I stood up from the seat. He placed one hand behind my back and another hand holding my right hand. We carefully walked out of the bus. Then I heard the sound of the bus; it seemed like it was gone from there.
"Yuan, can I open my blindfold?" I asked him.
"Just a minute, little one. Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked me.
"Actually, I have a little fear of darkness, so whenever it becomes dark I feel a little scared," I said.
"When Shiza's Yuan is here, then there is no need to have fear of anything," he said.
"What if Yuan's Shiza falls down?" I asked him.
He smiled and said, "You underestimate me so much, isn't it?" he asked. "If you ever fall down, then I'll always catch you, and you'll always fall into my hands only. So don't worry, silly girl, you are in safe hands," he said and started opening my blindfold.
The blindfold opened, and what I saw in front of me looked like it came directly out of my dreamland.
"Yuan…" I said.
"Hm, did my silly girl like it or not?" he asked me.
I smiled and said while looking at him, "My silly girl didn't like it… she loved it."
He chuckled and said, "Then let's go." He held my hand and we went inside Shanghai's Disneyland. He placed a mask on his face, his usual black mask, so that no one could identify that he is the superstar Xu Yuan.
I don't know how and why he brought me here, but it looked like he fulfilled my dream of Disneyland.
Then we reached a stall where we played a game. The game was about targeting your favourite thing that you want to win and then shooting it. I was too bad at it; my target missed every time.
"I think this game is quite boring. Let's go, we'll do something else," I said.
He smiled, held both my hands from behind, adjusted my position, and made me place the shooting gun properly in the right position in my hands and said, "Now shoot."
I did what he said, and this time I won the prize. I got a cute little white-colour bunny. I smiled and hugged it.
"Thank you, Yuan," I said.
"No need. When I am with you, no matter how hard things are, I'll make sure that in the end you will be the one who wins every game, every battle, and everything in life," he said.
I smiled and said, "You are really very thoughtful, Yuan. You do everything very carefully, keeping everything in your mind."
"What do you mean?" he asked me.
I started walking and said, "I mean to say that today you have planned everything very thoughtfully. Like look at you — even you are wearing a white shirt and T-shirt today, and these white jeans too, completely giving snowman vibes."
He laughed and said, "Snowman? Can't you give me some better name than this?"
I smiled, stopped walking, turned around to him, and said while pulling his cheeks, "Aww, my Yuan got angry. I was just kidding. In fact, you are the most handsome man in Shanghai… ooo no no no, sorry sorry, my mistake — the whole China's most handsome man."
He chuckled and said, "You are so good at making talks, isn't it?"
I smiled and said, "If you think so, then I'll accept it."
Then we walked around and reached my favourite part of the day — the ice-cream stall. He ordered two ice creams, both vanilla flavour. He took both ice creams in his hands, came near me, and handed one to me.
"Yuan, why didn't you buy the flavour you want to eat? Why did you buy both ice creams in the same flavour?" I asked him.
He smiled, started eating his ice cream, and said, "Didn't I tell you earlier that in this whole life I have eaten whatever I liked to eat? But now I want to eat what you like to eat. I want to put your taste in me."
I smiled and said, "Tell me, how did you get this idea of coming here?" while eating the ice cream. "Mmmmm, it's so tasty."
He smiled and said, "If my silly girl likes it, then it's all worth it for me."
"But answer me," I said.
He exhaled and said, "I was thinking about what to do on your birthday to make you feel happy. Then I got an idea and thought about how little babies get happy. Then I got the idea of this place."
I pinched his arm and said, "You are saying I am a little baby? I am 23 now, so don't you dare call me a little baby."
He smiled and said, "But looking at you, it still feels like you are 5 years old, not 23."
"Yuan, stop teasing me," I said while eating another bite of ice cream.
He smiled, looked at me, and said, "I can't help it. You are so worth teasing."
"Yuan," I said dramatically.
Then he suddenly came near me, making me miss my breath, and gently wiped the ice cream from my mouth with his napkin. I started looking here and there because right now I was too shy to even look at him.
"Look, you are saying you are 23, not a baby. Then tell me, which 23-year-old behaves like this?" he said. "I know you are a grown-up girl, but you'll always remain my little baby girl — always and always, forever and ever."
