They were back at Apartment 301."Chen Linyun, are you mad?" Xue Jinxu asked nervously. He had been quiet on their way home.
"No.. I"m sorry Xue Jinxu… Don"t tease me like that, okay? I might not be able to control myself."
The lady"s eyes widened understandably. So, her actions back then had quite the effect on him? Was that it?
She nodded repeatedly at his request.
"Uhh, Chen Linyun, where will you sleep tonight?" She was blus.h.i.+ng. It had been bothering her since morning but she didn"t dare ask until now, since it was already turning dusk.
"Where do you want me to sleep milady?" He was teasing her, like always.
"How come he can tease me but I can"t?" She thought.
"Stop it! You can sleep at the guest room. Guangxi"s not here anyway." She said.
"Guangxi"s not here." She repeated in her mind, realizing its underlying meaning.
"Guangxi"s not here." He thought as well.
Their faces were both flushed but did not say anything.
"I better go down to Apartment 201. Mo Wenbin might be back now. I"ll just say hi."
"Okay."
She cooked dinner again for the two of them. Then Jinxu settled on the living room. She got tired from all the cooking as she was not used to it. She fell asleep on the sofa.
At half past ten in the evening, Chen Linyun returned. He was dismayed at the sight – Jinxu sleeping on the couch. Earlier that night he had sent her a message that he would be back late that night, and that she should go ahead and sleep.
He stooped low and carried her in his arms. The lady awoke from the movements. "You"re back?" She rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Yeah. You should have slept properly in the bedroom." He scolded her.
"I was waiting for you. I cooked dinner."
"Oh. Sorry, I didn"t know. I sent you a message that I will go home late tonight. We drank a bit."
"I see… I hadn"t seen your message." There was disappointment in her tone. She had been waiting for him.
He laid her on the bed. Before he could straighten up, she clung to his arm. "Can you stay here with me tonight? I missed you." She was groggy with sleep. It was her subconscious that was talking.
Chen Linyun was filled with so much gentleness. "I can"t. I might not be able to control myself." He kissed her on the head. "Good night, my love." He removed her fingers gently one by one.
"I love you, Linyun." It was almost a whisper. She was half-asleep. She closed her eyes again and turned towards the other side in a fetal position.
He wrapped her with the blanket. "I love you Jinxu". He clenched his fist.
It would be an understatement even if he admitted that he is indeed pressured by the task of proving his worth and officially winning his woman by the standards set by her family and society. The more this woman expressed her deepening feelings for him, all the more he got pressured, yet motivated. He"s also getting impatient himself.
He watched his woman sleep from the doorway of her bedroom. She had become a gentle little bundle of obedient kitten that was purring at its owner.
He had tamed the lioness. He should take responsibility for that.
That night he did not sleep. He positioned himself on the living room and proceeded to work with his laptop. He did not stop or rest even for a bit.
At around three in the morning, he clicked something in his laptop then muttered to himself. "It is done."
He received a call after a while. Afraid that it would wake up Jinxu, he hurriedly decreased the volume first then answered. It was his college friend Zhou Xin at the other end, "Everything"s moving quite well. Wait for the headlines tomorrow."
---
Xue Jinxu woke up from the aroma of food which wafted from the kitchen. It was around eight in the morning. Chen Linyun was in front of the stove, holding the pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. He was wearing an ap.r.o.n. He turned her head upon sensing her presence. "Morning!"
She did not respond. Rather she went straight to him and gave him a backhug.
"Did you have a good sleep?" Linyun asked.
"Mhmm.." She tightened her grip around his waist and stayed in that position a bit longer. "How about you?"
"Just had enough."
She raised her brows. "What do you mean? Couldn"t sleep?"
"I worked on something first." He turned off the stove, freed his hand of his tools, then turned around to face her.
"How do you want us to be married?" He inquired with utmost curiosity.
"Mhmm?" She glanced up at him and blinked several times. She was taken aback because he had introduced the topic of marriage which he himself did not want to touch for the longest time.
She also did not know how to answer the question.
"Well, I haven"t thought about the specifics yet. But the bottom line is, I simply want us to be officially married – like registered, at the very least. I"m not particular with the ceremony." She shrugged her shoulders. "The ceremony can be waived."
He kissed her forehead. "Understood. But it"s better if we still have a ceremony to follow."
She tilted her head. He was showing quite a peculiar behavior.
They ate their breakfast in bliss.
After a while, Chen Linyun received a phone call. "Have you checked the headlines yet? It"s up." It was Zhou Xin.
He replied, "Thanks." Then hang up the phone.
"What"s wrong? You look serious." Xue Jinxu inquired.
Chen Linyun did not answer. Instead, he was busy with his phone.
Afterwards, he pa.s.sed his phone to her. "What is it?" She said while grabbing the phone from him.
It was a news article about the newest fad in investments in Country D, featuring two trading platforms of similar ideas. One trading platform was named "Farm Realm Online" and the other was "Seed Harvest Portal". The two were neck and neck with each other in terms of getting ahead. The two had almost similar concept – it was a trading platform in which qualified citizens could join and invest into their "own" farm world using their phones and gadgets in an app. The interface of the trading platform was designed like a game in which they could cultivate their virtual farm with the crops that they choose, but the crops and plants were real, and the money used to fund those was real too. There were real plantations involved somewhere in the real world.
The article described that the two compet.i.tors were making the market abuzz and the common citizens" interest was quite piqued. On top of that, Farm Realm Online had showed a figure of return of investment of between ten to thirty percent maximum, based on actual run. The article had emphasized the close compet.i.tion of the two breakthrough platforms.
Upon seeing the word "farm", Xue Jinxu had a bit of understanding. "Is it related to your business?" Xue Jinxu handed back the phone to him.
"Yeah." Chen Linyun was smiling now.
"Which one is your company? Farm Realm Online?" Xue Jinxu pressed, while still having their breakfast.
"I own both of them." His smile grew wider with pride. "Both are actually doing well in Country D."
"Wow, Chen Linyun, Congratulations!" She went over and hugged him. "I"m proud of you. I know you can do it."
"The phone call earlier, it"s about this, wasn"t it?" She asked further.
"Yes. That was Zhou Xin, my college friend and business partner. He"s based in Country D. My business partners were my college roommates back in the university, including Mo Wenbin. That was why I was back late last night. We were polis.h.i.+ng other things over beer." He squeezed her arm. "Sorry, you waited for me last night. I ate the dinner you cooked, it was good." He rubbed her head while praising her.
The lady was so happy with the praise. She did well, too.
"This calls for a celebration. Let"s have the fifth meal today." Chen Linyun suggested. It was the last in their five-meal pact. Chen Linyun gets to choose when and how it will unfold.
"Sure." She readily agreed.
"But first," Chen Linyun added, while locking his gaze with Xue Jinxu. "Xue Jinxu… Will you marry me?"