Why...didn't he show a surprised and happy expression as things had turned out?
Qiao Anchen pursed his lips and tentatively asked, "Would you like to open the box and take a look?"
"What's inside?" Chu Yi snapped out of her daze, her thoughts interrupted, and she took in the situation before her.
She shook the box, then untied the ribbon bow on top, and Qiao Anchen observed her expression.
The navy blue velvet box was opened, and inside lay a necklace.
A necklace with a pendant studded with small diamonds and a silver chain, sparkling under the light.
There is probably no woman in the world who can resist the temptation of diamonds, and Chu Yi is no exception. Even though everything in front of her is too extravagant, she has no choice but to accept it, and there is still a secret, unconcealable joy in her heart.
Chu Yi took the necklace out of the box and examined it closely in her hand. Qiao Anchen asked anxiously, "Do you like it?"
"Why did you suddenly pull this stunt?" Chu Yi didn't answer directly, but looked around with a puzzled expression. Qiao Anchen paused, looking slightly guilty.
"Our first wedding anniversary is in a few days, but I'll be going on a business trip during those two days, so..."
Chu Yi understood. She hadn't expected anything, but it was rare for Qiao Anchen to have such thoughts.
"Please put it on for me." She handed the necklace to Qiao Anchen with a smile on her face. Qiao Anchen breathed a slight sigh of relief, took it, unfastened the clasp of the necklace, carefully brushed aside her hair, and fastened the necklace.
"Is it pretty?" Chu Yi asked. Qiao Anchen looked at her seriously, and after a moment, nodded.
"nice."
Chu Yi smiled, pursing her lips.
The cake on the table was beautiful, decorated with pink and white fondant, and had two little figures hugging each other on it, one wearing a veil and the other wearing a suit.
There is another line of text below.
Happy first anniversary.
Chu Yi took photos carefully before the two of them started cutting the cake. The cake tasted great, and Chu Yi was amazed after taking the first bite.
"Mmm! Delicious."
"Really?" Qiao Anchen lowered his head and tried it. After tasting it, he nodded, his expression not changing much.
"good."
"Impossible, it tastes delicious." Chu Yi was unwilling to give up, so she scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his lips.
"Try this one."
Qiao Anchen obediently ate the bite, and Chu Yi looked at him expectantly.
"How was it? How was it?"
"Hmm...it tastes a little better than mine." Qiao Anchen gave a serious evaluation, and Chu Yi showed an expression of knowing agreement.
"I knew it, it was delicious to begin with."
Qiao Anchen didn't say anything, but suddenly remembered the young couple he and Chu Yi had seen at the dessert shop. He seemed to understand their feelings back then.
When they returned, the two were carrying a lot of things.
Chu Yi held a large handful of pink and white balloons, some round, some heart-shaped, clustered together like clouds.
Qiao Anchen was holding a box of roses in his arms. The two of them walking down the street attracted a lot of attention. The combination of a handsome man and a beautiful woman was already attractive, and with these exaggerated props, it was even more so.
Some passersby were even carefully observing whether there were any hidden cameras placed next to them.
When he got home and closed the door, Qiao Anchen breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't help but say, "Chu Yi, don't bring these things back next time. These things aren't expensive."
"That won't do." Chu Yi was changing her shoes when she heard this and turned to look at him, jokingly exaggerating.
"This is all because of your love!"
"..."
"Alright," Qiao Anchen said helplessly, "So where do I put my love now?"
"Let's arrange the flowers, and the balloons can be used to decorate the living room," Chu Yi instructed. Qiao Anchen did as she was told, and the house did look much prettier afterward.
"Alright, for the next few days, every day will be an anniversary," Chu Yi said with satisfaction. "That way, when the actual anniversary arrives, it will feel like we've celebrated it too."
Qiao Anchen's business trip was short, only five days, but the dates just happened to coincide.
The night before, I packed his luggage. Chu Yi organized his clothes and daily necessities, and then carefully checked them again to make sure nothing was missing.
Qiao Anchen had just finished showering and came out when Chu Yi called out to him.
"Is there anything else missing?"
"That's all." Qiao Anchen answered after carefully squatting down and looking through everything. Then, as if remembering something, he pursed his lips and said, "Thank you, wife."
"...???" Has Qiao Anchen gone mad?
Chu Yi was stunned by his words and remained wide-eyed for a long time, unable to recover.
Wife…wife? ??
This seemed to be the first time he had called her that. A strange, tingling sensation welled up in Chu Yi's heart, feeling both nauseating and strangely sweet.
She stood there blankly, while Qiao Anchen had already gone to get the hairdryer to dry his hair. The noisy buzzing sound filled the quiet room, drowning out the words he had just said, making Chu Yi feel as if she was hallucinating.
