Yingqu Liuzi was pampered by her wealthy daddy.

Xize decided to propose on an ordinary weekday afternoon.

He was sitting in his study signing documents when his pen suddenly stopped moving across the paper.

He looked down at his right hand, which was holding a pen, and the signet ring on his ring finger cast a faint shadow in the light of the lamp.

He had been wearing the ring for over a decade, never taking it off since he came of age. He stared at it for a while, then put down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

He remembered how the ring looked on someone else's hand.

Shen Yu'an's fingers were much thinner than his, so the ring was a size larger, loosely encircling his finger. The silver metal contrasted with his fair skin, like something that didn't quite fit but ultimately belonged to him.

Caesar made a phone call and asked his assistant to order white roses for him. He also ordered candles, white and light gold.

Then he called his grandmother and told her he would propose next month. His grandmother was silent for a second on the other end of the line, then said, "The day has finally come."

Nishizawa didn't mention this matter that month.

Shen Yu'an continued painting as usual, and Xize went to work as usual. They ate dinner together in the evening, stayed in the living room together, and went upstairs to sleep together.

Every night before bed, Xize would take off the signet ring from his ring finger and place it on his bedside table. Shen Yu'an would occasionally pick it up and glance at it before putting it back.

The proposal happened on a weekend.

Before leaving home in the afternoon, Xize told Shen Yu'an that he had a meeting.

Shen Yu'an didn't look up from the studio. He said, "Go ahead. Will you be back for dinner tonight?" Xize said he would be back, possibly a little late. Shen Yu'an said okay.

Xize went out the door.

The florists had already arrived at the street corner, placing bunches of white roses next to the bus stop, and candles lined up in two rows along the sidewalk, extending from the street corner to the front of the bus stop.

After Xize arrived, he squatted down and adjusted the position of a few candles, bringing them closer to the platform.

The florist asked if this would be okay, and he stepped back a few paces to look at it, then said to move it two inches to the left. The person did as he was told.

After it got dark, he stood by the street lamp for a while.

The candlelight cast a warm yellow glow on the street, and when a breeze blew by, the flames would tilt slightly and then bounce back.

The bouquet was placed on the platform, the edges of the petals tinged with a pale gold by the candlelight.

He sent Shen Yu'an a message: "I'm at the street corner, come over here for a second."

Shen Yu'an put down his paintbrush and replied, "Which street corner?"

Xize replied with two words: "First encounter."

After sending the message, he put his phone in his coat pocket, took off his ancestral seal ring, and held it in his hand.

Shen Yu'an stared at those two words, his hand hovering above the color palette for a few seconds.

Then he put down his paintbrush, washed his hands, changed his coat, and went out. The driver was waiting at the door, didn't say anything, opened the car door, and let him in.

The car drove smoothly through the streets of London in the evening and slowly came to a stop at a quiet street corner.

The place where Shen Yu'an got off the bus was a bus stop he knew all too well, the one where he used to huddle under the eaves to avoid the rain.

On a rainy autumn night, a stranger driving a Rolls-Royce rolled down his window and asked him if he needed any help.

He was shivering from the cold that day and thought it was just a lucky night.

Now he stands on this street, with no rain in front of him, only the cool evening breeze and the sun slowly sinking in the distance.

The street corner has been decorated.

There weren't many fancy things. The streetlights along the street had been replaced with warm white light at some point, casting small patches of halo in the evening sky.

The ground wasn't covered with petals; there was only a bouquet of white roses in front of the bus stop, wrapped in dark paper and tied with a light gray ribbon—simple, clean, and with the stems neatly trimmed.

There were no candles, no ribbons, and no extravagant decorations nearby.

The whole street was quiet, with only the light from the streetlights and the occasional sound of a car passing by in the distance.

Shen Yu'an walked along the sidewalk and stopped in front of the bus stop.

He bent down and picked up the bouquet, looking down at it. The white roses had a faint fragrance, and there was a slight chill in the evening air.

He straightened up, turned his head, and saw Xize standing a few steps away under a streetlamp.

When Shen Yu'an appeared at the street corner, Xize was leaning against the streetlight watching him.

Shen Yu'an, wearing a light-colored coat, walked slowly. As she approached, her gaze rose from the candles on the ground and finally settled on Xize's face.

He stopped a few steps away, glanced at the candles on the ground and the white roses beside them, then looked up and met Caesar's eyes.

"Did you set this up?"

"Um."

Shen Yu'an looked at him, her gaze shifting from his face to his hands.

Xize's right hand hung at his side, the ring he never took off his ring finger was gone. Shen Yu'an's gaze lingered there for a moment, then he looked up at Xize again.

