To My Dear Mr. Huo

After Su Qingsang noodles, it pained Xiang Caiping to see her head out. A grimace crept onto Xiang Caiping’s face.

“Why do you have to work when it’s your birthday today?”

“I have to. Today’s neither a weekend nor the new year.”

Su Qingsang put on her coat snugly. Her eyes met Xiang Caiping’s, which slightly reflected indignation. She smiled. “It’s not a problem. Work is a breeze. When I was a graduate student, I spent a whole week in the hospital in order to get an assignment done. I did not even get a break for the new year, not to mention my birthday.”

The look of pain on Xiang Caiping’s face deepened. Su Qingsang noticed that she had spoken rashly and moved forward to give Xiang Caiping a hug. “Aunt Xiang, I want to thank you for today.”

Xiang Caiping embraced Su Qingsang tightly before releasing her. “Alright, go to work. I’ll make something delicious for when you get back home.”

“Great,” Su Qingsang nodded and, as she turned away, a decision arose from the bottom of her heart.

…

The hospital personnel had their hands full every day, including on Christmas the previous day.

At noon, there was a traffic accident on a street by the hospital. Seven to eight people were seriously injured and one of them was a pregnant woman.

Once Su Qingsang entered the intensive care unit, she threw the thought of her birthday to the back of her mind. She had to be focused on receiving the injured pregnant woman.

She followed Director Zhang, Director Chen, and two other doctors into the operating room and fought to save the pregnant woman for a few hours. Finally, they succeeded in saving both mother and child’s lives.

Exiting the operating room, Su Qingsang was famished. Despite her hunger, she still completed her surgery report and did a handover of her duties.

Before getting off work, she took out her mobile phone to glance at it. She realized that there were more than ten missed calls. Besides one from Xiang Caiping, the others were all from Huo Jinyao.

Just as she was going to return Huo Jinyao’s call, a large bouquet of roses appeared in front of her face.

Su Qingsang was momentarily stunned. There were exactly nine hundred and ninety-nine dazzling roses. In the middle of the bouquet was a heart made up of yellow roses. There was a card wedged in there.

The bouquet was so big that it obscured the face of the person holding it. Without waiting for a response from Su Qingsang, the person spoke into her ear. It was a manly voice, one which she was very familiar with.

“Happy birthday, dear.”

Huo Jinyao’s beaming face appeared behind the bouquet of roses.

“Happy birthday, my wife. Do you like what I have gotten for you?” The bouquet of flowers was pressed onto Su Qingsang’s bosom and due its sheer size, her arms were not able to encircle it fully.

“I like it.” As she was speaking, Su Qingsang noticed that she had attracted the attention of many people around her. A blush crept onto her face. “I can get off work once I change out of these clothes. Wait a moment for me.”

As Su Qingsang came out of the changing room, Huo Jinyao, who was carrying the huge bouquet of roses, immediately escorted her. Their walk out of the hospital aroused the interest of many people around them.

She was not quite used to being the center of attention, hence she quickened her footsteps and walked briskly. The sense of awkwardness she felt only subsided after getting into the car.

“Dear, the guilty look on your face made us look like we’re having a clandestine love affair.”

Huo Jinyao’s quip incurred Su Qingsang’s glare. “You think I feel like I’m guilty?”

If he had not presented her with such a big bouquet of flowers, she wouldn’t have been the center of so much attention?

“Dear, don’t forget that we are a proper couple.”

Huo Jinyao leaned in to give Su Qingsang a kiss on her face as he spoke. “Alright, dear, let’s go for a meal.”

“Aren’t we eating at home? Then…” What about Xiang Caiping? She’s still waiting for me to celebrate my birthday with her.

“Don’t worry, I have already told Wenchang to pick Aunt Xiang up.”

…

Meanwhile, Yang Wenchang had already driven Xiang Caiping to Chaowen Courtyard, the place where Huo Jinyao had planned the meal for that night.

Not long after she had stepped into the private dining room, Su Chenghui’s car pulled up at the entrance of Chaowen Courtyard.