There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Extra 12.2

Without thinking, Qin Ke stood up and ran in front of Huo Zhonglou, blocking his way–

“…Have you had dinner yet?”

Huo Zhonglou stopped in his tracks.

“Butler Huo recommended a nice restaurant to me today, I’d like to try it out.”

Qin Ke tried hard to maintain her composure.

They stared at each other for a few seconds.

Just as Qin Ke felt her heart was about to jump out of her throat, she heard the man in front of her chuckle in a low, hoarse voice.

“Alright… If that’s what you want.”

A thin layer of hostility was pressed deep into his eyes as the man turned to leave. “Let’s go then.”

“……”

Qin Ke let out a long sigh of relief. She looked worriedly at the tightly closed door of the inner room, but ultimately didn’t dare to risk lingering any longer, quickly following after Huo Zhonglou.

****

Of course, Huo Jingyan had never actually recommended any restaurant to Qin Ke, but that didn’t hinder the tacit understanding between them regarding the child.

Half an hour later, Qin Ke and Huo Zhonglou were dropped off by the Huo family’s private car outside a restaurant by the river.

The restaurant’s location was chosen for its prime view of the river. By the time they arrived, the sky had darkened considerably. The sky was painted with a deep, rich blue-green, and across the river, the lights of the city began to twinkle one by one beneath the blurred urban silhouette.

If it weren’t for the worry weighing on her mind, enjoying such a beautiful night view with her beloved would have been the most relaxing thing in the world.

Qin Ke sighed silently in her heart, wondering if Huo Jingyan had understood her hint before she left.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I was wondering if Butler Huo would–” Her voice suddenly stopped. Two seconds later, Qin Ke blinked, looking up innocently at the man across from her who had asked the question with a casual tone.

She had almost been tricked into talking…

Qin Ke thought with alarm. Then she carefully pulled back her words. “I was thinking, I asked Butler Huo to look into something for me a few days ago, I wonder if he might have forgotten…”

Huo Zhonglou seemed to have asked casually, showing no intention of pursuing the matter.

“What is it? Can I help?”

Qin Ke: “…” It’s about whether the child in my room is your son or your brother.

Qin Ke thought for a few seconds, but ultimately suppressed the urge to confess.

She shook her head, absentmindedly eating a piece of salad.

“There are no results yet. When Butler Huo has news, I’ll tell you right away.”

“…”

Huo Zhonglou was silent for two seconds, neither looking up nor making a sound.

The restaurant had been cleared in advance by Huo Jingyan, with not a single customer present. Even the restaurant’s servers had retreated to the corners to avoid disturbing the atmosphere of this “candlelit dinner.”

The air was particularly quiet, making Qin Ke even more uneasy.

Until the man across from her spoke.

“Tonight doesn’t seem to be an appropriate time.”

Qin Ke was confused for a moment, “?”

But Huo Zhonglou had already stood up.

He walked around the long table, stopping beside Qin Ke’s chair.

Leaning against the chair back carved with a rose pattern, Huo Zhonglou bent down slightly. Qin Ke stood frozen, watching him. Then she saw the man bend his knee and kneel before her on one knee.

At the same time, a deep blue velvet box appeared in his palm.

On the soft velvet ring cushion, a diamond ring sparkled brilliantly under the crystal chandelier.

“The wedding preparations are basically complete,” said Huo Zhonglou.

Huo Zhonglou looked up at her, emotions swirling in his jet-black eyes. After a moment, he lowered his head slightly and laughed hoarsely.

“Although it seems my fiancée is hiding something from me, I’ve been thinking about it all night and still can’t help but ask her — Miss Qin Ke, in the midst of your busy efforts to conceal things from me, are you ready to marry me?”

Qin Ke was completely dumbfounded. A few days ago, she might have considered when Huo Zhonglou would propose to her, but with the recent commotion about the child, she hadn’t thought about it at all.

She certainly didn’t expect that on a night like this, when Huo Zhonglou clearly sensed she was hiding something, he would suddenly propose to her.

Qin Ke’s mind went blank, and she spoke softly out of pure instinct.

“Besides ‘I’m ready’ and ‘I do'” do I have the option to ‘think about it some more’?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Qin Ke wanted to slap herself. She had already been provoking the tiger all evening, why was she still addicted to it?

Huo Zhonglou narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Think about it some more? Are you sure?”

