A Proposal?

She’d even transferred more than Lin Yang had.

What was this supposed to be? The two of them passing money back and forth like a left hand reaching for the right.

When Lin Yang’s eyes skimmed over Xu Zhitong’s message — “Look at yours” — the tips of her ears burned.

She simply didn’t accept the money, and didn’t reply.

After leaving Xu Zhitong hanging for a few minutes, a video call came straight through.

Lin Yang: “……”

She glanced back at the room again.

The two of them seemed to have eased up a little. Chu Ling had stubbed out her slim cigarette and was standing in front of Yan Ci, saying something to her.

Lin Yang moved to the side of the balcony and answered the call.

She rarely video-called anyone, and a little awkwardly lifted the phone, revealing her face.

“Xiaotong?”

Xu Zhitong was sitting on the carpet beside the sofa, fiddling with a GoPro. Her phone was propped on the coffee table, giving a straight-on view.

There was a sofa right there, but she always liked to sit cross-legged on the carpet.

When the call connected, her eyes lit up. “Yangbao -3-!”

Her voice was so sticky and clingy it was as if the expression had shown up on her face too.

“I’m ready, I’m ready!” Xu Zhitong said in a rush.

Lin Yang had no idea what she was so excited about.

But being urged on like this, and remembering how she’d just sent “Look at yours,” Lin Yang couldn’t help feeling a little hot in the face.

She cleared her throat. “Ready for what?”

Xu Zhitong: “To look at that.”

Lin Yang raised a brow. “Look at what?”

Xu Zhitong immediately put on her best obedient act. “The scenery, ovo.”

Lin Yang turned the phone and showed her the surrounding view.

Xu Zhitong said seriously, “So beautiful. But in my heart, I already have the most beautiful scenery.”

So corny.

Lin Yang rolled her eyes at her.

Xu Zhitong giggled.

Then she asked, “Are you guys done talking?”

“Not yet. They’re still talking,” Lin Yang said. “It’s pretty noisy.”

“Arguing?” Xu Zhitong’s expression turned worried. “That sounds scary. Good thing you didn’t argue with them.”

Lin Yang paused slightly. “Mm. You don’t like arguing.”

Xu Zhitong blinked, finding Lin Yang’s wording a little strange. “Maybe. Mostly I’m just not very good at arguing... You know that. My mom and the others don’t really argue.”

Lin Yang said, “I know.”

Xu Zhitong grew curious. “Do those two fight badly?”

Lin Yang said, “It’s okay. Neither of them is the type to get emotional; they only disagree because their opinions differ. Once they talk it through, it’s fine.”

Xu Zhitong nodded, only half-understanding.

She skipped over the unfamiliar topic and instead blinked at Lin Yang. “Hello? You really aren’t going to let me see?”

Lin Yang froze, then sneered softly. “Who said I was going to show you?”

Xu Zhitong shouted, “I already paid!”

Lin Yang said, “I didn’t accept it.”

Xu Zhitong pouted in indignation and muttered something like she was being shamelessly teased.

Lin Yang couldn’t help laughing at her. She coaxed her a few times, and just then the glass door behind her was knocked twice.

Looks like they were done talking.

After hanging up, Chu Ling had already opened the door and was leaning against it with her arms folded, looking relaxed and unhurried. “Lya, you two are still talking? Want to go have a couple drinks at a club in Jiangdong?”

Lin Yang said, “Sure.”

She put away her phone and went back inside. Yan Ci was leaning by the sofa eating fruit; it seemed the two of them had already reached an agreement, and Lin Yang finally let out a breath.

“Leaving now?” she asked.

Chu Ling: “Mm.”

She called the house staff through the internal line and had a car prepared.

After leaving Yinzhu, Yan Ci ran to the front passenger seat to play on her phone. She had always been like this; Lin Yang sat in the back and reported her schedule to Xu Zhitong.

Then she heard Chu Ling say quietly from beside her, “In the blink of an eye, both of you are already involved with someone.”

Lin Yang smiled. “Jealous?”

Chu Ling: “What do you think?”

Lin Yang: “You probably scoff at it, then... Ha, I’m really curious what kind of partner you’ll end up with.”

