In this world, everyone's life is independent and special. They live in their own way, find happiness in their own way, and love the people they want to love in their own way. But no matter how ups and downs our fate is, in the eyes of others, it is just a simple story that can be left for after-dinner talk. So, life will return to normal one day.

During our daily interactions, Ni Nuo had suggested to me many times, "Let's get married after you graduate." Because he always said it in a joking tone, I also joked with him and never took it to heart.
So I never thought that one day he would say such words in front of my mother.
I stared at Ni Nuo in a daze, smiling and serious, and could not say a word for a long time.
The mother's hand that was pouring tea also stopped there for a while, and she actually asked back with a look of joy on her face: "Are you telling the truth?"
"Of course, as long as you and Wen Yu have no objection." Ni Nuo replied.
"No, I don't object! I won't object!" The mother excitedly put down the cup in her hand and grabbed Ni Nuo's hand, "I feel most relieved to have you taking care of our Wen Yu..."
Nino was smiling the whole time, holding his mother's hand, and the two of them were talking about something in a murmuring manner, completely forgetting to ask for my opinion.
I stared into my mother's expectant face.
Yes, she was right. In a sense, the love of parents for their children is selfish. As long as the child is happy, other factors can be ignored. As for whether they can be together with the person they love in this life, it is not the most important thing.
After all, if you choose a partner who loves and cares for you, your future will be much smoother. But, isn't this considered a perfunctory relationship?
Does my self-esteem allow me to do such a thing?
I can't get the answer.
I quietly poured tea and cleared the cups beside them until it was completely dark. Only then did my mother say goodbye to Nino and insisted that I send him out of the house.
The sky was full of stars, and the cool evening breeze blew past my ears. Ni Nuo looked at me teasingly and said with a smile: "What, were you scared just now?"
I waved my hands as if I didn't care and said, "It's okay, but this joke is not funny at all."
"Really? Do you think what I said before was just a joke?" Ni Nuo raised his voice and suddenly took a step closer to me.
I stepped back subconsciously. Although I knew the answer, I still said stubbornly: "Could it be that you..."
"Wen Yu, I'm not kidding." Ni Nuo straightened up, held my shoulders and said seriously, "I will wait for you. When you are ready, we will be together, okay?"
His eyes were brighter than the stars above his head.
It was as if a thin, transparent thread was wrapping around my throat again and again, becoming tighter and tighter , locking my throat and making me unable to speak.
How should I answer?
Ni Nuo clearly knew my feelings for Xiang Nanfeng. He was cold and wary towards Xiang Nanfeng. He was always on edge in front of Xiang Nanfeng, as if Xiang Nanfeng would snatch me away at the next moment.
So Nino, why don’t you give up even though you clearly know everything? Why do you patiently tolerate me and even start planning our future?
Can such a proud Nino even accept the flaws in his emotions for me?
"Have you...really thought it through?" My voice was shaking uncontrollably.
"That's right," he answered without hesitation.
I closed my eyes sadly, took a long breath, and forced a smile: "Okay...it's just that there's still a lot of time, and we still have a lot of days to live, right? Don't be impatient."
Nino stretched out his arms and held me in his arms, his warm breath was close to me.
There was a hint of sadness in his voice: "Wen Yu, I love you."
My heart ached and I couldn't help but open my arms to hug him back. The Ni Nuo in front of me suddenly became extremely fragile again, like a child who had lost an important toy and could never find it back.
I am a knife covered with poison that is stabbed into his heart . Life will end if I pull it out, but if I leave it alone, the pain will only grow.
But he allowed me to be hurt, and gladly accepted any wounds.
I had no way to refuse him, and I didn't have the heart to refuse him. The only thing I could do was to prevent the knife from stabbing deeper and deeper.
Under the moonlight and starlight, our shadows overlap, as if they will never be separated. How beautiful.
But only we know that this is just an illusion.
In this world, everyone's life is independent and special. They survive in their own way, find happiness in their own way, and love the people they want to love in their own way.
But no matter how ups and downs, twists and turns our fate is, in the eyes of others, it is just a simple story that can be kept for after-dinner talk.
So, life will return to normal one day.
Ni Nuo's career development can be said to be smooth sailing. He is increasingly valued by his superiors, his position rises again and again, and he is moving towards the peak in an irresistible manner.
I lived an ordinary life like everyone else. I met new roommates, got into a new environment, looked for part-time jobs in my free time, and was overwhelmed by various exams that came from time to time.
Occasionally, Nino would come to see me, take me to eat delicious food, buy me all kinds of things to please me, always care about my health, and take time to bring nutritional supplements to my house and chat with my mother.
I can also see that his position in my mother's heart is becoming more and more important. He has become the best candidate for "future son-in-law" and this cannot be changed.
This kind of life is plain and peaceful, and even the shadow of my father beating me in my childhood has almost completely disappeared, becoming only a vague shadow in my memory.
But... I still often think of the person named Xiang Nanfeng.
