Some say that DiDi has gone far and beyond anyone could ever go for another person.
When his girlfriend was involved in a car accident, he talked with his family about limiting his current presence in their company and allowing his Dad to take-on a more active role until Yue recovers.
This will give him more time to be with her and take care of her.
He hired a nurse dedicated to helping her with her needs, a physical therapist who will focus with her on her body's recovery, and he immediately ordered for the refurbishing of one of their other houses in an exclusive village in Beijing that is close to the hospital where Yue has to go for her therapy and check ups.
He talked to both of their families about his plan and converted the ground floor rooms to allow Yue easier access to anything she might need by making them more friendly for someone who has to move around in a wheel chair and eventually, in crutches.
He had bar handles installed in the restrooms for her support and their sun room was converted into an in-house gym where she can exercise.
The nurse lived with them along with one member of her family who would stay with them for a week or longer. Sometimes it would either be her Father of brother but most of the time, it is her Mother.
DiDi hired a nutritionist and a chef to help Yue with her diet, he hired a nanny to assist her, and he bought a car outfitted for people with disabilities.
Yet, even if people measured his love for her through those standards, DiDi measured them by the amount of hours he got to spend with her in a day. Was he able to make her laugh? Was he able to make her angry? Was he able to encourage her? Was he able to listen to her stories? Was he able to irritate her? Was he able to read her favorite book to her well? Was he able to just sit with her in silence? Was he able to make her "feel" that day? Was he able to give her a semblance of normalcy despite the lack of use of her legs?
All he has ever cared about in the past months is her return to her well-being.
For two people who began a relationship in somehow rocky slopes, the accident has been a way for them to get to know each other far better than before and for them to go through so many things that sometimes, even couples who have been together for years do not even experience.
He's seen YUe wake up with morning glory, fall asleep drooling, vomit food out, bleed through her nose from exhaustion, and have hair almost dripping with moisture because she could not take a bath yet.
And she's seen him with meat in between his teeth, gnawing on his nails as he watched her train her legs, have hair sticking up due to the way he slept, heard him fall asleep snoring, watched the stubble grow on his face, and pick his nose.
They have disagreements.
And they have things they still do not understand about one another.
But from the moment he admitted to himself that he wants to be with her until now, there is no one he would love to disagree and fight with other than Shen Yue.
She challenges him and is not afraid of him.
She is always open to arguing with him and even be proven wrong.
Before they started to live together, he already knows she's intelligent, has a big heart, and will always fight for what she believes.
Being with her, he has appreciated the actual depth of her intelligence, the true expanse of the love she has in her heart, the level of fire she puts in every fight, and the sincerity in every word she gives to others.
He looks forward to each day with her and cannot imagine not having her in his life anymore.
This is what has prompted him to finally say to her how much he loves her.
Others may laugh (hell his best friend teases him about it) but Wang He Di is not the kind of man who just sprouts words for the sake of saying them.
"I love you" is not beautiful just because it is what we say to convey what we feel for another.
It is beautiful because at the zenith of one's emotions, it is said by a person who would give his or her heart, his or her soul, his or her very existence to another person without asking for anything back.
It is beautiful because it is felt when you know everything you possibly can about another person, you accept all the flaws and respect how different you both are, and you continue to want to know more, you continue to want to witness more.
It is beautiful because it is not every day someone finds a person who would be worth the moon and stars yet worth watching sun rises and sun sets together every day.
It is beautiful because it is the most unselfish declaration in the world.
Yet it is so easy to cheapen if one says it without the amount of sincerity it deserves.
It is so easy to cheapen if one just throws it about as casually as a "Hi", "Hello", "Goodybe", or "See you soon!"
It is so easy to cheapen if one says it without meaning everything else that it entails such as "I will always be with you. I will stand beside you. I will face everything with you and I won't ever leave no matter how hard it gets. And if ever I do leave you, I will always come back because I know that there is nowhere else I belong but by your side and there is no one else I would rather call home but you".
DiDi feels the pressure from everyone for him to say it but he knows that they just have good intentions for him. He also knows that at the very core, they all know that he wouldn't say it lest he is sure that Yue will know from the top of her head to the very tip of her toes that he is saying it because he means it now, he will mean it tomorrow, and he will mean it for the rest of both their days.
He will not be pressured because beyond being able to tell Yue he loves her, it is more important for him that she believes it, she feels it, and she will never question it.
It might have taken him some time but all of it is worth it as long as she understands how much he truly truly means it.
***
"Are you tired?", he asked her as soon as they arrived home.
Yue nodded. "It feels like so much happened today."
Their attendants immediately assisted the two of them out of the car, prepared with her crutches.
"Thank you everyone. Let me help her", DiDi told them as he handed the car to their driver and ran over to help her up the steps to their door.
Her nurse, He Jing, was immediately by her side but DiDi signaled to him that he will take care of everything else.
"Oh!", Yue exclaimed and then looked at him in concern, "Are you not tired too?"
DiDi shook his head.
"Sir, if you need me, please just let me know", the nurse interjected.
