Rebirth on the Doors to the Civil Affairs Bureau - Chapter 22
Chapter 22 Token of Affection
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Perhaps 10 years ago, the pollution wasn’t as extreme. Compared to 2017, the climate wasn’t as warm. On Christmas Eve, it actually started to snow a little in Shanghai.
Yu Dong was wearing a pink skirt, a furry white down jacket and a pair of big boots.
Her face was very pretty today, with make up to specially enhance her big eyes and pink lips. Men couldn’t help but glance as they passed her.
Yu Dong looked at her watch again. The plane should have landed by now ah, how come he hasn’t come out yet?
After waiting anxiously for 5 minutes, Yu finally saw a familiar figure.
“Xia Feng!” Yu Dong jumped up and waved happily.
Xia Feng in a black overcoat was stunned when he looked towards the shout. When he realized that it was Yu Dong, he first waved back, turned to say his farewells to his colleagues, then quickly walked towards her.
Yu Dong was too happy to see Xia Feng and couldn’t utter a word past her huge grin.
Xia Feng looked at Yu Dong for a moment, before suddenly scolding: “The forecast said it was supposed to snow today, why are you wearing so little?”
Yu Dong blinked, then began to pout unhappily.
“What’s wrong?” Xia Feng saw her sudden change in mood and asked.
“I specially dressed up today and that’s your only comment!” Yu Dong felt wronged.
As Xia Feng listened to this, he smiled. Yu Dong was already 6 years younger than him and with her current appearance, he couldn’t help but call himself old.
“Very beautiful, but next to you I look old, like an uncle.” Xia Feng could see Yu Dong’s bare neck, so he untied his scarf and wrapped it around her.
Truthfully, it wasn’t cold in the airport at all, but Yu Dong liked the fact that Xia Feng gave her his scarf.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind.” Yu Dong playfully replied.
“I thank you!” Xia Feng showed a truly indulgent smile.
“Then let’s go home!” Yu Dong made to pull Xia Feng’s suitcase.
“Alright!” How can Xia Feng let Yu Dong take his suitcase, he reached over to take back his suitcase, turning around to hold Yu Dong’s hand instead.
Yu Dong looked at her hand, stunned. She then looked up to see Xia Feng smiling, his head slightly bowed.
[ When I get back, I want us to try and see how far our relationship can go! ]
Is this the start?
Yu Dong was shy, but excited. She lowered her head and silently changed their hand hold to a 10-finger clasp.
Xia Feng felt her move their hands, her warm palm, soft and thin fingers, the slight caress when their palms touched. This caress traveled along his arm and went straight to his heart.
Because of the snow there was congestion in the roads, making Yu Dong unhappy.
“Why don’t you get some sleep first, it looks like it’ll take another hour to get home.” Yu Dong felt depressed as she saw the sea of cars outside.
“It’s alright, I’m not feeling sleepy, I slept on the plane.” Xia Feng saw that Yu Dong’s driving was pretty good so he praised her, “You just got your driver’s license but your driving’s really good.”
“That’s how smart I am!” The person with years’ worth of driving experience didn’t know the meaning of shame.
“Then you can drive to and from work. I’ll get my dad’s car late and use it.” Xia Feng said with a smile.
“Alright!” Yu Dong thought for a bit then suddenly realized, “It’s almost noon. How about we go eat lunch before we go back.”
“OK!” Xia Feng didn’t have any objections.
Seeing that Xia Feng agreed, she took the next intersection out of the highway and soon entered a commercial street.
Because it was Christmas Eve, there were a lot of people on the streets and they had some difficulty finding a parking space. In the end they found one, but they had to walk a while to reach the restaurant.
“How are there so many people today?” Yu Dong sighed.
Xia Feng looked at the Christmas decorations all over the street.
Suddenly, he saw a girl selling flowers across the street and turned to Yu Dong to say: “Wait for a bit.”
Yu Dong saw Xia Feng hurriedly cross the street, stopping in front of a flower girl. After chatting for a bit, he came back with a bouquet of red roses.
“Merry Christmas!” Xia Feng like a true gentleman, presented the rose.
