Financial Independence through Cracked Apps-Chapter 121 - 113: Marriage Proposal

A kiss?

Qin Yuenan froze for two seconds, then glanced at the bustling tourists all around them and decisively refused.

"There are too many people here. Let’s talk about it when we get back."

"It’s fine."

Lin Shen took a step forward, wrapped his arm around Qin Yuenan’s slender waist, and leaned in to whisper playfully in her ear.

"They say that if you show your love’s Sweetness in front of the ’great man,’ your relationship will grow even closer."

"Where did you hear that ridiculous rumor?"

Qin Yuenan rolled her eyes at Lin Shen, speechless.

She had only ever heard of praying for a good match before Yue Lao, or hanging a love lock on Huashan to declare one’s devotion.

Who kisses in such a solemn place?

However...

Qin Yuenan had always appeared proud and aloof on the outside, but once you tore away that mask, you would find a fiercely passionate heart.

So, faced with Lin Shen’s expectant look, even though she hated doing things that attracted attention in public, her heart softened in the end.

After thinking it over and over, she pressed her soft lips together and stressed with a serious expression.

"Just this once. Don’t think it’ll happen again."

Qin Yuenan looked around, found a relatively secluded corner in the shade of a tree, pulled Lin Shen over, then closed her eyes and urged him.

"Hurry up!"

"Okay."

Lin Shen decisively lowered his head and kissed Qin Yuenan’s slightly parted red lips. At the same time, he took out his phone and captured the sweet moment in a photo.

"What are you doing!"

Seeing that Lin Shen had actually taken a selfie of them kissing, Qin Yuenan hit his chest, flustered and annoyed.

"Delete it right now!"

"Nan, our relationship is already so close. We can’t not have a single intimate photo, can we?"

Lin Shen said with a straight face.

"If a girl asks for my contact information, I can use a picture of us to turn her down. If we don’t take any, what excuse can I use?"

"Hmm..."

At first, Qin Yuenan thought taking this kind of picture was utterly mortifying.

But as soon as she heard Lin Shen planned to use the photo to reject other girls who hit on him, she suddenly thought it was a pretty good idea. She even wanted to take a few more.

So she took out her own phone, held it high, stood on her tiptoes, and took a selfie as she proactively kissed Lin Shen on the cheek.

"It’s only fair. I’ll use this picture to turn down other men, too."

"So you’ve been hit on before, Nan."

Lin Shen said jokingly.

"I thought no one would dare approach you."

"What kind of person do you take me for?"

Qin Yuenan snorted coldly, tossing her long hair back with a proud look on her face.

"To be honest, back when I first joined the company, I’d get seven or eight people a day finding all sorts of excuses to talk to me and ask me out to dinner."

"So, did you turn them down?"

Lin Shen’s eyes suddenly narrowed, his gaze turning cold. This intense possessiveness delighted Qin Yuenan, and she quickly replied in a soft voice.

"I turned them all down. To this day, I’ve only ever accepted one person’s invitation."

"Who?"

"Who do you think?"

Qin Yuenan wiggled her phone. On the screen was the photo of her kissing Lin Shen’s cheek.

"So stupid."

’Mine.’

A warmth spread through Lin Shen’s heart. He took Qin Yuenan’s hand, and a feeling of Sweetness washed over him.

After casually strolling around the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, the two headed to their last stop for the day—the Music Stage.

It was a semi-circular, open-air amphitheater, popular with couples for its unique and romantic blend of Chinese and Western architecture, as well as the white doves that often flew by.

Many men even planned to propose to their partners here and win their hand in marriage.

Lin Shen and Qin Yuenan were lucky enough to see one such couple.

"Honey, will you marry me?"

"I will!"

As the groom in his sharp suit and the bride in her wedding dress embraced tightly, a beautiful violin melody suddenly drifted through the air.

As if on cue, the thousands of white doves that had been resting on the seats all flew toward the stage at once.

They spread their wings, rolling like waves, a sea of white feathers instantly sweeping across the hazy twilight sky.

The bride instinctively ducked her head, and the groom held her tightly to protect her.

Then, the sound of celebratory applause from the crowd thundered through the air.

"Congratulations on your wedding!"

"Thank you!"

The groom waved the flowers in his hand and, holding the bride’s hand, bowed to everyone. Both of their faces were beaming with happiness.

The twilight filtered through the gaps in the doves’ wings, weaving shifting spots of light on their shoulders. It was as if they were draped in robes of sunset clouds studded with crushed diamonds—beautiful and romantic.

Lin Shen watched the scene quietly, applauding softly while a feeling of sincere envy suddenly stirred in his heart.

’Once upon a time, I too was a warrior of pure love who believed so strongly in it.’

’But now, I’ve given up on such beautiful fantasies.’

Just as Lin Shen was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly felt someone grip his left hand tightly.

It was Qin Yuenan; she had noticed the subtle thoughts running through his mind.

"I will always be with you."

Qin Yuenan, who rarely expressed her inner feelings, was now looking at Lin Shen with uncharacteristic affection, the corners of her lips curling into a bewitching smile.

"If you were to propose to me right now, I might just say yes."

"Oh?"

Lin Shen raised an eyebrow and gave his right leg a sudden shake. It startled Qin Yuenan, who thought for a second that he was actually about to drop to one knee.

