Early the next morning, a not-so-bright customer entered a certain jewelry store in the mall.

Shi Sheng’s nose was pressed against the display glass, the tip of his nose turning red from being flattened in a circle. He turned around, and most of the engagement rings were for women, and there were few that he liked. There were also couple rings, but none of them gave him the gorgeous yet understated feeling he desired.

No, he had to make Lu Lin shine the brightest.

The salesperson took out several diamond rings that weren’t displayed on the counter. After picking and choosing, Shi Sheng’s gaze settled on a European-style men’s ring, with a square diamond setting that emitted dazzling brilliance under the light.

“I’d like to see this one.”

The salesperson took out the ring. After a few more selections and comparisons, this one was still his favorite.

Shi Sheng held it in his hand and played with it. “Do you have a larger size?”

“Are you buying it as a gift?” The young salesperson smiled, “Girls don’t usually like this type of diamond ring; it’s more suitable for men.”

“That’s right, I want to give it to a man.”

“Ah…”

The salesperson realized and quickly apologized. “Could you please provide his size, like the circumference of his finger?”

Shi Sheng tried hard to remember and estimate Lu Lin’s finger circumference, his ears turning suspiciously red as he began to cough and gesture. “Probably, this diameter.”

In the end, he relied on Lu Lin’s height, weight, and ring size table to come up with a result, and the store happened to have the appropriate size in stock. He watched as the salesperson filled out the form, scanned the code to pay, and carefully took the ring box.

Lu Lin’s call came in, startling him, and he hurriedly hid the ring box in his pocket.

“Where are you? The car is parked at the entrance of your residential area. Hurry up and come over.”

“Oh, okay.”

Shi Sheng nodded at the salesperson and dashed out like the wind.

---

Their plan was to drive to the island, spending the night at a guesthouse and purchasing boat tickets. They spent four to five hours discussing and planning, taking turns to drive.

Shi Sheng started first, and by the afternoon, Lu Lin took over, while Shi Sheng nestled in the back seat.

He contacted the proposal company recommended by Su Qi and hired extras on the island to prepare a surprise beach party.

Su Qi said it was a company team formed by their university juniors, so Shi Sheng hesitantly added the customer service’s WeChat.

Proposal Company Customer Service: Hello, what kind of service are you looking for?

Shi Sheng: What types are available?

Customer Service: Including but not limited to fireworks, balloons, roses, disguised pedestrians, beach volleyball, band performances… We have detailed processes for each service, and extras can be found nationwide, dear.

Shi Sheng: … Then, let me see the process for the band performance and balloon release.

Customer Service: Sure, dear.

Customer Service: Do you have any preferred musical instruments?

Customer Service: Our extras will disguise themselves as a band playing songs on the beach. When you and your loved one come to watch, the extras will randomly invite you to perform a song. Then you can play a song for your loved one, walk up to them, take out the ring, kneel down for the proposal, and at this moment, our extras will release the balloons for you.

Customer Service: How about it? Isn’t it very romantic?

Shi Sheng fell silent slowly. University juniors, aren’t they all a bunch of straight-laced guys who’ve never seen a woman or been in love? How much dirt did they have to eat to come up with this move?

But… it didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Lu Lin glanced at the rearview mirror and saw a strange smile on Shi Sheng’s face.

As the car passed the sea-crossing bridge, Shi Sheng’s entire face was pressed against the car window, showing a surprised expression.

When they boarded the ferry, they went on the ship. While Shi Sheng was buying fish ball soup, Lu Lin opened his phone and contacted customer service. If Shi Sheng were there, he might have found this customer service number somewhat familiar.

Lu Lin: Are the fireworks I asked for all ready?

Customer Service: Dear, rest assured, we are professional! As long as you give the signal at the time, our extras will light up the fireworks for you, so you can propose with peace of mind and succeed smoothly!

Lu Lin: Thank you.

Shi Sheng came back, inserted a hot fish ball into Lu Lin’s mouth, and said, “Mwah.” He thought of tonight’s plan and kissed Lu Lin affectionately.

Outside, the waves rolled up thousands of waves, turning from muddy yellow to blue on the sea surface. Several small islands stood in the distance, forming a continuous range of mountains in the sea.

Shi Sheng was jumping around in the ferry inside and out, taking many photos, acting like an uncontrolled kid, and was spanked a few times by Lu Lin when he was pressed against the ship’s railing.

After they got off the boat, it was a winding mountain road, all the way to a neatly arranged village halfway up the mountain. The houses on the mountainside had white walls and blue tiles, and those closer to the coastline were mostly glass houses. Along the long coastline, various fishermen’s paintings were drawn on the dam. It was almost sunset, and the seagulls were flying all over the wide sea, flying towards the mountains on the island.

