Chapter 41
In the evening, Chen Yan and Lin Qi arrived at the private restaurant booked by their friend as scheduled.
On the way, Chen Yan could sense that Lin Qi beside him was a little nervous. He didn't say much, but after getting off the car, he naturally held her hand and never let go.
When they pushed open the door of the box, Ah Zhe and his two other friends had already arrived. When they saw Chen Yan, they were about to say something teasing when their eyes fell on the person beside him and their tightly clasped hands.
The three of them instantly revealed the same expression of a mixture of shock, curiosity and understanding.
Chen Yan smiled, took Lin Qi's hand and walked in, and solemnly introduced her to the most important friends in his life.
"Let me introduce it to you," he said, "this is Linqi."
He could sense that Lin Qi, nervous, subconsciously returned his hand. He soothingly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, then turned to look at everyone and, with an unprecedented clarity and conviction, spoke the final words that defined her identity:
"my girlfriend."
The box was silent for two seconds.
Immediately, Azhe was the first to react and took the lead in cheering and applauding, with a smile of complete and genuine happiness for him on his face.
"Good job, Chen Yan!" He said with a smile, "You hid it well enough! I was wondering why you didn't bloom for thousands of years, it turns out you were waiting for our sister-in-law to show up!"
Amidst their good-natured banter and teasing, Chen Yan didn't offer any further explanation. He simply pulled Lin Qi to sit down beside him. The first thing he did was pick up the teapot, pour her a cup of hot tea, and push it in front of her.
Throughout the meal, Chen Yan still didn't say much.
But all his attention was on Lin Qi. He listened to her, and slowly, from being reserved at first, he became able to chat with his friends naturally. He looked at Azhe and the others, and vividly recounted to her all the embarrassing moments from his college days, making her laugh non-stop.
He watched her blend into them, into his past, and saw her eyes sparkling with joy under the warm light.
At that moment, he suddenly felt that all the monotonous, solitary time he had spent in the past thirty years were finally pieced together into a complete and meaningful story because of her appearance tonight.
The dinner ended in a very lively and gentle atmosphere.
Before leaving, Azhe and the others solemnly said to Lin Qi alone, "Sister-in-law, it's nice to meet you today. Please come visit us often in the future." Then they turned around, patted Chen Yan's shoulder, and said in a commanding and comforting tone, "Chen Yan, you must bring your sister-in-law with you to any gatherings in the future. Do you understand?"
Chen Yan agreed with a smile, took Lin Qi's hand, and walked out of the restaurant that was full of noise and warmth.
The air outside is cool and the night is dark.
They got in the car, closed the door, and blocked out all the outside sounds, leaving only the two of them. Chen Yan didn't start the car immediately, and for a moment, the car was immersed in a very soft and lingering silence.
He turned his head and looked at Lin Qi beside him.
"Are you tired?" he asked softly.
She shook her head.
"Tonight..." He considered his words, "...are you used to it? My friends can be a bit noisy sometimes. Didn't they scare you?"
She turned her head and looked at him, her eyes shining brighter than the stars outside the window in the night. She smiled and said, "Don't make a fuss, they are all very good. Besides, I heard a lot of stories about you that I never knew before."
After hearing her say this, Chen Yan's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally relaxed completely.
He started the car and merged smoothly into the traffic.
"Actually," he said in a light, confessional tone, looking at the road ahead, "I'm the most nervous one tonight."
"I'm afraid you'll find my friends boring, that my world is too monotonous... I'm also afraid that after hearing their embarrassing stories, you'll think you've made a mistake."
The car stopped steadily at a red light.
He turned his head and looked into her eyes very seriously.
"But Lin Qi, when I was at the dinner table, watching you sitting with them, listening to their stories from the past, and laughing along with them..."
He paused, as if searching for the right word.
“…I felt that my life was truly complete at that moment.”
Come home and open the door.
Chen Yan did not turn on the light. He just turned around at the entrance, taking advantage of the cold moonlight coming in from the window, and hugged Lin Qi tightly and forcefully in his arms.
He said nothing.
But this hug already contains all the belated tension of tonight, and the indescribable, great peace of mind and gratitude after the dust settled.
Lin Qi asked half-jokingly and half-seriously, "So, why don't you bloom for ten thousand years? Have you ever been in love before?"
Hearing her question, Chen Yan, who was holding her arm, stiffened slightly, and then hugged her even tighter.
He could feel that she buried her face in his chest, and her words were seven parts curiosity and three parts cautious temptation.
He chuckled softly, and that laugh resonated in his chest in the quiet entrance.
He didn't answer immediately, but let go of her, but still holding her hand, and pulled her to the sofa in the living room. He turned on the familiar, dim floor lamp, and then sat down with her side by side.
"Alright," he looked at her. Under the soft light, her sparkling eyes were filled with anticipation for a story. "Now, we can answer our classmate Lin's 'historical questions.'"
He first responded to her joking name with a helpless smile on his face.
"'Never blooms for ten thousand years'..." He repeated, shaking his head. "Maybe it's because the soil and sunlight weren't right before."
"Or maybe," he added very seriously, looking into her eyes, "I'm waiting for you to come and water the trees for me yourself."
Seeing her cheeks slightly flushed because of his words, he smiled and began to answer her more core question directly.
"Yes." He answered frankly without hiding anything.
"Many years ago, when I first started working, it was a serious relationship. I also thought about getting married and thinking about the future."
He looked at the bookshelf in the distance, as if recalling a very distant past that would no longer stir any waves.
"But later, as we walked along, we found that the futures we wanted were different. She wanted to see the bigger world, while I just wanted to keep a stable home." He paused, his tone very calm, "There was no right or wrong, we just didn't sync up anymore. So, we parted ways peacefully."
He turned his gaze from the distant memories back to her face. His eyes were more focused and serious than ever before.
"But Lin Qi, that time and now are completely different."
"Before I met you, I thought 'love' or 'suitability' was the rational overlap of two life plans, the matching of all conditions."
"It wasn't until I met you," he reached out and gently touched her cheek with his fingertips, "that I realized that true 'perfection' isn't a perfectly planned thing."
"Instead, I am willing to have all my plans disrupted, and then write your name into all my future plans."
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