Qin Si Ye glanced at her, about to speak, when Chen Chen chimed in, "Mommy, Daddy said he's taking us to dinner."
"Dinner? Didn't we already eat?" Yin Xi raised an eyebrow.
"You've eaten. I haven't," Qin Si Ye picked up.
"Ah? You haven't eaten this late?" Yin Xi looked at him with concern.
This man, really, why didn't he say so earlier?
Couldn't he have sent her a WeChat message before coming?
If he had, she wouldn't have let the children chat with Jin Jing Chen for so long.
"Mhmm," Qin Si Ye replied, giving her a sideways glance. "Just consider it you accompanying me."
"Okay. Then let's go," Yin Xi felt a pang of guilt for reasons unknown.
Ten minutes later, the car stopped in front of a high-end restaurant.
After turning off the engine, Qin Si Ye quickly walked to the passenger side, opened the door for Yin Xi, and with the grace of a gentleman, helped her out of the car, naturally extending his arm to her.
The three children exchanged smiles and then thoughtfully climbed out of the car one by one.
Yin Xi stared at him blankly. Just as she placed her hand in the crook of his arm, the man led her forward with large strides.
Suddenly remembering the children, Yin Xi was about to turn back to look at them.
Qin Si Ye, however, said, "Don't worry, they can take care of themselves."
As they entered the lobby, uniformed servers stood in a line on both sides and said in unison:
"Welcome Mr. Qin, Ms. Yin!
Welcome young master, young lady!"
Yin Xi was startled by the grand welcome. She glanced around the lobby, which was eerily silent, with no other customers.
This shouldn't be right. It was only nine o'clock, how could there be no one dining?
Had Qin Si Ye booked the entire place?
Qin Si Ye remained composed, not stopping, and led them all the way to the fourth-floor terrace.
The scene that greeted them immediately stunned them.
A long table was set in the center, adorned with colorful balloons and flowers.
The most striking feature was a band set up on the southwest side of the terrace.
As soon as they appeared, beautiful music began to play.
"Daddy, is this the surprise you were talking about for Mommy?" Chen Chen ran forward, his eyes shining as he looked at Qin Si Ye.
"Yes," Qin Si Ye replied with a smile, then turned to the stunned woman beside him, "Xi Xi, do you like it?"
"Ah? Mhmm," Yin Xi finally snapped back to reality and asked, bewildered, "It's just dinner, why make it so grand?"
Qin Si Ye smiled but didn't answer, pulling her towards the spot with the most flowers and balloons.
At that moment, a waiter slowly pushed a trolley forward.
On the trolley sat a bouquet of fresh, dewy red roses.
Yin Xi finally understood.
This was not a simple dinner at all.
The man in front of her took a small, exquisite, and gorgeous box from the trolley, opened it, knelt on one knee, and looked at her with deep affection.
"Xi Xi, in the vast sea of humanity, you descended like an angel from heaven, bringing peace to my inner loneliness and wounds.
I've discovered I'm poisoned by love, and you are my only antidote. To prevent me from succumbing to this poison and suffering from unrequited longing, will you marry me?
For this life and the next, I only wish to walk hand in hand with you."
Her eyes brimming with tears, Yin Xi excitedly covered her mouth and nodded vigorously, "Mhmm. Yes."
Qin Si Ye stood up with a radiant smile, took her right hand, and personally slid the carefully custom-made diamond ring onto her middle finger.
He lifted her chin and whispered, "Xi Xi, I love you."
Then, he kissed her lips passionately.
Just then, the sky in the distance was illuminated by bursts of brilliant and dazzling fireworks.
Yan Yan exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Chen, Brother Shuo, look! Someone is setting off fireworks over there."