Yu Dong’s eyes were bright as she accepted the flowers, holding them in her arms with a giggle.
Xia Feng looked at Yu Dong in surprise, he didn’t think she’d have such a strong reaction.
“Be careful with the thorns!” Xia Feng cautioned.
“Don’t be silly, the florist already cut off all the thorns.” Yu Dong said.
“How come you’re acting like you’ve never seen a rose before?” Xia Feng laughs a little as he says this.
“Of course I’ve seen roses before, but this is special. These came from someone I like.” Yu Dong tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes sparkling.
This beam of joy was directly pointed at Xia Feng. Her happiness and sincerity was obvious, penetrating the hearts of people.
“Silly girl!” Xia Feng couldn’t help but rub Yu Dong’s head, before holding her hand again. The happy Christmas atmosphere seems to fill their each step with sweetness.
“Let’s not eat hot pot, we’ll go find a Western restaurant.” Yu Dong suddenly said.
“Why?” When they were in the car, they already decided together that they would eat hot pot.
“Because roses and Western food fit each other much better, ah.” Such a romantic atmosphere cannot be ruined by hot pot.
Xia Feng pulled Yu Dong towards a hot pot restaurant and looked down at her to say: “Let’s just eat what we want to eat, because the roses already match you!”
“You…you…” Yu Dong had never been so touched. Her face turned red and she bit her lip, suddenly turning fierce as she said, “Next time you do this, I won’t be so polite!”
“What?” Xia Feng didn’t know what he said wrong.
At this Yu Dong suddenly crowded Xia Feng, stood on her tiptoes, and gently kissed him on the side of his face.
Xia Feng startled, turning his head to see that the girl who kissed him was already inside the hot pot restaurant, shouting back at him: “Come in quickly, I’m starving.”
Xia Feng smiled and shook his head.
Reaching out to touch the cheek Yu Dong kissed, he entered the restaurant, passing a waiter’s envious eyes.
As they ate, Xia Feng was constantly picking up vegetables to put in Yu Dong’s plate, saying: “Don’t just eat spicy food, be careful of your stomach.”
Yu Dong noticed that Xia Feng’s own plate was relatively empty so she took her chopsticks to give him a lot of dished, countering: “You should eat more, you haven’t eaten hot pot in 3 months!”
“Alright!” Xia Feng was just about to take a bite, when his phone suddenly rang.
Xia Feng answered his phone: “Yifan?”
“Xia Feng, you’ve already landed?”
“Yeah, we’re having dinner.” Xia Feng replied.
“Then after you eat pass by the lab.” Shao Yifan said, “One of your petri dishes reacted.”
Xia Feng’s eyes lit up, and his tone was delighted as he replied: “OK, I’ll be there in a minute!”
Yu Dong stopped eating and looked at the happy Xia Feng, asking: “What happened?”
“A previous experiment yielded results. I have to go see them.” After Xia Feng said this, he felt remorseful as he looked at Yu Dong. “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to accompany you today.”
Experiment? Yu Dong thought of Xia Feng’s future breakthrough in medicine. So she shook her head and said, “It doesn’t matter, do you want me to drive you?”
“No need! You continue eating, I’ll just take a taxi.” At Yu Dong’s nod, Xia Feng grabbed his coat and left.
Sure enough, successful people are really busy, always running away halfway through their meal.
Yu Dong looked at the roses next to her, then sent Shao Yifan a text message.
[ Xia Feng just finished a long flight and left in the middle of lunch. You guys will be busy soon, but remember to remind him to eat. ]
[ Did I interrupt your date? ]
[ This is the second time, Dr. Shao ]
[ I was wrong! ]
Yu Dong smiled and put down her phone to continue eating. She managed to eat most of the food, eventually getting up to pay the bill.
“Miss, the bill has already been settled. Here’s your change.” The waiter gave her the receipt and change.
You left in such a hurry, yet you still stopped to settle the bill?
………..
By the time Xia Feng came home, it was already late at night.
Yu Dong had been sitting in the living room waiting for him, but fell asleep on the sofa.
