Upon hearing those words, Xie Ruhe’s expression froze for a moment, and then he lowered his chin and laughed. He immediately stood up, strode out of the dessert shop, went to Shu Nian’s side, and bent down to half-embrace her.

Shu Nian’s feet were still numb. She waited a moment before allowing Xie Ruhe to lead her into the dessert shop.

Passing by the counter, Xie Ruhe casually picked up a menu.

Shu Nian finally realized that her behavior just now seemed a bit foolish, and she lowered her head, feeling embarrassed. She released Xie Ruhe’s hand, ran ahead, and sat down across from him.

On the table, there was only Xie Ruhe’s computer, some paper and pens, and a cup of coffee.

Nothing else.

Xie Ruhe glanced at her, put the menu in front of her, and sat down.

The menu was thick and large, like a slightly thinner large dictionary. Shu Nian laboriously opened it, muttering softly: “I forgot that squatting for too long makes your feet go numb…”

Xie Ruhe made an affirmative sound and said carelessly, “Next time stand.”

Shu Nian nodded.

For a moment, she couldn’t remember why she had insisted on squatting.

“Do you want to eat something?” Shu Nian flipped through the menu, looking at the pictures printed on it with a hesitant expression. “It seems like everything looks quite delicious.”

Xie Ruhe raised his eyes slightly and said softly, “Choose something for me.”

“Oh.” Shu Nian looked at him eagerly. “Can I choose anything?”

“Only two items,” Xie Ruhe looked away and added, “We’ll have dinner soon.”

These words seemed to pierce Shu Nian’s thoughts. Her expression became awkward, and she forced herself to explain: “I was just asking if you wanted to eat something, I wasn’t planning to eat your portion.”

“Hmm?” As if thinking, Xie Ruhe quickly replied, “Then don’t order anything for me.”

“…”

Not knowing how large the cake portions were here and afraid of wasting food, Shu Nian didn’t order extra. She only ordered a mousse cake and a milk tea. With nothing else to do, she went over to see what Xie Ruhe was working on.

Shortly after, she returned to her seat, held her phone, and started playing a game.

Having roughly filled in the words, Xie Ruhe closed his computer.

Just at that moment, the cake and drinks arrived. Shu Nian immediately put down her phone, first asked Xie Ruhe if he wanted any, and after confirming he didn’t, she began eating by herself.

Xie Ruhe thought for a moment and asked her, “How was the voice audition?”

Shu Nian took small bites of cake and said languidly, “I think it went well; the results should be out this week.”

Xie Ruhe tilted his head and asked, “Were there many people auditioning?”

“Mm, around a dozen or so. By the way, today I…” Shu Nian’s voice paused as she swallowed what was in her mouth, then said quietly, “I think I made a few friends.”

Xie Ruhe looked up. “Oh?”

As she spoke, Shu Nian opened WeChat and handed it to him to see. “I even added them on WeChat.”

Like showing off a treasure, she stared at him with rosy cheeks, her eyes like two stars, especially bright, carrying a hint of pleasant surprise. Her mood seemed particularly good.

To others, it might have seemed like an ordinary event.

But for her, it was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Xie Ruhe met her eyes, his Adam’s apple moving.

Then, he reached out to stroke her head and said softly, “That’s very good.”

The movie theater Shu Nian chose was near Xie Ruhe’s home.

After dinner, Xie Ruhe simply drove back to the neighborhood, left their things in the car, and then took her hand as they walked toward the movie theater.

The evening temperature had cooled somewhat, no longer as stuffy as during the day, with a touch of comfort. The sky was without a trace of clouds; stars could be seen twinkling, and occasionally planes passed overhead.

Shu Nian counted her steps idly for a while. Not long after, she asked casually, “Do you like watching animated films?”

Xie Ruhe answered honestly, “I haven’t watched many.”

“The one we’re seeing is very good.” Shu Nian’s eyes curved. “The main character is a cat, very cute.”

“Are you also a cat?”

“No,” Shu Nian said. “Besides the cream cat, there are four other main characters, all different animals.”

Xie Ruhe asked, “So what animal are you?”

