Chapter 94 - 94 – Engagement (Officially!)

Now that Pax was fully in form and taking care of the crowd and answering all the questions, Ren leaned back comfortably on his seat and whispered to Fang, "See? It's all been sorted out now."

Fang rolled his eyes. "You just dumped the whole thing on Pax's head at the critical moment and stepped back," he accused.

"Well, can you possibly think of anyone else in the world who is as capable and as competent as Pax?" Ren challenged.

"Of course not," Fang said. "Pax is the best."

"Naturally," Ren said smugly, as if he was Pax's proud father.

It took Pax all of half an hour to satisfy the crowd with all the answers they needed – and if anyone needed any further proof of Pax's stellar capabilities, it was there for everyone to see. In fact, some media persons were so enthused that they scampered off to report things and get the news out even without tasting the grand banquet Ren had prepared!

Of course, there were plenty of others who stayed back to congratulate Ren and Fang on their engagement, and to congratulate Pax on his new role. All the people who used to try to suck up to Ren for sweeter business deals, now immediately targeted Pax, much to Fang's relief (after all, the more people with designs on his Ren stayed away from him, the better Fang felt) and schadenfreude on part of Ren.

Of course, they wouldn't leave Pax unarmed and at the mercy of all these slimy people – so Ren nodded at Wolf, and the latter immediately rushed to his twin's assistance in warding off the pests.

But even with the two capable twins – after some time, it got a little overwhelming.

And that's when Ren decided to step in again. He looked at Fang and asked, "Should we exchange our rings now and give them some nice pictures to print in the papers tomorrow?"

Fang nodded shyly.

So, Ren cleared his throat loudly and took the mic again.

Almost instantly, all the clamour in the hall disappeared and was replaced by pin drop silence instead!

Fang smiled wryly, thinking that Ren was just a tad too charismatic and he would still have to be mindful in the future about who was approaching Ren with what intentions – but then, now that Ren and he would be officially engaged in a moment – Fang's claim on Ren would definitely be much higher. Besides, for the next few years, the two of them would be studying together – and Fang couldn't wait to start medical school with his beloved Ren by his side (even though part of him was worried that Ren would be bored to death because he already knew all of it, having been through medical school in his original world once before already…). And thinking so, Fang decided that he would work extra hard, so that he and Ren could graduate from medical school much faster and then the two of them could start working! The construction of the hospital cum resort in the Dragon Nation was also coming along quite nicely – it would be completely done in a few months, and perhaps their entire family could go and study and work there for a semester or something. Fang really liked Dragon Nation – the Dragon Queen had somehow ended up taking a rather parental interest in the two of them after Ren had rejected her initial proposal, and the entire government as well as the general population of the Dragon Nation were very fond (and very protective) of Ren and his entire family. It wasn't surprising, because the benefits that their association with Ren had brought them were phenomenal. Their economic situation had improved by leaps and bounds, and their GDP had almost doubled already. In a few years, Fang had no doubt that the Dragon Nation would end up being one of the most prosperous countries in the world, and at least half of the credit for that would definitely fall upon Ren's slim shoulders!

Seeing that Ren was about to make another announcement, Pax immediately returned to Ren's side, while Wolf went to Fang's side. After all, the engagement rings were safely ensconced in the pockets of Pax and Wolf!

Ren beamed at the crowd. "So, Fang and I announced our engagement just now, as you all know," he said. "We consulted some astrologers earlier, and they had given us a specific time slot to perform the ring ceremony and exchange rings today – that fortunate hour is upon us now, and I would like to invite all of you to be a part of our happy occasion right now."

Cheers and applause broke out in the room, and lots and lots of cameras and mobile phones were ready to start taking pictures and videos.

Ren flashed a picture perfect smile at the crowd, looking especially dashing, and then turned to Fang. And then, Ren went down on one knee in front of Fang.

"Fang, my little darling, shall we get engaged now?" he asked, looking up with soft, indulgent eyes.

Fang was taken aback – he had clearly not expected Ren to kneel before him like this! A blush spread upon Fang's beautiful face, making him look even prettier than before.

Nodding shyly, Fang said in a soft but clear voice that reverberated across the hall, "Yes, Ren." Then he reached out and pulled Ren to his feet.

Pax and Wolf pulled out the ring boxes from their pockets. Pax opened the ring box and presented it to Ren, while Wolf opened the ring box with hm and presented it to Fang.

Grinning ear to ear, Ren plucked the ring from the box held out by Pax, took Fang's hand and slid the ring on to his finger – of course, the ring fit absolutely perfectly. Then Ren placed a reverent kiss on the back of Fang's hand before releasing it.

With a lovely blush upon his fair cheeks (and to the sound of thunderous applause racking the hall currently), Fang, took, picked up the ring from the ring box held out by Wolf. Then he took Ren's hand and slid the ring into its position, where it would remain until the rest of Ren's life in this world. And then, mirroring Ren's actions from earlier, Fang leaned down and pressed a reverent kiss to the back of Ren's hand.

"You make me the happiest man in the world, Ren," Fang said quietly. "If not for you, I would probably not even be here. Perhaps everything in my life that had happened before was just the trials and tests fate put me through before deciding to give you to me as the reward – a reward so wonderful that I still find myself wondering how I could possibly deserve you…"

Tears, mostly of joy, brimmed in Fang's beautiful purple eyes.

Ren immediately pulled Fang into a protective embrace. "You are my reward, and my treasure, my little darling," Ren murmured softly – but the mic was powerful enough to catch his voice anyway.

There were a lot of emotional sniffles amidst the crowd – it really was a rather touching moment.

Pax and Wolf, too, wiped their eyes surreptitiously.

And then, of course, the three furballs and Sylvia in her baby human form, leapt into action, and the emotional mood was immediately transformed into one of amusement.

The banquet went quite successfully after that, and lots and lots of photos of Ren and Fang were taken, with the fur babies and Sylvia featuring in the pictures quite often as well!

Within a few days, it was clear that Ren's withdrawal from the role of the CEO of Sirocco caused less turbulence than most people expected. Ren remained on board as the Chairman and the major shareholder, while Pax took over at the new CEO.

After the banquet, Pax and Ren actually had a long and heated argument about Pax's new position. Pax simply wanted to be the acting CEO until Ren came back, while Ren wanted to seriously hand it over to Pax for good. Sirocco would be expanding a lot in the future, with new companies joining the group, so Ren felt it best that Pax take charge of it now and groom some people under him as well, so that when they became bigger, Ren would pull Pax on to a bigger role and let him control not just direct subsidiaries of Sirocco, but affiliates as well.

"But...what about Fang?" Pax had asked, since Ren had mentioned several times in the past that he wanted to hand everything to Fang in the next five years or so.

"Fang and I decided that we'll work on the medical side and grow that instead," Ren said. "You know you're the only one that really enjoys this work, Pax, and you've worked harder than me to bring Sirocco to its current success. Don't say no now, CEO Pax! Remember, you have already acknowledged the position publicly!! Think of taking up this responsibility as the engagement gift you are giving to Fang and I!"

Ultimately, Pax was convinced successfully.

Thus, Ren and Fang went to study at their brand new medical institute with no pressure at all.