Although the room had a heater, Yu Dong’s pajamas looked quite thin and Xia Feng quietly approached, intending to carry her to her room.
When he got close he realised that Yu Dong’s hair was still wet.
It was obvious that she fell asleep right after her bath,
Xia Feng covered Yu Dong with a blanket, then went to the bathroom to get a hairdryer.
When her hair was half dry, Yu Dong dazedly opened her eyes.
“You’ve woken up?” Xia Feng asked with a soft voice.
“You’re back!” Yu Dong’s voice was still groggy as she hasn’t fully woken.
“Why didn’t you dry your hair then go to bed?” Xia Feng asked.
“Sleepy!”
Xia Feng looked at Yu Dong’s pitiful appearance and helplessly said, “In the future, if you feel too tired, you don’t need to wash your hair.”
Yu Dong nodded obediently.
Xia Feng touched Yu Dong’s hair before suddenly saying: “Your hair is growing long.”
Yu Dong was still a little addled, nodded in agreement.
“Do you want to cut it? ”
“Nope.” Yu Dong said softly, “I think long hair looks good on me too.”
“Then why cut it in the first place?” Xia Feng remembered that when he first saw Yu Dong, she clearly had long hair that was past her shoulders.
“I had long hair before because my ex-boyfriend said it looked good.” Yu Dong replied.
“Oh!” Xia Feng didn’t continue, instead he concentrated on drying her hair. When it was almost dry, he turned off the hair dryer.
“Do you think I look good with long hair?” Yu Dong looked up at Xia Feng with sleepy eyes.
“You do!” Xia Feng recalled the young girl with red eyes in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau, her long soft hair making her look ethereal.
“Then shall I grow my hair for you this time?” Yu Dong blinked, then asked him with a smile.
“Me?” Xia Feng was a little astonished.
“Didn’t you just say that I look good with long hair?”
“You don’t need to do anything for me.” Xia Feng laughed.
“But I want to be what you like.”
Xia Feng was stunned. Perhaps Yu Dong’s straightforwardness was too much, suddenly Xia Feng felt a little uneasy. So he stood up and said: “Silly girl, go to sleep!”
“Alright, good night!” After saying this, Yu Dong closed her eyes and was about to sleep.
“You’re not going back to your room?” Xia Feng stumbled.
“Don’t want to move!” Yu Dong lazily kept her eyes closed.
Xia Feng helplessly shook his head and picked up Yu Dong who was snuggling into her blanket. He slowly and tucked her in her bed, pulling up the quilt.
Yu Dong must be really sleepy, as she didn’t open her eyes again.
As the soft light of the bedside lamp illuminated Yu Dong, Xia Feng gazed at her young face.
“You’re still so young, do you really understand what you like? And how long will it last?” Brushing a stray hair away from Yu Dong’s lips, Xia Feng said to himself, “I want a lifetime of mutual understanding, not just a momentary youthful passion. These 6 years might look like nothing, but it represents a profound generation gap.”
“Good night!” Xia Feng eventually stood up, turned off the lights, and quietly left Yu Dong’s room.
Xia Feng went to his room after washing up, and went to lay down on his dry and fragrant bedding. He relaxed, and was about to turn off his bedside lamp, when he realized that there was a wallet on top of the drawer.
Xia Feng took it and looked over the wallet. It looked very nice, and the smooth surface seemed to hide a pattern. Opening the wallet, he found a card inside.
Xia Feng raised an eyebrow.
Dear Mr. Xia Feng,
Congratulations, you’ve acquired the Invincible Super Beauty of the Universe Ms. Yu Dong. This is a token of affection from Ms. Yu Dong, remember to treat her well in the future!
P.S. No matter how busy you are, you must remember to eat! (* ^ _ ^ *)
Xia Feng put down the card and clasped the wallet tightly with both hands. Finally, he placed the card back into the wallet, then got out of bed to transfer everything from his old wallet into his new one.
After this, Xia Feng went back to lay down on his bed, falling asleep with a smile.
***
The author truly overloaded us with fluff after chapters of separation. Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get back up
