Chapter Forty-Two
Su Xian returned to the hotel and changed into a very casual white cotton dress. She then went to the beach with Bai Lin and Qing Qing to shoot Vlog footage.
The city, bustling with activity due to the film festival, was packed with tourists on the beach.
Qingqing knew how to enjoy herself. She found a spot that wasn't too crowded early on, and like the locals, spread out a large beach towel and lay down with Bai Lin and Su Xuan to sunbathe.
Su Xian sat leisurely between Bai Lin and Qing Qing, with her legs crossed and her hands behind her back. They covered their faces with their hats and lay in the sunlight.
On the shore of the azure sea, several children worked together tirelessly to build sandcastles, their joyful laughter carrying far. Under the shade of a tree, a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses was engrossed in a book. On two deck chairs pushed together, a couple leaned against each other, intimately sharing a drink.
In the distance, besides the boundless sea, there are all kinds of yachts, their white hulls of varying heights lined up closely together.
Su Xian knew that it was Port de Cannes. She had walked along the beach there last year, and on that night, she heard the song "For You I'm in Love".
Perhaps his yacht is also moored there, or perhaps he has new guests on board, but it's too far away for her to see.
In the past six months, she has come to understand many things. Because she was afraid of losing him, she didn't dare to love him wholeheartedly for a long time; because she was afraid of the future, she didn't dare to marry him.
If it weren't for his initiative and persistence, she wouldn't have fallen in love with him.
Lin Zhiyuan taught her that the best love is about growing together and achieving success together; it provides nourishment and gives her the strength to keep moving forward.
If you always think pessimistically about the future, happiness will never come your way. After that night, she was finally able to bravely face her own heart and understand how important he was to her.
If she had understood this sooner, she would have been more proactive in many things, allowing him to feel her love as well.
Su Xian withdrew her gaze and lay down with a sense of relief.
After enjoying the sunshine, the three of them returned to the hotel restaurant for dinner.
"I feel like I'm about to lose my job. Is this a farewell dinner?"
Bai Lin slapped Qingqing, "Pah, pah, pah. What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Don't worry, you can come visit me. Besides, I'll still need you when I go back to China for work." Su Xian picked up her knife and fork, cut a piece of cod, and put it in her mouth.
"Where should we focus our efforts from now on?" Bai Lin asked.
"The next year will definitely be focused on further studies, and afterwards I'll certainly want to try my luck abroad, but that won't be easy for an Asian like me. So, if there are any good jobs available in China, Sister Lin, you'll have to help me out." Su Xian raised her eyebrows.
"How come I never noticed before that you're the kind of person who's always looking for something better than what you have?"
"Sister Lin, this is called being able to eat a lot is a blessing."
Su Xian laughed, "How come I never noticed before? Qingqing can be quite philosophical sometimes."
"Can we get ready to go back? Or should we wait for the results?" Qingqing chewed on her steak, her mouth bulging.
"No need to wait anymore, winning an award isn't that easy." Bai Lin took a sip of red wine.
Su Xian doesn't drink alcohol now. She took a sip of sparkling water, put down her glass, and said, "Why don't we take a walk around the South of France? Nice and Antibes are great for hiking. If we climb to the top of the mountain, there's a Notre-Dame Basilica where you can overlook the entire French Riviera."
"Sister Xiaoxian, have you been there? How do you know so much about it?"
Su Xian smiled, understanding only because Lin Zhiyuan had mentioned it when she first came here.
She shook her head. "I'd like to go, but I haven't been yet."
Su Xian had finished eating, so she put down her knife and fork and went to the restroom.
The edges of her palms were sticky from the ketchup, so Su Xian took off her ring and put it aside, then squeezed some hand sanitizer and rubbed her hands clean.
Before her hands were even dry, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Su Xian took out her phone, answered the call, and walked out of the restroom. It turned out that Sister Chen Jun had seen the news that she was going abroad for a year and was calling to ask how things were going.
Bai Lin and Qing Qing followed her out of the restaurant. When they reached the lobby, Su Xian hung up the phone. Seeing the elevator doors about to close, the three of them jogged inside.
Su Xian pressed the button for the 5th floor. Qingqing whispered that she would check the hiking route when they got back to their room. Su Xian didn't listen carefully; she felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
The elevator stopped on the second floor and closed the doors. The person who got in pressed the button for the sixth floor.
The ring! She left that star and moon ring in the bathroom!
The elevator was still going up, and Su Xian was anxious to squeeze to the front to press the open button.
"What's wrong?" Qingqing asked softly from the side.
With a "ding," the elevator stopped on the fourth floor.
"I left something behind, you guys go back first." Su Xian didn't turn around, kept apologizing, rushed out of the elevator before the other guests, and pressed the down button several times.
The other elevator was stuck on the 6th floor without responding; she wondered if someone was holding down the button. After waiting a few seconds, Su Xian lost patience and turned to walk to the stairwell. She grabbed the railing and hurried down the stairs, careful not to fall too quickly.
Her mind was filled with that star and moon ring, that unique ring, her favorite ring. What if she lost it?
If she still can't find it when she gets back to the restroom, she should check the restaurant's security footage to see who entered the restroom during that time. The people who eat here are either hotel guests or wealthy people; she can always ask the restaurant staff one by one, and she'll definitely find it.
A new group of guests arrived in the lobby and were taking pictures everywhere. A waiter pushed a luggage cart and nodded to her in a friendly manner.
Su Xian didn't care about anything else. She tried to weave through the crowd as quickly as possible, constantly apologizing.
The waiters at the restaurant entrance were all smiles as they waited for the guests, but Su Xian didn't even glance at them. She simply said in English, "I'm going in to find something," and rushed inside.
Several tables of diners looked at her hurried figure in surprise. Su Xian rushed to the bathroom door, panting, but couldn't open it.
Su Xian grew even more anxious. Forgetting everything else, she knocked on the door and asked in English, slightly louder, "Excuse me, have you seen a ring?"
No one answered, there was no sound, no running water, and no sound of a hand dryer. Was no one inside?
Su Xian pushed the door again, but it still wouldn't budge. Just as she raised her hand to knock on the door again, the lock clicked.
The reddish-brown wooden door slowly opened, and Su Xian looked up, her heart pounding wildly, unsure whether it was because she had run too fast or because of the man inside.
He was wearing a dark blue shirt, was tall, and his face was slightly red from the sun. Su Xian used to joke that he looked kind of cute like that.
At this moment, his smiling eyes locked onto her once again.
Lin Zhiyuan stretched out his hand, and the star and moon ring lay in his palm, the crescent moon and the tiny star closely intertwined.
"Miss, is this what you're looking for?"
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