Over the next four or five days, Wang Yibo took him to several famous attractions in Germany according to his pre-prepared itinerary, plus some scenic and less well-known places. Every day, every hour was planned just right, not too tiring and not too boring.
However, what impressed Xioa Zhan the most was the intimate thoughtfulness of these German hotels. They stayed at the first hotel for three nights. The first day, the arrangement was misty roses and then they were replaced by apricot roses the second day and with red roses the third day.
When they arrived at the second hotel, the first thing he saw was yet again the beautiful red roses, which were replaced with yellow roses the next day. On the third day, they were changed back to those pale pink misty roses.
Xioa Zhan looked at the English words on the card, "Are Germans even so strict when it comes to romance? Leaving a card with a label, afraid that we wouldn't recognize roses?"
If it hadn't been for these cards, he might've suspected that Wang Yibo had specially arranged these flowers, but with these cards, it really seemed like these were official gifts from the hotel. After all, Wang Yibo wouldn't need to state the flower names specially, just writing "I love you" would be enough.
Wang Yibo smiled shallowly and didn't reply.
Seeing that tomorrow was his silly dog's birthday, Xioa Zhan quickly and sneakily prepared the gift while Wang Yibo was taking a shower early in the morning and hid it in his own pocket, then they went out together.
Today was their penultimate day in Germany. According to the original plan, they were supposed to go to Wang Yibo's family house to spend the evening with his parents and then head off home the next day. Xioa Zhan had bought some gifts and brought them with him. Although this wasn't the first time he was seeing his parents, he was nevertheless thorough about this kind of etiquette.
After ringing the doorbell, the door was opened almost instantaneously, so Xioa Zhan thought that the parents had been waiting for them and said a bit apologetically, "Dad, mom, I apologize, there was a traffic jam."
"It's fine, don't worry, you two come in quickly so you don't roast in the sun outside." The Wang couple enthusiastically welcomed them.
Xioa Zhan entered the door, put his gifts down, and took a seat on the living room sofa. Wang Yibo sat next to him, and Papa Wang and Mama Wang followed right after them, sitting on either side.
The four of them sat in relative silence for a moment.
"......"
Why does this silent atmosphere feel so strange?
Xioa Zhan took the lead and said, "Mom, Dad, what do you want for dinner? I'll cook."
Papa Wang quickly replied, "No, no, you don't have to do anything today."
Xioa Zhan was confused, "Is there something going on today?"
"Uh......" Papa Wang choked up and Mama Wang followed up for him, "He means that the two of you have been tiring yourselves out the past few days. Have a good rest and let us take care of dinner."
"Right, right, that's what I meant."
Xioa Zhan felt that something wasn't right about this. After the parents left, the two of them went up to their bedroom and he asked Wang Yibo, "What's up with your parents? They're more reserved than when I first met them."
"I-I don't know......" Wang Yibo looked all around, as if he had entered his own bedroom for the first time ever, and suddenly said, "I have a bit of a headache. Zhan , join me for a nap."
Xioa Zhan immediately threw the doubts to the back of his mind and stepped forward to touch his forehead, "How come you have a headache? Must be because you stayed up late last night. I'll make you go to bed early, you better do as you're told."
Wang Yibo gripped his hand and placed it on his cheek, nuzzling cutely against it, "I'm obedient, I listen to you above all else."
Xioa Zhan coughed a few times, barely able to maintain his severe expression, "Quickly lie down, so troublesome. I'll go out after you fall asleep."
But in the end, he actually fell asleep first.
When he woke up, it was already around 6 or 7pm. Downstairs, Mama Wang had called out "quickly come down to eat" and Xioa Zhan had been woken by this sound. He rubbed his eyes before opening them and found himself nestled into his alpha's arms. There was a small patch on the other's chest where he had drooled, but Wang Yibo was lounging against the headboard, browsing on his phone unruffled and calm, as if completely unaware.
He instantly blushed with shame and slapped his hand down with a *pa* to cover the screen and keep him from looking at it, "Why didn't you wake me up when I started drooling."
These words were quite unreasonable, but Wang Yibo just smiled, "It's okay." He reached out and wiped away the wet traces at the corner of Xioa Zhan 's mouth.
"When you sleep like that, it's too cute......I couldn't bear to wake you up."
Xioa Zhan was instantly at his wit's end with him.
