#11: Meeting Someone, Doing All the Romantic Things

On “Girls’ Day,” I went to work and met a male colleague in the office building lobby. He was holding a bouquet of red roses. I said, “Oh! You received flowers on ‘Girls’ Day’!” He replied, “I bought them for the girls in our department.” “Wow! You’re so romantic; the girls in your department are so lucky!” He asked me, “Didn’t Mr. Lin send you flowers?” I replied, “We’re an old couple now; receiving flowers on my birthday is enough.” However, unexpectedly, not long after arriving at the company, I received a call from a deliveryman. Someone actually sent me flowers on “Girls’ Day”! Receiving the flowers brought me joy. I opened the card that came with the flowers, which read—365 days a year, you are my queen for 364 days, but today, you are my little girl. Signed, Lin Zhiyi.

A colleague beside me saw me smiling like a lovesick fool and asked, “Who sent them?” “It’s from Da Lin.” The colleague said, “Are you two this romantic? Just fifteen minutes after parting this morning, you received his flowers. Is he planning to be by your side every moment?” I used to say I didn’t care about formalities, but the small details in love really are a warm and romantic little happiness that can make the whole day fragrant.

Lin Zhiyi and I went shopping at the supermarket downstairs and held hands waiting for the elevator.

He said, “I had a class reunion tonight, but I didn’t go. Instead, I sent them a short video of me taking a fitness class. They said, ‘You’re not fat, what motivated you to work out so hard?’”

“How did you respond?” I was curious. “I just sent an emoji to brush it off,” he paused, then added, “The real reason is that I have an idol complex.” “Is it because I wrote about you in my book and made you the male lead, gaining many readers?” I asked him. “No! It’s because of this fangirl beside me.” He swung our hands.

The corners of the fangirl’s mouth couldn’t help but rise.

On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Zhiyi and I sat on the living room sofa watching Mango TV’s Mid-Autumn Festival Gala. Zhang Xinzhe happened to be singing “A Little Bit of Love”: “You and me, male and female, we can’t escape love. Who is willing, who has the courage, to give their all with a sincere heart...” The familiar melody pierced through the haze of time, quietly stirring the heartstrings, awakening memories of my teenage years when this song accompanied me. “This song is such a classic. When I listened to it back then, I was still in middle school. Even now, it still sounds good.” I sighed. “I also like this song. Back then, I spent a fortune of 9.8 yuan to buy Zhang Xinzhe’s album.” “What a coincidence! I also saved up to buy the album that included this song. I remember its name was ‘Waiting.’” We didn’t know each other back then, yet we did the same things in different places, listening to the same songs. Isn’t this some kind of fate?

“I like listening to music on the bus with headphones. To be able to listen to all the songs on an album without interruption, I hope the journey is longer. So, when filling out my college application, universities in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan were not on my list. This way, during the long journey, there would always be music I liked accompanying me to the destination.”

So this was the reason he came to study at University C! If he hadn’t wanted to be far from home, I might never have met him. “Never thought you were so romantic before, turns out you do have romantic cells!” I always thought Taurus men weren’t romantic enough, but Lin Zhiyi’s romance was cultivated by me. In fact, he naturally had a romantic talent. “What’s so special about that! I think the most romantic thing is that on my way to university, I listened to Zhang Xinzhe’s ‘Waiting’ album, waiting for a girl who would ‘make me a little bit in love,’ sharing my headphones with her. In my senior year, I really met the girl who made my heart flutter, someone who could share beautiful songs with me.”

Classic old songs already stir nostalgic feelings, and after he said this, I became even more emotional.

Late at night, before going to bed, after turning off the lights, Lin Zhiyi suddenly said, “Let me show you the moon.” As he spoke, he got out of bed and drew the curtains. I followed him to the window, where a bright moon hung between two tall buildings, as pure as snow. “Tonight’s moon is so bright!” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “Not as bright as you. The moon is in the sky, but you are in my heart.” He looked at me and said.

One day, Lin Zhiyi picked me up and drove into the underground parking lot, then backed the car into the parking space. After parking well, instead of rushing to get out, he turned on the music and said, “Let’s sit in the car and enjoy this song.”

In that very moment, I found the one and My life had found its missing piece…

This was the background music, “Beautiful in White,” from the day he took me to see the Kongming lanterns in Gubei Water Town. The song talks about the moment when a girl puts on her wedding dress, and the boy confesses his deep love to her.

At that moment, the beautiful melody once again transported me to the romantic scene of watching the Kongming lanterns rise into the night sky. “From here, it’s a surround sound effect,” Lin Zhiyi said. “Where?” Sitting in the passenger seat, I was still immersed in the music and asked blankly. “Move over a bit.” He told me to move closer to the middle of our seats. I moved closer and strained my ears to hear any differences. “Move a little more.” He continued. I followed and moved closer again. “Close your eyes and listen; it feels better.” As soon as I closed my eyes—his breath suddenly approached, and my cheek was ambushed… When I came to my senses and turned my head, I saw him wearing a triumphant childlike smile.

Every National Day holiday, Lin Zhiyi accompanies me back to my hometown in Jiangsu. The faucet in the washbasin at home is a bit low, making it inconvenient to bend down and wash my hair. Every time we return home, Lin Zhiyi helps me wash my hair. More accurately, he only acts as a “hot water faucet.” He prepares a basin of warm water and pours it over my head with a cup.

Somehow, this scene feels particularly warm and touching, no less heartwarming than him helping me dry my hair.

He said, “When I was in elementary school, I saw someone helping their wife wash her hair.”

I asked, “What did you think when you saw it?”

“I thought it was so romantic.”

“Did you ever think about washing your future wife’s hair?”

“Promise you won’t hit me.”

“What is it?”

“At that time, there was a pretty girl in our class, and I thought if she could become my girlfriend when we grew up, I would wash her hair.” “…Wasn’t she your crush?” “I was just budding with feelings and didn’t know what having a crush meant. But because of her, I imagined doing many things with her, like walking hand-in-hand on campus, sharing an umbrella in the rain, or riding a bike with her… Of course, none of these came true because I never told her I liked her.” “Do you regret it now?” “Why should I? All encounters are fate, and those missed aren’t the right ones. But I am grateful for this experience because it allowed me to imagine many romantic things couples can do together, and I’ve done all those romantic things with you. Thank you for making my dreams come true.” “Alright…” Strangely, this time I didn’t feel a surge of jealousy. After all, I already have over a decade of romantic reality with him, while the girl he liked in elementary school has long disappeared into the crowd. Actually, everyone, when they first fall in love, has someone they like. A few lucky ones end up marrying their crushes, but most people can only look back on those memories years later, left with nothing more than a yellowed graduation photo.

I asked him what he would do if he had the chance to meet that girl again. He said, “Recently, an elementary school classmate pulled me into a WeChat group, and she was in it.” “Did you contact her? Did you catch up?” “No. I didn’t even add her on WeChat. I don’t think it’s necessary to reconnect, and I don’t want to create unnecessary misunderstandings.” This is my Lin Zhiyi, a person I will always trust. If they planned to meet and catch up, even if I felt jealous, I wouldn’t stop him. Because I believe in him.

Perhaps we were all like Lin Zhiyi when we were young, fantasizing about many romantic things, then waiting to meet someone and do all those romantic things with him.