Chapter 16: Do you want to marry me?

Zong Xi happened to think of Xu Lin too. “How’s that person doing? The one named Xu Lin.”

Ji Jixuan said, “Still in the hospital.”

“Didn’t they say he wasn’t in critical condition? Why is he still there?”

Ji Jixuan rubbed the rim of his glass. “His face was disfigured.”

“His face?” Zong Xi understood immediately. Shielding Ji Jixuan so completely in an explosion like that—he must not have protected himself at all. Disfigurement was already a relatively light consequence.

“Are you worried about how to settle things with him? Isn’t that simple? Pay for his treatment, or give him money. I remember he’s from District Thirteen, right? Just give him enough to last a lifetime and the problem’s solved.”

“He doesn’t want money,” Ji Jixuan said.

“Doesn’t want money?” Zong Xi was a little surprised.

Ji Jixuan said, “He doesn’t seem to care about his face either. He’s not treating it properly.”

“What a strange person.” Zong Xi asked, “Then what does he want?”

“I don’t know either.” Ji Jixuan blinked, then said after a long pause, “He said he likes me.”

Zong Xi shrugged. “It’s not like you’re short on people who like you.”

“I know it’s fake.”

Zong Xi paused, silent for a moment. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, exhaled, and then said slowly, “Is that so? If it’s fake, why would he shield you from that blast? He nearly lost his life, and his face is ruined. Is he just bored?”

“I don’t understand him.” Ji Jixuan was genuinely confused by Xu Lin’s attitude.

If he was trying to climb the social ladder, why wouldn’t he take the money? If he truly liked him, why wouldn’t he stay in Danshi?

Ji Jixuan downed the rest of his wine in one gulp, frowning.

“I didn’t ask him to help me. He acted on his own. He says I don’t owe him anything, but it’s not that simple.” He set the glass down heavily on the table with a loud thud.

“I can’t accept being indebted to a Beta. I want to settle this with him.”

Zong Xi gave Ji Jixuan a long, searching look, trying to read something from his expression. Failing, he sighed. “Sometimes I really think you’re too serious about these things.” He said, “How are you going to settle it?”

“I’m going to heal his face.”

His face was ruined because of Ji Jixuan. Once the scars were gone, naturally, Ji Jixuan would no longer owe him.

Zong Xi shrugged. “But he doesn’t want your money. And he’s leaving soon. From what I know, District Thirteen doesn’t have good medical care. How are you going to make him get treatment? Looks like you’re going to be in his debt forever.”

Ji Jixuan seemed to have made up his mind about something. “I’ll keep him in Danshi.” As long as Xu Lin stayed in Danshi, Ji Jixuan would definitely heal his face no matter how long it took or what the cost. He would completely clear this debt he’d been forced into.

Zong Xi asked casually, “What reason will you use?”

Ji Jixuan lowered his eyelids and said nothing more.

The next day.

Two nurses came to apply medication to Xu Lin. He overheard them discussing a movie—the very one Yi Wei’s play had been based on.

So people in Danshi really did like this kind of story.

“Is that movie any good?”

The nurses chatted as they prepared the medication for his wounds. Hearing Xu Lin ask, one of the young nurses eagerly recommended it. “This movie is a Danshi classic—it was a box office sensation back in the day. It’s recently been re-released, and it’s really good. The cinema near my place is even running a promotion: any couple gets free popcorn, a plush toy, and a rose. A ton of people are going to see it.”

Xu Lin seemed lost in thought.

At 1 PM, Ji Jixuan arrived on time.

When he pushed open the door, Xu Lin was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, seemingly lost in thought.

Hearing Ji Jixuan’s footsteps, Xu Lin turned to look at him. “Ji Jixuan, you asked me if I had any requests. Is it true that you’ll agree to anything I ask?”

Behind him was the transparent window. Beyond the glass was the blue sky. His face was framed with a golden edge of light, half of it covered with the fresh, still-damp medication.

Ji Jixuan slowly withdrew his hand from the doorknob. He nodded. “Tell me.”

What Xu Lin asked for was the complete opposite of what Ji Jixuan had imagined.

