Hidden Love
Han Yu Pin Yin: Cang Ai
Author: Jennifer
Source: AAE Village
Translators: TS~*

She and Xiang Zhe had planned to have dinner together this evening.

After getting into the car and safety buckled up, he smilingly handed her a red rose.

"Happy Valentine’s Day." He said.

"Thank You." She blushed, smiling; took the flower from his hand.
She lowers her head looked that bright red rose, the feeling of happiness filled her heart.

"Did you...give to the flower to the wrong person? It doesn’t look like that we have this kind a of relationship." She mischievously takes a look at him.
 
Today, there is news about him on newspaper’s entertainment section; together with him in the papers was the daughter of Li’s Entrepreneur.

"Who set the rule that one can only give flowers to the sweetheart? I’m giving flowers to my.....most “favorite” girl.. ." He looked at her, saying it hoping that she will understand.

She pouted her lips and shyly turned her head to look out the window.

Having known her for so long, she still blushed so easily, he is also really worried that one day he might scared her away.

"Erm..., when did you start to read those entertainment news?" Xiang Ze broke the silence.
 
Earlier that day on the telephone; she had made fun of him half of the day because of the reports in the newspaper

"Eh..I accidentally saw it." She felt a little guilty saying it.

She didn’t know from when she started to pay attention to the newspapers and magazine reports that writes on him and MBS.
Although Xiang Zhe is very active in the industry, but he is a person who values individual privacy, besides official business, chances of him appearing in the papers are not many, but unavoidably there are one or two times when his private life becomes news on papers too.
Previously she did not take note of the groundless news, but recently whenever she sees this kind of news, she will get agitated for no particular reason.

Xiang Zhe drove to Gangnam-gu, this is an area where there are many high-class restaurants. She doesn’t come here often.
Getting down the car, she took the stalk of rose along with her.

"In the car, the air does not circulate well, by the time we finish our dinner, the flower might have withered." She explained

Looking at her how much she treasures that rose, his heart is filled with joy.

He led her towards the underground entrance of a skyscraper.
Over the entrance reads three bronzed, large brush-written Chinese characters "Ten Miles Villages"

"Be careful, below are staircases." He followed closely beside her, afraid that she might fall.
 
"Xue Zhang, the design here is unique." She looked around the restaurant.

The end of the steps brought them before a beautiful Oriental style in door garden, they walked through the bridge, pavilion and arrived at the dining room. In front of them is another uniquely designed dining room.
The waiter showed them to a table at a quite corner of the restaurant.
The entire dining room is surrounded by the bamboo shoots; which is carefully chosen and trimmed, with the soft lighting; it gave a nice and warm ambience.

Probably as it was due to Valentines’ Day, the restaurant is full house.

She looked at the bamboo around her curiously, "Xue Zhang, are these bamboos are real?"
 
"Mmm… heard that they are replaced every half a month."

"This shop owner must have spent lots of effort in it." She said

"All right, enough on praising others; quickly drink your soup." 

They were just starting to drink their soup when Xiang Zhe saw some of his friends. He left the table to go greet them.

She sits there, although the bamboos are placed in such a way to create a sense on privacy for each of the patrons, she could still feel curious eyes observing her and that had made her uneasy, a little while later Xiang Zhe returned to their table.

“Met a few business associates" He explained.
 
He sat down and looked at her, smiling faintly

"What’s wrong?" She asked
.
"They said that you are very pretty." He smiled
A moment ago his friends forced him to tell them whether she is his girlfriend, this he dare not tell her casually.
 
Several times when he had unintentionally talked about this topic, she had either just kept quiet or changed the subject to entertain him and there’s even once when she came up with some excuse and left without him. He definitely does not want history to repeat itself today.

Xiang Ze ordered all her favorite food. Both of them enjoyed the dinner happily.

“Xue Zhang, Let me give you a treat today, okay?” She smiled and said

“On normal days, perhaps I’ll agree to that but definitely not today. Today is Valentines’ Day. There’s no such thing as a girl giving a guy a treat” He said

“What kind of weird rule is this?” She pouted her lips

“You…seem to be very happy today!” She’s been smiling all night, tonight

Yes! Why is she so happy? She asked herself
Is it because it’s Valentines’ Day today and he gave her a stalk of rose?

“Because…I’ve collected my bonus today! This year’s bonus is twice as much as last year’s!” She said

“Only twice as much? Your boss is really petty. With someone like you who places work before life, if I were your boss, even by giving you five times as much bonus, I’ll still feel that it’s too little!” Lately she’s been very busy. He had tried to ask her out a few times but it was always turned down as she couldn’t find the time.

