When Ruan Xinyuan realized what he had just called out, his face turned crimson. His brain had never worked so fast as he tried to salvage the situation.

“To be fair, shouldn’t you call me husband too?” He blinked innocently at Qi Xun, looking completely harmless.

The air was silent for a couple of seconds, and Qi Xun’s eyes crinkled with a smile.

“Mm, right.”

He agreed as readily as ever.

Ruan Xinyuan, feeling the heat on his ears, quickly retracted his previous statement, “Actually, just calling me Xiao Yuan is pretty good…”

“How do your parents and grandma usually call you?” Qi Xun didn’t answer, instead gently posing a new question.

Ruan Xinyuan stopped worrying about what they called each other, using a small fork to pick up a bite of dessert, recalling, “They usually just call me by the last character of my name, but sometimes they use my full name or other random nicknames, depending on their mood.”

Qi Xun nodded in understanding, his gaze fixed on the person in front of him, whose lips were rosy from repeatedly licking them while eating. His tone was soft, “But I’m ten years older than you. Won’t your family think the age gap is too big? In a marriage, the younger party often gets the short end of the stick.”

Ruan Xinyuan hesitated, slowly picking up another bite of pistachio Basque, biting the fork as he considered, “My parents are pretty open-minded. As long as I’m happy, they’re fine with it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have proposed to you, Brother Xun. They’re eager for me to settle down early, to save them worry.”

“What about your parents, Brother Xun? Won’t they think I’m too young?” He tossed the question back to Qi Xun.

Qi Xun wiped his mouth with a napkin, smoothly replying, “No, as I mentioned earlier, they just want me to start a family soon and have no specific requirements for my future partner.”

“Besides, you make a great first impression. Elders will like you.”

“Really? That’s good…”

The person across from him widened his eyes slightly, his bright, round eyes resembling the beautiful pupils of a cat, beloved by many mortals, in Qi Xun’s view.

Whenever Ruan Xinyuan smiled gently, dimples would appear at the corners of his mouth. Qi Xun initially wanted to poke them with his fingers, but now he desired more… greedily wanting to lick them, even bite them, leaving his teeth marks.

This was something he’d thought about for hundreds of years.

Of course, he hid these feelings deeply, and he had to keep them hidden, at least until the moment they received their human marriage certificate.

Once Ruan Xinyuan finished his dessert at a leisurely pace, this discussion about marriage came to an end.

“I’ll drive you back to school. I need to swing by B University to pick something up, so it’s on the way.” Qi Xun glanced at his watch, stood up, and put on his beige trench coat.

Ruan Xinyuan had planned to take the subway back to school, but since Qi Xun offered, he saw no reason to refuse.

So he nodded obediently and followed Qi Xun out of the restaurant.

Qi Xun’s car was parked at the restaurant entrance. He courteously opened the passenger door for Ruan Xinyuan, who habitually thanked him and slid into the seat.

The car’s fragrance enveloped him, and without much effort, he recognized it as the same fresh citrus scent that Qi Xun carried, not overpowering at all.

After a moment, the back door opened for a few seconds, and before Ruan Xinyuan could turn around, the driver’s door opened.

Instinctively, he looked to his left, catching a glimpse of pure white in the bright car light, the person’s bangs gently swaying, with captivating features.

Qi Xun held the car door with one hand and a large bouquet of white roses with the other.

“To be fair, it’s also ninety-nine roses.”

Ruan Xinyuan’s eyes sparkled, and without much hesitation, he took the bouquet into his arms.

Just like Qi Xun had taken his bouquet of red roses without much hesitation.

Besides the fragrance emanating from Qi Xun, he could also smell the roses, a completely different scent, a bit cloying with a hint of fresh earth.

Holding a bouquet of ninety-nine roses wasn’t new to Ruan Xinyuan, but having it on his lap was still a bit cumbersome.

This made him wonder how Qi Xun had managed the bouquet with one hand after taking it.

“Bang—”

The sound of the car door closing brought Ruan Xinyuan back to reality.

Setting aside other thoughts, the white roses in his arms were indeed beautiful, capturing all his attention.

But he couldn’t set aside the fact that the person giving him the roses was his soon-to-be husband.

The one he decided to treat well as his lifesaver.

“Ahem,” Ruan Xinyuan turned to look at Qi Xun, who was driving, “These flowers are…”

Qi Xun explained, “I bought them before coming, but giving them to you in the restaurant would have drawn too much attention. I was afraid you wouldn’t like that, so I found an excuse to ‘trick’ you into the car. Carrying them around school shouldn’t be awkward, right?”

Ruan Xinyuan caught the implication, considering he had proposed with a grand gesture, carrying red roses into the school.

“But if you don’t like them, you can leave them in the car before you go. I’ll take them home and keep them with yours, let them keep each other company.” Qi Xun spoke casually, as if he didn’t mind how Ruan Xinyuan dealt with the beautiful flowers.

“No, I really like them. Some are still buds and will look even prettier when they bloom. I’ll take them back to the dorm and take good care of them,” Ruan Xinyuan tightened his hold on the bouquet, suddenly thinking of something, and asked a new question.

