“You want a tattoo? Aren’t you afraid that your old man will beat you to death with a stick?” Xi Jinzhou leaned against the wall with his hands crossed, looking at Ye Gu who was sitting in his seat. His eyes were cold and indifferent, and he insisted on doing what he wanted.

Ye Gu’s eyes were cold and stern. “If you know, then I know. I will never resist.”

Xi Jinzhou ruffled his hair in annoyance. He was finding it increasingly difficult to understand Ye Gu. He just went to England and didn’t even meet him, but now he wanted to get a tattoo, on his waist where it hurt the most.
The skin there is the thinnest, and it will hurt every time you do it. The subsequent maintenance will also be extremely troublesome.

“Why on earth do you suddenly want to get a tattoo? I really don’t understand.”

Ye Gu was silent for a long time. Just before the tattoo artist started, he looked directly at Xi Jinzhou and spoke in a depressed tone, with a hint of uncertainty.
“If I fulfill a person’s wish, even if I don’t let her know, does that still count as fulfilling her wish?”
Xi Jinzhou was confused for a while, but he probably understood what he meant and did not ask any more questions.

Later, almost all of his friends, except Xi Jinzhou, thought that Ye Gu had a scar on his waist due to an accidental injury, so he used tattoos to cover it up.
That rose tattoo, amidst all the true and false rumors, lives on quietly, just as some people hoped, never to fade.

/ / /
After I graduated from school, I realized that beyond the vast volumes of books, there were countless unanswered questions.

In a foreign country, Luo Yang chose to continue her studies. Professor Richard Smith asked her if she was willing to stay in the school, but Luo Yang immediately rejected the professor’s suggestion.

“Why? This is a rare opportunity. It’s a good opportunity for you to gain experience, and it will give you a broader space for development.”

Luo Yang blushed slightly and tactfully handed back the professor’s letter of recommendation.
“Teacher Smith, what you said does make sense, but you know, I have more important things to accomplish. Don’t worry, even if I leave here, I will still come back to visit you often.”

Mr. Smith had no children. Although Luo Yang was not the smartest among his many students, she was smart enough. The most important thing was that her diligence and hard work were unmatched, which was also the reason why Smith took a fancy to her at that time.

He often treats Luo Yang as his daughter and is therefore partial to her. Of course, he will not shake any decision Luo Yang has made because of his own selfishness.

Luo Yang was determined to leave, but he still fully supported her. He was just worried and told her many times to contact him in time if anything happened. There were so many senior brothers and sisters who could help her, and if necessary, he could go there in person.

Smith is not young anymore, and the benefits of long-distance flights are very few for him. Luo Yang doesn’t want to see her teacher running around for her, so she just agrees verbally. She hardly considers letting Smith travel back and forth.

The day before leaving, Luo Yang went to visit the tavern where she went every Christmas.
The boss had just opened the shop. Luo Yang was a regular customer here and the boss was already familiar with her.

“You’re here! You’re here to get those notes.”
Luo Yang didn’t comment and helped the boss move the boxes at the door inside.

The boss kept muttering about the recent sluggish market, how the drinking culture was beginning to become less pure than it was a few years ago, and how it would be even more difficult for a small pub like his to survive.

Luo Yang listened silently. It was true that in the past two years, the market had spawned a variety of wine and beverage industries, which combined with entertainment became the favorite activity of young people. On the contrary, this most original and pure tavern was abandoned and no one cared about it.

“No, after all, your message wall has always been a popular section. You will definitely keep going, I promise.”

The tavern owner laughed when he heard this. “Lea, this is a rare time that you say such a casual word. I’ve never heard you say such a full-hearted word before! Then I’ll borrow your auspicious words!”

Luo Yang pursed her lips slightly, her eyes falling on the wooden wall with messages on it in the tavern.

Every Christmas, she would exchange messages with someone on this wall. The first time she left a message, she saw a note that touched her heart, and so she was inexplicably led to participate in this activity that she had thought was childish before.
–
If I disappeared, would you look for me?
Even now, she feels guilty whenever she thinks of that sentence.
At that time, she was wondering if the owner of the note was also struggling like her, trying to escape but at the same time conflictingly hoping that someone would find her, even if it was just one person.

“How did the dessert you received taste that time?” The boss came out at some point and stood side by side with Luo Yang, with his hands behind his back, looking at the wall full of sticky notes.

Luo Yang laughed, “Please stop teasing me. At that time, I was at a bottleneck in my thesis. I can only say that desserts do have an impact on people’s mood.”

