Yan Jie firmly forbade Jiang Hexi from cutting his hair, but washing his hair was allowed.

He held her in his lap, letting her stretch her neck and scratch his hair, squeezing out handfuls of foam.

In the bathroom, with its floor-to-ceiling mirror, oversized bathtub, and panoramic skylight, she wasted time washing his hair in such a romantic setting.

Yan Jie asked with a gloomy expression, "Why did you wash my hair?"

"You sprayed hairspray in your hair to hold it in place, and the smell makes it hard for me to sleep."

Jiang Hexi ran her fingers through his hair, shaping his short hair into strange styles. "I like men who are clean and neat."

"The foam is getting into my eyes."

"Close your eyes."

Yan Jie had to close his eyes. After he could not see anything, his sense of touch became unusually sensitive. She scratched and pried at him repeatedly, arousing a cluster of tingling numbness on his scalp, which ran through his whole body like an electric shock.

He asked, somewhat exasperated, "Are you done washing?"

"No, we need to do it again."

Jiang Hexi gathered his short hair into bunches and styled it into a high-flying hairstyle. She was trying so hard not to laugh that she hurt herself, unaware that his muscles were taut and he was in unbearable pain, so he didn't care anymore.

Yan Jie buried his head and kissed her neck, rubbing the foam off her chin.

"My head is covered in foam, and I haven't rinsed it off yet!"

Hearing her shouts, he kissed her even more fiercely.

Jiang Hexi hurriedly picked up the showerhead and started "drenching" his hair. Unfortunately, the water was cold, which made them both shiver. She quickly turned off the showerhead.

Yan Jie's gaze pierced through her wet pajamas and landed on her dripping body.

The cold water did not extinguish his anger; instead, it allowed his desires to grow wildly.

Jiang Hexi tried to explain, "Let's rinse our hair first."

"Shut up."

Yan Jie glared at her and then proceeded to punish her on the spot.

After a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Yan Jie pulled her from the messy bedding onto the pillow and gave her a deep, passionate kiss, saying, unable to contain his emotions:

"Given things like this, how can things end without getting married?"

Jiang Hexi gazed into those deep, boundless eyes and said to him, "..."

Are you sure?

"Absolutely certain, absolutely certain."

"I can't... drag you down with me, I'm going to... Emmm... invest again—"

She wasn't blinded by the vow, nor did she lose her mind after the passion subsided. "Wait until I stop losing money before we talk about it."

He lifted her chin, his thumb roughly stroking her delicate, pale cheek, and said in a deep, husky voice:

"I can't wait."

She suddenly understood why he was pushing the topic of marriage so hard. He wanted to end their long-distance relationship and couldn't stand having to find excuses for every date, which is why he thought of marriage.

"Then... I'll do as you say—"

Yan Jie reached out and pulled a red velvet box from under his pillow. The lid popped open, revealing a gold ring inside.

Jiang Hexi's stunned facial features perfectly conveyed one expression: What the hell?!

She just gave him a vague, ambiguous answer to get rid of him, and he actually took out the ring.

It turns out that the one who couldn't extricate herself from her feelings and couldn't think straight afterwards wasn't him, but herself.

Yan Jie slipped the gold ring onto her ring finger, and before she could do anything, he picked up another pair of rings and slipped them onto his own ring finger.

The main point is to not give her a single chance to back out.

Jiang Hexi looked at the gleaming gold ring on her slender white finger, so dazzling in the dim light of the wall lamp. Just as she was about to beg for mercy and say a few nice words, he pulled her onto his chest and made her lie face down.

"Either continue or go to sleep, you choose."

She had no choice but to resign herself to her fate and close her eyes.

Back in the first-class cabin of the flight.

Jiang Hexi sank into the large chair, stealing glances at Yan Jie working at his desk next to her, looking conflictedly at the ring on her ring finger, before finally mustering her courage to say:

"Honey, could I—"

"cannot."

Yan Jie glanced at her sideways and said in an unyielding tone, "You dare to pick one and try."

Jiang Hexi pursed her lips, turned to look out the window, and after calming down, she revealed her reasons for not planning to get married:

“I’ve identified a promising project and am prepared to invest in it. The early research and development phase is quite lengthy and won’t generate any revenue. If the research fails, the team will lose everything. I don’t want to drag anyone down with me.”

"Is this something you absolutely have to do?"

"I must do it."

Without even asking what project she was working on, he simply stated his opinion: "Then go do it."

She said hesitantly, "But—"

"Jiang Hexi".

Yan Jie interrupted her, saying, "You can doubt yourself, but don't doubt my judgment of people."

Jiang Hexi couldn't stop the tears from welling up, and suddenly buried her face in his arms, holding him tightly without saying a word.

Yan Jie quickly steadied the computer, preventing it from falling to the ground.

He tried to reassure her, saying, "It's just a few small goals, your husband can afford to lose."

"We cannot afford to lose out on any goal."

She retorted defiantly, "My money is mine, and your money is mine too. Money in my hands can only generate more money. This project has to succeed, whether it succeeds or not."

After arriving in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Yan Jie transferred directly to Yicheng.

Jiang Hexi took a car back home, moved her luggage to the second floor, and stayed in her room without coming out.

It wasn't until the food was served and Ms. Zhou urged her three times that she finally came downstairs with her hands in her pockets.

The family sat around the dining table for a meal.

Jiang Hexi held the bowl in her left hand and sat quietly in the chair, drinking her soup.

Ms. Zhou noticed her unusual behavior and said in a tense voice, "You're only drinking soup and not eating rice. Do you think my cooking is bad?"

No, that's not what I meant.

Jiang Hexi visibly became flustered. "I ate too well in Switzerland and gained a lot of weight. I'm currently on a diet."

Jiang Wenze exposed her, saying, "You're on a diet, why are you drinking soup?"

Jiang Hexi: "..."

Ms. Zhou instructed her, "Eat."

As Jiang Hexi pulled her right hand out of her pocket and grasped the chopsticks, all four pairs of eyes in the room immediately fixed on the gold ring on her ring finger, their expressions increasingly complex.

Against her delicate skin, the gold ring shone brightly, making it impossible to miss.

"This is... I bought it while shopping. I wore it because it looked pretty."

When he said this, not a single person in the family believed him.

Jiang Wenjing immediately asked, "Didn't Yan Jie mention engagement when he came over last time? How come you even bought a wedding ring?"

"You believed him when he said you were engaged?"

In front of Jiang Hexi, Jiang Wenze ruthlessly criticized Yan Jie, saying, "I'd bet my life that next time he comes to our door, he'll definitely change his mind and ask for marriage."