Once they got home and closed the door, Chen An reached out his hand for his gift.

Cheng Lele cleared her throat, stood in the center of the living room, grabbed the corners of her skirt and curtsied like a lady, then waved her hand in the air—a thorny rose appeared in her palm.

Chen An’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

This was the proposal method he had taken time out of his busy schedule to learn from a magician. He had been practicing whenever he had free time these past few days, planning to show off his skills tonight. He never expected to clash with Cheng Lele’s choice!

After a while, Cheng Lele grabbed at the void again, and a small box appeared in her tiny palm: “Merry Christmas, Little Ge!”

Good heavens, it was exactly the same. Chen An was beginning to suspect they had consulted the same magician.

Seeing that Chen An’s expression wasn’t very excited, Cheng Lele explained: “I’m sorry, I was busy preparing for the cinema’s activities, so this gift was prepared rather hastily. It’s not really a surprise—just take a look at it.”

Chen An secretly felt grateful that he hadn’t arranged this kind of “not really a surprise” romance. While saying “I’m thoroughly surprised,” he opened the box.

Inside lay a pair of rings with a smooth, streamlined design, without any patterns—very simple and plain.

Chen An picked up the larger ring and discovered that the inner band seemed to have a circle of words engraved: the bright side of life

He couldn’t help but look at the women’s ring. Inside was engraved: always look on

Combined together, it was the theme of tonight’s performance—always look toward the bright and beautiful side.

Cheng Lele moved closer, leaning gently against Chen An’s shoulder, saying: “That women’s ring is what I used to wear on my ring finger to scare away suitors. Now that I have you, I went and had a men’s ring made to match. It’s 925 silver, not worth much money, but it’s the thought that counts.”

After speaking, she took that ring out again and placed it on Chen An’s ring finger: “In the past, whenever I encountered any difficulties or unhappy things, as long as I thought that if Little Ge knew about it, he definitely wouldn’t bear to see me so sad, I would have strength and could get through it. Little Ge, you are my light, you are my forever bright side of life.”

Chen An thought, how is Cheng Lele so good at being romantic? This way, tonight’s entire performance became a prelude to the proposal, as if that energetic and spirited song was sung just for him alone, as if that joyful and fun dance was performed just for him alone. The rings were crafted with so much careful thought, and her words were so pleasant to hear—everything seemed solemn and meaningful.

By comparison, how could he even give the ring in his pocket now? Complete defeat! K.O.

The first time in his life he had lost so thoroughly, yet he didn’t feel down—only endless sweetness.

It was like stuffing tropical summer fruits into a juicer, then watching through a time-lapse camera lens as the plump juice burst from cell walls in the frame, vivid and rich colors colliding together, full of life’s vitality. Finally, all this sweet nectar slowly gathered in a container, soaking his heart.

He placed the women’s ring on Cheng Lele’s hand and kissed her ring finger: “Good baby, thank you.”

Cheng Lele’s slender fingers hooked around Chen An’s neck as she smiled mischievously: “If needed, I’ll also go learn striptease.”

Hearing her wicked laugh, Chen An couldn’t help but bite her exposed collarbone, embracing her while guiding her backward toward the bedroom. Along the way, their clothes fell off. By the time they moved onto the bed, they were already bare before each other.

Ah Chou, whom Chen An had brought back earlier and tied up in the yard, barked twice.

Cheng Lele was surprised and tried to lift her head to look: “You brought Ah Chou back?”

Chen An pressed her back down: “Back for vaccinations.”

“Has it gotten any better looking?”

“Not that fast.”

Cheng Lele sighed, but Chen An sealed her mouth: “Cheng Lele, we’ll talk about the child issue later. Focus.”

Cheng Lele obediently closed her mouth. Soon she was kissed into complete disorientation and confusion. Before sinking into oblivion, Cheng Lele gathered her last shred of rationality to warn Chen An: “Don’t leave marks on my neck!”

Later, her consciousness gradually blurred. She seemed to be taken for a bath, or maybe not. It seemed like they did it again in the bathtub, or maybe not. Cheng Lele only felt tired and sleepy, clinging to Chen An like driftwood when drowning.

She had a very long and hazy dream. She dreamed that her father and mother came to her side. Her father had his arm around her mother’s shoulder, and her mother leaned against her father with a rosy complexion. They said goodbye to her, saying she had worked hard all these years, praising her for doing wonderfully. Now that she had family protection again, they could leave with peace of mind. They told her to continue charging forward toward the sunlight from now on.

Then a very harsh bright light appeared behind them, so blinding she couldn’t open her eyes. She grabbed her father’s hand to make them stay, but her throat was dry and she couldn’t utter a single word.

“Lele! Lele!”

Cheng Lele opened her eyes to see Chen An looking at her with a worried expression: “Did you have a nightmare? Or are you feeling unwell?”

Cheng Lele shook her head: “I dreamed of Mom and Dad.”

Chen An immediately held her: “Good baby, don’t be sad. Little Ge is here.”

Cheng Lele hummed in acknowledgment and slowly blinked: “I want to sleep more.”

“Eat something before sleeping?”

Cheng Lele ignored him, turned over, and fell asleep again.

She didn’t know how long she slept before Chen An patted her awake again: “Good baby, get up and eat.”

