Unable to sleep no matter what he tried, Ji Feng had no choice but to retrieve Xu Miyu's audio recordings that he had put away in frustration.
During last year's autumn rainy season, these recordings had worked wonderfully—listening to them for just a while would lull him to sleep. But this time was different; he found he couldn't bear to hear them anymore.
Every time he listened, he couldn't help thinking of her, and the more he thought, the more sleepless he became.
After tossing and turning for what felt like an eternity, he finally gave up fighting his insomnia and stopped obsessing over how to fall asleep.
Since sleep was out of the question, he simply got out of bed, went to his study, turned on his computer, and started reviewing documents.
As he browsed through the files, he opened the Planning Department's folder. Inside were numerous event proposals and video recordings of event procedures.
Many of the video files had Xu Miyu's name attached to them—these were the events she had planned and executed.
Normally too busy to scrutinize every activity in the Planning Department, it was because of Xu Miyu that he had inexplicably started requiring the department to assign someone to film the entire process of every event held. The recorded videos were to be sent to him under the pretext that hotel management needed them for archiving and review purposes.
Later, he realized this decision had its benefits. For instance, when disputes arose between customers and event organizers, the footage could be checked to determine who was at fault. Additionally, if customers wanted a documentary of the event, the recordings could serve that purpose.
Ji Feng opened the archive folder of event videos and clicked on each file that contained Xu Miyu's name in the title.
As he watched, he found himself becoming engrossed. Viewing the videos in chronological order clearly showcased Xu Miyu's rapid professional growth.
Through these recordings, Ji Feng discovered that Xu Miyu had indeed planned and executed numerous events, covering a wide variety of types.
Business events, birthday banquets, wedding celebrations, holiday-themed activities—she handled them all exceptionally well. Especially during wedding events, when the couple exchanged vows and rings, she would often reveal a warm, moved, and hopeful beautiful smile.
That smile made him repeatedly hit the rewind button, watching those moments over and over.
In these events, there were also many unexpected incidents, all of which she handled calmly and competently. She truly possessed a knack for quick thinking and adaptability.
Ji Feng watched these clips of her managing emergencies with great interest.
At one birthday banquet, the elderly guest of honor suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Just as they were about to move on to blowing out the candles and cutting the cake, the old woman suddenly became confused and refused to proceed, instead beginning to ramble incoherently.
No one could understand what she was talking about. The entire banquet hall listened in bewilderment to her nonsensical chatter, and the situation descended into a comically chaotic state.
Halfway through her story, the old woman forgot what came next. Her wealthy children, not wanting the guests at their mother's birthday celebration to feel awkward for too long, urged her to set aside her story for the moment, blow out the candles, and cut the birthday cake, reminding her that everyone was waiting to sing "Happy Birthday."But the elderly lady had become stubborn, insisting that if no one could continue the latter part of the story, she wouldn't celebrate her birthday at all. She told everyone not to wait for the meal and to pack up and go home.
Her children grew even more embarrassed, hurriedly asking each other who could complete the story the old lady had started.
Unfortunately, no one had heard the tale the elderly lady was referring to, so they had to rack their brains and force themselves to improvise.
Ji Feng, watching the scene through the screen, found it both absurd and chaotic.
The elderly lady was urging, the guests were waiting, and the children and relatives were guessing. Just as the situation was about to descend into complete disarray, Xu Miyu stepped forward and smoothly continued the latter part of the story the elderly lady had begun.
The elderly lady’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, so delighted that her memory briefly returned. She grabbed Xu Miyu’s hand and said, "Young lady, I knew you were the one who got it right. The others were just making things up. By the way, young lady, isn’t this story unfinished? Is there more to it?"
Xu Miyu then employed a little trick, coaxing the elderly lady by saying, "Yes, there is. But if you want to know, you must first blow out the candles, cut the birthday cake, and let everyone celebrate your birthday happily. Then I’ll tell you the rest of the story."
The elderly lady immediately returned to the birthday celebration process of blowing out candles and cutting the cake, and the nearly chaotic situation finally returned to normal.
Afterward, the elderly lady’s children specifically came to ask Xu Miyu, "How did you know the rest of the story my mother was telling? We’ve never even heard of it."
Xu Miyu smiled and told the children, "Actually, that wasn’t something that happened in real life. It was a plot from a Thai TV drama. I imagine you’re all very busy and don’t have much time to spend with her, so she passes the time at home watching dramas alone. When I wasn’t working, I also watched quite a few dramas at home and happened to recognize the plot she was referring to."
After revealing the secret, she paused and then said to the children with heartfelt sincerity, "Actually, in the future, if possible, try to spend more time with her. The things she’ll be able to remember will only grow fewer. If the memories she holds onto are all fake TV drama plots and not the real companionship of her children, you might regret it in the future."
The elderly lady’s children thanked Xu Miyu solemnly for her reminder and turned away, discreetly wiping the corners of their eyes.
Watching the recorded footage, Ji Feng felt an inexplicable sense of serene warmth in his heart.
This feeling allowed him to fall asleep after lying down.
The next night, when he couldn’t sleep again, he continued to watch videos of event recordings, observing how that woman shone even more brightly in each event.
