Jiang Baiwan never saw Jiang Bo again. Ji Chen seemed to have wised up and he simply dealt with everything when she did not know. Still, one day, Jiang Zhishu accidentally slipped, “Mom and Dad are back abroad. It’s a good thing you didn’t go, otherwise the two of them would have been angry to death.”

From the side, Ji Ying shot a glance at Jiang Zhishu, who immediately shut his mouth. Jiang Baiwan didn’t want to ask anything. She just hummed. “Forget it. I don’t want to see them and they don’t want to see me. It’s convenient this way.”

Jiang Zhishu secretly observed Jiang Baiwan and found that she was not angry, so he was relieved. He cautiously moved to Jiang Baiwan’s side and then whispered to her, “Sis, tell me, have you been having any problems with Brother-in-law recently? Why do I see that you seem to be avoiding him?”

Jiang Baiwan stiffened, then quickly laughed. “We’re fine, we’re fine, nothing’s wrong. I’m just a little busy lately.” As she said that, Jiang Baiwan even lectured Jiang Zhishu with a stern face, “Whether it’s a man or a woman, they must have their own undertaking. And you know, I also have my own business.”

Jiang Zhishu nodded obediently. “Sis, is the business you’re talking about that little Malatang shop?”

“……Why bother so much?” Jiang Baiwan stood up and fled. Jiang Zhishu watched his sister’s back disappear and couldn’t help sighing. “Why has my sister become so awkward? She wasn’t like this before.”

Ji Ying smiled and said, “What are you and Ji Chen planning? I have a feeling that it’s nothing good.”

“No, I’m just testing the wind for Brother-in-law.” Jiang Zhishu also smiled. “Sister Ji, say…… what do you think my Sis is thinking?”

Ji Ying tilted her head and thought for a while. “Probably just simply feeling panic about the future. Can’t you tell that your sister doesn’t feel entirely secure?”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhishu sighed after a long moment of silence. He took out his cell phone and called Ji Chen.

———

After Jiang Baiwan returned to her room, she felt that something wasn’t right. Why was the role of this forced marriage reversed? Normally, shouldn’t it be Ji Chen who didn’t want to marry a wife, and then she would desperately throw herself at him?

In the past two days, whenever Ji Chen saw her, his eyes always had on a strange and meaningful look, causing goosebumps to rise on Jiang Baiwan’s skin. She wanted to ask Ji Chen to be more restrained, but when she talked about this matter, Ji Chen put on an innocent appearance. “I keep looking at you because I like you.”

Jiang Baiwan: “……All right.”

When did this guy learn to be a scoundrel?!

Jiang Baiwan had no choice but to avoid him as much as possible. Not long after, even everyone noticed that Jiang Baiwan was avoiding Ji Chen.

Ji Chen knew in his heart why Jiang Baiwan was doing it. It’s just that he hadn’t arranged all the things he needed yet, so he could only maintain the current situation for now. He secretly accelerated his pace and distributed all the tasks at hand. Several subordinates were also very clever and could vaguely guess what Ji Chen was up to, so they took over all the tasks for him very readily.

When Assistant Xu knocked on the door, Ji Chen was browsing something on his computer. Assistant Xu carefully walked to Ji Chen’s desk and said to him, “President Ji, the thing you ordered is ready.”

Ji Chen instantly lifted his head. The always unperturbed man looked rather eager at this moment. “Where is it?”

Assistant Xu presented a small box, placing it in front of Ji Chen, who took and opened it to take a look at what was inside. After a long while, he sighed quietly. “Now everything is ready. All that’s missing is the right timing.”

When Assistant Xu thought that Ji Chen would do it himself after carefully arranging things, there was an uncontrollable worry in his heart. However, it was hard for him to say, so he could only try to turn a corner and remind, “President Ji, have you chosen a date yet? Do we need to prepare another plan?”

Ji Chen smiled. “It’s fine, you can go now.”

Assistant Xu went down worriedly. He felt that he had really given too much for this company, but he was really powerless recently.