I woke up from a dream in the middle of the night and faced the dim morning light outside the window. I seemed to see his figure , first his bright face like the sun, and then he was fixed on his image wrapped in a black windbreaker, so thin that it made people feel distressed, with long hair covering his eyes, leaving a thick black shadow.
I stretched out my hand in confusion, but all I touched was empty air.
I covered my face and talked to myself.
I said, "Wen Yu, are you being worthy of Ni Nuo like this?"
The seemingly comfortable days were passing smoothly. Xiang Nanfeng returned to his country again. Before leaving, he tried to contact me, sent countless text messages, and made countless phone calls, but did not get any response from me.
Because that encounter when we were looking for Cheng Panpan might be our last time together?
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye I am already a student who is about to step out of the campus again, wandering in school and society. In order to meet more and different people, I will actively participate in various activities, just to find a suitable job after graduation.
I originally thought that time would just pass by without any change, but I didn't expect that Xiang Nanfeng, who had been deeply buried in my memory, would appear again.
At a job fair organized by the school, I was walking around the noisy hall with several carefully prepared resumes in my hands. Suddenly, a familiar voice entangled me like a vine, and I was unable to move.
The voice was filled with a hint of smile and nostalgia: "Wen Yu, I finally found you."
At one point I thought I was hallucinating, but my body still turned uncontrollably towards the place where the sound came from.
Not far behind him, Xiang Nanfeng had one hand relaxedly in his pocket and the other hand waving in the air. He was wearing a neat and straight black suit and was particularly eye-catching in the crowd.
He was taller and stronger than before. His fair skin had perhaps turned into a healthy wheat color due to the sunshine abroad. His bright black eyes showed maturity and sophistication, but the childishness lurking in the deepest part had not disappeared.
At that moment, the whole world seemed to become extremely silent, with only the two of us looking at each other.
My mind was buzzing, so many greetings and words came to my mind, I was so flustered that I didn't know how to start.
"Why, you don't recognize me? Have I really changed that much?" Seeing that I didn't answer, Xiang Nanfeng raised his hand and , "There are so many people here, can we go out and talk?"
His tone was relaxed, which eased my stiff nerves a lot.
I put all the resumes in my hand back into my backpack, took a deep breath, and nodded: "Okay."
I bought two bottles of iced green tea from Nanfeng, and we found a quiet garden path and sat side by side on a bench. The fresh fragrance of flowers and plants lingered around us, relieving my nervous and helpless mood.
In the silence, Xiang Nanfeng, playing with the green tea in his hand, was the first to break the silence: "In the future, I will not leave, let alone return to foreign countries. I have made up my mind to stay in China to develop. Maybe it will be a little difficult at the beginning, but my father's friends will take care of me to some extent--" He seemed to deliberately lengthen the voice, "In this city."
I stared blankly at the grass in front of me and murmured, "Not leaving?"
"Yeah." He nodded firmly, "Maybe I still prefer familiar places."
"Then why are you here today?"
"Ah... I didn't have anything important to do in the first few days after I came back, so I thought of coming to see you." He smiled, "I didn't expect that so much time has passed. When I saw you handing out resumes everywhere, I was really impressed - Wen Yu, you have changed a lot."
I don’t know if my illusion, but I heard a hint of sadness in his words.
So I could only subconsciously explain: "Actually, nothing has changed. After so much time, I can't still be like a child..."
My voice became smaller and smaller, and finally became weak.
Xiang Nanfeng raised his head, stared into my eyes, and suddenly said softly: "Wen Yu, I have always missed you."
It was just a simple sentence, but it frightened me so much that I stood up from my chair suddenly, as if I were burned by fire, and my face was as pale as paper.
I reluctantly replied: "As a friend, I miss you too..."
"You know that's not what I meant." Xiang Nanfeng interrupted me bluntly, "I haven't had a good time these days abroad. I always think of the days we spent together, which were so happy and simple. I also wanted to not disturb your life. After all, if it weren't for my existence, many things wouldn't have happened." His hand holding the bottle began to tremble, "But I can't deceive my heart."
A breeze blew by, and the leaves made a rustling sound.
I stood there like a fool, looking behind him, and felt as if all the blood in my body had turned to ice.
After a long time without getting a reply, Xiang Nanfeng raised his head uneasily. Seeing that I was in a daze, he followed my gaze.
Then, his brows furrowed slightly.
It’s Nino.
He seemed to have been standing there for a long time, and there was no expression on his gentle face, but it made me feel inexplicably panicked.
I watched him stride towards us and stand beside me very naturally. He first held my hand and then his emotionless gaze fell on Xiang Nanfeng.
"You're back? When?" Ni Nuo asked.
Xiang Nanfeng responded calmly: "Not long."
Ni Nuo nodded: "When are you leaving?"
My heart trembled, and I raised my head and stared at Ni Nuo with some reproach, but he seemed not to notice my gaze and continued to stare at Xiang Nanfeng with his sharp eyes.
