San Andrés.
This small island was quite famous in the Americas, with its lush Caribbean charm. The seven-colored sea was breathtakingly beautiful, different from resort-style boutique islands as it still retained its primitive, simple flavor. When Miao Jing and Chen Yi landed, they were the only two Asian tourists on the island.
It was pure leisure time, feeling the humid Caribbean sea breeze, with a colorful sea before their eyes, transitioning between depths and changes, like a giant sapphire, crystal clear – a glass sea, a jelly sea, so pure it made even the sky seem coarse and dark.
Chen Yi crossed his arms: “Your swimsuit… how…”
“Bought it in Medellín,” Miao Jing said casually. “It’s a designer piece.”
It was the embroidered swimsuit she’d bought during her last business trip to Medellín. Though not quite a bikini, it was vibrantly colored with an innovative design – two light pieces of fabric crossing in a deep V from the chest downward, with only a few thin colored beads along the sides. The curves were suggestively concealed yet revealed, her figure curvy in all the right places, long legs straight and slender, skin as white as snow. She was particularly eye-catching walking along the beach.
Used to her usual style of dress, this suddenly sexy and alluring look left him slightly unsettled.
They lay on the hotel’s private beach sunbathing, occasionally tempted into the water for a dip. The bar was right next to the beach, where they could order cocktails anytime, drinking until slightly tipsy. The island’s signal wasn’t great, making phone scrolling rather pointless. They could only chat, splash in the water, sunbathe, and play beach ball.
The weather wasn’t too hot, with brief showers every day. The island wasn’t big – they rented a small motorcycle to ride along the coast. Chen Yi wore a flowery shirt with just one button fastened, the hem fluttering against Miao Jing. She wore a thin gauze cover-up, her figure so light she seemed about to float away. They stopped whenever they wanted, drinking coconut juice by the reef, and playing in the glass-blue water. When a blue lizard darted past their feet on the road, Miao Jing was startled, screaming as she climbed onto Chen Yi’s neck. He planted a quick kiss on her panicked face, offering perfunctory comfort while frantically photographing the lizard.
This was also a water sports paradise – cliff diving, snorkeling, yachting, and sea excursions were all worth trying. They could thoroughly enjoy being in the water. Not far from the main island was a tiny islet, thick with coconut trees and white sand. They could wade over, the water only knee to waist deep along the way. Tourists playing in the water were everywhere, with children clutching swim rings and frantically paddling in the reef-enclosed waters, their laughter carrying far.
At night the hotel had parties, chartering a yacht to nearby waters where they watched stars with European and American tourists in the middle of the sea, drinking and dancing. They returned at midnight for the after-party, with passionate salsa dancing at the bar and animated conversations. Finally, Chen Yi probably got drunk, jumping on stage, ripping off his T-shirt, and freely breaking into breakdancing with the dancers.
The screaming was a bit too excited. Miao Jing covered her forehead, unable to watch. Unable to stay up, she wanted to return to the room to rest, but Chen Yi dragged her to the beach to sober up in the wind.
The night breeze was cool and slightly salty, darkness everywhere except for the shimmer of waves on the sea surface. Chen Yi’s cigarette craving came again, but he had no cigarettes on him. He pressed Miao Jing down on the beach to kiss her, and as they kissed, the feeling intensified, his burning lips sliding downward, his impatient fingers randomly stoking the fire.
“Chen Yi!!” Miao Jing was desperately anxious. “Are you crazy?”
He lowered his voice: “Shh, no one’s here. I’ll be quick, five minutes, just five minutes.”
Miao Jing gasped, tightly hugging his head, using all her strength to flip over and slam his head into the sand. Half his handsome face was covered in fine sand, his mouth full of sand, grimacing comically.
Not expecting this setback, Chen Yi cursed loudly, wiped his face, and reached to grab Miao Jing’s arm, but she nimbly ran away, leaving him grasping only the hem of her skirt.
“Miao Jing, you better not run!”
“I’m not capable!” She fled quickly toward the hotel.
Someone was pursuing from behind, the sound of flip-flops and wind close by. Miao Jing laughed and screamed as a firm arm caught her waist. She stumbled, rolling onto the beach with his body.
“Now you can’t escape. I’ll do whatever I want.”
His tall, heavy body pressed down, and Miao Jing laughed embarrassedly while punching his shoulder: “Be normal!”
“I am normal.” Both arms wrapped around her waist, shoulders exerting force as he rolled with her on the sandy ground, making her face and body full of fine sand too. Suddenly there was a coolness on their bodies as gentle waves washed over them. Miao Jing closed her eyes, letting the waves wash the sand from her face.
Chen Yi released her, holding only one hand as they lay side by side in the seawater, letting waves climb up their shoulders, bodies stretched out soaking in the cool water, both pairs of eyes fixed on the stars above.
“What shall we talk about?”
“About what?”
“What are you thinking about now?”
“It’s good to be alive.”
They both laughed simultaneously.
