Chapter 22 Confession: Please live in my heart.

"Because I missed you."

These words echoed repeatedly in Qin Yonglian's ears. The light six words seemed to warm his cold little heart and then blow onto the moon tonight.

Bai Ying saw the man standing there in a daze, motionless, even his beautiful eyelashes stopped trembling.

She couldn't help but move closer, mustering up the courage to repeat what she had just said loudly: "Leon, because I miss you."

This time she was sure that Qin Yonglian had heard it.

Because the man's face was so red that it looked like blood was about to drip out, and the fact that he was half white and had fair skin made it even more obvious.

When their eyes met, the world instantly became quiet. Bai Ying heard the thumping heartbeat again. Whose heart was beating like thunder?

The unexpected ecstasy passed, and my dull consciousness gradually returned.

Qin Yonglian's lips curled up beautifully, and he leaned forward slightly, responding more seriously than ever before: "Yingying, me too."

Bai Ying thought, he looks so handsome when he smiles!

The girl then smiled with relief, convinced that her decision to make this temporary trip back to Shanghai to learn from others was the right one.

*** ***

That night after returning to Shanghai, after finishing dinner and cleaning up, Bai Ying ran to the room of the two elders.

The girl found a comfortable position and rested her head comfortably on her rounded shoulders. She had liked snuggling up to her grandmother like this since she was a child.

"Yingying, have you encountered any new things recently?" Qu Chengyuan asked calmly.

Her baby couldn't keep secrets, and this time he suddenly came back from Hong Kong. She guessed that something must have happened that she didn't know about.

“I’m working hard to get closer to my dream.”

"Oh?" Qu Chengyuan stroked his granddaughter's hair and asked casually, "You have a dream you like, but do you have someone you like?"

The girl said softly, "Well... I'm also trying to get closer to the person I like..."

If you answer like this, it means there is something going on.

Qu Chengyuan suppressed his curiosity and was about to continue asking questions when his granddaughter raised her head and asked:

"Grandma, I don't really understand. There's someone who seems like a friend, yet not a friend. This feeling of longing and caring for someone is both sweet and painful. It seems like I can't find any other suitable reason to explain it except liking him."

Qu Chengyuan was surprised for a moment, but quickly understood and looked up at Bai Xuan who was sitting next to him.

Professor Bai frowned slightly and was thinking silently: Which pig is his precious Xiao Baicai eyeing?

Meeting his wife's inquiring gaze, Bai Xuan coughed lightly. Okay, he admitted that he was a little angry when he first heard it.

The girls of their Bai family have been loved by everyone since they were little. From Bai Fenglin to Bai Ying, they are all the apple of his eye. Bai Xuan has grown from a father to an old father, fending off batch after batch of boys who have set their sights on his precious little Baicai.

It's not that he is old-fashioned and unenlightened, but that he thinks the time is not right.

He hopes that his children will first have a mature mind and judgment, and then experience a stable relationship.

He also needs to test the sincerity of those boys to see if they love them as wholeheartedly as he does.

Although both of his daughters are smart, lively and straightforward, Bai Ying is simple-minded and lacks some life experience compared to Bai Fenglin's steadiness and wisdom, which makes Bai Xuan always keep her in mind.

Unexpectedly, the elders' overprotection made their granddaughter an older single mother. Therefore, Qu Chengyuan gave him a warning early on, saying that if Bai Ying wanted to have a boyfriend after college, Bai Xuan could no longer treat boys as pigs as before.

Seeing his wife nod reluctantly, Qu Chengyuan smiled and asked his granddaughter, "Hing-hing, regardless of friendship or love, do you miss him every day?"

Bai Ying's heartbeat quickened unconsciously as she thought of Qin Yonglian. She rubbed her head against Qu Chengyuan's hand, and her speech became faster due to her excitement:

"Of course I do. I think about him 24 hours a day. But I'm too embarrassed to contact him. After all, he hasn't contacted me either."

She felt a little depressed when she thought that someone had disappeared for more than two weeks without even sending a message, but friends were not obliged to report each other's whereabouts at all times.

Bai Ying had never faced this kind of emotional anxiety before, and wondered if Qin Yonglian felt the same way about her.

For the first time, she felt a surge of passion. Her head drooped, her eyes lowered, and she became more and more depressed.

Qu Chengyuan raised his hand and gently helped her smooth out her frown. "Silly girl, you have to take the initiative to find beautiful love."