“That book, The Little Prince, should be good.” The boss handed it over to him and remembered clearly how surprised Luo Yang was when he received the gift.

Luo Yang just smiled and said nothing.

In fact, that was not her first time reading “The Little Prince”, but her mood that time was different from usual. At a certain moment, she suddenly understood Rose’s thoughts and the meaning of waiting.

She always felt that the little prince would eventually return to the rose, it was just a matter of time.
But isn’t the most unsolvable problem in this world a matter of time?

“when are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow’s flight, but could you please pass this to him for me?”
This was probably the last note and gift she could leave for the pen pal she had never met.

The boss was silent for a while, then he lowered his eyes to look at the box tied with a black ribbon in his hand and let out a long sigh.
“Okay, I’ll pass it on. I don’t know when he’ll be here.”

Let it be, it was just mutual comfort between two strangers who met by chance. But if there was a chance in the future, she would like to thank this unknown gentleman for giving her a push when she was hesitating to move forward, so that she would not be unable to come out of her turtle shell.

/ / /
Xi Jinzhou called Bian Yao.

“What’s wrong?” Bian Yao frowned as he looked at Xi Jinzhou, who looked depressed in the bar’s private room.

Xi Jinzhou helplessly spread his hands, “He knows. He knows that we have been hiding the news from him.”

Bian Yao sat down and poured himself half a glass of sparkling water.
He said nonchalantly, “The news that Luo Yang is going to return to China? Isn’t this a matter of time? Didn’t you expect this a long time ago? Why are you doing this now?”

Xi Jinzhou sighed silently. He had long expected that this matter could not be hidden from Ye Gu, but he did not expect that his reaction would be so big.

Even if Luo Yang was mentioned occasionally in the past, he would not be so frightened. This time he looked more solemn than any other time before.

Bian Yao looked at the direction where Ye Gu had just left, his eyes deep.
The brainless one said, “Nervous?”

During the few days that Luo Yang returned to China, she avoided seeing Ye Gu. Coincidentally, Ye Gu did not come to see her either.

It seems that he is indeed very busy now. He is in charge of a company and there are probably many decisions every day that require him to judge and issue instructions.

/ / /
“Master, are you kidding me? You actually used your Gulfstream? So where are you now?”

Ye Gu looked at the familiar street and his eyes caught sight of the inconspicuous plaque.
“Leave it to chance. Just pretend you don’t know about this. Just treat me as if I’m still in the country and I’ll be back in two days.”

Xi Jinzhou interrupted Bian Yao’s burning desire to continue gossiping, “Okay, be careful outside, and call me if you have any questions.” Bian Yao was forced to stop gossiping, his face full of resentment and dissatisfaction.

Xi Jinzhou sighed lightly, looking at his useless appearance.
“Where do you think he can go abroad? You still have the nerve to ask this and you still have the nerve to say that you know the young master best.”

Bian Yao was stunned for a moment and rolled his eyes: “Who knew that the young master was so useless that he wanted to go to England. Besides, she has already returned. Who knows what the young master is going to do there.”

“Dingling~”
The boss turned around and said, “We haven’t started business yet—”

When the boss saw the person in front of him, he paused what he was about to say, looked at him in disbelief for a few seconds, and then quickly greeted him enthusiastically.

“Long time no see, Frank! Why are you here at this time!”

Ye Gu didn’t beat around the bush, “Of course I’m here for the gifts. How are you doing recently?”

The boss understood what he meant, and as he walked inside, he said, “Thanks to you, the business has improved significantly recently. With the accumulation of so many years, it can be regarded as a well-known store on this street.”

“Your gift, but she’s gone. It’s a pity that you’re a step too late.” His words were full of regret.
Ye Gu looked unusually calm, without the expected sense of loss, which made the boss a little confused.

“I still think that, Frank, you and her should be like me and my wife back then, but seeing you like this now, I’m a little unsure.”

Ye Gu laughed and put the gift box into his bag.
“I think the same as you, but this kind of thing depends on fate, doesn’t it?”

“You two are so destined to be together. I even placed a bet on you two last year! Don’t let me down!”
The tavern owner patted Ye Gu’s shoulder with a smile.

Ye Gu responded gently, “If it succeeds, I will invite you to visit China, how about that?”

The tavern owner clapped his hands and said, “I’m waiting! I’ll go back and pack my luggage today. The sooner this day comes, the better!”
The sound of laughter could be heard from the tavern.

In the car, Ye Gu lowered his eyes and looked at the exquisitely packaged box in his hand.
Taking a deep breath, as if making a long mental preparation, Ye Gu opened the box.

