Chapter 126

Chapter 126

When they reached their destination, Xie Qiyan’s car had barely come to a stop before Xia Wanzhi stared blankly through the window at the eye-catching sign for Xingyao Mall.

Xingyao Building had once been an office building, most of it occupied by small companies, studios, training centers, and the like, with a few photography studios and bridal shops mixed in.

Now, Xingyao Building had become Xingyao Shopping Mall.

Everything had changed, but her Studio was still here.

She had stayed. Stayed in Xingyao, and stayed in his heart.

She occupied that tiny corner of Xingyao, and she also occupied a special place in Xie Qiyan’s heart.

Last summer had been the hardest days Xia Wanzhi had ever lived through, but it was during that time that she met Xie Qiyan.

He scolded her and pitied her. He pretended not to care, yet helped her again and again from behind the scenes.

When she fell to rock bottom, he was the one who gave her hope.

When she was drenched in the rain, he held an umbrella over her.

With that silver tongue of his, he drove away all the gloom around her and added a few bright colors to that summer.

People said love came from nowhere, but at this very moment, Xia Wanzhi understood. From the instant his heart had softened toward her, the red thread Yue Lao had stretched out was already tied around his wrist.

Just like the summer solstice when she was eight, when she had felt pity for him.

It did not matter who fell first. What mattered was that after all the twists and turns, they had fallen in love in the end.

“Time to get out, my princess.” Xie Qiyan opened the door for her, his long fingers resting against the edge of the car door. As he leaned down slightly, he curled a finger and tapped the tip of Xia Wanzhi’s nose.

Xia Wanzhi came back to herself. She stared into his deep, affectionate eyes, and the smile at the corners of her lips spread little by little.

The night was enchanting. A cold wind suddenly rose. In the red silk thread Yue Lao had tied around their hands, a small bell hung in the middle.

When the wind blew, the bell gave a clear, tinkling chime, and her heart thudded.

For this lifetime, it would be him.

Xia Wanzhi’s throat went dry. In that stunned instant, the resolve in her heart became firm.

Her smile was so captivating that Xie Qiyan looked at her a couple more times, growing even more suspicious of what she was plotting tonight.

Before he could ask, Xia Wanzhi unfastened her seat belt, reached out her warm hand, and clasped his tightly, lacing their fingers together.

Facing the wind, she pulled him forward and ran.

“Sit here first.” Pushing open the door to the Studio, Xia Wanzhi switched on the light and pressed Xie Qiyan down into a chair. She had run too fast just now, and she was panting softly, her breathing unsteady.

She walked into the display room and closed the door. Xia Wanzhi took a deep breath, then took the square box out of her coat pocket and checked it over. After confirming there was no mistake, she tucked it back in again.

She had bought this coat especially to hold this box.

Because the pockets were big enough to put things in.

When she opened the door and came out, Xie Qiyan had somehow changed seats. He was sitting directly facing her, arms crossed. When he saw her come out, he raised an eyebrow at her.

Xia Wanzhi looked away, smiling with her lips pressed together. She walked over, took two cups, filled each halfway with water, and brought them back.

“Cheers!” Xia Wanzhi thrust the water at him with forceful determination, then solemnly held her own cup steady in both hands and clinked it against his.

The weather was too cold. If she did not drink some hot water to warm herself up, she was afraid she would get nervous later, and with her fingers stiff from the cold, she might not be able to hold things properly.

Xie Qiyan lifted an eyebrow. “Are we becoming sworn brothers?”

“Who wants to become sworn brothers with you?” Xia Wanzhi scolded him coquettishly. “Do you like becoming sworn brothers with your girlfriend?”

Xie Qiyan’s eyes were bright. “I don’t bow for sworn brotherhood. I only bow in the wedding hall. The kind where husband and wife bow to each other.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Her chest felt warm, and heat rose in her cheeks too.

She did not know whether it was because of that sip of hot water, or because of Xie Qiyan’s shameless words.

Xie Qiyan chuckled. “Teacher Wanzi, I’ll drink first as a show of respect.”

Before he had even finished speaking, his raised wrist was suddenly hooked by hers. Xia Wanzhi slipped her hand through, forming the posture for a cross-cupped toast.

Xie Qiyan paused.

“Cross-cupped wine. Do you dare drink it?” Xia Wanzhi asked with a half-smile.

Although he did not know what Xia Wanzhi was up to, Xie Qiyan could sense that something was very off about her tonight.

It was as if he had guessed something, but did not dare guess too far.

Afraid he would be drowned by an enormous surprise.