“Really? May I ask if there’s any vacancies in your company?” She said half jokingly

“Of course. There are a few vacancies. If only you can grant us the great honor of employing such a highly regarded lady like yourself.” He said, a little bemused

“Really, you’re such a workaholic, you work till you forget the time and day; why do you have to work so hard?” Whatever projects her colleague cannot cope with, Shan Mei will take on the project without a word. She has lost weight. He couldn’t bear to see her like that.

“I want to save more money!”

“Even if you want to save more money, you’ll still need to look after your health! By the way, why do you need so much money for?”

“With enough money, I plan to migrate!”

“Migrate? Where do you want to migrate to?” He was taken aback by her words

“To England or France! Which ever will be good!” She sounded serious.

“Isn’t there anything here that will keep you?” He asked a little upset

Looking at his crossed eyebrows, she felt naughty and tried to pull his leg for once.

“Things that’ll make me stay? Let me see…Yes! There’s a daddy that’s always not at home, a naggy auntie, some friends and the children at the community chest.” She calculated her thoughts with her fingers

“Only all that?” He looked a little disappointed

She stole a glance at him and continued playfully: “Hmmm….about this…of course there’s Xue Zhang also lah!”

“You’ve got a heart after all! When did you learn to pull tricks on people?” He was exasperated

“From a big shot at the TV station, he always bully me” She looked at him innocently

Really, it’s his fault again. He wonders who is then the real victim and the bully.

“Funny, why do I get the feeling that you’re the one who keeps bullying me?”

She laughed out loud.

His mobile phone rang

“Oh it’s you Yong Xi…”

It’s that Liu Yong Xi again. It’s been a few times that when they were together, he’s received her calls

Xiang Ze did not take his eyes off Shan Mei while talking on the phone. She lowered her head and starred at the tabletop

“This Thursday? What’s up?”

“…..”

“Birthday? I almost forgot about it myself! No Need!”

“…..”

“I’ll confirm with you again! I’m with a friend now” He ended the call quickly

“Xue Zhang, is it your birthday this Thursday?” She asked him

He looked at her and asked gently “ Are you…free to have dinner with me?”
His eyes is filled with hope

She felt guilty “I’m afraid I can’t! I need to leave for Chaejoeu lsland on Wednesday and will only return on Friday. I’m sorry!”

If she knew about his birthday earlier, she would have made sure she could spend it with him no matter what.

He hid his disappointment in his heart and said: “ It’s okay! Anyways, I don’t have the habit of celebrating my birthday. It’s just a casual remark.”

Thursday afternoon, he returned to his office meeting. There was a large parcel waiting for him that the reception table.

His sectary behind him commented “It was sent by courier this morning. I think it’s your personal mail”

Everyday, he would receive a pile of mails. His sectary would scan thru them before forwarding it to him.

“I’ll look at it later”
He’s in a rush to look thru some documents. After work, Xian Da and Yong Xi want to have dinner with him; to celebrate his birthday.
It was tough but he did manage to go through some urgent documents before 6.30pm. He was about to leave for his appointment when he saw the big parcel still sitting on the table. Out of curiosity, he went over to have a closer look at what it is. At that instant, happiness rushed up into his heart. It was a parcel from Shan Mei.

He ripped away the hard cardboard paper that’s used to wrap the box. In the box was a painting. He took out the painting carefully.
His heart; his eyes, they were all captivated by the scene in the painting.
It was a painting by Shan Mei; the painting shows Cambridge Kings’ College.
 That was the college that he had studied in. The historical architecture and the green fertile field in front of the college were all captured in the painting. He could suddenly picture groups of students sitting by and gathered at the field, enjoying a sunny day out or laying down, deep in thoughts.
He had told her before that the place he loved was the field before Kings’ College. She had actually remembered.

The painting was dated yesterday.
He had wronged her. He hasn’t seen her since last week when he had send her home after their dinner at [Ten Mile Village]. Even on weekends, she had said that she was busy and couldn’t get away when he had called. So she was busy painting his birthday present. He’s really stupid!

He took down the card attached to the painting.
On it was written:
[Xue Zhang, Happy Birthday. I wish that everyday onwards, you’ll find happiness just like those days you’re at Kings’ College] Shan Mei
 
His heart was once again filled with happiness. He could not stop himself; taking out his mobile phone, he dialled her number. Yesterday morning, she had called him from the airport. He was in the middle of a meeting so he couldn’t chat with her for long. He had forgotten to even ask her which hotel she’ll be staying at.

That night, he had a quick dinner with Xian Da and Yong Xi. Finding an excuse, he had left them early to return home. He had just wanted to be home alone, allowing only the painting to accompany him, thinking about the painter.

