beiting's movements paused. He looked up at Yu He, a faint smile on his lips.
"Okay. But I can't guarantee we'll be able to collect the remaining 96 elements," he replied.
Ninety-six years, almost a century.
"If we can't finish, we'll let the children continue collecting the rest," Yu He said.
Qin Beiting looked at her, his eyes full of pampering. "Okay!"
Yu He scooped a piece of tiramisu into her mouth, the sweet taste spreading from her mouth to her heart.
A romantic century-long promise was happily sealed like this.
After dinner, Yu He asked Shi Ban to fulfill his promise of special movie tickets for them last time, planning to go see a movie with Qin Beiting.
When the two arrived at the cinema and were buying popcorn and drinks, Qin Beiting's phone rang.
Yu He bought the popcorn and turned back to ask Qin Beiting what he wanted to drink, only to find him listening to the phone, his brow furrowed, unsure who was on the other end.
She remembered that when she was young and spent New Year at the Qin family, there were many rules and etiquette for paying New Year's calls. Qin Beiting had been absent since yesterday, and the Qin family must have strong opinions.
He was already having a difficult time at the Qin family, and she didn't want him to be troubled by them because of her.
Just as Yu He was about to go over and suggest he return first, her phone vibrated with an incoming call. It was from her grandmother. She quickly answered.
"Grandma..."
But the person on the other end wasn't Old Mrs. Yu, but a girl's voice, speaking urgently, "Hello, is this Yu He? Grandma Yu is in trouble!"