His Venomous Former Boss Chased Him And Beat Him Fiercely Chapter 86

The details that had been noticed didn’t seem to provide any concrete evidence, and Kong Xunwen didn’t want to act like a detective trying to piece everything together too seriously.

Now was not the time for that.

So he shook his head and simply smiled, “This looks so lavish.”

Qiu Zhijie finally smiled too, handing over the stemmed glass filled with red liquid.

Taking it, Kong Xunwen instinctively brought it to his nose to smell it, then looked up, “Grape juice?”

Qiu Zhijie nodded, offering no explanation, and raised his own glass, “Happy birthday to me.”

Today was not a day for getting tipsy.

The two glasses gently clinked, producing a crisp sound.

Although it looked like a candlelit dinner, the dishes prepared were actually Chinese style—rice served with various courses—and Kong Xunwen ate with great satisfaction.

Qiu Zhijie was the same. They didn’t talk much, though Qiu Zhijie checked his phone a few times.

By the time dinner ended, it was around eleven o’clock at night. They had spent too much time on the third floor. Kong Xunwen wasn’t too sleepy since he had slept in the car earlier.

Anticipation kept him energized.

So when Qiu Zhijie suggested, “Let’s go for a walk,” he didn’t refuse.

The candles burned slowly, not finishing even after the meal was done. Letting the small flames continue to burn, Kong Xunwen pulled a rose from the vase, smelled it, and said, “Let’s go.”

The garden, which had been somewhat busy during the day, now only held the two of them, accompanied by the sounds of insects. Kong Xunwen held the de-thorned rose in one hand, while his other hand was held by Qiu Zhijie beside him.

As they walked, he started swinging Qiu Zhijie’s hand along with his.

He watched their shadows stretching out ahead. Because most parts of the garden were still lit, the shadows were faint but clearly outlined. Only the negligible distance between the two of them was blurred where their shadows merged.

“I’m very happy today,” Kong Xunwen broke the comfortable silence first.

Qiu Zhijie turned his head to look at him, the hand not holding Kong Xunwen clenched into a fist. After a pause, he nodded, “That’s good.”

“The flowers smell wonderful,” Kong Xunwen sniffed the bloom in his hand.

They bumped into each other, a gentle force that briefly exchanged warmth. Qiu Zhijie seemed to smell the flowers too, and nodded again, as if unsure what to say, “…Then…”

He quickly corrected himself, “That’s great.”

Kong Xunwen didn’t seem to mind and continued the conversation with Qiu Zhijie, sentence by sentence, and both of them started talking more.

After listening to Qiu Zhijie recount a story from his childhood—how he was pricked by a thorn in the garden, thought the flowers ate people, but pretended not to be scared to save face—Kong Xunwen’s eyes curved into crescents as he laughed, tilting his head back.

The moon was full. He stopped laughing and suddenly asked, “What time is it?”

Qiu Zhijie froze completely, frantically searching for his phone. When he couldn’t find it, he remembered he hadn’t brought it. Without even letting go of Kong Xunwen’s hand, he suddenly recalled wearing his watch, and lifted their joined hands to check the time.

“Eleven fifty-seven,” he stopped moving and read out the time.

Kong Xunwen grew tense too, even though he only had a guess and knew nothing for sure.

He met the pair of black eyes that suddenly lifted to look at him, eyes alight with a faint, persistent glow.

“We don’t have time, let’s run.”

Kong Xunwen, who hadn’t even had time to ask what they were running out of time for, was pulled along.

The wind rushing past was unrestrained, bringing with it the fragrance of the flowers they passed.

The lights along the path gradually dimmed, but there was a very bright light ahead. Although they were running, Qiu Zhijie wasn’t completely reckless, and when they stopped, Kong Xunwen was only slightly out of breath.

He raised his hand to look at his watch, and Kong Xunwen followed his gaze to the time on Qiu Zhijie’s wrist.

Fifty-nine minutes.

Qiu Zhijie quickly lowered his hand, as if afraid the time would pass immediately.

Kong Xunwen met his gaze.

“Let’s go.”

The hand gripping his was tight. Kong Xunwen’s heart, which had just relaxed, suddenly sped up. Qiu Zhijie looked very nervous, similar to how he looked when they were on the cable car earlier, and Kong Xunwen himself wasn’t much better off.

But he had already taken a step forward.

They walked together. Qiu Zhijie was watching him; he knew it.

The brightly lit area ahead gradually revealed itself completely. Kong Xunwen had never seen this place before. It was a large area, filled with flowers, and in the very center was a glass house that looked somewhat empty from the outside.

The rose in his hand was suddenly pulled away. Kong Xunwen immediately looked over. Qiu Zhijie pointed ahead, toward the glass house.

He turned his head, feeling puzzled. What could they see from the outside?

Then he saw a small animation projected onto the lit-up glass house. Two small figures, one with black hair and black eyes, the other with black hair and light eyes, acted out events that had happened between them, including the ziplining scene from earlier today.

Until the end, the figure with black hair and black eyes knelt on one knee, holding up a ring box.

The image froze. Kong Xunwen felt a sudden chill in his hand. When he looked back, he saw Qiu Zhijie about to kneel on one knee. He hadn’t knelt yet because the ring box hadn’t been taken out of his pocket.

To be honest, the sight was a little comical. Kong Xunwen suppressed a laugh and bent down to pull the man up first.

The man was easily pulled to his feet, but his face instantly drooped. His eyes and brows looked utterly dejected. Only the hand holding the ring box he had finally managed to pull out was raised, the box still unopened.

His other hand hung down, matching the downturned corners of his mouth.

Hearing the small laugh that accidentally escaped, he immediately looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief, grievance, annoyance, and other emotions—it was truly too complex.