Xize took a step forward. He knelt down on one knee in front of Shen Yu'an.

His knees touched the ground, the hem of his coat brushing against it. He didn't care.

He looked up at Shen Yu'an, raised his hand, and the silver ancestral ring was in Xize's hand, with nearly two hundred years of marks engraved on the inside of the ring.

Shen Yu'an looked down at him, completely frozen. He didn't speak or move, just stood there looking at Xize kneeling on the ground.

The candlelight fell from the side, illuminating Caesar's face and bathing his features in a warm gold.

Xize spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. He said, "This ring has been passed down in my family for two hundred years. Starting from my great-great-grandfather's generation, every heir has worn it on their partner's hand."

Shen Yu'an's fingers curled slightly.

"My grandfather gave himself to my grandmother, my father to my mother, and now it's my turn." Xize looked up at him, his grey-blue eyes reflecting the candlelight. "Xiao An, marry me."

Xize's hands were trembling; he wasn't as calm as he appeared.

Shen Yu'an's lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Xize then said, "Let me take care of you for the rest of my life. Okay?"

Shen Yu'an's eyes reddened.

He stood there looking at Xize, tears slowly welling up in his eyes, but he didn't wipe them away. He opened his mouth, but the first sound didn't come out; only the second sound was a muffled syllable.

"good."

After he said that word, tears fell down his cheeks, slid down his chin, and landed in the candlelight on the ground.

He stretched out his right hand, his fingers trembling, his knuckles still shaking as he held the fingertips out in front of Xize.

Caesar took his hand and slipped the ancestral ring onto his ring finger.

The ring was a size larger than his finger circumference, loosely encircling the base of his finger, the silver metal gleaming briefly in the candlelight.

Caesar's finger paused for a moment outside the ring before retracting it.

Shen Yu'an looked down at the ring on his ring finger. The silver ring encircled his fair skin, and the engraving on the inside of the ring felt cool against his fingertip.

The ring was too big; it wobbled for a moment at the base of his finger before settling. He looked at it, and another tear fell, landing on the silver surface and sliding down its curved edge.

"The ring is too big," he said hoarsely.

After Shen Yu'an said "the ring is too big", Xize took out a small dark velvet box from the inside pocket of his coat.

He opened the box, and inside lay two platinum rings side by side, of the same width and with the same curved surface, gleaming with a soft silver luster in the candlelight.

Xize picked up one of the coins; the inner circle was engraved with words. He turned it over and showed it to Shen Yu'an. Shen Yu'an saw that it was engraved with his initials and today's date.

"How come there are still some?"

"I know that ring will be too big for you, so let's wear this one normally, okay?"

"Um."

Xize grasped Shen Yu'an's left hand and slipped the platinum ring onto his ring finger.

The platinum band brushed against the edge of the heirloom ring and settled securely below the base of the finger.

The size was just right, it didn't wobble, and it hugged his skin snugly.

The two rings were stacked together.

The silver heirloom ring is wider and sits on the outside, while the platinum one is narrower and sits on the inside.

Shen Yu'an looked down at it for a while, then looked up at Xize: "What about the other one?"

Caesar took out another ring from the box.

The same platinum ring band had Xize's initials and the same date engraved on the inner circle. He glanced at the ring, then handed it to Shen Yu'an.

"Help me put it on."

Shen Yu'an took the ring. The platinum band felt slightly cool in his palm.

He took Caesar's left hand and slowly slipped the ring onto his ring finger.

Xize's fingers were thicker than his, and the ring was a little tight when it slid across his knuckles. Shen Yu'an had to push it a little before it was fully pushed in.

The platinum band rested on the faint marks left by the silver signet ring over the years, concealing the mark, and securely encircled the base of Xize's finger.

Shen Yu'an's finger paused on Xize's ring for a moment, then she withdrew her hand.

He looked down at the two rings on his ring finger, then at the same platinum ring on Xize's hand.

"Two identical ones," Shen Yu'an said.

Xize turned his hand over and examined it; the ring gleamed in the candlelight. "Just as good."

Shen Yu'an raised his left hand close to the light, and the two rings stacked together each lit up once in the light.

He put his fingers down, brought them together and then apart, letting the ring slide along the base of his finger, and then brought them together again.

"I don't usually wear that heirloom, for fear of losing it," Shen Yu'an said.

Nishizawa said, "I usually wear the platinum one. I wear both for important occasions."

Shen Yu'an nodded.

He lowered his head and turned the heirloom ring on his ring finger, bringing it to the front, then touched the edge of the platinum ring next to it.

