Chapter 56

(Why not dance?)

The melody of Girl In the Sea sounded in the night, surprising Pei Ying.

She’d been listening to this song for many years, but this was her first time hearing it live. Song Nanchuan stood on the beach, keeping count with his foot. The smell of the sea was infused in the air.

There was no place more suitable than here to perform this song.

Pei Ying was completely immersed in the atmosphere, the poetic sound enchanting her.

Song Nanchuan was also absorbed in his performance, and the silver moonlight landed on his body, as if it were shining for him. Outlined in the moonlight, his blinking eyelashes, the beauty mark beneath his left eye… Everything looked like a slow-motion, close-up movie scene, unfolding before Pei Ying.

At the seaside, with the sound of the violin, being together with the man she loved… The image was something that Pei Ying would remember for a lifetime.

For some reason, she suddenly felt like dancing. She took off her high heels and walked over to the water. Pointing her toes, she started dancing.

She performed the dance she’d practiced for her audition for Dancing In the Bright Sunlight. She’d spent a week learning the dance, but in the end, she wasn’t able to perform it for an audience.

Even though this wasn’t the right kind of music, her dance seemed to match well with Song Nanchuan’s playing. The cold sea water washed over her toes and wet her dress. But she didn’t care.

At this moment, she only wanted to dance under the cold, clear moonlight.

Three minutes later, the melody for Girl In the Sea finished, and Pei Ying’s dance came to a stop with the song. The two of them remained silent, neither quite coming to yet. After a time, Song Nanchuan put down his violin and turned to Pei Ying. He smiled and said, “I offer this song, Girl In the Sea, to my beloved lady, Pei Ying.”

Pei Ying returned his smile and laughed. She said, “And I offer this dance, Dancing In the Bright Moonlight, to my beloved sir, Song Nanchuan.”

Song Nanchuan’s smile grew deeper. He extended his arms and wrapped them around Pei Ying’s slender waist. In a soft voice, he asked, “Since we’re so in love, do you think it’s time to make things official?”

Pei Ying was startled once more. Seeing her confusion, he couldn’t help tensing up. “Didn’t you once say that you would marry whoever performed a violin rendition of Girl In the Sea for you? Don’t you dare back out of your promise.”

Like the stars in the sky, his eyes glistened, reflecting her image.

Pei Ying’s lips turned up. She asked him, “You can play violin? I thought you only knew how to play the piano?”

This question seemed to anger Song Nanchuan slightly. “I went to learn from Qiao Yichen.”

Pei Ying’s mouth dropped in surprise. How many times had Pei Ying been put into shock this evening?

Song Nanchuan said, “I don’t know how you were able to endure it. When he was teaching me to play the violin, there were countless times that I wanted to make GuangChen Records go bankrupt.”

“…So, how did you end up enduring it?” Since GuangChen was still going strong now.

“I decided that I should at least wait until I learned to play the violin before making his company go bankrupt.”

“….” Pei Ying was silent for a moment. “And then what?”

“And then?” Song Nanchuan looked at her. “Then, I learned how to play the violin. And since I was so happy, I decided to let him off the hook this time.”

Pei Ying, “….”

“When did you have time to have Qiao Yichen teach you? How come I didn’t know?” Playing the violin required a lot of skill, and it wasn’t very easy to learn. Even if Song Nanchuan only learned this one song, he would’ve had to practice for at least a month, right?

Pei Ying’s question brought up unhappy memories for Song Nanchuan, once again. “You’re actually asking that? You’ve been so busy for the past month that we’ve barely spoken. When would you have found out that I was learning the violin?”

Pei Ying, “….”

Why did she dig herself into a hole?

“I’m sorry.” Pei Ying wrapped her arms around him and said, “When the movie filming completes, I’ll be sure to spend time with you.”

Song Nanchuan lowered his head to look at her. He said, “Since you’re so sorry, can you consider what I just asked you. Will you make things official with me?”

“Oh…” Pei Ying tucked her head into his chest, her face burning up.

Song Nanchuan coughed and gently pushed her away. He put down the violin, and then pulled out an exquisite small box from his suit pocket. Song Nanchuan got down onto one knee and opened the box. “Ms Pei Ying, will you marry me?”

