Gu Qianyan actually doesn’t know how to propose. He secretly bought the diamond ring, but of course, he bought one that can be resized. He just chose the size based on his intuition. What if it doesn’t fit her? This has been bothering him for a while. He really wants to ask his male friends who have proposed before, how they managed to buy the right ring while also trying to surprise their girlfriends. Proposing without a ring doesn’t feel complete, but with a ring…how should he even buy one?
After getting a reply from the store clerk that the ring size can be exchanged once, Gu Qianyan felt relieved.
But other than preparing the flowers and the ring, Gu Qianyan really doesn’t know what kind of proposal will make Luo Bei feel surprised and remember for a lifetime.
Asking Fang Jingzhou for advice is not feasible. After all, no matter how smart he is, he is still an elementary school student and doesn’t know anything. Asking Zhao Pianpian is possible, but since Lei Yuhao often visits her, he can’t invite her out alone. Although he doesn’t have much dating experience, he knows that asking his girlfriend’s best friend out alone… is not appropriate. As for Jiang Sihan, Gu Qianyan feels cruel even just thinking about it.
After thinking about it, Gu Qianyan thought of his role model of a mother.
She’s the most readily available candidate, and despite being in her fifties, she still has a heart full of teenage girl vibes, as Luo Bei would say. With his mother’s help and input, he should have no problem!
Thinking of this, Gu Qianyan sent a WeChat message to his mother, explaining his purpose, and made an appointment to discuss it in person. Of course, he also solemnly added a sentence: don’t let Luo Bei know.
Mother Gu expressed approval to her son, “Well done! No problem!”
On that day, after Gu Qianyan finished work and returned home, he never imagined that his mother had not told Luo Bei about it, but had told two other men in the family.
The three of them sat on the sofa in the living room, all with a look of relief and satisfaction as if “our pig is finally going to dig up the cabbage1“.
Grandpa Gu tried to suppress his excitement. In his life, he felt that he had done the three most amazing things:
First, meeting his wife, pursuing her shamelessly, and marrying her.
Second, teaching a grandson who was not inferior to him in any way.
Third, after his grandson lost his memory, he ruthlessly made him exercise outside for a year.
Just think about it. If he hadn’t made that decision back then, with his grandson’s character, it would have been almost impossible for his grandson to date and get married. Without him, how could his grandson have met Luo Bei?
So, aren’t all of these his wise decisions?
“Are you finally going to propose?” Grandfather Gu looked at Gu Qianyan and felt satisfied with every strand of his hair. “That’s right. Although Beibei is still very young, you are going to be thirty in another year. It’s better to settle down early. The most important thing is to show Beibei your sincerity. If it were back in our time, if you had been dating for more than a year and still hadn’t thought about getting married, that would have been a rogue behavior.”
Gu Qianyan twitched his mouth. He couldn’t say anything to his mother. After all, if he did, his father and grandfather would both have objections. In their view, if such a big matter was not notified in advance to them but only to his mother, what did that mean? Did he not regard them as people? From a serious perspective, it was as if he didn’t want to recognize them.
As the saying goes, “Three humble shoemakers can surpass the wisdom of Zhuge Liang2.” In the same way, the three members of his family may also come up with some good ideas, more or less.
With this thought in mind, Gu Qianyan said, “Don’t let Beibei know, especially Grandpa. He’s always in the store and might accidentally let it slip.”
Grandpa Gu glared at him.
“This proposal must not be known to her,” Mother Gu said with a smile. “I heard you bought the diamond ring. Let me see it.”
“It’s in the bedroom. I’ll go get it.” Gu Qianyan then went upstairs.
As soon as he went upstairs, Father Gu said, “Dad, you shouldn’t have said that just now. If he gets angry and refuses to propose, what should we do?”
“He wouldn’t dare!”
Father Gu shrunk his neck, but still whispered, “I think he really might.”
“Nowadays, Qianyan’s temper has improved a lot,” Mother Gu always took this stance. If her husband and father-in-law had any disagreement… no, that’s not right, her husband wouldn’t dare argue. If he upset his father-in-law, Mother Gu usually sided with her father-in-law, either watching the excitement or making sarcastic comments. “Dad was right just now. They’ve been dating for over a year. It’s time to think about getting married. He didn’t say anything wrong.”
Father Gu sneered inwardly, he really despised his wife’s behavior like this. It’s so ugly to suck up to others.
