I See Roses

I See Roses – Chapter 34

As soon as she received the message, Ming Si subconsciously glanced at the time on her phone.

01:13.

This should be one of the few times she stayed up late since returning to the country. Unexpectedly, Cheng Yu and Liang Xian also coincidentally turned into night owls.

Ming Si picked up her phone and replied:「Aren’t you also not sleeping?」

She quickly tidied up the worktable, and just as she was about to turn off the lights and leave, the phone screen lit up.

Liang Xian:「Can’t sleep.」

Through the screen, she couldn’t see his tone or expression, so Ming Si relied on her own judgment as she typed:「What’s wrong? Do you have something on your mind?」

Just as she pressed send, a bright and dazzling lightning flashed before her eyes, immediately followed by a deafening thunder.

Rumble—

Torrential rain poured down.

Ming Si was completely unprepared and screamed in fright, nearly losing her balance. After a while, she covered her pounding heart, still feeling a lingering fear.

It was actually raining.

The thunderstorm came on suddenly, and raindrops kept smashing against the window, forming a torrential curtain of rain that was constantly broken and interwoven.

At the end of summer in Pingcheng, this kind of rain was quite common.

However, after walking a few steps, there was another thunderclap without warning.

Ming Si’s eyelids twitched. She forcefully suppressing the terrifying feeling as if her scalp was exploding and quickly rushed downstairs. She closed the bedroom door and lay on the bed for a while before remembering to check her WeChat.

Liang Xian’s message was from three minutes ago:「Nothing.」

There was another message below:「There’s been some thunderclaps. Are you afraid?」

Ming Si used to be particularly afraid of thunderclaps when she was a child, the kind that would scare her to hide everywhere.

At the healing resort on the island, there happened to be a rare thunderstorm day.

The nanny searched the entire villa but couldn’t find Ming Si. She came back to report with a frightened expression. Hearing this, Cheng Yu was about to cry out of anxiety. In the end, Liang Xian found her in the cloakroom.

At that time, Ming Si was curled up in a decorative woven bamboo basket, huddled into a small ball, both hands tightly covering her ears.

She was wearing a spaghetti strap nightgown, with her arms exposed. When lightning flashed from outside the window, her skin looked as if it was covered in a layer of snow.

……

She didn’t reply for a while, so Liang Xian sent another message:「Ming Si?」

Ming Si turned over before replying slowly:「Do you think I’m three years old?」

Liang Xian chuckled softly:「No. You were probably six years old at that time.」

It was the first time he say Ming Si being so timid. When she heard the thunder, she almost buried her head in her knees, like a little ostrich.

When he saw the lightning flash, he patted her shoulder to remind her, “There’s another thunder coming.”

However, Ming Si seemed startled. She quickly pulled out a colorful shawl from her side and covered her head with it as if she could block out the sound that way.

Six years old…

Ming Si, of course, also remembered. He was talking about that thunderstorm.

During that time, she just wanted to get away quickly. She randomly pulled out a shawl from the closet and used it as a blanket, hiding in the woven bamboo basket. She was probably too scared that she didn’t even hear when others were looking for her.

Until, through the shawl, she felt someone’s hands covering her ears, coinciding with a piercing clap of thunder that made her tremble. Perhaps because her attention was distracted, she felt that the power of this thunderclap seemed much weaker.

……

That thunderstorm was her childhood shadow, and of course, she wouldn’t forget it.

She just didn’t expect that, after all this time, Liang Xian would still remember this event.

Ming Si propped her cheek with one hand, biting her lip in contemplation.

Memories suddenly became a bit blurry—was Liang Xian always like this, or did he become friendly to her after they reconciled?

She felt it should be the latter.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had so many misunderstandings over the years.

But since they had reconciled, some issues were not that important anymore.

She was still magnanimous.

Ming Si’s hand felt sore, so she switched hands and slowly typed with her left hand:「Don’t bring up my black history, go to sleep quickly.」

Was that considered a black history?

However, it was already late, and Liang Xian didn’t continue the conversation. He seemed to compromise and replied:「Alright, won’t bring it up.」

After sending this message, he turned around and leaned against the window. The short stool at the end of the bed widened and lengthened in his view, gradually distorting into the light-colored bamboo basket from his memories.

Tonight’s insomnia was unexpected. It probably started when he inadvertently discovered a faint lipstick mark on his cheek.

Then he realized; no wonder Ming Si looked at his profile several times in the cinema, seemingly as if she had something to say, but whenever he looked at her with a questioning gaze, she said nothing.

She was quite mischievous.

Liang Xian lightly hooked the corner of his lips, intending to wipe off the lipstick mark with his hand, but his hand paused in mid-air.

He remembered when he was a child, many elders saw him quarreling with Ming Si and liked to tease them, asking him if he would marry Ming Si when he grew up.

He always said he wouldn’t.

Back then, although Liang Xian was still young, he had a rudimentary sense of aesthetics.

From the bottom of his heart, he felt that girls like Ming Si, willful and temperamental, with a little temper towards everyone, and liked to command the boys, were not compatible with him at all.

From the bottom of his heart, he felt that girls like Ming Si — willful and capricious, with a temper towards everyone, enjoyed bossing around the little boys — were not compatible with him at all.

Who would have thought that after so many years, those elders’ words would come true, and he seemed to have become one of those little boys who got used to going along with her without even realizing it.

At 7:00 PM, in front of Pingcheng Jiali Hotel, a long red carpet meandered all the way to the foot of the spacious and clean marble steps.

Media personnel were lined up with their cameras and equipment, the flashlights never stopping.

