That evening, I didn’t follow Ke Fei’s ridiculous advice to go “buy a Coke” with Chu Ke Huan. Instead, I asked Hao Yi out and thoroughly “detoxified” myself.
When someone in a long-term relationship encounters an unfamiliar member of the opposite sex, they may mistake casual friendliness for ambiguous affection. People with weak willpower or low self-control often end up “falling for it” or even doing something reckless. The simplest and least harmful way to detoxify such feelings is to have a romantic candlelit dinner or spend some quality time with your partner. By isolating yourself with your significant other, your overheated brain cools down, and you realize: “Ah, everything that happened with that other person was just an illusion—this is my reality.” That’s what I call detoxifying.
However, since Hao Yi has been obsessed with buying property over the past two years, my detox routine has shifted from dinner and movies to something I have zero interest in: house hunting. Naturally, when Hao Yi heard I wanted to view houses, he was overjoyed.
During the viewing, even as the agent enthusiastically described how the owner had thoughtfully designed and decorated the house, making clever use of space, I could only smile and nod, slipping into autopilot.
“So, what do you think? Do you like this house?” Hao Yi asked, holding my hand tightly.
“That depends on you! Do you like it?” I replied with a smile.
“Whether I like it or not is secondary,” Hao Yi said, his expression serious. “This is your first time asking to look at houses, and that already means so much to me. Can I take it as a sign that you’re starting to imagine what our future life together would look like?”
“?!” His words, coupled with his earnest gaze, gave me a strange premonition. Why did this sound like the prelude to a certain kind of action men take with women…?
“Mr. Li, should I step out?” Even the real estate agent could sense the unusual atmosphere. Was Hao Yi really about to…?
And then it happened. Before I even had a chance to see the color of the velvet box, a dazzling diamond appeared before my eyes. By the time I realized the diamond was set in a ring, Hao Yi was already kneeling on one knee in front of me.
“Wei Wei, will you marry me?”
“Why... why would you... Why are you carrying a ring around?!” I was so shocked I couldn’t even feign happiness; my mind was filled with question marks.
“I’ve been planning to buy one for a long time, but I always felt you weren’t ready for marriage. But when you said you wanted to look at houses today, I thought it might finally be the right time. So, I swung by the department store after work and bought it.”
I think any girl would be moved by those words. But instead of joy, my heart was filled with guilt. I had asked to look at houses, and Hao Yi had mistaken it as a sign of wanting to take the next step. The truth, however, was that I had only done it to detoxify myself from the ripples caused by meeting another man and to force myself to face reality.
I’m awful.
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