“Dad, I was wrong just now. Don’t be mad at me. Anyway, this is a happy thing, isn’t it?” Father Gu got up and quickly poured tea for Grandpa Gu.
Mother Gu : “…”
When Gu Qianyan came downstairs, he saw this scene: his Grandpa was leisurely drinking tea, his father was massaging his Grandpa’s shoulders, and his mother was chatting with his Grandpa. It was really touching to see, and it was rare to see his parents being so attentive and respectful to the old man.
“This is the diamond ring I bought,” Gu Qianyan specially emphasized, “If the size isn’t right, it can be exchanged.”
Mother GU took a look and sighed, “A proposal ring shouldn’t be so perfunctory.”
“I’m not being perfunctory, I spent several days picking it out!”
“Never mind the brand of the jewelry, even the style is not new enough, and the diamond is not big enough.”
Gu Qianyan fell silent, the diamond was already big enough.
“You’ve already bought it, so let’s forget it. But in the future, the wedding ring should be more thoughtful. Otherwise, Beibei will think that we’re not sincere enough.” Mother Gu still had some disdain for the diamond ring Gu Qianyan bought. It was completely a straight male aesthetic, which was too frustrating to comment on. “Let’s specially hire someone to design Beibei’s wedding ring according to her preferences. That would be more meaningful.”
“Oh, okay,” Gu Qianyan agreed.
“I think it’s quite nice,” Father Gu picked up the ring box.
Mother Gu gave him a disdainful glance and said, “Is it for you? What’s the use of you thinking it looks good?”
“…I was just saying.”
Grandfather Gu impatiently interrupted his son and daughter-in-law, “The ring is not the main point. Beibei doesn’t care about it. Don’t waste time, quickly talk about the topic, talk about the main point!”
“I’ve seen young people nowadays like to propose with those advertisements on tall buildings,” Father Gu offered his opinion. “I saw it once before, and it was pretty good.”
Mother Gu smiled, “That’s so tacky.”
“….You!”
Gu Qianyan nodded in agreement with his mother, “Beibei is not that kind of person who likes to show off. She probably wouldn’t like it.”
Seeing his son siding with his wife, Father Gu felt wronged and grabbed a banana from the fruit plate on the coffee table to eat.
“In fact, the proposal is your own business. Choose a nice environment, a quiet enough restaurant, have a meal…” Mother Gu began to fantasize, “Fill the trunk of the car with flowers, buy a bag and a pair of high heels, and let Beibei open the trunk. At that time, you can take out the ring and propose.”
Ah…
It’s just like a dream proposal!
“For this bag and high heels, you need to choose good-looking ones. You can’t use only red roses for the flowers, it’s too outdated. You need to choose flowers that match well with the colors.”
Father Gu never proposed to Mother Gu. They just went shopping together and settled the matter of getting married while chatting at the restaurant. She didn’t get a proposal, so she naturally hopes that her daughter-in-law can get one!
“…Is this plan feasible?” Gu Qianyan asked with doubt. “What if she refuses to open the trunk?”
Father Gu found the opportunity to tease Mother Gu and immediately said, “Do you think this isn’t cheesy? This kind of proposal is shown on TV every day!”
“Even if it’s cheesy, some people like it,” Mother Gu retorted. “Most women like it. Otherwise, are you going to set up a heart-shaped candle circle in the city center and let strangers watch? Is that the most romantic thing? No way, it’s tacky and it also has the meaning of forcing someone to say yes! We women don’t like candles, especially now that it’s summer, who wants to melt in the heat! We like bags, we like pretty shoes, and we like big diamond rings!”
Father Gu : “……”
Finally, after more than an hour of discussion, they tentatively settled on the proposal plan and details, which basically followed Mother Gu’s idea. After all, there are only four people in the Gu family at the moment, and she is the only woman, and she understands best how women think.
Mother Gu flew abroad specifically to buy the bag and shoes that her son would use for the proposal. Of course, she couldn’t control her shopping desires and bought several perfumes and lipsticks.
Father Gu knows the best restaurants in the city. He likes to eat and knows where to eat that has good food and environment, so he chose the restaurant for the proposal.
As for Grandpa Gu… he just needs to wait for the news.
“If the proposal fails, don’t come back.” Of course, he also has to say something tough.