Chu Ling gave a cold laugh. “For now, they don’t have any plans to force a marriage alliance on me. There’s nobody in Jiangshi qualified anyway.”

Lin Yang nodded.

Then Chu Ling said, “At the Chen family’s charity banquet last Saturday, I ran into President Lin. Same old state; I’d guess handing over power will still take another dozen years or so.”

Lin Yang paused. “It has nothing to do with me.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Chu Ling looked at her and said, “It does have some relevance. President Lin, with that absurdly high opinion of herself, even chatted for a while at the banquet with those idle ladies from the Chen family. I kept an eye out for you; their daughters are all about the right age.”

Lin Yang fell silent. “...Lin Zhao is already an adult.”

Chu Ling looked like she wanted to say something, then sighed. “Lin Yang, are you still hesitating?”

Behind that single sentence lay countless words left unspoken.

Lin Yang’s heart sank. “I know... let me think about it.”

Chu Ling had everything she needed. She’d been secretly starting a business with them; besides wanting to break away from the Chu family and prove herself, she also knew the Lin family’s hidden secrets and wanted to pull Lin Yang along.

From the conspiracy they’d begun at eighteen to now, at twenty-five, Lin Yang already had the capital and the confidence to leave the Lin family entirely.

And yet she was still a little hesitant.

It was as if she hated her mother deeply, yet at the same time still felt guilty toward her; the guilt of being told since childhood, time and again, that she was the one who had driven her mother’s family to ruin.

That complicated emotion was like a mountain pressing down on her from a young age. Even though she was grown now, it still seemed impossible to climb over; she would always stand at the bramble-covered foot of the mountain, feeling the pain and looking up with her face turned skyward.

Chu Ling, who had always been cold and unsentimental, naturally couldn’t understand this part of her, and had nagged her about it countless times.

Lin Yang sighed.

But it was true... maybe she really did need to make a change.

She was dating Xu Zhitong.

Whether or not there was a result, she was no longer the old version of herself, the one whose days held not even a shred of hope for the future.

Chu Ling wouldn’t spread rumors without reason. If Madam Lin really had such an idea, then it would be put on the schedule soon enough.

Over the years, she hadn’t spent much of the Lin family’s money. Even if one counted the portion from her mother’s trust, the money she had earned herself could easily “buy” ten Lin Yangs.

Lin Yang’s finger tapped unconsciously against her phone screen.

Because she had something on her mind, when they arrived at the club she didn’t order a nonalcoholic drink like Yan Ci did; instead, she got a few low-proof specialty cocktails.

Chu Ling clinked glasses with her.

Then, with malicious intent, she suggested, “If you really want to do it, I can make things a little difficult for President Lin on my end.”

Yan Ci, only half-understanding, said, “We’re going after the Lin Corporation? I can help too.”

Lin Yang rubbed her cold fingertips together and said helplessly, “Quit making trouble.”

Chu Ling: “Yan Ci, she’s looking down on you.”

Yan Ci ignored her.

With alcohol in the air, the three of them chatted casually at the club.

Around the time dinner was approaching, a server asked whether they’d like to dine there.

Chu Ling didn’t care either way. Yan Ci said no; her wife was coming to pick her up for hot pot.

“...Fine,” Chu Ling said, then turned to Lin Yang. “Her partner is coming to pick her up. Is yours coming too?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Yang said, “Yeah.”

She texted Xu Zhitong.

Xu Zhitong had already been unable to sit still after hearing that Lin Yang was out drinking.

But if she went to pick her up, would she run into Lin Yang’s senior and the others?

The competitive streak in Xu Zhitong flared instantly.

She got dressed at once, moving as fast as if she were preparing for a livestream shoot, clipping her hair in a hurry and spraying on perfume that screamed taste.

All black; the safest choice.

Time was tight, and by the time she took a cab over, half an hour had already passed. She was led up to the club’s reception room by a server.

When she reached the lounge, she could only see two people sitting on the dark green sofa.

The unfamiliar one was probably Chu Ling; she was an elegant, expensive-looking beauty, leaning against the back of the sofa and speaking casually with Lin Yang while holding a wine glass.

Xu Zhitong walked over, looked around curiously, and greeted her.

“Hello.” Chu Ling sized her up, her gaze far more polite than Xu Zhitong had expected.

