Beneath the Marriage Pact

Chapter 8: Engagement Invitations, with Hidden Dangers (2)

The day before the engagement, Chen Mo rushed to Ling Xu 'an in a hurry, clutching a photo in his hand, his face pale: "Boss! Something's gone wrong! Vice President Lin has run away!"

Ling Xu 'an, who was looking at the schedule of the engagement party, raised his eyelids upon hearing this: "If he ran away, he ran away. How could he turn things upside down?"

"No, boss!" Chen Mo handed over the photo, "He got in touch with Qin Feng before running away! That's the Qin Feng who faked his death before! They agreed to meet at the dock as if they were going to sneak into Southeast Asia together!"

Shen Zhixia's heart gave a sudden jolt - Qin Feng? He isn't dead yet? What is he looking for Vice President Lin for?

"What do they have?" Ling Xu 'an's face darkened.

"I don't know! But certainly nothing good!" Chen Mo rubbed his hands in a hurry. "I've had someone keep an eye on the dock, but Vice President Lin has bodyguards. It's not easy to make a move!"

Ling Xu 'an said nothing, tapped the process sheet with his fingertip, and suddenly looked up at Shen Zhixia: "The engagement party goes on as usual." He said to Chen Mo, "You take the two teams to the dock. Don't snatch them. Keep an eye on them first. Wait until they get on board and then make a move - catch the stolen goods."

"All right!" Chen Mo responded and ran away.

Shen Zhixia tugged Ling Xu 'an's arm: "Could it be dangerous? Or... Shall I go with you?"

"No." Ling Xu 'an pinched her face. "Stay at home and prepare for tomorrow's engagement party. Wait for me to come back." He paused, his eyes serious, "Trust me."

Shen Zhixia nodded, but still felt uneasy in his heart - would Qin Feng have any information about the "Starlight Project" in his hand? Vice President Lin is up to something again.

Ling Xu 'an didn't come back in the evening, and Shen Zhixia waited in the living room all night. When dawn was approaching, she couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep on the sofa, dreaming of gunshots at the dock and Ling Xu 'an's face.

"Wake up." "

Someone patted her back gently. Shen Zhixia woke up abruptly and saw Ling Xu 'an standing in front of her, with a hint of the smell of the sea on his body, red blood vessels in his eyes, but a smile on his lips.

"You're back!" She threw herself into his arms, tears streaming down her face. "How are you? Did Qin Feng catch him?"

"Yes, I did." Ling Xu 'an held her in his arms, his voice hoarse. "Vice President Lin can't escape either. They do have some of the 'Starlight Project' materials that Shen Yuwei had secretly copied before - they've got them back."

Shen Zhixia finally let out a sigh of relief and buried herself in his arms crying: "You scared me to death..."

"Why are you crying?" Ling Xu 'an patted her back and laughed, "I promised you that I would accompany you to the engagement party." He fished out a small box from his pocket and handed it over, "For you."

It was a tiny gardenia pendant, pieced together with small diamonds, shining in the morning light. Shen Zhixia wore it around her neck, and the cold metal clung to her heart, very warm.

"Go and wash up and change your clothes." Ling Xu 'an pinched her earlobe. "The guest should have arrived."

The engagement party was lively, and it was full of close people - Grandpa Ling, Lin Yue, Chen Mo, and a few colleagues from the Starlight Lab. Grandpa Ling held Shen Zhixia's hand and laughed, saying, "Finally, this day has come," with smiles in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Lin Yue sneaked up to Shen Zhixia's ear: "Ling Xu 'an just whispered to me that when you get married, he will give you half of the shares of the Ling family - isn't that generous?"

Shen Zhixia blushed instantly and glared at Ling Xu 'an, who was talking to Chen Mo not far away. He seemed to notice and turned back to smile at her, the light in his eyes brighter than the candlelight on the table.

While cutting the cake, Ling Xu 'an suddenly knelt down on one knee, holding a ring in his hand - not the previous plain silver ring, but a diamond ring with small ssapphire set in the setting, forming a gardenia, exactly the one he had said he would buy for her earlier.

"Shen Zhixia," he looked up at her, and his voice spread through the microphone throughout the banquet hall, "it was a consensual marriage before, and now an engagement. When the Starlight Project goes into full production, I'll propose to you again - this time, a wedding that the whole world knows."

Shen Zhixia's tears fell again, and she smiled and nodded: "All right."

Ling Xu 'an put the ring on her ring finger, got up and kissed her lips. The audience burst into applause, Grandpa Ling wiped the corners of his eyes and laughed, Lin Yue was howling below, Chen Mo secretly took a photo and posted it on Moments: "Boss finally got it."

Just two days after the engagement, Shen Zhixia received a strange package. When she opened it, she found it was an old photo album with neat lines of handwriting on the title page - in her mother's handwriting: "For Xiaxia, wait until you have a real home to see."

She sat by the bay window flipping through the photo album, her fingertips touching the yellowed pictures: her mother was smiling at the laboratory door, holding her in swaddling clothes, with half a gardenia brooch sticking out of her white coat pocket. Aunt Zhang crouched in front of the tofu stand in the small town market, stuffing freshly heated sugar cakes into her hand; There is also a photo of Grandpa Zhang Ling, who stands under the locust tree of the Ling family's old house, holding a note in his hand, with the words "Qingyao asked me to look after Xia Xia" faintly visible on the back.

On the last page, a folded sheet of paper fell out, written by Aunt Zhang: "Xia Xia, your mother always said before she passed away that when the 'Star Project' was completed, she would take you to live by the sea. Now that you have Mr. Ling, it can be said that your wish is fulfilled. Don't hold a grudge against the Shen family. They just don't know how to care for children. Live a good life, Aunt Zhang is watching from heaven."

Shen Zhixia pressed the letter paper against her chest, and tears fell on the photo album, leaving a small wet stain.

"What are you looking at?" Ling Xu 'an came out of her bath with water dripping from her hair. As she bent over, the water dropped on the back of her hand, cool and refreshing.

"My mother and Aunt Zhang's photo album." Shen Zhixia handed him the photo album, her voice still a little nasal. "They all want me to be fine."

Ling Xu 'an flipped through two pages and suddenly stopped on the photo of his mother and his grandfather - each holding half a jigsaw puzzle in their hands, which was the early design of the "Starlight Project". "It turns out my grandpa was already in contact with your mom." He pointed at the photo with his fingertip. "He ended his partnership with the Qin family back then because he was afraid that the 'Starlight Project' would fall into the wrong hands."

Shen Zhixia suddenly remembered something and pulled him towards the study: "I know how to solve the last stability problem of the Starlight Project!"

She pulled out her mother's experiment notes and pointed to one of the pages: "Look here! Mom said 'Add calcium in a low-temperature environment,' but actually she added 'There are natural stabilizers in the sea salt by the sea' - Aunt Zhang said Mom wanted to take me to live by the sea, not just casually!

Ling Xu 'an's eyes lit up instantly, and he picked up his phone and dialed the lab: "Prepare the sea salt sample for testing right away! Yes, use the ratio Miss Shen said!"

After hanging up the phone, he lowered his head and kissed Shen Zhixia on the corner of her mouth, with the refreshing water vapor after bathing: "My Xia Xia is the lucky star."

"Sure," he said. Shen Zhixia stood on tiptoe and kissed him back, her nose rubbing against his nose and smiling, "When the 'Starlight Project' goes into mass production, the first batch of equipment will be sent to the fishing village by the sea - as Mom and Aunt Zhang wish."

"I'll listen to you." Ling Xu 'an picked her up and walked towards the bedroom, "but now... It's time to sleep."