He smiled and requested, “Then come watch a movie with me.”

Twenty minutes later, Ji Jixuan brought Xu Lin to the largest cinema in downtown Danshi. The car stopped in the underground garage. Ji Jixuan told the bodyguards to wait, and he brought Xu Lin onto the elevator.

The elevator stopped at the top floor. Staff members who had been waiting there for a while immediately stepped forward.

Before leaving, Xu Lin had covered the wound on his face with gauze. Though the half-wrapped face made him look like a patient who’d been badly beaten up, it was still better than frightening people with his gruesome scars.

The staff showed no reaction to Xu Lin’s gauze-wrapped face. With professional composure, they maintained polite smiles and silently guided them.

Ji Jixuan was used to this treatment. Xu Lin followed behind him, curious, looking around.

The cinemas in District Thirteen were, at best, a small room with a few seats—a screen hung up and that was it. People crowded together in the small space, standing or sitting, noisy and stuffy, with all sorts of smells mixed together. Xu Lin didn’t like going; if there was a movie he was interested in, he’d watch it on Pu Sha’s computer at home.

He’d never been to a proper cinema before.

Danshi’s cinema was built like a castle—clean, bright, with a faint pleasant scent in the air. But the whole place was empty. Xu Lin didn’t see a single person.

Xu Lin couldn’t help but mutter, “Is Danshi’s cinema always this empty?”

The staff member guiding them said with a smile, “Mr. Ji booked the entire venue today.”

Xu Lin: “…”

Entering the screening room, they chose seats in the middle.

The staff member stood by, waiting.

Ji Jixuan asked him, “What do you want to watch?”

Xu Lin was still marveling at how comfortable the seats were. He was momentarily taken aback. He’d forgotten to ask the nurse what the movie was called. He tried to explain to the staff member, “It’s that… the one that was recently re-released. An old movie.”

The staff member understood immediately and nodded.

The lights in the screening room dimmed. The screen lit up.

Xu Lin watched intently.

His seat and Ji Jixuan’s were right next to each other, separated by only an armrest. Ji Jixuan’s hand rested casually on the armrest. Xu Lin could reach out and touch it if he wanted to.

But he didn’t.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Ji Jixuan. Ji Jixuan was propping up his chin with one hand. Though his eyes were on the screen, he didn’t seem particularly interested in the movie.

He was just sitting here to keep Xu Lin company.

Xu Lin bit his lip. He turned his head and whispered to Ji Jixuan, “Can I get some popcorn?”

Ji Jixuan looked at him.

A few minutes later, a staff member brought over a bucket of hot, crispy, caramel-sweet popcorn.

It smelled wonderful.

Xu Lin hugged the popcorn bucket, eating piece after piece as he watched the movie, crunching nonstop.

After a while, he remembered Ji Jixuan. He turned his head to ask if he wanted some. As he turned, he saw Ji Jixuan in the dim light, still propping up his chin, but this time, his face wasn’t facing the screen. It was facing him.

Who knew how long he’d been watching.

Xu Lin’s heart skipped a beat. His ears burned. He cleared his throat, picked up a piece of popcorn, and asked, “Do you want some?”

Ji Jixuan said, “No.”

Xu Lin turned his gaze back to the screen, popped the popcorn into his mouth, and chewed. The corners of his lips curved up and refused to come back down.

The movie’s plot was simple.

The content was similar to the play Yi Wei had performed, but Yi Wei’s group had changed the ending to a happy, family-friendly one. The original ending had the two protagonists separated, living far apart.

Elias was the male lead, a high-ranking aristocrat who fell in love with Sophia, his servant girl, drawn to her passion and vitality. They quickly fell in love.

But their secret affair was soon discovered. At the time, they couldn’t fight against the rotten, status-obsessed families and society. They were forced apart.

Before she was sent back to her hometown, Sophia was banished. Elias wept and promised he would find her and that she should wait for him. Elias spent years in hiding, using every means to fight against his family. For power and profit, he was forced to marry an aristocratic lady. Finally, he became the head of the family and excitedly went across the sea to find his love.

