Chapter 79 End: Until Death Do Us Part
Song Mingli was troubled for a while about how to propose after receiving the ring.
During this period, countless planning and design proposals were rejected. For example, choosing a memorable day, renting an entire floor of the rooftop garden as the proposal venue, having a perfect dinner together amidst the faint sound of waves and melodious cello music, and then having him gracefully kneel down on one knee, take out the prepared ring, and say the vow of a lifetime.
The plan was met with merciless ridicule from Shan Yan as soon as it was released. He said it was an old-fashioned soap opera plot that was outdated eight hundred years ago, and that what young people are into now is freedom and travel.
She glanced at him up and down a few times, then said, "Tsk tsk, they say there's a generation gap every three years, you usually don't..."
Song Mingli, expressionless, slapped the folder containing the proposal onto the man's face, ignoring his angry shouts and jumping around, and opened the next proposal.
Find an excuse to throw a party, then tell your partner you can't make it, and surprise them at the end with flowers and a ring...
Song Mingli closed the folder and threw it aside with a thud.
A marriage proposal is a happy occasion. Anyone who comes up with a scheme to upset someone beforehand and then inexplicably surprise them with a self-deceptive act of self-pity must be a pig-brain.
Next: Customize a photo wall, arrange it in a heart shape, light candles, and use the candlelight to create a path. At the end of the path, he holds flowers and proposes to her.
Si Chengjun said sincerely, "The latter part is alright, but if you really order a photo wall, Xiaoxue will probably think you're out of your mind."
The next second, *snap*, the file was also thrown aside.
After much deliberation, they chose a location on the southern coast of Brahma City. The planning team booked the entire venue in advance, complete with white sand beaches and azure waters. The location was set for the evening of a weekday before the three-day holiday in half a month, so that after a successful proposal, they could also take a vacation there.
The decoration plan was revised and modified again and again, and finally everything was properly arranged just before the day before the Lunar New Year festival.
That day, Song Mingli was so excited that he didn't fall asleep until dawn, which made him unusually late the next day.
Ying Shixue was tidying her clothes in front of the mirror. She was wearing a black suit and a white shirt, the colors were simple and harmonious. She hadn't tied her tie yet, and her collar was slightly open, revealing a section of her slender and elegant collarbone.
Song Mingli's heart stirred slightly. He took a few steps over, wrapped his arms around the waist from behind, and turned the man's chin to exchange a tender and lingering good morning kiss.
Before the kiss could even begin, Ying Shixue raised her hand to block her lips, her eyes conveying unspoken emotions:
"You haven't brushed your teeth yet."
"Alright." Song Mingli chuckled, no longer insisting, but still holding him tightly: "I'll pick you up tonight, okay?"
Ying Shixue's brow twitched slightly: "You came to pick me up?"
Song Mingli has recently been working on gradually shifting NX's focus back to Fancheng. There is a lot of handover and arrangement involved, and as far as he knows, the other party's off-get off work time is no earlier than his.
Song Mingli hummed in affirmation, then looked down at him and asked, "Is that alright?"
Previously, the tabloids in Fancheng had only reported on it a few times based on rumors, but they had never officially said it publicly. Although same-sex marriage was legal more than a decade ago, same-sex couples are still a minority compared to heterosexual couples.
This is especially true for same-sex marriages involving substantial assets, where property division and inheritance are significant issues, and the news could cause a major uproar if it gets out.
Ying Shixue didn't look at him, withdrew her hand, and continued tying her tie in front of the mirror: "Okay."
Song Mingli chuckled softly, and Ying Shixue gave him a nudge: "Hurry up and get ready, you'll be late."
"I'm the boss," Song Mingli said noncommittally, then seized the opportunity when no one was looking and gave the man a quick kiss on the cheek.
Then, under Ying Shixue's speechless gaze, he laughed heartily, and before the kitten could scratch him, he let go and went to wash up on his own.
At 2 p.m., someone knocked on his office door.
Ying Shixue looked up from the computer screen and said, "Go in."
He was a sharp-looking man in his thirties, dressed in all black. He came in and greeted us first.
Ying Shixue lifted her eyelids to look at him. The man hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "Xi Zongbo, I'm afraid things aren't looking good."
