Chapter Ninety-One: A Proposal

When the crew decided that Rong Qing would sing the ending theme for the new film The Transformation Diary of a Young Lady, she was utterly stunned.

Fang Ziqing looked at her with eager anticipation and patted her shoulder. “With your popularity, as long as you sing more or less in tune, it will definitely be a huge hit.”

The production team was determined to squeeze every possible bit of profit from the film. A good singer might not draw as many viewers as the wildly popular Rong Qing. For the screen idol’s first on-screen song, they were banking on her fame to lure more people into the theater.

But what if she sang off-key?

Pressed by circumstances, she could only harden her heart and step onto the recording stage. The sound system was flawless, the score written by a renowned domestic producer, the melody rich and soaring. The rhythm began, the introduction slowly unfolding with a faint sorrow that touched the soul.

The moment Rong Qing sang her first note—cough, a wrong note. By the end of the line, the producer, who had been quietly waiting with headphones on, removed them in silence, drew a long breath, and steadied the turbulent feelings in his chest. Fang Ziqing’s handsome, gentle face was twisted into something like pickled greens; his furrowed brow looked as though it could crush a fly.

There was no need to hear the whole song. The pitch meter on the computer showed that not a single note had been accurately hit.

Well then. Fang Ziqing had made a mistake. The long-anticipated performance had turned into a nightmare.

Rong Qing took off her headphones with an expression full of guilt. Looking at the director and producer’s bitter faces, she silently wept inside.

“I-I see... we’ll think this through carefully. Rong Qing...” Rong Qing trotted after Fang Ziqing out of the recording hall, and the two of them went into the lounge beside it, sitting side by side on the sofa.

Fang Ziqing cleared his throat, his expression solemn, though there was something strange about it. “No one is perfect. Don’t be discouraged just because you didn’t sing well.”

If no hope had ever been given, how could there be disappointment? It was you who were disappointed. Rong Qing was flustered beyond belief. “No, it must be that I disappointed Director Fang terribly.”

Her tone was calm, and certain. That only made Fang Ziqing feel even more guilty. Looking back, if not for that ridiculous suggestion, Rong Qing would not have been hurt like this today. They had taken a cruel knife to her fragile singing talent and exposed it before the world.

Fang Ziqing felt ashamed and was already thinking about how to remedy his mistake. Rong Qing, meanwhile, was thinking only of how to cancel this performance. The two of them were on entirely different wavelengths.

“Qing, your voice itself is fine. You’re just lacking technique and experience. Don’t tell me you plan to live your whole life with no connection to singing at all.” Whether as an actress or a singer, the two professions often fed into each other. Broadening one’s range was the trend.

Rong Qing gave a bitter smile. “Director Fang, I don’t think I have any talent for singing.”

Fang Ziqing opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end only sighed in silence. With Rong Qing’s fashion sense and acting, she was already enough to be fashioned into an international star; she needed no ornate embellishment. “In that case, I’ll find someone else for the ending theme. Don’t put pressure on yourself.”

“Thank you, Director Fang.” She had once wanted to challenge a new field, but her singing was simply too poor.

After three months of rushed production, The Transformation Diary of a Young Lady was finally completed. December was approaching, and the film had to be released before Christmas.

Snow drifted through the sky in a profusion of flakes. At last, the first snowfall of the winter arrived. Rong Qing’s black snow boots crunched over the luminous white ground, leaving behind a trail of footprints as she hunched her shoulders and walked slowly forward.

The familiar car that should have been waiting at the stop was nowhere to be seen. Ten minutes passed without the slightest trace. A vague unease rose in Rong Qing’s heart. She called Huo Lingtian, but the line would not connect. Cold snowflakes landed on her shoulders and melted at her neck, yet what she felt was not cold, but a scorching, unbearable panic.

“Qing... Qing...” Meng Lin came rushing over through the snow, dragging her steps.

Rong Qing was startled, and the emptiness in her heart deepened. She steadied herself. “What is it?”

Meng Lin put her hands on her hips, breathing hard. “Huo... Huo Shao has had an accident. He’s been trapped in the Huo family building.”

The moment she finished speaking, she saw her friend break into a run across the snow. Several times she nearly slipped, but in the end she regained her footing. In the heavy snowfall, with road conditions poor, Rong Qing seemed like a lost lamb, hailing cabs on the roadside. Meng Lin had never seen her so frantic and helpless, as if the sky had fallen on her. At last, she got into a taxi and vanished from sight.

“Was that too much?” Meng Lin murmured to herself. So her friend had already fallen so deeply into the prison of love. She had never seen such tender, such moving emotion from Rong Qing. The always calm Rong Qing could in fact be flustered, nervous, even terrified.

Quietly, she took out her phone and made a call. “Qing has already gone to the Huo family building.”

Huo Lingtian hung up.

In the grand meeting hall of the Huo Group’s upper floors, the seats were packed with arriving reporters and media. This morning, word had spread from the Huo family, and the journalists had rushed over. If they were late, they would be no better off than those unfortunate ones left outside the door, staring in helplessly.

