FMTL~Chapter 166: A Happy Ending~Part 8

 

Chapter 166: A Happy Ending~Part 8

When she woke up the next day, Su Yicheng had already left. He didn't say goodbye, but left a note on the bedside saying that he had already caught a flight back and couldn't bear to wake her. He also took the two photos they had taken the night before, saying that in the days without her, at least he could look at them and miss her.

An Ran clutched the note tightly in her hand and took out her phone to call him, but it was turned off. When An Ran arrived at the hospital from the hotel, feeling somewhat dejected, Lin Xiaofen had already returned from her examination. Seeing her condition, though still a little frail, she appeared to be in good spirits. She smiled and waved at her, saying she had something for her.

"What is it?" An Ran asked, puzzled, as Mrs. Zhang handed her a sandwich from a thermos container.

An Ran shook her head. "I don't want to eat," she said, her voice muffled and somewhat depressed.

Lin Xiaofen shook her head with a laugh. She reached out and took the sandwich from the thermos, handed it to her, and said, "Here, try it. You'll like it."

An Ran was helpless, unable to appease her mother, so she could only nod and take the sandwich from her hand. Perhaps it had something to do with her emotions; even though she hadn't eaten anything, she didn't feel hungry.

She took a bite of the sandwich and her eyes widened. The texture was familiar, and so was the taste.

Lin Xiaofen, who was leaning back on the bed, and Mrs. Zhang and the nurse standing nearby all smiled. Lin Xiaofen asked, "Do you like it?"

"Yes, yes, he made it, right?" An Ran was touched, her eyes slightly red. After eating his breakfast for almost six months, she could definitely tell it was Su Yicheng's.

Lin Xiaofen smiled and nodded, happy that her daughter had found someone who truly cared for her. She said, "Acheng came to see me at the hospital this morning before boarding the plane and gave me this sandwich, saying he'd let you have it later. He borrowed the hospital kitchen to make it just for you. Ranran, you've truly found a good man. Mom's happy for you."

Anran nodded, laughing and crying at the same time as she devoured the sandwich.

Su Yicheng had been busy these past few days, not just with work but also with a wedding he owed Anran. Although Anran had initially said she didn't want a wedding, standing in front of the bridal shop the night before leaving New York, he sensed she wasn't just lamenting for the couple; she deserved a wedding of her own. He specifically questioned Lin Li about this, and only then did he discover why she had insisted on not having a wedding. It turned out she considered weddings sacred and inviolable. A marriage could be a collaborative effort between two people who didn't love each other, but a wedding must be a journey of two people who truly loved each other, walking hand in hand.

Looking back, their meeting and union were indeed quite dramatic and endearing. When she'd said no to a wedding, he hadn't said much, because he was completely different back then than he was now. If she'd really wanted a wedding, he would have given it, believing it was the proper and respectful thing a husband should do for his wife. But when she said no, he didn't care. True to his words, he'd chosen to marry her because of two words: compatibility!

But things were different now. His feelings for her had changed. It wasn't compatibility; he was in love. Whether she wanted it or not, he felt he owed her a wedding, a promise made to her at the wedding. This wasn't just a husband's respect for his wife, but a man's promise and confession of love to the woman he loved.

So, after returning from the US, besides work, he'd been busy preparing for the wedding, hoping to have it ready within two weeks. Then, on the day she returned to China, he could walk her down the aisle and receive the world's blessings.

The idea of ​​a make-up wedding had nearly unanimous support. The Su family had always felt they owed An Ran a wedding, so this time, Su Yicheng's proposal was met with near-unanimous approval. Su Yicheng had also informed Gu Hengwen of his plans and ideas beforehand, asking him to cooperate and keep the matter confidential. Every father longs to personally walk his daughter down the aisle, then place her hand in the hands of the one who would bring her happiness, love, and spoil her for the rest of her life. An Ran had previously said she didn't want a wedding, and they respected her decision because they wanted her to be happy. But now that Su Yicheng had promised her a make-up wedding, Gu Hengwen, as a father, naturally had no objections and happily agreed, keeping the details secret from his daughter and wife.

The wedding went smoothly. Someone, trying to curry favor with their brother-in-law, offered to take care of the venue and the wedding car fleet. Another, congratulating a friend, offered to handle the band and emcee.

