Chapter 86

After hanging up the phone, Li Dong curiously asked, "What's the situation? You and auntie Song still don't plan on telling Song Linchuan?"

That day, he thought they were joking, but didn't expect they would be serious.

Pei Kuang helplessly said, "Anan wants to wait a little longer before saying anything."

"Don't blame me for not warning you, this matter shouldn't be delayed." Li Dong kindly reminded.

"Otherwise with Song Linchuan's temper, knowing you hid this from him for so long, he definitely won't have the heart to say anything harsh to his auntie. So all that anger can only be directed at you."

Pei Kuang smiled and replied, "I know."

He originally planned to tell Song Linchuan as soon as possible. Naturally he also knew this matter shouldn't be delayed. But the little girl insisted on waiting for some reason, so he just went along with her.

Of course, Pei Kuang also had personal reasons.

He thought, at least he should wait until Song Anan likes him more. Only then would he have the confidence to face Song Linchuan.

After all, his previous methods weren't entirely fair and square.

-

Song Linchuan was at a critical turning point in his career. After finishing filming this drama, he stayed in City B for less than a week before starting on another project.

In comparison, Pei Kuang's break this time was quite long. Since finishing recording that workplace variety show, adding up the breaks in between, he had almost three months of free time.

Pei Kuang himself wasn't in a hurry. Every day he and Song Anan flirted with each other. During the day at home he would read books and tend to flowers, then at night he would cook dinner and wait for Song Anan to get off work and come home. Life was comfortable and leisurely.

But as his agent, Li Dong was truly anxious!

Heavens, how could he not have noticed before that Pei Kuang actually had the potential to be lovestruck.

Fortunately, his next drama was about to start filming, so there wasn't much time left for him to be all lovey-dovey.

After Pei Kuang started filming, Song Anan moved back into the dorms.

But she never could have imagined that Pei Kuang would come back after just a few days.

That day, it was Li Sirui's turn to work the late shift, so after getting off work Song Anan went straight back to the dorms, and even bought dinner from the cafeteria on the way.

Just after getting back to the dorms, she received a call from Pei Kuang saying he was at her school gate right now.

Song Anan ran out with a blank look on her face. After getting in the car and seeing Pei Kuang, she still hadn't reacted.

They had been in contact every day since being apart these past few days. She knew Pei Kuang had a heavy filming schedule these two days.

"Why did you suddenly come back?" Song Anan asked.

Pei Kuang held Song Anan's hand and smiled, "Do you know what day it is today?"

Song Anan was stunned for a moment, her mind raced but she had no idea.

"What day is it?" she asked.

Without further explanation, Pei Kuang turned around and took out a gift box from the back row.

"This is for you. Our one month anniversary gift," he said with a smile as he handed it over.

Song Anan let out an "Ah", subconsciously scratching her head.

They needed to celebrate monthly anniversaries too? She didn't have experience in this area and really hadn't thought of it.

"Um, I didn't know, so..." she didn't prepare anything for him.

Pei Kuang rubbed her head and said with a smile, "You don't need to prepare anything. These are things I should be considering."

Song Anan didn't quite understand, "Why?"

Pei Kuang just smiled and shook his head, explaining, "You're a girl. Having a sense of occasion in a relationship is the boyfriend's responsibility."

This time Song Anan understood his words, but she had a different attitude towards it.

In her opinion, dating was something between two people. No matter what they did, it should be mutual.

She could also give him a sense of occasion.

But Song Anan didn't argue too much. Today she really was inexperienced. Since she didn't prepare anything, no matter what she said would just be empty words. She could make up for it next time.

Song Anan looked down at the gift in her hand. She definitely wasn't unhappy.

Noticing there was also an envelope on the gift box, she couldn't help but be surprised. Was this a congratulatory card, or...

Just as Song Anan was about to open it and take a look, Pei Kuang stopped her.

"I came all this way, and you're only looking at the gift. You're not even looking at me?"

Song Anan raised her head to look at him, a glint of anticipation flashed through her eyes, "I saw there's an envelope. What's inside?" Pei Kuang stroked her palm with his thumb, smiling as he asked, "What do you think is inside?"

Song Anan quietly looked at him, somewhat hesitant, "If I guess, will it really be that?"

Pei Kuang raised his brows, "Say it and see. Even if it's not this time, who knows, maybe next time."

Song Anan pursed her lips, mumbling inaudibly, "A love letter."

Pei Kuang's eyes were full of laughter, "Want a love letter huh. Then I was careless this time."

"It's just a letter with many things I've wanted to tell you but didn't have the chance. It's not really a love letter yet. Next time, I'll think hard about it."