When the box opened, the reflection of the diamond on the ring blinded her momentarily. Her eyes grew moist, maybe because of how bright the shine was.

Song Nanchuan was still kneeling on the ground, with zero concern for the sand getting all over his expensive pants.

The moonlight dragged out their shadows, one standing, one kneeling. When the sea water washed over Pei Ying’s toes once more, she finally nodded. “Yes.”

Song Nanchuan’s taut lips instantly turned into a smile. He got up and embraced Pei Ying, and then he spun her in the air.

“Hahaha, stop it. Put me down.” Pei Ying’s black hair and skirt danced in the air. She held tightly to Song Nanchuan’s shoulders and called to him.

Song Nanchuan put her down and released his arms. He looked at her, and then he kissed her on the lips.

The sound of the waves hitting the beach echoed in the air. Like Song Nanchuan’s affection and gentleness, the endless sea enveloped Pei Ying.

Pei Ying couldn’t quite recall how she ended up heading back to the hotel with Song Nanchuan, but her body still remembered the fervor.

His fiery, passionate kiss. His scorching breath. And his burning skin. They were each like a soldering iron, leaving marks all over her body. And then…

She felt like she was now handicapped.

All her limbs felt like they’d been pulled out and re-attached. Even slight movements caused her whole body to ache. She turned to look at the sun shining outside the window, and she wanted to kick that beast of a man out of bed.

“Ying Ying…” Song Nanchuan called out Pei Ying’s name in his sleep. Even in this state, he subconsciously moved towards Pei Ying’s body.

Pei Ying, “….”

He must have been a teddy bear in his last life or something.

When she realized it was already noon and she’d yet to eat, she turned her phone alarm to the loudest volume and placed it beside Song Nanchuan’s ear.

And so, Song Nanchuan was quickly awakened. Awakened from fright, anyway. He took a moment to come to his senses, and then he asked, “Don’t you have any gentler ways of waking someone?”

“Nope.” Pei Ying turned off the alarm and looked at him. “I want to eat.”

Song Nanchuan, “….”

He really felt that the pepper steak company that asked her to be their spokesperson had exceptional insight.

Song Nanchuan casually draped a robe over himself and then called for food to be delivered. After the two washed up, lunch was sent over. Song Nanchuan picked up the small box on the bed’s headboard and said to Pei Ying, “Give me your hand.”

Pei Ying obediently extended her hand. Song Nanchuan pulled out the ring and placed it onto her ring finger. “Alright, you’re hitched now. No running away anymore.”

Pei Ying lifted her hand and looked at the diamond ring on her finger. “But, doesn’t your father dislike me?”

“As long as you agree, no one else matters. I’ll explain it to my father.”

“Oh…” Pei Ying nodded, her expression a bit gloomy. “But there’s still my parents…”

Song Nanchuan responded, “I’ve already thought about that. We’ll go visit your hometown over Chinese New Year and meet with them. You can also retrieve your household registry, and we can get our marriage certificate.”

Pei Ying blinked. “So you’ve already planned everything out, huh.”

“Something as important as marriage should be planned in advance. Filming for your movie should be complete by the end of the year, and then we’ll be able to focus on preparations for our wedding.” Song Nanchuan smiled at her. “Where do you want to hold the ceremony?”

“Me?” Pei Ying thought for a moment. “I don’t think I ever thought about it before. Isn’t the important part the person standing next to you?”

Song Nanchuan chuckled and kissed her lips. “Then you can start thinking about it now. A castle? A church? By the sea? A meadow? Anything that you like.”

“A castle sounds so romantic! But the sea sounds pretty good too!”

“Then we’ll just put on two ceremonies.”

“That extravagant?”

“Mmh. Your husband happens to have lots of money, so what are you going to do.”

Pei Ying laid down across him and kept laughing. Song Nanchuan rubbed the back of her head and smiled. “Alright. Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to eat? You’re not hungry anymore?” After a moment, he added, “Is this what it means when they say that love is enough to keep you full?”

“Mmh… I think I’d prefer eating meat.”

“….”

