CH 46

“Li Chengyuan?” Xia Xingchi tried hard to conceal his shock, trying to act as if nothing had happened. “Are you talking to yourself?”

When he asked this question, he was afraid that this person would say something scary like “there are invisible people.”

Fortunately, Li Chengyuan quickly calmed down after being startled, and lightly replied: “No. I…..am memorizing a speech. The annual meeting is coming up.”

Xia Xingchi heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Just as long as there was no mental problem.

But after some thought, he felt that was wrong: “But where’s the manuscript? What are you memorizing from, ah – the thing in your hand just now wasn’t a cell phone, was it?”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips. His steadied heart suddenly jumped again as he saw Xia Xingchi walk up right after speaking and try to touch his coat pocket.

Unexpectedly, just as Xia Xingchi grabbed the corner of Li Chengyuan’s clothes, the other suddenly frowned and clenched his teeth, bending over and holding his stomach.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback at this sight: “What’s the matter with you?”

This was too suspicious. Could it be such a coincidence that he was about to torture him to extract a confession when he suddenly had a stomachache?

Li Chengyuan’s health was not well-preserved, so his face was always pale and it was impossible to see if he was truly uncomfortable.

Xia Xingchi touched his hand. Even though it was an enclosed balcony, it was still chilly, and the cat’s paws were freezing cold.

It seemed that the stomach pain was getting worse. Li Chengyuan couldn’t help but let out a groan. The hand that was gripping the balcony loosened, and his whole body shook and almost fell down.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback when he saw this. He didn’t dare to doubt anymore, and quickly reached out to support him and help him back to the room.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Li Chengyuan said in a hoarse voice: “Xia Xingchi, you doubt me.”

Because of the low voice, there was a slight illusion of grievance. Xia Xingchi suddenly felt his conscience condemn him, and had no choice but to help him into bed and comfort him:

“That’s not it, I don’t doubt you. Only, it’s so coincidental……”

Xia Xingchi had already figured out the pattern. Li Chengyuan usually only showed some physical discomfort when he was faking it.

But when he was truly uncomfortable, he kept silent. Because illness would inevitably bring back bad memories, making him subconsciously suspect that he would be rejected and abandoned, so he would pretend to be fine.

Li Chengyuan didn’t wait for Xia Xingchi to say “coincidental,” and turned over to curl up with his back facing him, as if he was so unhappy that the pain intensified.

“Okay, okay, okay! I won’t say anything, all right? Where did such a big temper come from?”

Xia Xingchi could only stretch out a hand to stroke the irritable big cat’s head comfortingly, lest he anger himself to death.

Li Chengyuan lay motionless on his side of the bed. After a while, he felt the warm hand shrink back. Then he heard the sound of footsteps and boiling water, and breathed a sigh of relief —

He quickly took the ring box out of his pocket and put it under the pillow for the time being.

“Come on, drink some hot water.” Xia Xingchi didn’t dare to pour too much for him, for fear that it would make him even more uncomfortable and induce vomiting.

Li Chengyuan reclined in bed with a pale face and held the paper cup in one hand. When Xia Xingchi threw off his slippers and climbed into bed, he rubbed his hands together as if he wanted to rub his stomach.

In fact, when Xia Xingchi reached out his hand, he “accidentally” touched the coat that he hadn’t taken off and deliberately rubbed the pocket, wanting to see what was inside.

Of course, it was a step too late to think about it now. Xia Xingchi didn’t feel anything, so he sneakily rubbed and touched the other side, unwilling to give up.

Li Chengyuan’s whole body was sneakily touched all over by him until he felt like he was about to catch on fire, and he finally stopped, figuring he had just seen it wrong.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being a little disappointed. After all, what he had vaguely seen just now was a ring box.

But Li Chengyuan didn’t seem like such a romantic person. At that time, even when he was wearing an engagement ring, it was like wearing handcuffs. He figured there would be no surprises.

“Are you feeling better? Do you want me to get your stomach medicine?”

