Chapter 31: Epilogue

Following the flow of foot traffic through the arrival gate of Baiyun Airport with my huge luggage in tow, I searched the crowd for familiar faces. After walking around aimlessly like a lost puppy, I finally found my parents sitting in an inconspicuous corner, almost hidden from view behind a pillar.

"I thought that I'd receive a grand welcome but the both of you are just sitting here browsing through Douyin on your phones!"

My mother looked up from her phone and frowned. "It's good enough that we came to fetch you. We could have just given you the address and let you find your own way home."

"Your mother is right," said my father in a perfunctory manner. His eyes were still glued onto his phone where a cute yellow dog was prancing about the screen, chasing after a stream of flowing water.

I peered down at his phone once more and scowled. "Don't you get tired of watching videos of dogs all day? If you want a dog, just get one."

"What? Get a dog? Are the both of you going to take care it?" My mother chided as she stood up and snatched the handle of my luggage from me. "In the end, I'll be the one responsible for it. Don't give your father funny ideas."

Chuckling, I hurriedly apologised and wrapped my arms around her. Something pricked at my heart. After not seeing my parents for more than a year, they had a few more lines of wrinkles on their faces.

"But mom, actually now that I'm here to stay, I can help you to take care of it." I insisted playfully while taking back my luggage and pushing it towards my father.

My father finally put his phone away and rose to his feet "But won't you be starting work soon in your new firm? When will you have time to look after a puppy?"

"Ah, next week. Right after New Year's Day," I sighed, feeling apprehensive about having to start anew in a new office and a new city. At least I still had my family here with me. "Then it's ok we don't have to get a dog. But could you drop me off at ZS School of Medicine on our way home?"

***

Since the events at Shibao Pavilion a couple of months ago, Ji Kai and I had not been able to meet up in real life. I was busy with my daily work activities while Ji Kai had to deal with the Association's matters. Having received the Shi family's technology for traversing multiple worlds and his family's blessings to remain in a different province, Ji Kai had to rush back to school for his lessons and examinations. We could only communicate via video calls—but it was sufficient for us to talk about the past few years in our lives as well as our plans for the subsequent years of our lives.

He knew that I would be relocating to Guangzhou but he believed that it was during the Chinese New Year holidays. As such, he had planned to visit me in Beijing during the New Year holiday. Unfortunately for him, I was out to ruin his plans.

Standing outside the entrance of his university where students were walking to and fro, I checked the time on my phone. He should be having his break right now. A surge of excitement rose within me as I dialled his number.

Ji Kai picked up on the second ring.

"Hello, Yuhan?" There was a smile in his voice.

"Come out to the front door of your building. It's time for you to fulfil your promise." I said, grinning from ear to ear at the sound of his mellow voice. "I'm here right now, so come to me."

*** End of Part 2 ***

Author's Note: To everyone who has read till this point, thank you for accompanying me on my journey through this book! It's my first time to actually finish one as I usually run out of inspiration too quickly. But I'm glad I embarked on this journey and got to experience writing (albeit as a rookie) and receiving feedback from readers. Hope this was also an enjoyable journey for y'all. 

Till next time! :-)

PS. Completed uploading all the chapters on 27 Sep 2021. Will edit as soon as I can, and see if there are any parts that I am not so satisfied with or could be written better or more poetically ha.