Without much thought, Shu Nian replied directly, “I’m a dog.”

Xie Ruhe turned his head and saw her somewhat stiff and serious expression. He paused, then curved his lips. The next moment, he reached out to ruffle the top of her head: “Mm, the one I keep.”

“…”

They arrived at the movie theater.

The movie would last about two hours. Worried that Shu Nian might get thirsty or hungry during the film, Xie Ruhe excused himself and went to the counter to buy popcorn and orange juice.

Shu Nian walked to the ticket machine.

She hadn’t been to a movie theater for a long time. Now she stood frowning in front of the ticket machine for half a minute before realizing she needed to take out the QR code to scan.

There weren’t many people in the theater.

A couple stood at the ticket machine next to Shu Nian. They seemed to have decided to see a movie on the spur of the moment and hadn’t yet decided what to watch. The woman suggested, “How about watching ‘Cream Cat’? The poster looks quite cute.”

The man said, “Sure, I’ll buy the tickets then?”

“Oh, wait a minute.” The woman said, “It’s a Mandarin dub… never mind.”

Hearing this, Shu Nian instinctively looked over.

The man’s movement halted. “Not watching it?”

The woman nodded. “I prefer watching with the original audio; I feel like dubbing might be a bit jarring. Let’s watch this one instead, a comedy that was recently released. The box office is pretty high.”

The man replied, “Alright.”

Shu Nian pursed her lips, pulled her gaze away, and took out the two tickets from the machine.

At the same time, Xie Ruhe returned with a bucket of popcorn and a cup of cola. He took the tickets from Shu Nian’s hand and stuffed the popcorn into her arms.

They had arrived a bit early.

The movie wouldn’t start for another twenty minutes, and they weren’t checking tickets yet. Xie Ruhe looked around, then simply led Shu Nian to sit on some nearby chairs.

Shu Nian’s mood had dampened a bit, and she lowered her head, silently munching on the popcorn.

When ordering the tickets earlier, Shu Nian had already noticed that “Cream Cat” had a low box office, with its week-long earnings not even matching other movies’ single-day takings.

Although it wasn’t something she should care about, hearing the woman’s words still made her feel somewhat disappointed.

During her time at the G City dubbing studio.

Shu Nian lived a fulfilling and happy life because she gained a lot of knowledge, and the people there also loved voice acting, treating it as an art form and respecting it.

But nowadays, dubbed films are indeed not as popular as before.

People would feel that dubbing couldn’t match the original audio and that the entire film would be filled with a sense of dissonance; when looking for films, they would deliberately avoid dubbed versions, and if they couldn’t find the original audio, they simply wouldn’t watch.

All those efforts seemed to have been wasted.

No one liked or cared about it.

Sensing Shu Nian’s mood, Xie Ruhe lowered his head to look at her and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

Shu Nian had popcorn in her mouth, making her voice somewhat unclear: “Would you rather not watch this movie?”

Xie Ruhe said, “No, why do you ask?”

“Because it’s dubbed,” Shu Nian said. “You might find it a bit strange to watch.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe thought for a moment: “I won’t. I listened to your voice-acting videos before, and I didn’t find them strange.”

“…”

“They’re all quite good.”

“Exactly,” Shu Nian’s mood improved a little, and she couldn’t help saying, “If the dubbing is done well, you won’t feel that it’s jarring. My seniors are very skilled.”

“I know,” Xie Ruhe’s voice paused before continuing, “You’re also skilled.”

“Just now I heard someone say they didn’t want to watch because it was a Mandarin dub.” Shu Nian scratched her head, her bad mood mostly dispelled by Xie Ruhe’s words. “Hearing that makes me wonder if everyone thinks that way. I can understand their thinking, but it still makes me a little unhappy.”

“…”

“But it’s nothing.”

Feeling that one’s work is not liked by others will cause unhappiness. But the existence of dubbed films indicates that there is an audience with this need. In places she couldn’t see, there must be people who like this version.

Xie Ruhe suddenly asked her, “Shu Nian, do you want to be a voice actor for the rest of your life?”

Not knowing why he suddenly asked this, Shu Nian was stunned for a moment and instinctively replied, “Yes.”

