Chapter 19: Your Beauty, My Scenery

Just as Xin Wen had asked, Lan Nian actually had a little secret hidden in her heart: on a certain day in a certain month of a certain year, there was indeed someone who had broken into the sea of her heart and she had stubbornly fallen deeper and deeper for that person.

At that time, she often accompanied her father, who was in the late stage of liver cancer, to take walks on Lover's Island. In order to add some fun for her father, Lan Nian often played with the pigeons in the square. And childishly, she wrote a lot of little notes and stuffed them into the wings of the pigeons. She hoped that her blessings could bring good luck to her father.

One day, her father said that if the pigeons could bring Lan Nian a satisfactory boyfriend, then he could leave this world without any worries.

Although it was a bit sad and poignant, Lan Nian at that time still had innocent fantasies. So, on a whim, she wrote in a note: Hi, so you're here too!

As a result, she really witnessed the miraculous moment: that pigeon seemed to understand her thoughts. It flew around joyfully and finally landed beside a man. With a slap, the note fluttered to the man's feet.

At that moment, Lan Nian felt that her breathing had become a bit strange. It was a man exuding a strong scholarly aura. There was a touch of melancholy in his elegance. He was really handsome and had the temperament of the wind.

During that period of time, he might have had something on his mind. Sometimes he would sit quietly in the corridor beside the flower bed, and sometimes he would take a walk by the stream. It was just that she didn't know why...

On that day, he passed by that paradise of pigeons neither too early nor too late, but just at the right moment.

Lan Nian saw him frown in surprise, and then gracefully bend down to pick up the note. His slender fingers gently unfolded it...

Finally, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he began to search the surrounding crowd in an unusual way.

Feeling guilty, Lan Nian immediately acted like a naughty child who had done something wrong. She deliberately pretended to be nonchalant and walked past him as if nothing had happened, but her heart started pounding faster at that moment.

For several days after that, Lan Nian didn't dare to play any more pranks...

Until one day, she couldn't hold back her curiosity and wanted to test the mystery of fate again. So she wrote another note:

Hi, it's so nice to meet you again! This time, while there were a lot of tourists around, she quietly stuffed the note into the wing of a pigeon.

As it turned out, there really was something magical in the world. The note landed right at the man's feet again... These days, the man had been lingering around the edge of the square, either intentionally or unintentionally, admiring the pigeons.

Lan Nian clearly noticed the astonishment and joy that bloomed on the man's handsome face after he read the note. It was a power as bright as a rainbow, which made Lan Nian's heart shift from a state of continuous rain to a clear blue sky.

However, that kind of connection and beauty that seemed like a meeting of minds eventually ended in disappointment.

Lan Nian soon received a call saying that her father was in critical condition. Before leaving, she deliberately put on the ladylike outfit that her father liked the most:

A floral dress paired with a red long-sleeved shirt. She also had her hair permed into a temporary curly style. When she passed by the square on Lover's Island, she saw the man from a distance. He was leaning against the railing beside the flower bed, looking a bit lazy. There was a deadly allure hidden in his elegance...

He was still searching around, either intentionally or unintentionally. His eyes were gentle and clear, full of a man's certainty and confidence.

With a complex mix of emotions, Lan Nian really wanted to greet him and say, "Hi, are you waiting for me?" However, the girl's reserve and her father's critical condition made her lose her nerve at the last moment...

So she just walked by in a hurry, not even having the chance to take a good look at his features or the casual curve of his lips.

But not long after she had walked away, she realized that a rather troublesome thing had happened. Half of her bracelet had fallen off. While Lan Nian was annoyed at her own carelessness, she looked around for it, but to no avail.

After getting on the bus, she instinctively searched for that familiar figure. He was waving vigorously in her direction, as if he was greeting her. Could it be that he had recognized her?

Lan Nian's heart throbbed, and she almost forgot to breathe. But the next moment, she felt dejected. She clearly saw a pretty and lovely girl riding a skateboard and playing games with him. The way they were chatting and laughing deeply hurt Lan Nian's sensitive nerves.

That was also the reason why she never dared to go back to Lover's Island afterwards.

She was afraid of the memories, and even more afraid of forgetting that beautiful yet fragile recollection...

Although three years was enough time to forget everything, in Lan Nian's heart, she stubbornly preserved that piece of pure land, that pristine world that belonged only to her.

At this moment, in the face of Xin Wen's spontaneous question, Lan Nian's heart could no longer remain as calm as still water. She gently turned her head, her eyes covered with a thin layer of mist, and the surrounding world seemed to become blurred and dreamy.

"You must have experienced that, right?" Xin Wen instinctively asked again.

"Mr. Xin, I'm driving," Lan Nian softly replied after a long while.

It was a beautiful sentiment, but also one mixed with regret and sadness... Because she deliberately took a longer route and due to the matter of the bracelet, she finally missed seeing her father for the last time, which had become a pain that she could never get rid of.