Final #II (I Love You)

After the postcard was written and dried, Wen Di double-checked it for any typos, then took out an envelope and put it inside. The white envelope, like the postcard, had a unique Shancheng landscape printed on it, which she had carefully chosen.

It was only 6:30 AM, and the post office wasn’t open yet. She put the small, loose items she hadn’t packed the night before into a small pouch and placed it in her handbag.

With everything packed, Wen Di grabbed her bag and went out.

At the courtyard gate, she ran into the landlord, who was returning with breakfast. After she said good morning, he told her they would leave for the airport at eleven, giving her plenty of time.

“Okay, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

She had arranged for the landlord to drive her to the airport.

Wen Di had breakfast at a nearby shop and took a few photos to post on social media. The last time she had posted was two months ago, and Qin Xing had reminded her several times to get active.

The ID ‘Dee deserves to have eight loves’ was the first to comment: [Dee, you went to Shancheng again!]

Wen Di replied: [How did you know?]

The breakfast she had ordered wasn’t a Shancheng specialty. It was a common dish you could find in any city’s breakfast shop.

‘Dee deserves to have eight loves’ had been to the courtyard from No One is Better Than You many times. She was a foodie and had eaten at all the nearby breakfast shops. One shop, in particular, had very unique tableware that left a deep impression on her.

But she didn’t reveal Wen Di’s exact location, only replying in the comments: [I recognize the plates and bowls from this breakfast shop! I hope it’s not a chain store, that would be embarrassing (dog emoji).]

It was a very small breakfast shop; there was no way it was a chain.

Wen Di read the comments for a while, then exited the app to focus on her breakfast.

The post office branch was not far away. After breakfast, Wen Di walked over. It was still a bit early, so she waited at the door for more than twenty minutes.

Almost no one mails letters anymore, so there was no line. She was able to finish quickly.

She confirmed with the staff member that they would stamp it with today’s date.

The staff member nodded and said it would definitely be today’s date.

Back at the apartment, there was still more than an hour before she had to leave for the airport. With nothing to do, Wen Di put on some music.

The song had just started to play for the second time when a voice from outside the door said, “Wen Di?”

At first, Wen Di thought she was hearing things. She didn’t believe it was really Yan Heyu outside the door.

“Wen Di?”

The second call came, followed by a knock.

Wen Di shuffled to the door in her slippers, looked through the peephole, and saw Yan Heyu standing there. His hair and clothes were immaculate, with no trace of the fatigue of rushing for a flight.

When the door opened, before Yan Heyu could even see her clearly, she was in his arms.

He caught her, picking her up.

Wen Di wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Happy Birthday.”

Yan Heyu carried her into the apartment, and Wen Di reached out and closed the door behind them.

He leaned her against the door, kissed her back, and looked into her eyes. “I thought you forgot it was my birthday today.”

“How could I?” she said. “I booked a flight back this afternoon.”

Yan Heyu saw the suitcase standing next to the sofa in the living room. The table had also been neatly tidied.

Wen Di ran her fingers along his jawline. “Did you have breakfast?”

“I did. At the same breakfast shop as you.”

“?”

Wen Di realized. “You saw my post?”

“Mmm.” By the time Yan Heyu found the breakfast shop, she was already gone.

Wen Di knew he had many meetings and negotiations recently and was stretched thin. “It’s not the weekend today. How do you have time to come?”

“It’s just one day. It won’t delay anything.”

Yan Heyu put her down on the sofa. “I got a night flight back, so it won’t affect my negotiations tomorrow.” He added, “I came to pick you up.”

“Did you miss me?” Yan Heyu took off his suit jacket and put it aside.

“Yes.”

If she hadn’t been waiting to mail him the postcard today, she would have gone back much sooner.

Yan Heyu leaned in to kiss her, whispering, “Help me take off my watch and ring.”

Wen Di fumbled with his watch, taking it off, then took off the ring on his ring finger and put it on her thumb.

Yan Heyu went to wash his hands, then came back and went out to the balcony to close the window and pull the curtains shut. The birdsong from downstairs suddenly sounded very distant.

Later, Wen Di couldn’t hear the birdsong anymore. All she could hear was Yan Heyu calling her “wife.”

Their noses were damp with sweat.

Wen Di lay on his shoulder, feeling his presence in her body and soul.

________________________________________

Wen Di canceled her flight and went back with him that night.

After they had showered, she asked him what he wanted for lunch to celebrate his birthday.

She had originally booked a restaurant in Beijing, but now that they were returning later, there was no way they could make it.

Yan Heyu said, “Anything is fine. What we eat doesn’t matter.” In truth, his birthday didn’t matter to him; he just wanted to celebrate it with her and for her to remember and care about it.

Wen Di dried her hair, opened her suitcase, and took out a wrapped gift box.

“Happy Birthday,” she said, giving him the gift.

The gift box was small. Yan Heyu took it. “Thank you.”

He opened the box to find an old cell phone.

That day, when Wen Di was looking through his notebook, there was an entry on a birthday that read: Wen Di once said she would give me one of her old phones. I want to ask her for it, but I don’t know if she will still give it to me.

When he wrote those words, they had been broken up for more than two years. He was still thinking about the phone the production team had given the guests for the reality show, As Close As You Can Get, she was filming.

She had said she would give him the phone to use after the show, but they had broken up before the show was over.

She had no use for that phone and had just kept it. She had found it before coming to Shancheng, and it still worked perfectly well. Although its functions and camera weren’t as good as new models, it was still usable. He had a Jiangcheng SIM card with only a few contacts, and he could put the card in the old phone.

