Chapter 127

Chapter 127

“Xiao Wanzi, marry me.”

“I want to be your husband. I want to be the other half who stays by your side for the rest of our lives, who holds your hand until we grow old.”

“Xia Wanzhi, will you give me a proper title?”

I want to have a home with you.

He wanted to have a home with her.

He wanted to be with her forever, through all four seasons, year after year, life after life.

Xia Wanzhi’s eyes were slightly red. By the time he finished speaking, she had already recovered from her surprise.

He was holding her fingers, and the ring brushed against her fingertip, as if it couldn’t wait to slide onto her hand.

The wind was cold, but both of them were burning hot.

Tears gathered in her eyes, damp and warm, slowly spilling over.

Xia Wanzhi wiped at them messily and nodded as she spread her fingers. “I will.”

Xie Qiyan chuckled softly and put the ring on her. When he lowered his eyes, he kissed her fingertips with devout reverence.

Of course he knew she would.

“Get up and give me the ring I prepared.” Xia Wanzhi pulled him to his feet, then reached in herself. After opening the box, she took out the men’s ring and slid it onto his finger without another word.

Xie Qiyan looked at her with a doting smile.

“Why are you still smiling? I was clearly first.” Xia Wanzhi’s voice was thick with tears. She tapped the diamond ring on her ring finger against Xie Qiyan’s plain band.

“The ring was custom-made, and it took too long. I only got it today.” Xie Qiyan’s voice was low as the pad of his finger gently wiped the tear tracks from the corner of Xia Wanzhi’s eye. “I’m sorry I made you wait so long.”

He had wanted to propose for a long time.

Xia Wanzhi stared at him blankly.

He laughed. “I didn’t expect my Teacher Wanzi to be this impatient.”

Xia Wanzhi sniffed, lifted her chin, and looked away. “So what? No one said a proposal had to be done by the man.”

She looked back at Xie Qiyan, her eyes flowing with endless tenderness. “Xie Qiyan, I’m very sure that I love you. I want to be with you. I want to build a home with you. This isn’t impulsive, it isn’t acting out, and it definitely isn’t reckless. I know very clearly what I want.”

“Xie Qiyan, I want you.”

He wanted to offer every part of himself to her.

And she did too. She wanted all of him.

In the past, she hadn’t understood love. But every day she spent with Xie Qiyan was an interpretation of love. It was Xie Qiyan who had taught her what it meant to love someone.

She loved Xie Qiyan.

She wanted to dispel all his suffering for him.

She wanted to face every unknown in the future together with him.

Threads of affection wrapped tightly around Xie Qiyan, binding him and Xia Wanzhi together.

The ripples in his heart refused to settle for a long, long time.

Xie Qiyan would remember this moment tonight forever.

His girl had invited him to walk into the future with her.

Xia Wanzhi was actually a little slow to warm up by nature. Before she met Xie Qiyan, she rarely took the initiative to do things that required a great deal of courage, much less express her love and desire so directly.

She was reserved, and she was passionate.

He loved her reserve, and he loved her passion.

The wind had blown her hair into a mess. Xie Qiyan used the hand wearing the ring to gently hook her hair behind her ear, then cupped her cheek in his palm, his thumb rubbing back and forth over her soft skin. “Then it’s settled.”

“Xia Wanzhi, once you’ve chosen me, I won’t give you the chance to regret it. No matter what happens in the future, I won’t let you go.” Xie Qiyan’s gaze burned, as if he were giving her one last chance to confirm it.

Xia Wanzhi pretended to think it over. Under Xie Qiyan’s nervous gaze, she burst into laughter and pulled his hand down. She laced both her hands with his, fingers intertwined, then tugged him forward. Xie Qiyan was pulled closer to her. With her chin pressed against his chest, Xia Wanzhi solemnly declared her resolve. “It’s you, Xie Qiyan.”

Xie Qiyan closed his eyes and held her tightly in his arms. Where Xia Wanzhi couldn’t see, wet tears slowly slid from his eyes.

After wandering for so many years, he was finally going to have a home too.
The person he loved had proposed to him.

So there really was someone in this world who could love him with such sincerity and passion.

Someone still loved him.

Xia Wanzhi knew Xie Qiyan was crying, so she obediently stayed buried in his arms and waited for him to compose himself.