Cheng Lele lifted her eyelids slightly. The first thing she saw was the thermometer gun on the nightstand: “Do I have a fever again?”

“Fortunately not.”

Cheng Lele burrowed deeper into the blanket and asked: “What time is it?”

Chen An said: “It’s one in the afternoon.”

Cheng Lele shot out from under the blanket with a whoosh, exclaiming in shock: “After, afternoon?” Then she protested loudly in dissatisfaction: “Chen An, next time show some restraint. This really affects my work.”

Chen An flicked her forehead: “Today is the weekend, it’s a day off, workaholic!”

“Weekends are when the cinema is busiest.” Cheng Lele climbed up, got out of bed barefoot, opened the closet to find clothes to wear.

Chen An leaned against the closet, saying: “You have so few clothes. You haven’t really gone shopping since returning from Beijing, have you? The weather is very nice today—let’s go out shopping.”

“Let me check on the cinema first.” Cheng Lele picked out a pair of jeans and pulled them on. When she couldn’t stand steady, Chen An supported her and helped pull up her zipper and fasten the button: “Don’t go. Let me report to you on behalf of Shen Dafeng, okay? Last night’s grand performance was massively shared across various platforms, and combined with Liang Yuchao’s earlier celebrity effect, you’ve now secured the top spot as Taixi County’s little star. Even Quan Zirong’s father knows your name now. The cinema today has crowds like tides—all fans who came because of your reputation.”

“Then shouldn’t I go even more?”

“You’re already a precious little star. Going every day makes you seem cheap—you need to maintain an air of mystery.”

Cheng Lele giggled beside him: “Little Ge, you’d be so suitable as a celebrity agent.”

The floor was cold. Chen An picked her up and had her stand on his feet, kissing her mouth: “No thanks, I’m more suitable as a husband. Today your husband will take you shopping.”

Cheng Lele thought for a moment, then smiled mischievously: “Okay, let’s go out shopping. Let’s go to Dahai in the north part of the city first.”

Chen An knew what she was plotting and pinched her nose: “Look at your smug little expression.”

After eating, the two took Ah Chou to the pet hospital to get its vaccinations first, left it boarded there, and went to the shopping center in the north part of the city.

In all the time Cheng Lele had been back, strictly speaking, she really hadn’t gone shopping. Now that the cinema business was thriving and the weather was just right, Cheng Lele felt uncommonly relaxed. She linked arms with Chen An and strolled leisurely through the plaza.

The sunken plaza in front of the shopping center was very large, with several interesting little shops dotted throughout. The shop designs were quite charming—some were decorated like train stations, some like photo studios, and several small windows selling ice cream, cotton candy, and beverages were designed as a row of British telephone booths.

Many citizens were pushing baby carriages, bringing young and old to play here.

Cheng Lele walked to one of the telephone booths, where the shopkeeper was making panda-shaped cotton candy.

“Want some?”

Cheng Lele shook her head: “I’m looking to see if we can do this at the cinema.”

“Then let’s get one. Pick a design.”

Cheng Lele flipped through the album: “I want a Doraemon.”

While waiting, Cheng Lele looked around with considerable envy: “Dahai really can make money lying down.”

Chen An asked with a completely calm expression: “Want me to acquire Dahai for you?”

Cheng Lele paused, then burst out laughing gleefully: “Little Ge, when I was in Beijing, I kept imagining what you had become. One version was exactly like you are now—’It’s getting cold, let’s bankrupt the Wang family’—that kind of very punchable, domineering CEO pretentious style. Who knew when I came back and saw you, you were more like the bankrupt Wang family. I was nearly worried to death then. Oh my…” Cheng Lele wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes. “My feelings are so complicated right now. How should I put it—I’m happy and proud that you have the ability to pull off this style, but I still sincerely suggest you don’t say such cringeworthy things in the future.”

Chen An said indignantly: “All thinking and no action—if you had come looking for me earlier, our child would be old enough to run errands by now.”

Cheng Lele hugged Chen An and acted coquettishly: “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

The air was filled with the sweet fragrance of cane sugar. Chen An touched Cheng Lele’s head: “These seven years without me, you grew up very well. Thank you for letting me reap the benefits.”

Cheng Lele raised her head and said with utmost seriousness: “It’s not like that. During these seven years, I kept thinking of you, which is why I didn’t grow up crooked.”

Chen An knew she was always good at saying such pleasing things. He touched her head again and gestured with his chin to the side: “Your blue fatty is almost done.”

Cheng Lele received from the shopkeeper a cotton candy twice as big as her head. She didn’t even know where to start eating it from.

“Isn’t it too cruel to eat Doraemon?”

Chen An found Cheng Lele’s troubled expression extremely cute. He raised his phone and took several photos, then couldn’t help but kiss her. But the blue fatty was too fat, and they both ended up with sticky faces.

Cheng Lele took out a wet wipe to clean his face. After wiping a few times, she felt something strange and looked behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Chen An asked.

“It feels like someone is staring at us.”

Chen An turned to look. There were scattered visitors in twos and threes, either chatting or strolling—nothing unusual.

“It’s probably you they’re staring at. Maybe someone recognized you as the currently popular Taixi little star.” Chen An smiled. “Big celebrity, remember to wear a mask when going out from now on.”

Cheng Lele gave Chen An’s hand a reproachful pat and walked toward the shopping center.