This time, he clicked on a business banquet event. The attendees were executives and employees of a large company and their business partners, several of whom were distinguished guests from abroad.
After the banquet began, a representative from the Japanese partner unexpectedly gave a speech. The large company had brought a Japanese translator, but the translator had eaten something bad before the event. Seeing that the schedule didn’t include any speeches by foreign representatives at the start of the meeting, the translator had gone to the restroom.Due to the Japanese representative's impromptu speech, the previously manageable situation suddenly fell into an awkward and uncontrolled state with no translator available. With the translator absent, no one knew what the Japanese business partner had just said. The CEO of the large company anxiously instructed his assistant to immediately retrieve the translator, while the Japanese business partner grew visibly displeased—having spoken passionately only to realize his words had gone unheard.
It was at this moment that Xu Miyu gracefully stepped forward. Calmly, she translated the Japanese partner's remarks and fluently conveyed the Chinese CEO's response back to him. Despite the numerous technical terms involved, she translated everything with remarkable accuracy, earning praise even from the hastily returning translator, who commended her precision.
After resolving the awkward crisis, she modestly withdrew as soon as the translator returned.
Her competence, coupled with her refusal to steal the spotlight or claim credit, naturally led the CEO to personally approach her after the event, hoping to recruit her while lamenting his own translator's unreliability at critical moments.
Xu Miyu politely declined the offer with a smile, explaining to the CEO: "The Helmsman of our hotel is an exceptional leader. If we make mistakes in our work, his critiques leave us feeling utterly ashamed. However, if an error stems from health issues, he first ensures our well-being and then shows understanding. Today’s translator had a sudden health emergency beyond his control. In truth, he is far more skilled and professional than I am—I only managed the technical terms because I crammed for this event, whereas he genuinely masters everything. So, please don’t discard such a valuable asset over someone like me."
Ji Feng watched the recorded footage of Xu Miyu’s smile. He rewound the video to the part where she mentioned their hotel’s Helmsman, listening to it again, and again, and again…
Until his heart was once again filled with that serene warmth. He lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
Gradually, Ji Feng discovered a new method to help himself sleep.
At some point, Xu Miyu noticed a new role had emerged in the planning department—a behind-the-scenes videographer. Each event manager was now closely followed by a videographer during the planning and execution phases, documenting their work as if filming a documentary. Sometimes, just as she was moved to tears by a ceremony on stage, she would turn and find a large lens pointed directly at her, abruptly fracturing her emotions.
When Xu Miyu asked Manager Tian about the new procedure, he explained, "It’s a directive from above—to archive video records of every event’s entire process for future reference."
Finding this explanation reasonable, she didn’t dwell on it further.
One day, while busy with work, Zhou Qingqing, an event executor under her supervision, rushed over to report: "Mi Yu, we just had a rather unusual pair of guests. One wants to host a birthday banquet, the other a wedding banquet. They’re arguing fiercely, each stubbornly insisting on their own plan, and it’s giving me a headache. I can’t handle it anymore—could you please take a look?"Xu Miyu closed the file and responded with a cheerful "Alright."
After leaving the office, she headed straight to the reception room.
Upon entering, she was somewhat surprised.
The clients were indeed an elderly couple, just as Gu Qingqing had described, energetically arguing with each other.
Xu Miyu stepped in to calm the two elderly individuals and spent some time communicating with them to understand their respective requests.
The elderly gentleman was surnamed Qi, and the elderly lady was surnamed Yan. Uncle Qi insisted on holding a wedding banquet with Aunt Yan.
But Aunt Yan disagreed, firmly insisting on organizing a birthday celebration for Uncle Qi.
As they spoke, the two began arguing again.
Uncle Qi exclaimed, "What's so great about celebrating a birthday? I don't want everyone to know I'm already over seventy!"
Aunt Yan retorted just as loudly, "If that's how you see it, then why are we talking about a wedding banquet at our age? You keep going on and on about a wedding banquet—you sound like a walking wedding banquet yourself!"
Uncle Qi raised his voice another notch, "Isn't this what I owe you?"
Aunt Yan refused to back down, her voice rising even higher, "Then why didn’t you think of repaying me earlier? No wedding banquet—just a birthday celebration!"
Uncle Qi’s voice cracked with emotion, "Xiao Yan, just listen to me, will you? If we don’t hold a wedding banquet soon, it’ll really be too late!"
Aunt Yan’s eyes reddened, and she could no longer continue arguing.
After composing herself, her voice trembled slightly as she spoke again, "You stubborn old man, you won’t even let me organize a birthday celebration for you. But how many more birthdays do you think you have left?"
Uncle Qi’s demeanor and expression instantly dimmed.
Seizing the moment, Xu Miyu tentatively suggested, "Uncle Qi, Aunt Yan, perhaps there’s a possibility of combining the wedding banquet and birthday celebration. What do you think?"
The two elderly individuals looked at each other, their eyes wide with surprise, and then it dawned on them both: "Oh right, we can do both!"
Uncle Qi even happily slapped his thigh, "I’ve gotten so old and muddled! Only children make choices—we seniors should have it all!"