What's the difference between a letter and love letter? Song Anan couldn't distinguish clearly.

She subconsciously wanted to reach out and pinch the envelope to take a look, but was stopped by a large hand pressing down.

Pei Kuang looked at her smilingly, "Be good. Read it when you get back. If you read it in front of me, I'll be shy."

Hearing him say this, Song Anan's heart instantly felt like a kitten was scratching it. She was so itchy she couldn't stand it.

She just...wanted to read it even more.

But since he already said it like that, she didn't insist. Or else it would seem like she was too impatient.

"Have you eaten dinner? Do you want to go eat something?" Song Anan asked.

Pei Kuang shook his head, "I won't eat. I still have to rush back later."

Song Anan was a bit surprised, "Leaving later?"

Pei Kuang nodded lightly, "Mm, there's still a few scenes to film tomorrow morning."

Song Anan was stunned, "Actually, you didn't need to specially rush back just for this. I'm really fine."

But Pei Kuang shook his head and said, "But I'm not fine."

He pulled Song Anan into his arms, kissed her forehead, "I missed you."

Song Anan curved her lips, raising her head to meet his gaze, "I missed you too."

Although they were only apart for a few days, she didn't feel anything in particular before. After all they video chatted almost every day. But only after seeing each other again did she realize how much she missed him.

In the past, hearing others talk about feeling like time apart was like three autumns, Song Anan only thought it was an exaggeration. But this time she truly experienced it firsthand.

However, Pei Kuang really was short on time.

Not long after the two were alone together, Li Dong called to urge them to hurry, otherwise they would miss the plane.

After sending Pei Kuang off, Song Anan hugged the gift and letter as she entered the school.

Back at the dorm, she put the gift aside and first opened the envelope to read the letter inside.

Dear girlfriend, hello!

I'm so fortunate to become your boyfriend. This is something I've wanted to tell you lately. I think all the luck in my life has been used on this matter!

Today is the 30th day we've been together. I know you'll laugh at me, but nowadays I wake up smiling every day. Sometimes I even feel a bit dizzy, like this is all a dream.

I wanted to write you something for a while now, but found I didn't know where to start when I picked up the pen. After thinking about it for a long time, there's one thing I still want to confess to you.

That day when I came to lay my cards on the table, I used a little trickery by showing up injured like that. I gambled that you would take pity and give me a chance. I never expected that you would directly agree to be with me. This was completely unexpected.

But a confession is a confession. You can take this chance to make any reasonable or unreasonable demands. But you also can't go back on your word. You've kissed me, hugged me, even lifted up my shirt to feel my abs. You have to take responsibility for me!

...

Alright, I've rambled on for so long. You must be tired of reading. Finally, there's one more thing I want to say:

Anan, meeting you is my greatest blessing.

Your boyfriend who loves you, Pei Kuang

It was just two sheets of paper, but Song Anan read it several times. She placed the letter over her chest, the corners of her mouth subconsciously curving up.

Your boyfriend who loves you, Pei Kuang.

She couldn't help muttering, "And he said it's not a love letter."

After a while, Song Anan picked up her phone and opened Pei Kuang's WeChat page.

She wanted to tell him that day when he came to lay his cards on the table, it wasn't because she took pity that she agreed to date him. But she didn't know where to start.

This seems to go back quite far, tracing back to her nearly three-year long unrequited love. She clearly wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

After thinking for a long time, Song An'an finally typed out and sent a single sentence.

"Pei Kuang, meeting you is also my good fortune."

Normally speaking, when a young couple in love are separated in two different places, it's extremely difficult to endure.

But fortunately both were quite busy, Song An'an had to do clinical rotations at the hospital, and her teacher had also assigned her some research topics, so every day she was busy running around.

Pei Kuang was similarly busy. This drama already had a tight filming schedule to begin with, and adding to that his own high standards, it goes without saying that time would be even more pressed.

But no matter how busy, they still kept in contact every day, no need to reply to messages promptly, just reply when there was time. As long as they both had time they would video chat, and their previous overly sweet and intimate manner only increased.

In the blink of an eye, December arrived. Pei Kuang's birthday was on December 5th. Speaking of coincidences, Song An'an had never celebrated his birthday with him before. In previous years, he had either been filming or away for work events, in short, they had never overlapped.

This year was no exception. Pei Kuang had told Song An'an a few days prior that he wouldn't be able to come back this time either. The entire cast and crew of the drama were rushing to film, so naturally as the male lead he couldn't ask for leave at this time.

As for Song An'an, her situation was relatively more flexible. She had told her supervisor a month and a half ago, adjusting her work schedule to take 3 days of vacation time.