They went downstairs, only to find that the dinner was rich and almost too overstated, the table full of large dishes, covered from one end to the other, as if it were for the New Year celebration. Xioa Zhan looked over it all and couldn't keep from asking, "Mom, Dad, are there guests coming?"
"No, just the four of us."
The portion of these dishes was probably enough for four people to eat from New Year's Eve to the seventh day of the New Year.
Of course he didn't say that. To preserve his face, he ate two full plates, but his stomach capacity was naturally limited. In the end, he couldn't keep going. He fell to the sofa with a belch and watched TV with his belly protruding out.
Wang Yibo helped his parents clean up the kitchen, then came to the living room looking for him. He glanced at his watch and said, "It's only nine o'clock, let's go out for a stroll."
Xioa Zhan figured that would aid his digestion, so he immediately agreed. Before going out, he took out the thing that had been in his pocket all day and checked it over. When he was finished, he properly and carefully tucked it back into his pocket.
Wang Yibo's family residence wasn't near the downtown area, so at night, the surroundings were quiet and peaceful, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves and the faint sound of voices from the other residences. They walked slowly along the stone lane, through a small landscaped wooded area. Then the view before them spread into a wide panorama, a large sea of roses coming into view.
"Why do I remember that this was a grassy field before?" Xioa Zhan said in confusion.
Wang Yibo had already walked ahead of him. In the middle of the sea of flowers, he turned around, "These flowers were planted afterwards. I thought it was beautiful and just wanted to show you."
"It's very beautiful," Xioa Zhan acknowledged, looking at Wang Yibo's broad, tall figure before him, topped by his handsome face. Highlighted by roses on all sides, he almost looked like the illusion of a Prince Charming from a child's fairy tale.
The sight from his imagination made him shiver, goosebumps spreading from head to toe. He stepped forward.
When he looked closely, he realized that the roses planted here were of several colors, almost all of which he'd previously seen at the hotels. They were arranged in picturesque disorder, setting each other off nicely. Also, there were lights spread through them, so even though it was night, the sight was very clear.
Walking ahead of him, Wang he casually broke off a few flowers. Xioa Zhan immediately spoke up to stop him at the sight, "What are you doing, stop it."
With his hand extended towards a red rose, Wang Yibo paused, "......it doesn't matter, there are plenty of flowers here."
"Does the quantity matter? Haven't you ever been taught not to carelessly kill flowers?"
"......" Wang Yibo withdrew his hand and said timidly, "I-I just need another red one and that's it......"
Xioa Zhan looked around and, seeing no one nearby, quickly broke off the red rose to him and slipped it to him, whispering, "Hide them away and don't take them back out. Losing such face. Next time, I'll buy them for you."
Wang Yibo stared blankly at the rose he'd put into his hand, a complex expression on his face.
In the center of the field of flowers was a rest place, which was still made up of the original grassy lawn. Several of the other nearby neighbors were drinking beer and watching an open-air movie. When they saw them, they enthusiastically called out for them to watch as well. Since they didn't have anything else to do anyway, Xioa Zhan sat down and took a few sips of a beer passed over by an older man, since the sense of being stuffed from the meal previously had only just faded.
After sitting down, Wang Yibo seemed a little uneasy, peeking at his watch from time to time, as if waiting for something to happen.
Xioa Zhan naturally knew what he was waiting for, it would be his birthday in two hours. By deliberately leading them over here on the walk, he definitely wanted to wait here with him until time ticked down to zero to enter his new year of life.
Although it didn't feel much different to celebrate his birthday here or at home, since his alpha wanted to create this kind of romantic atmosphere, he naturally had to keep him company in the end.
After the classic romance movie on the screen finished, another started up. The night was becoming darker and darker. The other residents left to go home one after another, smiling and saying a few words in German as they headed off. Xioa Zhan didn't understand a word, but Wang Yibo nodded again and again in reply. He asked him what they were saying, but he just said they were saying a few casual words.
At five minutes to midnight, the movie finally ended and the screen went dark with just a faint white light. In the whole large area, only the two of them were left.
Xioa Zhan yawned, thinking that time was almost up. He straightened up from where he'd been leaning on Wang Yibo's shoulder, reaching for his hand.
As a result, he found that his hand was sweaty.
He froze for a moment, then couldn't keep from saying with a laugh, "Being this nervous, is it really such a big deal?"
