The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 223 - 222: Diamond Ring

Whenever Liu Rulan was around Ye Manman, she would excitedly come up with new vocabulary, which thrilled Liu Gaoyuan.

He watched her jump joyously from half a meter behind, tears streaming down his old cheeks.

Ye Manman genuinely felt the wonder of family bond and maternal love, things that seemed beyond the explanation of science and medicine. It felt magical and warm.

She chatted with Liu Rulan for quite a while to soothe her emotions before getting ready to go home.

Tomorrow, she had a speech competition to attend – it would last all day, with preliminaries in the morning and finals in the afternoon, and scores announced on the spot. She needed to review her previous speech script today.

Although speech scripts seemed trivial to Ye Manman, for whom English was like a second native language, and she enjoyed improvisational speaking, straying too far from the outline could affect her scores.

To score high and take first place (and the prize money), she needed to review the outline she had written.

After Liu Gaoyuan drove her home, it was completely dark.

She had dinner at the Liu Family’s house and immediately started reviewing the speech outline once she got home, rehearsing the next day’s process in her room.

Perhaps she was too focused; Ye Manman didn’t hear the sound of the door opening. It wasn’t until she finished her speech and turned to sit down and take a sip of water that she noticed He Chen had returned.

He leaned slightly against the door frame, his eyes full of admiration and affection.

"When did you get back? How come you didn’t make a sound, listening to me practice secretly?"

Ye Manman felt a bit shy inside, even though she didn’t know why she was still shy after being with him for so long.

He Chen straightened up, smiling as he walked towards her from behind, "I came back a while ago. I didn’t want to disturb you. You speak foreign languages really well."

Originally, he wanted to hug her with both arms, but he was so tall and Ye Manman was quite slender, so He Chen easily wrapped her with just one arm.

The scene suddenly looked a bit comical, as he didn’t know where to place his other hand, so he rested it on the back of the chair.

Ye Manman chuckled, "What’s up? Are you trying to strangle me?"

He Chen bent down, rubbing his chin against her cheek, still as tender and smooth as ever. He became a bit captivated, lingering close to her.

Ye Manman raised her hand to grasp his wrist and turned to give him a quick kiss, "Did something good happen today? Why are you so affectionate?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Usually, He Chen came home late, and even when he returned early, he was never this affectionate. Ye Manman could feel how delighted he was from the way he rubbed his face against hers like a cat.

"Today, the money started coming in. Since coming to Jing City, I’ve been spending money constantly, and today’s the first time money’s returned. I’m very happy."

He tilted his head, the hand embracing her gently lifted her chin, and he kissed her deeply.

Meanwhile, the hand resting on the chair back disappeared at some point.

When Ye Manman’s cheeks were slightly flushed, lightly punching his chest and pushing him away, she was breathing softly, feeling the grip on her shoulder disappear suddenly, accompanied by a dull sound next to her.

Ye Manman turned her head, froze for a moment, then felt her heartbeat inexplicably quicken.

Under the not-too-bright warm yellow lighting, the ruggedly handsome man knelt on one knee, his eyes smiling, holding up a small, exquisite black square box.

Staring at the little square box, a thought loomed in Ye Manman’s mind, and she inexplicably felt a little nervous.

He Chen’s ears turned red as he tried to stay calm, lightly smiling, and with a gentle flick, the small square box popped open with a bang.

Inside was a sparkling, radiant diamond ring.

Ye Manman was incredibly surprised.

She instinctively covered her mouth with her hands, blinking her large, watery eyes at the awkward man before her who was embarrassingly shy yet trying to create a romantic moment. For a moment, she forgot to speak.

He Chen swallowed, nervously and expectantly speaking.

"Manman, will you marry me?"

They had been married for exactly one year.

He always remembered that.

He realized that he had never asked Ye Manman if she would marry him before; their wedding didn’t even have a proper ceremony.

Though they’d been in Jing City for only over a month, he’d been dealing with all sorts of people during this time. He slowly learned that proper wealthy families have many proceedings for marriage, including engagements, proposals, romantic weddings, and even some wealthier families go traveling.

Many people say that marriage only happens once in a lifetime, and if not done properly, it would be a woman’s lifelong regret.

Many women envy others’ beautiful, romantic weddings if theirs wasn’t up to par.

He didn’t want Ye Manman to envy others.

But they hadn’t even had a wedding.

Every time he thought about it, it felt like a million needles piercing his heart.

He felt like he had let Ye Manman down.

Even though it might be too late now, he still wanted to go through each step of the process, so he had been busy urging payments the past few days, and once the payment came through, he immediately went to buy a diamond ring.

Though gold rings retain value better, diamond rings are prettier, sparkling, just like her, forever shining and dazzling.

Though it’s rare for urban folks to buy diamond rings for marriage, and no one would say anything if you don’t buy one, he didn’t want Ye Manman to lack what others had. At least whatever others had, he wanted to earn so she could have it too.

He Chen felt a myriad of emotions within, even though they were married with a child, his heart was still in his throat after asking this question.

Ye Manman never expected this from him. Originally wanting to tease and say, "Aren’t I already married to you?" But when the words were at the tip of her tongue, seeing his anxious yet hopeful eyes, she shyly nodded.

"I do."

As she spoke, Ye Manman extended her hand.

Maybe it was the wonderful atmosphere, or perhaps He Chen looked exceptionally handsome and earnest today, but she felt her face getting hotter, embarrassed to look at him.

He Chen swallowed again, his hands a bit shaky, almost dropping the delicate little ring as he clutched it with his thick fingers.

However, he bit down hard on his molar, and finally managed to slide the ring smoothly onto her ring finger.

This ring’s size was just right, perfectly fitting her ring finger.

Her fingers were fair, slender, with small knuckles, and no hair. They looked even more sacred with the ring on, as if emitting a gentle halo.

He Chen held her hand, unable to resist lowering his head to tenderly kiss her ring finger, just like the first time he put a gold ring on her in the old house in Qingshui Village.

The scene seemed vaguely overlapping.

Ye Manman looked down at him, also recalling the day a year ago when he secretly bought a ring to give to her, almost too shy to take it out.

The man who was once clumsy seemed completely different, mature and dependable, and capable of creating romance.

Yet he seemed unchanged, still easily embarrassed, with reddened ears.

Ye Manman smiled softly, lifted her hand to look at the sparkling ring, initially thinking the ring would be slightly big, but surprisingly it fit perfectly.

Very beautiful.

He Chen seemed to understand what she was thinking, awkwardly rubbing his hand.

"I was afraid it would be too big, so I secretly measured your finger with a fine thread at night..."

"Last time the ring was too big, and you said it was easy to fall off. This time, you can wear it out without worrying about it falling off."