Gu Qianyan : “……”
On this day, Gu Qianyan asked Luo Bei out to have dinner together. Luo Bei had a feeling that he was going to propose to her, but she had to pretend not to know, otherwise, she would ruin the surprise that he had prepared for her.
Gu Qianyan still isn’t careful enough. At least he didn’t notice that Luo Bei was a little different today. She specially went to the beauty salon, wore the little dress and high heels she bought some time ago, and did a full set of makeup. She looked delicate and pretty.
It has to be said that Father Gu is really knowledgeable when it comes to food. The restaurant he chose and the dishes he ordered were all great, and the atmosphere was nice. Eating delicious food and chatting with someone you like on such a night is indeed a happy thing both physically and mentally.
Luo Bei has been thinking about how Gu Qianyan will propose.
During the dessert after the meal, she ate carefully, afraid of swallowing the ring he prepared beforehand, but she didn’t find anything even after finishing the dessert.
Could it be that he’s not proposing today?
When Luo Bei found out that Gu Qianyan was planning to propose, she also hinted at him in her own way. She didn’t like being watched by many people, especially strangers. It’s very awkward.
She wondered if Gu Qianyan listened to her.
“Can you help me open the trunk?” Gu Qianyan sat in the driver’s seat and pretended to be calm, “I want to drink some water.”
Is this the big move?
Luo Bei decided to tease him, “Can’t you get it yourself?”
Gu Qianyan’s heart was in his throat as he said, “I have something, can you help me get it?”
“What do you need?” Luo Bei looked at him calmly, but in the end, she couldn’t bear to let this proposal end in regret. She got out of the car, pretending to be angry and dissatisfied, and went to the trunk. Gu Qianyan carefully observed her facial expression.
He thought to himself, Go ahead and be angry, I’ll make you happy later!
Although Luo Bei guessed that Gu Qianyan was proposing and had an idea of what to expect, she still held her breath when she opened the trunk and saw the many beautiful flowers inside.
There were also many gifts, each of which she liked.
Suddenly she realized that her life was like this.
Before, she dreamt of what the future would be like and knew that certain things would happen. But when they actually happened, she was still surprised. She didn’t know what emotions she should have, but in the end, she felt just as happy as always. Now, it was the same. She knew that he was proposing and guessed that the trunk was the focus of today, but when she saw it, she was still surprised and overjoyed.
This is probably what life is like.
This is probably what love is like.
Gu Qianyan got out of the car with a smug smile on his face. It seemed that he really surprised her today!
He walked towards her step by step, and Luo Bei couldn’t help but smile.
Well, what else could she do? Besides agreeing to marry him, there didn’t seem to be any other options.
Yes, she would marry him!
Author’s note:
A proposal doesn’t need to be extravagant or romantic. As long as it’s from the right person, that’s all that matters.
- This is a metaphorical expression meaning that something long-awaited or desired is finally happening, and the people involved are happy and relieved. ↩︎
- This proverb means three people who are not necessarily experts in a particular field can still come up with a solution that surpasses that of a single expert. By the way, Zhuge Liang is a famous strategist during the Three Kingdoms era. ↩︎
I just know that if your man gives you a public proposal when you want a private one or he gives you a private proposal when you like public ones, you should say NO cause that would either mean he doesn’t know you enough or he knows but he doesn’t care and therefore he’s inconsiderate of you or both.
When Father and Mother Gu called out each other as bootlickers, it’s really pot called kettle black. 😂😂😂
If being a “straight man” were hereditary, now we know whom GYN mainly gets it from. It’s from Father Gu! Reading their views and plans for the proposal, it also somewhat explains why–despite how well matched Father and Mother Gu are for each other–they can’t see each other as romantic interest. 😅😅😅
Also, @the 1st foot note, I think it’s more related to the idiom “like a farmer seeing pig digs (steal) his white cabbage” to describe a father’s feeling when his daughter is in a serious relationship with a man. With the father is the farmer and the daughter is the white cabbage. In this chapter, the daughter (LB) is still the white cabbage because the Gu’s think she’s a good girl and their pig (GYN) isn’t on par with her. 😂🙈😂
Yes, they think Luo Bei is a good cabbage, so the Gus happy that it was their pig (Gu Qianyan) who is going to dig (to propose to) the cabbage (Luo Bei)
The most important thing is the proposal is from someone you loves. But agree with Mother Gu, public proposal is extremely tacky
Awwwww! How cute that she found out ahead of time but played along so it didn’t spoil the fun of the moment!