As he said this, Xia Xingchi reached into his hospital gown and felt that his stomach pain should not be serious, as his abdomen was neither stiff nor cold.

After all, he was pretending. Li Chengyuan dodged his hand awkwardly, so as not to reveal his flaws: “No need, I’ll just drink some hot water.”

Fortunately, Xia Xingchi didn’t doubt him. When all was said and done, stomach pain was a very metaphysical thing, and it was not always possible to detect it by touch.

“It’s so cold on the balcony and there’s no heater. It’s easy for you to catch cold. If you want to memorize speeches, you can memorize them here. You don’t have to worry about waking me up.”

After thinking about it, he threatened fiercely: “You’ll be out of the hospital soon. If you have a fever or stomach problems again, be careful of being detained for a few more days!”

Li Chengyuan nodded.

When a bodyguard knocked on the door and Xia Xingchi went to get their food, he immediately got up and took the ring box from under the pillow, then hid it in his briefcase.

The series of movements were quick and soundless, completely eliminating the risk of being discovered. It was not at all like what someone with a stomach ache could do.

In fact, Li Chengyuan also knew that wearing a ring during their engagement was too flagrant. It was too impatient and urgent, very much like putting Xia Xingchi in handcuffs.

Naturally, they would wear them well at the wedding. But somehow, perhaps because big plans could be spoiled by a little impatience, the more nervous he was, the more wrong he felt.

He was such a calm and reserved person, and wasn’t even sure how to get the ring. In the end, he just took out the wedding ring that Secretary Ye sent the day before yesterday and tried it on in advance.

The wedding ring was a rather large “pigeon egg.”

Although Li Chengyuan preferred a low-key style, his little money-grubber liked these kinds of shiny things, so he deliberately chose the largest and most expensive one.

He had originally wanted to choose a bigger diamond, but during this period of time, he had been watching several top diamond sellers in the world. He changed his usual dignified and low-key young master style, turning to the high-profile style of a local tyrant, which really terrified the jewelry designers. He had to gently remind them not to make it bigger, otherwise even the ingenious design would inevitably affect the aesthetics.

. . . . . .

After passing various physical examinations, the doctors finally jointly decided that Li Chengyuan could be discharged home. 

He had originally wanted to go through the formalities and leave in a discrete manner, but for some reason, the media was alerted. As soon as he went out, he was surrounded by entertainment reporters and media.

The melee in front of the emergency room was still fresh in his memory, and Xia Xingchi had unpleasant associations with this kind of scene where everyone was holding up microphones and cameras and scrambling to be the first to talk.

Even though he knew that they were different from the group of paparazzi that Xia Yu maliciously hired, Xia Xingchi still reacted with a conditioned reflex. As soon as he saw this scene, he subconsciously grabbed Li Chengyuan’s hand.

Li Chengyuan held it back. He had heard about this incident after waking up, and the result of his furious rage was naturally the suffering of that group of paparazzi.

“I don’t want to be interviewed,” Xia Xingchi whispered.

It stood to reason that he could answer a few innocuous questions. After all, the two of them seldom put in an appearance, so this was a way to get to know them.

“Okay, then don’t answer.” Li Chengyuan squeezed his hand. “Should we leave directly or should I answer a few questions?”

He had originally wanted to slip away quickly, but thinking of the group of eagerly awaiting fans, Xia Xingchi changed his mind: “Do it, ba.”

Most of the questions were about their marriage and his physical condition, and Li Chengyuan revealed a rare patience as he answered them.

Suddenly, he heard a different question: “Mr. Li, is it true that you said you knew Teacher Xia when you were young? Because Teacher Xia and Xia Yu had exchanged lives by mistake……”

Perhaps due to everyone’s attitudes being more polite, Xia Xingchi listened with pricked ears and answered with a smile after hearing this question: “Yes, we knew each other……I also made him suffer poverty with me, and fed him steamed buns and pickled vegetables.”

Li Chengyuan smiled when he heard this.