There is a pair of cufflinks in the box. If you look closely at the pattern on the cufflinks, you can see that it is the Little Prince.
Ye Gu stared at the pair of obsidian cufflinks for a long time, his eyes surging, his fingertips tightly gripping the edge of the box, and he didn’t even notice the car’s sudden brakes.

The driver apologized, but Ye Gu was completely oblivious.

There was also a can of candy in the box. Ye Gu was slightly startled and tore off the note on the glass jar.
To Mr. Frank:
There was once someone who was very important to me. He told me that if there is something that I can’t get through, I can quietly eat a piece of candy while life is not bitter. I hope this method can help you persevere when you encounter difficulties. Thank you for your encouragement for so long, which has enabled me to keep going in a foreign country where I am unfamiliar with the place without collapsing. Now, I am leaving to do what I have always wanted to do and to meet someone who I have let down for a long time. I wish you all the best. I believe that one day in the future, we will say “hello” face to face. I hope you can meet your little rose soon and become that complete little prince!
Lea stay

The corners of Ye Gu’s eyes turned slightly red and he sneered.
“This is clearly my exclusive secret recipe. I didn’t have to pay the tuition fee to learn it.”

I’m afraid few people will believe it, but when Ye Gu was a child he loved eating candy the most. However, his family was afraid that he would get cavities if he ate too much sweets, so they restricted the frequency with which he ate candy. However, he was very smart. They buried a jar of candy under a tree in the backyard, and whenever he couldn’t help it, he would secretly eat one to satisfy his appetite.

But he probably didn’t expect that later he would fill up the candy jar that was about to be empty, intending to give it to Luo Yang as a birthday present, because he always saw her crying with sadness, and she would cry when she was unhappy.

Luo Yang was three months older than Ye Gu. At that time, the adults always taught him to call Luo Yang “sister”. Although he was not convinced, he still obediently called her that.

Later he thought that it must be because there was too little candy in Luo Yang’s house that she was often unhappy, so he decided to give her this jar of candy as a gift on her birthday.

Ye Gu brushed the delicate texture of the glass sugar jar in his hand, but the gift had not been given away yet.

When would this gift be delivered? He didn’t know. If he was unlucky, he might never be able to deliver it. As luck would have it, he had never had good luck.

/ / /
Luo Yang thought that their meeting should be in a respectable occasion.

But at the party where Rocco announced his engagement, he walked in openly with his back to the light and stood beside her, as if they had met more than once since she returned home, and they were so familiar with each other.

She watched him take out the invitation announcing their marriage. Luo Yang’s heart beat uncontrollably. She felt the air was thin and breathing was difficult. Her thoughts were clearly revealed on the invitation.

Ye Gu hated being deceived the most, but she was now doing the thing he hated the most. Now that the words had been spoken, there was no room for maneuver.

That day, the two people stood behind the crowd like strangers.

After a long while, Luo Yang finally said with great difficulty: “Long time no see.”
Ye Gu smiled loosely, his tone distant: “I just came to your rescue abruptly, Miss Luo, please don’t hold a grudge. After all, we still have to live together in the future, don’t you think so?”

Luo Yang’s knuckles as she was holding the goblet suddenly hit the wall of the goblet. She tried to calm herself and maintain her dignity.
“No, as long as you don’t hold a grudge.”

Ye Gu seemed not to have heard clearly, and when he asked further, Luo Yang just smiled and passed it off.

/ / /
“Boss Ye, aren’t you going to see Miss Luo off?”
Ye Gu’s eyes were deep, and the moles under his eyes seemed to be covered with thick fog, making them hard to fathom.

After a long time, he reached out and took off a cufflink and handed it to Liu Min behind him.
“Put it there properly.”
The cufflinks have a vaguely Little Prince style, but the obsidian embellishment steals the show.

Ye Gu took off his suit, loosened his tie at his collar, and looked at the car that had disappeared long ago.
“I don’t hold a grudge against you, but I always hold a grudge. After this, let’s start over again.”

Liu Min listened to Ye Gu’s murmurs and asked casually, “Mr. Ye, what did you say?”

Ye Gu smiled and threw the suit to him, “Do you know bus No. 14?”
Liu Min was puzzled, “You know.”
Ye Gu smiled without saying anything, looked back after a while, and said, “Recently, bus route 14 has been opened again…”

Perhaps bus No. 14 was reluctant to part with that bright and flamboyant youth, and after many twists and turns, it finally won the battle of dreams in the struggle of reality.

(End of this chapter)