“Today is the ninth day of the lunar month, and the tide will ebb at 4:30,” Shi Sheng checked the calendar, “Let’s find something to eat and take a walk on the beach tonight! Let’s think about where to go tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

The accommodation they booked was a glass sea-view room. After parking the car and putting down their luggage, they were treated to a table of seafood by the host family and then took a shower.

When Shi Sheng came out, he saw Lu Lin using mousse to style his hair.

“The sea breeze here is too strong, easy to mess up your hair,” Lu Lin nodded, then his gaze froze, “Why are you dressed like this—”

Shi Sheng looked at his suit in the mirror, thinking it was okay.

Meeting Lu Lin’s strange gaze, he scratched his head, and then went into the bathroom to change out of his suit. After coming out, they glanced at each other and coughed at each other.

With a few coughs, they both unconsciously touched the ring in their pockets and walked satisfactorily towards the beach.

Now the sky has darkened.

Different from the colorful lights in the city, here you could see the starry sky with just a glance upwards. Because the night wasn’t dark enough yet and the Milky Way wasn’t visible, but the magnificent brilliance of the starry sky had already stunned the two people who grew up in the city.

“So beautiful…” Shi Sheng murmured.

The starry lights hung on the embankment, where many people had gathered. Barbecue stalls were set up on the beach, children ran around everywhere, playing and frolicking, swimming in the safe zone designated by the buoys, and a crowd gathered around listening to a band playing on the beach.

As Shi Sheng approached, he saw four or five people playing drums and guitars, singing familiar songs with gusto.

“Luck is here, our luck is here, luck brings joy and love, luck is here, luck is here~ Welcoming prosperity and success to the four seas with good luck—”

The lead singer sang with great enthusiasm, and there were even people applauding around. Shi Sheng’s eyes twitched as he lowered his head to look at the picture the customer service had sent him, then raised his head to look at the band, finding it hard to believe that they were the extras he had hired.

“Is there anyone who wants to come up and try with us?” the lead singer asked.

Lu Lin was standing among the crowd, holding Shi Sheng’s waist, fingers rubbing against his waist through the clothes, but then suddenly felt empty-handed. Lu Lin turned around in surprise, looking at Shi Sheng who stiffly stepped out, “I…”

“I’ll do it!” a middle-aged man stepped out.

“Great, it’s you!” The lead singer ignored the middle-aged man who stepped forward and handed one of the guitars to Shi Sheng, “May I ask this friend, what song would you like to try? We cover various styles such as pop, classical, and pastoral, you can try any of them.”

“What—” Lu Lin behind him was stunned.

“Yeah.”

Shi Sheng nodded, took the guitar, and bowed his head holding the pick, suddenly the surroundings fell silent.

He turned his head to look at Lu Lin, the scattered lights of the stars shining on him. Even though there were people walking around the beach and the irritating screams of playing children, for some reason, in Shi Sheng’s eyes, Lu Lin seemed to become the center of everything.

He watched Lu Lin habitually frown, seeming a little nervous. Had he guessed it?

“I want to sing…” he said, “Love Story.”

The members of the band glanced at each other, and the guitar strings began to be plucked rhythmically. The sound system was turned on, and compared to “Luck is Here”, it immediately caught the attention of the surrounding people.

Shi Sheng stood beside the microphone, his eyes nervously fixed on Lu Lin, hesitating to sing.

“We were both young when I first saw you…”

“…”

“I love you, and that’s all I really know…”

“It’s a love story…”

He strummed the guitar strings, step by step approaching Lu Lin, suddenly noticing Lu Lin’s expression becoming very strange. The crowd seemed to realize something too, and scattered away to make room for them. Shi Sheng slowly walked up to Lu Lin and sang the last sentence:

“Baby, you just say yes…”

“Will you marry?”

The guitar stopped, Shi Sheng raised his hand to hand it to a passerby, took out the ring box from his pocket, and slowly knelt down.

As he did so, countless balloons flew up from the beach, and with a “whoosh”, fireworks soared into the sky behind him. Shi Sheng suddenly turned his head and saw the band members holding balloons in one hand, still frantically setting off fireworks with the other.

Thousands of fireworks bloomed one after another in the night sky, shining like meteors scattered over the sea, instantly illuminating the sky. Children playing on the beach ran over, cheering around.

Reflecting in Shi Sheng’s eyes were the dazzling fireworks. He knelt on one knee in a daze, looking up at Lu Lin. “I didn’t set this up, did I?”

“Is it possible, I mean,” Lu Lin raised his eyebrows slowly opening his palm, “Is it possible that we had the same thought.”

In his palm lay a delicate and dazzling diamond ring.

Under the grand fireworks, the surrounding crowd erupted in admiration. When their eyes met, Shi Sheng was momentarily stunned. Lu Lin turned his head away, chuckling softly, reaching out to pull him up. Suddenly, Shi Sheng pounced, embracing Lu Lin tightly.