Wang Yibo suddenly went rigid all over. He turned his head bit by bit mechanically and looked at him, "You......you already know?"
Seeing that time was ticking down quickly, Xioa Zhan simply admitted, "Yeah, I've known since you asked me to come on a trip to Germany."
Wang Yibo's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, shocked into speechlessness. After a few seconds, he collapsed like a balloon quickly deflating, "I messed up...... I prepared for so long. I definitely thought I could surprise you............"
"It's your birthday, how could I be the surprised one, I should be the one surprising you." Xioa Zhan drew him into an embrace and kissed his forehead. "Did I surprise you? Happy birthday."
Wang Yibo blinked blankly for a moment, then seemed to come to some sudden realization. His eyes suddenly lit up, the light of the screen reflecting brightly in the green of his eyes. His palm became even more sweaty.
Xioa Zhan took three cards out of his pocket and handed them over to the man before him, "Here, this year I'm giving you a very special gift."
Wang Yibo's heart raced wildly. He forced himself to hold back, swallowing hard. He asked, "What is it?"
"The first card is a Pardon card – no matter what you do wrong, as long as you use this card, I'll forgive you; the second one is a Discipline card – if I do something wrong, you can discipline me however you wish and I won't argue or fight back; the last one is a Promise card – this one is incredible, no matter what you ask, I will promise you. All these cards are single-use only."
Xioa Zhan went through the cards one by one. He'd used some creativity to slightly change Liu Han's original idea. That kind of one-day master's rights wasn't applicable to their family, because firstly, Wang Yibo would probably not like master-servant play and secondly, his own status as the head of the family was firm and unshakable.
Wang Yibo accepted the cards and said nothing for a while.
Xioa Zhan saw that his hand was shaking a little and, thinking that he was moved, leaned up to his ear, wanting to throw gas on the fire.
"I almost forgot, I haven't said it to you yet today——" He lowered his voice, "I love you. I'll say it again, happy birthday."
This was the promise they had made while in college, that Xioa Zhan would confess to him once a day every day.
When Wang Yibo heard this, he raised his head instantly, his eyes burning brightly.
"After midnight, I will be 22 years old."
Xioa Zhan was stunned for a moment. He didn't understand why he was saying this so suddenly, having expected that he would flush red and go incoherent like usual.
"Yeah, I know."
"22." Wang Yibo closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He opened his eyes and continued, "Can I use a card now?"
Xioa Zhan was still dumbstruck by his previous words, so he said, "Well, yeah......But it's single-use, are you sure you want to use it now?"
"Mhm." Wang Yibo nodded and drew out the Pardon card. "I lied to you before, can you forgive me?"
"......what lie?"
"Forgive me first, then I'll continue."
"Come on...... I forgive you."
"I wasn't looking over my thesis or work stuff previously during the evenings."
The faint worry in Xioa Zhan 's heart instantly faded, "Just that kind of thing. I already knew and was okay with it, I know you were going over the trip itineraries."
"It wasn't the itineraries," Wang Yibo said, "I was actually arranging the flowers in the hotel, as well as the flowers here, and some other things. I told you a lot of lies so that you wouldn't find out, sorry...... I'm really stupid, I couldn't think of anything more creative, I hope you can forgive me. After that——"
His brow was furrowed, his expression strained and solemn. He took Xioa Zhan 's hand and returned the Promise card together with the Pardon card, "I want you to promise me something."
Xioa Zhan 's mind was a little scattered. "No, why are you being so solemn on your birthday? Suddenly using two cards at once, isn't it too wasteful?"
Wang Yibo didn't reply. He took the six previously-plucked roses out from his pocket, along with the cards he'd seen in the hotels.
"Do you remember these?"
"Of course......what's going on?"
"Read the first letters."
Xioa Zhan didn't understand, but he still did it. The first one was misty rose, he still remembered well, then the second card said apricot rose, then there were two red roses, one yellow rose, and finally a misty rose.
"M, a, r, r, y, m......"
The further he read, the softer his voice became, until he was barely breathing the letters out.
"you......"
*Dong!* The bell of a distant church rang out at this moment, the solemn, clear sound traveling through the distance, echoing in this vast, tranquil sea of flowers.
It was past midnight.