"He had been paralyzed in his lower limbs due to a stroke. The Xi family members were all imprisoned or collapsed. In an instant, everyone was pushing him down. No one came to take care of him. Instead, several people who had grudges bribed the nurses... to pour ice water on his bed in the middle of the night, to mix rotten vegetable leaves, moldy tofu, rice weevils, and vegetable worms into his food, and to broadcast the words that were used to insult them online."
"Because of his advanced age and serious illness, he was sentenced to serve his sentence outside of prison. As you instructed, he was placed in the smallest ordinary ward, kept alive by machines and controlled medication dosages. Now he's basically a living dead man who can't take care of himself. He even got into an argument with someone, and was nearly given a stroke by an old lady's insults. A few days ago, he kept threatening to commit suicide..."
The man hesitated for a moment, then said, "He keeps insisting on seeing you..."
"He was once so glorious, but now he's fallen to this state. Ignore him." Ying Shixue put down what she was holding, her face indifferent. "He wants to live, so let him live to the death."
"Yes, yes..."
Ying Shixue started glancing at the time every now and then around 5:30 PM, as she was about to get off work. She had noticed some unusual behavior from Song Mingli these past few days. Although she didn't choose to interfere or use any means to find out in advance, if she wasn't mistaken, it should be tonight.
He rested his chin on one hand. Dusk was approaching in the city of Brahma. The fiery light painted the distant horizon with vast expanses of magnificent colors. More and more people were walking on the road, bustling about as they searched for their way home. Under the twilight, his features became even more serene and beautiful, his long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
Fang Zhi was stunned reflexively when he knocked on the door and came in. Even though they had worked together for eight years, he was still caught off guard by his boss’s stunning beauty.
However, a look of worry quickly appeared in his eyes, and he strode to his desk: "President Ying, downstairs..." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "There are some reporters gathered downstairs."
It's unclear at some point that the news leaked out, or perhaps the elaborate setup simply couldn't be kept secret, but somehow a newspaper found out that the former heir of the Song family, now the chairman of NX, was going to propose to the CEO of SK.
Leaving aside the previous dubious rumors, the fact that we grew up together and went through several changes of leadership is enough for tabloid reporters to come up with eight hundred different versions of the story.
At what age did they realize their sexuality and at what age did they fall in love? Did they have any transgressions before adulthood? What were their power struggles like after adulthood? When did they meet again after returning? How was the property divided and to whom was the inheritance given? And what about the previous scandalous news about this executive known for his rare beauty and tough style? They were like hyenas smelling meat, swarming around, all wanting to dig up the inside scoop.
Fang Zhi's voice trailed off as he spoke, clearly indicating that Song Mingli had intended to surprise everyone by speaking in person, but it was revealed in the end. However, he had no choice but to say it: "When you leave later, take the elevator directly to the second basement level. I'll find someone of similar build to you to exit through the main entrance and distract them."
However, these gossip reporters' methods of digging up information are always unmatched. Ying Shixue had just walked downstairs when she accidentally bumped into several reporters who had been hiding there all morning.
"President Ying, will you accept President Song's marriage proposal?" "President Ying, could you please respond to the question of whether the collaboration between SK and NX was achieved through private dealings?" "President Ying..."
Ying Shixue frowned slightly, pulled her mask up a bit, and scanned the company signs in the hands of the reporters at the front.
The reporter being scanned felt a chill run down his spine, but his desire for a trending headline overwhelmed everything. Just as one of the microphones was about to be poked into his body, a shout suddenly came from afar: "Song Mingli is here!"
The crowd fell silent. Not only did the reporters instinctively turn around, but even Ying Shixue looked in the direction of the sound in an instant.
Just then, a huge pull came from behind him. Before he could react, he was suddenly pulled into a familiar embrace.
Holding his large, warm, and strong hand, Song Mingli wrapped him in his coat to protect him: "Want to elope with me?"
Ying Shixue looked up at him, her lips moving slightly.
Song Mingli smiled and pulled him along, starting to run wildly in one direction.
The crowd realized they had been tricked and started taking pictures with their cameras. The wind whistled past their ears, and the clasped hands felt so warm and real.
Song Mingli led him to a motorcycle, took off a helmet and gave it to him: "Get on."
It was rush hour outside, and the traffic was so congested that cars couldn't move fast at all. He had temporarily ridden Shan Yan's motorcycle to get here. The black, red, and silver color scheme was cool and stylish. It was Shan Yan's wife, whom he desperately wanted to sleep with. On the way here, she sent him ten thousand tips on riding motorcycles, mainly saying that it didn't matter if something happened to the person, as long as the motorcycle was okay.