"Ok ok, stop being sentimental, Mr. Yuan. My Mr. Heart is already bouncing inside. Don't make it hard for it," I said and hugged him.
He hugged me back, holding me protectively.
"Yuan," I asked.
"Hmm," he said.
"Can I ask you something?" I said.
"Of course, anything for my silly birthday girl," he said.
"Promise me that you will always hold me like this, no matter what the situation is. Your hands should always have me, holding me like this — always and always," I said.
"Now who's getting emotional?" he asked me.
"Me. But it's my day. I can ask. This is the birthday gift I want from you," I said.
"Ok ok, deal. You'll always remain in my hands," he said.
Meanwhile, deep down inside, he thought that girls of her age ask their boyfriends for expensive gifts, and look at my baby girl — she is just asking me to hold her. Am I so lucky, or is she so unlucky that she fell for me? I don't know what it is, but I only know one thing — she is here with me and will always remain here in my hands.
"Yuan, where are you lost? Come, let's go explore new things," I said.
My voice broke his thoughts. He smiled, and then we both walked around Disneyland. He clicked my pictures; we enjoyed a lot. Then I wore a Disney Princess Belle gown at a shop where everyone was wearing Disney dresses and clicking pictures. I asked Yuan to change into the prince's outfit too, and he did. The photographer clicked our pictures.
"Sir, we will send the pictures to you through WeChat tomorrow, so please give us your phone number," the photographer said to him.
After changing back, we got out from there. While walking together, he asked me, "Tell me, how is the birthday girl's birthday going? Is she liking it or not?"
I smiled at him and showed both my thumbs up.
He smiled and patted my head.
"Now what's next?" I asked.
He smiled and took me somewhere.
The very next moment, we were standing in front of a Ferris wheel, lit like a carriage, making it eye-catching.
"Wow, so beautiful! Are we going to ride it?" I asked excitedly.
He smiled and nodded.
"Be careful," he said.
"I am careful," I replied.
We both settled inside. The Ferris wheel started moving. I got a little scared and held his sleeve tightly. He noticed it, placed one hand on my back, pulled me closer, and said, "Don't worry, I got you."
That alone was enough to make my Mr. Heart flutter.
He looked down at me and thought she is holding me like I am the last lifeline she has left, and he blushed thinking this.
I looked at him and asked, "So is the birthday surprise over?"
He smiled and said, "Why so much hurry, birthday girl? One last surprise is still waiting for you. We'll go there once this Ferris wheel ride is over."
"Ooo," I said. "So will we go there by bus too? Like the rented bus from before?" I asked.
"Rent?" he repeated and laughed.
"Why are you laughing, Yuan?" I asked in shock.
He shook his head and said, "I didn't rent that bus. I actually bought the whole bus for your birthday and got it decorated."
"So what about the bus driver?" I asked.
"He is my personal chauffeur," he said.
"Yuan, what if he sensed about us?" I said.
"Let him. I don't care," he said. "Now stop talking about all this. Your only work now is to think about the last surprise I am going to give you," he said, pulling me closer.
"Is that surprise really that good?" I asked.
"Mmmmm," he said.
"Why so long mmmmm?" I asked.
"It depends on the birthday girl. Whether she likes it or not. I really hope you'll like it, and if you don't, tell me honestly at that exact moment. Don't lie," he said.
I smiled. "How do you even think that whatever you have prepared for me, I won't like it? I like every small tiny thing related to you," I said.
"My helpless girl in love," he said. "That surprise has one condition."
"Condition? What condition?" I asked.
He handed me the bag with the dress and said, "You have to wear this dress. Then you'll see the surprise."
"Just this much?" I asked.
"Yes, just this much," he replied.
Our Ferris wheel round ended without us even realizing it because we were so lost in our own world. We got out, he held my hand, and said, "Now let's go and reach your final birthday surprise."
I smiled and nodded.
We got out of Disneyland. His car was already waiting outside the exit gate. The driver gave him the keys and left. Yuan opened the car door for me, I sat inside, he closed it, then sat in the driver's seat and started the car.
"So, are you ready to get the most awaited surprise of the day?" he asked.
I nodded and said, "Yes, of course. Let's head towards it."
The car started moving on the road. It was almost mid-late evening. Cold breezes had already started, but my excitement for the surprise kept increasing as the car moved forward…