Xioa Zhan looked at his alpha, who was gazing at him with a deep expression. Then he knelt on one knee and, from who knew where, took out a luxurious golden box. He slowly opened it before him.
An emerald ring appeared within.
Even in the dim light, it still shone with a splendid, profound green brilliance, just like those eyes he knew so well.
"This is my grandfather's heirloom, emerald, the last initial, e."
Wang Yibo laughed lightly.
"I finally reached the legal age for marriage, please 'marry me', will you?"
Xioa Zhan stayed silent for a long time, until Wang Yibo added another sentence in worry, "I used the Promise card, you have to promise me whatever I ask......"
Xioa Zhan stared at the ring in a spellbound daze.
He hadn't imagined this day, so now that the moment had come, he was stunned into speechlessness. There was no need for this kind of formality between them. Even if Wang Yibo had casually said "let's get married" one day, he would've agreed without the slightest hesitation.
But Wang Yibo had obviously wanted to use the most sincere and solemn way to engrave this moment in his memory, giving him the most beautiful sense of ceremony.
Xioa Zhan snapped out of it and found this all a little amusing. This silly dog, actually using the Promise card to ensure that I couldn't refuse, but how is it possible that I could refuse? It seemed that he still didn't have enough confidence in their relationship.
In his heart, he thought to himself that he'd need to properly instruct this man once again when they got home in a bit. He stretched out his hand to pull Wang Yibo up and opened his mouth to reply. Just then, the screen that had gone dark suddenly lit up again.
Liu Han's huge face instantly appeared on the screen, accompanied by his loud voice that could be heard for a kilometer away, "Zhan Bao, ai!!! I knew that you'd agree!!! You'll finally get married off, wuwuwu, I, your daddy, am so happy. I wish you both the best, that all your wishes come true, that you live together until a ripe old age when your hair goes white!!!!!"
Xioa Zhan : "......"
Wang Yibo: "......"
The next to appear was Luo YongHeng, beating his chest and bowing his head, "Zhan Ge, even you are getting married off, but me, I don't even have a partner...... Oh Heavens above! Why are you so unfair! *cough cough*......but I still wish you two happiness, health, and harmony! Please remember to take the time to introduce me to a beta or an omega, maybe even an alpha wouldn't be out of the question......"
Xioa Zhan : "......what kind of mess is this?"
Wang Yibo blushed and stood up quickly. He crossed his hands over his head and shouted into the distance, speaking in German. Xioa Zhan couldn't understand him, but he looked in that direction and was stunned to see the older man they had sat down to watch the movie earlier making an OK gesture.
The video was immediately turned off and the screen went dark again. Wang Yibo turned around, kneeling down in annoZhan ce again, and raised the ring.
"He saw you reach out and thought you agreed, so he started to play the well-wishes video I asked people for...... We'll pretend that didn't happen, okay?"
"......silly dog." Xioa Zhan facepalmed. "Let him put it back on."
"No, you still haven't promised......" Awareness suddenly dawned on Wang Yibo, his eyes suddenly shining bright, "Have you agreed?!"
Xioa Zhan was dumbfounded, "I promise. Of course I promise. Is it even necessary to ask me still? Do you still have misunderstandings about our relationship?"
Wang Yibo jumped up with excitement, then immediately knelt down again, cupping his omega's hand and putting the ring on it carefully. He wasn't satisfied just placing it on him, he clasped his hand and kissed his hand all over constantly, from the back to his fingertips over and over. He was slow to look up, but when he did turn his face up to Xioa Zhan , even as such an obviously mighty alpha, he was so cute that the sight could melt a person's heart.
"Zhan , I love you so much......in the future, I will never stop loving you!" Wang Yibo pecked a kiss on the back of his hand again, his voice soft and warm, "Then let's continue watching the video? I found lots of people to give well-wishes and got a lot of red envelopes1......"
The kisses made Xioa Zhan 's heart itch. His thoughts were no longer on the video.
"Keep watching what, let's go home."
He turned around and started to walk away, but was pulled back by Wang Yibo, "Wait, wait, later on our parents gave their blessings, don't you want to see them?"
Xioa Zhan was unmoved, "We'll watch it again tomorrow. Let's hurry home."
"Okay......you sleepy? Then let's go home and sleep."
"Yes, let's go to bed."
Xioa Zhan turned his head and smiled.
"I want to sleep with my husband."