“I couldn’t ask for more.” Their arms entwined, their cups emptied. Xie Qiyan stared into Xia Wanzhi’s smiling eyes, then his gaze slowly shifted downward, landing on her lips, dampened by the water.
The moment he leaned in to kiss her, Xia Wanzhi rose and dodged away. She set down her cup, hooked her arm through his, and led him out of the Studio, hurrying toward the Sky Garden.

The kiss missed its mark, but Xie Qiyan’s heart began to race.

There was a glass door leading into the Sky Garden, and Xia Wanzhi was the one who kept the key.

Once she opened the door, wind swept in from every direction, occasionally carrying faint threads of floral fragrance.

It was the cold, clear scent of wintersweet.

“Wanzi.” Xie Qiyan stood where he was and pulled down the hand hooked around his arm, clasping it tightly in his own.

He had no idea what Xia Wanzhi was planning, but his heartbeat was accelerating, pounding as fiercely as a drum.

Xia Wanzhi hung the key to one side and led Xie Qiyan a couple of steps inside. With her fingers poised over a switch, she turned to look at him.

“Ayan, don’t look at me. Look ahead.”

As soon as the last note of her voice fell, she pressed the button. Beneath the hazy night, the Sky Garden was lit up in the darkness by rose-colored fairy lights.

Strands upon strands of lights hung on the walls, in the flowering branches, and wound around the railings of the entire Sky Garden, twinkling like stars.

When he looked up, there was light.

When he looked down, there was still light.

Artificial rose-shaped candles had been arranged into a huge heart. In the center of that heart, all kinds of flower petals stretched toward him, paving a floral path to happiness for Xie Qiyan. But the wind was strong tonight, and the petals were lifted into the air, scattering through the space around them.

In the center of the heart was a painting, covered with a floral cloth, waiting for Xie Qiyan to uncover it with his own hands.

Flowers blooming in the depths of winter were vivid and tender, all rushing to bear witness to this romantic ceremony tonight.

The flickering lights reflected in Xie Qiyan’s dark, lacquer-like eyes. A fervent emotion stirred within them, spreading little by little until it reached deep into his chest.

His heart took the blow head-on, pounding as if it were about to leap out.

Xia Wanzhi led him forward, as though they were walking toward a sea of love, each step rippling outward.

Xie Qiyan’s blood was boiling.

The night wind was biting. Xia Wanzhi raised a hand to sweep away the strands of hair that had blown into her mouth, then lifted her bright eyes, brimming with tender love. “Surprised, my dear Mr. Xie Qiyan?”

Xie Qiyan’s eyes warmed. The moment he parted his lips, the wind poured into his mouth. He clenched his teeth, as if silently cursing something, then wrapped his broad palm around the back of Xia Wanzhi’s neck and aggressively caught her trembling, cold lips between his own.

Xia Wanzhi’s warmth, Xia Wanzhi’s skin, Xia Wanzhi’s answering kiss.

Every single thing was telling him this was real.

This was real.

It was real.

He wasn’t dreaming.

Only when he had kissed her until she could barely breathe did Xie Qiyan finally stop. He rubbed her damp lips with his thumb, then pulled her tightly into his arms. He sounded as though he was laughing, yet also as though he was cursing.

“Xia Wanzhi, you really are-”

“You gave me one hell of a surprise.”

The turbulent surge inside him was no longer enough to express his shock. Xie Qiyan’s lashes trembled slightly, and he wished he could melt Xia Wanzhi into his very body.

Xia Wanzhi’s tongue was numb. That kiss had nearly sent her soul straight out of her body. She slowly steadied her breathing, and when she finally came back to herself, she gently pushed at his chest.

“So, Mr. Xie, will you marry me?”

The wind rose, and the petals covering the ground spiraled into the air, almost forming the shape of a heart. When the wind stopped, the swept-up petals fell into Xia Wanzhi’s hair and onto Xie Qiyan’s shoulder.

Xia Wanzhi’s eyes curved with a smile as she took a square box from her pocket. She opened it, revealing two simple rings engraved with the anniversary of the day they had fallen in love.

At that exact moment, a single petal drifted into the box.

Xie Qiyan lifted his fingers slightly and removed the petal. Then, under Xia Wanzhi’s triumphant gaze, he pressed her fingers down and closed the box.

“Teacher Wanzi, if you get to beat me to everything, then what use am I as your boyfriend?”

Xia Wanzhi froze. As her breath rose and fell, she watched him smoothly take the ring box and slip it into his pocket. With his other hand, he took out another box.

It was the box he had prepared.

A smile filled his eyes as he opened his own box, revealing the diamond ring he had commissioned months ago.

The ring shone brilliantly in his hand. His gaze was deep as he took one step back.

In this moment, with his whole heart and every ounce of sincerity, he lowered himself to one knee to ask for his princess’s hand in marriage.