Ying Shixue then noticed that Song Mingli was not wearing his usual suit, but a black leather jacket, which made his broad shoulders and long legs appear even more proportionate.
While she was dawdling, the reporter had already caught up behind her. Ying Shixue didn't hesitate any longer, put on her helmet, and took a long stride to catch up. In the distance, someone knew that he couldn't catch up, so he shouted at the top of his lungs. In an instant, the decibels pierced through the entire second basement level: "President Song, it's rumored outside that you've been blinded by lust. Losing an SK isn't enough, you'd rather lose NX too. President Ying, you treat you like you're playing with a dog. Do you really want to live like this for the rest of your life?!"
These words were clearly meant to be insulting. Suddenly everyone was wondering which tabloid's newcomer was so audacious, and that he would be fired, dismissed, and even have the newspaper go bankrupt.
However, something touched Song Mingli, and instead of immediately starting the car, he turned around and smiled slightly in front of countless cameras:
"I couldn't have gotten it."
Then, with a loud roar of the engine, the motorcycle sped away.
Countless flashbulbs followed and captured the scene. This crazy yet romantic moment and declaration were later printed on the front page of countless newspapers in Brahma. Like the wedding of the century that shocked the entire city of Brahma afterward, it is still talked about decades later.
The motorcycle was like a black sword cutting through the traffic. Ying Shixue hugged his waist tightly, watching the pedestrians and vehicles approach and rush past indefinitely through the visor of her helmet. Only the person in front of her remained.
Where are you taking me?
Everything outside faded away, the wind whipped his hair into a wild, disheveled frenzy, and he couldn't help but hug himself tighter.
It doesn't matter where you go.
It doesn't matter where you go.
Finally, they stopped at a stretch of coastline. Song Mingli got off the bike and took off his helmet. The bike was high and the spot where they stopped was steep, so he reached out to help him.
Ying Shixue gently shook her head, then nimbly jumped off the motorcycle.
To the south of Brahma lies the boundless Blue Sea, where few signs of human activity can be seen. Jagged, strangely shaped reefs rise and fall, and the waves crash and splash, creating white sprays.
Song Mingli took two steps to climb onto the largest and highest rock. His face was incredibly handsome against the backlight, and then he turned back and reached out to him again.
"Come up."
Ying Shixue took his hand, and Song Mingli pulled her along, and they stood together in the place closest to the sea and the sky.
The sea breeze blows, and the sky is completely painted in a magnificent golden-red hue, with an incredibly bright sun meeting half of the horizon.
"Do you remember the first time you came to the Bauhinia Villa?" Song Mingli turned his head to look at him.
Ying Shixue's eyelashes fluttered as she looked back.
Song Mingli continued, "You looked so fragile and beautiful, yet you were also so cold and resilient that it was frightening. Many times I thought you wouldn't be able to hold on, but you always, always did so well. Throughout your life, countless people followed you and looked up to you..."
"But throughout my life, who have I been pursuing, who have I looked up to..."
Song Mingli knelt down on one knee before him, opened the small velvet box, and two rings stood quietly on the cushion: "I love you."
"I am willing to love and cherish you forever, whether you are poor or rich, sick or healthy, I will always be by your side until death do us part."
Are you willing to accept this love?
The planning team, who had been working non-stop for more than half a month, was still vomiting blood because the proposal they had worked on countless times didn't actually use the plan they had worked on. Little did they know that a day later, the still generous and huge sum of money they received would heal them, only to be hit by the demand to plan the wedding and the huge bonus hanging in front of them like an apple, which would make them continue to vomit blood while working non-stop.
Amidst the strong sea breeze, Ying Shixue slowly bent down and kissed her newlywed husband's lips.
I love you just as secretly and passionately.
Whether in poverty or wealth, in sickness or health, until death do us part.
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That's the end of the story. Thank you to all my adorable little angels for your understanding and support along the way~ Muah muah muah muah (Please accept my domineering kisses) (Hey!)
I'll probably write some sweet little side stories about their married life and an "what if" side story afterward. They won't be too long. I'm very, very lucky that the main story will give them a happy ending.
Though the journey is long and the distance is far, I wish all the little angels happiness and good fortune every day, delicious food to eat, and an ever-improving life. Perhaps we will meet again in the future!
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