hollywood billionaire

Chapter 561 The Kiss of Notting Hill

"Oh my god..."

As the setting sun casts a soft golden glow on Notting Hill’s iconic macaron-colored townhouses, the Portobello Road market is drawing to a leisurely close.

The vendors began to leisurely pack up the unsold antique silverware and second-hand vinyl records. The air was filled with the rich aroma of the last few pots of roasted coffee beans from the coffee shop, mixed with the uniquely sweet and caramelized smell of roasted chestnuts from the street corner stall.

Han Yi and Barbara walked hand in hand at the crossroads where the crowds were gradually thinning out. Neither of them spoke, but simply enjoyed the pleasant and peaceful feeling of fullness after the delicious meal, as well as the sweetness of their long-awaited reunion.

As he walked, Han Yi suddenly stopped and let out a long, satisfied sigh.

“I’m still savoring that cappona,” he said, turning to look at Barbara with amazement and lingering taste in his eyes, as if the pasta was still dancing on his tongue. “It was simply heavenly! The rich mayonnaise, the incredibly fragrant dried pork cheek, and the Parmesan cheese crumbled from the heat… how could they be combined so perfectly?”

"Didn't I tell you this already?"

Barbara puffed out her chest triumphantly, and playfully poked Han Yi's chest with her free hand.

"Have I ever said that it would change your life and completely overturn your entire understanding of pasta?"

"Of course I believe you, but I really didn't expect it to be this delicious!" Han Yi raised his hands. "I want to eat that dish every day now, for a lifetime... well, okay, for a week. After all, I still have a stubborn Asian stomach."

“If you really like it that much…” Barbara leaned closer and lowered her voice, as if sharing a huge secret, “I know a place where they make even better cappons than here.”

Han Yi's eyes lit up instantly: "Where?"

"It's Italy, of course! To be more specific—the rooftop restaurant at the Eden Hotel in Rome."

“That’s our next travel destination,” Han Yi said, flashing her a bright smile.

"It's a word."

Barbara responded with an even brighter smile. She gripped his hand tightly and nodded emphatically.

"But now... let's focus on the beauty before us."

Barbara stopped in front of a stall filled with brass telescopes, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled, as if trying to fill her chest with all the happiness.

“I’ve been to Notting Hill many times, but I’ve never come with my boyfriend.”

“I’ve never been here before,” Han Yi answered honestly. “I loved watching the movie ‘Notting Hill’ when I was a kid and vowed to come here, but if you hadn’t mentioned it… I probably would have forgotten about it.”

"Are you just saying nice things to make me happy?" Barbara glanced at him sideways and continued walking forward. "You didn't bring any of your three hundred-plus girlfriends with you?"

“More than three hundred…who do you think I am? Casanova?” Han Yi chuckled. “Don’t even mention Notting Hill, I’ve never even dated another girl in London.”

"Then please stay like this, darling." Barbara reached out and gently touched Han Yi's face as if soothing a small animal, praising him.

"The way you're praising me sounds like you're praising a dog you just adopted," Han Yi teased.

“In a sense, yes. I met a dog at the stray animal shelter that I got along with really well.” Barbara sighed deliberately and said quietly, glancing at him to observe his reaction. “I didn’t expect that the other three adopters would also take a liking to him… I almost got into a fight with them over custody.”

Hey, look!

With the alarm blaring, Han Yi didn't care about anything else. He abruptly pulled Barbara and pointed to a bright blue door to the side, immediately changing the subject.

"Isn't that Hugh Grant's house?"

“Hugh Grant’s house in Notting Hill is at the intersection of Portobello and Westborn Park, three blocks from here. Don’t try to fool me.” Barbara snorted lightly, her gaze towards Han Yi carrying a complex meaning. But quickly, her eyes cleared, and a smile returned to the corners of her eyes. “But I made a promise to you and to myself that I wouldn’t let them ruin my date, ruin my day, ruin what’s mine…”

"...So this will be the last time I talk about this topic today."

As if to prove her words with actions, Barbara affectionately took Han Yi's arm, pressed her body closer to him, turned her face, and gently rested her smooth forehead on his shoulder, using the warmth of his body to dispel the jealousy that had almost caused a storm.

She looked up at the colorful houses and stalls gleaming in the sunset on either side of the upward-sloping hill, and asked lightly, "Okay, back to your 'Notting Hill.' Is everything here exactly the same as what you imagined, the scenes you saw in movies when you were a child?"

Upon hearing this, Han Yi also looked around carefully. Portobello Street was still full of life in the evening, but it didn't feel overly crowded. Antique shops, secondhand bookstores, and cafes stood side by side, and a few young people who looked like art students ran by laughing with their easels in their arms. Everything was bathed in a soft golden light.

He pondered for a moment, then honestly shook his head: "It feels... very comfortable and peaceful. But if there's anything special about it, it's alright. It's like an ordinary, but well-maintained, middle-class community."