"I probably won't go back. I'll stay in this city to develop." Xiang Nanfeng pursed his lips and smiled, "Maybe we'll have many opportunities to meet in the future."
Ni Nuo's body completely froze, and a layer of ice seemed to float in his eyes.
"It seems like you guys have something else to do next? I won't bother you anymore." Xiang Nanfeng didn't care about Ni Nuo's ugly expression at all, he stood up and straightened his clothes, "I'm leaving first, bye."
After saying that, he threw the empty green tea bottle in his hand into the trash can from a distance and left this battlefield-like place with a sense of ease.
I felt Nino's emotional fluctuations and was uneasy for a moment, but I didn't know how to comfort him.
But after a brief silence, he turned his head and gave me a very normal smile, ruffled my hair, and asked, "Are you hungry? Shall I take you to eat steak?"
It would be better for him to get angry at me if he was so calm, so I quickly said, "Ni Nuo, what I just said was not..."
"I know. He came to see you, right?" He waved his hand. "I understand. You don't need to explain. I just don't like that guy. Haha."
I closed my lips tightly and didn't answer.
He always subconsciously chooses to believe me and makes me feel at ease.
But Xiang Nanfeng has returned. I remember his firm words and persistent eyes... He will definitely appear again.
Ni Nuo drove me to a western restaurant near the school that I often visited. Along the way, he briefly asked me about my work and resume, and also showed concern for my recent physical condition. He did not mention Xiang Nanfeng's appearance at all, as if the confrontation that had just happened was just a ridiculous illusion.
While carefully observing Nino's expression, I prayed humbly in my heart: Let these things pass completely.
In fact, I am the one who is most likely to escape and be irresponsible... It was clearly lunch time, but there was not a single customer in the restaurant. The waiter led us to a sunny location with a wide view with a smile on his face.
Ni Nuo first ordered my favorite food with ease, then suddenly seemed to remember something and gestured to the waiter: "Don't forget that thing."
The waiter nodded, bowed and left.
I took a sip of the fragrant coffee and asked curiously, "What is it?"
He blinked and deliberately kept the secret: "You'll know in a moment."
The steak was tender and juicy. Nino, who rarely let me drink alcohol on weekdays, also ordered some mellow red wine, which made me feel more and more that something was about to happen.
Sure enough, lunch was already halfway through when a waiter slowly appeared pushing a food cart, which was decorated with several bouquets of bright red roses and a colorful chocolate cake in the center.
"What are you doing?" I was stunned for a moment, and then I couldn't help laughing.
Ni Nuo did not answer. He put down the knife and fork in his hand, stood up and walked towards the dining cart. He first asked the waiter to leave, then put the chocolate cake on the table, picked up the most beautiful bouquet of roses, stared into my eyes, and knelt on one knee under my shocked gaze.
I saw a dazzling and gorgeous diamond ring among the roses. It emitted an icy light, and against the backdrop of the large area of ​​bright red, it hurt my eyes.
"I have been planning for this day for a long time, Wen Yu." Ni Nuo said slowly and lowly, "You are about to graduate. Do you remember what I said before? Marry me, let us be together forever, and I will give you happiness."
He took the diamond ring and forcefully put it on my finger despite my objections.
"I haven't yet..." I looked around in panic, wanting to refuse but not knowing how to start.
"As long as you promise me, we still have a lot of time to prepare, right?" Ni Nuo's tone carried a persistence that I couldn't refuse.
Why……
I stared at the diamond ring blankly.
Why does my heart ache?
We have been together for a long time, and he has given me everything in life, made me happy, and allowed me to hide in his arms without enduring any pain. When he knelt on one knee and promised me that he would give me happiness forever, shouldn't I cry with joy, throw myself into his arms and agree?
"I'm sorry... Ni Nuo..." I lowered my head and slowly stroked the cold diamond ring on my finger, "I can't promise you now, can you give me some time to think about it?"
Until I can completely stop worrying about that person, until I no longer feel heartache when I think of him... But... will that day really come?
I don't want to compromise my feelings like this, and I don't want Nino to live in the pain of possible loss forever.
Ni Nuo lowered his eyes and did not answer for a long time.
I took off the diamond ring from my finger with a gloomy look and wanted to put it back in his hand, but he stopped me and pushed it back forcefully.
"Wen Yu, I won't force you. I'll give you time to think about it. You have to accept the diamond ring, even if it's just a small gift from me." He pleaded in a low voice.
How could such an important thing be considered an ordinary gift? I was about to refuse, but I saw his eyes full of sadness, and finally nodded heavily.
The atmosphere during the meal became weird and awkward. Although Nino found many interesting topics to make me happy, the turmoil in my heart caused by the proposal had not yet completely calmed down, and I became a little absent-minded about everything.
Proposal……
If my mother knew about this, she would definitely be happy to ask me to agree, right?
What should I do? Can I really completely ignore Xiang Nanfeng's existence and happily move towards the future with Ni Nuo?
Can anyone give me an answer?