Before Fang Rui could answer, the flower seller warned, "Young lady, these flowers are used for mourning the dead. It's not auspicious. Why do you want to pick them? There are many other beautiful flowers over there you can look at instead."
Mu Mian looked at Fang Rui and said, "I think they're beautiful."
Fang Rui smiled, "Go ahead and pick them."
The flower seller was dumbfounded. Well, these young people in love these days really had no taboos when romance clouded their judgment.
Mu Mian picked about a dozen flowers and tied them together with a plastic strip. While Mu Mian thought the bouquet was perfect, Fang Rui inserted a red rose in the center of the bundle.
"Mu Mian, this is for you."
"Fang Rui, don't you think it clashes with the other pretty yellow flowers?" Mu Mian's OCD was acting up, and she had to resist the urge to pull it out.
"I think it looks nice this way."
"No, it ruins the aesthetic of the bouquet."
"This is my gift to you. It's like the rose from The Little Prince."
"Fine, I'll reluctantly accept its presence."
On their way to the parking lot, Fang Rui and Mu Mian drew many curious stares. Fang Rui was carrying ninety-nine roses, while Mu Mian beside him held a bunch of yellow chrysanthemums. People couldn't understand what kind of couple they were.
When they arrived at Zhang's house, the others had almost finished decorating. The house looked romantic, with balloon hearts and flowers on the walls, and cloud-shaped colored lights replacing the regular ones.
"The roses are here, let's arrange them into a heart shape!" Wang directed. "Make it bigger!"
In no time, the entire proposal venue was set up.
After lunch, everyone faced a dilemma.
"How do we trick Chen Xue into coming here?"
Everyone looked at Mu Mian.
Mu Mian said, "You all know I'm not good at lying."
"That's exactly why she won't be suspicious if you do it."
Mu Mian called Chen Xue, but before she could speak, Chen Xue started talking.
"Mian Mian, want to watch a movie this afternoon? There's this new romance film that's supposedly really melodramatic. It'll definitely be a brain-teaser for you. Want to come with me? Zhang said he's busy today and can't go with me."
"Chen Xue, Officer Zhang, he..."
"What about him?"
"You should come to his house and see. Sister Wen is driving over to pick you up. Try to stay calm." They had thoughtfully arranged a driver to prevent Chen Xue from having an accident in case she got worried.
"Mian Mian, what happened to him?"
"Just come quickly, or else..."
"I'm coming right away."
Wen's acting was far better than Mu Mian's. Under her skillful performance, Chen Xue almost believed Zhang had met with a terrible accident.
She stumbled through the door only to find flower petals floating in the air and Zhang kneeling on one knee in the center of a heart made of roses.
"Chen Xue, will... will you marry me?" Zhang nervously asked, holding up the ring box.
Everyone cheered from the sidelines, "Say yes, say yes..."
Chen Xue stood silently looking at him, not saying a word.
Everyone froze, worried they had somehow ruined the proposal.
"Chen Xue, it's okay, when you're ready to marry me, I'll..." Zhang said dejectedly.
Chen Xue threw herself into Zhang's arms. "You scared me to death! What would I do without you?"
"So... will you marry me?"
"Of course." Chen Xue extended her finger toward him.
Zhang quickly slipped the ring onto Chen Xue's finger as she covered her face, beaming with joy.
Mu Mian was confused. Chen Xue had said she didn't like diamonds and preferred gold, yet she seemed so happy receiving a diamond ring.
Mu Mian quietly tugged at Fang Rui's sleeve. "Do you like diamonds? I have a big one that Senior Yi Nian gave me. If you like it, I can give it to you."
"Why did he give you a diamond?"
"Back then, I wanted to be a necromancer, but I didn't have a crystal. So he gave me one for my birthday. Do you like diamonds?"
"Why do you want to give me a diamond?"
Mu Mian handed him a party popper. "Quick, pull it! We need to shower them with streamers now."
After Zhang's proposal ceremony ended, everyone left, leaving the couple to their romantic moment.
"It's only three in the afternoon, shall we go watch a movie?" Fang Rui suggested.
"Sure. Let's watch that brain-teaser movie Chen Xue mentioned."
Mu Mian texted Chen Xue asking for the movie title, but Chen Xue sent her the QR code for the tickets directly.
The movie was called "Warm Winter," which made Fang Rui think of old melodramas.
