Lin Lihua was surprised. Although she knew that she should expect this any time, she still didn't see it coming.

"Well..." she stuttered. How could he just propose out of nowhere? She wanted to be his wife but wasn't this too sudden?

Under his nervous gaze, she took a deep breath, stretched her left hand towards him. "Yes."

Everyone erupted into cheers. She said yes!

Lu Shaoting had a dark expression. Just like that, he proposed? So he was suddenly better off than him who had been dating his Su Ling for months?

Henry Blanc took her hand and placed the engagement ring on her finger. Then he kissed it and got up. He really wanted to kiss her lips instead but there were kids around so he controlled himself.

"Congratulations." Lu Aotian poured a drink and made a toast to him.

Following which, everyone else joined in congratulation them. Lin Lihua was now holding hands with him. You would think they had been together for years.

Henry Blanc walked to Lu Shaoting to tease him. "Still want to compete with me?"

"Don't speak to me! I'm still better off than you. How long have you and your fiancée known each other?" Lu Shaoting didn't admit defeat.

Xu Liaowen didn't let him show off. "If seniority is all about knowing each other for long, I'm the grandmaster. Kara and I have known each other since we were teenagers and our first child is already six." He had a triumphant expression as he looked at his son who was clinging to Lu Shaoting.

Everyone laughed and made fun of Lu Shaoting. He looked at them disdainfully and held his Su Ling's hand. So what if they were not yet engaged? He was just waiting for the right moment to propose.

Actually, he would have proposed a long time ago. He just wanted to do it when Wan Jia was pregnant and Little Jia finally had hope of being completely cured.

…

When the dinner was over and all the guests had left, Lin Lihua stayed back to talk to her new fiancé.

"Henry, do you think our relationship is a bit rushed? I mean…I know close to nothing about my future husband." She said.

Henry Blanc offered her a drink. "It's nothing to worry about. We can use the engagement period for that. I hope we really get married but if later you don't like me anymore...not all engagements successfully end up in marriage, right?" It was because he was afraid she would be won off by another man that he hurriedly proposed. After all she was already thirty. The possibility of that happening was too high.

"I will never back out. Relationship is not a game." She declared. "Soon I'll introduce you to my parents. It will relieve me of the daily rounds of incessant nagging."

"When do you want me to meet them?" he asked.

"It's still too soon. I'll think about that."

"Will do. When you're free, I would like you to meet my parents too. They won't stop nagging me to get a wife, you know."

She laughed. So they shared the same fate. Since they were on the topic, Lin Lihua mentioned something important. "Do we have to go to Country F after our marriage? I don't hate your country but I've been here all my life. I don't want to leave permanently."

He had thought about this as well. "Darling, you don't have to worry. I guessed your soul would be attached here so I bought this villa. You can call it our marital home."

If Wan Jia were to hear him call Lin Lihua "darling" so naturally, she would tease her sister to death. It was unbelievable for such a woman as Lin Lihua to be addressed by such intimate names.

Lin Lihua didn't find it odd. They were engaged after all. "You were so sure that I would agree to marry you? What if I said no?"

"How is that possible? I knew you liked me. Speaking of which, am I actually the first man you've ever liked? You never ever liked any guy before?"

"Is it that unbelievable? You know, I thought I would be an old maiden forever. I was prepared to adopt many kids and bring them up on my own."

Henry Blanc's focus was something else. "Does that mean you're a…you know…"

Lin Lihua caught on his meaning and shrugged his hand away. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about." He took her hand and kissed it. Then, as he had wanted to do earlier, he daringly held her chin and placed a light kiss on her lips.

"I have a few things to discuss with my parents. I should go home now."

"Shall I drop you off?" He asked.

"You don't have to. I drove here."

"I see."

…

As soon as Lin Lihua left, he made a video call to his parents. It was afternoon in Country F so he didn't have to worry about disturbing them.

"Father, mother, I proposed to the woman I want to marry."

Mr. and Mrs. Blanc were so elated that they literally wanted to teleport through the screen to his side.

Mrs. Blanc was the epitome of excitement. "What's her name? Where's she from? Why did you not tell mother about her? Henry, why are you being so mysterious?"

He had not yet told them that their future daughter-in-law was the famous actress Lin Lihua. "Mother, it's someone you know. I will bring her home when the time is right."