As Gu Rongqi's birthday approached, Cheng Qicai had already planned to buy him a gift and cook him a meal as a way of reciprocating the gesture.
But just two or three days before the deadline, Gu Rongqi suddenly called her and said that he was going to G country and that his return time was uncertain.
He sounded anxious and apologized to her repeatedly.
Cheng Qicai could hear the sound of airplane rotors turning in the background, so he must be in a hurry. Cheng Qicai also said that it was okay, and that the urgent matter was more important.
Cheng Qicai looked at the gift on the table, feeling a pang of disappointment. After a moment of silence, it seemed she wouldn't be able to give this gift this year.
On Gu Rongqi's official birthday, Cheng Qicai received a cake.
It was sent by Gu Rongqi.
Just as she picked it up to look at, Gu Rongqi called.
He began apologetically, saying, "I'm sorry, things are urgent at home, so I have to go to G country first."
The last time they hung up in a hurry, Gu Rongqi didn't explain why.
Although she knew it might be Gu Rongqi's private matter, she couldn't help but ask, "Is there something urgent?"
It took a long time for them to reply: "My grandfather is having surgery here, so I came to keep him company."
"Is it serious?" Cheng Qicai asked with concern.
"It's nothing. I had surgery the day before yesterday and am still resting."
"Alright, then take good care of your grandfather." Cheng Qicai's gaze fell on the cake. "And what is this cake of yours...?"
“Last time it was your birthday, you cut the cake in half and said it was a way of celebrating together, so I bought you the same cake from here.”
A photo sent to Gu Rongqi's phone was indeed exactly the same as the one in Cheng Qicai's hand.
After hanging up the phone, Cheng Qicai felt an inexplicable urge. She took the birthday gift for Gu Rongqi to the courier station and spent several hundred yuan to send the gift to someone on the other side of the ocean.
She thought that she would have to wait until he came back next time to cook.
But what she didn't expect was that Gu Rongqi's trip to G country to take care of his grandfather would take so long, and he didn't return until the Chinese New Year.
If Gu Rongqi hadn't been in frequent contact with her, she would have suspected that he was being controlled by his family.
She also contacted Gu Liji and confirmed that Gu Rongqi was indeed taking care of his grandfather abroad.
He also said that when Grandpa Gu was in charge before, he taught Gu Rongqi for a while, so he values his grandson Gu Rongqi very much.
So when Gu Rong came to G country, Grandpa Gu let him stay there for a while.
Hearing Gu Liji's words, Cheng Qicai felt much more at ease.
During the Chinese New Year, she also received a New Year's gift from Gu Rongqi: a set of refrigerator magnets featuring scenery from Country G. The workmanship was exquisite, with delicate lines, and it was clear that Gu Rongqi had carefully selected them.
Gu Rongqi had been gone for a long time, so long that sometimes Cheng Qicai's memories of him were blurry, but he would send her messages every day, giving her the feeling that Gu Rongqi had never left.
The messages he would send her would occasionally be a landscape photo or a picture of local specialty food.
Gu Rongqi was the one sharing most of the content, while Cheng Qicai's life consisted only of going between the shop and home, a monotonous and uninteresting existence.
Even if she wanted to share, she couldn't find anything to post.
Cheng Qicai had a pretty good year. She became her own boss and gave herself a 20-day holiday, which was great.
As the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve, Cheng Qicai watched the seconds on the clock tick towards midnight when her phone suddenly received a call.
Startled, she answered the phone with a hint of resentment, "Hello..."
"Happy New Year, Qicai!" Gu Rongqi said, offering his blessings. "Wishing you happiness every day and all your wishes come true!"
Along with Gu Rongqi's voice, there was also the sound of huge fireworks outside.
"Thank you." Cheng Qicai's voice was normal at first, but then she remembered that the fireworks outside would drown out her voice, so she repeated it loudly.
When she heard Gu Rongqi's gentle and familiar blessing, her resentment had already dissipated.
Just as she was about to send her blessings, she remembered that her time was more than ten hours ahead of Gu Rongqi's, so she could only express her gratitude instead.
Countless fireworks rose into the sky outside, illuminating much of the room. These loud bangs also heralded the start of the new year, and everything this year began to be unknown.
After offering his blessings, Gu Rongqi asked her about her tone earlier: "What was wrong with you just now?"
"It's nothing! I was just startled by your phone call." Cheng Qicai responded loudly, making sure the sound of fireworks outside didn't drown out her voice.
Cheng Qicai walked back to her room from downstairs, closed the window and drew the curtains, making the noise outside a little quieter.
Perhaps to accommodate her surroundings, she could hear Gu Rongqi's voice a little louder, so loud it made her ears tingle: "I'm sorry, I just wanted to be the first person to wish you a Happy New Year, but you always seem to leave me for last."
The "bang bang bang" sound was either the sound of fireworks outside or the sound of my own heart pounding.
She took a deep breath of the cold winter air, which slightly calmed the heat in her heart.
But Gu Rongqi's last words sounded like a condemnation, and she still felt somewhat guilty.
Because it's true, whenever she doesn't know how to reply, she puts his message last.
But she didn't expect that Gu Rongqi could actually guess it.
She stubbornly replied, "No, it's just that yours was the first one posted, so it got pushed down by other people's posts. I always reply to messages in top-to-bottom order."
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