At the theater, Fang Rui fell silent as he looked at the movie poster showing two men and one woman.
Mu Mian excitedly said, "Here's the first mystery – which of these two male characters is the female lead's boyfriend?"
The theater was packed and lively, mostly with couples.
At the beginning of the movie, everyone was engaged in the plot, but after a while, some people started playing with their phones. Soon after, couples began cuddling, and few people were actually watching the movie.
Mu Mian watched intently, memorizing every shot and every line of dialogue, but she still couldn't understand the movie's logic or what the director was trying to convey.
The girl sitting next to Mu Mian kept complaining to her boyfriend, "Look at what movie you picked! Is this even a romance? What are they filming? I can't understand anything."
"Hey, we're not here to watch the movie, we're here for a date."
"But this background noise is polluting my ears."
Mu Mian turned to Fang Rui and said, "This isn't just a romance movie."
"Do you still want to watch it?"
"Of course! I rarely see such a brain-teasing movie. This director is amazing – he managed to create four couples from just three people. That's incredible."
The people around them looked at Mu Mian with newfound respect. How could she find this terrible movie brain-teasing? No, how could she even watch it seriously and analyze it? What kind of extraordinary mind did she have?
The girl next to Mu Mian asked puzzled, "Where are the four couples?"
"Her with him, her with him again, him with him, and all three of them together."
"...Impressive, you really understand permutations and combinations. Come to think of it, maybe that's what the director intended."
After the movie, Fang Rui and Mu Mian went to dinner.
After driving back to their building, Fang Rui invited Mu Mian for a walk.
To match the Qixi Festival atmosphere, colored lanterns hung along the street, and trees were wrapped in fairy lights, creating a dreamlike scene.
Mu Mian found the colored lights hurt her eyes.
Fang Rui suddenly felt this romantic atmosphere was perfect for confessing his feelings.
He first took Mu Mian's hand, and she naturally held his back.
Fang Rui nervously began, "Mu Mian, I li-"
Slap!
Mu Mian's palm connected with his face. She opened her hand to show him what she'd caught. "There was a mosquito."
"..."
"Fang Rui, what were you going to say?"
"There are too many mosquitoes. Let's not walk anymore. Let's go back," Fang Rui said.
Today wasn't suitable for a confession.
"Okay, that movie was so mind-bending, my brain is short-circuiting. I need to rest properly."
Back home, Mu Mian put her yellow flowers in a vase. Seeing the red rose, she felt it didn't match the others, so she found another vase for it.
Suddenly, Mu Mian wondered why Fang Rui had given her a rose.
Roses symbolize love, and only couples give each other roses.
Following this logic, she could deduce that – Fang Rui liked her.
Mu Mian grabbed the rose and ran to knock on Fang Rui's door.
"Fang Rui, open up, quick!"
After a moment, Fang Rui opened the door, his hair still dripping – he must have been in the shower.
Mu Mian held up the rose and asked, "Fang Rui, why did you give me a rose?"
Fang Rui looked at her and smiled, "Mu Mian, why do you think?"
"Because you... like me."
"Wrong answer."
Mu Mian lowered her head dejectedly, overwhelmed by immense sadness. No wonder Fang Rui hadn't accepted her proposal – he didn't like her after all.
Fang Rui looked down at her and said softly, "Mu Mian, I love you. Not like – love. Romantic love."
Mu Mian stood stunned for a long while, then lifted her head, her eyes bright as she looked at Fang Rui.
She spoke with utmost sincerity: "Fang Rui, I love you too, not in an ordinary way, but in a unique way. It's like in a field of countless roses, the Little Prince only loves his one special rose. That's exactly how I love you."
Well... he had become a rose.
"Mu Mian, may I hug you now?"
"Yes."
After a moment, Mu Mian changed her mind: "Fang Rui, although I really like you, I'm not very comfortable with people hugging me... well, okay, you can hug me for a bit longer... Fang Rui, you've been hugging me for too long."
Fang Rui released Mu Mian, saying with a hurt expression: "I only hugged you for one minute."
"That's already broken the historical record."
"..."
Mu Mian handed the rose to Fang Rui: "Fang Rui, I'm giving you this rose that represents love."
"Thank you."
Mu Mian felt relieved inside, finally finding a reasonable way to dispose of this rose - it had been diminishing the beauty of those little yellow flowers when placed together with them.