“The beach is dangerous at night. If we just lie here motionless, we might not see tomorrow’s sun.”
He drew close, wet all over, covering her body, pressing her wrists, fingers intertwined, lowering his head to kiss her lips tenderly.
“Then let’s kiss first… mm… it’s a bit salty…”
They exchanged a lingering kiss under the starry sky.
Chen Yi lifted her from the water: “Let’s go back to the room. I’m going to finish you off.”
“I’m tired, want to sleep.” Water dripped from her body as she yawned, resting her head on his shoulder. “It must be almost three, in another hour it’ll be sunrise. Why don’t we just go straight to the beach to watch the sunrise?”
“Can you stay awake?” He held her steady, striding toward their beach house. “It’s not impossible. We can have breakfast after watching the sunrise, then go back for a nap?”
“Of course we can.” Her eyelids were so drowsy they were almost stuck together. “Good idea.”
They didn’t fool around after returning. Chen Yi tossed the teary-eyed, sleepy person into the bathtub, helped Miao Jing wash her hair and bathe, then dried her hair and helped her dress. Miao Jing forced her eyes open to drink a cup of coffee, then followed Chen Yi out. They found a corner on the dimly lit beach, spread out a beach towel, and waited for sunrise.
Dawn was breaking, the morning breeze refreshing. Miao Jing had fallen asleep on Chen Yi’s lap. He held a cigarette in one hand, stroking her long hair with the other, patiently waiting for the first ray of sunlight to strike the clear sea surface.
“Miao Jing, the sun’s coming up.” He nudged her head.
The incomparable seawater, the magnificent sunrise – the pink sun jumped out of the sea, the water changing color every second. She lay on his lap, the rosy light tinting her cheeks like peach blossoms, staring dazedly at the beautiful scene before her, silently waiting for the sun to leap up and hang low above the sea surface.
A new day had arrived.
The crowd watching the sunrise gradually dispersed. Miao Jing pushed herself up from the ground, feeling something was different but too dazed to realize what. After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, raising her left hand before her eyes, her heart suddenly racing – there was a ring on her ring finger, with a shell pattern, somewhat rough and simple.
She didn’t know when it had been put there.
Her mind blank, she froze for two seconds, lips slightly parted, gaze unconsciously shifting to Chen Yi’s face, staring at him stupidly. He met her gaze, following it to her finger, hands in his pockets, lazily, the wind gusting through his shirt, his tone casual.
“Bought it from a street stall, crafted from shells, one dollar each.”
The ring was slightly large, loosely settled on her slender finger. Miao Jing lowered her head to turn the ring, her heartwarming slightly, emotions mixed, unable to speak for a moment.
“When did you buy it?”
“Yesterday when I went to buy water, the vendor didn’t have a change, so I just took something off about the same price.”
“Oh.” She responded faintly.
He walked a few steps forward, paused slightly, and turned his head to look at her, his tone calm: “Miao Jing, do you want to get married?”
Miao Jing was suddenly frozen, stunned for a long while, staring at him, thinking very carefully about these words, wanting to say something but not knowing how to begin. Finally, she said: “I’ve never thought about it…”
Chen Yi whistled: “Do you think we need to get married?”
Having known each other for so many years, going from siblings to where they were now, it seemed like marriage wasn’t so important. That bone-deep feeling – Miao Jing had never felt they needed worldly constraints or nominal confirmation, had never imagined what changes marriage would bring to their life. Was marriage useful? What changes would it bring? What kind of lifestyle would it switch to?
“Married or not, either is fine.” She thought seriously, fingering the ring. “Why are you asking me this question?”
“So you don’t want to get married.” He chuckled softly. “We can live our whole lives just like this, that’s fine too.”
“No, that’s not…”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get married. She wasn’t opposed to marriage. Miao Jing’s heart fluttered slightly – of course, marriage was fine, getting a certificate, sharing wedding candies with everyone, such a simple thing…
Chen Yi took her hand, casually slipping the shell ring off her finger, and holding it between his fingers.
With the foreign object gone, her finger suddenly felt empty. Her fine brows furrowed as she stared intently at the ring in his hand.
“The vendor told me these rings are made from seashells collected from the beach. There’s a legend on the island that if you make a wish into the ring and throw it into the sea, the sea god will grant your wish. I heard there’s pirate treasure buried under this island – hope the sea god sends me something good…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Yi swung his arm, and the ring flew before Miao Jing’s eyes with a “plunk” into the water.
Something in her heart flew out with the ring, splashing up water with a “plunk.” The white sand and white ring completely disappeared.
Now it was Miao Jing’s turn to be unhappy.
She couldn’t say why she was unhappy – it wasn’t quite sadness or grief, just an empty feeling. She bit her inner lip, staring blankly at the sea surface, inexplicably sullen.
Chen Yi dragged her away, arm draped over her shoulder, lazily yawning: “Come on, let’s go back to eat something and sleep.”