As Chu Yi slept that night, she felt a slight unease, while Qiao Anchen's breathing was very steady, and he didn't make a sound at all, lying there properly as if he had already fallen asleep.
She closed her eyes, pretending she was hallucinating.
When Qiao Anchen left in the morning, Chu Yi was still fast asleep and didn't get up to see him off. Before leaving, Qiao Anchen glanced at her.
Seemingly hesitating about something, they ultimately gave up.
When Chu Yi woke up, Qiao Anchen had already left, just like he went to work every day. Chu Yi didn't feel much and ate breakfast and drew her sketches as usual.
Chu Yi was used to eating dinner alone in the evening and taking a shower and going to bed at night. In fact, there was not much difference between Qiao Anchen going on business trips and not going on business trips. The only difference was that there was someone next to him before going to sleep.
Chu Yi played on his phone for a while. It was getting late, and he was about to finish watching the last of the comic updates before going to bed when a video call invitation suddenly popped up on his screen.
The initiator was actually Qiao Anchen.
Chu Yi was stunned. It was the first time she had ever seen Qiao Anchen use the video function. She thought that for him, the only uses for sending messages and making calls were mobile phones.
Chu Yi cautiously and tentatively answered the call, saying "hello" with extreme care.
Qiao Anchen's face appeared on the other end, filling the entire screen. After a couple of seconds, he opened his phone, and a face appeared at a normal angle.
"Are you asleep?" he asked naturally, completely unlike Chu Yi's surprised expression. Chu Yi noticed the background behind him and asked curiously.
"You're at the hotel?"
"Yeah, I just finished working and am taking a break."
"Why did you suddenly send me a video?" Chu Yi asked curiously, her eyes wide with interest.
"You actually know about the video call function on mobile phones?"
"...I've always known that."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I've never seen you use it before, I thought you didn't know," Chu Yi teased him. Qiao Anchen paused for a moment, deciding to avoid the topic.
"Why aren't you asleep yet? Are you okay being home alone?"
"Don't you know what time I usually go to sleep?" Chu Yi couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"And what do you mean I'm okay home alone? It's not like I've never been home alone before." Chu Yi said, looking at him suspiciously.
"Qiao Anchen, why are you acting so strangely all of a sudden? Did you do something to betray me?!"
Qiao Anchen: "..."
He fell silent, and the two stared at each other in silence through their phones. After a moment, Qiao Anchen scratched his hair.
"Never mind, let's go to sleep."
"Hey, so what do you want from me?" Chu Yi couldn't help but exclaim, while Qiao Anchen sounded a bit annoyed on the other end.
"I just want to say a few words to you." He paused, then asked, "Is that strange?"
“…It’s not strange to others, but it’s a bit strange to you,” Chu Yi answered honestly.
After all, for a long time after their marriage, the only messages they kept were snippets of information, and they were all the same few sentences.
for example:
"I'll be working overtime tonight and won't be home for dinner."
"OK."
...and so on.
Not to mention business trips; I was basically out of contact for those few days, and I didn't even give them the daily schedule updates.
As a result, Qiao Anchen now sends her videos at night when he has nothing else to do.
Is the sense of crisis brought about by just one argument really that great, so great that Qiao Anchen has completely changed as a person?
Chu Yi was curious whether he had gone somewhere to find a relationship expert to learn from.
Qiao Anchen fell silent after hearing her answer, seriously considering whether he had gone too far again. But wasn't this something everyone would do?
“Then I’ll send it a few more times in the future, and it won’t be strange.” Qiao Anchen said after thinking for a moment. Chu Yi tilted her head and looked at him, blinking her eyes.
"All right."
The two chatted casually for a few more minutes, as usual, before Chu Yi, seeing that it was getting late, said goodbye.
"Then go to sleep early, goodnight."
"Good night."
Chu Yi cut off the video call, looked at the restored chat box, thought for a while but couldn't figure it out, turned over in bed, put the phone on the bedside table, pulled up the covers and fell into a sweet sleep.
For the next few days, Qiao Anchen would send her video calls whenever he had free time. Sometimes Chu Yi was drawing and would steal a moment to answer the call, but she didn't have time to chat with him for long and would just give him a few perfunctory words before ending the call.
After several such instances, Chu Yi finally couldn't keep up with Qiao Anchen's sudden enthusiasm.
Why are you suddenly being so clingy?
"Clingy...?" Qiao Anchen looked surprised and doubtful. After a while, he calmed down and asked her seriously.
"Isn't being clingy a good thing?"
"...I can't really explain it." Chu Yi was stumped by the question, and after thinking for a while, she spoke with difficulty.