It was the first time for Young Master Li, who had always been well-clothed and well-fed, to eat such crude and simple food. But for some reason, sitting on the ground with Xia Xingchi and eating steamed buns, they seemed to be particularly delicious.

His stomach, which had always been fragile and delicate, put up no resistance, and he even felt that the hot steamed buns made him very comfortable.

When asked “Wasn’t Teacher Xia not in the capital at that time?” Li Chengyuan replied lightly:

“Hence, this was all the greatest arrangement of destiny.”

Everyone thought that Xia Xingchi had also been in Beijing, or that Li Chengyuan had traveled to another city when he was a child. Therefore, they didn’t have any doubts, let alone think that the arrangement of destiny came from a different time and space.

After this answer, the hospital’s security team and the bodyguards jointly escorted the two of them into the car, putting an end to the crowded and lively scene.

“How much do you remember?” Li Chengyuan turned his head and asked after getting into the car.

“I still don’t remember much.” Xia Xingchi shook his head, then said with a giggle, “But you looked so cute eating steamed buns hahaha.”

The little porcelain doll was already beautiful, and he looked like a noble and elegant little prince huddled in the corner gnawing on steamed buns and pickles as if they were delicacies from the mountains and seas.

Li Chengyuan rubbed Xia Xingchi’s head helplessly: “What sort of messy things are you thinking about?”

. . . . . . .

The house was still as clean and tidy as before, and Aunt Li was preparing a sumptuous meal for the two who had finally returned.

The news of Li Chengyuan’s discharge from the hospital had not only alerted the media, but people from all walks of life in the business world had also mobilized, and the storage room was so full in the morning that there was no more room for gifts.

Everyone knew that Mr. Li was reticent, and that he hated people visiting the most. What’s more, this time was different from the past. Not only would it disturb his rest, but more importantly, it would affect their two-person world. Only fools would rush to their deaths.

Therefore, the only way to please him was to give gifts, and it just so happened that they had a lot of new excuses:

Li Chengyuan was discharged from the hospital, the wedding was approaching, and Xia Xingchi’s birthday was coming up.

Xia Xingchi had just finished changing his shoes when he received a call from Xia Pingjian: “Xingchi, do you like the gifts from Dad?”

The words were filled with excessive affection. Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but frown at the greasy, hypocritical voice, and moved the phone away from his face.

Not so long ago, this old bastard would beat people according to his mood.

Relying on the original owner’s weakness and timidity, he slapped and beat him wantonly at every turn. The current speed of his face-change could actually make the Beijing Opera feel ashamed.

“What gifts?” Xia Xingchi said languidly and perfunctorily. “There are a lot of things here, and I haven’t had time to count them. Who knows which ones are from you.”

“No, no, no, those things are not enough for your birthday present – I bought you a sports car!”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback and thought, isn’t this the gift that should have been bought for Xia Yu in the original plot?

If he remembered correctly, it should be something that Xia Pingjian generously gave away when the vicious protagonist finally triumphed over Li Chengyuan in the finale, received a huge inheritance, and got married.

He never expected that the gift recipient would now be changed.

“I don’t want it,” Xia Xingchi said immediately. “I’ll ask the driver to send it back, and you can give it to whoever you like.”

Although the little money-grubber loved money, not to mention that this gift somehow had a disgusting “second-hand” feel, the most important thing was that he didn’t take money from others, and didn’t intend to shoot himself in the foot.

The small gift he gave last time was simply a gift, but this one was too expensive, and it was against his principles to take advantage of this.

Xia Pingjian’s pig brain was not suitable for business at all. The Xia family, which looked beautiful on the surface, was actually a decaying building on the verge of collapse.

So from the very beginning, Xia Xingchi was forced into marriage for a purpose and a mandated mission – the prohibitively huge flow of capital was not a lot of money to Li Chengyuan, and it could easily solve the Xia family’s predicament.