Miao Jing slept with this sullenness, so much so that when she woke to find the room empty, she sat glumly for half a day, lying listlessly on the bed in a daze – that shell ring, she hadn’t even had a chance to examine it carefully before it was thrown into the sea.
There was food on the table, along with a note from Chen Yi saying he’d gone to the beach and asking her to find him when she woke up.
When Miao Jing found Chen Yi, it was sunset. Unusually, he wasn’t in the water but wearing a T-shirt and beach shorts, helping a group of children dig in the sand and build castles by the water.
The tropical fish in the water weren’t afraid of people, swimming back and forth near their feet. The shells and mollusks were colorful – just randomly feeling in the water would yield beautiful shell fragments and colorful pebbles. Children of various skin colors ran about, burying the shells and stones they’d collected from the water into their sand castles.
“Big sister, our castle has lots of treasures, want to come treasure hunting?” A child waved to Miao Jing. “Come play with us.”
Miao Jing walked over to see they’d built ten tall fortresses of sand. A blue-eyed little girl seriously told her: “You’re a princess from a faraway land, but your prince charming has been trapped in thorny bushes by magic.”
The little girl pointed at Chen Yi, who was smiling and resting his chin on his hand, surrounded by a circle of sand pits, and solemnly explained: “You need to find the jewel that symbolizes your identity to cast the spell to save your prince. The treasure is buried in these ten castles – you have to find it.”
“Is that so?” Miao Jing played along. “Please tell me, where is my treasure buried? How should I find it?”
“Destiny will give you the best guidance,” the little black boy said mysteriously. “It will call to you secretly.”
Miao Jing smiled and shrugged, randomly poking her finger into a sand pile and pulling out a pebble.
The children all sighed together, their bright eyes full of expectation as they stared at her.
Shell fragments, seaweed, coral beads, small sea snails… Miao Jing dug through the sand castles one by one until without warning she pulled a jewel from one of the sand piles. The children’s eyes lit up as they screamed in delight, completely overwhelming Miao Jing’s shock and bewilderment.
A Colombian emerald ring, with a color as brilliant as the sea, surrounded by sparkling diamonds. The ring’s size and luxury were stunning – even covered in fine white sand, it couldn’t hide its radiant brilliance. After her initial shock, Miao Jing instinctively pressed it back into the sand, suddenly turning to stare at Chen Yi.
He grinned, showing a rather roguish expression, bending down before Miao Jing: “I got lucky – the sea god was quite generous. Just made a wish this morning, and by evening it sent a jewel.”
“You…”
Chen Yi dug out the ring and put it in her hand, holding her hand as they strolled along the coast. The ring pressed between their palms, its texture and curve clear to their touch.
They walked to a quiet pool of pale blue water. Chen Yi took her hands with the ring into the clear seawater, washing away the fine white sand, then pulled up the edge of his shirt to wrap her hands, wiping clean both her delicate white fingers and the brilliant large ring.
The sun hung over the sea – another most beautiful moment.
Miao Jing’s heart trembled nervously as she stared intently at him.
“Right here then.”
He looked up, his dark eyes full of smile, fingers touching her shoulder as he gave her a slight smile. That smile held an indescribable charm and lightness. Taking her left hand, he smoothly dropped to one knee, naturally and fluidly kneeling before her, his back straight and tall, head raised, those eyes reflecting coconut trees and still sea gazing straight into her heart.
“Miao Jing, I want to get married now.” He held her soft fingers, proposing in a light but serious tone: “Will you marry me?”
She stared at him dazedly, her heart surging like the tides, too dramatic to know how to respond. Sweet and sour emotions swirled in her chest as her eyes grew hot and her vision blurred.
“I never thought about marriage before. I thought I would never get married in this life. But lately, I’ve been thinking, wondering if we need a marriage certificate to prove our relationship. We do need it – I want to legally and properly become your husband, want someone to rightfully share my life, want to leave my mark on someone.”
“Marry me!”
Miao Jing’s thick lashes fluttered, her expression moved, her eyes already reddening.
She too liked having someone kneeling before her with a ring, proposing marriage with loving words, and asking her to marry him.
Of course, she would marry him!! Who else could there be besides him?
People nearby noticed this scene – the one-knee proposal, the standard proposal ritual. People worldwide love to join such excitement, and the children also enthusiastically rushed over, creating a crowd of onlookers.
“Say Yes!”
Miao Jing took a deep breath and nodded: “Yes.”
He smiled brilliantly, sliding the ring onto her ring finger. It fits perfectly – big, bright, and eye-catching, a truly unique ring.
Cheers erupted around them.
Worldly love should have its worldly atmosphere.
“I always thought we wouldn’t get married. The past was so complicated, that it seemed enough just to live together. I didn’t know about marriage and family… Chen Yi, we never lived in normal families…” She held his shoulders tightly, tears soaking his clothes. “But I also like wearing the ring on my hand, like the vows and promises.”
Chen Yi tightly embraced the person in his arms on the sunset beach.