My Mister Ostrich

The first batch of notices for arts schools came out in mid July. Every day, Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi waited at home, and finally, the postman came.

The day that the acceptance letter came, Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi invited Pang Shuisheng and Jin Aihua out for a celebration dinner. Halfway through dinner, Pang Shuisheng said, “Qian Qian, Mingxi, you two have both received your admission notices and you’ll be heading to Shanghai in September. Shouldn’t you take advantage of the summer break to register your marriage? As for the wedding, we can do it on National Day or over the Spring Festival. You guys can decide that.”

Gu Mingxi glanced at Pang Qian, his lips raising up slightly. Pang Qian often joked about registering their marriage, but in the end, she would retract her words, saying to wait until the entrance exams were over. Now, both of their study plans were set, so he thought that Pang Qian would agree.

Instead, as she was gnawing on a chicken foot, Pang Qian casually said, “There’s no rush to have a kid while we’re in school, so we’ll talk about registering the marriage later.”

Gu Mingxi was startled, and Pang Shuisheng was also shocked. He originally planned to have the two kids register their marriage so he could add Gu Mingxi to their family registry. He hadn’t expected at all that Pang Qian would block his plans.

Pang Shuisheng was in a bit of an awkward situation. He was, after all, a father-in-law. He told Gu Mingxi, “Indeed, you can’t have a child while you’re in school. There’s no rush. You two discuss it yourselves. We won’t push you.”

Jin Aihua asked Pang Qian, “You can’t have a kid while you’re doing your degree? You’re already 27. You’ll be 30 by the time you graduate.”

“Nope.” Pang Qian lied, “Mom, how can I walk around school with a big belly!”

Jin Aihua figured that was true, so she didn’t say anything in response.

When they returned home that night, after Pang Qian showered and got into bed, Gu Mingxi decided to have a discussion with her.

He laughed and said, “Pang Pang, let’s celebrate our birthdays together next month.”

“Huh?” Pang Qian pulled out her phone and opened the calendar. “There’s 10 days between them. Why would we celebrate it together?”

“We can just celebrate it on your birthday.” He looked over at the calendar on her phone. “The 13th is on Monday, and it’s the 26th of the 6th month on the lunar calendar. Not a bad day. We should go register our marriage.”

“…” Pang Qian didn’t respond as she swiped through the calendar all the way through August 2013. Then she showed the screen to Gu Mingxi. “See? August 13th next year is my birthday, and it’s also Qixi.”

Gu Mingxi stared at her.

Pang Qian laughed and her eyes curved up. “Think about how rare it is! The last time our birthdays were on the same day was when I was 9! Gu Mingxi, we should register our marriage next August 13th!”

Gu Mingxi’s mouth dropped. “You’re the one who said we should register it after we got our acceptance letters.”

Pang Qian’s eyes rolled around. “Ah… Did I say that?”

“You did,” he responded seriously.

Pang Qian’s lips curled up. She kneeled on the bed and suddenly reached out her hands to hold Gu Mingxi’s face and pushed his cheeks together. Gu Mingxi couldn’t avoid her, so he could only stare at her with wide eyes. Pang Qian pinched his cheek and said firmly, “Gu Mingxi, why are you so stupid?!”

And so, this question remained unsettled.

After the college entrance exam finished, Gu Mingxi started preparing his next book. Before he started drawing, he had a discussed with Jiang Qi about the main points of the story and he also had to research some things.

The summers in E City were blisteringly hot. Pang Qian was too lazy to go out as well. After spending half a year working so hard, she just wanted to rest at home for two more months. Pang Qian would stay at home in the air conditioning every day with Gu Mingxi. He worked and she browsed the net, watched TV dramas, and played games. In the morning, the two of them headed out together to buy groceries and then after dinner, they would go out for a walk. When he worked on his draft, Pang Qian napped comfortably through the afternoon. It was the same day after day, and yet, they didn’t find it boring.

One day at the end of July, Jiang Zhiya called Pang Qian and said that there was a concert being held by a Taiwanese singer. Because of work, she was able to get tickets and she had some extra, so she asked if Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi wanted to go.