The seemingly unresolvable argument between the two elderly individuals was resolved in an almost whimsical manner.
Afterward, Xu Miyu discussed the specific details of combining the wedding and birthday celebrations with the elderly couple.
She diligently inquired and took notes, while the behind-the-scenes videographer faithfully continued filming nearby.
Through further conversation, Xu Miyu learned more about the elderly couple’s background.
Uncle Qi appeared to have a short temper, often speaking in a gruff manner as if ready to argue at any moment. But after chatting with him for a while, Xu Miyu realized it was just his way of speaking. As long as she didn’t contradict him and instead followed his lead, he wasn’t harsh at all—in fact, he was quite talkative and amusing.
Uncle Qi told Xu Miyu, "Xiao Yan and I are each other’s first love."
Xu Miyu inwardly gasped with admiration.
Though both elderly faces were etched with wrinkles, the faint blush that surfaced beneath those wrinkles when they spoke of being "first loves" still bore the pure and romantic imprint of love, deeply moving to witness."What a pity, our status and family backgrounds were just too different," Uncle Qi sighed as he told Xu Miyu, "Back in our youth, she was a young lady from a wealthy family, while I was just a lowly laborer. I met her when I went to work at her family's house."
Xu Miyu felt a stir in her heart. It was as if she had glimpsed, across time and space, a gender-swapped version of Ji Feng and herself. She listened to the elderly couple's past with even more empathy.
"And then?" she asked.
"And then," a trace of youthful shyness actually surfaced on Uncle Qi's face, marked by the passage of time, "we couldn't resist our mutual affection and secretly got together. Back then, we were so close, like two halves of one person!"
"And you've been together ever since, growing old together and spending all these years?" Xu Miyu couldn't help but continue with this happy ending.
But Uncle Qi shook his head: "Quite the opposite, we separated. It wasn't until now that we've gotten back together."
"Ah?..." Xu Miyu was speechless. After a pause, she asked again, "If your feelings were so strong back then, why did you separate?"
Uncle Qi looked at Aunt Yan, his face full of regret and remorse. Then he told Xu Miyu: "At the time, I felt the gap between us was too wide, that I wasn't good enough for her. My male pride got the better of me, so I proposed breaking up with her. After that, we each started our own families and never contacted each other again."
Xu Miyu could feel the sorrow in Uncle Qi's words. A faint sorrow welled up in her own heart as well.
So from past to present, if two people are mismatched in social status and the gap is too wide, are they destined not to be together?
As Xu Miyu was lost in these sorrowful thoughts, she suddenly saw Uncle Qi poking Aunt Yan's shoulder with his fingertip, over and over. This made Aunt Yan, who had been on the verge of tears from the memories just a moment before, instantly dry her tears and become utterly annoyed, swatting away Uncle Qi's bothersome finger.
"Why do you keep poking me?"
Uncle Qi said: "You should talk too. Weren't you also involved in what happened back then? You tell some of the story."
Aunt Yan said irritably: "I don't want to talk. I'd rather just listen to you, alright!"
Uncle Qi laughed, his laughter like that of a child who had regained his youth.
Looking at them, Xu Miyu felt as if she could see through their aged exteriors to their younger selves with smooth skin, passionately in love decades ago.
After teasing Aunt Yan, Uncle Qi turned back to Xu Miyu and continued: "Over twenty years ago, my wife passed away, leaving me with a son. I raised my son alone, playing both father and mother, and never remarried."
Xu Miyu sighed inwardly. It couldn't have been easy for a man to raise a son alone.
"Until six months ago, when I went to the bank to withdraw money, I unexpectedly ran into Xiao Yan again. That's when I found out she had also been widowed for over twenty years. She had no children, never remarried, and had been living alone all this time."
Xu Miyu couldn't help but sigh again. Their later lives had both been so lonely.
"When I broke up with her back then, I wanted her to find a husband from a similar background and live a comfortable, worry-free life. But who could have imagined she would be widowed so early and then live alone for twenty or thirty years? Ah, if I had known it would turn out like this, I never should have proposed breaking up with her back then." Uncle Qi sighed as he spoke."After we reunited this time, we both realized we had always carried each other in our hearts. I figured I probably don't have many days left to live, so we shouldn't keep worrying about this and that like we did when we were young. We should follow our hearts and do what we want to do. So not long after reuniting, we threw caution to the wind and got together. It's quite embarrassing to say - who would have thought at our age we could still ignite such passion."
Uncle Qi ended by covering his face with a laugh. Aunt Yan blushed like a young girl, patting Uncle Qi's arm and telling him to stop his shameless nonsense. They gazed at each other laughing, the wrinkles on their faces rippling like water waves. To Xu Miyu, those were the most beautiful and purest smiles in the world.
Deeply moved by what she witnessed, Xu Miyu told Uncle Qi and Aunt Yan: "Although you missed each other for so many years, now that you've reunited and can rekindle your old romance, this is truly wonderful. Uncle Qi, Aunt Yan, your days ahead will surely be filled with happiness and fulfillment!"
Yet after hearing her words, Uncle Qi sighed: "What future days are you talking about?"
Xu Miyu froze at his response.
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