Grand Hotel Stockholm, four in the morning.
Zhang Man chatted about the past, and the more he talked, the more excited he became, and then he couldn't fall asleep at all.
Anyway, the awards ceremony is over, so you can sleep in tomorrow.
"Husband, I just took a month's vacation this time, and your school is temporarily out of work. We will stay in a hotel for a day tomorrow, and go to Italy the day after tomorrow to play, okay? You can go around the Mediterranean Sea, Spain, France, Croatia. …”
As she said that, she gently shook the man's arm and leaned in front of him, her eyes bright: "Okay? After Chenchen was born, we rarely have two worlds."
He does not usually work leisurely, and so does she, who runs a psychiatric clinic in the Princeton area, and the two usually have to accompany Chenchen after work.
Thinking about it carefully, the last time the two of us went on a trip together was three years ago, in Cuba.
"Well, wherever you want to go, I'll accompany you."
The man's tone was a little lower than when he was reading, and he had a charm that had accumulated over the years. The only thing that didn't change was the faint tenderness in his words.
He said, turning on the bedside lamp and turning to look at her.
Looking at her, she was suddenly stunned for a long time.
Zhang Man was flustered by the sight of him, so he covered his face: "What are you doing, what eyes... Have you seen my crow's feet? I'm thirty-five this year, and there is only one, just one! It's just the first half of the year. It's... well-maintained! You are not allowed to look at it, hum, I didn't make up in the middle of the night."
She said, and turned around angrily: "Yes, you are so popular in your school, many young and beautiful female students in their twenties walking on the road don't call you a professor, they call you a god. , don't you look down on me now?"
He said so, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
Of course she had the answer in her heart, but she just wanted to hear him say it over and over again.
"Manman..." The man leaned over, held her face, and kissed her, "You will have a second and third crow's feet in the future, and I will also have age spots... We will all grow old, thank you for being able to Grow old with me."
He touched the crow's feet at the corner of her eyes, and his eyes deepened.
—When I was young, I thought that at that time I loved you to the extreme of love. But now I know that I love you more every day than the day before.
When Zhang Man heard what he said, he was a little angry at first. What does it mean that there will be a second and third crow's feet
But listen and listen, I don't know why, my nose suddenly becomes sore.
Yes, in the future they will all grow old, their hair will turn white, their wrinkles will increase, their skin will be sagging, and they will grow many, many age spots.
However, growing old with him is her only long-cherished wish for so many years and so many years of hard work.
After she was moved, she still didn't forget his stunned expression just now: "Then why did you look at me like that?"
Li Wei hugged the person and smiled softly: "I saw you looking at me with bright eyes, and suddenly I thought of when we got married that year. I still remember when I put a ring on you, you Standing on the stage of the hotel, with so many relatives and friends around, you looked at me so stupidly and brightly, and after watching it for a long time, you suddenly cried, and you forgot to put a ring on me."
That scene will never be forgotten.
Zhang Man pushed him: "Hmph, you don't understand."
In his consciousness, the two have been together since the first year of high school, but she lived two lives.
Only she knew how difficult it was all this.
However, she remembered that she didn't just cry at the wedding. On the day before the wedding in Beijing, in the living room, she seemed to cry more.
…
That year, the night when Li Wei returned to China to meet Cheng Zimo was their first time.
In bed that day, Zhang Man obviously heard that he proposed to her, but for the next half month, he never mentioned it.
She tried several times in secret and openly, but he avoided talking about it, which made her very frustrated, but the experiments and papers had to do the finishing touches.
At eight o'clock that night, Zhang Man finally finished editing the final version of the paper in the laboratory and sent it to the boss.
She lay on the table for a while, feeling a little depressed, and finally returned to the dormitory with a bunch of things.
In the dormitory, Liu Mumu was not playing games for the first time, but was writing a report on a class. When she came back, she was a little surprised.
"Manman, why are you back today? Didn't you go back to your two's 'love nest' recently?"
Zhang Man threw the pile of reference materials, experimental manuals, and thick reference papers on the table, pinched his eyebrows tiredly, and slumped on the chair.
"Don't mention him to me now..."
She was finally completely busy, and naturally she remembered the previous problems.
He... Sure enough, he learned badly after spending a year in the United States.
How can there be such a thing, that time on the bed, it was clearly stated, why didn't you mention it again? Didn't he just say it to have sex with her
In fact, of course she believed him from the bottom of her heart, thinking that he might have forgotten, but she felt a little uncomfortable.
Isn't it a big deal to propose marriage? How can you forget it
Really, why hasn't he forgotten anything else? Since the first time they met, he'd been talking to her basically every night... more and more fierce.
Listening to what she said, Liu Mumu approached with gossip: "Why, there's a quarrel?"
Zhang Man was really at a loss, so he revealed a point: "You said... If a boy suddenly proposed to marry him, but he didn't mention it again, what would happen?"
She really had no experience in this kind of thing in two lifetimes. When Uncle Xu proposed to Zhang Huifang, wasn't it very straightforward? How can I mention it and forget it...
However, Liu Mumu's focus is not at all: "Damn it, isn't it? The boss proposed to you? You are so young, wow... How did you ask for it?"
Zhang Man blushed a little at her fiery gaze: "I didn't propose much, he just suddenly said that he was 22 years old and asked me if I wanted to marry him..."
