Chapter 86: I Am Ready to Propose to Miel

“I heard she’s the CEO of a listed company.”
“A woman like that, if you like her, just date her, have some fun. Nothing more.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Yanli finally halted his steps, planting himself firmly without turning around. “Is Mr. Wen blindly judging my girlfriend’s character now?”
“I do not care for your opinion, but I hope not to hear such words a second time.”
Wen Yunlan, long accustomed to high status, had rarely been spoken to so rudely—especially by his own son. His face chilled immediately. “What is that attitude?”
Wen Yanli slowly turned, meeting a stern, dissatisfied gaze, his expression and eyes utterly devoid of emotion. “Is there a problem?”
To Wen Yunlan, his son’s words and demeanor were all born of stubborn infatuation for Song Mi. Remembering what Feng Shengzhi had just said in the hospital room, Wen Yunlan’s anger only deepened. “Even your mother disapproves—do you think I would?”
Wen Yanli looked at him with placid indifference for a long moment. “What exactly do I need your approval for?”
It was not late, but Feng Shengzhi resided in the Saint Veya No. 1 VIP ward, and the private hospital’s environment was especially secluded and quiet. Thus, the corridor was so silent between father and son that a falling pin would echo.
Wen Yunlan repeatedly observed the young man before him. Not yet thirty, already skilled at concealing his emotions, he had earned his position as partner at the law firm through genuine talent and had never lost a case since entering the profession. Few outside knew he was Wen Yunlan’s son, but Wen Yunlan himself was far from lacking pride.
It was precisely because of this pride that Wen Yunlan was determined to entrust the Wen family’s future to him—even though he had yet to return home or ever call him “father.” But soon, in less than three years, he would have no choice but to honor the old promise: to acknowledge his lineage, return to the Wen family, and embark on a political career.
Until today, Wen Yunlan’s plans were all about arranging each step after his son returned home. Only now did he realize that his son was old enough to start a family. He had never given much thought to what kind of woman should be the Wen family’s daughter-in-law, but after hearing Feng Shengzhi, he was certain: it could never be someone like Song Mi.
The future mistress of the Wen family need not be publicly visible or battle in the business world; Song Mi’s fiery temperament and her ways of ensnaring men were unacceptable. Feng Shengzhi’s visit today was, in Wen Yunlan’s mind, the wisest decision she had made in thirty years. He could not allow Song Mi to disrupt his son’s near-perfect life trajectory.
With this in mind, recalling his own irreparable shortcomings as a father, Wen Yunlan’s face softened somewhat. Yet his words were firm, uncompromising: “The woman who marries you, who spends her life with you, will become the Wen family’s daughter-in-law. That is why you need my approval.”
His words were powerful, official, and final. Father and son faced each other: one inflexible, the other cold as frost. Wen Yanli’s lips pressed into a thin line, saying nothing.
Wen Yunlan was quite satisfied with his son’s silent submission and softened his tone. “Your mother’s health is fragile; don’t argue with her over such matters.”
He failed to realize that Wen Yanli simply found it beneath him to converse further. His attention had already been diverted by the phrase “spend a lifetime together.”
With a slight lowering of his gaze, Wen Yanli turned to face forward, strode away without another glance.
Song Mi had once asked him, “Is it possible that Lawyer Wen was moved by my genuine feelings and now wishes to marry me?”
She had said this while refusing his proposal to be together. But the truth was, that night they had been passionately entwined—her fervor, her devotion, every nerve in his body had felt it. There was mutual giving and taking, body and soul.
At this moment, he wondered: if he had answered then, “Yes, I want to marry you,” what would she have done? If he proposed, how would she react?
He had indeed considered proposing, especially when he learned she was pregnant. If she kept the child and agreed to marry him, he would gladly do so. But what followed was tragic: not only did they lose the child, she nearly suffered a fatal hemorrhage.
Even after such peril, neither spoke much of the child. He had never told her he knew of her pregnancy from the start, nor that he had used his connections to cancel her scheduled abortion. He knew the child was his.
Throughout this relationship, he had always felt uncertain and anxious, but perhaps Song Mi had felt the same. She had carried his child, lost it under dire circumstances, and yet he had never uttered the words “our child.”
That night, she had also asked him, “Lawyer Wen, what do you think I’m afraid of?” More than once.
If he had spoken plainly then, would she still be so distant now?
But could he truly speak plainly? She was someone with strong opinions, always knowing what she wanted and how to get it.
Could he really change her? Would enough security keep her? Would marriage, a home, suffice?
These thoughts swirled in Wen Yanli’s mind as he entered the hospital room, settling on the sofa a little way from the bed. After entering, he first asked Feng Shengzhi carefully about her recent health and whether she had followed the doctor’s orders regarding her medication. When she assured him she had not missed a single pill, he sat beside her and kept her company.
He did not mention meeting Wen Yunlan in the corridor. Feng Shengzhi did not ask, though he could sense she wanted to, but hesitated.
It was only at her insistence that he moved to the distant sofa, as she sympathized with his exhaustion from frequent flights and urged him to rest comfortably.
When silence fell, Wen Yanli’s thoughts drifted back to Song Mi. She had ignored all his messages and calls since their last phone conversation. Wen Yunlan’s words, “spend a lifetime together,” lingered in his mind.
Was Song Mi the one he wanted to spend his life with? If he pledged his life to her, would she stay for him?
Meanwhile, Feng Shengzhi sensed her son’s distraction. But her foremost feeling as she watched him on the sofa was concern. In just a few days, he had twice traveled between Jinzhou and the capital, each time in haste. Even with youth and stamina, such frequent journeys would wear anyone down.