The silver-haired old lady had a smile on her face. She leaned over and whispered something to her granddaughter. Bai Ying's eyes widened and she was stunned.

After imparting the ingenious plan, Qu Chengyuan glanced at her husband who was secretly spying on the military situation and said in a voice that anyone could hear.

"When I was pursuing your grandfather, I touched his abs on the first day I confessed my love to him and signed for his approval!"

Bai Xuan was suddenly cueed, and thinking of the confession they made on the alpine pasture half a century ago, his wife in front of him seemed to have turned into the playful little girl of that year again.

Recalling the sweet past, the old man laughed heartily, with an expression full of unconcealable pride.

He was also a passionate young man who dared to jump into the Aksu River at the foot of the snow-capped mountains for a winter swim in temperatures several degrees below zero for love.

Bai Ying had never heard of this history. She sat up straight and said curiously, "I want to hear it!"

"You can't learn by just listening, yingying, grandma taught you that girls should also take the initiative to fight for their own happiness and keep it in their hearts forever..."

“Passionate and determined!”

The grandfather and grandson said in unison and smiled at each other.

After a heart-to-heart talk, Bai Ying actually already had the answer in her heart.

Bai Xuan coaxed his granddaughter, his eyes full of tenderness, "Yingying, don't think too much when you come back. Grandpa will take you to eat delicious food. I have already booked a mysterious dinner for Christmas Eve."

"Grandpa, when you and grandma go have a couple's meal, I won't be a light bulb."

Bai Xuan reached out and rubbed his granddaughter's head. "Huh, doesn't grandpa know what's going on in your little head?"

Bai Ying acted coquettishly, "I'm going to celebrate Christmas with you guys early this year. I really have to go back to Hong Kong in a couple of days because I have an appointment with someone else."

"Oh, it would be great if that 'someone else' could understand our feelings."

Bai Xuan lovingly pinched his granddaughter's rosy little face. It seemed that she was living a comfortable life in Hong Kong, and he finally felt relieved.

*** ***

Christmas Eve, halfway house.

There was a warm orange light on in the living room, contrasting with the heat in the kitchen.

Bai Ying and Qin Yonglian were looking at each other from a distance, their eyes flickering, but they were both smiling foolishly.

At this moment, Bai Ying really wanted to tell her grandfather that the "other person" understood her feelings.

Now she has someone lovely to look after and dreams to pursue.

Coffee was extremely anxious, meowing and calling for help, but the two bipeds didn't move. Could they be petrified? Was there really nothing wrong?

Sweetness emanated from their eyes, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of ginger powder and cinnamon.

Bai Ying invited Qin Yonglian to try the gingerbread man she made, a human-shaped cookie made from dried ginger powder.

The girl said, "I saw that the cake you bought last time had a lot of cinnamon in it, and I thought you would like it, so I added twice as much cinnamon to the gingerbread man this time."

Qin Yonglian picked up a piece of gingerbread man, looked at it left and right, and was a little reluctant to eat it.

Bai Ying seemed to understand his thoughts. "If you like it, I'll make it for you every year, okay?"

Qin Yonglian took a bite of the gingerbread man and a smile immediately broke out on his face. This was the first time in his life that he began to believe in the legend.

The Christmas gingerbread man is a household fairy tale image in the West.

Legend has it that the popularity of gingerbread men originated from a pair of lovers separated by war. Worried that their partner wouldn't be able to find them in their old age, they started selling gingerbread men in their image around the village. If an unmarried person ate a gingerbread man at Christmas, they would meet their destined love.

Bai Ying was also thinking about the theme song of The Gingerbread Man: "Run, run, as fast as you can. I am the gingerbread man②."

The gingerbread man represents a spirit of courage and perseverance. With this courage, she boldly confessed her feelings to Qin Yonglian tonight!

Huh? Confession...? Did I just confess?

Bai Ying rubbed her hot cheeks, and then she began to feel overjoyed.

*** ***

Qin Yonglian thought this was the most delicious gingerbread man he had ever eaten in his life.

How could there be such a good person?

Why would such a nice person come back just to make a gingerbread man for himself?

Yes! Such a person came all the way back just for me.

Qin Yonglian saw the suitcase next to the stairs. Its four universal wheels facing different directions indicated that the owner must be in a hurry to get into the kitchen, so he hurriedly pushed it to the corner.

What he experienced since childhood made him not as brave, straightforward and direct as a young girl.

Just now, it was Bai Ying who took a big step towards him. If it weren’t for her, Qin Yonglian couldn’t imagine what would happen next?

