Chapter 1216 — Er Goudan's Confession. "N-nothing... nothing! Are you really better? Does your leg not hurt at all?" Yu Ren still could not quite believe it.

"Isn't that a silly question? How could I have done the housework if my leg wasn't better?" Mother Yu said, a little testily.

"Was it really Er Goudan's boss who cured it? Isn't that a bit too miraculous?" Yu Ren found the whole thing utterly unbelievable.

"Weren't you right there at the time? Why ask such a foolish question?" Mother Yu hardly knew whether to laugh or cry.

"Hey — it really is cured! Simply marvelous!" Yu Ren marveled. "Er Goudan's boss is something else. When he has time, we must have him over to the house and thank him properly!"

"Are you up to no good again?" Mother Yu shot Yu Ren a glare and asked.

"Not at all! I was only thinking — Er Goudan's boss is so capable, he could give Er Goudan and our Yuanyuan a leg up!" Yu Ren explained hurriedly.

"Well, that's all right. I thought you'd taken a fancy to the man yourself and wanted to marry Yuanyuan off to him!" Mother Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

"I may have taken a fancy to him, but he hasn't taken a fancy to our Yuanyuan! Didn't he say he already has a girlfriend?" Yu Ren shook his head. "As for that business with the underground boxing ring, I've come around. A man must learn to be satisfied, to know when he has enough. Everything in front of me is already worth cherishing — there's no point hankering after things that aren't realistic! Yuanyuan finding a man like Er Goudan is her good fortune; as for someone like Wei Zhao, she might not even take to him."

"You — you're finally being sensible! If you'd been like this sooner, would they ever have hooked you and swindled your money?" Mother Yu shook her head, half in exasperation.

"If I hadn't been swindled, I'd never have met Er Goudan, and our family wouldn't be living so well as we are now!" Yu Retorted smugly.

Meanwhile, in Yu Yuanyuan's room, Er Goudan wore a rather grave expression. This time he had come to speak openly with Yu Yuanyuan about the future.

Bumbling though Er Goudan might look, he was in truth no simpleton; he had his own reckonings.

"Zhou Jiaming, what did you want to talk to me about?" Yu Yuanyuan was a little shy, head bowed, not daring to look at him, fingers twisting at the hem of her shirt, nervous too. Alone in a room with an unmarried man, she could not help fearing that Er Goudan might do something improper.

"I... I have something very important to tell you!" Er Goudan hesitated a moment, then said gravely.

"What... what is it?" Yu Yuanyuan's heart lurched. Could Er Goudan be about to declare himself to her? The two of them, though they each felt a little something, had never made it plain. Would today be the day...

"Yuanyuan, in a while I'll have to go back to my hometown..." Er Goudan began.

"Huh?" Yu Yuanyuan froze. She had never expected Er Goudan's very first words to be that he was leaving, and for a moment she did not know what to do. In her heart, naturally, she did not want him to go; over these past weeks she had grown fond of him — how could she bear to see him leave?

"Yuanyuan, I have my reasons for going back. So I want to ask you one thing: will you come away with me, from now on?" Er Goudan looked straight at Yu Yuanyuan and asked, word by word.

"Huh? I..." Yu Yuanyuan was dumbfounded. Wasn't this just a bit too direct? Who asks a girl like that? You haven't even confessed, and already you want me to go off with you? Isn't that a little too fast?

"Ah... I know, really. A girl like you, born and raised in the big city — why would you ever want to go off to a little mountain village with me?" Reading Yu Yuanyuan's expression, Er Goudan gave a self-mocking smile. "Forget it. Just pretend I never said anything..."

With that, Er Goudan turned around and made to leave Yu Yuanyuan's room.

Simple though he was, Er Goudan was honest to a fault, a man to the bone. Seeing Yu Yuanyuan say nothing, he took it for a refusal, and to spare them both the awkwardness decided he had best slip out quickly — otherwise they might not even be able to stay friends.

Yu Yuanyuan was even more dumbfounded this time. What sort of person was this? Two sentences in and he was already walking out! What do you mean, why would I want to? How do you know I don't want to? Do you get to answer for me?

"Zhou Jiaming, you brute!" Yu Yuanyuan flew into a temper. "Stop right there!"

"I..." Now it was Er Goudan's turn to be dumbfounded. He had never imagined that the ever-gentle Yu Yuanyuan could lose her temper like this, could even curse. Er Goudan turned back and eyed her warily, at a complete loss as to what had come over her.

"How do you know I don't want to? Do you think you have some special power, reading my mind?" Yu Yuanyuan glared at him, eyes wide with fury.

"Then... then you do want to?" Er Goudan stared, then broke into a grin, at last understanding why she had erupted.

"You... you've never even declared yourself to me — why on earth should I go away with you?" Yu Yuanyuan snorted and would say no more.

"Heh heh..." Now how could Er Goudan fail to understand her mind? It seemed Yuanyuan was willing to go with him — he had got it all wrong! Er Goudan scratched his scalp sheepishly. "Yu Yuanyuan, the truth is, I like you. I want to take you as my wife..."

"What kind of nonsense is that? Do you even know how to confess?" Yu Yuanyuan rolled her eyes in exasperation. At such a romantic moment, the fool had to come out with it like that.

"Well... anyway, that's how it is. You know what I mean. You know I'm no good with words..." Er Goudan explained helplessly.

"Forget it. You know nothing about romance!" Yu Yuanyuan could do nothing about it. Remembering that Er Goudan had always been this way, she let it pass — and instead felt a sweetness welling up inside. In truth, no thousand endearments could equal what he had just said: he wanted to marry her!

Nowadays young couples make free with their love and swear all manner of ocean-deep vows, yet for most of them, the moment marriage is mentioned, those vows turn to dust. Some men only want a good time; some women look down on men with no car and no house... In short, Er Goudan's proposal may not have been romantic, but it came with real substance.

"So... are you coming away with me or not?" Er Goudan grew anxious. Yu Yuanyuan still had not given him a definite answer!

"But what about my parents?" Yu Yuanyuan, too, was worried about her mother and father.

"That..." Only now did Er Goudan remember that Yu Yuanyuan was not a woman alone. Even if she agreed, there were still her parents to answer to, and that made matters somewhat thorny. But he did not panic; instead he said, "I'll go talk it over with the boss first. All I need is for you to agree to come with me!"

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