Then she smiled calmly and introduced herself. “I’m Chu Ling.”

The two of them shook hands.

Before they could say much else, Lin Yang stood up and came over to Xu Zhitong’s side, cutting off any further conversation.

She said, “Then we’re heading out first.”

Chu Ling shrugged, not exposing her odd reaction. “Okay. Bye-bye.”

Xu Zhitong had likely only served the purpose of making an appearance.

She glanced down at her own carefully styled look and asked Lin Yang a little disappointedly, “Weren’t there supposed to be two people?”

By the time they reached the elevator, and after the server came in to press the button, Lin Yang said, “The one’s partner arrived early, so she left first.”

Xu Zhitong asked curiously, “Who? Not your senior, but the other one—the one called Yan Ci? She has a partner?”

Worried about the server still being there, Lin Yang didn’t tell her the shocking news until they were in the underground parking garage, seated in the back of the car with the partition raised.

“Yes. Yan Ci actually got married in a flash.”

“Huh? A flash marriage?”

Xu Zhitong’s eyes widened a little.

She asked humbly, “What exactly counts as a flash marriage?”

Lin Yang said, “She said it was an arranged blind date introduced by her family. They didn’t even meet many times; once the National Day holiday ended, they got married. The other person is an art teacher.”

Xu Zhitong was still hazy on the whole blind-date thing. “Sounds like a very proper, traditional job.”

Lin Yang nodded too.

Xu Zhitong asked, “Then how long had they known each other?”

Lin Yang said, “She didn’t say exactly, but I get the feeling it was at most just over a week, from Mid-Autumn Festival to National Day.”

Just over a week!

Xu Zhitong froze for a second, and immediately felt something strange in her chest.

So if you got to know someone that quickly, you could get married already?

So that was what a flash marriage meant.

But she and Lin Yang had already been dating for seven years...

Xu Zhitong was silent for a moment, then asked, “Then for her wedding, would she invite you to be a bridesmaid?”

Lin Yang said, “She said that’s not urgent yet. It might not be held until after New Year. Her partner’s job is pretty busy.”

“Oh, oh.”

Even though she was busy with work, she still took advantage of the holiday to squeeze in time to get a marriage certificate and tie the knot.

Xu Zhitong glanced at Lin Yang’s expression and turned the phone in her hand over and over.

Lin Yang... would she envy her friend?

Was this just gossip, or was she trying to hint at something?

Xu Zhitong secretly mulled it over and decided that, in fact, she very much wanted to marry Lin Yang.

She remembered the articles she’d read before about the seven-year itch. If two people dated for that long without getting married, their feelings would eventually wear away.

From what she could tell, even after seven years, her relationship with Lin Yang was still pretty hot and intense, even after going through the seven-year itch; at least, under her efforts, that was still true.

But marrying would probably not be as simple as it was for Lin Yang’s friend.

After all, Lin Yang’s friend had met someone through family introductions and had gone through the proper family channels.

And what about her own moms?

Xu Zhitong thought it over; they should be willing for Lin Yang to be with her.

At the very least, when she was in school, they all knew she had Lin Yang, that good best friend of hers.

As soon as she became friends with Lin Yang, she told her moms about it. She told them everything: Lin Yang’s name, grades, habits, how they met, how they hung out together, how well she and Lin Yang matched...

Later on, when her mom sometimes came back from business trips, she would even bring a small souvenir for Lin Yang.

They’d joked that Lin Yang’s name was something they’d heard thunderously often.

It was a pity that, at least in the memories Xu Zhitong had up to age seventeen, her moms seemed never to have met Lin Yang.

They’d never found the right time to say, “Let’s invite Lin Yang to dinner and get to know the best friend our daughter has always been thinking about.”

But now she and Lin Yang had already been dating and living together for so many years.

They must have met Lin Yang by now, right?

And honestly, why had they still not come back after more than half a month? Had her moms gone traveling to Java or something?

Xu Zhitong’s experience with society and family was both shallow and limited, so she wasn’t quite sure what she should do first.

Tell her moms first? Wasn’t she supposed to get both sides’ parents to agree first?

No, that was wrong. She should probably propose first, right? Lin Yang’s agreement was the most important thing.

How was she supposed to propose to Lin Yang?