Liu Mumu continued with star eyes: "Where? High-end restaurant? Candlelight dinner? Are there any flowers and rings? My God, the boss is so rich, did he buy you an oversized diamond ring?"
Zhang Man opened his mouth and choked for a long time before saying, "No... I just said it at home."
"At home? When did you say that?"
"Just... just..." Zhang Man's face was so thin, how could he say he was on the bed, "Well, I said it while eating."
"Uh, that's it, will he just mention it casually, sweet talk, aren't men very good at it? Let's just say, the two of you were originally enrolled a year earlier than normal, and you are only this age now, why? Is it possible to get married so early?"
After she finished speaking, she comforted Zhang Man again: "Manman, don't worry, he said that, it shows that he has this good wish to get married, it's good."
Zhang Man sighed.
Yes, maybe she took it too seriously.
At this time, another roommate, Chai Xiaochen, came back: "Zhang Man, the guy from your family is waiting for you downstairs. Didn't you get his call?"
Zhang Man picked up the phone and glanced at it. Sure enough, there were several missed calls. She just muted in the lab and didn't pay attention.
Although she was still a little angry, she quickly packed her things and ran downstairs.
In the dark night, the teenager was wearing a baseball cap and a black suit standing downstairs, waiting for her quietly.
The moment he saw her, the light in his eyes was brighter than the street lamps behind him.
There are many students coming and going, and there are some graduate students in white coats who have just finished the experiment. He is obviously wearing the same black clothes as the night, but he is so conspicuous.
The corners of Zhang Man's mouth twitched slowly.
Forget it, just pretend that day was just sweet talk and don't care about him.
Getting married is a long way off.
She walked over and took the boy's arm: "Boyfriend, I'm finally done, and I can rest for a long time after that!"
The teenager touched her head: "Well, I'm done too."
Zhang Man pouted when he heard the words. He was at home every day, and he didn't know what he was busy with. He was so busy that he even forgot what he said.
At this moment, the boy lowered his head and wanted to kiss her, but he was wearing a peaked cap, and the brim of the hat slammed onto her forehead.
Both were taken aback for a moment, then both laughed.
When he got home, Zhang Man collapsed on the sofa so tired that he started chatting with the teenager about the crap at the end of his recent dissertation.
"… The heating in the lab is broken, I'm working hard with a hot water bottle, and my hands are getting frostbite. Also, you know what? Our boss asked me to change five versions, God, is he human? Ah... A small part of the experimental results were still wrong before, and I almost couldn't finish it. It's okay, it's all over now... "
He warmed a cup of warm milk and brought it over without her using her hands at all. He carefully fed her water, and after feeding, he thoughtfully wiped her mouth with a tissue.
"It's hard work, Manman."
Zhang Man sat up and asked him for a kiss. Out of the corner of his eye, the corner of his eye suddenly shifted to a thick stack of things on the coffee table.
"what is this?"
She took one, dark red, hard material, like a cardboard folded in half, but the four corners were wrapped with delicate and soft satin, very delicate.
She didn't turn on the light in the living room when she first entered the door. She squinted for a while to identify by the light in the hallway, and then saw the words on the outside of the cardboard.
On the dark red and elegant hollow carved cover, the names of the two of them are written, lined up together, with a dignified and solemn feeling.
Zhang Man's heart suddenly began to pound.
She stood up and turned on the crystal lamp in the living room, the light was a bit dazzling at that moment.
She got used to it for a long time, shaking her hands to open the jam.
—Inside is his handsome and powerful pen.
"Submission: Mr. Chen Jun Taiqi. It is scheduled on April 1st (Saturday) of the Gregorian calendar to prepare wine for the wedding of Ms. Zhang Man and Mr. Li Wei. Please come. Li Wei, please invite."
Next, she shivered and opened one after another.
He has always been careful and disciplined, so many invitations are all handwritten by him, not only their high school classmates, but also teachers, and relatives from Uncle Xu's side.
Her heart was beating fast, she raised her head and looked at the corner of the living room, where neat gift boxes were piled up, probably the gifts he had chosen.
It turns out that these days, he is busy with this.
The young man suddenly held her hand, his voice still did not fluctuate, but the ending trembled slightly.
He was a little nervous.
"Manman, I'm going back to the United States on April 6th, and I don't have much time to stay in China. I was worried that it would affect the progress of your thesis writing, so I didn't say anything. I've booked a hotel in N city and discussed it with my uncle and auntie. already."
Seeing that she didn't speak, he hugged her again, and said in a low voice, "The officiant is usually the husband's parents or elders. I invited my undergraduate tutor, Professor Li, the dean of the School of Physics, to be our officiant. He I have always been affectionate, and when I heard about this, I promised to spare time."
"Manman, the time is rushed, maybe the preparation is not so appropriate. I also know that we are still too young, but... "
— but he was so eager to marry her.
He said dryly until now, but he has never heard her response, lowered his head, his voice was a little tight: "You promised last time, don't go back on it."
In the quiet living room, under the bright crystal lamp, the tall boy suddenly took out a red velvet box from his jacket pocket, and then solemnly knelt down on one knee.
"Marry me, Manman."
Zhang Man will never forget it for the rest of her life. After hearing what he said, she nodded desperately and cried.
Crying even worse than at a formal wedding.