Pang Qian asked Gu Mingxi, and since they didn’t have anything to do, she thanked Jiang Zhiya and went to pick up the tickets.

The concert would be starting soon. That evening, the weather was still hot and stuffy. Leaving her face bare, Pang Qian pulled her hair up in a ponytail. She wore a loose t-shirt, denim shorts, and a pair of slippers, ready to head out to the gym arena for the concert.

Gu Mingxi wasn’t dressed as casually though. He had on a light yellow shirt with jeans. He wasn’t dressed in loose pants as usual, like when he was going to the market or for a walk on the beach. Before they left, he was even sitting in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He held a comb to his hair, seriously tidying it up.

Pang Qian looked at him oddly and asked, “We’re just going to see Jiang Zhiya, aren’t we? Why are you making yourself up so much?”

Gu Mingxi saw the clothes she was wearing and instead asked, “Do you want to change into a dress?”

She said, “No, too much trouble.”

The singer holding the concert wasn’t very popular, but she was good at singing love songs. Pang Qian carried a cold cola and bobbed her head along with Gu Mingxi, pleased with the music. The only uncomfortable thing was that the gym was really quite hot, like being in a steamer. Pang Qian’s back was covered in sweat, but she just thought of it as going to a sauna.

When the singer started singing a classic love song, Pang Qian saw a sudden commotion at the front, near the stage. She looked over curiously. It seemed that several rows from the front, a young man had proposed to his girlfriend.

The lighting was dim and light sticks waved through the air. Almost everyone was standing up, stretching their necks to catch a glimpse. The audience circled around the main pair, and the man kneeled down. He held up an open jewelry box with a shining ring inside.

Pang Qian excitedly hit Gu Mingxi’s side. “Wow, it’s a proposal!”

Gu Mingxi, “…”

That girl was surprised and also embarrassed. She held a hand over her mouth and looked like she was going to cry.

Someone in the crowd started cheering, “Marry him! Marry him! Marry him!”

Pang Qian chanted along with them. She even whistled passionately and applauded loudly. Gu Mingxi’s mouth twitched as he looked at her, slightly uneasy.

The girl being proposed to twisted in embarrassment, and then the boy got down on one knee and started speaking. The singer was still singing, her tender voice moving the entire audience. It was noisy so Pang Qian didn’t hear clearly what the boy said. She just saw the girl sniffling and nodding. Then the crowd around them started cheering loudly. Pang Qian happily raised up her light stick. Gu Mingxi was quiet the entire time, as if in shock.

The boy held the girl’s hand and helped her put her ring on. Finally, he stood up and pulled the girl into his arms. A perfect marriage proposal scene came to an end, and the excited audience gradually quieted a bit and continued listening to the concert.

That pair of lovers stood close together. Seeing their backs, Pang Qian let out a sigh in their heart: I wish all the couples in the world could become family.

After the crowd settled, Pang Qian quietly told Gu Mingxi, “Actually, I think that kind of proposal is pretty silly. Like a monkey in a zoo, with everyone watching you… If the girl agrees, then it’s okay, but what if she doesn’t agree? That would really make the guy lose face.”

Gu Mingxi’s eyebrows jumped up. He asked, “Don’t you think it’s kind of romantic?”

“What’s romantic about it? You’re just trying to be the center of attention,” Pang Qian said. “Although I don’t know them, and it was pretty fun when it happened, I think the guy was a bit frivolous. If I were the girl, and I originally liked him, I might reconsider at that moment.”

A cold sweat came down from Gu Mingxi’s forehead.

He said, “Pang Pang, can you pull out the phone in my pocket?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I… I want to make a call.”

As instructed, she pulled out his phone and asked, “Who do you want to call? I’ll dial it.”

With a slight stutter, he said, “Wang… Song.”

“Wang Song? Why do you want to call Wang Song?” Pang Qian started dialing Wang Song, but then the opening of a song started playing in the arena.

Gu Mingxi’s expression immediately turned unpleasant.

It was a song that Pang Qian had never heard before. The female singer’s voice was clear and refreshing and Pang Qian was gradually drawn into it.