“Good.”

“Huh?”

Xie Ruhe’s eyes lifted slightly, his dense eyelashes covering them, making his eyes appear even more profound. His expression was solemn as he said earnestly, “I will also like your voice acting for a lifetime.”

I will like all your work, so it will be worthwhile.

And there will always be someone who likes them.

Shu Nian’s lips parted as she murmured, “Have you heard all my works?”

After all, she had voiced many minor roles, and even if she tried, she couldn’t recall all the work she had done.

“If I haven’t missed any,” Xie Ruhe laughed softly, “then only ‘Cream Cat’ remains.”

After the movie ended, Shu Nian still hadn’t finished her popcorn. She continued to munch on it while telling him about certain scenes from the movie, laughing as she spoke.

Xie Ruhe couldn’t help but curve his lips too.

“I noticed something,” Shu Nian said. “Besides us, it seems like everyone else was adults bringing children.”

Xie Ruhe was silent for a few seconds before saying, “We’ll bring our children to watch in the future.”

“…” Shu Nian had wanted to say something else, but upon hearing his words, her mind instantly went blank. Her mouth closed, and she was led forward by him in a daze. “What children?”

The two of them left the plaza.

Xie Ruhe turned to look at Shu Nian, fixed his gaze on her for a few seconds, then suddenly supported the bottom of the popcorn bucket in her hands, leaned in, and kissed her lips. His tongue explored, tasting the sweet popcorn flavor in her mouth.

People were still coming and going around them.

After just a few seconds, Xie Ruhe pulled back and asked in a husky voice, “What children are you talking about?”

Shu Nian’s audition results came out three days later in the afternoon. The audio had been sent to the production team for review, and after some discussion, they decided on Shu Nian among the two candidates.

She had passed successfully.

Huang Lizhi notified her to come to the studio the next day to get the script.

When she received this news, Shu Nian was playing games alone in her room. After holding back her excitement while talking to Huang Lizhi, she hung up the phone and immediately jumped up, searching for Xie Ruhe around the house.

She wanted to share this news with him.

Shu Nian circled the living room, glanced at the kitchen, then wandered around Xie Ruhe’s room, but couldn’t find him anywhere. She guessed he must be in the home recording studio.

She didn’t go in to disturb him.

Recently, Xie Ruhe’s workload seemed to have increased considerably.

Except for eating, using the bathroom, and playing with Shu Nian, he spent most of his time in the recording studio. However, he didn’t mind letting Shu Nian in; the door wasn’t locked, but it was kept closed.

He was afraid that if his music was too loud, it would disturb her.

Shu Nian thought for a moment but didn’t go in. Instead, she sat down leaning against the door. She took out her phone, hesitating whether to send Xie Ruhe a WeChat message. After half a minute, she changed her mind and posted a Moments update.

Visible only to Xie Ruhe.

—Open the door, and you’ll see me!

After posting successfully, Shu Nian felt a bit embarrassed and refreshed her Moments feed.

Just then, she saw that five minutes earlier, Ke Yiqing had also posted a Moments update: “Hehe, some men think they’re such a catch, little do they know that this sister just! Treats them as mere entertainment to pass the time!”

Shu Nian was momentarily stunned but didn’t pay much attention.

After more than ten minutes, when she opened Moments again, she noticed that He You had liked Ke Yiqing’s post.

A few minutes later.

When Shu Nian checked Moments again, she could no longer see Ke Yiqing’s post.

And there was still no response to her post.

Shu Nian looked at the time at the top of her phone and thought that after another ten minutes if Xie Ruhe still hadn’t opened the door, she would just go in and find him herself.

She opened her game again.

Playing to pass the time, she unconsciously forgot about the time.

After an unknown period, the door behind her suddenly opened. Shu Nian’s attention shifted, and she looked up. The next moment, she was suddenly lifted into the air, with an overwhelming feeling of weightlessness.

Shu Nian instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, nearly dropping her phone.

Xie Ruhe didn’t speak. He looked a bit tired, with frameless glasses perched on his nose bridge. Shu Nian rarely saw him wearing glasses; he only wore them occasionally when working.

