Chapter 5: One Year and a Promise
by HaA year went by.
Anran was busy with her new job.
Kai expanded Mingcheng into design and hospitality.
They didn’t live in the same city.
But every night, they made time to call each other.
Some days for just a few minutes.
Some days until almost dawn.
They told each other very ordinary things.
A new design.
A delicious meal.
An exhausting day at work.
A sudden rain.
Distance was no longer frightening.
Because they knew the other was still there.
At the end of the year, Anran sent Kai a message:
I’m coming home.
Kai replied:
I’ll pick you up.
The day she came back, the airport was crowded.
Kai stood in the middle of the stream of people.
Anran spotted him immediately.
She walked quickly toward him.
No words were needed.
A single look was enough.
Kai asked:
“Any regrets?”
“No.”
“Want to stay?”
“I do.”
“Then let’s go home.”
Anran laughed.
“Whose home?”
Kai looked at her.
“Ours.”
That evening, Kai took her to a small house by the river.
It had a studio set up for her.
On the desk sat a cup of tea.
Beside it, the silver hair clip.
Anran looked around.
“When did you prepare all this?”
“Almost a year ago.”
“You really believed I’d come back?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Then why prepare it anyway?”
Kai smiled.
“Because I wanted you to know, when you came back, that there would always be a place waiting for you.”
Anran looked at him.
She used to think love was about grand promises.
After eight years, she finally understood.
Sometimes love is just a small room.
A cup of tea.
Someone who still remembers what you like.
And a door that’s always open.
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