Throughout the entire meeting, Zhou Mi felt her face was about to become paralyzed from trying to control her excessively prominent cheekbones.

Back to her workstation, the few colleagues walking with her were still enthusiastically discussing Zhang Lian’s unexpected ring, while the person involved could only clench her jaws, afraid that her delighted emotions would break free like an uncontrollable magpie escaping its cage.

What was happening?

As soon as she sat down, Zhou Mi began biting her fingers, drinking water, playing with her pen, and fidgeting with materials on her desk, unable to stop various restless movements.

She felt that the ring wasn’t worn on Zhang Lian’s hand, but encircling her heart.

A silver, indescribably wonderful signal.

Its meaning was intense, flashing like a star that belonged only to her.

After a while, Zhou Mi picked up her phone and began seriously browsing some brand websites and flagship stores, typing in the keyword “ring” and carefully selecting.

That ring was embarrassing.

Especially appearing on someone like Zhang Lian’s hand. He had brought it out in such an occasion, so inconspicuously yet so naturally, at this critical juncture.

The heat in Zhou Mi’s cheeks wouldn’t subside.

Similarly, her smile and heart rate wouldn’t decrease either.

The afternoon was unbearably long.

Because she had to pretend not to know, had to restrain the desire to confront and expose, had to prepare for her spontaneous romantic gesture.

At six in the evening, Zhou Mi made an excuse to leave the company early and rushed to a nearby plaza.

Her skirt fluttered, her face bearing the widest possible smile, like a female student frantically running out of the classroom after the last class before a small holiday.

Zhou Mi stopped, out of breath, in front of the dazzling store entrance.

This was the first time in her life patronized a luxury boutique.

A beautiful saleswoman in uniform approached with a smile, asking what she needed.

Zhou Mi swallowed and solemnly pulled up a picture from her phone album to show her: “Do you have this ring?”

The saleswoman curved her lips: “This is our 1895 series, a rather low-key, understated, and tasteful style.”

She also asked: “Is it for yourself or a gift for your loved one? We can engrave it on-site.”

Zhou Mi paused, smiling awkwardly: “It’s not for me.”

Her small savings account was currently only enough to buy one ring. When she had more funds later, she would get one for herself, too.

The saleswoman understood: “Do you know your loved one’s ring size?”

Zhou Mi froze, opened her hand, and thought for a moment, then formed a circle with her forefinger and thumb to show the saleswoman: “About… this big, I guess.”

The young woman’s mix of bright, perceptive eyes and confused demeanor also made the saleswoman smile: “Alright, please come with me. Let’s first determine if we have your required size in stock.”

Leaving with the red shopping bag, Zhou Mi received a call from Zhang Lian asking why she wasn’t at the company.

After answering, she struggled to control her smile that threatened to burst forth at any moment, saying, “I had a bit of a headache today, so I left early for home.”

Zhang Lian expressed slight doubt: “Really?”

Zhou Mi said: “Mm-hmm, I’m heading home now. When will you be back?”

Zhang Lian said, “I’ll come back soon too.”

Hanging up the phone with a smile, Zhou Mi took a taxi back to Huajun, protecting the ring in her arms like a treasure the entire way.

When she arrived home, Chen Ayi, who was cleaning, was surprised at how early she’d returned. Zhou Mi just made a couple of jokes before clutching the paper bag tightly and bouncing into the bedroom.

She took out the ring box, opened it to look at the ring she had just spent a fortune on, chuckled a couple of times, then put it back in the bedside table drawer.

Half an hour later, Zhang Lian arrived home, bringing desserts and a bouquet.

Chen Ayi wondered if the sun had risen from the west today: “You’re both back so early.” she also noticed what was in his hands: “Is today a holiday or anniversary? Why didn’t you say something in advance? Are you eating at home?”

Zhang Lian smiled, placing the items on the dining table, only asking: “Where’s Zhou Mi?”

Chen Ayi said: “She went straight to the bedroom when she got back and hasn’t come out since.”

Zhang Lian frowned slightly, wondering if Zhou Mi was truly unwell, and after changing his shoes, went to the bedroom.

As soon as he entered, the girl suddenly sprang out from behind the door in front of him, baring her teeth and waving her arms with an “Awoo!”

Zhang Lian stopped in his tracks, startled, then laughed.

Zhou Mi, seeing barely any reaction on his face, felt disappointed: “How come you weren’t scared?”

