If the yacht hadn’t been right in front of her, Ning Zhen couldn’t have cared less about listening to Meng Xianwen ramble on. She nodded along halfheartedly, completely captivated by the yacht, staring at it with her heart pounding wildly.
Even faster than when she’d picked up her last car.
He really had done it. And there was an even better gift waiting for her than that car.
Ning Zhen couldn’t wait to get aboard and experience every inch of what it was like to ride on a yacht. She was practically ready to fly up there, but he kept his arms around her and refused to let go, leaving her unable to take a single step.
She really didn’t want to provoke this melodramatic man, so she dragged an innocent bystander into it. “Xiao Ding is still watching!”
The harbor was far from the city center. Every so often, the blast of a ship’s horn pierced the quiet night sky.
Xiao Ding, who had been sitting in the car watching the commotion, froze at Ning Zhen’s words. He hurriedly rolled up the window and silently replied: Don’t mind me. I’m in the car.
Meng Xianwen let go of Ning Zhen soon afterward and led her aboard the yacht. Once he was certain that even if he took her home now, she would still refuse to leave, he allowed her to cross the bridge and kick it away. She shook off his hand and excitedly made her way up and down the spiral staircase, holding on to the railing.
The yacht had every amenity imaginable, like a castle floating on the sea. When she reached the sun deck and looked down, the sea below was pitch-black in the night, but Ning Zhen’s eyes gleamed. Everything fascinated and delighted her. If she hadn’t been restraining herself, she might even have shouted aloud.
Meng Xianwen calmly came up behind her, but his mind conjured up the scene of her taking advantage of his amnesia and treating him like a magic lamp to make wishes.
She really wasn’t timid. She dared to ask for anything. At the same time, she wasn’t particularly attached to any of it. If she got what she wanted, she considered it proof of her own prowess; if she didn’t, she blamed him for being stingy. All her skills lay in that one mouth of hers.
Ning Zhen was gazing curiously at the sea when she suddenly heard him chuckle. She immediately turned around, threw herself into his arms, and clapped a hand over his mouth. Tilting her face up, she warned him with no real menace, “You’re not allowed to bring up the past. You’re not allowed to mention what happened before. You’re not even allowed to laugh!”
Even if she had tricked him into giving her this yacht, that was a talent in its own right.
The second after making that fierce threat, she broke into a radiant smile. Releasing his mouth, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed herself vigorously against his chest, as if this were the only way to express how thrilled she was.
Her hair brushed against him, and he let out a muffled laugh. The two of them embraced on the deck, their heartbeats resonating as one.
“You’re so annoying.” Once she’d had enough of her little fit, Ning Zhen suppressed a smile and pretended to complain. “A surprise this big should at least have come with a little warning. I didn’t even dress up properly today. So annoying.”
Meng Xianwen lowered his eyes to glance at her, but he didn’t expose the lie in her claim that she hadn’t dressed up specially. Last night alone, she had spent an hour choosing the dress she would wear today, trying on one outfit after another before going to his study and parading in front of him for his opinion.
He had been forced to pause his work.
And when she had finally decided which dress to wear, he hadn’t even had time to breathe a sigh of relief before she came clicking over in a succession of shoes—flats, slim heels, strappy sandals, and then shoes without straps.
The corner of his mouth had twitched. In his usual indifferent tone, he had said, “If I’d told you in advance, would you still have had the mind to work?”
If anything, the moment he told her, she would have packed her bags and flown over.
She had the time to go wild. He didn’t have the time to indulge her.
Ning Zhen shot him a sideways glance. But since he had given her a gift so perfectly suited to her tastes, she decided to be magnanimous for one day. No matter what nonsense came out of his mouth today, she wouldn’t hold it against him.
But speaking of gifts…
She blinked, recalling how he had corrected her wording when they got out of the car. Her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly asked, “You said this only counts as the wrapping. What’s the real gift, then? Where is it?”
Seeing the covetous look on her face, Meng Xianwen fell silent for a few seconds and ignored the question. “We’ll talk after dinner.”