Sensing a certain deep emotion lurking in the man’s eyes, Qin Ke: “……”

She immediately shook her head, her gaze sincere.

“I’m sure I don’t need to think about it.”

Huo Zhonglou laughed hoarsely. “You can think about it.”

“……?”

Just as Qin Ke was surprised, before she could even form an expression, the man in front of her had already risen from his kneeling position, reaching out to pull her forward, half-pressing her against the chair back, and kissed her.

Qin Ke’s mind was in a whirl from his kiss when she heard the man’s deep voice laughing in her ear. “When we’re on the marriage bed, you’ll have plenty of time to think.”

“……”

Qin Ke looked down in a daze.

On her ring finger, a diamond sparkled.

****

Huo Zhonglou only left after escorting Qin Ke to her room door.

When Qin Ke pushed open the door, the door between the outer and inner rooms was open, with no lights on. The curtains of the floor-to-ceiling windows weren’t drawn, and large patches of moonlight spilled onto the floor.

It was so quiet that one could hear the sound of breathing.

In the moonlight, Qin Ke looked towards the table. She had hinted to Huo Jingyan before leaving, and he had indeed sent dinner, but it showed no signs of being touched.

Qin Ke’s heart tightened.

She didn’t even bother to turn on the lights, rushing into the inner room first, pushing open the slightly ajar door.

The sensor light at the head of the bed lit up.

Casting a small shadow, starting from the corner of the bed, it spread shallowly across the soft mattress.

Qin Ke sighed in relief and quickly walked over. “Why are you sitting here by yourself? Didn’t you eat the dinner that was sent?”

“……”

Only when Qin Ke crouched down did the child huddled in the corner of the bed raise his head. A pair of jet-black pupils gazed at her, clear and calm, devoid of emotion.

“You said… I shouldn’t go out until you came to find me.”

Qin Ke was stunned, then frowned with concern.

“I didn’t mean you couldn’t go out…”

She paused, sighing softly, and ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I came back late.”

The boy didn’t speak.

At some point, his gaze fell on Qin Ke’s hand in the light of the floor lamp.

The ring on her ring finger shone brightly.

“…What is this?” the boy asked softly after staring for a few seconds.

Following the child’s gaze to the ring, Qin Ke felt a bit embarrassed, “This is a gift from that older brother who came tonight. When you grow up, you’ll also give such a gift to…”

“I’ll give it to you too.”

“…”

Qin Ke was stunned, somewhat torn between laughter and tears, “That won’t do, you can’t give it to me. This gift can’t be given casually.”

“Why not?”

As Qin Ke was struggling with how to explain the relationship between diamond rings and proposals to a seven or eight-year-old child, the temperature in the boy’s gaze cooled.

After a moment, he lowered his eyes.

“Because sister will only marry that older brother, right?”

“–!”

Qin Ke looked down in astonishment at the small child curled up hugging his knees in front of her.

She didn’t know whether to be shocked that this child knew about diamond rings and marriage, or that he asked her such a question knowing this.

After Qin Ke calmed down for a couple of seconds, her eyes curved into a smile and she reached out to pat the boy’s head.

“You’re still a child. When you grow up, you’ll know that you can’t ask such questions casually.”

“I’m not asking casually,” the child suddenly spoke after a moment of silence.

He had been keeping his head down all along, but now he slowly stood up, holding onto the edge of the table beside him.

This child was still young after all. Even though Qin Ke was still crouching without realizing it, he was only about 20-30 centimeters taller than her when standing.

However, such a small child looked at Qin Ke with an especially serious gaze.

“I’m not asking casually,” he repeated, “I’m serious.”

“…”

Qin Ke didn’t know what to do with this child.

She reached out and lightly tapped his upturned nose, smiling helplessly.

“Do you know what your name is, where you’re from?”

“…”

“You don’t even know that, yet you dare to speak so boldly?” she teased him jokingly.

The child frowned slightly.

“I’ll remember.”

“Alright, alright, then we’ll wait until you remember.”

Qin Ke smiled helplessly.

She stood up, pressing on her knees, “Now your task is to come out with me to eat dinner, understand?”

As Qin Ke was about to turn around, she heard the child ask. “Then before I remember, can you not marry him?”

Qin Ke was stunned.

Almost simultaneously, she heard someone laugh coldly behind her—

“You’ve been hiding this from me, been hiding such a little pretty boy?”