But when he arrived at Sophia’s hometown and found her house, all he saw was a courtyard of withered lilies of the valley, a wooden house overgrown with vines and dust. Sophia was nowhere to be found.

A neighbor told him, “Sophia got married. She left with her husband.”

The neighbor said that Sophia had returned to her hometown years ago. She loved life, kept her home in perfect order, and got along well with everyone. She was a warm, passionate girl. Many pursued her, but she turned them all down. She said she was waiting for her lover to come for her.

But one day, this Sophia, who always wore a smile and looked toward the future with hope, was kneeling in front of her house, sobbing uncontrollably. When the neighbor asked, Sophia told her that her lover had fallen in love with someone else.

By then, news of Elias’s engagement had spread across the sea—and it had reached Sophia’s ears on the other shore.

She knew her young master would never come back for her. Elias had a new partner and a new life. She had to move forward too. So she began a new relationship, married a traveling globetrotter, and the couple set off together for a world without chains.

At the end of the film, Elias walks down the path, leaving the dilapidated wooden house behind. At some point, he turns back to look. That’s the final shot.

Two seconds of black screen, then the credits roll.

The movie was over.

Xu Lin’s popcorn bucket was empty.

No wonder this kind of story, about status and class conflict, was so popular in Danshi.

The entire film praised Elias’s devoted love. A nobleman scheming and laboring for a commoner of unequal status, they painted him as deeply devoted, while not mentioning that he’d been the one to betray Sophia’s trust first. “Forced” to marry for power? Slapping a label of “compelled” and “had no choice” on the beneficiary—was the profit he gained somehow fake? Did that excuse his betrayal?

Xu Lin pressed the empty popcorn bucket flat between his palms.

Those at the top always got more. Naturally, the arrogant people of Danshi would enjoy watching something like this.

They’d be happy if all the Sophias who stood in the way of Elias’s grand plans were dead.

Compared to the play, Xu Lin still preferred the original movie’s ending.

An ending that was perfect for Sophia.

The movie ended. The lights in the screening room came back on.

“Do you want to watch another one?” Ji Jixuan asked.

The movie had been two hours long. Xu Lin’s backside couldn’t handle another one. He shook his head. “No.”

Xu Lin made small talk. “Did you like the movie?”

“It was okay.”

“It seems pretty famous in Danshi. Have you seen it before?”

“No. First time.”

Ji Jixuan’s answers were always concise.

Xu Lin kept chattering.

“This is my first time seeing it too.” Xu Lin couldn’t help but say what was on his mind. “I don’t get why it’s so popular.”

“Elias kept saying he loved her, but he still married someone else. It’s ridiculous.”

Ji Jixuan turned to look at him.

“Once you get married, you’re responsible for your partner. He got engaged to an aristocratic lady for profit, while pining for Sophia in his heart. He let everyone down, and he got everything he wanted. If I were the screenwriter, I’d have Sophia beat him up before leaving. That would be satisfying.”

Xu Lin was so angry he was practically fuming. Ji Jixuan couldn’t understand why he was so worked up. So he asked.

“Why are you so angry?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” Xu Lin was surprised. “Marriage is such a serious, sacred thing. You can’t just treat it casually. Marriage is not a joke!”

He said it with complete sincerity, looking directly into Ji Jixuan’s eyes, his body leaning slightly toward him.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Lin suddenly froze. In the adjacent seats, the air between them grew thin. The atmosphere had become strange.

Their eyes met. Xu Lin’s mouth went dry.

He lowered his gaze, his lashes trembling slightly. Then he looked up again, his eyes darting away a few times before he mustered the courage to look back at Ji Jixuan, murmuring, “If I ever get married, it’ll be to the person I love most.” He paused, then smiled. “Ji Jixuan, I hope it’s the same for you.”

After the movie, they left the screening room.

Xu Lin threw the popcorn bucket into the trash. Along the way out, there were plenty of shops selling various items.

Passing a fruit shop, he stared at the plump strawberries in the display window for a long time.

A staff member was still leading the way.

Xu Lin thought for a moment and asked, “Don’t you have any promotions here?”

The staff member was surprised. “What kind of promotion do you mean?”