But this wasn't asking for leave, just shifting her vacation days together to take them consecutively.

Although Song An'an had never dated before, she was very adept at learning, figuring things out from one example.

Given Pei Kuang's surprise last time, she wanted to take a page from his book and prepare a surprise for him on the day itself.

The night before, Song An'an was packing her things in the dorm.

Li Sirui paced around, rubbing her hands eagerly, seeming even more excited than Song An'an.

"Wow! I'm finally experiencing the joy of shipping a couple."

Song An'an shook her head helplessly. She had Li Sirui to thank for this time's events.

The two of them were rotating in the same department right now. The one who had worked with her to adjust the schedule was Li Sirui, otherwise things wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

"Sirui, thank you for switching shifts with me. I'll treat you to a meal when I get back." Song An'an said.

Li Sirui giggled excitedly, "No need for a meal, just give me more details to satisfy my shipping happiness when you get back."

Song An'an shook her head helplessly again. Ever since Li Sirui had become a fan of them as a couple, this kind of 'fishing for details' behavior had become the norm, nothing unusual.

Early the next morning, which was Pei Kuang's birthday, Song An'an set off for the airport.

After getting off the plane, she took a taxi directly from the airport to the filming studio. About an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance to the filming studio.

Song An'an put on a hat and face mask, then took out her phone and opened a fan chat group for Pei Kuang.

Li Sirui had added her to this a couple days ago. For Pei Kuang's birthday this time, the fans had spontaneously organized some people to visit the filming set, as a way to celebrate his birthday.

Since this was meant to be a secret, Song An'an naturally had to be extremely careful. She had considered contacting Li Dong at first, but was afraid he might give something away.

So in the end, she chose this method to blend in with the fans and sneak in.

However, Li Sirui had repeatedly reminded her to keep her distance from the fans, to avoid being recognized.

Song An'an opened the group and saw someone had posted a location, telling everyone to gather there.

She walked in that direction, and soon saw a group of 20-30 people in the distance.

Song An'an checked the location on her phone again to confirm they were Pei Kuang's fans, then stood not too close or too far away behind them.

Not long after, Pei Kuang's assistant Liu Hao came out of the filming studio to receive the fans. He said something to the fan in front, then led the group towards the studio.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Song An'an hurried to follow behind, finding an inconspicuous spot in the crowd.

Inside the filming studio, Pei Kuang had just finished shooting a scene and returned to the waiting room.

Li Dong said, "The fans will come celebrate your birthday soon, go greet everyone."

Pei Kuang asked, "Did you coordinate with the filming crew?"

Li Dong nodded, "Don't worry, we coordinated early on."

Fan visits were good publicity material for the filming crew too, a scenario welcomed by all.

And today was Pei Kuang's birthday after all, it was reasonable on all counts and wouldn't inconvenience the crew.

Pei Kuang lightly hmm-ed in acknowledgement, "Did you prepare the fan gifts in advance?"

Li Dong gave an 'ok' gesture, "Same as always. It's your birthday, but they get the gifts."

When fans came to celebrate Pei Kuang's birthday, there was an unwritten rule. He would not only not accept any gifts from fans, but also prepare a gift for the fans who had come from afar, as a token of gratitude.

It was also an idol's gesture of goodwill towards his fans.

Since Li Dong said there were no issues, Pei Kuang didn't ask further. Instead he lowered his head to continue fiddling with his phone.

The little girl had sent him a photo of the food at her hospital cafeteria an hour ago, saying she was eating lunch. He tapped open the photo and unconsciously frowned slightly.

Pei Kuang's fingers flew as he typed back a message: "Why are you eating so little?"

Li Dong peeked at Pei Kuang's phone, "What's up, messaging your little auntie?"

Pei Kuang didn't even lift his head, just lightly hmm-ed in acknowledgement.

Li Dong tsk-tsked twice, "I'll say, you're just being stubborn. You must really want to spend your birthday with your little auntie right, I suggested asking for a day off half a month ago but you refused no matter what."

Pei Kuang glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Just then, Liu Hao opened the door to the waiting room and came in, saying the fans had arrived and Pei Kuang could go out now.

He nodded, he still had several scenes to film later, couldn't delay.

The filming crew had cordoned off a reception area in the studio for the fans. The fans were all arranged there, along with other actors and staff from the crew.

The assistant director had prepared a large three-tier cake in advance. Everyone was ready to celebrate Pei Kuang's birthday together.

When Pei Kuang walked over, he had his usual smile on his face, warmly greeting the crowd and fans.

But when his gaze swept over the crowd and landed on an inconspicuous corner in the back, his smile froze for a second.