Twenty-five

  She didn't know how Gao Tian had persuaded her parents, but her father never mentioned letting her return to Mian City again, nor did he say anything about cutting off their relationship. However, she knew that she had still deeply hurt them. Because for the rest of the time, her father didn't say a word to her, and her mother was evasive, only focusing on packing her luggage for her return to Wucheng.

  She found the Andersen's fairy tales she had read before in her father's study and also put them in her luggage. She always had this wish, hoping that one day she could meet that person who bumped into her and read these fairy tales together with him.

  Mom and Gao Tian went to the train station to see her dad off, but he didn't come home. She waited and waited, but Dad still didn't show up, so she reluctantly left. As they boarded the train, Double jumped around her feet and onto her body. She bent down to pick it up and softly said: "You have to be good and stay with Mom and Dad, no being naughty." Suddenly thinking that Double was actually much better behaved than herself, she felt a bit down.

  Mom said to her: "Fangfang take good care of yourself and grasp yourself well." Just these two sentences. Gao Tian stood beside her with his arms around him, silent.

  The car started moving and she sat by the window in the empty last row, watching her mother's figure getting smaller and smaller, tears slipping out again.

  A hand wiped away her tears.

  "Is it that you can't bear to part with your mother or is it that you can't bear to part with that slender bamboo pole?" It was his voice, and she turned around in surprise to see his smiling face bathed in sunlight.

  "Aren't you back already?" She felt like she was dreaming. His hand came around her mouth and attached to her ear, saying: "I want to monitor you to see if you keep your promise. As expected, you still haven't." She pushed him away a bit, but he cheated his way closer again.

  "I want to stick with you for a lifetime." He chuckled.

  "You can say such cheesy things." She turned her head away from him. He put his arm around her and made her lean her head on his chest, saying: "I've always wanted to hold your hand like this, take the bus together, go for walks together, do everything together, and have you lean against me for a lifetime." Yes, holding hands till old age, she smiled silently.

  He asked her, "Like frost, am I not very well-behaved? Seeing your mom send you off without going up to disturb you, and seeing you with Zhugan together also didn't really make me angry." She stroked his hand, carefully looking at every line on it, carefully listening to each word he said.

  "Because I know you love me and only me." He said it with such certainty and confidence. "I also love you, so I won't do anything that would make you uncomfortable or unhappy." She closed her eyes, just like this, quietly passing the days, not thinking about tomorrow, as long as he was by her side with his sweet words, she could spend a lifetime with him. Love is truly sweet, and at this moment, she felt that the name Ai Qing (which means "Love Clear" or "Love Pure") given to her by Liu Qing was absolutely perfect, a double entendre.

  The three-hour drive flew by because the two of them were together. Entering the house, it was already dark but the living room still had that small lamp lit. She saw the flowers on the coffee table in the living room - a full table of wilted blue small flowers arranged into a heart shape. "Chrysanthemum", she blurted out.

  "Yes," he put down his luggage and went over to hug her from behind, "I know you like blue so last Friday was the day you ran back home, I ran all the flower shops in the city just to find these delphiniums, blue ones are not many originally."

  "How did you know I like blue and how did you know I like cosmos?" she asked softly, letting his head rest on her shoulder.

  "It's obvious that all your skirts are blue, your notebook, your slippers... even your underwear is blue." Her face turned red as she recalled the incident on that rainy day.

  "That day when we were drinking soup, you saw the chrysanthemum on the tablecloth and your eyes widened just like when you see me, of course I knew you liked it." Her face turned even redder: "I didn't look at you with wide eyes, don't be smug!" She said while trying to push him away.

  He wouldn't let her push him away, holding her tighter instead: "It's so easy to hold you again, how can I bear to let go?" He gently nibbled on her ear and neck, making her feel ticklish. Suddenly remembering her mother's words, she firmly pushed him away and turned around.

  His eyes had become misty and his face was filled with a heartbreaking expression. She said, "I know everything about you, but apart from your name, I don't know anything about you."

  He leaned in: "How can you be so heartless and say that I only know your name when you clearly know I love you." She pushed his shoulder with her hand: "You clearly know what I said wasn't about that!" It actually had a hint of being spoiled, turns out she could be spoiled too.

  He said seriously: "You really want to know what I'm going to tell you in bed tonight." She blushed: "What are you talking about? What do you take me for?"

  He said more seriously: "I mean, isn't it more comfortable to talk while lying in bed than sitting? Don't think too much about it, okay?" She was exasperated again.