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It was nearly the day of the wedding and Xie Lian was having second thoughts about it. Recently, her fiancé was very distant and was always at work. She knows that Jun Wu was an important businessman and had a busy agenda, however, before the proposal, he had time to kill and would always be with her. She didn’t know what to think anymore, and sometimes, she even wants to cancel the wedding, but her parents would always tell her to not do anything reckless since he could actually be dangerous, it was well known that he had connections to some bad people and would not take the chance.
To make things worse, her fiancé told her to stop working, that way, she could “relax” and focus on being a good future wife. Also, she was told to not hang out with friends and to not contact them.
It was nearly 3 months of her imprisonment, and she was very depressed, going from very social and happy girl to gloomy housewife was not the best for her. One night, she decided to take a walk very late at night, her fiancé wasn’t home yet, so, it was possible for her to do so. She went to the garden and lay down near a heather plant to rethink her life decisions.
“I wonder if San Niang is doing ok in life” She said in a soft whisper “Would this be happening if I told her my feelings?
She then thought about her future husband and how they used to go on dates, how he made her feel so happy, how she felt in the moon when they were together. But she remembered him basically taking away her freedom, her parents always being on Jun Wu`s side, and how miserable she felt with every day that passed.
“Do I really love him?”
“Do I really want to marry him?”
“Do I really want this to be my life”
Those were some of her inner thoughts, then, she remembered her parents, and how could everything go wrong.
Suddenly, she heard voices coming from the nearest window.
“It's been a month and she hasn’t done anything stupid, so, I think we should get all the money now.”
“I agree, I had to convince her many times to not cancel the wedding”
“Mom....and dad....” she whispers to herself
“Why would she do that” Her fiancé said
“Maybe because you haven't been paying attention to her, all 3 of us are all she has left, we took her phone away. And talked to all her friends to not look for her and told them that they could see her in the wedding...so now that you know that, just give us the rest of the money and we will stop coming here, our daughter will be all yours”
An awkward silence surrounded the room, Xie Lian was speechless, she forgot how to breath for a moment, then, Jun Wu spoke.
“All right, I'll give you both the money, but, as soon as you walk out of her, you are not allowed in until the wedding, and even then, I don’t want both of you near her, unless it extremely necessary, which I doubt”
After hearing that, she decided to end it, she went to her room to change, and to pack some stuff, she knew she didn’t want to be there anymore, she grabbed some clothes, basic stuff, her wallet and savings, and her diary filled with pressed flower bookmarks, she turned to the last page, and saw a gardenia bookmark.
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“What flower did you get today A-lian?” Said Shi Qingxuan
“It's a... “
“Forget me not... that so cute! You should definitely tell Hua Hua how you feel!”
“I know, and I should, but you know how long-distance relationships end. I don't what us to end in bad terms, I really like her”
“Well, you have the last word”
“I... won't tell her, it's for the best”
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She put it I her backpack, then, she carefully made a run for it, she knew exactly where the security guard were, so, it didn't take her long to get out of the house. Once out, she just walked in a random direction, since she moved in Jun Wu`s residence, she didn’t know the area so well and she was thinking that maybe she would get lost and her fiancé wouldn’t find her. She wanted to call Shi QingXuan, but she didn’t have her phone, plus, all the calls of her calls were monitored by security and housekeepers
After almost an hour, she heard many vehicles going in the same direction she was. Xie Lian was panicking and decided to run, she knew that if she was caught, she would be in a lot of trouble for doing such a thing. She ran for her life like there was no tomorrow. She saw a what seem like a garden from afar, so, she went in that direction. Once she got near enough, she saw someone there. She was kind of relieved, but then she thought “What if it’s a guard and they turn me in?
She almost passed out when someone touched her shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to scare you miss, sorry...” A girl around her age said.
“XIE LIAN, DONT TRY TO HIDE FROM ME!”
“Please help me, I don’t want to go back” she said almost shaking.
The young girl then grabbed her hand and started running into the garden.
“I'm going to hide you, so, don’t make any noises, I'll try to scare him off”
It was very late at night, so, it was very dark, and the garden was huge, finding a good hiding spot was very easy.
“I'll come back, and I'll take you to my house if you would like”
Xie Lian was left there, in the middle of a garden behind some bushes and trees, she then turned her gazed to her side a saw a narcissus plant, one singular flower was in bloom, so, she decided to cut the flower and stare at it while thinking about everything what had happened, and what would she do from then. She was so lost in thought, when she heard footsteps going her way, she froze.
“Is it Jun Wu, or, his guards, or my parents, or …. or....” She thought to herself, she covered her mouth, just in case.
“Jiejie, you can come out”
And she did
“What happened, did he hurt you... or did he...”
“I didn’t talk to him, my coworker did, he and his girlfriend are here, actually, we gotta take a run now, we will meet at my place, of course, if you are ok with it”
“Let's leave right now” Xie Lian didn’t give it a second thought “Place led the way”
The girl then took her hand and ran. It wasn’t a cold night, but, somehow, when grab that hand, she felt chills all over her body. After some minutes, they got near the parking lot of the place, the girl grabbed 2 helmets and gave Xie Lian one.
“Don't know if you ever been on a motorcycle, but I'll have you go on the back, just hold on tight”
Both girls then soon hit the road. They noticed a bunch of cars ahead of them and Xie Lian got nervous. Xie Lian got a little nervous, but then they took a curve and it seem like however was ahead didn’t noticed them, some minutes later, they arrive at their destination. They were minutes away from the city she lived in, so, she was less worried about being found. The house was kind of big for one person and it was well maintained, she was able to see a couple flowers outside, she noticed a lavender plant nearby.