Zhang Lian said, “What if I got frightened and something happened? Would you take care of me in my old age?”

Zhou Mi turned her head away, secretly delighted as she rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

Zhang Lian followed behind, asking: “Didn’t you have a headache?”

“Seeing you made it go away.” Her voice was full of vigor.

Zhang Lian chuckled, took a large step forward, his arm passing around her waist, firmly pulling her into his embrace without discussion.

She was like a charm paper wrapped in a pouch, about to undergo an enlightening ceremony.

Zhou Mi curved her eyes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, saying softly: “Hugging and embracing as soon as you arrive, where are your manners!”

Zhang Lian rested his chin on the back of her head: “Still pretending.”

Zhou Mi lowered her eyes to find his left hand, that cheap silver ring still circling it. She smiled shyly yet proudly, lightly poking that spot with her index finger: “How did you think of it?”

“Don’t know, just suddenly remembered it.”

“You’ve been carefully keeping it all along, haven’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Hehe.”

Zhou Mi couldn’t help thinking that if reality had a meter limiting happiness, the entire house would have tripped the circuit by now.

She decided to stop hiding it, pulled his arm away, and turned her head sideways: “I have something I want to give you.”

Zhang Lian asked: “What?”

Zhou Mi said, “Sit down first.”

Zhang Lian pulled out a nearby walnut wood armchair and sat down.

Zhou Mi nimbly ran to her bedside table, pulled open the drawer, and carefully took out the red ring box.

She held it up with both hands, making a “ta-da” sound, and presented it before Zhang Lian.

Zhang Lian glanced at the logo on it, then looked at Zhou Mi. His smile was partially covered by confusion, then he took it and opened it.

A platinum men’s ring was embedded in the center of the black ring holder, with small diamonds sparkling brilliantly.

The man lowered his head slightly, while Zhou Mi stood there, unable to catch his first reaction. She only felt that for a second he was frozen, unable to distinguish whether it was pleasant surprise or shock.

Zhou Mi decided to crouch down, trying to see more clearly.

At the same moment, Zhang Lian raised his face, still with curved lips, though his smile was much more reserved than before.

He turned his left hand: “Haven’t you already given me a ring?”

Zhou Mi sat on the edge of the bed nearby, indicating with her eyes: “That one was just for fun at the time. Who knew you’d wear it in public? I feel so embarrassed.”

Zhang Lian’s expression remained unchanged: “I wasn’t wearing it in public, I was only wearing it for you to see.”

Zhou Mi bit her lip: “But people at the company were all discussing it.”

Zhang Lian said, “That was my secondary purpose.”

Zhou Mi’s lips curved slightly upward: “What purpose?”

Zhang Lian answered: “To let everyone know I’m not single anymore.”

Zhou Mi burst into laughter, showing her small white teeth: “Then hurry up and try on the new ring I bought for you, okay? I especially went to Cartier this afternoon to choose it. Don’t wear that thirty-yuan one anymore. It makes me uncomfortable to look at it.”

Zhang Lian fell silent again.

Two seconds later, the emotion completely disappeared from his face, his eyelids drooping slightly. He snapped the ring box shut and handed it back: “I can’t accept it.”

Zhou Mi’s brain buzzed from his rejection, which came almost without hesitation.

She blinked rapidly, instinctively asking: “Why?”

Zhang Lian looked back, his demeanor distant: “This gift is beyond your means.”

Zhou Mi’s brows knotted together: “But I’ve already bought it, and this isn’t just a gift.”

Zhang Lian’s chest moved slightly: “Then I especially can’t accept it.”

His attitude left no room for negotiation.

Zhou Mi felt the temperature in her face rising rapidly, but her brain and body felt like they were falling into an Arctic ice lake, freezing inch by inch.

She sat there stiffly, asking: “What do you mean?”

Zhang Lian didn’t answer. Seeing she wouldn’t take it back for a long time, he placed the closed ring box back on the edge of the table.

Like a germ, as if holding it for one more second would cause infection.

Zhou Mi was stung by this action, her nose aching intensely.

Fighting back tears, she heard her voice become like poorly mixed lime water, slow and parched as it oozed out: “Do you think I’m trying to force you into marriage with this ring? But the main reason I bought this ring is because I feel the thirty-yuan one doesn’t match you at all, and shouldn’t be on your hand. Your place in my heart is far above that.”

Zhang Lian casually turned the silver ring on the middle finger of his left hand: “You said it was the contract fee for our three months. I accepted it, and never thought it didn’t match.”