Her liver problems had returned, and it seemed she would again spend months in the hospital, as she had six years ago. Everyone wants to live. The ordeal six years ago hadn’t made her indifferent to death; sometimes, her fear was so intense she dared not close her eyes. At other times, she comforted herself: everyone must die. She had already lived six more years.
The feeling was a contradiction—lonely and conflicted. Even her own son could not bear her experiences for her. There was no true empathy in this world.
But she could not rest easy. Her brother would not be released from prison for three more years, her father grew older by the day, Feng Jue had yet to settle down with a proper girlfriend, and who knew when he would calm his heart and build a family. Her sister-in-law was devoted to the Feng family, but it was not a complete household. Now her son had a girlfriend whom she could never accept. If this time she did not have the luck she’d had six years ago—if she never found a suitable liver donor, and her rejection worsened until total liver failure, forcing her to leave this world—she feared she would not be able to close her eyes in peace.
She would die with regrets.
Twenty-nine years ago, she had fled marriage and left Wen Yunlan, never regretting it, unwilling to share her husband with another woman. Later Wen Yunlan found her, and their entanglement was born of irresistible emotions. When she discovered she was pregnant, she fled again and chose to have the child. Giving birth was the bravest, proudest thing she had ever done.
Her son had grown up nearly flawless—until he met Song Mi, and everything was shattered. He began to neglect his mother, even resorted to lies.
She had asked Feng Jue, who told her that her son and Song Mi had begun with a one-night stand, followed by Song Mi’s pregnancy and her decision to abort the child. Feng Jue had also said Song Mi had rare panda blood, and nearly bled to death during the procedure.
Upon hearing all this, Feng Shengzhi’s mind was less on the grandchild she never knew, or Song Mi’s brush with death, but most of all, on her son. She was furious and deeply distressed.
Feng Shengzhi had never imagined her son—always so disciplined, steady, never even properly dated—would do something so rebellious. A one-night stand! An out-of-wedlock pregnancy!
For a long time after learning these things, Feng Shengzhi doubted herself profoundly. Did she not truly know her son? Or was it her own failed relationships, her life as an unmarried mother, and the absence of a father figure in his life that had caused him to act so contrary to his usual character and values?
She was anxious, remorseful. This was why she had told Wen Yunlan everything about her son’s relationship and her firm opposition to Song Mi.
Because, if anyone could set her son straight regarding Song Mi, Wen Yunlan could do more than she ever could. And most importantly, if her days were truly numbered, she did not want her final days to be filled with stubbornness, anger, pain, and a heart hardened against her son.
For her son, her opposition to Song Mi had become his greatest burden. His heart was entirely with Song Mi; even when standing before her, his mind lingered elsewhere, and he would not heed any objections.
Yet Feng Shengzhi could not avoid the topic altogether. Just thinking of them living together kept her uneasy.
After ten minutes of silent contemplation, she finally spoke. “By the way, Ali, did you see Anan in Jinzhou?”
“I heard from your aunt that Anan chose a well-known magazine in Jinzhou for work and has started there.” She smiled. “Mother remembers you two got along very well as children, always playing together.”
Hearing this, Wen Yanli set aside his thoughts and looked at her. “We spoke briefly on the phone twice.”
Feng Shengzhi’s heart stirred—clearly, Rong Xin’an was earnest and proactive, already reaching out. This lifted her mood, and she continued reminiscing about their childhood.
The atmosphere grew warmer, and soon Feng Shengzhi brought up Xin’an’s confession to him years ago. “...That secret, Mother kept it for many years!”
She was too far away to see his expression, but his voice was unchanged, as detached as ever.
Wen Yanli answered mildly, “Yes, that happened.”
She wasn’t disappointed; her son had always been reserved. From childhood, whether delicious treats or coveted toys or desired trips, he was always indifferent. Never exuberant, never clingy, and excitement rarely showed on his face.
When he was little, she had worried he was too old for his age, but he proved to be healthy, intelligent, and never caused her trouble in school.
Lately, Feng Shengzhi often thought: perhaps how much a mother worries for her child is determined by fate. Since he spared her so much worry as a child, now, with his infatuation for Song Mi, her disappointment, anxiety, and the tension between them, she could only accept and face it willingly.
But she never expected to hear what came next.
Wen Yanli, sensing his mother’s intentions, spoke abruptly but not impulsively: “...Mother, I plan to propose to Mi’er.”
...
Song Mi returned to her apartment late at night. Ye Zhao accompanied her all the way to the door.
Before entering, she glanced at the electronic lock. The man would not make it back tonight. But what about tomorrow? When he discovered she’d changed the code, what would he do?
After that afternoon’s call, she ignored his calls and messages entirely. How long would he insist on “not allowing her to end this”?
After entering, Song Mi quickly washed up and lay in bed. Exhausted as she was, sleep eluded her. Subconsciously, she seemed to be waiting for something, unable to let go.
At midnight, her phone buzzed briefly. It was a message from him.
Just two words: good night.
After reading it and putting her phone aside, she felt curiously at ease and soon drifted off.
Her first meeting the next morning was scheduled for ten-thirty, so she had planned to sleep in and not go to the office at her usual hour. Her back injury still hadn’t fully healed.
She slept dreamlessly until dawn, waking to her alarm. After getting ready and changing clothes, she stepped out—and saw him.
He stood by the wall in a sharp suit, holding a large bouquet of flowers.
Bird of Paradise.
Song Mi’s heart thudded, her brows furrowed deeply, and the words she nearly blurted out were forcibly swallowed. “Lawyer Wen, so early?”