A foreign city, dear you

After Cao Xueqin hung up the phone with Ye Lian, he inadvertently saw some new messages on his circle of friends.

He clicked on it, but he didn't expect that the first thing he saw was a circle of friends posted by Cheng Dianfei.

Cao Xueqin often just glanced through his Moments because most of the content was advertisements or sales pitches and there was nothing worth seeing.

But Cheng Dianfei's circle of friends aroused Cao Xueqin's interest.

Because Cheng Dianfei rarely posts on WeChat Moments, or if she does, she doesn't make it public, so Cao Xueqin was curious about what she shared.

There are several photos of babies, they are pink and very cute.

The accompanying text is:

Thank you, my little angel, for making me feel the beauty and peace of this world, and making me understand that there is nothing that will not be swept away by time. If there is, it is just that time is not long enough.

Cao Xueqin smiled.

Because the baby is so cute, and also because Cheng Dianfei has truly let go.

He and Cheng Dianfei have become good friends again, although they rarely meet.

Cao Xueqin liked and commented on Cheng Dianfei’s circle of friends: The little baby is so cute, I wish the little baby grows up healthily.

Cheng Dianfei replied immediately: Thank you, uncle.

*

When Cao Xueqin returned home for lunch at noon, he told Ye Lian about Cheng Dianfei's circle of friends.

"Cheng Dianfei has become a mother?" Ye Lian asked.

Cao Xueqin nodded.

"Let me see." Ye Lian said.

Cao Xueqin then showed Ye Lian Cheng Dianfei’s circle of friends.

"Really?" Ye Lian smiled, "She's a little princess."

"I think they got married at the end of 15?" Ye Lian asked, recalling.

"Yes."

Cao Xueqin still nodded.

When Cheng Dianfei got married, Cao Xueqin took Ye Lian with him.

It turned out that Cheng Dianfei and Yang Pu were happily married.

The news about these two people is kept strictly confidential.

Cao Xueqin congratulated the newlyweds and expressed his dissatisfaction with Yang Pu with a smile, saying that he did not tell his old friend in advance about such a happy event.

Yang Pu was in high spirits and said that everything was done according to instructions.

……

"That's great," Ye Lian looked at the cute photo of the baby and sighed, "So cute, it makes people like it just by looking at it."

Ye Lian said this and handed the phone back to Cao Xueqin.

She was happy for Cheng Dianfei and also understood Cheng Dianfei's caption.

Time flies, everything becomes the past, truly the past is like smoke.

*

In the afternoon, Ye Lian was also typing in the study.

Cao Xueqin called and said that the community garden was very lively, so he asked Ye Lian to go down and take a look and relax.

Ye Lian asked what was going on?

Cao Xueqin said you will know if you go down and take a look.

This person speaks so mysteriously.

Just go and take a look, you need to rest your eyes anyway.

Ye Lian then went downstairs and walked to the center of the garden, where there was a beautiful pavilion called the Arisi Pavilion.

From a distance, she saw that the Aristide Pavilion was really lively, with many people gathered around, and it was decorated beautifully and romantically.

What are they doing there?

It's a bit like a wedding scene.

Ye Lian walked closer and found that her guess was correct. However, it was not a wedding, but a proposal ceremony. The elderly and children in the community were all watching the fun.

Ye Lian stood outside the venue for a while and saw the groom kneeling on one knee and proposing to the bride. Ye Lian couldn't hear what he was saying because there were many children and the noisy noises covered up the groom's voice.

Ye Lian had never experienced such a proposal ceremony, nor had she ever been to a wedding. Seeing this romantic ceremony, her heart was filled with joy and sweetness.

But Ye Lian left soon after, thinking it would be better to go home and write.

This wedding is romantic, but also complicated. With so many people around, it's too noisy.

However, Cao Xueqin called and asked Ye Lian if she had gone down to check.

Ye Lian said she went downstairs to take a look and now she has returned home. She thought to herself, you are really nosy. You are watching over me while I am at work.

*

In the evening, Cao Xueqian came back.

Unexpectedly, although Cao Xueqin was not at home in the afternoon and did not see the proposal ceremony in person, he had many photos of the proposal scene in his mobile phone.

While eating dinner, Cao Xueqin was browsing those photos.

"Why do you have so many photos?" Ye Lian asked.

"In the owner group, a neighbor posted a lot of photos."

"Do you like watching it?"

"What do I like or not like? Just take a look. Don't you think this kind of proposal is meaningless?"

"Why do you say that?"

"A proposal should be unexpected and surprising. He has planned it so carefully, so there is no surprise at all. Besides, there are so many people around, and some confessions of love are not easy to be heard..."

"You're still talking about others. You haven't even formally proposed to me." Ye Lian laughed and retorted to Cao Xueqin.

"Do you want me to make another one for you?" Cao Xueqin smiled.

"Okay, how do we make up for it?" Ye Lian knew that Cao Xueqin had a lot of tricks up his sleeve and didn't know what tricks he was going to play next.

