That evening Maggie invited Ming-en for a date. Ming-en gradually accepted her invitation.
He was a bit down but he knew if there was no Maggie it might take him a year to reach the state he was in right now. Maggie unintentionally gave him alot of inner strength, she doesn't even know about.
That evening he meticulous picked casual outfit with matching assesories.
It was their first date albeit he can't find the right state of mind he does not want Maggie to be sad for him. It will take some time for him to heal but he still have to make Maggie happy at the moment.
"Grandson are you going out?" Grandpa Zhang looked at the Zhang Ming-en who was all Bling-bling (shining).
"Hmm, going out with Maggie."
"ooh that's why, enjoy your date then." saying that Grandpa Zhang continued looking at his tab.
Ming-en frowned at Grandpa's comment. He wasn't actually looking all bling bling like grandpa thought. It just that Ming-en never bothered to wear watches and ring while going out and that of even matching his outfit. Also his outfit was all new casual popular among young people.
Ming-en who was over 30 usually only look for comfy casuals. Also today Ming-en set his hairs with gel, it is not obvious but if you look carefully you will know at once.
"Am I over dressed?" Ming-en asked frowning.
"No, youth these days dress the same way, it's just that you don't wear such clothes. Don't overthink, go out quickly. don't let a lady wait for you."
Ming-en nodded and bid goodbye to grandpa Zhang before going out.
Maggie was already downstairs when Ming-en arrived he felt extremely guilty to let her wait.
"I am sorry, have you been waiting for a long time?" Ming-en asked.
"No, I just reached few minutes ago too." Maggie smiled awkwardly at Ming-en.
"Let's go then" Ming-en lead her towards his car "where are we going?"
Since it was Maggie who invited him it was also appropriate for her to decide on a place.
"Movie? Let's watch a movie! I haven't watched one for a long time now." Maggie beamed at the thought of getting some relaxing time at theater, she hoped that Ming-en would relax a bit there.
The two ended up watching a Sci fic movie. Holding hands, sharing a tub of popcorn, for Maggie it was totally romantic as for Ming-en, he felt happy in his heart and the small voice that was tormenting him down finally quieted down the moment they were together.
When Ming-en looked at their entwined fingers a voice spoke from bottom of his heart. 'it was worth it! There were probably other ways to take down the snake that day but if there were any mistake he might not be able to see Maggie anymore, Nor could he spend time with her like this.
Ming-en could not describe his feelings towards Maggie at the moment, but he knew without her he might now be able to be a person he was right now. She always gave her support and inspiration unknowingly.
He was definitely not a good person and more of a selfish person. He knew this, even though he wanted to be selfish and stay with her. If that day something really happened to her, he would have ceased to exist now.
People might find is exaggerated. But the power she gave to Ming-en only he can feel it. For other people it might seem insignificant. But only he knew how significant her existence was towards him.
[People say love is hard to find and really slippery. Mine was the same, I guess.] Ming-en thought as they finished watching the movie.
While the light was still off, Ming-en bent down and planted a fleeting kiss on Maggie's lips before retracting gradually.
"Thank you." he whispered in her ears.
_______
At weekend, Maggie palnned outing at a ocean side house with Ming-en and her friends. This time she did not hesitate to invite her sister Myra and her family and she also invited Wang Yang and Ling Ran with the help of Sean, her brother in law.
Grandpa Zhang denied the invitation saying he would like rest for a few days.
It was 2 days vacation, Maggie lead the group to the seaside hotel and let them rest first. At evening everyone gathered for bonfire.
"Let's play some music, bonfire is meant for music. " Da Hyun stated. Suddenly Da Hyun was struck with some inspiration, he pulled out his phone and started talking pics non stop.
Everyone looked at him weirdly before talking in his suggestion of playing music.
At this moment Shu Zimu who was the most silent went to Ming-en and said a few words. At first everyone saw Ming-en smiling and patting his shoulder.
Shu Zimu also smiled and went back to sit next to Tian Qi quietly.
Wang Yang open a bear bear bottle and stood up. "Friends I have to announce that me and Ling Ran are officially dating!!"
"Seriously Ran Ge agreed?" Sean asked in doubt.
Ling Ran nodded laughingly.
"Cheers." everyone said their blessings one by one as they took a sip of bear.
"today was really fun and relaxing, we should thank Maggie for this." Da Hyun said.
"Maggie, you're the best" Xiao Ye chimed.
After bonfire Ming-en took Maggie for a walk around the beach. Confirming they were at right spot Ming-en kneeled on one leg and pulled out a ring box.
"Maggie you're the most precious person in my life, would you like to stay with me forever?"
Maggie was shocked and looked around nervously. Seeing her behaviour Ming-en chuckled.
"don't worry there's no one. No one will pop out suddenly. You can take your time to answer."
"That...." Maggie scratched her cheeks slightly with her index finger before pulling out a ring box.
"I wanted to purpose too..." Maggie looked down shyly.
Ming-en smiled and lifted his finger slightly, the pair of rings in both boxes attached side by side.
The ring Ming-en choose was plain platinum rings with their initial engraved while the one Maggie choose were gold ring with beautiful patterns on it.
Somehow after mending together they looked especially good.
"then I should meet your parents soon." Ming-en said as they were walking back to the hotel.
"hmm" Maggie agreed silently.
__________
Three months later
" brother Da Hyun, I need your help." Ming-en said to the person in phone.
After solving the issue in City G Ming-en joined the company again, this time it was not position of company executive but a business partner.
After three months the VR (virtual reality) version of the game they wanted to created was finally out. The gamers who were playing this game on pc or mobile version were already exited.
They already ordered VR helmet for game. Using this helmet they can use their thoughts to control their in game character.
This time Ming-en choose to advertise the game through novels and manga which was extremely popular with targeted audience.
Someone also suggested to make drama but Ming-en denied it saying they movie and drama makers will come to them copyrights, so why lose such opportunity to earn money?
The reason he was so confident was because the author of novel was Myra the current popular author while the Manga artist he want to hire was Da Hyun, the most popular manga artist. It's impossible to not let people want to try their game and entertainment company wanting to make it series and movies.
The end
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Was that too abrupt? I don't think so. There will be no epilogue, or at least for now I'm not planning to write any. Thanks for reading this story.
Wanna know what happened to Tian Qi and Shu Zimu? Haven't you seen Ming-en nodding, it was Ming-en approving their relationship. But it's a secret between then. Shhhh. I didn't said anything at all.
As for some mysteries that I didn't explain like Ming-en not believing the green snake because in previous chapters I've stated that Ming-en already went to get info. And the snake queen story.... Honestly, I don't wanna write.