After finishing up, she checked the time—it was 8:40 a.m.

Yesterday, she and Pei Jingyan had agreed to meet at nine in the morning, but neither of them had expected such heavy rain.

Clearly, the traffic was paralyzed; there was no way Pei Jingyan could make it on time. Su Qingran picked up her phone, thinking to call him.

However, just then, the sound of a ringing phone mixed with the thunderstorm at her door.

Sensing something, Su Qingran hurried to open the door and found him standing there, almost completely soaked.

His hair was drenched, and water had seeped into his wool coat, turning its light gray color to a dark gray. His trousers were even worse, soaked up to the knees, clinging to his legs, and his shoes were covered in muddy water.

“You—” Su Qingran was momentarily speechless, too stunned to react.

The wind and rain slipped past Pei Jingyan and brushed against Su Qingran’s face as she held the door open.

“Let’s talk inside first,” he said, snapping her back to reality, and she quickly stepped aside to let him in.

Closing the door behind him, she shut out the storm, allowing the room’s warmth to envelop him.

“Is your studio alright?” he asked. “The roads outside are blocked, and no cars can get through. But now that the rain is easing up, the water should start receding.”

“The studio is fine.” Su Qingran looked at him; she had truly never seen him in such a disheveled state before.

A strange feeling surged within her. “Why did you still come in this weather? You could’ve just messaged me—we could have met this afternoon.”

“I promised to come at nine. I didn’t want to be late,” Pei Jingyan replied.

His tone was so natural, yet it reminded Su Qingran of the day of her engagement party.

Jiang Chenlin had been late, and she’d been left at the altar.

She never wanted to experience that kind of disappointment again at such an important moment.

“But the weather is so bad; you didn’t have to—” She looked up at him, noticing the droplets in his hair. “I have a bathroom in the rest area. Why don’t you take a shower?”

Fortunately, Pei Jingyan’s wool coat was long and thick, so his shirt wasn’t wet, but his pants were soaked, and she didn’t have a dryer.

“I happened to buy a new towel the other day. You can keep your shirt on, and I’ll see if I can use a hairdryer to dry your pants.” After explaining, she waited at the bathroom door. “Take off your pants, and I’ll—” She caught herself mid-sentence, realizing how awkward that sounded.

The silence felt overwhelming. Just as she cleared her throat, trying to act nonchalant, Pei Jingyan said, “It’s okay. Just hand me the hairdryer, and I’ll dry them myself in here.”

“Alright.” She quickly passed the hairdryer inside, like she was handing over a hot potato.

The rain outside gradually lessened, replaced by the sound of running water from the bathroom. After spacing out for a moment, her eyes fell on the household registration book Pei Jingyan had placed on the table.

It was wrapped in a clear waterproof bag, perfectly dry despite the rain.

Su Qingran placed her own household registration book beside his.

Men usually shower quickly. After blow-drying his hair and making his pants half-dry, Pei Jingyan came out shortly after.

Su Qingran didn’t have men’s slippers, so he wore her slippers, which looked funny paired with his shirt and pants.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Aren’t you worried the heavy rain would mess up your hair and clothes and make the pictures look bad?”

Pei Jingyan paused, as if only now realizing the issue.

“Maybe I acted impulsively, without thinking about that.”

“Impulsive,” she thought, seemed to have become the catalyst bringing them together.

As the rain outside gradually stopped, Su Qingran glanced at the clock, noticing it was already past nine. A thought crossed her mind, and she asked, “Outside the exit of Beichen Street, is the traffic back to normal? Do you think any cars will stall?”

“With this much water, there’ll definitely be some stalled cars.” He walked to the window and looked outside through the glass. “But the water isn’t rising anymore, so traffic outside should be okay.”

Su Qingran joined him at the window, feeling a bit like a rebellious child.

She turned to him and asked, “The rain has stopped. So… shall we act on impulse again?”

His breath quickened slightly. “Hm?”

She replied, “Let’s go to the civil affairs office right now!”

Pei Jingyan had always considered himself a rational and composed person.

At least over the past years, he had grown used to waiting—hopeless, with no clear path forward.

He has obviously been waiting for these years. He waited for her to grow up, then waited for her to be single again. He thought he was very patient.