At dinner time, Ban Di and I had only a few small drinks with Zhou Zhaokun, but Mi Cai had not returned yet. In between, I called her twice out of concern. The first time, she told me she still needed to take five more groups of photos; the second time, there were still two groups left… And so time trickled away until Zhou Zhaokun had already left as a guest, but she still hadn’t come back.
I was really worried, so immediately after finishing dinner, I took a taxi rushing to the coffee shop. When I arrived, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Mi Cai had already finished all her photo shoots and was tidying up the camera equipment. Seeing me appear outside the coffee shop, she gave me an apologetic gesture and then quickened her pace…
Five minutes later, Mi Cai finally finished organizing everything. She placed the camera into the cabinet behind the bar counter. After saying goodbye to Qin Yan and Xiao Nuo, we left the coffee shop. However, there were no taxis available nearby anymore, so we had to walk to another block to catch one.
Mi Cai was dressed very lightly, and because I had been eager to see her, I forgot to bring her a warm coat. I took off my own coat intending to put it on her, but she refused. She was afraid I might catch a chill again since I had had a high fever just a few days earlier. She put the coat back on me and then pressed close to my side, and we ran together toward that not-so-near block.
When we got home, my mother cooked lily and tremella soup for Mi Cai. After we finished eating, my mother told us that she had already tidied up the new house, and if we wanted, we could move in that very night.
Actually, the new house gave Mi Cai and me a lot of freshness. Plus, it was only one stop away from here. After discussing it, we decided to move in tonight. My mother readily handed us the keys to the new place, and I suppose she understood that living together with two generations would bring many inconveniences and troubles.
…
After packing some daily necessities and toiletries, Mi Cai and I drove to our new home. After settling everything inside, it was already 11:30 PM. Exhausted from moving, we both lay back on the sofa catching our breath. After catching our breath, I hugged her wanting to kiss her, but when my forehead touched her cheek, I felt her body temperature was abnormal. I nervously said to her, “You seem to have a fever…”
Mi Cai touched her own forehead and also felt something was wrong. She said, “No wonder I’ve been feeling chilly and weak earlier, I thought it was just because I was too tired today!”
“You just sit here, I’ll go find the thermometer.”
After some searching, I finally found the thermometer in a storage box. I asked Mi Cai to put it under her armpit. Five minutes later, Mi Cai handed the thermometer back to me. I looked at it nervously, and the result made me feel very guilty. She indeed had a fever, which must have been from catching a chill on the way back from the coffee shop. Plus, she had been overworked recently and had to adapt to the water and soil of Xuzhou. I really shouldn’t have taken chances and let her walk such a long way with me in the cold. Fortunately, her physique had always been quite good, and she only had a mild fever.
I told her, “It’s a low fever. Let me take you to the clinic.”
Mi Cai shook her head and replied, “I don’t want to go. They will probably give me an IV drip there, and I don’t know how long that would take. I’m really sleepy now and want to rest… You still have some leftover fever medicine, right? I’ll be fine after taking that.”
I realized I had been too anxious. I quickly fetched the fever medicine, poured her a glass of hot water, made her take the medicine, then told her to lie down on the bed first while I went to make her a bowl of ginger soup.
After a short while of busying myself, I made the ginger soup and carried it to the bedroom. Mi Cai had already dozed off, but there was still no sign of sweating or her fever breaking. I woke her up and watched her finish the entire bowl of ginger soup, but my heart was still uneasy. After washing up, I lay beside her restlessly, constantly checking her temperature.
After midnight, she finally started sweating, quickly soaking her clothes and the bedsheet. I found a clean set of underwear for her to change into and replaced the bedsheet. After repeating this process twice, she finally stopped sweating and her fever broke. Only then did I feel relieved. By then, it was already 4 o’clock in the morning… My mind was on the verge of collapse. I hugged Mi Cai tightly and almost instantly fell asleep.
…
The next morning, I felt drowsy, and the alarm clock didn’t ring either. When I naturally woke up, Mi Cai was lying beside me, propping her chin on her hand and watching me. I pressed my aching head and asked her, “What time is it?”
“Almost ten o’clock!”
“Ah!… Then why didn’t the alarm clock ring?”
“I turned it off… You took care of me all night yesterday. How could you get enough sleep with just a little bit of rest?”
I looked at her with a worried expression because there were still many things to do at the coffee shop, and half the morning had already been wasted in sleep!