In the afternoon, Song Nanchuan brought Pei Ying out to sea on a yacht. They watched some movies on the yacht, and then watched the sunset, and then they looked at the stars. It was the middle of the night by the time they returned to the hotel.

Their three day vacation by the sea was over in the blink of an eye. On the fourth morning, they set off for home.

Pei Ying had spent four days playing and hadn’t even looked over her script. Recalling Director Zhao’s thundering roars when he got angry, her eyes were glued to the script on the plane ride home.

Song Nanchuan was extremely unhappy about this. He grabbed the script from her hands and looked at her with a serious expression. “Do you remember the disorder that happened on the ride here?”

Pei Ying suddenly tensed up at his words. “What? Do you think it will happen again?”

“Are you afraid? Do you think that reading your script is still very important now?”

Pei Ying, “….”

Song Nanchuan continued, “Didn’t we agree to spend the short time we have doing the things we like?”

Pei Ying took her movie script back. “If I don’t read over the script now, my already short life will be cut even shorter after I get to the set tomorrow.”

Song Nanchuan, “….”

It was afternoon by the time they returned to A City. When they’d left, Song Nanchuan had brought the cats over to Xiao Zhang’s to let him petsit. Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhang brought the cats along with him to pick the couple up at the airport.

Pei Ying picked up Blackie, and Xiao Zhang couldn’t help seeing the ring on her finger. It nearly blinded him for a second.

The diamond was really big. If only CEO Song were as generous at work.

After sending the two back to the villa, Xiao Zhang briefly confirmed tomorrow’s schedule with Song Nanchuan and then he took his leave. That evening, Pei Ying cooked a rare meal. As he drank the soup she made, Song Nanchuan lamented, “Having a wife is really nice.”

Pei Ying pursed her lips. “Oh please. It’s not like I never cooked before.”

“But I feel like your food tastes even better with that ring on your finger.”

Pei Ying, “….” Does your ring really have such hidden powers?

“By the way, I can’t keep wearing this on my hand.”

Seeing Pei Ying about to take off the ring, Song Nanchuan shouted out, “Pei Xiujuan, what are you doing?!”

Pei Ying was taken aback. “It’s so shiny. What happens if someone steals it? Besides, I can’t wear this when I’m filming. What would happen if I lost it on set?” She turned her eyes to Song Nanchuan. “And I already told you not to call me Pei Xiujuan, Bastard Song!”

Song Nanchuan blinked. He looked at her and asked extremely seriously, “Will our marriage certificate say Pei Ying or Pei Xiujuan?”

“…My ID and passport are already under Pei Ying!”

“Oh, that’s a shame then.”

“Right. If our wedding invitations said Ms Pei Xiujuan and Mr Bastard Song, do you think anyone would show up?”

“……I guess the neighboring village’s Tie Zhu, Sha Chun, and Ergouzi will probably come.” (t/n: The short—the names invoke a village/country-bumpkin feel. Longer—Some of these names might be given names, or maybe nicknames. Tie Zhu means iron pillar and Sha Chun means silly spring. Ergouzi is kind of like PY’s nickname for SNC. Literally, it would mean ‘second dog kid’ or something, but it’s just an affectionate term. Apparently, a common thought behind it is that by giving a kid a ‘lowly’ name, it makes them easier to raise?)

“Pfft.” Pei Ying nearly spit out her soup. “Hahaha. I suddenly think that my name isn’t so bad sounding.”

“What about compared to Pei Xiuran?”

Pei Ying pursed her lips and didn’t say anything. Song Nanchuan looked at the ring he’d given her, and then he asked, “Are you going to post about us on Weibo?”

“Mmh…” Pei Ying thought for a moment. “I don’t plan on making it public for now.”

“Why?” Song Nanchuan frowned with disappointment. “Am I really such an unpresentable person?”

“That’s not it. If we make it public now, everyone will just be basking in the shine of the ring.”

Song Nanchuan considered it. “True. We should register the marriage first. The marriage certificate coupled with the ring will shine more and have a bigger killing force.”

He’d seen all sorts of dog abuse by couples on Weibo. If he had to compete with them, how could he, as a dignified CEO, lose? Hehe. (t/n: Again, dogs meaning singles, people not in a relationship)