The engagement was with the younger brother, but I've fallen for the older brother.

Si Yimian looked down at the man kneeling on the wet road, her mind blank.

My heart first made a muffled thud, then pounded against my throat.

Two years ago, he knelt in front of the sofa, using his tie as a noose, with a hint of provocation and challenge.

In that moment, she thought it was the greatest surrender he could ever give in his life.

But this time he landed on the asphalt road in Boston, where the streetlights cast two shadows that overlapped.

When he looked up at her, his pupils reflected the shimmering light of the entire river behind her, and every word he spoke struck her heart.

A deep blue velvet box lay in his palm, the lid open, revealing a thin ring with a bright yellow diamond set inside.

Its shape resembles a plump ear of wheat; simple, yet not perfunctory.

How long has this man been preparing silently?

Family members, does anyone understand? A person who is against marriage suddenly proposes. What's the difference between this and a monk returning to secular life?

She never imagined that He Sichen would propose. From the day she decided to stay by his side, the word "marriage" had never been in their shared vocabulary.

So she never asked him if he would marry her, and he never brought it up himself.

She thought this was an unspoken understanding, a boundary that neither of them would cross, and that they could continue living their lives as usual by going around it.

He had already stepped over, but she just didn't see it.

To be honest, she wasn't really ready for marriage.

She hasn't planned in that direction yet.

Neither of them had included marriage in their plans, and now one is kneeling to hand over the ring, while the other stands there in a daze.

The scene was quite absurd at one point.

But if it's him, it doesn't seem like it's impossible.

In the past two years, he has been the one behind her as she has seen the world.

She suddenly realized that some things don't need to be prepared, as long as the right people are there.

Si Yimian's eyes began to swell, but she bit the inside of her lip to keep the tears from spilling out.

"He Sichen".

Her voice was a little strained, as if it had been flattened.

"Two years ago you knelt before me claiming to be a legal pet, and now you want to upgrade your status?"

He Sichen looked up at her, the streetlight casting a deep, pale brown hue over his pupils.

That was during the trial period.

His voice was steady, without the slightest hint of wavering.

"This time, I'm applying for a formal position."

Si Yimian almost burst out laughing.

I was laughing when my nose started to sting, and the two emotions collided in my throat, eventually turning into an expression that was both like crying and laughing.

She suddenly realized that spending her life with this person wouldn't be boring.

He's got a sharp tongue, both in and out of bed.

When the two of them are together, there is no awkwardness even if they don't talk, but once they start talking, every sentence he says leaves her speechless.

Moreover, given his obsessive-compulsive disorder and germaphobia, she probably won't have to worry about things at home.

The only problem is that he's too good at it.

After marriage, she probably won't even know how to say no.

He taught her how to move forward.

Now, she should learn to stop, to stop and stay by someone's side.

Si Yimian said, "Stand up first."

He Sichen's eyebrows twitched slightly, but his knees remained still.

She took a step forward, her shoe touching his knee, and looked down at him.

"How can you kiss me while kneeling like that?"

He Sichen's eyes darkened under the streetlights, and then he stood up.

When he lifted his knees off the wet ground, a wet patch appeared on his suit trousers.

Before he could stand up straight, Si Yimian had already tiptoed to meet him.

She hooked her arms around his neck, tilted her head back and pressed her face against his, a smile playing on her lips as they met.

Her breath brushed against his upper lip first, followed by her own warmth.

He Sichen held her waist with one hand and fastened it tightly, while his other hand was still clutching the ring box.

His kisses were never the gentle kind.

Si Yimian stumbled forward half a step as he pulled her along, her shoe tip hitting his shoe tip.

She was kissed so hard that her heels lifted off the ground, and her fingers gripped the front of his shirt.

A car passed by on the side of the road, its headlights swept over them, and then it drove away.

After an unknown amount of time, He Sichen pressed his finger against her lower lip before pulling away.

He loosened his grip on her waist, his forehead pressed against hers, his breath still ragged.

Si Yimian spoke first.

"Mr. He, you've passed the qualification exam and are now officially employed."

Then she stepped back half a step and extended her left hand to him.

"After we get married, I'll be the boss at home. Do you have any objections?"

He Sichen grasped the hand she offered.

"no."

He opened the velvet box, took out the ring, closed the lid, and stuffed it back into his suit pocket in one swift motion.

He lifted her left hand, gently rubbed his thumb against the base of her ring finger, and then pushed the ring up.

The platinum ring glides over the knuckles and settles perfectly at the base of the finger.

Si Yimian looked down at the ring and suddenly asked, "How did you know my ring size?"

"I took the measurements while you were asleep."

Si Yimian narrowed her eyes slightly.

"And the ring? Did you pick it out yourself?"

He Sichen paused for a moment, then answered, "Huo Siyue."

Si Yimian was stunned.

Seeing her stunned expression, he added a sentence.

She said you'd like it.

Si Yimian suddenly felt a bit like she was in a dream.

"So you went behind my back, asked my best friend, bought a ring, took my size, and no one told me the whole time?"

"Um."

He Sichen turned her hand over and held it in his palm.

Huo Siyue said that if you knew, the surprise would be over.

Si Yimian was somewhat surprised: "She just held back?"

He Sichen nodded and said, "She said it was very hard for her to endure."

Si Yimian recalled Huo Siyue's hesitant expression every time they video-chatted, and she had initially thought Huo Siyue wanted to know about her and He Sichen's recent situation.

It turns out they were keeping a nuclear-level secret to themselves for who knows how long.

Just as she was about to speak, He Sichen reached out and pulled her over.

He pulled her into his arms, rested his chin on the top of her head, and then spoke again.

"The first thing I did after returning to China was to get our marriage certificate."

Si Yimian lifted her face from his embrace.

"Why don't you tell your family first? Your grandfather's side, my dad's side, and your dad's side..."

"I won't tell."

He Sichen looked down at her.

"Acting first and informing later will avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Si Yimian met his gaze and suddenly understood.

He Sichen knew the situation of the He family better than anyone else.

Once notified in advance, you will receive a copy of the meeting minutes of the multi-party talks.

But once you get the marriage certificate first, the nature of the situation changes.

What's done is done, and with the marriage certificate in hand, they can say whatever they want, since their names are already on the same household registration book.

He Sichen's way of solving problems is always based on the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line; he considers roundabout methods a waste of energy.

Si Yimian buried her face back in his chest.

"Okay, whatever you say."

……

He Sichen and Si Yimian got their marriage certificate as soon as they returned to China, and that evening they invited their elders to dinner at Puyuan.

He Huaipu was the first to arrive. He sat in the main seat, leaning on his cane, with a steaming cup of Longjing tea in front of him.

He Jian'an and Zhou Wanqing entered the room one after the other. As Zhou Wanqing sat down, she muttered something to herself.

"Why does it have to be today? I have a mahjong game scheduled."

He Jian'an glanced at the empty seats: "Where are Nanxian and Ning You?"

He Huaipu picked up his teacup and slowly blew on it.

"I didn't call them."

Zhou Wanqing was taken aback, instinctively feeling that something was off about tonight's meal.

When Si Congshan and Ruan Qiutang arrived, Ruan Qiutang was still tidying her silk scarf at the door. As soon as she entered, she asked, "Where's Mianmian?"

"This child didn't even tell me he was coming back; he was vague on the phone..."

The words got stuck in my throat halfway through.

The door to the private room was pushed open from the outside, and He Sichen walked in, followed by Si Yimian.

All eyes at the table fell on the two people's clasped hands.