"Let's go to Yalishiting and have a proposal ceremony later." Cao Xueqin said with a smile.

"Play?" Ye Lian was a little surprised, but then she smiled and thought it was fun to play, so she said, "Okay, let's play."

*

After the meal, the two of them went down to the community garden without washing the dishes and walked straight to the Yarich Pavilion.

On the way, Cao Xueqian said to Ye Lian: "You need to get into the role a little more."

"Okay, how do we get into the role?" Ye Lian giggled, finding it so fresh and funny.

"You have to be very moved and shed tears." Cao Xueqin taught Ye Lian very seriously.

Seeing Cao Xueqin's serious expression, Ye Lian found it even funnier. She said while laughing, "Really? Then I'll think about it first."

*

Arrived at Aristea.

There are several steps in front of the pavilion.

Cao Xueqian asked Ye Lian to stop and said to her seriously: "Come, you are the bride now, and I am the groom now. Close your eyes, I want to give you a surprise."

Cao Xueqin didn't laugh at all, but Ye Lian laughed even harder.

Ye Lian closed her eyes obediently, but her laughter never stopped.

Cao Xueqin gently covered Ye Lian's eyes and said to her, "Go forward, one step, two steps, three steps, stop!"

Then, Cao Xueqin let go of his hand, looked around the pavilion, and said exaggeratedly: "Wow! What a surprise! There's nothing here——!"

Haha!

Ye Lian almost burst out laughing.

Only then did Cao Xueqin burst into laughter.

After the two of them had laughed enough, Cao Xueqian asked Ye Lian: "How was it? Was it fun?"

Ye Lian started laughing again and said, "It's fun."

"You're not moved, and you didn't even shed tears." Cao Xueqin smiled at Ye Lian.

"You don't even have a script that can move me to tears, and you don't have anything else - how can I be moved? How can I cry? Everything is so funny, okay?" Ye Lian asked Cao Xueqin with a smile.

Haha.

The two of them burst into laughter again.

*

Finally enough laughing.

The two of them talked about the proposal ceremony of the newlyweds in the afternoon.

By the evening, all the arrangements for the ceremony had been removed, and the Yarich Pavilion was now empty, or as Cao Xueqian said, "there was nothing there—"

The couple's proposal was a serious one, but Cao Xueqin was just fooling around here with Ye Lian.

However, Ye Lian was very happy, and her laughter filled the whole floor.

What she gained was not a ceremony, but Cao Xueqin's heart that always loved to make her laugh.

The two did not go home immediately, but instead hugged each other and walked out of the community, heading towards a newly built small park behind Jinjinghua Garden.

The park was also built on a small hill.

Ye Lian and Cao Xueqin reached the top of the mountain.

Here, you can overlook the night view of Xiangyang Town.

Xiangyang Town is becoming more and more prosperous, and more and more new buildings are being built.

The two people were trying to figure out where Xiya Garden was and where Xiangzui Lake was...

Xiangyang Town carries too many memories for them.

The night breeze is slightly cool.

Looking up, I can see the stars in the sky.

"Can you count how many stars there are in the sky?" Cao Xueqin said, holding Ye Lian tightly to his chest.

"You count, I can't count enough." Ye Lian raised her head. In her life, she never bothered to count the stars.

"That's right," Cao Xueqian realized, "You are only responsible for counting the moons, and I am responsible for counting the stars."

The two of them smiled knowingly.

Ye Lian looked at Cao Xueqin, her humility.

Cao Xueqin was looking into the distance.

Ye Lian knew that Cao Xueqin felt her gaze, because the corner of his mouth showed a sweet smile of being loved and being watched.

In this night blended with warm lights, Cao Xueqin's angular face and deep, bright eyes are still as handsome and charming as ever.

Ye Lian leaned against Cao Xueqin and followed Cao Xueqin's gaze into the distance.

There was some singing in the distance.

Ye Lian couldn't hear what song it was, but in her heart, she had her own song, a song that belonged to her and Cao Xueqian:

Thank you for loving my ordinariness

Thank you for never leaving me alone

Every sunrise and sunset

Accompany me to watch the clouds rise and fall

*

Thank you for not thinking I'm stupid

Thank you for giving me a new lease of life

Join you in a different city

Every day is colorful

*

Thank you for counting the stars for me

Thank you for accompanying me to see the scenery

How lucky I am in this life

Because there is a dear you

*

what--

A strange city, a strange wind blowing

Blowing through the vast sea of ​​people, blowing through the noisy streets

what--

My dear, I am terrified

Passing through the vast sea of ​​people, walking through the streets of a foreign land

We hold hands for a lifetime, we stay together for a lifetime

*

postscript:

Three years later, after the COVID-19 pandemic, all industries suffered heavy losses. Cao Xueqian and Cheng Yufei's Meni company was also affected, but it survived and finally ushered in real development.

After an exploratory period and a mediocre period, Ye Lian's writing eventually became a very popular professional online writer, and she finally realized her dream.

(End of the book)