Both Lu Qiang and Jiang Yuyan were looking at each other, just then a butler arrived with a wooden box in his hands. It was the same box which Lu Qiang prepared for Jiang Yuyan in the middle of the night. Butler walked towards the table in the gallery and put that box on it. Then he turned around and left.
Lu Qiang walked towards the table, picked that box up in his hands and moved back to his place to stand in front of Jiang Yuyan. Then, he passed that box to her. "This is for you."
She received it and asked, "What is this?"
Lu Qiang smiled and said, "Something that I treasured a lot and something that you will like".
Jiang Yuyan looked at the box and opened it. She saw there were few things and she was familiarised with. She looked back at Lu Qiang with a puzzled expression.
"Let me hold this box" Lu Qiang smiled and said and took that box from her so that she could check the stuff inside.
There were few things from their childhood. She started to go through it one by one. She was surprised to see what was inside. She took out few handmade greeting cards and went through them and smiled brightly. "These were made by me".
Lu Qiang smiled and said, "Yes!"
She took out the tiny paper toys which had their names written on it. She said, "I remember, you taught me how to make this. See! This one has my name and it was made by me too".
"Yes!" Lu Qiang was just smiling, he was happy to see her excited and happy like this. He was busy in admiring her face and she was busy with going through the stuff in the box.
She took out the tiny football keychain and held it in her hands and said while looking at him in his eyes, "You still have it with you?"
He replied, "How can I lose it?"
She smiled and then she took out the photos from the box. Those were clicked from their childhood. She was smiling ear to ear like a child while going through those photos.
It was the first time when Lu Qiang saw her smiling so widely and even showing her teeth, since she came back to China. Her eyes were looking like an inverted crescent moon and her eyeballs were almost covered because of her thick eyelashes. He started to miss her laughter, her giggle and wished to see it soon just as he saw her smiling so brightly.
She took her time while going through these photos while remembering her childhood memories. Her happy childhood was passing by in front of her eyes again. She was smiling but her eyes became moist after remembering those beautiful memories.
"I missed those days. I missed our childhood and I missed you too". She said in a heavy voice and then tears started to roll down from her eyes. She was still going through the photos in her hands and her head lowered down.
Lu Qiang noticed her heavy voice and her tears. Her last words touched his heart. He didn't expect her to say it ever. He was sure that she had forgotten him and her memories with him, completely. He put the box in his hands on the small pillar at a crossing angle of the railing and stood close in front of her and called her name. "YuYan'
She lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes were teary and tears were rolling down from them non stop.
He looked into her eyes and held her face in his palms. He wiped her tears with his thumbs and then he calmly said, "We can make up for those missing days".
She was looking at his face too. She could see how much he cared for her and then she asked in a choked voice, "How?"
He smiled and said, "Leave it to me".
Then, he looked at the photos in her hands and said, "Give it to me".
She passed those photos to him. He took out two photos from them and put remaining photos back in the box. He showed her one photo and asked, "Do you remember when we clicked this photograph?"
It was a picture of that day when Lu Qiang promised to marry her.
She looked at it and nodded, "Hmmm!"
He then took out another photo and asked, "And this one?"
It was a picture of their last meeting at the airport before her departure from China.
She nodded again, "Hmm!'
Then, he put those photos back in the box and asked, "Do you remember those promises too?"
She was hesitating to answer this question because she knew what those promises were? And what did they mean at this moment? She lowered down her eyelashes and didn't say anything.
Lu Qiang looked at her and said, "But I remember every single word and all these years, I only thought to fulfil my promises".
She didn't know what to say. She stood frozen in her place. She knew what was going to come next and she was not prepared for it. Her heart already started to beating faster. Her hands clutched her dress.
Lu Qiang called her name again, "Yuyan!"
Whenever he called her name, she felt like his voice touched her heart. She found it pleasant to listen her name in his voice. She lifted her head and looked at him. His eyes were filled with the love and warmth for her and she could feel it clearly.
He looked into her eyes and said, "I love you, YuYan."
On hearing his confession, her heart was ready to jump from her chest and she was overwhelmed with so many things. Her mind was in a mess. His words, she wanted to listen it, but at the same time, she didn't want to accept it. The fear in her heart from her past was not letting her move ahead.
'Lu Qiang! I..can't…..' She wanted to say something but her voice choked in her throat.
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