Seven years ago, Han Wei clutched Chu Xiao's heart disease diagnosis and cried in the hospital corridor until dawn. The next day, carrying the news of her pregnancy that she had never managed to share, she disappeared into the old alleyways of Nancheng. She thought she was escaping the fear of possibly losing him at any moment. She had no idea that Chu Xiao was holding the engagement ring she'd left behind and had spent six years searching for her, his heart filled with one obsession: waiting for her to come back.
Seven years later, beneath the wooden sign of the Smile Cafe, Chu Xiao stumbled upon Han Wei buying buns with Han Luoluo. The stars in the child's eyes were just like his own when he was little. He crouched down, his voice trembling. “Luoluo, I'm your dad.”
From then on, Chu Xiao's silhouette joined Luoluo's as they chased butterflies along the old alley's stone-paved streets. Amid the warmth and bustle of the Smile Cafe, Chu Xiao learned to stew the pear soup Han Wei loved, stood between her and a falling old sign, and, when she worried about his heart, slapped his medical report down on the table. “The doctor says my heart can stay by your side until we're old.”
There was also Su Wan and Zhou Yu's “awkward with words, thoughtful in every detail”: the pediatrician hid her kitchen knife gadget because he was afraid the flower shop owner might cut herself. And Lin Wei and Chen Mo's “together for years, deeply in love”: from high school uniforms to wedding gowns, every design was filled with the image of the other.
When Xia Luoluo drew all six of them in “My Family,” when Chu Chengcheng clutched her brother's hand and called out “Dad,” and when Chu Xiao had Han Wei's name engraved on a new ring: “I'll give you a little light and smile by your side for life.”
It turned out the best romance was never about grand gestures. It was the fragrance of Wei blossoms drifting through the old alley, tea kept warm beside a smile, you with two children and me with a healed heart, turning seven years of regret into a lifetime of smiling together.