“Well…” As Xu Lin spoke, he noticed Ji Jixuan looking at him. His voice somehow got quieter. “Like, watching a movie comes with a plush toy… or flowers or something.”

The staff member smiled and explained, “We don’t have that kind of promotion here.”

“Oh, okay, okay.” Xu Lin quickly dropped the subject.

Back in the parking lot, Xu Lin sat in the back seat with Ji Jixuan again. There was enough empty space between them for two more people.

They waited for a while. The driver stayed outside the car, and the car didn’t start for a long time.

“Why aren’t we going?” After about ten minutes of waiting, Xu Lin couldn’t help but ask.

Ji Jixuan didn’t answer.

About five minutes later, a bodyguard in black emerged from the elevator not far away.

He was carrying two things in his arms.

Xu Lin’s eyes widened.

A bouquet of roses. And a box of strawberries.

The bodyguard opened the car door and, at Ji Jixuan’s signal, handed them to Xu Lin.

Xu Lin stared, hesitant at first, then finally took them.

The rich floral fragrance filled his nose.

So Ji Jixuan had noticed him staring at the fruit in the shop window.

Xu Lin had only mentioned whether the cinema had any promotions, and Ji Jixuan had guessed.

He really had wanted a rose.

The bouquet the bodyguard brought was large, nearly filling his arms when he held it. They’d probably been purchased on the spot.

Xu Lin pulled out one rose and carefully held it in his hand. Then he handed the rest of the bouquet back to Ji Jixuan.

Ji Jixuan looked confused.

Xu Lin’s cheeks burned. “I asked if there was a promotion because I did want flowers. But the flowers… were meant for you. I heard that during the movie promotion, they’d give a rose to every couple. I thought maybe if we went together, I could take one, and you could take one too. That way, it would feel like a date. Even though we’re not a couple… I wanted to give these flowers to the person I’m on a date with. When I go back to my hometown, I’ll always remember this day.

“Ji Jixuan, thank you for spending time with me today. I had a really good time.”

Ji Jixuan didn’t take the bouquet. Seeing that he didn’t seem to want it, Xu Lin set the flowers down on the seat between them.

Only after the items were delivered did the driver get in the car and drive out of the garage.

The car cruised smoothly along the wide road. Xu Lin stared out the window, occasionally sniffing the single rose in his hand.

Sunlight fell into his eyes, turning one of his irises a light brown. He smiled, seeming to be in a good mood.

Ji Jixuan tilted his head slightly and saw Xu Lin bathed in sunlight, wrapped in that warm glow.

He curled his fingers and suddenly asked, “Is there anything else you want?”

Xu Lin was easily satisfied. He shook his head. “Watching a movie was enough.”

“Really nothing else?”

Xu Lin laughed. “Nothing.”

Ji Jixuan fell silent again.

After a long pause, he said, “You have one month until graduation.”

“Yeah.” Xu Lin checked the calendar every day. This reminded him of the urgent matter at hand. “You should really let me go back to school by now. Otherwise, I’m seriously worried I won’t graduate.”

“You still want to leave?”

“What would I stay here for?” Xu Lin thought it was a ridiculous question. “Once I graduate, I can’t stay in the dormitory. If I don’t go back, where would I live in Danshi? Besides, I can’t work at the restaurant forever, can I? I came to Danshi for a purpose. Once it’s done, I have to go home. I have things to do there too.

“Danshi isn’t my hometown. If you put a river fish in the sea, the river fish will die.”

Ji Jixuan’s expression darkened as he seemed lost in thought. Then, he lightly tapped the armrest with his index finger—two muted taps. The driver glanced in the rearview mirror and understood. A partition suddenly rose in the middle of the car, blocking off the front compartment.

Xu Lin was puzzled when Ji Jixuan spoke.

“Xu Lin.”

He’d never said his name so seriously before. Xu Lin felt nervous. “What is it?”

“Do you really like me?”

Xu Lin was taken aback. He’d already confessed, so he didn’t deny it. He nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

Ji Jixuan looked at him. The roses in the middle of the seat were reflected in his eyes, a blur of red.

He asked, “Then do you want to marry me?”