Qin Yonglian told himself that he must do something for her.

"Yingying, I own many houses, and each house has many rooms."

"Hmm?" Bai Ying raised her eyes and looked at Qin Yonglian.

"But there's only one room in my heart." The man's voice was gentle yet serious. "Now I sincerely invite the one and only Bai Ying in the world to move in, okay?"

He gazed at Bai Ying devoutly, opening his heart that had never been opened before, and said sincerely: [Please live in my heart.]

Bai Ying was moved by the focused tenderness in his eyes. Her heart was boiling with heat. She nodded and said, "Okay."

A warm feeling surged in Qin Yonglian's heart, and he suddenly understood what it meant to have a surging heart. At this moment, a thousand words could not compare to the girl's "OK".

"What did you call me just now?" Bai Ying asked with a smile.

"Hmm."

"What?" The girl blinked.

"嘤...嘤..." Qin Yonglian read to her word by word at three times the speed.

Bai Ying was so happy that her name sounded so nice when pronounced by Qin Yonglian.

Her name was chosen by Bai Xuan. The word "ying" was taken from the poem "yingying mountain birds singing", which is a pleasant bird sound.

"Like when Coffee was still little, unable to open his eyes, he lay in my palm and made whimpering sounds." Qin Yonglian held up his hands and closed them slightly, telling her how small Coffee was when he was picked up from the roadside.

Bai Ying thought about it and realized that Coffee’s meow was different from that of ordinary cats. It was softer and cuter, and it always meowed.

"I looked up your name. The word '柏' has several pronunciations in Mandarin. How should I pronounce your name? Teach me."

Bai Ying recalled that from childhood to adulthood, she had been called boying and baiying, and she would always respond but never take the initiative to explain.

"If used as a surname, it's pronounced bai. If used as a given name, it's pronounced bo."

“That’s really good, Bai Ying, that’s right, isn’t it?”

Listening to Qin Yonglian tilting his head and trying hard to pronounce the third tone of "Bo", Bai Ying couldn't help but curl her lips, "You should just call me Park Yinn according to the Cantonese pronunciation."

Qin Yonglian was also aware that his pronunciation seemed a little different from what Bai Ying had just taught him. Seeing Bai Ying smile, he also raised the corners of his mouth, "Luckily it's not Boeing, otherwise every time I call you that, I'll think of the aircraft company."

Bai Ying chuckled and finally laughed out loud.

"Your name is very nice. I like it very much." Qin Yonglian stared at her.

Bai Ying looked up at the man and saw herself in his emerald green eyes.

I thought to myself that this was a magical night. The two of us were getting along so comfortably together, chatting about everything and having endless things to talk about, saying whatever we wanted to say.

*** ***

After reluctantly finishing the gingerbread man, Qin Yonglian helped Bai Ying carry the suitcase upstairs.

"It's heavy, let's lift it together."

Bai Ying originally only carried a small schoolbag home. When she came back, Bai Xuan had already prepared a suitcase full of things for his granddaughter, and she didn't have time to open it.

"It's okay, it's very light." Qin Yonglian lifted the suitcase with one hand, like lifting a dumbbell in the gym, showing his strength.

He suddenly felt that he looked inexplicably funny, a bit like a peacock spreading its tail tail.

The two of them stood at the door of their own room, and neither of them stepped into their room first.

After a long silence, Bai Ying said, "Then...good night?"

"Well, good night."

"Oh." Bai Ying turned around slowly.

"Merry Christmas!" Qin Yonglian said. "Merry Christmas!"

Bai Ying tried hard to suppress the upward curve of her lips, "I am very happy, you should be happy too."

Qin Yonglian's eyes were full of smiles. His slender figure leaned against the door of the room and said softly, "I am very happy."

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The author has something to say: [Notes]

①The introduction of the gingerbread man comes from Baidu Encyclopedia.

②The lyrics of the song "The Gingerbread Man" are from "The Gingerbread Man"

【Small Theater】

Qin Yonglian’s first circle of friends in life: Dreamse ture!

Illustration: Cute gingerbread man.jpg

Bai Ying liked it.

Zhenyan left a message: "He stood us up on Christmas Eve, and this is what Qin Yonglian showed us? Is he really that innocent?"

Su Jiahao left a message: I agree with the above, I have taken off my coat and prepared the melon seeds, that's it...

Qin Yonglian replied: Smiling face emoticon (*￣︶￣)