The two rings were pressed together, one wide and one narrow, one old and one new, like two cross-sections of time superimposed on the same piece of skin.

He looked up at Xize.

"Then you put this small one on me, and I'll put the big one on you. We've swapped them."

Xize looked down at the platinum ring on his ring finger, then looked up at him: "It's been changed."

Shen Yu'an sniffed and looked down at him: "Get up."

Xize stood up, nearly a head taller than Shen Yu'an, and then resumed his usual posture of looking down at him.

Shen Yu'an was still holding up his left hand, the silver ring on his ring finger swaying slightly in the candlelight.

He looked at Xize, and Xize looked at him too.

Then Shen Yu'an took a small step forward, reached out and wrapped his arms around Xize's neck, pulling him down.

Xize lowered his head following his force, and Shen Yu'an's lips pressed against his.

The kiss was wet because Shen Yu'an still had tears on her face.

His lips tasted slightly salty when they touched Xize's. His eyes were closed, his eyelashes were still wet, and his hands were wrapped around the back of Xize's neck, gripping his collar.

Xize put one arm around his waist and the other hand on the back of his head, pulling him into his arms.

White roses sat beside the bus stop, their petals edged with a pale gold. The eaves of the bus stop were still the same, but the streetlights had been replaced with warm white lights, casting long, long shadows of the two people.

Shen Yu'an's eyes were still red when he opened his lips, but he was smiling.

He looked down at the silver ring on his ring finger, which was still warm from his body, and then looked up at Xize.

"Does your knee hurt when you kneel on the ground?"

"It doesn't hurt."

"Your coat is dirty."

"Go back and change."

Shen Yu'an glanced down at the ring again, then reached out and turned it to face up. The silver surface reflected the candlelight and shone brightly once more.

Xize looked down at the ring on his finger, reached out and touched it, his fingertip lightly brushing against the silver surface, then withdrew and took his hand.

"Let's go home."

Shen Yu'an hummed in agreement and was led by him toward the parking lot. After taking a couple of steps, he glanced back at the candles and white roses on the ground, then turned back to look at Xize's profile.

"Daddy."

"Um."

"I'm wearing the ring."

Xize tightened his grip on his hand slightly: "I know."

Shen Yu'an looked down at their clasped hands. The silver heirloom ring on his ring finger was being held against Xize's finger, glowing brightly under the streetlight.

A gust of wind blew from the street corner, causing the candle flames to tilt slightly at the same time before bouncing back.

"Does the ring feel cold to wear?" Caesar asked.

Shen Yu'an looked down at his ring finger: "It's cold now."

"It gets warm after wearing it for a while."

Shen Yu'an raised her hand and held it out to Xize: "Then help me cover it up."

Xize grasped the outstretched hand and held it in his palm.

His palm was warm, and as it rested against the metal of the ring, it slowly warded off the coolness. He held onto that hand tightly, and the two continued walking.

Shen Yu'an's hand was enveloped by him, and the ring peeking out between her fingers was warmed by Xize's body heat, the temperature of the metal gradually rising.

Shen Yu'an withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward. Xize was still holding his hand, their palms pressed together, the ring set between them, the metal already warm from being held together.

What would your grandmother say if she saw me wearing this?

"She would say, 'Finally, it's given to the person who deserved it.'"

Shen Yu'an did not respond.

He walked for a while, then switched the flowers to Xize's hand, and raised his free hand to look at the ring again.

The light from the streetlamp fell on its surface once more, and the silver color, penetrated by the light, appeared very light and faint, like a thin layer of light floating on a finger.

He put his hand down. He didn't pick it up again to look at it.

The two walked to the end of the street corner and parked the car on the side of the road.

Xize opened the car door, and Shen Yu'an bent down to get in. Xize closed the door and got in from the other side. The driver started the car and smoothly drove into the evening traffic.

The car was very quiet.

Shen Yu'an leaned back in his seat, his left hand resting on his knee, with the bouquet of white roses placed upright on the seat between him and Xize.

Xize sat for a while, then reached out and picked up the flowers, placing them on his side. He then reached out and grasped Shen Yu'an's hand, which was resting on his knee, his fingers interlocking with Shen'an's.

Shen Yu'an did not move.

He looked down at their clasped hands. Xize's skin was darker than his. The silver ring was stuck between their intertwined fingers, firmly in place and unable to move.

"You said the ring would warm up later," Shen Yu'an said. "It seems to have warmed up already."

Xize's fingers tightened slightly, his thumb rubbing against the base of his finger, his voice low, just two words: "It's warm now."