Jiang Qiuqiu wore an expression of pure shock.
She was so shocked that even Mo Si felt a little flustered.
"What’s wrong?" Mo Si asked hesitantly. "Qiuqiu, you... don’t want to marry ?"
"..."
"Why are you suddenly bringing up marriage?" Jiang Qiuqiu said, a little exasperated. "This isn’t about whether I want to or not. The timing is all wrong."
"The timing is wrong?" Mo Si was just as confused. "How is it wrong?"
"We just started dating."
"But we’ve known each other for a while. You like , and I like you. We like each other, so isn’t this the right ti to get married?"
"That’s right, it’s not," Jiang Qiuqiu said, her gaze steady.
"Why?"
"The reasons are... complicated."
"I want to hear the complicated reasons."
Well, what was supposed to be a morning spent curled up on the sofa ditating and sparring with their spiritual power had inexplicably turned into an exchange of views on love and marriage.
Jiang Qiuqiu said, "Because we just started dating, there are too many uncertainties about the future."
"What uncertainties?"
"We don’t really have to talk about this..."
"I want to know," Mo Si said. "I want to know why you think this isn’t the right ti to get married."
"Black Hole, you know... liking soone is a beautiful feeling. It... makes our hearts fill with joy and brings a smile to our faces whenever we see each other."
"It makes you think of them before you fall asleep. It makes you want to help them, to have them by your side for everything you do, and to spend the rest of your lives together."
"I know," Mo Si said.
"But just because you like each other, it doesn’t an you should get married."
In Jiang Qiuqiu’s eyes, marriage was a huge commitnt.
It’s about two individuals coming together to build and maintain a family. It ans that once you start, you can’t just call it quits if things get difficult.
Besides, marriage ans your lives beco completely intertwined. You start seeing every part of the other person’s day-to-day life, and when you live together, friction and disagreents are bound to happen sooner or later.
Sotis, that friction can slowly wear away at the love and affection you have for each other.
"My feelings won’t," Mo Si said firmly. "I like you now, and I’ll always like you."
"Every newlywed couple probably thinks that." ’After all, why would anyone get married if they weren’t certain they’d be together forever?’
Mo Si was left speechless.
He looked at Jiang Qiuqiu, a fire burning in his dark eyes. "So, Qiuqiu... you don’t trust ?"
"No, I trust the man you are right now."
"But you can’t speak for your future self, Black Hole. Just like I can’t—"
She took his hand and said gently, "I like you now, too. And I also believe I’ll always like you."
’But as for the future... who can say for sure?’
"Then, Qiuqiu, if that’s what you think, when is the right ti to get married? You’re right, no one can speak for their future self."
"Exactly. That’s why you have to wait, after you’ve been together for a long ti," Jiang Qiuqiu said softly. "After a long period of ti, we’ll have gone through more things together—"
A relationship has its ups and downs, its highs and lows.
"You need ti to see if what you have is strong enough to stand the test of ti."
’Does your love grow deeper with ti, or do you just get on each other’s nerves? All of that takes ti to figure out.’
"The right ti to get married is when we both feel it’s right, when we feel like we know each other well enough."
All this talk about feelings was still too complicated for Mo Si.
But seeing the serious look on Jiang Qiuqiu’s face and hearing the conviction in her voice, Mo Si had a feeling she was right.
"So... the right ti to get married is when you both feel it’s right. But what if it’s not?"
Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t have to say anything. Mo Si already understood what she ant.
’If it’s not right, then the answer is obvious, isn’t it?’
So he pressed further. "What would make it ’not right’?"
"I don’t know the answer to that."
She said, "This is my first relationship, too."
’Still, she might not have any personal experience, but she’d seen enough to know.’
"Most of the ti, it’s because of different mindsets, different goals, different plans for the future, a lack of honesty... things like that."
"..."
Hearing those four words, "a lack of honesty," he felt like he’d just taken an arrow to the knee.
After his long talk with Jiang Qiuqiu, Mo Si realized he was wrong. He shouldn’t have thought that passerby’s suggestion was a good one. Marriage was a serious commitnt, not a shield to hide his deception from Qiuqiu.
The realization that he had treated such an important matter so lightly filled Mo Si with a deep sense of guilt.
He told Jiang Qiuqiu he was sorry.
"I was too rash, Qiuqiu," Mo Si said. "I’ll wait. I’ll wait until the ti is right to ask you if you want to marry again."
The atmosphere finally cald.
Jiang Qiuqiu tsked and poked his arm. "You really were being rash. Who proposes with just a single sentence like that?"
"Then how am I supposed to do it?" he asked, like a curious child.
Jiang Qiuqiu replied, "I haven’t thought about that yet. You’ll have to let the future you ask the future ."
’The future. What a gentle word.’
Mo Si said, "Alright. Then the future will ask you again."
With that, the discussion about love and marriage finally ca to a close.
By now, it was almost noon. They hadn’t gotten anything done, and it was already ti for lunch. Mo Si picked up the insulated container and led Jiang Qiuqiu over to the courtyard house.
Outside, wind and snow whistled past the window. He opened his overcoat, wrapping Qiuqiu inside it. It made walking a little awkward, but a sweet feeling blossod in both their hearts.
-
That afternoon, Mo Si was back in the kitchen acting as Jiang Qiuqiu’s sous-chef, chopping vegetables and the like. Since chopping was faster than cooking, Jiang Qiuqiu shooed him out of the kitchen once everything was prepped.
"There’s not enough room! It’s a little crowded with you in here."
She pushed him out of the kitchen, leaving him no choice but to sit on the living room sofa.
Even though he was in the living room, Mo Si’s gaze never left the kitchen.
As he watched Qiuqiu, Mo Si’s thoughts began to drift.
’A long ti together... and a long ti together requires honesty.’
’Honesty.’
His hand touched the ntal Training Device on the sofa.
’Maybe... we should do so Spiritual Training this afternoon? Then, when Qiuqiu is finished, I can just tell her everything.’
’Afterward, her tense spiritual power would be relaxed. She should be feeling very serene and peaceful then.’
’The main thing is, she won’t have the energy to run away then. I’ll have plenty of ti to... slide right over next to her and use every trick in the book to get her to say she doesn’t mind.’
’If all else fails... I can try crying, making a scene, and then so pitiful whining?’
’That’s what the female lead did in the second movie I watched whenever she wanted the male lead to do sothing for her.’
’And it worked every single ti.’
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