He made a drink and sipped it slowly
Just like that, he starred at her painting and started recalling the times they were together. There were happy as well as exasperating moments
How can the memories of Kings’ College cannot even measure to a tenth of the time they’ve spent together.

He had never expect love to creep slowly into his heart this way and staying there, not allowing him to stop himself from falling for her. He thought he could hide the warm feeling of love from her, to be satisfied with just being the person who watches over her quietly from the side. But now he knows that he’s finding it more and more difficult to contain the feelings that are getting stronger as day passes. He’s afraid that he’s not able to control his own heart anymore.

He picked up the phone and put it down again. He didn’t know what foolish words he would utter when he hear her voice.

It was in this way that he sat, waiting for her to call.

He wasn’t disappointed. She really called

“Xue Zhang! Happy birthday” Her sweet and gentle voice rouse the feelings he felt for her.

“Hey, Thank you! Thank you for the birthday present. You must’ve spent lots of time on it!” He had to keep the feelings he felt for her under control and manage to tell her all these words; they’re not all that he’d wanted to say

“It’s nothing! I did it in a hurry so didn’t draw it very well”

“Xue Zhang, you must’ve just returned right? I called earlier but no one picked up the phone. You went out and celebrated with your friends, right? Must’ve enjoyed yourself a lot!” Didn’t that Liu Yong Xi say she wanted to celebrate his birthday with him? He must have had a great time.
Thinking about it, she felt a tinge of jealousy

“I’m the least bit happy! Today is my birthday and the one girl I like actually abandon me and ran away to Chaejeou Island….” Listening to her sweet and lovely voice, he couldn’t stop himself from expressing the deep feelings he had for her anymore.

She held onto the phone, the feelings that she has kept bottled in her heart for a long tima all seemed to rush up into her heart. She wanted to much to tell him:
[Xue Zhang, I like you too]

But she ultimately wasn’t brave enough.
There was a long pause at the other end of the line. He was waiting for her reply.

After a long while, she finally said haltingly “ Xue Zhang, you must be drunk that is why you’re joking with me”

She was trying to change the subject and act confuse again? He wasn’t about to let her get away with it today.

“Zhen Shan Mei, I’m not drunk. You listen carefully, I like you, I’ve liked you for a very time already. You know it in your heart that I’m not joking with you.”
He meant each and every word with his heart, saying out his true feelings was like lifting a ton of weight that had burden him for a long time.

But she had a sleepless night.

She told herself, he was just kidding, he’s just her Xue Zhang but she cannot cheat her own heart.
They’re both attracted to each other; she could feel the attraction getting stronger. Whenever he looked at her, his depth of his eyes will reflect the burning passion he felt for her. His voice is always so gentle and strong. It’s not that she hasn’t realise, it’s just that she’s trying to ignore it, to escape; so she had to act like she’s confuse; ignorant.

But tonight his serious and sure declaration of [I like you] has left her no room to retreat.

She has to think and consider carefully their relationship. It’s been bugging her for a long time now but it’s always been a problem she’s try to sweep under the carpet for as long as she can.

The next day when she saw him waiting for her at the airport, she was surprised. He had actually made a trip to the airport to pick her up in the middle of the day.

“Why do you look so tired?” he asked

She was wearing sunglasses but it couldn’t hide the dark shadows on her face. She must have had a sleepless night like him, he thought.

“You’re here at this time of the day? Don’t you have to work?” She asked, her brows crossed.

“I’ll be worried if I don’t meet up with you” He treaded carefully

“Does it make you feel better looking at me like this?” She’s angry with him for being so persistent.
His hurt and innocent look; make her unable to get angry with him for long.

After a long while, she finally gave a sigh and said “ Xue Zhang….I need some thim to think about it clearly. During that time, let’s not met up. You’re also not to call me okay?”

To walk up straight to him; is it such a difficult decision to make?

Xiang Ze could not help himself from feeling disappointed but he nodded his head in agreement with her anyways.

“Don’t make me wait too long, okay?” He looked at her clearly

She’s still willing to speak to him. It made him believe that he’ll not lose her.

She nodded her head lightly

“I’ll be leaving on a business trip in 2 days time to China and South East Asia and will only be back next Friday. You’ll have to tale care of yourself okay.” He looked at her with glowing love in his eyes, making her heart flutter

“Okay” she answered softly

“Next Sunday afternoon, I’ll wait for you at the entrance of Shi Min Park” He looked at her straight in the eye and said. “Shan Mei…. No matter what your answer may be, promise me…you must come.”

“Hmm.” She gave a soft affirmation

On the way home, she didn’t say much, but when they parted, she gave him her wonderful smile; which made him strongly believe that she’ll definitely give him the answer he wanted.