Yan Heyu reached out and gently hugged her.

Wen Di decided to celebrate his birthday in this apartment. “I’ll order a cake and get some dishes to take away.”

Yan Heyu looked at her. “How about you cook me a birthday meal?”

Wen Di: “...When did you get so funny?”

Yan Heyu smiled. “Can you make instant noodles?”

“That’s my specialty.” Who hadn’t eaten instant noodles in their dorm in college?

She had never cooked before, and he didn’t have the heart to make her learn to cook. But making a cup of instant noodles a year was still doable.

He would consider it his birthday longevity noodles.

Wen Di boiled water, and Yan Heyu went downstairs to a nearby convenience store to buy two cups of instant noodles and two sausages. She had once told him that the most delicious meal in the world was instant noodles with sausages.

This simple birthday meal made them both feel like they were back in their school days.

In the afternoon, they left the apartment for the airport.

Wen Di’s two-week trip to Shancheng had come to an end.

When they arrived at the villa in Beijing, it was almost midnight. During Wen Di’s absence, several new screenplay copyright contracts had been delivered. The housekeeper had signed for them and given them to Yan Heyu.

She asked, “Are the contracts with you?”

“Yes.” Yan Heyu carried her suitcase back to the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.

“Where did you put them? Give them to me so I can put them away.”

“From now on, I’ll keep your important documents for you. You don’t have to worry about forgetting where you put them.” Yan Heyu put the suitcase down and came over. “From now on, you can also manage and keep all of my important things, including my private assets.”

He leaned in and kissed her on the face. “Go check out the study.”

The study was right next door. The door was usually open, but today it was tightly shut.

Wen Di walked over, pushed it open, and was shocked by the sight. The huge study was filled with gift boxes of all sizes.

Before, he used to fill her car with surprises; now, he had filled a room.

She turned to him. “What’s the occasion?”

“You were in Shancheng on May 20th, and you worked so hard to prepare a gift and a birthday meal for me. It’s also Children’s Day soon. These are gifts for all those occasions.”

Wen Di opened her arms. Yan Heyu took two steps forward and embraced her. “When you get tired of reading, just open a few. When you’ve opened enough of them, I’ll get you some more.”

“It’s no fun opening gifts by myself.”

“Then I’ll open them with you on my days off.”

It was past midnight. His birthday was over.

Wen Di kissed him on the lips.

For Yan Heyu, this day was perfect and fulfilling.

He didn’t know that the special gift Wen Di had given him was on its way.

More than ten days later, the letter with the postmark from Yan Heyu’s birthday finally arrived in his secretary’s hands. The secretary hadn’t paid much attention to such a letter until he saw that it had been mailed from Shancheng.

Who else could it be but Wen Di?

Yan Heyu was in a meeting with the executives. During the break, the secretary brought it to him.

The secretary said, “Mr. Yan, I believe this is from your wife.”

Kangbo glanced at the secretary. The young secretary was an expert at flattery, knowing exactly what his boss liked to hear and saying it.

The secretary completed his task and left the conference room.

Yan Heyu recognized Wen Di’s handwriting. He carefully used a paper knife to open the seal. It was a Shancheng postcard, with neat, elegant handwriting.

When he saw her opening line about sometimes feeling she was no longer young, his nose stung.

He read the short message three times.

The ten-minute meeting break ended, and the people who had gone out for a smoke began to file back into the conference room.

They saw their boss with his left hand pressed against the bridge of his nose, his eyes red, staring at the postcard in his hand.

They looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. When he had gone out earlier, he had been perfectly normal and had even thrown them a pack of cigarettes.

It was the first time their boss had lost his composure in front of them. They sat down and became deathly silent.

No one made a sound, including Kangbo, who was sitting next to him.

Until Yan Heyu came back to himself. “I want to show you a priceless gift.” He handed the postcard to Kangbo. “Project it on the big screen.”

After reading it, the conference room became even more silent.

It had been a long time since they had been moved by a person or a thing. “Touched” was a more fitting word. At that moment, they also thought of their own youth, and many things that had happened back then.

Yan Heyu put the postcard back in the envelope. He looked at the postmark on the envelope again. He realized that she had waited to mail the postcard at the post office before rushing back to celebrate his birthday.

Gathering his thoughts, he said one more thing before the meeting started. “In the future, when it’s your partner’s birthday, in addition to buying a gift, you should also write a heartfelt letter by hand. I’ll give you a bigger end-of-year bonus out of my own pocket if you do.”

They laughed and said they would write one even without the bonus.

The topic ended there, and they continued the meeting.

The meeting lasted until noon.

Yan Heyu returned to his office and called Wen Di. He said in a gentle voice, “I received your gift.”

“Yan Heyu.” “I’m listening. Go on.”

“After you’re done with this busy period, I’ll take you back to Jiangcheng.”

“Can you say that again?” He was afraid he had misheard.

“When you’re not busy anymore, we’ll go back to Jiangcheng, to my home, and you can meet my parents and my grandparents. I told my grandma I would be bringing you back, and she said she would make you dumplings especially. Didn’t you say you wanted to have a couple of drinks with my dad? My dad has the wine ready.”

Yan Heyu was speechless for a long time. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, “Wen Di, I love you. More than I ever thought I did. We’ll go back to see your parents and grandparents this Saturday.”

How fortunate he was to be able to walk the rest of his life’s journey with her.

(End of the main story)