His skin was as white as a light-avoiding vampire, somewhat sickly, yet exceptionally handsome.

Xie Ruhe carried her into the recording studio and placed her on the chair where she usually sat.

Thinking that he had just happened to see her sitting by the door when he came out, Shu Nian didn’t ask much. She adjusted her sitting position and asked quietly, “Are you still working?”

“Mm.” Xie Ruhe said, “Taking a short break.”

Shu Nian said, “I feel like you’ve written a lot of songs recently.”

Xie Ruhe took a sip of water from his cup: “I want to make a new album.”

“A new album?” Shu Nian blinked. “Haven’t you not released a new album for a long time?”

Xie Ruhe made a low sound of agreement.

“Are you doing it all by yourself?”

“Mm.”

Although Shu Nian didn’t know much about this, she understood that doing it alone would be exhausting. She didn’t know what to say, then suddenly remembered the birthday gift he had given her earlier.

“Previously, you know, you gave me a song as a gift,” Shu Nian said. “I looked for it, but it’s not available online.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe raised his eyelids. “Hmm?”

Shu Nian honestly said, “You could include it in your album.”

Xie Ruhe’s foot pushed against the floor, sliding his swivel chair backward, positioning himself face-to-face with Shu Nian. He tilted his head, with strands of hair scattered across his forehead, his eyes gleaming with gentleness: “You’ve listened to it?”

Shu Nian recalled the words that emerged at the end of the song.

—”This song is for you, including the title.”

She licked her lips and nodded. “Yes.”

“Did you listen until the end?”

“…Yes.”

Xie Ruhe asked softly, “Don’t mind letting others hear it?”

Hearing this, Shu Nian was startled and hurriedly shook her head. “No, you can delete that part and add lyrics instead.”

“Can’t change it anymore.” Xie Ruhe’s voice paused, then he said in a drawn-out tone, “That is the lyrics.”

“…”

Shu Nian silently withdrew her previous suggestion: “Then I won’t give it back to you.”

“Mm.” Xie Ruhe’s almond-shaped eyes were long and narrow, carrying an alluring meaning. He laughed softly, leaned over to kiss the corner of her mouth, “No need to return it to me.”

After a while.

Shu Nian suddenly remembered why she had come: “Oh right, just now the teacher called me and said I passed the audition.”

She looked at Xie Ruhe, her large round eyes wide open, looking as if she was waiting for praise.

Originally, Xie Ruhe had already turned back to his computer screen.

Hearing Shu Nian’s words, he turned his head again, as if he hadn’t heard clearly, and asked once more: “You passed the audition?”

Shu Nian nodded like a pecking chick.

“I guessed you would pass.” Xie Ruhe grabbed the armrest of her chair, pulling her along with the chair towards him. He bent down to kiss her lips again. “But I’ll still reward you.”

Shu Nian couldn’t react in time and wanted to say something.

Xie Ruhe’s kiss gradually became more forceful, swallowing all her words.

After a long while.

Shu Nian put her foot on his leg, using him as leverage to move slightly away from him. Her lips were as red as if they were filled with blood. She couldn’t help but kick him lightly, saying glumly: “This isn’t a reward.”

Perhaps the room was too hot; Xie Ruhe’s ears had also turned red.

He didn’t speak.

Shu Nian said earnestly: “Something you have every day can’t be a reward.”

“…” Xie Ruhe licked his lips. “I’ll buy you something to eat later.”

Hearing this, Shu Nian’s sullenness dissipated somewhat. She no longer disturbed him and played with her phone on the side. After playing for quite a while, she secretly glanced in Xie Ruhe’s direction.

He was still working.

Shu Nian felt a bit bored, exited the game, and opened WeChat to take a look.

There was a red circle showing in Moments.

It could only be from Xie Ruhe, who was currently working, either replying or liking something before she came into the recording studio. After that, Shu Nian didn’t see him pick up his phone.

Shu Nian curiously clicked to see.

He had liked her post.

And he had also posted a new Moments update, which was rare.

It contained just one word.

—Good.

The next day, Shu Nian went to the recording studio to get the script.

