End of text

Zhou Min didn't expect that... the "thank you gift" Zhou Qiting mentioned was really just a thank you gift.

But when Zhou Yiting told Zhou Min about their next itinerary, she was still a little absent-minded, and her thoughts froze for a few seconds.

A promise that she had forgotten for many years and had not fulfilled suddenly emerged from the depths of her memory.

Zhou Min suddenly realized that this "return gift" that he had casually mentioned at the beginning, which he should have taken the initiative to make up for, had been remembered by Zhou Qiting for so long, and he had even quietly found an opportunity to fulfill it. A mixture of regret and emotion suddenly surged in his heart.

Zhou Qiting, however, didn't seem to think about the childhood agreement. She was keenly aware of Zhou Min's subtle emotions and just smiled, as if not wanting to burden Zhou Min. Her tone was a little weak:

"You said it was a thank you gift, but in reality, it was just an excuse for you to accompany me on this trip. Am I being too willful?"

Zhou Yiting's expression was impeccably natural. She tilted her head slightly, with just the right amount of inquiry in her eyes, as if proposing a trip was really just a spur-of-the-moment idea.

Zhou Min looked at her calm expression and believed that she really had not remembered the childhood agreement. This realization quietly transformed the regret in Zhou Min's heart into a softer guilt.

She lowered her eyes to hide the subtle emotion, and when she raised her eyes again, she gave Zhou Yiting a gentle smile.

"How could I be so willful?" She said her true feelings seriously, "I'm looking forward to it."

In the next few days, Zhou Min took care of almost all the preparations before the trip, and the level of detail was far beyond ordinary.

Cold-proof clothing, common medicines for various discomforts, anti-glare snow goggles...

The living room was filled with warm lights. Zhou Min sat cross-legged on the plush carpet with two half-empty suitcases spread out beside her. She was holding a list in her hand, checking it one by one with a focused expression.

This was the scene Zhou Qiting saw when he came out of the study after handing over his work for the next period of time.

She walked slowly closer, leaned over, and hooked the hair that Zhou Min had fallen on her cheek but had no time to tidy up, behind her ear. Her tone was somewhat helpless: "Should I pay you an assistant's salary?"

Since returning to the welfare home to meet Director He that day, Zhou Min has started working there as a long-term volunteer. Today is no exception. He started packing his luggage as soon as he came back.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Min folded the list in his hand, looked up at Zhou Qiting with a frown, and muttered softly: "Isn't what you usually give not enough..."

Overtly or covertly, none of them could be refused. It was a scene of "the domineering president falls in love with me". Zhou Min had never thought that there would be such a day.

It was already January when they set out. The winter in G City was not too cold, but Zhou Min looked ready for battle.

When the flight landed in the city on the Arctic Circle at two o'clock in the afternoon, outside the window was a vast twilight with falling snow, a cobalt blue that was about to darken.

Time seems to be frozen in this whiteness, and the whole world is immersed in the quietest moment before nightfall.

While other passengers were still waiting for their luggage, a local driver wearing a dark coat and with snowflakes on his shoulders quietly came to them, took their suitcases neatly, and then quietly led the way ahead.

After getting in the car, when the vehicle drove away from the airport, the snow was only sparsely hitting the car windows. However, after more than ten minutes, the wind became stronger and the snowflakes became visibly denser.

Zhou Qiting looked out the car window quietly, her lips unconsciously pursed. Zhou Min's gaze fell on her slightly furrowed brows. He didn't ask anything, but just reached out and took her hand into his palm.

Along the way, exotic street scenes passed by the window, and the vehicle drove smoothly into the city. When they arrived at the hotel, the front desk staff just smiled and confirmed their names, and then handed over the room card.

The door closed silently behind them, isolating the cold of the polar night from outside. The floor heating silently dispelled the chill. The two people's suitcases had been placed in a corner of the porch.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the suite's living room, the hazy skylight had disappeared, and the lights of the entire fjord, lit up in the wind and frost, were spreading layer by layer along the foothills, like a galaxy flowing in the twilight.

The scenery that he had not been interested in appreciating just now suddenly came into his sight, leaving Zhou Min stunned for a moment.

Zhou Qiting came up to Zhou Min from behind her, took off the scarf from her collar, put it on her arm, then put his arm around her waist and rested his head lightly on her shoulder.

Zhou Min came back to his senses and turned his head to meet Zhou Qiting's deep eyes.

