Han Lingshi watched Hao Ren propose to her with her eyes wide open and her mouth covered with her delicate palm. She did not expect him to come up and just do it. Yes, this was how she defined the incident in her mind. Hao Ren just bent his knee and proposed to her.
One of the girls in the parking lot shouted, "What are you proposing her for? Clarify it!"
Followed by this many girls and women chanted loudly, "Clarify! Clarify! Clarify!"
Hao Ren shook his head to avoid the loud sound and yelled, "I am just confessing that I am in love with her and with this ring I am showing my sincerity and promise that if she agrees, I will marry her in the future!"
He spoke so loudly that his voice drowned the echoes and the chants. Once he was done, the women calmed down, and Han Lingshi was still standing frozen. Hao Ren had not shifted his gaze from her eyes, he did not know why, despite being married, he was anxious. What if Han Lingshi refused to him?
Just as his thoughts were going wild, a guy said, "Oh come on, answer the guy already! Don't embarrass him."
Han Lingshi woke up from the stupor and realized that her delay was causing great embarrassment to Hao Ren. She hurriedly bowed down and said, "Yes!"
Hao Ren let out a heavy breath as he stood up. He looked at her and said, "You really scared me you know?"
Han Lingshi was smiling with her eyes turning into a crescent. Hao Ren noticed crystal drops at the corner of her eyes. He moved closer to her and coiled his arms around her. Han Lingshi pushed him slightly and said, "You are going to ruin the flowers."
However, there was a blush on her face. Hao Ren smiled and scratched the back of his head before he said, "May I put the ring on your hand?"
Han Lingshi nodded and Hao Ren took out the white ring and held her hand. He was about to slide it on her middle finger, but Han Lingshi said, "On the ring finger."
Her voice was so soft that Hao Ren trembled, it was akin to a whisper to his soul. He put the ring gently on the ring finger, and from some weird coincidence, it fit. It was a perfect fit.
Han Lingshi looked at the delicate ring and then she looked at Hao Ren. The young man before her was growing at such a pace, that she could not have imagined ever. Hao Ren was an existence that had taken root in her heart. Everyday when she had nothing to do she would be thinking about him. Han Lingshi was twenty eight years old and she had never been through something like this ever before.
Hao Ren looked at the crowd who was still looking at them and asked, "Ummm, did I forget something?"
One girl shouted, "You have to kiss her to seal the deal!"
Her words caused Hao Ren a great surprise. She continued when she sensed his gaze locked on to her shoulders, "I was nineteen when I finished my schooling, till then I was a normal girl. My mother insisted that I grow up like a normal child and not someone with privilege. I finished my graduation and got acquainted with the young masters and young madams of the city.
They were a lot different than the people I preferred to surround myself with. Anyhow, I always found my way away from them by saying I am busy with studies. When I graduated, Grandpa wanted to get me married. I ran away to the Hawk nation for higher studies, set up the branch of business there and developed it enough to come back and contend for the president chair."
Hao Ren raised his brow and asked, "Then what was your life in the Hawk Nation was like? Your family did not come to take you away?"
Han Lingshi nodded and said, "I had a tough time there, new place and new lifestyle. However, I met a guy, called Richard Malone. At first we were just working together at the retail store, but then we became good friends. He was also an outcast."
Hao Ren asked calmly, "Why so?"
The girl replied, "He was homosexual but belonged to a Mafia family. His family could take down any person in the city, and even cops did not dare go against them without concrete evidence. So, in order for Richard to rise in ranks we used to shield for each other. Males were afraid of coming close to me at that time, and Richard was averted from women. So, it was simple."
Hao Ren asked solemnly, "During this time, did you even feel anything for him?"
Han Lingshi looked at him and shook her head. She said, "Richard was shot three times in his head on our graduation day. The shooter was his own father. Why? Because someone saw Richard on a tryst with his boyfriend."
Hao Ren was shocked and asked, "This is why that day Donovan said that your reputation was damaged because you got in touch with bad people?"
Han Lingshi nodded with a smile, and said, "Actually, I initially wanted to date Donovan, but then his philandrist actions told me to stay away from him. That's why he always brings up Richard Malone at important times to embarrass me."
Hao Ren sighed and said, "For a moment, there I was scared. Also, if I see that Donovan again, I am drawing lines and claiming territory."
Han Lingshi was surprised and chuckled as she asked, "You don't trust me?"
Hao Ren replied calmly, "I do, but these pesky people need to be taught a lesson. Do you think he would be silent about what happened last time? Just wait, the snake will raise it's head again."
Han Lingshi laughed and said, "We are having a heart to heart conversation, and this is the best you can say to cover up the fact that you dislike him because I had an interest in him?"
Hao Ren looked at her and narrowed his eyes as he said, "You don't look cute when you catch me like this. Hmph."
The vehicle echoed with a loud laughter as it drove off to Hao Ren's house.