He was being mysterious again!
Ning Zhen was sorely tempted to pry the truth out of him, but the moment he mentioned dinner, her stomach began to growl. Dinner had already been arranged. The two of them sat at a dining table surrounded by windows as the yacht slowly pulled away from the shore.
No matter which way they looked, there was nothing outside but the sea.
This was the most romantic Qixi Festival she could have imagined.
For the moment, Ning Zhen set aside her curiosity and returned to her true nature. After eating just enough to settle her hunger, she pulled out her phone and began looking for the perfect angles to take pictures and videos. She scrolled through her social media feed, practically dazzled by it all. Her fingers nearly itched to show off, but the last scraps of her reason managed to restrain her.
Showing off love was fine.
Showing off wealth, however, was best avoided. It was far more affected than showing off a relationship.
So she sent everything in one go to her friends instead.
Guo Xia, who always replied instantly and never left a message unanswered for long, was strangely silent today. She was probably watching a romantic movie with her boyfriend at this hour.
Ning Zhen curled her lips into a smile and sent Guo Xia a 520-yuan red packet: “Sweetie, message me when you see this.”
With no one to chat with, Ning Zhen’s attention returned to Meng Xianwen. He was enjoying his dinner at an unhurried pace. She took a small sip of champagne and looked at him thoughtfully. “How did you usually spend Qixi before this?”
“Quietly.” He looked up at her and answered honestly.
In previous years, this day had always passed peacefully. No one chattered in his ear, no one started hinting a month or two in advance that they wanted to celebrate, and he never had to leave work an hour early to prepare a surprise for anyone. Of course, it was now clear that days like those were gone for good.
“And you?” After a pause, he asked casually.
Ning Zhen rolled her eyes at his first answer. “I spent it noisily.”
A teasing glint appeared in his eyes. “One person can make that much noise?”
“If I’d had two people to make noise with, what would I need you for now?” Ning Zhen shot back. “Come to think of it, you haven’t given me flowers today!”
Meng Xianwen set down his knife and fork. “Who says I haven’t? They’re outside.”
Ning Zhen raised her brows in surprise. She had run all over the yacht just now and didn’t remember seeing any flowers, though she couldn’t be completely sure. Compared with an entire yacht, a bouquet of roses hardly seemed worth noticing. Overlooking it would have been perfectly understandable.
“Really?”
Her heart didn’t believe him, but her body was very honest. She rose from the table and walked outside.
She searched the deck but found no flowers. Just as she was about to go upstairs, someone slipped an arm around her from behind. The two of them stood close to the railing as Meng Xianwen’s voice, mingled with the sea breeze, brushed past her ear.
“Look down. Didn’t you say you liked waves better?”
Ning Zhen: “?”
She looked at the waves rolling ceaselessly below and burst out laughing. He really was good at using her own words against her.
“I knew it!”
Was she surprised?
Of course not. No matter how outrageous it was, as long as Meng Xianwen was the one doing it, she would never be shocked. “Wait. Don’t tell me the gift you mentioned is—”
Ning Zhen turned around and met his eyes. Her questioning gaze shifted away from his sharply defined face as she instinctively looked around.
Meng Xianwen said nothing. He simply watched her, amusement flickering in his eyes.
Ning Zhen’s gaze darted about. Then, without thinking, she tilted her head back—and froze.
Unlike the pitch-black sea, the sky above was vast and filled with stars, so close they seemed within reach.
Countless stars glittered across the night, dreamlike and ethereal.
She stared at them in a daze. In that moment, the sea breeze, the waves, and the stars seemed to surround her completely.
So this star-filled sky was his gift.
“You…” Noticing the strain in her neck, Ning Zhen reluctantly tore her gaze away and looked at Meng Xianwen. Her eyes were filled with emotion, yet she still grumbled, “If you were a penniless loser, you’d definitely be the kind of person who wouldn’t spend a single cent on anniversaries or birthdays!”