Inside the office, Ji Chen put the small box into his pocket. He had already stood up, but after thinking for a while, he sat down again.

Jiang Baiwan was looking after her shop, when she suddenly received a call from Ji Chen. “Hello? Ji Chen?”

“Xiao Wan, are you free this weekend?” Ji Chen asked, “I want to go on a date with you.”

“Why do you even have to ask so formally?” Jiang Baiwan couldn’t help roasting, but she didn’t refuse. “All right, where are we going?”

Ji Chen chuckled. “I’ll make the arrangements. Your only responsibility is to have fun.”

Jiang Baiwan exchanged a few more words with Ji Chen before hanging up. She stared at the screen for a while, intuition told her something’s up.

Ji Chen wouldn’t take this opportunity to propose, would he?

Such a guess came to Jiang Baiwan’s mind, but she felt that it was somewhat absurd, so she threw the idea behind her.

———

The weekend soon arrived. Despite feeling a little awkward with Ji Chen recently, Jiang Baiwan still dressed herself up beautifully and even wore perfume.

But the moment she saw Ji Chen, she immediately faltered. “Do we need to walk for a long time? If we are, I still have time to change out of my high heels.”

“No need.” Ji Chen supported Jiang Baiwan, looking worriedly at her feet. “If you don’t like it, why don’t you change it now? There’s no need to make it difficult for yourself.”

“No!” Jiang Baiwan was unexpectedly firm. “I finally got dressed up today and even put on high heels. If I don’t go out, I’d be sorry for all the time I’ve wasted. All right, let’s go, let’s go. We agreed to go on a date.”

With that, Jiang Baiwan pulled Ji Chen along, and despite her unsteady footing, she walked out with her head held high.

Ji Chen effortlessly supported Jiang Baiwan. He couldn’t help but glance at the high heels under Jiang Baiwan’s feet again, feeling the slight drumming of his heart.

Ji Chen set the date at Walt Disney Grand Theater and bought tickets for the classic musical 《Newsies》. She had no idea how he managed it, but they were actually sitting in the middle of the first row.

When Jiang Baiwan sat down, she felt that she was the chosen one.

“You told me before that you like musicals.” Ji Chen smiled as he held Jiang Baiwan’s hand. “It’s just in time to watch this one.”

Jiang Baiwan patted his hand lightly. “Keep your voice down, it’s about to start.”

《Newsies》 was a big flop when it was first remade into a movie, but as musicals go, not only were the songs good, but also the types of dances were complex. When Jiang Baiwan saw the middle scene where the leading lady led a group of newsboys in a tap dance, she even wanted to jump up on stage and dance with them herself.

Just when Jiang Baiwan was engrossed, Ji Chen next to her suddenly poked her and whispered, “I’m going to the restroom.”

Jiang Baiwan’s eyes were fixed on the stage and she nodded haphazardly. Ji Chen felt a bit helpless seeing that she was clearly too lazy to answer, but he still got up and left.

After the tap dance was over, the leading man was persuaded to come back to lead the gang and all the newsboys in New York gathered together, but Ji Chen still hadn’t returned. Only then did Jiang Baiwan belatedly realize that something seems wrong—— Could Ji Chen have diarrhea? How come he’s gone for so long?

She wanted to send a message to Ji Chen, but it just so happened to be the time where the leading man and the leading lady would profess their feelings and the surrounding lights dimmed altogether. Jiang Baiwan could only place back the phone she had just taken out. After thinking about it, she bent over and stood up, planning to go outside to look for Ji Chen.

But just as she did so, the spotlights from the stage hit her.

In this way, Jiang Baiwan was exposed to the public’s eyes. She stood stiffly, not knowing whether she should sit down or continue walking outside.

……What’s wrong? Were the spotlights broken?

The next second, the leading man appeared on stage. Jiang Baiwan took a closer look. Who was it if it’s not Ji Chen?!