When Li Chengyuan emphasized that the true young master of the Xia family must be married to him, Xia Pinjian felt a little regretful that Xia Yu had no chance, but after some thought, he felt that it didn’t matter —

In any case, Xia Xingchi was a good-for-nothing who could be manipulated. Even though he was usually abused, beaten, and scolded, he was still well-behaved.

Who would have thought that since the day of the engagement, he would become like a different person, totally out of control?

Xia Xingchi smiled and said: “Since you were ashamed and refused to recognize this son before, just continue not to recognize him forever and stick together with your precious Xia Yu.”

After speaking, he directly hung up the phone.

Xia Pingjian was now so indifferent to Xia Yu that he drew a clear line between them. In the original book, he drew a clear line with the innocent original owner in this way, letting the original owner be persecuted to death without anyone collecting his body.

To deal with this snobbish, vicious villain of a father who even used his son as a commodity for appraisal, Xia Xingchi didn’t even need to do anything to him.

He could just continue to maintain that he was not recognized as a son, and wait for the Xia family, which had long been ruined, to go bankrupt.

. . . . . .

However, Xia Pingjian’s words also reminded Xia Xingchi of something. After looking at the calendar, he realized that his birthday was in three days.

He had never celebrated his birthday before. For a poor little money-grubber, an extra plate of braised pork for dinner was a celebration.

Now that he was finally getting rich, it was time to upgrade his celebration style.

Li Chengyuan was processing documents in the study while Xia Xingchi lay on the living room sofa, happily thinking about how to reward himself.

But after thinking about it, his terribly inexperienced mind was a complete vacuum, and squeezed out the idea of replacing a small plate of braised pork with a large pot, so as to realize the freedom of eating meat.

On a late night a few years ago, an exhausted Xia Xingchi, who had finished his last job, passed by a closed dessert shop. Looking at the window full of beautiful cakes, he suddenly remembered that today was his birthday.

Originally, he had thought about buying himself a small cake to celebrate, but when he saw the price above, he immediately gave up —

He optimistically comforted himself that at least the shop was closed. Otherwise, if he couldn’t afford it, he would definitely be a little sad and disappointed.

Xia Xingchi shook his head, thinking that he was rich and debt-free this year, so he could finally buy himself a birthday cake.

If he thought about it carefully, it wasn’t worth it. As a small semi-professional pastry chef, since there were ovens and various cooking utensils in the villa, it seemed cheaper to buy the ingredients himself?

If he could, he should. Xia Xingchi rolled up his sleeves that day and began to study how to make birthday cakes. He checked which ingredients were missing, then busily started purchasing and preparing.

Aunt Li was astonished upon seeing this. Young Master Xia was a treasure in Mr. Li’s hands. Why bother to make a simple cake for himself on such an important day as his birthday?

Shouldn’t he find the most luxurious and expensive hotel and buy the most beautiful and high-end birthday cake?

What shocked her even more was that Li Chengyuan had clearly seen Xia Xingchi’s plan, but had no intention of stopping it at all, as if he wanted to let him happily prepare for the celebration on his own.

“Sir,” Aunt Li couldn’t help but ask when serving tea in the study, “Aren’t you going to prepare a birthday party for Young Master Xia?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t stop signing documents, and just glanced at her blankly without answering.

Aunt Li said: “Then, at least the star of the birthday shouldn’t make the cake himself…..”

It was apparent that Xia Xingchi, who had been wandering with no one to rely on all these years, had not received much care from others. He didn’t even realize that there was something wrong with celebrating his birthday through his own efforts.

Li Chengyuan finally put down his pen: “You don’t need to worry about him, let him do it himself.”

After hearing this, Aunt Li was even more worried.

Although this may mean that the husband was secretly preparing some surprises, it may also be literal.

After all, he was an indifferent person who couldn’t even be bothered to celebrate his own birthday. Could he really care about the birthdays of the people around him?

. . . . . .

After preparing the fried dishes for his birthday the next day, Xia Xingchi sat on the sofa with Summer in his arms and watched TV.

During this period of time, the big white dumpling had grown closer to him. Even compared to how it clung to its indifferent master, it obviously preferred to crouch beside Xia Xingchi and beg for rubs and caresses.