Once he had held her enough, Xie Qiyan let her go. Holding back a smile, Xia Wanzhi wiped his eyes for him.

“Moved, huh?” Xia Wanzhi teased. “Whose boyfriend is lucky enough to have his girlfriend beat him to the proposal?”

Xie Qiyan held her hand and smiled along with her. “Yours.”

He really was lucky.

Meeting her, falling for her, being with her-everything about Xia Wanzhi had been bought with all the luck he had saved up over so many years.

“Tell me, how is it that the moment I decide to propose to you, your ring happens to arrive today of all days? Not a day earlier, not a day later. And you just happen to have it on you too.” Xia Wanzhi wrinkled her nose, still finding it a little unbelievable.

It didn’t matter who proposed to whom. What mattered was the result.

But this coincidence made her very happy.

Xie Qiyan rubbed her chilly hand and breathed a warm puff of air over it. “A premonition. A meeting of hearts. We’re a match made in heaven.”

Xia Wanzhi’s smile reached her eyes.

She knew Xie Qiyan was starting to get smug.

“I painted something.” Xia Wanzhi lifted her chin. “A proposal gift. Uncover it and take a look yourself.”

Xie Qiyan’s heart stirred. He held his breath slightly as he lifted the cloth.

Clutching the fabric in his hand, he found himself looking straight at a dreamy cartoon-style painting.

“This was a dream I had. In the dream, I was wearing a wedding dress and walking into the hall of marriage with you. Behind us were my parents, my grandparents, our relatives and friends… and your… mother.”

It was a dream, and also a wish.

Xie Qiyan’s fingers trembled faintly as he stroked the fantastical painting.

No. This wasn’t just a fantasy.

One day, it would become reality.

“Why is Changsheng wearing a flower crown and bow tie?” Xie Qiyan pointed at Changsheng, who was being held in Xia Wanzhi’s arms in the painting.

Xia Wanzhi pouted. “Changsheng is part of my dowry.”

Xie Qiyan, who had raised Changsheng for fourteen years for nothing: “???”

Xia Wanzhi said with complete confidence, “Changsheng was mine to begin with. You stole him from me.”

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Xie Qiyan patted Xia Wanzhi on the head and said solemnly, “That’s your son. What kind of dowry is that? He should be our ring bearer. Back then, I ran away while pregnant, and Changsheng was the baby. Years later, I returned to the country, and you and I rekindled our old love, giving Changsheng a happy, complete family.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Meeting Xia Wanzhi’s speechless expression, Xie Qiyan gave a light cough. “Xie Tan’s comic books. I confiscated them and flipped through a few pages when I had nothing to do.”

Xia Wanzhi tried her hardest to hold back her laughter, but in the end she couldn’t help it. Her shoulders shook as she laughed. Standing on tiptoe, she cupped Xie Qiyan’s face and kissed him hard. “Xie Qiyan, how are you this adorable?”

“Love me more when we get back. Don’t freeze out here.” With one hand, Xie Qiyan took the painting down from the easel, and with the other, he led Xia Wanzhi out.

As he turned off the lights and left, he looked back with burning eyes at the proposal scene Xia Wanzhi had arranged for him.

It was enough to make his heart race for a lifetime.

He pressed the button, and the lights in the garden went out.

But the light in his heart would burn on for a long, long time.

Xia Wanzhi had indeed arranged everything with great care. She had put a great deal of thought into the flameless electronic candles alone.

Ordinary candles had to be switched on one by one, but she wanted the candles to light up together with the rose lamps. So she had simply hired someone to design a one-of-a-kind version just for this.

The rose lamps and the rose candles were both one of a kind.

They were the love she had given Xie Qiyan, his and his alone.

Neither of them slept that night. Xie Qiyan held Xia Wanzhi in his arms, clasping the hand that wore the ring and bringing it to his lips to rub and kiss.

Xie Qiyan, who had nearly lost control with her just now, had taken a cold shower. At this moment, he was still wrapped in its lingering chill. Xia Wanzhi felt the rise and fall of his chest, then suddenly pressed down on his shoulders and sat astride his waist-

“Xie Qiyan, let’s go get our marriage certificate tomorrow.”