“What are you doing standing there?” Ji Chen held out his hand towards her like a real leading man. “Come up quickly.”

Jiang Baiwan’s mind was in a mess. She looked left and right and noticed that there was no impatience on the audience faces. Some even shouted, “Come up!”

Ji Chen had already walked up to Jiang Baiwan’s side and he raised his eyebrows. Jiang Baiwan clenched her teeth and followed him onto the stage—— She wanted to see what medicine Ji Chen was selling in his gourd.

“Sorry, I came to your place without permission.” Ji Chen stood in front of Jiang Baiwan. “I have no idea you’ve been going through this.”

Jiang Baiwan was a in a bit of a trance. She looked at Ji Chen and after a long time of silence, she suddenly let out a laugh. “Yeah, it’s different from where you were raised. Are you surprised?”

The two of them exchange their own version of the lines with the roles reversed. Ji Chen was the wealthy young master while Jiang Baiwan was the girl struggling in the streets.

“I don’t understand. Even so, you are out of your original predicament now.” Ji Chen took two steps forward, almost looming. “Why are you still afraid?”

“A rich person like you won’t understand.” Jiang Baiwan said calmly, “I just want to hold on to what I have and not worry about the future, that’s all.”

Ji Chen took more steps forward. “If you’re a man, I’d be fighting you right now to knock some sense into you.”

Jiang Baiwan sneered and raised her head towards Ji Chen. “Come if you have the ability, let’s see if you can—”

She couldn’t finish her words.

Just like in 《Newsies》, Ji Chen cupped Jiang Baiwan’s cheek and gave her a hot kiss.

The audience inside the venue screamed and cheered at the right time. It’s just that Jiang Baiwan’s head seemed to have become mush. She couldn’t hear the sounds around her as all the senses in her body were mobilized, focusing on this one kiss.

Perhaps it had been a long time, or perhaps it was just a moment, Ji Chen slowly let go of Jiang Baiwan. She opened her hazy eyes and looked at Ji Chen with the intention of doing it again, but then she suddenly realized that this was in a theater, and there were still countless people sitting below. Both of them felt a little uncomfortable. Ji Chen stepped back and pursed his lips, while Jiang Baiwan held her face, feeling her cheeks burning terribly.

The two of them were silent for a moment before Jiang Baiwan spoke again, “I don’t know…… You…… you and I, is it really real between the two of us?”

“Of course it’s real.” Ji Chen smiled and tried to speak but was roughly interrupted by Jiang Baiwan. “No! Don’t make it sound like it would always be the same. Is it that simple?”

“I’m not stupid!” Jiang Baiwan couldn’t help raising her voice. “Look at you, then look at me. Why would a guy like you fall for a girl like me? I don’t want you to make any decisions or promise that you’ll regret as soon as you turn around because of your impulsiveness.”

Ji Chen froze as he stood still, listening in silence.

Jiang Baiwan used her lines to express all the insecurities in her heart. “Looking at you every day, I’m afraid that when I wake up, everything will go back the way they were before. If only there’s a way that I can seize or let time stop so that I can just…… just keep looking at you like this……”

“Time can’t be stopped,” Said Ji Chen suddenly, “but I have a way to keep you by my side all the time.”

Then, Ji Chen pulled out a small box from his pocket. Jiang Baiwan watched Ji Chen and saw him kneel down on one knee without hesitation. He opened the small box in front of Jiang Baiwan. “Hold onto this and marry me. What do you think of this solution?”

The audience below also shouted, “Marry him!”

If Jiang Baiwan did not understand what was happening at this time, she would be a complete idiot. She forcefully wiped away the tears on her face and showed a bright smile at Ji Chen. She nodded vigorously. “Hmm!”

Ji Chen looked at Jiang Baiwan who was coming towards him and also showed a smile. And then, he saw the high-heeled shoes under Jiang Baiwan’s feet suddenly twisted. Jiang Baiwan’s center of gravity was unstable for a second before she fell firmly to the ground.

Ji Chen: “……”