Chapter 142: Fifteen Minutes Past Midnight

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Huo Zheng was rarely nervous. He crouched down in front of Lin Xiaowan and held her hand gently.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Xiaowan asked when she saw that he was not himself.

Huo Zheng brought out a velvet octagonal box that he had hidden for a long time. He opened it, revealing a simple ring before asking gently, “Do you want to get engaged to me? I know you’ve agreed, but I want to make it formal…”

Lin Xiaowan looked at the ring curiously. “When did you buy it?”

The jewelry that Huo Zheng gave her naturally could not be bought outside. It was unique and custom-made. This meant that it would take some time due to the preparation needed. Putting other factors aside, with how picky Huo Zheng was, it must have taken a long time before he approved the design. One could only imagine how many drafts the designer had to submit to the cold Huo Zheng for approval. It was likely that the designer felt like punching Huo Zheng many times during the process.

Huo Zheng stroked her hand gently. He did not answer. Instead, he asked in return, “Have you thought about your answer?”

Then, without waiting for her reply, he took the ring out and put it on her finger. He kissed the back of her hand gently after that and said, “It looks good on you.”

Lin Xiaowan asked with a smile, “Aren’t you going to wait for my answer?”

Huo Zheng replied confidently, “You’ve already agreed before this…”

He returned to his seat and pulled her into his arms. Then, he lowered his head and kissed her gently before he said, “Happy birthday.”

It was fifteen minutes past midnight; it was Lin Xiaowan’s 24th birthday.

The meteors were still falling in the sky.

Lin Xiaowan was wrapped in a small blanket as she nestled in his arms. She stretched her arm and looked at the ring on her finger. She suddenly thought of something and asked, “Didn’t you already give me a ring last year?”

At that time, she had just been reborn. Huo Zheng had proposed with that ring, and when she wanted to break up with him, she had returned the ring. At some point, the ring was thrown away because of Song Zhiyi. In any case, her finger had been empty since she woke up in the hospital last year.

“Is this the same as that one?”

“No. That ring isn’t good, and it’s inauspicious,” Huo Zheng said.

Although it was winter, the temperature in Chahar’s Kongjing Salt Lake was not too cold. Lin Xiaowan found it very comfortable to curl up in the recliner.

“I often saw stars in my hometown when I was young,” Lin Xiaowan suddenly said.

Apart from that one time when Huo Zheng investigated her, he had never taken the initiative to ask about her past. This was also her first time taking the initiative to talk about it.

“Beicheng is my hometown. It was still a county when I was young. At that time, many people would sit outside during summer nights to enjoy the breeze. As soon as you raised your head, you’d be able to see many stars in the sky…”

“I lived there for many years, and my time there feels distant to me. It seems like there’s nothing worth remembering there for me,” Lin Xiaowan slowly said.

She was the only one left in the family. She did not regret leaving home. After she was admitted to university, apart from studying, she worked part-time jobs, focusing on earning money. The part-time jobs in Shengjing paid twice as much compared to Beicheng. However, expenses and rent in Shengjing were not as low as in Beicheng. Fortunately, she lived on campus so she did not have to worry about rent. The fee was only a few hundred yuan a year. At that time, although she was very frugal, she did not feel like she was suffering.

“However, everything seemed to have changed for the better after 1 met you,” Lin Xiaowan said. Then, she said with a scoff, “However, we have to exclude that time when your detestable ex-girlfriend appeared.”

“Don’t mention her. It’s unlucky,” Huo Zheng said before kissing her.

“Alright, alright,” Lin Xiaowan said before she asked, “Did you only buy one ring? Am 1 the only one wearing a ring? Are you single?”

“… 1’11 wear it when we go back…”

Huo Zheng made a pair of rings. However, he only brought one here. Although he had spoken confidently earlier, he was in fact a little uncertain in his heart.

The two leaned against each other and whispered to each other as they watched the meteor shower.

After a while, a live streamer walked over and asked if it was okay if they appeared in his broadcast.

Lin Xiaowan looked at Huo Zheng.

The other party was a middle-aged man with a mustache. He looked kind and honest. He explained, “Don’t worry. Your faces won’t be seen since it’s so dark. 1 just want to film in this direction… 1’11 be filming from over there. The camera will be mostly focused on the sky. 1 just thought the background here is better than that of the monotonous mountain. Moreover, I really like your setup here. It’s caught my eye since earlier.”

A warm orange lamp hung next to the duo as they sat on comfortable recliners with a round wooden table at the side. It looked very cozy, and the atmosphere was warm.

From the perspective of the camera, such a small corner under the night sky was like a painting.

Lin Xiaowan thought about it for a moment. In fact, it did not matter. It was truly dark, and it would be difficult to see them.

Since Lin Xiaowan did not have any objections, Huo Zheng naturally did not have any objections either.

The man’s live broadcast was usually related to astronomy. He brought all kinds of equipment here this time. After setting up the live broadcast again, he took a photo of the duo with an instant camera before he jogged over to show it to them.

The photo only showed their backs and the vast sky.

Lin Xiaowan liked it very much. “Wow, it’s really beautiful. Thank you.”

The man nodded politely before he returned to his original position.

As it grew later, the wind began to blow. At some point, Lin Xiaowan had fallen asleep while she watched the meteor shower. Since they were not staying in a tent, Huo Zheng did not wake her up and carried her into the car, making their way to the accommodation that had been arranged.

Since Huo Zheng took a few days off, they had time to explore Chahar. However, there was not much to see in winter since the scenery was not as vivid as it would be during spring and summer.

The activities during winter were the usual snowboarding, ice-skating, soaking in hot springs, and the like..