Xia Xingchi’s eyes were fixed on the TV screen, but he was holding a red string in his hands, his fingers skillfully flying up and down to weave a beautiful collar.

“Do you know what day tomorrow is?” Xia Xingchi asked Summer.

It tilted its head to look at him with bright amber eyes wide open, and after a moment, it let out a “Meow!” and rubbed its fluffy head against his wrist as if it vaguely understood.

“That’s right!” Xia Xingchi said, “Tomorrow is my birthday!”

As he spoke, the collar in his hands was finished. So he hugged the big white dumpling and tied the red collar around its neck to add a little festive atmosphere.

Just as it was fastened, the housekeeper, Uncle Ding, came up with the medicine.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi released summer and habitually took the medicine, heading to the study to deliver it to Li Chengyuan.

After all, a certain person was so old, yet still couldn’t change his childlike habit of not liking to drink bitter medicine, so Xia Xingchi had to personally watch him drink it.

When he entered the room, it was a rare time when Li Chengyuan was not looking at his computer to process documents, but was staring at a box sitting in a drawer that was usually locked.

Xia Xingchi only saw the red string bracelet before, and this was his first time seeing the box, so he curiously stretched out his head to see what it was.

Li Chengyuan said: “Come here.”

Xia Xingchi blinked. He directly held the medicine bowl in one hand, sat on Li Chengyuan’s lap, and rubbed his head to make him drink the medicine.

The two of them weren’t so lovey-dovey from day one, and no one could have imagined that the perpetually calm and indifferent big tycoon was like a young man in love in this respect, and that his ears were always hot and red when he was easily teased.

He raised a hand and touched Xia Xingchi’s head, trying to kiss him, but was ruthlessly blocked by the medicine bowl stuffed to his lips.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head and kissed him: “Drink the medicine first – wait a minute, why is the potted flower on the table wilting again? Did you water it with medicine again?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t speak, and his eyes shifted, clearly admitting to the crime.

Xia Xingchi then smacked him hard on the thigh and said with a smile: “Dalang, it’s time to take the medicine.”[1]

After that, he forced him to drink down a big bowl of bitter Chinese medicine.

He kissed Li Chengyuan’s cheek like he would do to reward Summer: “Good job!”

Then he tilted his head curiously to see what was in the box.

The bracelet was still inside. Xia Xingchi touched it, then picked up a yellowed and faded ticket.

The ticket was a familiar pattern and style – exactly the same as the one used by Xia Xingchi more than ten years ago.

And the place of origin was that distant, nearly forgotten hometown.

Seeing this object with his own eyes was far more astonishing than hearing about its description. Xia Xingchi looked at it continuously for a long time in shock, and finally said:

“T-there is really such a ticket? You still kept it after so many years.”

Li Chengyuan was still holding him: “The lucky ticket that my little liar gave me……of course I want to treasure it.”

When he found out that he had been “deceived,” he was indeed angry and wanted to tear it up, but he was reluctant to destroy any of the things that little Xia Xingchi had left him.

The two were being affectionate when they suddenly saw Summer poking through the crack in the study door, looking curiously at the two humans who had started to stick together before spring.

Li Chengyuan saw the red string collar around its neck at a glance, and immediately became dissatisfied, saying lightly: “You only made one? And gave it to the cat?”

Although a certain person seemed calm and indifferent, vinegar almost overflowed in the study.

Xia Xinchi looked at the sour big cat in disbelief, and asked in surprise: “You even drink vinegar over a kitten? How old are you?”

Having his true thoughts exposed so blatantly, Li Chengyuan immediately felt a little awkward, but continued: “Make one for me too.”

Xia Xingchi: “…….?”

Shocking, a certain boss stole a collar from a cat at home!

This person had probably never been childish in his life, so when he grew up, he occasionally acted like a child.

Xia Xingchi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but when the promise came to his lips, he swallowed it back and said seriously: “No way. Who are you that I should give one to you, ah?”