“Remember, make sure to take pictures quickly! We won’t be allowed in after the red carpet since we don’t have the invitation!”

“Get a clear shot! Focus on the characters, zoom in!”

“Did you change the lens? Check it quickly!”

“Are they here yet?”

“…”

Finally, amidst the eagerly anticipating gazes of the crowd, a black extended Bentley slowly entered the scene.

The car stopped precisely at the beginning of the red carpet, and the doorman leaned forward to open the car door. In an instant, countless flashes went off, lighting up the night sky almost as bright as day.

“It’s too exaggerated, I might go blind,” an intern reporter was pushed around by the crowd, struggling to speak, “I haven’t even seen what they look like!”

“As long as your camera captures them, that’s enough,” an experienced reporter said, “Even I didn’t get to see them clearly, did I?”

The intern reporter pushed away a colleague who was squeezing past and reached out to take some random shots through the gaps. When she checked the pictures, they were all blurry, and none of them were usable, which left her feeling disappointed.

This frenzy was even crazier than when she was chasing stars.

And in this short time, the figures of the couple had already approached in front of them.

Peering through the crowd, they saw that the man was tall and slim, while the woman exuded an alluring charm, appetizing everyone’s curiosity.

The true nature of the intern reporter’s star-chasing dog was revealed instantly; she decisively chose to feast her eyes first.

Holding her camera protectively against her chest, she focused on clearing a path. Finally, she managed to overcome the obstacles and reached the front row. Her mouth formed a small “O” shape—

How could there be such a perfect couple!

The legendary young master of the Liang family was exceptionally handsome. Was he really the president of the film company and not the superstar himself?

With his broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, and a tailor-made suit that exuded an elite temperament, his charming and elegant demeanor seemed innate.

As for the young lady of the Ming family; her long satin-like hair was curled and pinned to one side, revealing her fair neck. Was she wearing a… Van Cleef & Arpels full-diamond necklace? Or some other high-end custom design?

The intern reporter couldn’t make out the exact brand, and as her gaze moved up, she happened to catch a glimpse of the young lady’s polite smile.

Her appearance was striking and bold, giving the impression of someone proud and not easily approachable. But at this moment, as she smiled with slightly curved eyebrows and red lips raised, with two shallow dimples under her eyes, she looked quite sweet.

When they stood together, how should one put it, their aura was truly extraordinary and evenly matched!

The intern reporter watched the two of them walk away with envy; finally, she couldn’t help but reveal a motherly smile.

This engagement ceremony was truly grand. Jinghong and the Ming Family Group invited almost all the important figures from the business and political circles of Pingcheng, as well as their foreign partners. They all entered through a private VIP channel.

Following them on the red carpet were the stars and artists from Jinghong Films. Top-tier celebrities passed by like a continuous stream, and the fashion media waiting outside began another round of frenzy.

Those who received invitations to the main venue of the engagement ceremony were prestigious media representatives from Pingcheng.

They were more professional and reserved. Some adjusted their angles for shots, others had laptops and were already typing away.

The engagement ceremony proceeded quickly. Ming Si and Liang Xian walked onto the stage holding hands, striking sweet poses under the incessant flashes of the cameras.

Next was a brief presentation by Jinghong on the recent cooperation with the Ming Family Group, which didn’t involve them directly.

Ming Si entered the VIP lounge and sat down on the sofa, while Liang Xian closed the door and approached her.

She gently tugged at the corners of her lips and then stopped as she relaxed her facial muscles, “I’m almost smiling too much.”

Liang Xian bent down and took out two bottles of mineral water from the mini-fridge. Hearing her words, he raised an eyebrow, “Then why don’t you just stop smiling?”

“That won’t do,” Ming Si put down the mini mirror in her hand and looked at him with an expression of You wouldn’t understand, and said, “The photos won’t look good if I don’t smile.”

Indeed, idol responsibilities were the heaviest burdens for peacocks.

Liang Xian curved his lips, handing one of the bottles of mineral water to her, “Do you want to drink?”

“Forget it, I’m wearing lipstick,” Ming Si raised the mirror again to check. She was quite satisfied with today’s personal makeup artist and was considering getting their contact information for future occasions.

In her peripheral vision, the bottle cap of the mineral water was opened and handed to her with a straw sticking out.

Ming Si was taken aback for a moment, but she instinctively reached out and took it, taking a sip through the straw.

Liang Xian pulled back his hand and leaned against the wine cabinet not far from her.

He was wearing a black suit tonight with a soft white shirt and a black tie tied in a Windsor knot, which was more formal than usual. However, his aura as a superior, wealthy young gentleman remained unchanged.

Perhaps it was because of the special occasion, Ming Si felt a bit unfamiliar when she looked at him right now.

Light and airy, as if walking on air.

It’s not that she hadn’t imagined this day before—when she first returned to the country, Ming Si had thought of a hundred and eight ways to find trouble, ready to put them into practice at the engagement ceremony.

However, in just a short half year, she and Liang Xian had reached a point where they could calmly face the fact that they were going to be united in marriage.

Ming Si put down the mineral water bottle and her gaze inadvertently swept over her left ring finger.

There, she wore her engagement ring, a custom-made Harry Winston piece, a pink oval-shaped diamond with a clarity grade of IF. Even the main diamond had its own name, called Pride.

On the day she received the ring, she tried it on and found it very beautiful. She wanted to take a photo and show it to Liang Xian, but felt that it would be strange, so she gave up.

Should she invite him to admire it now?

Liang Xian noticed her staring at the ring for a while without saying anything, looking somewhat conflicted. After pausing for a moment, he walked over and bent down to look at her, “What’s wrong, having second thoughts?”