The ends of Zhou Qiting's hair were still a little cold, but he deliberately moved closer and rubbed his cold nose against her neck in a bad way.

"Are you cold?" Zhou Min did not dodge. Instead, he turned around, opened the front of his windbreaker and wrapped the person tightly in his arms, allowing Zhou Qiting to bury her face deeper into her neck.

"It's a bit cold." Zhou Yiting's voice was calm, as if the childish behavior just now had nothing to do with her.

Zhou Min gently stroked Zhou Qiting's back: "Do you want to take a hot bath first?"

Zhou Qiting responded muffledly on her shoulder but did not move. Zhou Min smiled knowingly, hugged her, moved step by step to the side of the sofa, and gently put her down.

She stood up and prepared to go to the bathroom, but when she turned around, Zhou Qiting grabbed her sleeve. When she turned around, she saw Zhou Qiting patting her legs and looking at her without saying anything, as if hinting at something.

Is it to let her...

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Min discarded the most likely but never-tried posture and chose a somewhat outrageous but familiar one.

She half-knelt on the carpet silently, resting her chin on Zhou Qiting's knees. She looked up at her with sparkling eyes and asked softly, "Is this how it should be?"

Zhou Min's sudden squatting had already made Zhou Qiting a little stunned, and then this unexpected behavior finally made her unable to help but turn her head away, her shoulders slightly shrugged, her knuckles pressed against her lips, and a short muffled laugh escaped from her throat.

Seeing Zhou Qiting's mood improve, Zhou Min's lips curled up.

Zhou Qiting reached out and ruffled Zhou Min's hair, her tone full of tenderness: "I asked you to sit on my lap."

Zhou Min obediently did as he was told, stood up and straddled Zhou Qiting's legs, but remained suspended in the air, not daring to sit firmly.

In order to avoid being blamed for his cautiousness, Zhou Min planned to take the initiative and kiss Zhou Qiting to divert her attention.

But it didn't succeed. The moment his forehead was touched by his lips, Zhou Qiting held Zhou Min's waist and pressed against him to make the hug tighter.

Zhou Min fell into her arms unexpectedly, and hurriedly supported himself on the back of the sofa with his hands. Just as he regained his composure, he heard Zhou Qiting's muffled voice coming from the side of his neck, which was filled with apology.

"I originally wanted to take you to see the aurora borealis and the sunrise after the polar night..." Her fingertips unconsciously stroked the corner of Zhou Min's clothes. "In this kind of weather, I'm afraid visibility will be very low for the next few days."

"It's okay." Zhou Min raised his hand to cover Zhou Qiting's head, slowly stroking her soft hair. "I'm already very happy to be able to travel with you like this."

She leaned closer, placed her palm on Zhou Qiting's slightly cool earlobe, kneaded it gently, and took the initiative to admit: "And originally... I should have been the one taking you to see the sunrise."

The sunrise that I didn't get to see on the back mountain seemed so inferior compared to this one in the polar region.

Zhou Qiting smiled lightly and said softly, "So you remember everything."

"But you let me see it a long time ago." Zhou Yiting blinked slowly, looking at his own reflection in Zhou Min's pupils.

"So as a return gift, I'll bring you to see it this time."

Is this true?! Zhou Min couldn't remember it at all. She was horrified inside, but she didn't show it on her face. She stepped back a little, lowering her eyes in thought.

After a moment, she hesitated and asked, "...When did it happen?"

Zhou Yiting didn't say anything, but raised his head and gently kissed her eyes.

Zhou Min obediently closed her eyes, and in an instant, her memory was pulled back to that early morning——

After the two escaped, they used their remaining strength to walk through the woods. Just as they were about to walk out of the woods, a golden light appeared on the horizon.

"Look!" Zhou Min looked at where the sun rose, glad that they did not go in the wrong direction.

Seeing that the person next to her didn't answer, Zhou Min turned her head, only to find that Zhou Yiting was just staring at her quietly.

"I saw it." Zhou Qiting said softly at the time, "...very beautiful."

At that time, Zhou Min was so happy that he had survived the disaster that he didn't think deeply about why Zhou Qiting said "I saw it" when she was not even looking in that direction. Later, he thought that she was just trying to fool him.

At this moment, a familiar kiss fell on Zhou Min's eyelashes, and in his ears was a whisper from the bottom of his heart.

"That was the most incomparable sunrise I have ever seen."

-End of Text-