One day when Xin Mei woke up in the morning, Su Yuchen was looking at her with a sad smile on his lips. There was a kind of gloominess around him.
He did not say much to her. He only said that he wanted to take her somewhere special. Somewhere, the place which was very special and close to his heart.
Xin Mei frowned but without questioning him, she got ready and wore a presentable dress which he found accurate.
Su Yuchen and Xin Mei made their way towards the car parking and took their seats in the car. Su Yuchen started to drive the car. He was silent throughout on the way.
"Chen, where are you taking me?" Xin Mei asked for the umpteenth time but again she did not receive any reply from him.
"Chen, please say something. Your silent is making me afraid. Where are we going?" she yelled with worry and concern in her voice.
Su Yuchen sighed and looked at her. He felt bad that he had worried her without any use.
"I am taking you to the place where my orphanage was once located. I visit there every year at this time of the year."
Xin Mei nodded her head and did not ask him any more questions. She knew the questions regarding his childhood and orphanage were very sensitive for him.
After one and a half-hour of the drive, they arrived in front of the abandoned building. Xin Mei"s felt a pinch in her heart when she caught the sight of the building which was burnt completely.
Su Yuchen stepped out of the car and Xin Mei followed him. They walked towards the orphanage and Xin Mei felt afraid, feeling horrific vibes from the orphanage.
Su Yuchen felt slight hesitation in her, held onto her hand.
"What happened here?"
"On a dreadful night, the fire caught the orphanage. Everyone was sleeping, no one realized that the orphanage was burning until it was the end. Everyone died. No one came out from that dreadful fire." Voice of Su Yuchen was heavy and was full of pain.
"I still remember, the very next day, all newspapers and every news channel was filled with the news of the fire in an orphanage. Everyone died. My friends, guardians, everyone…including Mian." Voice of Su Yuchen became very dull and he took a deep breath.
"Xin Mei, you always ask me about my past. Let me open up something about my past with you."
Su Yuchen walked towards a wall and stopped in front of it. "Mei, this is the place where I have met my Mian, twenty-three years back for the first time. Today is the day when I met her. I come to the orphanage on this date, every year to celebrate her birthday."
On hearing him, Xin Mei realized why he was so silent from the morning.
"She was hardly a week old. She was so small. I felt so close to her the moment I had seen her for the first time." He gulped and walked towards Xin Mei.
He held her hand and pulled her inside the orphanage. Xin Mei felt bad at her heart when she saw the burnt building.
"This is the place where we used to play and there, she used to hide behind that tree. It was her favourite place to play hide and seek."
Su Yuchen was telling Xin Mei about all the memories of himself and his childhood. The time which he had spent with his Mian and how close she was to his heart.
"You miss her?" She asked and leaned against his shoulder. She felt insecure hearing the way Su Yuchen was talking about Mian.
"I miss her. I miss her dearly. She was my only family during my childhood. She was the one who had given me a motto to live in this life, the one who had pulled me out from the darkness and into light-filled life."
Xin Mei again felt jealous of this Mian. She was lucky that Su Yuchen was so close to her. In her heart, Xin Mei knew that Mian held a special place in the heart of Su Yuchen which would not be s.n.a.t.c.hed by anyone.
Su Yuchen smiled when he looked down at Xin Mei. She was clutching at him with possessiveness.
"Mei, you know why have I brought you here today?"
Xin Mei raised her brows but did not say a word.
"During my last few visits, I always used to sit here on this barren land and used to think about my Mian for the whole day. I used to beg her to come back to me. I used to plead that I was alone and I needed her…"
"....but today, I want to tell her that I am no longer alone. I have you as my life partner." Su Yuchen squeezed hard on her hand. "I have finally moved on from her. I am not lonely or sad as before. I will still wait for her return but as my best friend, my family member."
"You will not look at her with the eyes of a lover?" Xin Mei twitched her nose.
"You look so good when jealous." Su Yuchen chuckled. "And as for your answer. I love you and only you. I have realized that I loved her as my family member."
Xin Mei and Su Yuchen walked towards the stairs of the orphanage and took their seats there. Su Yuchen started to tell her many more incidents from his childhood about which she was not aware of.
He told her about the pranks which he and Mian used to pull. Hearing him, Xin Mei chuckled hard. She could see that Su Yuchen admired Mian very much.
"Chen, I will pray that nothing has happened to your Mian during this fire. I hope that she was adopted before the fire." Xin Mei leaned on his shoulder and smiled a sad smile.
"I also used to pray the same before you came into my life. Now I no longer wait for her. I have already closed her chapter from my life."
Su Yuchen smiled and pulled her close to himself. "Now tell me, my dear wife, where do you want to go with me for lunch?"
"Surprise me." Xin Mei grinned and looked at him.
"Ok then." Su Yuchen stood up from the stairs and walked a further away from Xin Mei, to make a call to Huang Chu and give orders to him!