With the glow of the fireflies, Qiao Anxia saw that there were light pink rose petals scattered across the apartment floor. In front of her was a mannequin with a beautiful white dress.
Originally, Mother and Father Qiao hoped that she and Chen Yang could stay over at the family home, but he told them that he'd take her to his place. At the time, she thought that it was because the two of them hadn't been intimate for a long time, and since it wasn't exactly convenient for them to do so at the family home, she didn't think much of his request. Who could of imagined that he had prepared a surprise for her there.
Fireflies... it was a dream she had had as a child. She learned from books and cartoons that these things existed in the world. When she was young, she'd used to badger Father Qiao for fireflies, but it's a shame that they were difficult to find in Beijing. Since then, fireflies had been a dream of hers.
When she and Chen Yang first got together, she mentioned these childhood fancies to him, but just as a joke.
She never imagined that he would make up for the dream she had never fulfilled.
Qiao Anxia stared at the fireflies dancing endlessly around her and Chen Yang, a beaming smile on her face. Her head subconsciously turned towards him.
Under the glow of the numerous fireflies, Chen Yang stared back at her, and gave a warm smile. Then, without any warning at all, he crouched down in front of her. He pulled a red jewelry box from his pocket, opened it, and raised it up to Qiao Anxia. "Xia xia, will you marry me?"
Qiao Anxia lowered her head, and saw the dazzling diamond ring in the box. She opened her mouth, wanting to let out a "Yes", but then her mind flashed to the thought of her never being able to get pregnant. It felt like she just downed glue, her single 'yes' got stuck in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't spit it out.
Chen Yang stayed steadily on one knee in front of Qiao Anxia, and waited with a warm and extremely patient expression.
She subconsciously balled her hands up into a fist. In her mind, two voices were caught in a vicious duel.
One was telling her not to bother Chen Yang, and the other nodded in response to his proposal.
After struggling with the idea for a long long time, she suddenly took a step back and gently shook her head at Chen Yang. "Chen Yang, I can't marry you."
Chen Yang slightly furrowed his brows, a confused look coming to his face .
Tears welled up beneath Qiao Anxia's eyes, and her lips quivered wildly. "Chen Yang, you know that I can't have babies, why do you still want to marry me?"
Recently, she'd been wanting to pretend to act stupid, like she didn't know that she could never be a mother. She thought by doing so, she could peacefully be with Chen Yang, but after waking up from her afternoon nap, she couldn't sleep right. With her eyes wide open, she looked at Chen Yang sleeping on the sofa, and felt unusually somber and guilty.
"Do you even know that I'm useless right now? I will never be able to give you a family!
"I truly want to be with you forever, but I can't be selfish and bring you down. This isn't fair to you..." Qiao Anxia finally couldn't hold her tears in any longer. "So Chen Yang, don't marry me, okay? Don't marry me…"