After Revenge, Yu Qinghuan slowed down his life pace. Right after his warm-up to start the short vacation, he was urged by Sun Wu to walk out from home for the movie promotion.
Compared with the filming schedule, the trip for the promotion was hastier. Yu Qinghuan was like a soldier on the battlefield, sending messages to Huo Qu as soon as he found rest breaks.
He would be teased when this was seen by the staff from the film crew. Now everyone knew that they were lovers, so they had no scruples to joke about Qinghuan.
To Yu Qinghuan's surprise, after he came out of the closet, what he felt most was not contempt, but the tolerance and kindness of the people around him.
Apart from some internet trolls in minority, few people would attack him because of his sexual orientation.
For all this, Yu Qinghuan felt grateful from the bottom of his heart. The love between them was different from ordinary people. He didn't want Huo Qu to be hurt even by strangers.
"Qinghuan, it's your turn to make up."
Yu Qinghuan just received a short message from Huo Qu and was interrupted by Sun Wu's patting on his shoulder before he could read it.
"Don't be dawdled, hurry up," urged by Sun Wu.
However, after accidentally glancing at Qinghuan's mobile phone screen, he paused for a moment and immediately changed his words, "Wait until you reply to the message."
Huh? Yu Qinghuan raised his head up in bewilderment.
"It's a message from Prof. Huo, not anyone else." A trace of pride emerged from Sun Wu's face, "How could you let the Nobel Prize winner Prof. Huo wait?"
When returning to the hotel for a rest at noon, Yu Qinghuan repeated the director's remarks to Huo Qu. Then he joked, "Prof. Huo, now I'm not the only one who likes and admires you."
Huo Qu was then having lunch, Korean fried chicken and fried rice cake provided by Zhao Qingyuan.
Surprisingly, Zhao Qingyuan and Huo Qu were very in tune.
Qingyuan was talkative and hyperactive. Sometimes, even Yu Qinghuan could not stand it. Huo Qu was, however, an exception.
No matter how long Zhao Qingyuan talked, Huo Qu could sit and listen, remaining calm without interrupting him. Huo Qu was simply the most ideal listener.
"What did Qinghuan say?" Zhao Qinghuan knew it was Qinghuan without thinking. He gave Huo Qu a pair of disposable gloves and leaned forward to see Huo Qu's screen before the latter could respond. Huo Qu hurriedly locked his screen but the message was still seen by Qingyuan.
He gnawed at the bone and said thickly, "To be honest, many people like you, and now you are becoming a national idol."
So many titles on Huo Qu made him popular: The youngest Nobel laureate, smart, high IQ, handsome, and the most attractive quality – loyal. He seemed to have gathered into his own body all the things in the world that could not be combined together, which fascinated his fans.
Huo Qu frowned. He could not tell from different kinds of love. For him, there was only one kind of love, that was, the love he held for Qinghuan.
He said, "Their feelings for me are not love, and I don't like others, either. I only love Qinghuan."
Zhao Qingyuan, who was eating the gristle on the chicken wing, almost choked to death hearing Huo Qu's words.
A spell of coughing made Zhao Qingyuan redden up. After a difficult recovery, he expressed his anger as a single man at Huo Qu, "Get married quickly, you mushy gushy little couple."
Got married? Huo Qu turned around to look at Zhao Qingyuan. This was the first time Huo Qu had interests in Zhao Qingyuan's words.
The next second, Zhao Qingyuan seemed to forget his anger at the couple, "You two could not get married in China, but you can do this in other countries. Think about it." He paused, considering if his suggestion was too casual, and then added, "But you should first propose to him and get his permission."
Suddenly, the gate of a new world opened in front of Huo Qu.
'Get married' and 'propose', the two words made his heart beat violently. He wanted to have a marriage with Qinghuan, just like his parents, who lived together and never parted for the rest of their lives.
He focused on Zhao Qingyuan with a pair of keen eyes, "How do I propose?"
"You are asking the right person." Zhao Qingyuan also got excited.
He took off his disposable gloves and slapped himself on the thigh. "I'm the most experienced."
Huo Qu, however, raised doubts in due course, "But, you don't have boyfriends, do you?"
Chocked by Huo Qu's words, Zhao Qingyuan retorted, "I like women, thanks."
"But you don't have a girlfriend, either."
"You don't want my suggestion?"
"I want…"
Zhao Qingyuan's ideas were nothing new: marriage ring, kneeling down and all the plots he saw in the movie.
But in Huo Qu's eyes, his guidance was like Bible, which worthed remembering word by word.
Though Zhao Qingyuan did things carelessly, he was quite reliable at the critical moment.
He had a wide range of contacts. Noticing Huo Qu's urgency, he immediately contacted FU, a world-famous jeweler, and found their top designer.
"When Yu Qinghuan returns, find time to measure the size of his fingers, in secret." Zhao Qingyuan told Huo Qu, "We need this after the design drawing is completed."
"Size?" Huo Qu was thinking. Then, in Zhao Qingyuan's shocked gazes, he directly said a number.