Fortunately, they had made it. To obtain the first-hand news of the city’s aristocratic circles’ ultimate diamond bachelor was unprecedented indeed.

Huo Lingtian sat at the head of the room, still and silent, as if waiting for someone. The media friends had waited all morning and could only keep him company.

“I have invited everyone here to bear witness for me.”

Everyone sat upright at once. The drowsy woke up, and all the reporters switched on their recorders, ready for anything.

“You all are very concerned about my love life. Regrettably, I have never given you any opportunity before.”

His tone was almost playful, but it made the reporters in attendance uneasy. Was this a warning? Against the emperor of the city, even if they had a story, who would dare write it? Offending Huo Shao could mean not only their own magazine, but the entire publication, being crushed by the Huo Group.

“Today is the most important moment of my life. If it succeeds, then all will be well and everyone will be happy. If it does not, you’d better weigh the consequences.”

Just a few words from Huo Lingtian caused an uproar. The most important moment of his life—was he proposing? It had to be a proposal. Fortunately, most of the reporters and media did not let the revelation go to their heads. A bachelor who had always steered clear of scandal was actually proposing? Who was going to rescue their worldview?

The key point was this: if anyone dared refuse Huo Shao’s proposal, they would have to write the black as white and the white as black. There was simply no chance to refuse.

The reporters cursed Huo Shao’s cunning in their hearts, but at that very moment they felt even more sympathy for the woman he had trapped. As expected, it was no easy thing to become the wife of a rich and powerful family. Even a proposal came with a trap.

“Huo Shao, your charm is irresistible. As the city’s leading golden bachelor, the public enemy of all men, who would possibly refuse your proposal?”

A reporter boldly poked her head up. If you don’t risk the child, you won’t lure the wolf. If the report succeeded, it would be a step to a higher rank and greater glory.

Indeed, his wealth was enough to rival a nation’s, his status exalted, his birth noble, his looks far from lacking, his figure perfect—every woman’s ideal lover, every man’s enemy. Yet that little troublemaker had refused him and wounded the confidence he had always worn so proudly.

Thinking of that night among the sea of flowers, and the woman’s resolute evasion, Huo Lingtian felt both wronged and helpless. If he did not seize the chance to pressure that little troublemaker now, with her turtle-like instinct to shrink into her shell, he would never bring her home as his wife.

Huo Lingtian said lightly, “Yes. Since even you say so, if she refuses me again, you’ll be responsible.”

The words “refused again” exploded like another bomb among the media crowd. Just who was this extraordinary woman who looked down on every female ideal? The women reporters nearly wanted to become wolves themselves and guard their idol.

That reporter immediately turned utterly stunned.

Rong Qing rushed to the Huo Group building by car. That luxurious and imposing landmark—she no longer had the mind to complain about its extravagance or vanity. She hurried to the front desk, breathing hard.

“W-where is Huo Lingtian?”

The receptionist had clearly been tipped off. She smiled at the future madam of the house. “Huo Shao is in the conference hall on the twenty-third floor.”

Rong Qing did not stop walking. She kept muttering to herself: “Twenty-third floor, conference hall... conference hall...”

Because of her panic and her concern for the man, she failed to notice the warm smiles throughout the Huo building, or the absurd loophole in allowing her to go upstairs without any appointment.

She shoved open the conference room door.

Bang.

The room was dark, with only a beam of light at the front. Huo Lingtian’s figure stood in that glow. No matter how tense or disoriented she had been, the instant she saw the man, the tight knot around Rong Qing’s heart finally found breath again.

Only then did she realize how important he was to her—deep in her bones, in her blood.

“Lingtian.” Rong Qing could not stop herself from stepping forward.

Huo Lingtian slowly stood. His gaze was focused, as if it could melt snow and mountains. Gentle, low words of love spilled from his lips, shaking the heart.

“Once, a girl like a spirit from the heavens broke into my world. She opened for me the door to love. She gave me the purest feelings, the most sincere trust, and the deepest emotion. No woman would give up everything and share hardship with you—but she would. No one had ever moved my heart like that; her tears and laughter have long stirred my emotions. At your most difficult moment, she could appear before you in utter disarray, with no masks, with no fear of your status, no flattery. She is my darling Rong Qing. Whether she is seductive, mischievous, gentle, or even tempestuous, she has always fascinated me.”

His voice was full of happiness, and every word struck her heart.

“Darling, I love you. Will you walk with me for the rest of our lives?”

Huo Lingtian knelt on one knee. Holding up Rong Qing’s pale wrist, he pressed a kiss there with sacred devotion.

For a man to kneel in public and promise you a lifetime—Rong Qing’s heart was shaken once more by him.

She stared blankly at Lingtian, stripped of all words, as though he had offered her a vow more sincere than heaven and earth, making her heart move and her spirit submit.

She began to cry. So did the world.

I’m sorry, everyone. Lanlan always keeps breaking the updates, and I know it leaves those waiting for the story exhausted. Lanlan is truly sorry here. Thank you all so much for your long-standing support.