After speaking, Han Yi turned back, his gaze falling on Barbara's stunningly beautiful face, which was being baked by the sun. His smile deepened. He gently squeezed her hand and whispered:

"For me, the only place where I feel a real connection with that movie is not this street, nor the famous blue door."

"In the movie, Hugh Grant has a famous actress who is in love with him. And I, right now, have a famous actress who is in love with me."

“I am not Julia Roberts,” Barbara retorted with a laugh.

“I’m not Hugh Grant either.” Han Yi stopped and led Barbara to a red phone booth by the roadside, avoiding the eyes of passersby. He placed his left hand on her cheek. “But to me, you are much, much, much more beautiful than Julia Roberts in that movie… inside and out.”

"Really?" Barbara bit her lower lip, tilted her head, and looked at him playfully and fascinatedly. "How so?"

"Anna Scott in the movie is charming and perfect, but she is more like an abstract symbol, an unattainable dream. Her charm comes from her superstar aura and the vulnerability she occasionally reveals that is inconsistent with that aura."

"She would run away out of fear, and push people away out of uncertainty. Her bravest act was, at the last moment, running to that little bookstore and saying the line, 'I'm just a girl.'"

At this point, his gaze hardened, locking onto Barbara's eyes. "But you're different, baby."

"You showed me through your actions that you are a woman with flesh and blood, who can be jealous, afraid, and foolish, but is also incredibly brave and passionate."

"How can a perfect, fragile superstar who only exists on film compare to a living, breathing person like you, who can be mischievous, jealous, and willing to fly to London to tease me?"

"You have no idea how much you have changed my life, or how much you have changed me as a person."

“I never wanted to change you.” Barbara’s eyes curved into crescents, brimming with all the tenderness she could muster. “I just wanted to be with you.”

“Do you know what? Just that one sentence is enough to change a person, to make him better, to change him forever.” Exhaling a puff of hot white breath in the increasingly steep, cold wind, Han Yi’s voice trembled slightly. “Do you remember the line you recited to me in Los Angeles last time?”

“‘I’m just a girl, standing in front of the boy she likes…’” Barbara didn’t need to recall anything; she just blurted it out.

“‘She begged him to forgive her fear and panic, her recklessness and foolishness. She pleaded with him to give her a second chance, to show him how happy he would be with her.’” Unexpectedly, Han Yi recited it even more fluently than she did.

"You...remember everything?" The stars in Barbara's eyes seemed to be playing a beautiful symphony.

"Of course I remember everything."

Han Yi's voice grew softer and softer, yet more and more resolute.

"I remember, that night, what that girl said..."

She said, "I won't run away anymore, Yi."

She said, "Not only will I not run away, but I will also come to you with all my emotions and gifts."

"She really did it."

"She brought all her emotions and gifts, crossed the Channel, and gave him a huge surprise in her London apartment, rushing towards him."

"Now, it's his turn."

Han Yi could see Barbara's lips moving with excitement and emotion, and he could also feel the uncontrollable trembling of her whole body with his right hand that was holding her waist.

"Next, please listen carefully to my version."

"I'm just a boy too..."

Han Yi gently stroked her cheek with his thumb, his eyes reflecting her image, as well as the London sunset.

"A very complicated, chaotic, and custody-fighting stray dog."

Barbara burst out laughing at his sudden self-deprecation, but her eyes inexplicably welled up with tears.

"I'm standing right here, in front of the girl I love most." Han Yi's expression remained serious, his gaze burning and sincere, as if he wanted to lay bare his soul before her.

Of course, it's a part of the soul.

"I'm not here to ask you to forgive my complicated past, nor am I here to ask you to forget my past..."

I just wanted to tell you—

"You ran towards me, and I had already stayed behind for you."

He looked into her lake-blue eyes, misty with moisture, eyes that were unparalleled in the world, and said, word by word:

“This afternoon, when I opened the door and saw your face, I felt like I was back home. It’s strange, I’m thousands of miles away from my second home, and even further from my first home… but miraculously, you helped me find my home.”

"Thank you for giving me this feeling."

“I do not believe in gods, but I pray to every god who rules this land and every land we are about to set foot on, that I may make you feel the same way every day we spend together.”

"You've done it..."

Barbara didn't know when the tears started flowing, but she could feel one, or several, or perhaps countless hot tears sliding down her cheeks, the intense heat making her tremble all over.

Family.

This word carries immense weight for a girl like her, who spends her days traveling the world with a suitcase, waking up bewildered in countless hotel rooms, and needing to check her phone to find out where she is.

"You've done it."

Barbara couldn't say anything else besides those words. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and, with all her might, threw herself up to him.

The moment their lips touched, the sun seemed to fall for them.

Because this kiss on the streets of Notting Hill is a gift, a confirmation.

It is also a final destination.

(End of this chapter)