"It's ok He Jing. We came back pretty late and I am sure you need to also rest", he told him and then turned to everyone else, "Everyone else too. Thank you for waiting for us but please go and rest. I'll handle everything."
They all looked unsure, but he raised his brows at all of them to dismiss them.
"Yi Mei", he remembered to call on their oldest maid, "Please don't wait for me and Yue and sleep late again. If I don't hear your radio drama from the quarters I will force you to take a leave tomorrow."
Everyone laughed.
"Young Master!"
"I'm serious. If I check later and you're still in the kitchen waiting for us to fall asleep I will force you to take a leave and I won't talk to you for a week."
"Wang He Di!", Yue scolded.
"Young Mistress, the Young Master has teased me like than since he was a child. Pay him no mind. I will bring a pitcher of water to your room and then I will sleep."
"Thank you Miss Yi Mei", his girlfriend smiled and eventually allowed DiDi to take her to her room.
He helped settle her down her bed and then headed for the bathroom.
"I'll prepare a bath for you to help you relax", he told her and then laid out her bathrobe for her to change in to before going back to the bathroom, "If you need help let me know, ok?"
She shook her head at him, probably understanding that he just wants to spend time with her alone because since this morning, they've been surrounded by so many other people.
He let her change as he mixed in a few oils on to her bath and made sure the water is warm enough to relax in.
"You ready?", he asked from inside the restroom when the water became adequately high.
Yue entered all by herself, her arms leaning onto the bars he had installed.
DiDi immediately carried her up in his arms and then dipped her into the tub.
"MY ROBE!", she cried out.
"That's fine", he answered and then rolled the ends of his pants up and sat at the head of the tub.
"What are you going to do?"
He smiled. "I'll massage you."
DiDi proceeded to knead through the thin bathrobe and gently apply pressure on the crook between her neck and shoulders.
"That's so good...", he saw her closing her eyes in bliss.
"Of course", he smirked, "I'm the best."
Yue gave a small laugh. "Will you finally tell me what you and Zuer talked about??? "
He sighed. "She was very apologetic and wanted to see you. She wants to say sorry once again for everything that happened."
"But none of it is her fault."
He told her about their whole conversation and how he saw Feiyu and their son arrive to finally bring Zuer home.
"I'm sorry if this has taken so much toll on you", she said afterwards, "I know that I made it harder on you when I asked if, whenever needed, you could pretend to be her boyfriend because of her memory loss."
He relived the past two months he had to split his life between two personalities – the man of the past and the man of the present.
There were days he just wanted to rush through the hours until things are better and he is truly thankful now that he eventually got to pull through all of that.
"Don't think I've forgotten what I told you when I agreed to that. When you can finally walk again and all your strength is back, you have to give me this kind of massages for a whole month."
She splashed him with water. "Why wait for that?", she laughed as she managed to get his face wet, "Come join me in the tub and I'll massage you."
He kissed the side of her neck and said in the leeriest voice he could muster. "Are you sure?"
She splashed him with more water. "WANG HE DI!"
DiDi laughed and took his revenge by pouring water on top of her head.
They both managed to trash the whole restroom with water in the next five minutes, laughing at their childish antics.
He eventually slid down the tub, fully clothed, and hugged Yuee to him, breathing in her scent, and feeling the beat of her heart against his hands.
"I love you."
"I love you."
They both stopped and Yue moved enough to allow herself to look into his eyes.
"I love you too."
"I love you too."
She splashed water on to his face before smiling and kissing him with everything she has.
DiDi felt his body meld into hers and his breath run out.
He pulled her closer to him until they practically became one and when their kiss ended, he put his lips on top of her head and whispered "I love you" again.
Yue burrowed into his chest and answered, "I thought I didn't need to hear that from you."
"Why?"
"Because you've done so much for me already... I was thinking that even if I never hear it, it would be alright because I feel it in my bones every day with all of the things that you do."
He plants a kiss on her forehead again. "I'm sorry it took me a while, but I've been thinking that when I tell you I love you, I want you to have no doubts about it. I want you to know that I mean it and I will always mean it."
"I know", she answered, "that's why it feels so good to hear it now. You did not say it to me out of pity or just because I want to hear it. You said it because you really truly do love me."
He felt hot tears spilling on her cheeks.
"WHY ARE YOU CRYING?!?!?!"
She shook her head and smiled through her tears. "I'm just happy", she assured him, "To feel it, to hear it, I could not ask for anything more."
It's all worth it, DiDi thought as he dropped another kiss.
Waiting is all worth it.
***
Author's Note:
Reworking this for DIYUE has been one of the many joys of my days.
I apologize that I uploaded today's chapters later than usual for I got too engrossed with my reading but I hope that, again, you find joy in them.
Thank you for always blessing me and this story.
I shall see you tomorrow for our usual DIYUE FRIDAYS and this rework's finale.
*air hug everyone*
PS
I hope you enjoyed Saint Sister's cover of Eternal Flame. It's quite ethereal and heart-warming and such a fitting song for this chapter.
- Mai