Oh, how I wish I was a candle
To light up when you need me
When you’ve lost your way
To guide you from being lost

She forgot to dial Wang Song’s number and was focused on listening to the song. Just then, some noise came from behind them. And then the crowd grew restless once again.

Pang Qian casually turned to look and was stunned.

Under the not-very-bright lights, she saw a few familiar people. Wang Song, Li Xiaoyan, Jian Zhe, and Liu Hanlin were all walking down the steps toward them.

Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi’s seats were at the side of the stairs. The four of them walked over with big smiles on their faces. Li Xiaoyan was carrying a large furry stuffed bear in her arms. Jian Zhe was carrying a bouquet of roses. Liu Hanlin was happily taking photos with his DSLR. And lastly, Wang Song came out with a velvet jewelry box in his hands.

Pang Qian was completely dumbstruck and her mouth dropped open. She even forgot to glance over at Gu Mingxi, whose face was completely red now. She heard his voice apologize, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know someone else would be proposing. I know that right now, this may be a bit foolish, but… I really wasn’t just trying to grab everyone’s attentions.”

The female singer was still singing.

My heart is like the sea
Gentle at times, but also fierce
In this impermanent life
I’ll stay with you and never leave

I want to sing out loudly
And no one can stop me
I want to share it together with you
All the happiness and sadness in this life

When Wang Song, Li Xiaoyan, Jian Zhe, and Liu Hanlin surrounded Pang Qian, Gu Mingxi didn’t give her any time to react. He was already kneeling down on one leg in front of her.

Wang Song opened the jewelry box and a diamond ring showed up in front of Pang Qian’s eyes.

Gu Mingxi looked up at her. All around them, the crowd was cheering and whistling, light sticks twinkling brightly in the background. Some people had already noticed how the man was different from most people. He had no way to hold up the ring for his beloved woman. He could only look at her with his dark eyes, his gaze piercing into her heart.

He didn’t say any moving words, maybe because he’d been affected by the proposal scene they saw earlier or he originally didn’t prepare anything. He just said, “Pang Qian, I love you. Will you marry me?”

Liu Hanlin snapped a photo from beside them, and Pang Qian’s heart started pounding out of control. She suddenly thought that this story was just too magical. When she complained to Gu Mingxi about how foolish some guys were with their proposals, she actual felt a bit envious inside.

Maybe it was a dream that every girl hid inside her heart, for the person they loved to create such a romantic scene. When he kneeled down in front of you to propose, you really felt like a princess.

Was Gu Mingxi foolish? Extremely!

Was Gu Mingxi crazy? Too crazy!

Was Gu Mingxi brave? Of course, definitely! She’d never expected him to do something like this.

Tears started streaming down Pang Qian’s face. She felt so ashamed. She didn’t want to cry, but her tears wouldn’t stop flowing out. She cried a lot, and even at the end, she was crying. She looked at Gu Mingxi’s face. He hadn’t moved since the start, still down on one knee, stretched up, broad shoulders extended, gentle but firm eyes. She looked into his eyes. Trembling, she slowly stretched out her hand and cupped his cheek.

The scenes of their past started passing through in her mind. That youth with a white shirt, and that gluttonous and silly girl. They kept growing up, and finally fate brought them to marriage’s door.

Our love will keep on growing
Keep on giving and no longer hide
All the setbacks and hopes that belong to us
They’re like the dew that lets the flowers bloom

Pang Qian bent over and held his face in her hands. She closed her eyes and kissed him gently. She didn’t answer to the world, but instead, she whispered in his ear, “I love you too, Gu Mingxi. I will marry you, yes. I’ll be your wife, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for the rest of our lives.”

Her hand trembled as she pulled out the ring from the box. In front of Gu Mingxi, she put the ring onto her left ring finger. Gu Mingxi suddenly stood up and leaned into her. She hugged him tightly and closed her eyes, all the sounds around them drowning out. Maybe there was applause, maybe there was cheering, maybe some congratulations… But in all the chaos, she just hugged him tightly and listened to the end of the song.

This kind of light, though it is small
It can guide someone home
This kind of love, though it is light
It gives an unbounded hopes