With so many key wedding duties being taken over, Su Yicheng, the groom, felt somewhat idle. When Yijiao offered to pay for their formal attire, Su Yicheng refused. If they kept taking over like this, he'd start to feel like it wasn't his wedding anymore.

An Ran and Lin Xiaofen's return date had been confirmed: their flight to Jiangcheng would arrive at 8:00 AM tomorrow. Upon receiving the news, Su Yicheng immediately informed everyone. The plan was for Su Yijiao and Lin Li to go directly to the airport to pick up An Ran, put her makeup on, and then take her directly to the wedding venue. Gu Hengwen would then take her hand and hand her over to him.

As he imagined this, a faint smile played across Su Yicheng's lips. He picked up the documents in his hand again, preparing to finish his work today and wholeheartedly welcome his 'bride' tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that the provincial government's decision on Su Yicheng's handling of the situation has arrived. While there haven't been any major changes to his position, the previously vacant mayor position has been transferred directly to Director Li of the Provincial Police Department, becoming the mayor of Jiangcheng. Su Yicheng will remain the deputy mayor of Jiangcheng, sharing responsibility for the Science and Technology City with the director previously appointed from the Provincial Party Committee. However, this document also includes a significant transfer: Su Yicheng, while serving as deputy mayor, will also concurrently serve as director of the Jiangcheng Urban Construction Bureau, taking over the position previously held by Tong Wenhai.

Thus, while the position remains largely unchanged, the scope of his authority has expanded, and naturally, the responsibilities he has to handle have also increased.

Just as Su Yicheng was struggling to finish the last few documents in his hand, there was a knock on his office door. Without giving it much thought, he instinctively assumed it was Secretary Zheng with some documents for him. Without even looking up, he shouted, "Come in."

The door opened, but Su Yicheng still didn't look up, simply concentrating on the documents in his hands. "What's up?"

"Hehe." The response wasn't Secretary Zheng's voice, but a clear, sweet laugh, as melodious as a silver bell.

Hearing the sound, Su Yicheng looked up sharply and froze.

The person standing before him wasn't the somewhat gruff Secretary Zheng. This was clearly the person he had just imagined giving her a big surprise for tomorrow's wedding!

An Ran smiled as she stood in front of his desk, looking at him and saying, "I'm back."

Su Yicheng was stunned, still a bit dazed. Besides surprise, he was also terrified!

An Ran couldn't help but find him amused, her usual brilliance completely gone. Her smile widened, and she coveted, "Are you idiot?"

Su Yicheng finally realized what was happening, quickly pushing his chair aside and standing up. He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly, but remained silent.

An Ran giggled and reached out to hug him back, her smile sweet and beautiful.

The two of them held each other for a long moment. Su Yicheng let her go, looked at her, and asked, "Aren't you on a flight tomorrow?"

An Ran's eyes curved in a smile, and she tilted her head to look at him, looking a little playful. "Surprised?"

"Surprised..." Could he even say he was shocked? This had completely disrupted his plans!

"Are you unhappy?" An Ran looked at him with some confusion. He didn't look at all like she'd imagined.

Su Yicheng shook his head, pulling her into his arms again, whispering in her ear, "I'm just so happy!" How could he not be happy? It was just too unexpected, a little different from his plan.

An Ran smiled back, reaching out to hug him tightly, burying her head in his chest, muttering, "Su Yicheng, I missed you so much!"

He held the woman in his arms even tighter, lowered his head to kiss her hair, and said, "I missed you too."

An Ran pulled out of his embrace and looked at him intently. She reached out and gently caressed his face, his eyes, his nose, and finally his lips. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down a little, and stood on tiptoes to kiss his lips. The moment their lips touched, she whispered, "Su Yicheng, I love you!" She had deliberately told him the wrong time and the wrong flight just to surprise him, so that she could rush to him the moment she got off the plane and tell him those three words.

Those three words seemed cast with a spell, a magical power that softened Su Yicheng's heart and ignited it with a surge of excitement. One hand wrapped around her waist, the other firmly planted at the back of her head. He kissed her back eagerly, his lips and tongue darting through her mouth, capturing every ounce of her beauty.

Su Yicheng finished his work as quickly as possible, then took An Ran's hand and headed for the parking lot. Secretary Zheng, returning from an outing, stared wide-eyed at the sight of Su Yicheng and his wife. He glanced from Su Yicheng to An Ran, speechless.

An Ran smiled and greeted him, "Secretary Zheng, long time no see."

