Bringing the Nation's Husband Home

All of a sudden, all that was left from the ever-glowing multicolored lights were the warm yellows that read, ”Qiao Qiao, can I chase you?”

Startled, Qiao Anhao noticed the other flashing multicolored lights on the wall had also stopped. With one glance, she noticed that the pink lights read, ”Qiao Qiao, I’ve loved you for thirteen years”. The blue lights read, ”Qiao Qiao, will you be my girlfriend?” , and the largest backdrop was covered in one really long line of white lights, ”I am only happy when I’m with you. Qiao Qiao, will you accept my love? If you don’t, I’ll still love you.”

For a long time, Qiao Anhao’s eyes darted back and forth between all four lines of lights. Much later she said, ”This...”

”This is what Mr. Lu had especially prepared for you that night of Chinese Valentine’s day.” The assistant didn’t wait for Qiao Anhao to finish asking. He then paused for a a bit and added, ”He planned to confess to you that night, here.”

Qiao Anhao remembered how Lu Jinnian had reminded her for days that they had a dinner date together on Valentine’s day. At the time, they weren’t official, but they did things only people in a relationship would do. In her heart, she had been secretly upset about that. Who would have known, he’d actually prepared all this so long ago.

”He was preparing this for a very long time.” The assistant lifted his head and observed the terrace. He then pointed at the withered flowers and said, ”He even planned for someone to send you fresh flowers, especially the Bellflowers. He said they were your favorite., and so asked someone to prepare one of each color.”

With those words, Qiao Anhao remembered when Lu Jinnian had come home one night and pointed at a set for a confession scene for a new movie. At the time, he had carefully looked at each item and rashly asked her if she liked them. Sometimes she would nod, and other times, she’d shake her head. She told him that though she didn’t like some things, if the movie was trying to be romantic, then they would be all right. It was that night that she had told him that she liked Chinese Bellflowers.

”That night of Valentine’s day, he sent you many messages to apologize, and said that he’d wait for you right here. And he waited the whole night. When it reached three in the morning, it started to rain heavily, and I told him to get indoors. No matter what, he refused to go inside. He said he told you that he’d wait for you right there.

”You didn’t come, so he didn’t go back. He just sat on that chair, like a statue.” The assistant lifted his hand and pointed at the chair on the right. ”That night, he called you so many times and sent you so many messages. In all the years I’ve known Mr. Lu, I’ve never seen him beg anyone, besides you. Time and time again, you were his only exception.

”Sixteen hours. For someone so proud, to wait sixteen whole hours for you... In the end, you still didn’t come.” When the assistant said this, his tone clearly became accusatory. ”To me, those sixteen hours were the most grueling. I don’t know how Lu Jinnian could withstand them.

”As long as it was about you, then perhaps even if he had to endure heart-wrenching pain, he’d be more than willing to do so and even treasure the moment.” The assistant let out a light sigh, and continued in a calm voice, ”When he could no longer wait for you, he went to find you.

”He went to look for classmates you were close with, and told each and every one of them that they must contact him if they saw you.”