Speaking of this matter aggravated him.

Li Chengyuan never expressed himself, neither confessing his love nor proposing marriage, as if he just wanted to live and maintain this kind of life. He looked very much like a scumbag who received goods without paying.

Unexpectedly, Xia Xingchi hinted at this point. Li Chengyuan didn’t answer, as if he didn’t grasp his meaning, and only threatened in a heavy voice: “Go get the string now.”

As he said this, his cold fingers lingered on Xia Xingchi’s earlobe, making it clear that if he didn’t follow his will, he would pinch this most sensitive place.

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to sit on his lap and weave a collar for him under coercion….ah, no, a necklace.

Then the two cats in the family, one big and one small, received the same red string.

Li Chengyuan’s collar bones were quite beautiful, and his cold white skin contrasted with the red string very well. It even looked a little risqué. 

Even when he turned off the lights and went to bed that night, Xia Xingchi was still fascinated by the sight.

In addition, he drank a glass of sweet fruit wine brought to him by Aunt Li before going to bed, and was a little dizzy for a while, so he couldn’t help but lean into Li Chenguan’s arms and lightly take a bite of his collar bone.

When biting was not enough, he semi-drunkenly tried to hook the red string with the tip of his tongue, but accidentally licked Li Chengyuan’s skin —

He lit a fire on the spot. Xia Xingchi saw that something was suddenly wrong with Li Chengyuan. His disordered breathing and elevated body temperature seemed quite perilous.

Seeing this, he quickly tucked himself into bed and wrapped himself up tightly, for fear that on his birthday, he would be stir-fried by this “scumbag” who had neither confessed nor proposed.

. . . . . .

Under the influence of alcohol, Xia Xingchi was not only extremely excited before going to bed, but also slept very deeply.

He never felt someone picking him up from the bed in his sleep, putting his favorite star sweater on him, and leaving the villa in the lingering night.

Xia Xingchi leaned into Li Chengyuan’s arms in a daze. He rubbed against his chest and let out a soft grunt, obviously dissatisfied at the feeling of the plane taking off.

Perhaps it was because of the ticket that deep memories were aroused in his mind, and he had a very long, clear dream.

Every bit of what he experienced with his little porcelain doll emerged clearly.

Whether it was when Li Chenguan was sick and writhing in pain, and he handed out his wrist and let him bite until blood dripped down, or when Li Chengyuan was sober and still had a cold little face, but bandaged him with gritted teeth and reddened eyes…….

The memories played like old movies. Although they were naturally damaged due to the baptism of time, many of the details that he wanted to remember were very clear.

The pictures emerged frame by frame until that stormy night.

Seeing that the little porcelain doll had a persistent high fever and had fainted, shivering all over, Xia Xingchi gritted his teeth and had no choice but to grab Li Chengyuan’s wallet and go to buy medicine.

This was the first time he had touched the wallet.

At first it was Li Chengyuan who took money out to give to him. Later, when the two of them were struggling for money, Xia Xingchi came up with the idea of looking for a job farther away, and wanted to send this precious sick young master home.

It wasn’t because he thought Li Chengyuan was a burden, but with his physical condition, he needed to go home for treatment. Otherwise, Xia Xingchi was very afraid that he would die if he vomited blood again.

Like a dead kitten, stiff and cold.

But little Li Chengyuan was at the point where he hated himself the most and felt inferior due to his illness. When he heard these words, he only felt that Xia Xingchi would abandon him too.

Perhaps the only thing he could use to keep the little money-grubber was money. As the cash dwindled, he would only lose value. Or maybe when Xia Xingchi got all his money, he would also abandon him.

Therefore, the insecure Li Chengyuan never gave Xia Xingchi the entire wallet, nor did he let him know how much money he had left.

Xia Xingchi got this wallet for the first time and quickly glanced at the small amount of money left in it, which was still enough to buy a few boxes of medicine, and then rushed into the rainstorm.

