Everyone in the room was shocked.
"Son, what did you say?" His father asked.
"I'll marry Lin. Only if she'll agree with it." Shen responded.
Tang Lin was flustered. Marry me? Why? Even if this dude is freakin handsome, I'm still going to date before marrying.
Lin patted the man's shoulder while laughing and said, "Oh my! Shen still says jokes like this even as an adult. You're still the same Shen I know!"
Before Shen was able to deny, Tang Lin told everyone, "Me and Shen are going to sit on the couch to talk and catch up on some things."
Lin pulled Shen to the couch and whispered to him, "Why did you say that in front of everyone?!"
"What? That I was going to marry you? That wasn't a joke," Shen said.
"Well, to me it was. I will never marry before dating because I don't want to live the rest of my life miserably," Lin said.
"Well, that wasn't your principle when you proposed to me twenty years ago." Shen attacked her with his words.
"We were kids!! I didn't even know how to read or write yet. How was that valid?!" Tang Lin wasn't going to let this man win.
"You have to be responsible for me. You took my first kiss." Shen once again attacked her.
"You took my first kiss! It wasn't me!" She claimed.
"No, remember when you put your arms around me and kissed me on the cheek?"
"That was cheek, not lips! You took my first lip kiss."
"So, would you like for me to be responsible for you?"
Tang Lin was going to faint from this stubborn man.
Shen began to speak after a short silence, "Okay, then if you don't want to get married before dating, then let's date. After a week of being my girlfriend, you will have three options: continue dating for another week or month, get married to me, or break up and be friends. Are you fine with those options?"
Tang Lin was confused. "Why do you even want to get married to me?"
"I've liked you, since we were kids. Sometimes, I would ask people to find out if you're doing okay, or if you're going through troubles. I mean who would want their wife to be going through troubles? I'll get rid of anyone in your way!" Shen said.
"I'm not your wife!!" Tang Lin yelled.
Their parents turned around and looked at them. They chuckled at them and went back to their conversation.
Tang Lin whispered, "I'm not your wife."
Lu Shen said, "That ring on your finger says something different."
Tang Lin was about to take off the ring when he said, "If you take it off, I'll tell our parents that my marriage request wasn't a joke and that we're dating."
She glared at him, "Fine! I won't take it off. But that means that you don't tell them about our deal and you have to tell them that you were joking about marrying me."
"Okay."
As they both stood up, Tang Lin could hear him muttering under his breath.
"It's not going to be a joke when next week ends." He muttered with a smirk on his face.
They walked over to the group of parents.
"Shen! You're here." Tang Jin said.
"Hello, Uncle Jin."
"Were you really joking? Don't you want to marry my niece?"
"I'm just joking! Don't take it seriously, Uncle!"
"Well, okay. I thought I was finally going to have a nephew," Tang Jin said with a sad expression.
To change the topic, Tang Lin said, "Are you guys hungry? Let's go eat. I already told the chef to cook. The food should be done by now."
The families went into the dining room and sat at the table full of delicious foods. There were dishes from other countries, like Japan, Korea, Italy, and Thailand.
Everyone filled themselves up until they could not eat anymore.
Zhang Yi said, "Shen, Lin still has the ring you put on her when you guys were children. Do you still have yours?"
Lin glared at her mother for bringing the topic she's been trying to avoid all day.
"Yes, Aunty. I still have it," he said as he pulled out his wallet. He took out a ring and showed it to Zhang Yi.
"Try it on. I want to see if it still fits you," Lin's mom said.
The young man slid the ring onto his finger. It slid on perfectly. Zhang Yi remembered that ring. She accidentally bought a ring that was a bigger size, and she never got the chance to return it. She was glad that she got the wrong size now that she saw her daughter and a man she treated as a son wearing matching rings.
"Consider it as a precious gift from me. I always want to see you guys wearing the rings around me or I'll really make you guys go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to register your marriage certificate." Zhang Yi said.
Everyone around the table laughed. Shen and Lin awkwardly made eye contact and looked away from each other. Both families went to the front of the house, so the Tang family could send off the Lu family.
"Han Ming, Lu Tai! We'll visit you guys next time. Invite us over anytime." Tang Wei said.
Tang Lin and Lu Shen were still walking far behind their families.
"Give me your number," Shen said.
"Why?"
"Did you forget about our deal?" Shen asked.
Tang Lin sighed and took the phone out of Shen's hand. She put in her phone number and saved it under the name of "NOT YOUR WIFE".
"There. That's my phone number. Now, go! Your family is over there waiting for you." Tang Lin rushed him to the car and the Lu family left.
Tang Lin went into the house. She slumped onto the couch and took a long nap.
When she woke up, she looked at her left hand. The light of the chandelier reflected off of the diamond ring on Lin's hand.
"What the hell? I accepted a week-long relationship with a man I haven't seen in twenty years. What am I doing with my life?" Tang Lin heard a ringing sound from her phone and she looked at it. She saw an unknown number and picked it up.
"Hello? Who is this?" Tang Lin asked.
"It's your husband. Save this number. Okay, darling?"
"This is Shen, right? Don't change your number. I don't want to have to block your phone number twice." She said as she was about to hang up the phone.
"Okay, wifey. I won't change my number, instead I'll call your parents and request for a marriage between us. You should expect your parents calling you over soon."
"You wouldn't dare!! We still have a deal!!"
"Oh, honey! We don't need to do the deal if we get married now!" Shen teased.
"Fine, shameless bastard! I'll save your number. What else do you want?!" Tang Lin yelled.
"Remember our deal? Tomorrow at two o'clock PM. We're hanging out at Waterfall Palace Restaurant. Be there on time. One second later and I'm calling your dad," Shen warned.
"Fine. I'll be there."
Tang Lin hung up and looked at the time. It was already night time, so Lin went up the stairs and walked to the end of the hallway. She went to the last room, her father's study, and went in to see her uncle and father discussing about work.
"It's late. Uncle Jin and I have to go," Tang Lin said.
"Okay. Drive carefully. It's dark," Tang Wei said.
"Okay," his daughter responded.
Tang Lin and her uncle drove back to Lin's mansion and both went straight to bed after washing up.