Chapter 46
After returning from Suzhou, nothing seemed to have changed, yet everything seemed to have become different.
They still lived the most ordinary life of living together, going to work together, leaving work together, and discussing the dinner menu in the kitchen together in the evening.
But there was a new sense of certainty in the air. It was a kind of complete, contented peace that came after all uncertainties had been settled.
This change was first felt by Shen Yan's mother. She added Lin Qi on WeChat, and now, when she sent her son a message, she no longer began with "How are you doing?" but with "How is Qiqi doing lately? Have you been bullying her?" The packages she sent also went from being sent to Shen Yan alone to being sent to both of them.
The change in Chen Yan's mentality is even more profound.
Before bringing Lin Qi home, including her in his future was a "decision" of his, the best choice he made after careful consideration.
But after returning from Suzhou, this was no longer an option.
It became a fact, an unquestionable fact of his life, like breathing and heartbeat, the most instinctive fact of his life.
He no longer just regarded Lin Qi as his "girlfriend", but subconsciously put her in the position of "wife" and "family", thinking about their longer-term future.
It was an ordinary Saturday night and they stayed at home without going anywhere.
Lin Qi was wearing Chen Yan's loose T-shirt, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, leaning against the sofa, concentrating on putting together a very complicated puzzle.
Chen Yan sat on the sofa, holding a book in his hand, but he couldn't read a single word.
His eyes, involuntarily, kept falling on her.
Looking at her focused profile under the warm light; looking at her slightly furrowed brows occasionally because she couldn't find a suitable piece of the puzzle; looking at this calm and empty living room that once belonged to him alone, becoming so soft and full of the breath of life because of her existence.
His heart was suddenly filled with a huge, unprecedented impulse.
Lin Qi seemed to sense his gaze, raised her head, and asked him in confusion, "Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?"
Chen Yan put down the book, smiled, and extended his hand to her.
She naturally put her hand into his palm. With a little force, he pulled her up from the carpet and let her sit next to him.
He didn't say anything, but took her hand and looked at it carefully. Her fingers were very slender and beautiful.
He lowered his head and placed a very gentle kiss on the back of her hand.
Then he raised his head, looked into her eyes, and said slowly in a very serious tone, as if stating a fact:
"Lin Qi,"
"I was thinking that your hand seemed to be missing something."
"Huh?" Lin Qi looked at him in confusion, then looked at his own hands, still unable to react.
Seeing her look puzzled and carefully examining her hands, Chen Yan finally couldn't help but chuckle softly. The laugh was very soft, filled with complete and helpless doting on her.
He didn't let go of her hand, but instead brought it to his lips and pressed another light kiss.
"Well," he looked at her, the smile and tenderness in his eyes almost overflowing, "she is very beautiful, lacking nothing."
He paused, then, with his other hand, very lightly stroked her ring finger.
"It's just that this place," his voice was clear and steady in the quiet living room, "is still empty."
Chen Yan raised his eyes, his gaze was unprecedented, a fusion of all seriousness and affectionate concentration.
"Lin Qi, we've known each other for almost half a year."
"In the past six months, my world has changed drastically because of you. All the calmness and order I used to think of, after meeting you, I realized that it was all because I was missing the most important piece of the puzzle in my life."
He looked at her eyes, which gradually widened and became watery because of his words, and continued:
"I never believed in fate before. I only believed in logic and planning."
“But now, I believe it.”
He let go of her hand and took out a small velvet box that he had prepared long ago from his coat pocket.
He opened it slowly in front of her.
Inside was a ring with an extremely simple design, but the diamond in the center sparkled with a bright and pure light under the light.
He held it in front of her, along with all his plans for the future.
"So, Lin Qi,"
He looked into her eyes and asked the only question, the one he had already determined the answer to, in the most solemn and pious tone of his life.
"will you marry me?"
Lin Qi's eyes widened in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. Her first words were, "When did you buy it secretly?" Then she continued, "I need to hear a three-word confession before I answer you."
Looking at her eyes, which were filled with moisture and looked like stars washed by rain, Chen Yan smiled. It was a complete, gentle smile with a hint of relief.
He did not urge her, but held the small velvet box patiently and quietly, waiting for her to slowly recover from her overwhelming emotions.
"After returning from Suzhou," he answered frankly, his voice gentle and firm, "I went to the mall that afternoon after I took you to meet my parents."
"Because at that time, I was completely sure," he looked into her eyes and said very seriously, "For the rest of my life, you are my destiny."
Finally, she couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. But she smiled, and with tears in her eyes, she put forward her "conditions" to him.
The curve of Chen Yan's mouth rose even higher because of her "ultimatum" which was a bit coquettish.
"Okay," he replied, his voice full of complete and willing indulgence.
He gently placed the ring box in his hand on the coffee table, then stood up, walked to her, and held her tear-stained little face in his hands.
He lowered his head and very gently kissed away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Then, looking into her eyes, he spoke in the clearest, slowest, and most solemn tone of his life:
"Lin Qi, listen carefully."
"I love you."
"It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, it wasn't a feeling of being moved, and it wasn't an impulse. It was the accumulation of all the little details over the past six months, the only answer I've ever had, and the most certain answer I've ever had in my life."
He picked up the ring again, knelt on one knee in front of her, and once again held it in front of her.
"Now," he looked up at her, the tenderness and love in his eyes no longer concealed.
"Can you answer me now?"
"Are you willing to... marry this 'Brother Yan' who loves you so much?"
Lin Qi cried and laughed at the same time, and threw herself into his arms.
"Of course I do. Brother Yan, I love you too."
Her sincere "I do" with tears and smile was like the warmest light, which instantly penetrated all his tension and anxiety and shone directly into the background of his life.
Chen Yan could no longer hold on, his tense emotions completely released at this moment. He knelt on one knee, dropped the ring box in his hand, and stretched out his arms, steadily catching his whole world that was rushing towards him.
He held her tightly and firmly in his arms, burying his face in the crook of her neck, greedily breathing in the soothing scent of her body. He could feel her tears, drop by drop, hot, falling on his shoulder.
"Okay..." His voice trembled with relief, which he himself hadn't even noticed.
They hugged each other for a long, long time under the dim light of the living room.
Only when her crying slowly turned into tiny, happy sobs did he slowly let her go, holding her face in his hands and wiping away the tears from her face bit by bit with his thumb.
"Don't cry," he looked at her face that looked like a kitten crying, and couldn't help but smile. His voice was more gentle than ever before, "Your makeup is all ruined."
He picked up the velvet box that they had left aside and took out the ring from it.
He took her left hand, looked into her eyes, and very slowly and solemnly put it on her ring finger.
Not too big, not too small, just right.
Like them.
He took her hand with the ring on it, put it to his lips and gave it a devout kiss.
Then he stood up, pulled her into his arms again, lowered his head, and responded to her touching confession with a deep kiss filled with peace and joy.
"From now on," he whispered in her ear, using a new tone filled with supreme pride.
"You are Mrs. Shen."
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