Kong Xunwen raised a hand to cover the smile on his lips, but he couldn’t help it; his eyes were still curved, the arc very obvious.

Qiu Zhijie couldn’t ignore it at all. He reined in his emotions, gripping the box in his hand, lowering his gaze, silent, radiating only an aura of disappointment.

He looked like a large dog with a mushroom growing on its head.

Laughing at his own imagination, Kong Xunwen quickly reached out and cupped the man’s cheeks, lifting his head. He pursed his lips and pretended to be displeased, “Is there something you haven’t said yet?”

Qiu Zhijie looked at the small box, then at the young man in front of him, hesitating, “How about… I change the time…”

“Why change the time?” Kong Xunwen raised an eyebrow.

“It was perfect, but just now…” Saying this, he recalled what had just happened and stopped again.

“What happened just now? It was great. I’ve been on edge all day. Now, we can move on to the final step.” Kong Xunwen extended his left hand toward Qiu Zhijie.

Qiu Zhijie immediately prepared to kneel again, but Kong Xunwen grabbed him.

Facing his confused look, Kong Xunwen tilted his head, “The final step I meant was the words, and also…”

He raised the left hand he had just extended.

So, in front of the image of the small figure kneeling on one knee behind them, Qiu Zhijie, with a solemn expression and slightly reddened eyes, spoke the words they had both long been prepared for: “Will you marry me?”

His usually straight back was slightly bowed, making him look somewhat like he was humbly begging for love, but only Kong Xunwen, facing those black eyes, could feel his intensity.

Kong Xunwen couldn’t say no, nor had he planned to refuse. His left hand was still raised; he simply moved it now, gesturing to Qiu Zhijie with that hand.

Solemnly, “I do.”

Qiu Zhijie’s hand trembled slightly as he opened the ring box, took out the ring, gripping it tightly so there was no chance of dropping it. Then, very carefully and cautiously, he took the young man’s extended left hand and slipped the ring onto his finger.

Finally, he said, “Happy birthday.”

Kong Xunwen’s eyes curved in a smile.

The ring settled securely at the base of Kong Xunwen’s finger without any further mishaps, except—

Kong Xunwen raised his hand, pulling it away from Qiu Zhijie’s fingers, and looked at the overly dazzling ring. The diamond on it completely covered the section of his ring finger and even overlapped onto his middle and pinky fingers.

It had virtually no design; it was simply a massive diamond set on a band.

After the initial joy, he examined it, his expression subtle, “If I wear this out, will I really not get mugged?”

Qiu Zhijie recaptured his hand and, as if performing magic, produced two more small boxes, opening both. “I prepared two others. Wear whichever one you like; I’ll match you.”

Kong Xunwen focused his gaze. One box held a gold ring with a beautiful design: an abstract pattern of a maple leaf resting on an open book, which was pretty and not difficult to understand.

The other box held the same design, but in silver, looking much more everyday and understated.

Seeing that he hadn’t spoken for a while, Qiu Zhijie said, “Actually, there are others, platinum ones. Which do you prefer? If you don’t like the pattern, we can change it.”

Kong Xunwen slowly shook his head, looking up at Qiu Zhijie with a smile, “I like it very much.”

Then he quickly pointed to the silver one, “But it’s best not to flaunt wealth, so let’s wear this one.”

So Qiu Zhijie very carefully and seriously swapped the rings, and then extended his own left hand for Kong Xunwen to put the ring on him.

After this small interlude, both of them were much calmer, and the rings were successfully placed on both their left hands.

Returning to the villa, they went upstairs together. After washing up, they lay in bed, Qiu Zhijie holding Kong Xunwen.

While showering, Kong Xunwen had felt the ring on his hand was somewhat unreal, but now, lying in the warm embrace, he suddenly felt at peace.

Today had been wonderful. He wasn’t thinking about anything now. Lying with Qiu Zhijie in the place where the man had grown up, he naturally began to feel sleepy.

Tomorrow would be a good day.

He thought.

“I wasn’t prepared today,” Qiu Zhijie spoke softly only when the person in his arms was already breathing steadily.

But the sleeping person suddenly stirred, so he didn’t continue. He just rubbed his chin against the young man’s forehead. In the darkness, his eyes were wide open, black and bright, completely sleepless.

He remained silent, his mind constantly replaying everything that had happened today, from the morning to the boat, and then the zipline…

He had said then that he hoped Kong Xunwen would be lucky enough to live forever.

But Qiu Zhijie knew that gesture might be useless, which was why he hadn’t directly answered that question later.

Then returning here, showing the traces of his growth, having a candlelit dinner, proposing…

The proposal that had gone wrong precisely at that moment. Qiu Zhijie closed his eyes and sighed softly.

If Kong Xunwen hadn’t participated, it would have been a terrible proposal, but he still felt regret. Why did it have to go wrong?

In the pitch-black night, a low voice sounded in the air: “I’m sorry.”

“See you tomorrow.”

After sleeping for so long today, he wouldn’t fall asleep that quickly.

*

Time passed slowly. The morning sun overcame the darkness, casting a faint halo onto the curtains and spilling onto the room and the bed.

The two figures embracing were intimate, like intertwining vines.

The light grew brighter. The sounds of the bustling outside world didn’t reach the room; only a sliver of light that managed to sneak in slowly lengthened and shortened.

Suddenly, the quilt moved, and finally, there was movement in the room.

They opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

A slightly hoarse voice said, “Good morning.”

“Good morning. We meet again.”

Soft laughter, followed by intimate whispers that only the two of them could hear. Under the unseen quilt, two hands were clasped, the rings on their ring fingers pressing against each other.

—The End—