Zhou Mi took a deep breath: “So what does it mean now that you’re wearing it?”

Zhang Lian said, “I’ve already answered that.”

Zhou Mi’s breathing became heavier: “But it’s almost three months now. The day after tomorrow, we have to answer our parents.”

Zhang Lian remained calm: “The choice has always been yours. You know my answer.”

His serene statement felt like a deep stab in her heart, each word a needle, the dense holes and thread ends gathering her heart until it nearly lost shape.

Zhou Mi’s chest ached violently as she tried hard not to let her eyes overflow, but in reality, her face was already frightfully red.

Out of anger and discouragement, she felt like she had fallen hard from a great height: “So you still just want me to continue maintaining this ambiguous relationship with you that can’t see the light of day.”

Zhang Lian looked at her: “I thought we were already dating. All this time, you’ve been the one concealing it, haven’t you?”

Zhou Mi was stunned for several seconds: “But I was also worried about how others would see you.”

Zhang Lian replied impeccably: “So I respected your wishes.”

Zhou Mi’s large eyes, which had surged several times, stared back in shock: “We’re dating? Really? Yet a man in a relationship isn’t brave enough to accept his girlfriend’s ring?”

Zhang Lian sighed very lightly: “Zhou Mi, you’re overthinking this.”

Zhou Mi let out an incredulous scoff: “You’re afraid I’ll cling to you, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be extreme,” Zhang Lian leaned forward, as if to hold her hands, which were twisted in her skirt and had already turned pale: “Let’s talk this through properly.”

Zhou Mi raised her arm in an instant, avoiding his touch, and unable to stop herself from becoming like a broken violin, producing a sharp, harsh noise: “Talk about what! Use various means to bewitch me into continuing with you? Until you get tired of playing or I give up? Or is it that you want to use your rhetoric to make yourself look completely innocent and clean?”

Zhang Lian was slightly stunned, withdrawing his suspended hand, his entire upper body also leaning back against the chair.

In this bedroom, face to face, they had never created such a large distance between them.

And the man showed no expression, with no discernible temperature in his eyes, neither cold nor warm, nothing at all.

After a few seconds of silence.

Zhou Mi’s face turned ashen as she demanded: “Say something, why did you wear the ring I gave you?”

Repeating the same answer to the same question, Zhang Lian looked a bit tired: “I thought you would be happy, but it had the opposite effect.”

Zhou Mi tugged at her lip, maintaining an angle that was neither like crying nor smiling: “I was happy, so I wanted to give you a ring more worthy of you. The opposite effect is in your perception, isn’t it? You feel it’s gone bad, gone too far, that this woman wants to cling to you.”

Zhang Lian’s eyes darkened slightly: “Why do you always think of me this way?”

Zhou Mi wiped the moisture at the corner of her lips with the back of her hand: “Because you deserve to be thought of this way.”

Her tears surged outward, full of disappointment and pain: “I’ve never been special to you. I just happened to appear at this time, at this point. Any other girl could be Zhou Mi, as long as she could satisfy your need for a male-female relationship without marriage. Look at your frightened appearance, it’s so ridiculous. You’re panicking to the point you don’t even dare touch the ring, and I—”

Zhou Mi choked completely, her face turning white.

“Do you remember the last time you asked me why I always think negatively of you?” The girl propped up the corners of her mouth, finally revealing an expression that could be called a “smile,” but it was unfamiliar and cold: “I know the answer now. Because you’ve never been good in my heart. Not a single good thing has happened since I met you. I’ve never truly thought you were a good person from the bottom of my heart. Just because I liked you, I’ve been deceiving myself, numbing myself. Now I’m clear-headed.”

“Thank you for the wake-up call.”

“Zhang Lian,” his name was no longer sweet in her mouth, like a completely withered rose: “You’re just a terrible person.”

The room fell completely silent, like a solemn courtroom.

For a moment, Zhang Lian thought he should defend himself with a few words, but he didn’t want to speak, nor could he. A dull, slow pain spread in the depths of his heart, like cracks beneath the earth.

Finally, he looked at her and casually uttered two words, seeming to acknowledge this view: “Is that so?”

“Yes!” Zhou Mi vigorously wiped her face, her wet, red eyes decisive: “I won’t waste any more time on a terrible person like you.”

Casting down these words, she rushed out of the bedroom without hesitation, out of the house, out of this magnificent yet empty mirage.