“I heard lavender is helps you relax, Ill cut some for you...you can go in; I'll be inside in a minute”
Xie Lian went in and saw a bunch of flowers in the living room, it was all neatly organized. And saw some bouquets mostly arranged.
“I'm sorry, I never got your name” Xie Lian almost jumped “I'm sorry I startled you!”
“I'm sorry, I'm just distracted … it's been a night for me, and … oh god, I'm sorry for bothering you with my problems”
“It's fine … my name is …
“HUA CHENG!” Someone screamed
“I told you to wait for us!”
Xie Lian was surprised when she heard that voice
“QingXuan!”
“Lian Lian!”
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“I can't believe it, your parents and that bastard really did that, I can't believe it! Jun Wu told me you left home and maybe got lost... God I should've kicked his ass when he was in front of me, but I'm grateful that you are alive”
“I wanted to call you, but they wouldn’t let me go out, I hated that place, I just couldn’t handle it anymore. And honestly, I wanted to cancel the wedding, but my parents talked me into not doing it... I know I wanted them to be proud of me, but why did they had to do that” Xie Lian was crying at that point and wanted that feeling to stop. But then, a thought clicked in her mind.
“Why were you there tho?” She asked.
“Well, I had hope to find you, but also, someone else also wanted to find you... it's been a while, but I hope you remember Hua Hua”
“Wait, I remember her...she was the from art class...”
‘Yep, I'm surprised you didn’t recognize her, Hua Hua, why didn’t you tell her!”
Xie Lian turned around and saw the girl that helped her.
“All this time... I was with her … “
Memories of her high school crush came to mind, she remembered both of them working on different portrays and sculptures, being together during lunch, sharing many looks and spending their time hanging out after school, up until both got a scholarship to 2 different schools in different cities, their farewells.
“San Niang... I can't believe it you... here... when did you came back?”
“Jiejie, I came back around 3 months ago, I wanted to surprise you and hang out with you before your wedding, but then I knew about you being basically locked in at home, and not having contact with anyone... I wanted to reach out to you, I did once, and then, was told to leave you alone until the wedding. Qingxuan, He Xuan and I decided to work at that garden we found you. We knew that maybe one day, you would leave.
“I... thank you...I appreciate you very much”
After some long conversations, they all went to sleep.
Some hours later, Xie Lian wrote a suicide letter to her parents and Jun Wu and left it by a bridge nearby together with her engagement ring and a pair of shoes. She then left the city cautiously, to make it more believable
Before leaving the city, Hua Cheng decided to sale the house she lived.
Xie Lian was surprised by that, then she knew that Hua Cheng had a business, and that He Xuan worked for her. Xie Lian was a business graduate, so she was hired. All 4 of them worked a lot, and before they knew it, 6 months went by, and everything was going great, Shi Qingxuan was getting married to He Xuan soon, and her and Hua Cheng were catching up with their feelings and every once in a while, they would forget about everything and everyone and just look each other deeply in love.
One day, Shi Qingxuan invited them to a local garden that was said had some beautiful flowers, sculptures, and a labyrinth. The day came, and they all went, it was indeed a precious view, and it was mostly couples they saw, Hua Cheng and Xie Lian felt a little awkward, they knew they were grown adults however, they couldn’t help but feel weird about it.
“So, they say that if you and your partner get to the end together, you win a prize! So, He Xuan, let's go this way!” Shi Qingxuan grabbed her girlfriend's hand and both of them left the scene.
Both girls shared a look and then went in, they decided to talk about both of them and about their plans for the business, since they didn’t want to talk about their own feelings. They were so engaged in the conversation, that they somehow got to the end of the labyrinth
“Wow, that was quick!”
“Congratulations for getting to the end, you have both won a prize, but you both choose the prize, you 2 roll a dice and the number you get, will be your prize, if you don’t want the prize, both are welcome to explore the rest of the garden” The young worker said to them
“We will roll the dice”
And they did, both ending with a 6.
“So, the total is a 12, you both get a special gift, 3 free photos in the flower chamber”
“It's been a while since we both taken a picture together, we should go,” said Xie Lian.
Hua Cheng nodded, and both went. After the pictures were taken, they went for a walk, until they got to a water fountain.
“You know, I really love this place, it remembers me of the day you found me in the garden, thank you, Ive never actually thank you for that” Xie Lian said with a lite blush on her cheeks.
“No need to thank me, I was just doing what any other would do”
“Well, I don't know if anyone would have done the same, but I do want to thank you, everyday I'm grateful to have you by my side, I really missed you when you left, and I'm happy to be here with you”
“Jiejie...I really missed you while we were apart, and, I always had you in mind and I... wanted to give you this”
“A red tulip? Well thank you, I'll keep it in my diary...." Then she realized what she said “I mean, I do bookmarks with your flowers and keep them...” she did it again
Hua Cheng found some courage, and gently put her hand on her cheek “You don’t need to explain yourself, I would love to see the bookmarks”
They both stared at each other for a minute, and without a doubt, both went in for a kiss, an innocent kiss so tender that Xie Lian stared to cry a little. After some minutes, they left each other's lips and hugged.
“Jiejie...would you like to date me?”
“YES!”
They shared another kiss and forgot about their friends.
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” So, you're telling me that Hua Cheng basically confessed her feeling but you never knew?” Shi Qingxuan was surprised.
“Yep, I had to force her to tell me everything, and I couldn’t believe it too. “
“Thats so cute. I wish you the best, and I hope that with your knowledge of flower language, you can help me with my bouquet, I'll make sure you get it, maybe then Hua Cheng proposes to you”
“We barely started dating 2 days ago!”