“So, are you really heading to B University, or just giving me a ride?”

Giving me flowers, giving me a ride home.

Ruan Xinyuan added this in his mind.

Asking this seemed a bit “self-centered,” considering Qi Xun didn’t like him, just had some fondness.

But Qi Xun’s gesture of giving flowers stirred a curiosity in him to explore the other’s intentions.

Qi Xun was momentarily stunned by the question.

Ruan Xinyuan sometimes said things that caught him off guard, even after all this time, easily capturing his thoughts.

But it was only for a second, and he quickly responded.

“Seems my excuse was pretty clumsy.”

Ruan Xinyuan grinned, “You can just say it directly, or admit it now. No need to be so polite, after all… in our families’ eyes, we’re soon-to-be husbands in love.”

“If that’s the case, then when we’re alone, we should be less formal with each other, right?”

“Getting caught would be bad.”

Ruan Xinyuan’s question was answered, and he was happy to have guessed correctly, giving him a subtle sense of joy, even if he didn’t actually like Qi Xun.

At least not yet.

Qi Xun nodded seriously, “I need to get used to it, since it’s our first official meeting. But don’t worry about getting caught.”

Ruan Xinyuan was about to argue why he shouldn’t worry about getting caught, then remembered his persona—love at first sight, a month and a half of secret admiration, proposing without really knowing the person.

“Yeah, that’s true…” he felt a bit guilty, “Then you should get used to it more.”

For a moment, no one spoke in the car, the soothing English song flowing into their ears with the breeze from outside, calming Ruan Xinyuan’s heart.

In the car window, he could vaguely see Qi Xun’s flawless profile.

Strangely, even though it was their first official meeting, he had revealed many of his true feelings, except for the absurd truth he was too embarrassed to admit.

Qi Xun gave him a sense of security, making him unconsciously share a lot.

Now, reflecting on the evening’s date, Ruan Xinyuan realized he had inadvertently shared much about himself, yet knew little about Qi Xun.

However, Qi Xun was more approachable than he imagined, gentle and courteous.

How could someone almost without flaws face being pushed into blind dates?

Perhaps, he was indeed lucky.

If he finally found his destined person, only to discover they were already in a relationship or married, his moral boundaries would only allow him to quietly fade away…

Qi Xun drove directly into Z University’s campus, parking in a lot a few dozen meters from the dorm, as directed by Ruan Xinyuan.

The area had fewer students passing by, so it wouldn’t attract much attention.

Ruan Xinyuan unbuckled his seatbelt, holding the white roses as he prepared to get out.

He opened the door, stepping out with one foot, then turned and bent down to wave at Qi Xun inside the car, “Goodbye, Brother Xun, goodnight.”

Qi Xun gave him a gentle smile, “Goodnight, message me when you get to your dorm.”

Ruan Xinyuan paused, softly agreeing.

After closing the door, he walked away with the flowers, unable to resist looking back after a few meters, noticing Qi Xun’s car still parked there.

Was he waiting for him to reach the dorm?

Just a few meters away, as Ruan Xinyuan was about to enter the dorm lobby, he glanced back at Qi Xun’s parking spot, and sure enough, Qi Xun only started moving the car once he was about to leave.

Holding the roses, Ruan Xinyuan’s heart raced, not paying much attention to the gazes of people passing by.

This strange feeling peaked when Qi Xun asked him to report in and only left after confirming he was in the dorm.

He couldn’t quite describe it, perhaps because he felt guilty about his lie, while Qi Xun seemed so sincere.

It seemed he needed to treat his lifesaver even better.

Maybe, he could even try to like him…

Realizing he had this thought, Ruan Xinyuan’s ears burned, and he stopped thinking further.

Standing at the dorm door with the roses, he knocked but got no response, so he took out his key to open the door.

The dorm was pitch black, and he flicked on the light with a “click.”

It was Friday, and Fang Youzhi and the others were probably out having fun.

Ruan Xinyuan set the roses aside, feeling a bit excited as he put on his headphones, ready to call his parents and update them on his situation.

The video call connected quickly, his parents and grandma were all gathered on the living room sofa watching TV.

As soon as the call connected, Ruan Xinyuan dropped a bombshell.

“Mom, Dad, Grandma, I found my destined husband, ready to marry anytime. Grandma, quickly pick an auspicious date—”

“Thud—”

Ruan Xinyuan heard a noise, instinctively turning around, only to see three stunned faces staring at him from the dorm entrance.

Jiang Qifeng quickly picked up the basketball that had accidentally hit the floor, “Sorry, sorry, my muscle weakness acted up.”

“Uh,” Fang Youzhi, the only one in the know, felt a bit awkward hearing this, “Xinyuan, how much do people usually give for wedding gifts over there?”

Yan Kangliang, a bit confused, looked left and right before finally looking at Ruan Xinyuan and saying as if triggered, “Over two hundred would hurt my Engel coefficient.”

Ruan Xinyuan closed his eyes.

He suddenly felt like calling his husband for help.