"I know all the sizes of Qinghuan."
"Huh. You… sure?"
Huo Qu nodded. He was sensitive to numbers. Besides, there was no place in Qingyuan's body he was not familiar with.
"Well. You know them all." Writing down the number, Zhao Qingyuan could not help thinking deeply. He squeezed his eyes and looked at Huo Qu with a profound smile, "Hey, all of them?"
Well, here came again. Huo Qu just ignored his words and ate fried chicken. As the conversation turned into a monologue, Zhao Qingyuan had no choice but to continue to eat.
Huo Qu followed Zhao Qingyuan's advice to keep all this as a secret, so as to give Qinghuan a surprise.
During the roadshows, when Qinghuan was having interactions with the audiences, some of his fans shouted loudly to him:
"Wish you two soon get married."
"Hope you could grow old together with happiness."
Qinghuan had never thought about marriage with Huo Qu. The environment did not allow. And the current situation between him and Huo Qu was actually good.
However, the words from his fans lit him up.
Marriage could not stand for everything. However, the wedding represented a kind of recognition, a recognition of their love in front of the whole world.
The more he thought about it, the more he could not calm down. So, that day, after the roadshow routine finished, he contacted the top designer of FU, asking him to design his engagement and wedding rings.
To give Huo Qu a surprise, he had been keeping it as a secret.
The day the design drawing was presented to him happened to be the end day of all his roadshow trips.
Tired and excited, he came home with a heavy suitcase.
Huo Qu had been waiting for him at home. Hearing the familiar footsteps, he rushed toward the door. Before Yu Qingyuan reached out for the doorknob, the door opened from inside.
He raised his head, encountering with that pair of surprised eyes.
The two hugged for a long time, nearly forming into one flesh as if hugging could ease their missing for so many days.
Yu Qingyuan put his head onto Huo Qu's neck and rubbed it, feeling the fatigue throughout his whole figure had instantly been cured.
When working hard outside, no matter how tired he was, he would grind his teeth and stick to it. But when he got home, he didn't even want to move his fingers.
"I bought our meal." Huo Qu kissed his lips and released his hands reluctantly. But his eyes still focused on Qinghuan's red and watery lips. "I've been waiting for you."
Yu Qinghuan nodded and stretched out his hands to fondle Huo Qu's face. Then, he took the slippers from the shoe rack and was going to squat down to change his shoes. However, Huo Qu was one step ahead. He took the slippers from Qinghuan's hand naturally, "Qinghuan, raise your foot."
Huo Qu's dark hair was shimmering with a layer of halo under the lamp, beautiful and real. The dreamlike scene made Qinghuan felt his nose sour. This man had done the most important experiments and won the highest award in the world, but now he was squatting at Qinghuan's feet to change shoes for his lover.
Seeing Qinghuan froze, Huo Qu called his name to draw back his attention.
During the meal, Yu Qinghuan found an excuse to get the size of Huo Qu's fingers. Then, he sent the number to his designer without any delay.
Both of them had important things hidden from each other. Both of them were cautious but excited and shy at the same time. The occasional eye contact between them made the surrounding air sweet.
These days, Qinghuan had no work to do. So Yu Xin seldom came to his house, afraid of the couple in love would hurt him, the single man.
On the day when the rings were well prepared, the two went to Fu in the morning and afternoon of the same day respectively.
Huo Qu was a bad liar and was incoherent when fabricating his excuses. Immersing in stress and excitement, Yu Qingyuan failed to find any clues.
It was already dark when Huo Qu came back. The evening breeze in summer was a bit less hot and dry, sneaking into and cooling the whole room as Huo Qu opened the door.
Yu Qinghuan took several deep breaths in the bedroom and walked out, hands waving in unison with feet. Hiding the ring behind his back, his voice trembled, "Wel, welcome back."
"Qinghuan," Huo Qu called his name and threw himself onto Qinghuan with his eyes lit up. He could not wait for it anymore, and he wanted to propose to the man right away.
He was about to kneel down, while Qinghuan, who was in stress mood, hurriedly leaned over to support Huo Qu, thinking the man was going to fall down. However, the stiffness of his limbs made him lost balance and bumped into Huo Qu. The two fell down on the floor, and the rings they hid from each other rolled to the middle of the two.
Both of them froze for a few seconds and looked at each other.
Then, they smiled seeing the shyness and surprise in each other's eyes.
It turned out the things they prepared for the other party was exactly what the receiver wanted.
Two navy blue boxes lay on the floor. The label on them indicated them were from the same jewelry company and designer, and the only difference was the design.
The room was in silence for a long time.
Finally, it was Huo Qu, who spoke first, "Qinghuan, will you marry me?" Without receiving the answer, he just took the ring and wore it on Qinghuan's finger.
Qinghuan focused his eyes on the ring and let Huo Qu do whatever he wanted.
A smile bloomed on his face, "How about you?"
"I need to hear it from your mouth."
"I will."