He wouldn’t even send her a 5.20 transfer. He’d only take his girlfriend to the seaside, point at the waves, and say, “The flowers are from me,” then point at the starry sky and add, “The diamonds are from me.”
She found her own imagination so amusing that she burst out laughing.
Meng Xianwen did not deny the accusation. Instead, he asked her, “Where’s mine?”
Ning Zhen tried to hold back her laughter. “You’re looking even more like one now!”
Joking aside, she still seized the most romantic moment, pushed him away, and ran inside. After a few steps, she turned around and ordered, “Stay right there. Don’t move!”
With that, she hurried inside and soon returned, both hands hidden behind her back. Under his focused gaze, she walked toward him one step at a time.
Then she opened the box.
Inside was a fountain pen.
Meng Xianwen’s gaze lingered on it for several seconds before he calmly took it from her. He had a strong vengeful streak and held grudges, so he smiled and said, “How many times are you planning to give me this one present?”
“Enough nonsense. Take it or leave it!” Ning Zhen thought about it and felt that the two of them really were like two peas in a pod.
She pressed her lips together to suppress her smile. “If you don’t want it, give it back.”
“Give it back?” Meng Xianwen was just about to mock her. This fountain pen had been his from the start. What she had done a few days ago was called taking something without asking—but then his eyes fell on the barely noticeable engraving, and his gaze shifted.
Two words had been added to it since the last time—
[Truly the only one]
He fell silent at once and stared fixedly at the four words.
Watching his reaction, Ning Zhen did not want to miss the slightest change in his emotions. She had not taken out her phone, but at this moment, her eyes would record everything for her.
One minute passed.
Then three.
Meng Xianwen finally reacted. He put the fountain pen away and said evenly, “Just this once.”
Ning Zhen punched him. He caught her hand and pulled her into his arms, holding her so close that she could hear the vibration in his chest.
His heartbeat was rapid and fierce.
Did this count as a surprise?
She thought that after she had taken the fountain pen, he must have guessed she would add a suffix to the engraving.
What did this shameless man think she was going to write?
Judging from his reaction, she was certain he had guessed wrong.
…
At the same time, on the ninth floor of the hospital, the corridor and the rooms were utterly quiet.
Meng Jiaran put down his phone and looked at Song Yuqing, who was sitting on the sofa reading. It was nearly ten in the evening, with less than three hours left before Qixi would turn the page.
He really did not want the day to end like this. After psyching himself up for several hours, he finally managed to summon up enough courage and deliberately coughed a few times.
Song Yuqing turned a page. Hearing him, she looked up. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Everyone’s out partying and having fun. I want to go out and get some fresh air too,” he said, pretending to sound casual. “Why don’t we go for a drive together?”
Song Yuqing knew he was bored out of his mind. She glanced at the time and hesitated. “But it’s so late, and if Brother Xianwen finds out…”
“I’ll call and ask him!” Meng Jiaran wanted to sneak out without a second thought, but he knew what Song Yuqing was worried about. “If my brother says yes, then we’ll go out. I can’t stand the smell of this hospital anymore.”
Song Yuqing hesitated.
Before she could advise him to wait one more day—he would be discharged tomorrow, and it was already almost ten. It went without saying that Meng Xianwen and Ning Zhen were celebrating Qixi together—
Meng Jiaran had already dialed the number. He shushed her and said, “I’m calling Zhenzhen.”
When Ning Zhen’s phone rang, she and Meng Xianwen had already finished dinner. The two of them were sitting on an open-air circular sofa, clinking glasses, gazing at the stars, and enjoying the breeze.
The unexpected ringtone made Meng Xianwen’s brows draw together slightly.
Ning Zhen, however, was instantly invigorated and answered the call at once.
“Zhenzhen, I wanted to ask—” Meng Jiaran had not even finished his question when he heard her soft laugh from the other end.
She asked in surprise, “How did you know I have a yacht? No way, you really found out that I have a yacht? When did you find out I had a yacht?”
