Chapter 62: The Young Lady's Surname is Tang, Sweet to the Point of Melancholy

Sole and only, longing for peace…

Xia An’s heart skipped a beat violently.

Time seemed to instantly regress to the summer vacation.

Back to the morning of the day the two of them parted ways.

Xia An remembered that after coming out of the cemetery back then, Tang Wan had said such a string of words.

‘This is the gloomiest place in the world. I don’t like it, but I still have to come here a few times every year.’

‘Sometimes I can see people in front of other tombstones kneeling and weeping bitterly, or hugging the tombstones and crying, and some sitting there smiling and talking for a long time.’

‘I couldn’t help but wonder, if one day I die, who would stand in front of my tombstone and tell me what is happening in the world, missing me, shedding tears for me, and turning back with lingering reluctance every three steps after paying respects?’

‘No one.’

Right now, in the most vibrant campus in this world, recalling these thoughts made Xia An feel as if his heart was fiercely gripped by a large hand.

And also, that day at the hospital.

‘Xia An, if I die…’

‘Before you forget me, can you bring sunflowers to sweep my grave?’

That day, the two of them had only just met.

A wave of sorrow suddenly surged from the bottom of Xia An’s heart. Putting himself in her shoes, Tang Wan truly had no one in her life who could send her off on her final journey, and her funeral arrangements were left to no one before she met him.

Sole and only, longing for peace…

Coupled with the interruption just moments ago of “Let me say it.”

Only then did Xia An realize that Tang Wan was presenting her most humble self to him.

Using the prettiest smile and a calm tone to completely mask the intense loneliness and fear in her heart.

Homeless, with no one to trust.

She was begging him: Do not leave me all alone.

Fortunately, there was affection to look forward to.

Tang Wan looked at Xia An calmly, but her pupils were already trembling slightly.

Xia An tightened his arm around her waist just a bit.

“I am not a kind person,” he said, looking at the broccoli.

Hearing this, Tang Wan’s gaze flickered like a candle dying in the wind, gradually growing dim.

Xia An exerted a tiny bit of force with his hand again, and continued, “I am a vulgar person, very greedy.”

Xia An tilted his head to meet her gaze, and rubbed his nose gently against her forehead.

“I like beauties, I am fond of lust and allure, especially this face of yours—it fits my aesthetic preferences precisely.

“People always say that whoever believes in vows in love is a fool, so do not take this as a promise I am making to you. Just take it as an oath I make to my own heart, a contract of a man loyal to his innermost desires.”

Listening to Xia An’s nonsensical words and looking at his deadpan expression, the light in Tang Wan’s eyes brightened slightly.

“I will definitely marry Tang Wan and bring her home.”

Nine characters.

Tang Wan blinked, waiting a few seconds.

“Done?”

“Mhm.” Xia An nodded.

Tang Wan curved the corners of her lips slightly and looked out over the surface of the water.

Tiny bugs and the tips of the grass constantly stirred up ripples.

Xia An did not rush her to speak, quietly accompanying her as she immersed herself in the moonlit scenery of the lotus pond at that very moment.

Tang Wan let go of his arm, bent forward to prop her knees with her elbows, and cupped her flawlessly curved profile in her hands.

The athletic jacket that Zuoyou had given to Xia An was draped over her shoulders. Xia An’s hand was inside the jacket, gently stroking through her shirt.

The nine characters shattered and reorganized in Tang Wan’s mind, shifting into a different arrangement.

It became: I like you, I will marry you.

——Pffft, what kind of promise is that? A proposal?

“What if you fail to do it?” she muttered softly.

“Then… punish me so that I can never get hard again. Cruel enough for you?”

Stinking perpetrator, hmph, Tang Wan couldn’t even be bothered to glare at him.

She asked again, “Then what if I grow ugly, or my face gets disfigured, or I age?”

Before Xia An could speak, she continued, “What was that phrase—beauty fades and affection wanes? I saw that sentence recently.”

Xia An was amused.

He understood that the little princess inside Tang Wan’s heart had been awakened once again, filling her with insecurities about gaining and losing.

He knew that continuing this topic would only lead to endless spinning in circles.

What was needed was a symbolic marker to represent a milestone.