He couldn’t open his eyes due to the strong wind, and the torrential rain hit him rapidly in the face. He could only vaguely make out the direction.

Just as he was about to rush towards the door of the pharmacy, there was a sudden explosion of thunder!

There was an immediate fiery pain all over his body, accompanied by the incomparable fear of death – little Xia Xingchi suspected that he had been struck by lightning.

But when he looked up again, he found that the rainstorm had stopped, and the dry ground in front of the pharmacy made it seem as if it had never rained.

Xia Xingchi’s mind went blank. He walked in mechanically and stood in front of the counter, but didn’t know why he wanted to buy medicine or what kind he wanted to buy.

Why am I in such a hurry……is there someone waiting for me?

Xia Xingchi suddenly opened his eyes. The thought that haunted his mind every rainy night but could never be grasped was finally clear!

Yes, my sick little porcelain doll is waiting for me!

He sat up immediately, wanting to tell Li Chengyuan what he had remembered, but when he turned his head, he found that there was no one beside him.

He looked around again. The surrounding environment was extremely strange.

After having just had a bizarre dream, when he opened his eyes and found himself in a strange and unfamiliar environment, Xia Xingchi was immediately startled.

Not only was the bed an unfamiliar one, but he looked down and saw that although he was sleeping on a bed and covered with a blanket, he was wearing a sweater instead of his pajamas.

If there was anything more surreal, it was that the room……seemed to be shaking?

Xia Xingchi was taken aback, and had to wonder if he had not yet woken up and was still in a dream.

He quickly jumped up and found his shoes that had been carefully placed under the bed.

Xia Xingchi opened the door and strode out, and never could have imagined the vast and boundless sea that came into his sight.

The arc where the sea and the sky kissed glowed gold and red next to the warm rising sun, magnificent as it ignited the entire sea —

This was a sunrise at sea?!

Xia Xingchi was shocked. For a moment, he forgot to ask why he was standing on the deck of a luxurious ship.

He was still standing there blankly when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

When Xia Xingchi turned his head, he saw Li Chengyuan wearing a neat black suit with a large bouquet of delicate blooming roses in his hand, walking toward him in the bright and gleaming dawn.

He looked around again, only to find that there were fiery, classic red roses everywhere, along with countless elaborate decorations.

Xia Xingchi suddenly came to a realization, and his heart began to beat wildly.

He saw Li Chengyuan get down on one knee, devoutly grasp his fingers and kiss them lightly, and then raise his head, equally nervous but full of incomparable affection and determination:

“Xia Xingchi, I love you. Entrust the rest of your life to me, I —”

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Xingchi threw himself into his arms with unrivaled enthusiasm.

He had no relatives or friends all his life, and had never received a carefully prepared surprise from anyone, let alone had such a grand confession waiting for him.

This feeling of joy was almost unreal. Only by throwing himself at the person he loved and feeling his same rapid heartbeat could he feel that nothing in the world was more real than this.

Xia Xingchi, who had been wandering alone, finally obtained a home and a life-long promise, like a boat that had finally found a safe haven that would always shelter him from the wind and rain.

In order to catch the little hedgehog who was so moved and excited, Li Chengyuan had no choice but to stand up and hug Xia Xingchi tightly, embracing his only rare treasure.

Xia Xingchi raised his head and closed his eyes, while Li Chengyuan lowered his head and kissed him devoutly.

Their intersecting lips blocked the rising sun, and light illuminated the blue sea and sprinkled down on the two people embracing each other tightly, bathing them in golden light.

A testament to their eternal passion and love.

T/N: That’s it for the main story! There are two extras that I will post in a day or two. I’m so sad to see this story end, but what a sweet ending it is!

[1] This quote is from the Chinese classic novel “Water Margin,” and has become a meme. The context is that a character in a book poisoned Wu Dalang’s medicine and persuaded him to drink it, saying, “Da Lang, it’s time to take the medicine.” It sounded loving, but was actually resentful and vicious. So it’s used as a joke to express one’s dissatisfaction with the other party. ⮐