But it turned out he was just faking it.

Seeing the mischievous smile on his face, an indignant Qin Yuenan lightly punched his shoulder.

"You just can’t resist teasing me for a second, can you!"

"Hehe."

Lin Shen squeezed Qin Yuenan’s hand again and said in a low voice.

"Let’s save it for next time."

’Next time?’

Qin Yuenan’s heart suddenly started racing.

’Could it be... Lin Shen is actually planning to propose to me?’

In truth, Qin Yuenan wasn’t completely against the idea of marriage.

She was twenty-eight and unmarried, not even dating, simply because she looked down on all the men around her.

It was harsh, but it was the truth.

The men around her were either capable but unattractive, or they were handsome moochers.

Qin Yuenan had very high standards, a flaw she was well aware of.

But she would rather be alone for the rest of her life than settle.

Because of this, Qin Yuenan had originally thought she would truly be single forever.

But as fate would have it, Lin Shen crashed into her world.

A handsome and clean-cut appearance, a mature and steady yet witty and humorous way of speaking, a resolute and unyielding personality, and outstanding personal abilities.

Such a perfect "male god" persona made Qin Yuenan feel, on multiple occasions, as though she were living in a dream.

After all, every single aspect of Lin Shen was perfectly suited to her tastes.

And so, falling in love became a matter of course.

She might even agree on the spot if Lin Shen were to propose to her now!

"What’s wrong?"

Seeing Qin Yuenan suddenly purse her lips and fall silent, Lin Shen teased.

"You’re not actually thinking about marrying me, are you?"

"Lin Shen!"

Her innermost thoughts exposed, Qin Yuenan flew into a rage out of embarrassment and started chasing after him, swinging her bag.

But the infuriating part was that she couldn’t catch him and had to endure his taunts on top of it.

"Did I actually guess right? So you have this side to you, Nan! I thought you were frigid."

"..."

Qin Yuenan gritted her teeth. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she abruptly flopped onto the lawn.

?

Seeing Qin Yuenan "fall" to the ground with her long, beautiful legs folded to one side, Lin Shen’s heart skipped a beat. He rushed back and crouched down beside her, concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine..."

Qin Yuenan said in a low voice, then, seizing the opportunity, grabbed Lin Shen’s hand and gave his right forearm a light bite.

It didn’t hurt, but it left very clear teeth marks.

"HISS—!"

Lin Shen sucked in a sharp breath. Only then did he realize Qin Yuenan had faked the fall, and his worried expression instantly turned into one of speechless exasperation.

"Nan, I’m starting to realize you really like to bite people!"

"Hmph."

Qin Yuenan snorted, got up by herself, and dusted off her bottom, a look of smug satisfaction on her face.

"What’s wrong?"

?

Seeing the little, confused expression on Qin Yuenan’s face as she tilted her head, Lin Shen, who had been wearing a mischievous smirk just a moment ago, suddenly froze.

"You don’t know what this means?"

"I don’t."

’WTF?’

’Does such an innocent person still exist in this world?’

Lin Shen scratched his head, while Qin Yuenan curled her lip in disdain.

"Anyway, you’re definitely up to no good. I’m not trying it."

"You’ll try it sooner or later."

Lin Shen said with complete confidence, which made Qin Yuenan roll her eyes dramatically.

"You’re pretty confident, aren’t you."

"Hehe."

After this little episode of playful bickering, Lin Shen and Qin Yuenan concluded their daytime trip to Zhong Mountain.

If one had to describe it in a single phrase, it would be—tiring but happy.

The two of them left the scenic area and found the familiar Mercedes-Benz S-Class still waiting in the parking lot, in the exact same spot.

Lin Shen knocked on the window, waking up Wang, who was fast asleep in the driver’s seat.

"Ah!"

Seeing Lin Shen’s face at the window, Wang was so startled that all his sleepiness vanished, and he immediately got out of the car.

"I’m so sorry!"

Wang hurriedly bowed and apologized.

"Mr. Lin, I didn’t realize you were coming out, so..."

"It’s fine."

Lin Shen waved his hand and asked curiously.

"You didn’t just sit in the car all day, did you?"

"No, I walked around the area for a bit."

Wang scratched his head, embarrassed.

"I calculated the time and thought you should be finishing up soon, so I came back to wait. But I ended up falling asleep while I was waiting."

"That must have been tough."

As someone who had once been a low-level worker himself, Lin Shen knew just how hard it was to work in the service industry, so he smiled.

"Before I check out, I’ll have a word with the manager about you."

"Thank you, Mr. Lin!"

Wang was ecstatic. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He then drove Lin Shen and Qin Yuenan away from the Zhongshan Scenic Area.

「The sunset faded, and twilight descended.」

The Neon signs lighting up one by one and the blinking brake lights gradually converged in the distance to form a brilliant river of light.

The Mercedes S-Class Lin Shen was in was trapped in the endless evening rush hour traffic, but he didn’t feel impatient.

On the contrary, his heart was incredibly peaceful at that moment.

He had his legs crossed, his left elbow resting on the edge of the window, and his chin propped on his left hand as he quietly watched the unique urban scenery pass by outside.

Lin Shen was lost in thought, and an idea slowly began to form in his mind.

’Once I have the spare cash, I’m definitely buying a house in Jinling.’