“I do.”

The fingers, coated twice with hand cream, offered no resistance as the ring slipped onto her finger.

There was no background music, and the air still carried the lingering scent of dumpling filling, but her heart bloomed with flowers.

Some say life needs a sense of ceremony. Xia Xiaolan used to think she didn’t need it, believing herself to be a straightforward woman who avoided clichés. But when it happened, she discovered how happy such a ceremony could make one feel!

She couldn’t help secretly glancing at the ring on her hand.

To think Zhou Cheng had secretly bought a diamond ring in America! Diamond jewelry wasn’t very popular in China yet, but Zhou Cheng was already in step with the world.

He’d even gone down on one knee to propose.

Xia Xiaolan felt she would never forget tonight for the rest of her life.

The ring was elegant, probably just over one carat. Whether in her past life or this one, Xia Xiaolan could afford it.

She could afford even more expensive and larger ones.

But across both lifetimes, this was the first time she’d received a proposal ring from a man!

“It’s so beautiful…”

Zhou Cheng was both amused and exasperated to see Xiaolan completely mesmerized by the ring, seemingly forgetting about the one who gave it to her.

Was it really that beautiful?

Zhou Cheng could have afforded a larger diamond, but considering how Xiaolan usually dressed modestly, he wanted to find something that wouldn’t look out of place – something suitable for daily wear.

Zhou Cheng had his reasons for presenting the engagement ring tonight. One was his promotion to Squadron Leader, which felt like the right timing.

Another was that Xiaolan had unknowingly become too deeply involved in the Du family’s affairs, and thoughts of Du Zhaohui gave him a sense of crisis.

This ring signified that his relationship with Xiaolan had advanced another step.

Though he’d long considered Xiaolan his wife, the pursuers outside didn’t know that.

Now, they could announce to the world that their relationship had upgraded from boyfriend-girlfriend to engaged couple.

Xia Xiaolan had no idea about Zhou Cheng’s sense of crisis. She just sat there holding her hand and grinning foolishly for a long time.

“I’ll wear it every day.”

She promised Zhou Cheng.

Then she remembered she had to return to school after Spring Festival, and she’d never seen any Huaqing students wearing rings.

Wait, would it be too showy to wear it at work tomorrow morning?

Fortunately, the ring wasn’t too big.

Most people didn’t understand diamond values at this time – it was just pretty and sparkly, so wearing it shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“When I’m at school, I’ll wear it on a necklace around my neck.”

She would wear it when out on business – the ring could announce to others that she had a fiancé, preventing situations like Tang Yuanyue’s pursuit during normal social interactions.

She couldn’t let fear of pursuers prevent her from having normal social relationships.

Xia Xiaolan spent several minutes discussing how to wear and care for the diamond ring.

Zhou Cheng was puzzled – this wasn’t how it happened in movies!

In films, when the male lead presents an engagement ring, the female lead cries with joy, and they share a passionate embrace and kiss – how had it turned out so differently with Xiaolan?

Had the proposal succeeded?

Well, if Xiaolan wasn’t going to excitedly kiss him, he’d have to take the initiative.

Zhou Cheng kissed her, and Xia Xiaolan slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.

They kissed breathlessly on the chair.

Finally, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed.

Xia Xiaolan thought Zhou Cheng was about to break his principles, but he just said goodnight and ran off to sleep in the next room.

“You—”

This fool!

Xia Xiaolan angrily pounded the quilt, and then the ring scratched it, making her heart ache terribly.

Of course, she wasn’t worried about the quilt – she was concerned about her diamond ring.

Diamond is the world’s hardest mineral – the quilt might tear but the diamond wouldn’t be damaged. Still, Xia Xiaolan reflexively raised her hand to inspect it carefully.

She lay there smiling at her hand, unsure how to position it while sleeping.

She thought about putting the ring on the bedside table but felt uneasy with it so far away.

She considered sleeping with it under her pillow but worried it might get lost if she moved around in her sleep.

By midnight, after tossing and turning, Xia Xiaolan still couldn’t fall asleep!

Finally accepting defeat, she got up from the bed, gathered her quilt, and went to knock on Zhou Cheng’s door next door:

“Zhou Cheng, are you asleep?”

How could Zhou Cheng sleep?

When he opened the door, Xia Xiaolan clung to the doorframe, her eyes full of unspoken words. How could Zhou Cheng resist?

He let Xia Xiaolan in, wrapping her in the quilt.

“We can sleep together, but no tempting me.”

“I swear, I’ll be completely pure all night, won’t do anything! You suddenly gave me an engagement ring, and I just can’t sleep!”

They lay together under the covers and managed to resist temptation.

Sometimes love between men and women needs to be expressed physically, but sometimes affection can be pure, not necessarily connected to physical intimacy.

Zhou Cheng could only hold her and chat about various things.

“Brother Pan San returned to his unit, received both punishment and reward and got promoted one level too.”

“Mm.”

“I can take leave during Spring Festival, just not on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.”

“Mm…”

“And—”

The person in his arms was breathing steadily, already asleep.

She had been tossing and turning unable to sleep earlier, but once they shared a bed, she fell asleep instantly.

Zhou Cheng stayed perfectly still until she was sound asleep and wouldn’t be disturbed by movement, then got up with a wry smile to take a cold shower.

The day after Zhou Cheng’s proposal, Xia Xiaolan woke up late.

Opening her eyes, Zhou Cheng was nowhere to be seen, and she’d been carried back to the next room. Checking her hand, the diamond ring was still safely there, making her cover her face and smile for a while.

As she crawled out from under the covers, there was a knock at the door.

She thought it was Zhou Cheng, but it was Leader Li’s wife. Xia Xiaolan hadn’t even washed her face and felt quite embarrassed:

“Sister-in-law, please wait a moment.”

Leader Li’s wife had brought breakfast for Xia Xiaolan. “It’s fine, Zhou Cheng said you were still resting, so I brought you some breakfast.”

The house had two rooms, with Zhou Cheng’s door tightly closed, while Xia Xiaolan emerged from the other room.

Leader Li’s wife didn’t want to gossip, but she noticed the young couple seemed quite proper about their sleeping arrangements.

Xia Xiaolan went to the bathroom to wash her face and fix her hair.

Leader Li’s wife, nearly forty this year, knew young people liked to sleep in. The couple wasn’t married and had no children, so it wasn’t her business when they woke up. Worried Xia Xiaolan might feel awkward, she offered an excuse:

“You probably haven’t cooked for so many people before, right? You must have been exhausted yesterday, and I’m sure you cleaned up after we left too.”

That hadn’t happened.

Her Zhou Cheng had cleaned the house.

Zhou Cheng was strong – when cleaning, he could lift tables with one hand, leaving no corner untouched.

But since Leader Li’s wife had misunderstood, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t foolish enough to explain. Let this lovely misunderstanding continue.

“Sister-in-law, thank you for bringing me breakfast.”

When Xia Xiaolan raised her hand to eat, the diamond ring was revealed. Leader Li’s wife made a surprised sound, and Xia Xiaolan confidently extended her hand to show her:

“Zhou Cheng and I got engaged last night. We’ll get our marriage certificate as soon as the school approves.”

The ring wasn’t gold, but the little stone was beautiful. Leader Li’s wife’s face lit up with joy:

“Congratulations to you and Zhou Cheng!”