A Secret by the Sea
Once their business in Austria was finished, Mu Wan and Liu Qianxiu returned to China.
After settling in at home, they drove to Xu Xingkong's house in the southern district to collect the cats.
The coastal highway was broad and open. The shoreline stretched far into the distance.
It was September, and the sea breeze was pleasant.
The evening sun hung low, painting both the sky and the ocean red.
Mu Wan leaned across slightly to look out past Liu Qianxiu.
The sunset over the sea was beautiful.
She remembered another time when they had come this way.
The sunlight had been the same golden-red color.
Just as beautiful.
She became absorbed in the view.
Liu Qianxiu kept his eyes on the road, then turned the car onto the road leading toward the beach.
"Are we going to stop and play for a while?"
Mu Wan immediately brightened.
Then she remembered something.
"Won't Xingkong be waiting for us?"
"No."
Liu Qianxiu parked the car.
"Huai Jing is home today too. Neither of them has anything to do this afternoon."
Hearing that, Mu Wan no longer felt guilty about delaying their visit.
She jumped out of the car and followed Liu Qianxiu toward the beach.
By September, the evening sea breeze had begun to turn cool. It brushed against her face like icy water, making Mu Wan shiver slightly.
The breeze was cool, but the sand beneath her feet still held the warmth of the sun.
She took off her shoes and ran a few steps across the beach.
Like a child, she laughed as she ran.
After a while, she turned to look at Liu Qianxiu.
He was behind her, tall and slender, his bearing cool and composed.
His shadow stretched long across the beach, almost reaching the rocks near the shore.
"Hurry up!"
Mu Wan kicked a little sand to one side, then laughed and continued walking.
She walked for some time, but Liu Qianxiu still did not catch up.
Just as she was about to turn around and urge him forward, his voice came from a short distance behind her.
"Don't turn around."
Mu Wan stopped.
She did not look back.
Instead, she straightened and stood still.
She wore a black dress. The sea breeze lifted her long hair, revealing her slender waist.
Her shoulders were narrow, her neck long, and her legs straight and slender.
She looked almost like a little character who had stepped out of a comic book.
Standing perfectly still, she waited.
After a moment, she asked in a sweet voice that scattered on the sea breeze,
"What are you doing?"
Something stirred in Liu Qianxiu's heart.
He walked toward her from behind.
Mu Wan sensed his approach.
And suddenly she remembered that beautiful sunset she had recalled in the car.
It had been another evening just like this one.
At the time, she had secretly been in love with Liu Qianxiu.
She had walked behind him on the beach, called out to him, and told him not to turn around.
Then she had secretly confessed her feelings.
Before that confession, she had spoken a few introductory words.
"I have a secret."
Liu Qianxiu's deep voice sounded behind her.
His words mingled with his breathing, brushing against her back and sending a faint tingling sensation through her.
Mu Wan's eyelashes trembled.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She smiled and began turning around.
"You're not allowed to copy me..."
But her words stopped.
Mu Wan looked at the man before her.
She lowered her gaze toward his face.
The setting sun sharpened the contours of his features.
He was still the same Daoist Liu.
His expression calm, his eyes gentle and restrained, as composed as ever.
But now something had tightened in his gaze.
Golden sunlight shimmered across his dark eyes.
He bent one knee and knelt on the sand in front of her.
In his hand was a red velvet box.
Inside lay a ring, filled with the radiance of the sunset.
He was not copying her.
Because the words he spoke next were not the ones she had once whispered to him.
He did not say, I'm secretly in love with you.
Instead, he smiled.
"I want you to marry me."
The sea breeze lifted the hem of Mu Wan's dress.
Beneath her bare feet, the sand was soft and fine.
She could feel every grain.
Everything was unmistakably real.
This was not a dream.
Something caught in Mu Wan's throat.
Countless emotions surged through her eyes.
Then she smiled.
She reached out her hand, her long, slender fingers resting beside the ring box.
Her smile was radiant and beautiful.
Her expression remained bright, but her voice trembled slightly.
"Of course."
She had accepted.
— End of Chapter 51 —
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