I heavily wiped my face with one hand, finally replying to Jian Wei’s message: “Understood, I’ll repay A Ji’s money once I return to Suzhou.”

Jian Wei didn’t reply to my message, and there was no need to, as our relationship had come to an end with the revelation of the guitar incident.

I put my phone back into my pocket and couldn’t help but look back, even though I knew Mi Cai wouldn’t return so soon.

The wind blew in gusts, stirring up ripples on the lake and my longing for her. Even though Mi Cai had only been gone for a short while, I couldn’t help but miss her, as my heart was moved by the wind.

As time ticked by, I yearned for her to return quickly, yet I didn’t want her to come back too soon, as I hadn’t found a way to confess my feelings yet.

When others confessed their love, they would go to great lengths to please with romance. Yet, I had Mi Cai buy cigarettes for me, which was quite out of tune and seemed unfair to her. Therefore, I was desperate to come up with a way to make up for it.

Anxious, I heard footsteps coming from the riverbank. Turning around, it was Mi Cai, holding a small plastic bag containing cigarettes and what seemed to be a few cans of beer.

My breath hitched, and I kept repeating in my mind: “How to confess? How to confess, how should I confess?”

Mi Cai was getting closer and closer to me. I could almost hear my own heart pounding, and I lost the ability to think, just staring at her blankly.

Mi Cai came to my side, sat down cross-legged, and handed me the plastic bag, whispering, “Your cigarettes.”

“Thank you.”

I tried to take the bag from Mi Cai, but I was so startled by the touch of her hand that I couldn’t hold onto it.

Mi Cai picked up the bag and handed it to me again, asking, “Are you very nervous?”

“A bit… When others confess, they make it so romantic, and I had you go buy cigarettes, how out of tune!” I said, recalling Wei Ran’s grand gesture of booking an entire cinema to confess to Mi Cai. Compared to that, I felt clumsy.

“What matters is the person confessing, not the way of confession… Can you hurry up? Otherwise… I’m also very nervous!”

“Then light a cigarette for me, just like… Popeye eating spinach, I need strength!”

Mi Cai tore off the thin film on the cigarette pack, took out a cigarette, and said to me, “Open your mouth.”

I immediately opened my mouth, and Mi Cai stuffed the cigarette in, took out a lighter from my pocket to light it for me, then put her hand back on her lap, quietly watching me.

I took a puff of the cigarette, turned my head to exhale elsewhere, then turned back to Mi Cai and asked, “If I confess, will you reject me?”

“How would I know if you haven’t confessed yet?”

“True…”

I smoked almost the entire cigarette without saying a word, and Mi Cai remained patient, not rushing me.

Finally, I put out the cigarette in my hand, gathered my courage, but Mi Cai suddenly took out a can of beer from the bag and handed it to me, saying, “Why don’t you have another beer?”

I took the beer from Mi Cai, looked at her questioningly and asked, “Are you nervous again?”

“…Yes!”

Suddenly, I had enough of this roundabout tension. A surge of adrenaline made me throw the beer can into the river, saying, “Let’s both stop being nervous,” and I pushed Mi Cai down on the ground, pinned her down, stared at her for a second, and kissed her. To me, at that moment, this was the best confession.

Mi Cai was caught off guard by my kiss. Her hands tightly gripped mine, her nails digging deep into my flesh. I suddenly stopped, biting her lip. Mi Cai closed her eyes, pinching my fingers but adding more force, so I bit down harder on her lip.

Mi Cai exerted more force, and I added more as well. Finally, I felt the skin on my hand being pinched by her, but I didn’t care about the pain. Afraid that I might bite through her lip, I quickly opened my mouth to let go, and she also let go of my hand at almost the same time.

I moved away from Mi Cai’s body and lay down next to her, letting out a deep breath, and chuckled, “…I like you, I want you to be my wife, to have my children, but I only dare to think about it. The more I think about it, the less I dare to, because it feels like a dream, the more I think about it, the less real it feels…”

Mi Cai turned to hug me and whispered, “Zhao Yang, I want to tell you a story.”

I opened my arms to let Mi Cai rest on them, and said, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“In a garden, there was a beautiful flower. Passersby praised her beauty and desperately wanted to pick her, to possess her. But there was a gardener who always protected her, not letting those passersby harm her. He watered and fertilized her every day, and when he saw her bloom, he was happy, never expecting anything in return…”

I was silent for a long time before asking, “Do you think I’m that gardener?”

“Mm… So, I’m willing to be the flower that blooms only for you!”

I asked myself: Was I really the gardener who had been silently protecting Mi Cai? In fact, I couldn’t be sure. At least during the process of getting to know Mi Cai, I was still thinking about another flower. But one thing was certain: no matter how much I gave to Mi Cai, I never thought about taking anything from her. I was willing to silently satisfy her, protect her, and watch her be happy.I held Mi Cai tightly, drawing her closer to me, and whispered in her ear, “I understand now. In this world of desires, you are my last faith. I hope that I can take you and leap into the river of happiness, swimming until the end!”

“You can do it… Ever since Circle told me the truth about that incident, I believe that you must be the person my father sent to protect me!”

I smiled and said, “Now that you mention it, it does explain why there are so many coincidences between us… But, for all the effort I put into protecting you, shouldn’t your father pay me a salary?”

Mi Cai lightly slapped me and laughed along, “He’s given you his daughter, and you still have the nerve to ask for a salary?”

A wave of joy and sweetness filled my heart, and I held Mi Cai even tighter. At this moment, I felt that I was holding Mi Cai, my girlfriend Mi Cai, not the awe-inspiring CEO of Zhuo Mei.

We embraced each other tightly in silence. After a long while, Mi Cai said to me, “Zhao Yang, from now on, you can’t think about other women besides me. I don’t care about your past, but I care about our future. I don’t want to see misunderstandings like last time.”

“Are you referring to the scene where I was holding Jian Wei on New Year’s Eve?”

“Yes, CC explained it to me, and I realized it was a misunderstanding. But we can’t always rely on CC to clear up misunderstandings between us, right?”

I nodded, signaling Mi Cai to rest assured. For me, it was indeed time to say goodbye to my past life. At this moment, I was truly satisfied to be able to hold her, as if I had once again grasped the faith that I had lost for a long time!

A gust of wind blew past us again, bringing the warmth of spring. I was somewhat intoxicated, somewhat infatuated, wishing I could hold her like this until we grow old.

Mi Cai asked me softly again, “Are you asleep?”

“No, I feel a bit drunk. This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“Let me bite you. If it hurts, it’s not a dream!”

“Are you still holding a grudge because I bit your lip just now? Speaking of which, you pinched me quite hard… Oh, I’ve already felt the pain, so it must not be a dream!”

Mi Cai laughed, but her tone suddenly became serious, “By the way, Zhao Yang… Next Friday is my uncle’s fiftieth birthday. There will be a banquet. Will you come with me?”

I muttered to myself, “Mi Zhongde’s birthday!!”

I was surprised and asked subconsciously, “Next Friday is the eighth day of the lunar new year, right?”

“Yes, are you free?”

I hesitated slightly. Even though I didn’t like Mi Zhongde’s character, I didn’t plan to refuse. So, I joked with Mi Cai, “Are you using this opportunity to introduce me to your parents?”

“…You can interpret it however you want, but I hope you will come.”

“The event will be grand, right? I’m afraid I’ll be lost among those tycoons and embarrass you!”

Mi Cai looked at me speechlessly…

“I’m just joking with you. Even if it’s a sea of flames, I’m willing to go through it for you. So, I’ll definitely accompany you to the birthday banquet!”