Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

Lin Qingmian clutched the velvet box and stared at him for a long time.

Then she lowered her head and carefully took the necklace out of the box, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"Put it on for me," she said.

Ji Linzhou walked over, took the necklace, and went behind her, fastening the clasp with his slender fingers. His fingertips brushed against the skin of her nape, slightly cool, making her unconsciously hold her breath.

After the necklace was put on, the pink diamond sat just below her collarbone, rising and falling slightly with her breath.

Lin Qingmian looked down for a while, then turned around and looked up at him.

"Ji Linzhou," her voice was a little tight, "you said back then that marriage was a transaction."

"Yes." Ji Linzhou looked down at her.

"So, do you still consider it a transaction?"

Ji Linzhou remained silent for a long time.

Then he reached out and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head, his voice carrying a gentle, slightly hoarse quality that even he himself didn't realize—

"That's not the case anymore."

Lin Qingmian buried her face in his chest, listening to his steady and powerful heartbeat, closed her eyes, and finally couldn't help but smile.

On the day the cast was removed, Ji Linzhou accompanied Lin Qingmian to the hospital.

As the doctor used a small electric saw to cut along the edge of the cast, Lin Qingmian nervously closed her eyes and instinctively clenched her other hand. Then she felt a warm palm cover the back of her hand, and a thumb gently rubbed against her knuckles.

"Don't be afraid."

Ji Linzhou's voice came from above, deep and steady.

Lin Qingmian opened her eyes and glanced at him. He stood beside her, looking down at her with a calm expression, but he never let go of her hand.

The moment the cast was completely removed, Lin Qingmian carefully moved her wrists and fingers. At first, they were a little stiff, and her joints made a slight clicking sound, but after a while, that familiar sense of flexibility slowly returned.

"The recovery is going very well," the doctor said. "Just be careful not to overexert yourself during this time, and gradually increase your activity level."

Lin Qingmian held her hand up and looked at it several times, suddenly feeling as if she had been reborn. She clenched her fist, then relaxed it, then clenched it again, and a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

"Finally, it's demolished." She turned to look at Ji Linzhou, her eyes sparkling: "I feel like I've come back to life!"

Seeing her happy expression, Ji Linzhou smiled slightly and said, "I'll cook you a nice meal to celebrate when we get back."

"it is good!"

The two walked out of the consultation room, Lin Qingmian leading the way, her steps as light as a bird just released from its cage. She looked left and right, then held her right hand up to her eyes, examining it repeatedly, as if it were the first time she had ever owned it.

Ji Linzhou walked behind her, watching her swaying hair and light steps, a barely perceptible tenderness rising in his eyes.

Upon returning home, the first thing Lin Qingmian did was rush into her study and turn on her drawing board and computer.

She hadn't drawn with her right hand for a whole month. Although she could draw with her left, the lines were never smooth enough, and the details weren't refined enough. Now that her right hand was finally free, she couldn't wait to bring those designs that she could only contemplate in her mind to paper.

She picked up a pencil and sketched a few lines on the paper. The lines were smooth and rounded, even easier than she had imagined.

"Very good." She nodded to herself and then began to draw intently.

When Ji Linzhou entered the study with a cup of hot milk, he saw her intently sketching the folds of her skirt. Her fingers moved nimbly across the paper, her expression focused and absorbed, as if she were immersed in a world known only to herself.

He didn't disturb her; he simply placed the milk on the corner of the table and quietly left.

Lin Qingmian looked up at the doorway, only managing to catch a glimpse of his retreating figure.

She glanced down at the steaming glass of milk on the corner of the table, smiled slightly, and then continued drawing.

Over the next few days, she spent almost all her free time designing the wedding dress.

The skirt was the color of sunset—gradually transitioning from pale pink at the waist to deep orange at the hem, adorned with tiny, hand-sewn sequins, as if wearing a ray of twilight light. She revised the waistline proportions seven or eight times and adjusted the sleeve cuffs three times. When she finally finalized the design, she stared at the drawing for a long time before letting out a long sigh of relief.

"It's finished."

She took a photo and sent it to Fang Shiyang: "Shiyang, the final draft is here."

Fang Shiyang replied instantly with a string of exclamation marks and fireworks emojis: 【Absolutely stunning!!! I'll arrange for the factory to make a sample right away! Baby, just wait! A sample garment will be ready within two weeks!】

Lin Qingmian put down her phone, leaned back in her chair, and stretched. It was already dark outside; she glanced at the time—11 p.m.

The study door was pushed open a crack, and Ji Linzhou's voice came from the doorway: "Finished drawing?"

"Mm!" Lin Qingmian turned her head and gave him a bright smile: "It's finished!"

Ji Linzhou pushed open the door and walked in, standing behind her. He glanced down at the design drawing on the computer screen.

His gaze lingered on the sunset-colored wedding dress for a long time.

"It's beautiful," he said in a low voice, "even more beautiful than I imagined."

Lin Qingmian felt a little embarrassed by his praise, and touched her nose with her hand: "Let's see how it looks after the sample garment is made. There's always a difference between the drawing and the actual product."

"There won't be a difference," Ji Linzhou said. "Your design won't be bad."

He spoke with such certainty, as if he believed in her abilities even more than she did herself.

Lin Qingmian looked up at him, her heart skipped a beat.

"Ji Linzhou," she said softly.

"Um?"

Why have you been praising me so much lately?

Ji Linzhou looked down at her, his gaze particularly deep in the warm yellow light: "Things I didn't say before, I want to make up for now."

A simple sentence made Lin Qingmian's face turn red instantly.

She quickly lowered her head, pretending to turn off the computer screen, her voice barely audible, like a mosquito's hum: "Then...then you should take more supplements in the future."

Ji Linzhou chuckled softly, reached out and ruffled her hair, then turned and left the study.

Lin Qingmian sat alone in front of the computer, looking at the design of the wedding dress on the screen, unable to suppress the smile on her face.

Two weeks later, Fang Shiyang delivered the sample garment on time, just as expected.

It was a Saturday, and Lin Qingmian was watching a TV series at home. When the doorbell rang, she was still wearing her pajamas, her hair casually tied into a bun, and she was nestled on the sofa like a lazy cat.

She went to open the door, and Fang Shiyang rushed in, carrying a huge dust bag.

"Baby! Your wedding dress has arrived! Try it on, try it on!"

Before Lin Qingmian could react, Fang Shiyang had already opened the dust bag and taken out the sunset-colored wedding dress. The light satin reflected a soft luster under the light, and the gradient color transition from the waist to the hem was natural and smooth. The hand-sewn sequins looked like tiny starlight scattered on it.

Lin Qingmian stared at the wedding dress, completely stunned.

The design on the drawing is one thing, but the feeling of actually seeing the real thing on your body is quite another.

"Go change and put it on!" Fang Shiyang had already pushed her into the bedroom, shoving the wedding dress into her arms without a word: "I'll wait and see how it looks!"

Lin Qingmian took a deep breath and carefully changed into her wedding dress.

The moment she zipped up the zipper, she stood in front of the dressing mirror, looking at herself in the mirror, and suddenly felt a little dazed.