"Uh," Secretary Zheng paused for a moment before finally reacting. He looked at An Ran and smiled, "Su, isn't Mrs. Su coming back tomorrow?"

"Mom's recovery is much better than expected, so she came back early," An Ran said with a smile.

Secretary Zheng nodded, occasionally glancing at Su Yicheng.

An Ran seemed to sense something was amiss between the two of them and asked, somewhat bewilderedly, "Is there something wrong?"

Secretary Zheng hurriedly shook his head, then smiled and said, "No, no, no problem." Then, fearing he might make more mistakes, he quickly excused himself, "Well, I, I still have some things to deal with. I'll be going first." Before leaving, he added, "Please give my regards to Auntie. I wish her a speedy recovery." Without waiting for An Ran's response, he hurried into the elevator.

Even after getting in the car, An Ran still felt something was amiss, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

In the car, while still wondering what was wrong with Secretary Zheng, An Ran suddenly realized something seemed to be amiss on the way home.

"Where are we going?" Although she had been in the United States for nearly a month, that didn't mean she had forgotten the way home. This road wasn't the way home at all!

Su Yicheng turned, smiled faintly at her, and said, "Home."

"But shouldn't our home be over there?" An Ran pointed in the opposite direction, confused.

He freed one hand and took hers in his, saying, "Let's go back to our old apartment. I've been going back there these past few days since you've been away. This apartment here is too big and feels too empty." Su Yicheng was lying. While it was true that he had been living in the bachelor apartment here recently, he wouldn't tell her that it was because of the wedding and that they needed to redecorate the apartment there. Although the overall layout remained the same, he still had to make the whole place look festive. He was very serious about their wedding.

An Ran didn't think too much about it. After hearing her words, her heart warmed. She held her hand tightly and smiled happily at him.

On the way back, Su Yicheng had gone to the supermarket downstairs to buy groceries. Back home, he personally cooked a sumptuous dinner for An Ran. Jet-lagged, An Ran couldn't sleep, so she pulled Su Yicheng aside to offer some soothing words. Near midnight, she finally felt sleepy. Sitting on the sofa in the living room, she slowly drifted off to sleep in Su Yicheng's arms.

Looking at her sleeping face, Su Yicheng bent down and kissed her brow. Then, he lifted her up and carried her to the bed in her room. He covered her with the quilt and tucked in her feet. Then, he left the room and called Ye Ziwen directly on his phone.

The phone rang several times before it was picked up. The person on the other end was clearly furious, but he seemed afraid to wake someone. Despite his anger, he kept his voice low, saying, "Damn it! Who the hell is disturbing my sleep so late at night!"

"Your brother-in-law," Su Yicheng said calmly.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment. Su Yicheng heard rustling noises, as if he had gotten out of bed and left the room. Then he heard Ye Ziwen's voice suddenly rise, tinged with a whine, "Brother, you're getting married tomorrow, but there's no need to get so excited you can't sleep and bother me in the middle of the night!"

Su Yicheng ignored his complaints and wailing, saying simply, "Yi Jiao's with you, right?"

"Yes," Ye Ziwen said matter-of-factly.

"Tell her she doesn't have to go to the airport tomorrow morning, but to my old apartment. An Ran's already back."

"Back?!" Ye Ziwen was a little surprised, and reflexively asked, "So there's no surprise at tomorrow's wedding?"

"An Ran doesn't know yet," Su Yicheng replied simply, then added, "Call Zhou Han later."

Ye Ziwen was stunned and asked, "Why me?" As far as he knew, someone and someone should have had no grudges against each other anymore, so why would he need to be a sounding board?!

Su Yicheng's response made Ye Ziwen almost vomit blood. He said, "Doing something wicked once is enough. I don't want to be scolded twice." What he meant was that calling someone in the middle of the night to disturb their sleep was indeed wicked and deserved scolding, but he didn't want to be scolded again, so he would take care of the scolding.

Without waiting for Ye Ziwen's reply, Su Yicheng hung up the phone.

On the other end of the phone, Ye Ziwen was stunned for a moment before frantically fuming at the phone, feeling he had simply made the wrong choice. However, considering his future happy marriage and his support, he had no choice but to take on this difficult task.

Back in the room, An Ran was still sleeping peacefully. He showered and changed, then climbed onto the bed from the other side, reaching out to pull her into his arms. He kissed her forehead, then closed his eyes and fell asleep in her arms.