She seemed to see through my thoughts and said, “I already called Qin Yan this morning. He’ll take care of the coffee shop, so you can rest well at home this morning…” Her voice softened as she continued, “Zhaoyang, being with you really gives me a sense of home, and I can feel your love for me… I want to spend the rest of my life relying on you like this.”
Looking at her hopeful expression, I knew that in our daily interactions, we had integrated care and support into each other’s lives. Therefore, our love had gradually evolved into something more familial, which made this relationship even more precious. In the days ahead, it would be very difficult for us to ever be apart again!
I hugged her tightly and whispered in her ear, “Everyone has a forest in their life; those who are lost will remain lost, but those who meet will meet again… We are the latter, so we will surely understand the value of this relationship more than others… We can definitely continue to rely on each other like this. In many years, I will love the wrinkles on your face, and you will support my trembling body. We will walk on crowded streets, not as smoothly as when we were young, but our intertwined souls will guide us toward the most right direction… If there is an afterlife, I hope I will meet you again, tease you, take care of you, cherish you, and make you my wife once more!”
With tears in her eyes, Mi Cai seemed to recall the moments we had shared in this lifetime. She leaned into my arms, sobbing, “That sounds really beautiful… Zhaoyang, I am completely immersed in your life!… I really hope we can just rely on each other like this, without having to deal with the competition and struggles of the fame and fortune arena anymore!”
“It will be, because we have already left behind that tiring fame and fortune arena… We are striving to make our life simple and beautiful!”
Mi Cai nodded firmly, “Yes, I will cherish it.”
…
That day, after getting up, Mi Cai and I went to the nearby vegetable market to buy some vegetables and meat. I cooked while Mi Cai helped, and after a busy time, we prepared a table full of delicious dishes. We then called Ban Di, my mother, and Li Xiaoyun and her husband to come and eat with us, celebrating our move.
During lunch, Ban Di, Li Xiaoyun’s husband Wang Zheng, and I drank some rice wine brewed by my mother, while Li Xiaoyun and my mother shared post-marriage life experiences with Mi Cai. Thus, everyone enjoyed the lunch in a harmonious atmosphere until it came to an end.
Li Xiaoyun then asked Mi Cai and me, “Now that the wedding date is set, when are you planning to get your marriage certificate?… I suggest you get it before the wedding so that you’ll feel even better on the wedding day!”
I nodded in agreement and replied, “We’re planning to go back to Suzhou next weekend. Mi Cai’s household registration is still registered under her uncle’s family, so we need to go there to get the household register first.”
Li Xiaoyun thought for a moment and said, “Don’t wait until next weekend. I’ll give Mi Cai two days off, and you two can go to Suzhou tomorrow to get it. By next weekend, it’ll already be close to the New Year. Train tickets will be hard to get, and if you drive yourselves, the roads will definitely be jam-packed!”
Ban Di and my mother agreed with her suggestion and urged us to accept Li Xiaoyun’s proposal and go to Suzhou tomorrow to retrieve Mi Cai’s household register. This disrupted our original plan, and we both saw some reluctance in each other’s eyes. Perhaps we had the same concerns. Right now, we needed enough psychological preparation to face Mi Zhongde’s family. At that time, it wouldn’t just be Mi Zhongde; probably Yuanfang and Mi Lan, that despicable couple, would also be present. Thinking about that scene felt very awkward.
However, Li Xiaoyun’s suggestion did make sense, and we had to face it eventually. After a moment of silence, I said to Mi Cai, “How about we go tomorrow? It’s better to resolve this issue early rather than let it linger in our hearts.”
Mi Cai, who was now obedient toward me, nodded silently after a pause and agreed to go to Suzhou tomorrow to retrieve the household register. Thus, this task that we both dreaded yet had to undertake was now drawing near. Our moods became heavy, and this heaviness stemmed from our worries about the unknown. Even Mi Cai couldn’t be sure whether Mi Zhongde and his wife would make things difficult for us. If they refused to hand over the household register, it could cause us significant trouble!
…
This night, after a busy day, Mi Cai and I accepted the invitation from Dai Wenshan and went to a restaurant for dinner together, then went to a KTV to sing songs. Mi Cai and I got some temporary relaxation, especially Mi Cai, who happily conversed with the newly acquainted photographers and made plans to go to Weihai, Shandong together after the New Year to seek photo-shooting materials… I felt happy for her. In Xuzhou, her world absolutely shouldn’t revolve only around me; she needed this group of friends who shared her hobbies.
However, when the gathering ended, our expressions became serious again, and we felt anxious about the unknown scenes and the awkwardness of facing each other tomorrow…
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