Xia An pulled her over, cupped her face, and rolled his eyes playfully.

“As long as I don’t draw these three auspicious husband-blessing moles, it will never happen.”

Before she could speak, he immediately added, “This is a sign, like stamping a seal, the kind Fairy Zixia gave to the Supreme Treasure.”

Tang Wan swatted his hand away, rolled her eyes cutely, and momentarily didn’t know what to say.

Quiet returned to the bench.

“Xia An, say you like me.

“I told you all those things before, so this time, confess to me formally. Lots of people have been confessing to me lately.”

At least… preserve a tiny sliver of dignity for me.

“Marry me.”

“Bah!”

Xia An hardly hesitated, and neither did Tang Wan, flicking him right on the forehead.

“I like you, be my girlfriend.”

“Mhm, alright, fine, I accept.”

Tang Wan giggled merrily.

Their legs pressed together, Xia An held Tang Wan’s hand, and Tang Wan didn’t pull her face away either.

During the few seconds of eye contact, they could even feel each other’s heartbeats.

Xia An’s heartbeat accelerated.

He clearly noticed that the desolate look in Tang Wan’s eyes from moments before instantly regained vitality, like the autumn wind around them turning into a spring breeze, awakening all things.

Her peach-blossom eyes were twinkling with countless stars, and her face was draped in a wondrous radiance by the moonlight.

Playful and dazzling, Tang Wan at this moment looked like the Goddess Chang’e descending to the mortal realm, breathtakingly beautiful.

To be honest, Xia An had to admit that although her facial features and face shape were very similar to Zuoyou’s, from a certain angle, Tang Wan was indeed much more delicate and refined.

Xia An subconsciously wanted to peck her cherry-pink lips.

However, Tang Wan leaned back to keep him from touching her.

Standing up, Tang Wan slowly stretched luxuriously.

Sitting on the bench, Xia An seized the opportunity to stroke her exposed waist, earning himself another glare.

“Xia An,” Tang Wan turned back, looking down at him from above.

Right above her head hung a bright full moon, holy and stern.

“I don’t know what kind of relationship you have with that female classmate, and I won’t ask right now.

“I am older, so logically, being with you is a very embarrassing matter.

“Yet there’s nothing I can do; I don’t want to lie to myself and say I don’t like you.

“Your mouth is very sweet today, so let whatever happened in the past month be put behind us.

“Now we are officially starting over, and I will give you time to sort things out.”

Xia An listened while nodding vigorously.

Nothing else—wasn’t time precisely what he needed most right now?

Relationship? His relationship with Le Ning?

No relationship had happened with anyone yet.

Tang Wan pouted and sighed deeply, smiling faintly as she said to him:

“If you fail to sort it out properly,”

She brushed her bangs aside, lowered her gaze then lifted it again, and blinked as she said, “Then I will sort it out myself.”

She was adorable, drop-dead gorgeous, but Xia An felt a chill crawl up his spine for no reason at all.

A licensed girlfriend…

The third one.

……

“I’m not sitting anymore, it’s cold.”

Draped in the jacket, Tang Wan pulled Xia An along as they walked back.

Xia An checked the time; there were almost two hours left until lights-out at ten-thirty.

He overtly and covertly hinted at enticing her back to his rented apartment.

Tang Wan ignored the hints, leading him toward the international student dormitories instead.

Her steps were brisk, swinging her arms.

Jeans, long legs, a bun hairstyle with wispy bangs.

No man could endure this.

As they got close, Xia An scratched his head.

“Right, the cat, I’ll go fetch the cat and keep it in the flower shop’s backyard.”

Tang Wan stopped walking, turned around, and looked at him with amusement.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking.

“As I just said, the events of the past month have been flipped past.”

Xia An anxiously said, “Does flipping the page have anything to do with that matter?”

Tang Wan spat lightly and asked, “Does it have to be right now?”

Xia An shook his head, “Well, not necessarily, it’s just that the mood was right.”

Tang Wan glanced at him and pulled him along as they kept walking.

Walking into a corner shaded from the streetlights, she boldly grabbed his hand and pressed it against her waist.

“Did you feel it?”

“Mhm.”

“Let’s wait a few days.”

“Sigh, I just remembered, the counselor is doing dorm checks tonight.”