93: You are the ray of light that touched my heart most during my moments of confusion.

Yan Qinghe didn't wait for a single second before pulling him tightly into his embrace.

"I like you too, very, very much."

They embraced like that for a long time, and the cold winds sweeping past their ears seemed to turn gentle.

"Do you want to hear how I fell in love with you?" Yan Qinghe finally spoke.

Zhuohua didn't make a sound, simply nodding quietly.

"The first time I saw you was at the home behind us. At that time, you were a noble young master, soon to become the heir of the Yan Family, while I was just a poor boy raised by a thug from an old neighborhood. Looking at you was like seeing another world. Even though you didn't seem happy, you were still radiant."

"Then, I had my first contact with you in that house of yours. You were speaking in front of me, with half of the bustling city visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind you. To me, you were still unreachable starlight."

"Soon after, you left, and I began to receive various kinds of education and training. I was very ill-at-ease at first, until I was at the Military Camp and unexpectedly discovered your training records in Eldest Brother's office."

"In the videos, you were wearing military green training fatigues, looking high-spirited and dashing."

"Later, I discovered that in every single thing I came into contact with, I could find traces of your existence. Your name was on the best records at the shooting range, and your analysis and insights were behind the case studies for those courses. Everything I had to learn, you had already learned, and you had left a deep impression on them."

"So, bit by bit, I pieced together your image from those records—the one that was different from what I had seen, the most authentic you. Through those records, some brief and some detailed, I gradually got to know you. It was like watching you slowly go from being inexperienced to proficient, and then to a peak that no one could reach. I watched your light shine in every place around me."

"It could be said that I glimpsed every bit of your progress and every change in your thoughts through those records. From that point on, my understanding of you was no less than that of any of your companions or our common relatives."

"Therefore, my feelings for you weren't love at first sight, let alone for interest or revenge. Instead, after four years of seeing you day and night in those records, the seed in my heart gradually sprouted and grew, and then you became the one I dreamed of."

"Every bit of you, every word you left on those papers, was the beam of light that most moved my heart back then when I was at my most hesitant, lost, and perplexed."

...

As Yan Qinghe's voice trailed off, the two of them remained silent for a long time.

After a while, Zhuohua, finally separating himself slightly from his heart full of bittersweet emotions, asked his next question.

"You said last time... you said you started liking me three years ago."

Yan Qinghe smiled. "It was three years ago. At the beginning, I was just shocked by your brilliance, and I explored your story with a heart full of curiosity and a search for direction. Then, after a year had passed, when I was seventeen, I truly realized that this was love."

"I saw you, this beam of light, five years ago, and then I fell in love with this light two years later and desperately wanted to have it. There is no conflict there."

Zhuohua still refused to look up. "Then, after you knew, you just kept waiting?"

"Of course I wouldn't," Yan Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "You were supposed to come back then, but there was no movement. I waited for a while first. After confirming that you really weren't willing to come back in the short term, I started preparing for the DU Club. I thought that if you wouldn't come back, I could buy you back. It's just that I wasn't experienced after all, so my progress was a bit slow. By the time I could finally buy you back, you actually came back on your own."

"So that's why you proposed marriage?" Zhuohua finally looked up.

"Yes, I was afraid that if I didn't seize the chance, you would escape my control again." Yan Qinghe poked the space between his eyebrows. "I was really anxious then. My heart was full of the thought that no matter what means I used, I had to get my hands on you first."

"Then you succeeded."

"I succeeded; I succeeded without even a single hitch." Yan Qinghe cupped his face and gave him a kiss. "When you agreed, I thought I was dreaming."

Zhuohua took the initiative to kiss him back. Their lips and teeth met, and they kissed for a long time.

After they separated, Yan Qinghe didn't let him go, continuing to question him like this.

"Can you tell me now why you were always unwilling to face my feelings?"

Zhuohua's eyes flickered. "I just... I hope my love can be equal, where no one owes anyone anything. I feel that only such a relationship can last."

"I understand. You felt that before those things were cleared up, you always owed me, so you were unwilling to face it?"

Zhuohua nodded. "I wanted to wait until things were resolved to talk about our feelings with you in a clean and pure way."

Yan Qinghe understood completely. He could understand Zhuohua's mindset; indeed, there was nothing wrong with it.

"So now, do we have a mutual understanding?" Yan Qinghe asked him.

"Yes," Zhuohua's voice relaxed a lot. "I fell for your various schemes long ago; it's just that I'm discussing it in detail with you today."

The two finally had a complete heart-to-heart. They continued to chat affectionately while setting off the remaining fireworks.

More and more fireworks flew into the sky in succession and then burst apart. The two people below held hands and watched the scenery overhead together.

Zhuohua rummaged through the box and found that there were actually many sparklers inside.

"Second Brother is truly amazing!" Zhuohua took some out and lit them, watching the sparks burst continuously in front of him.

In a daze, Zhuohua suddenly remembered something.

"The day I won the championship nearly half a year ago, did you go to see me?" Zhuohua remembered that figure at the time.

Yan Qinghe was very surprised. "You recognized me?"

"It really was you?" Zhuohua said in pleasant surprise. "I just thought it looked like you at the time."

"I went to three of your matches, but I was always hidden in the crowd. Only that one time did I stand alone for a bit, and you discovered me." Yan Qinghe looked at him gently.

"Of course!" Zhuohua said with a bit of pride. "But you know, after hearing your story, I can actually understand why other true young masters who return to wealthy families hate the fake young master who took their place so much."

Yan Qinghe looked at him with great interest, gesturing for him to continue.

"Because after he returns, every single thing he comes into contact with and learns bears that person's shadow. Even if that person isn't there, every object and every trace around him is telling him that someone stole the brilliance that should have been his. Living in such an environment every day is truly terrifying. It's only you who could turn that kind of pressure into love."

"Then everything between us is just right," Yan Qinghe said. "Now that everything's been said, can you tell me why you were unhappy just now?"

"It's nothing. Finally coming home and spending a lively New Year, thinking about my past life... and my father, and myself. All sorts of emotions rushed up at once, and with the help of the alcohol, I just felt bad." Zhuohua spoke very lightly. "And you already coaxed me just now. Even though you used Second Brother's things."

Yan Qinghe couldn't help but kiss his forehead again.

"Well, look at you two! Sneaking out to set off fireworks, are we?" Yan Zhuole's voice came from behind. "Is it because you didn't want us to disturb your world for two?"