This time, her character was a designer who had studied in France and then returned to work in China, so there would be French dialogue in the drama.

Huang Lizhi provided her with audio recordings and gave her ample time to practice well before coming to record that segment. But Shu Nian always felt that her pronunciation wasn’t quite right.

She found it challenging and worried about it for a while by herself.

One day, while practicing French in her room, Xie Ruhe happened to cut an apple and brought it in for her. He coincidentally heard her pronunciation and calmly corrected her.

At that moment, Shu Nian suddenly remembered that Xie Ruhe had lived in France for several years.

In the time that followed, Shu Nian pestered Xie Ruhe every day to teach her the French lines in the script. To deepen her memory, she foolishly used a pen to mark the Chinese pronunciation beside the lines.

Each day was similar, yet fulfilling and pleasant.

After waking up, she would go to the recording studio, and carefully record each line, repeatedly refining them. After work, she would punctually meet Xie Ruhe outside the door, and stroll with him, chatting casually.

After returning home and showering, she would take her medicine under Xie Ruhe’s watchful gaze, then take the script and follow him into the recording studio.

He would sit at the computer working, while she sat beside him practicing French. When she made mistakes, he would immediately correct her, and she would continue practicing, unknowingly falling asleep leaning against him.

When she woke up, she would find that she had been unconsciously carried back to the bedroom by him, with him sleeping beside her, eyes closed, his brow carrying traces of weariness.

Then a new day would begin.

It was a life more beautiful than dreams.

This thirty-episode web drama took Shu Nian nearly two weeks to complete all her recordings. She wanted to rest her voice for a while and stayed at home for several days.

Xie Ruhe still didn’t rest.

As usual, seeing Shu Nian doing her things, he went into the recording studio.

Making the recording studio his home.

Shu Nian watched TV in the living room for a while, worried that Xie Ruhe would work until he became ill, and wanted him to take a break. She thought for a moment, got off the sofa, and tiptoed into the recording studio.

But he didn’t seem to be looking at the computer at the moment, with his head lowered, doing something unknown.

As if sensing her presence.

The next second, Xie Ruhe turned his head, looked at Shu Nian, and then inconspicuously put whatever was in his hand into his pocket.

Shu Nian didn’t notice and sat down beside him.

Xie Ruhe asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shu Nian casually said, “I felt that learning French with you earlier was quite fun.”

“Hmm?”

“Teach me a few more phrases.”

Xie Ruhe nodded: “What do you want to learn?”

“Anything is fine.” Shu Nian thought for a moment. “Just some everyday phrases, like ‘hello’, ‘thank you’, and such.”

He considered for a moment, then languidly said “thank you” in French, his voice deep, his pronunciation standard and clear. When he spoke, it was like singing, noble and elegant.

Shu Nian struggled to mimic him.

Xie Ruhe patiently taught her over and over, occasionally telling her how to pronounce correctly.

After spending more than half an hour learning a few everyday French phrases.

Shu Nian thought he should have rested enough and was about to excuse herself and leave the recording studio.

Xie Ruhe’s gaze paused as if he had thought of something. His Adam’s apple moved up and down, and he suddenly moved closer, grabbed her wrist, and placed her hand in his pants pocket.

Shu Nian was stunned, able to feel a hard, square-shaped box inside, but not knowing what it was. She looked at him in confusion and asked, “What is it?”

Xie Ruhe said seriously, “I’ll teach you one more phrase.”

Shu Nian sat back properly and obediently responded, “Okay.”

Xie Ruhe stared at her and slowly uttered: “Tu veux m’épouser?”

This sentence was longer than any of the previous ones.

After hearing it, Shu Nian’s mind went blank, completely unsure how to say it, and asked confusedly, “This sentence is so long, what does it mean?”

In an instant, the recording studio fell silent.

Xie Ruhe lowered his eyes, took out the object from his pocket, and then met her gaze.

Shu Nian’s gaze moved from his pitch-black eyes to the red velvet box in his palm. Her gaze froze, her lips parted, and she could roughly guess what was inside.

Xie Ruhe still stared at her, licking his lips, and solemnly said: “Will you marry me?”