At the Age to Discuss Marriage

At some point, it seemed that he, too, had been left behind by his peers.

Luo Bai used his only hand to pat his own face. He had no idea when Sun Ziyue had hit it off with a girl from the city, nor when the matchmaker had proposed the marriage…

By the time Luo Bai found out, a heavy wedding invitation had already been placed in his hand.

“Big Brother, remember to come.”

Sun Ziyue smiled like a complete fool, while the girl beside him was already flushing a deep red.

She hid half-shyly behind Sun Ziyue’s back.

“Good…”

Luo Bai didn’t know what kind of expression he should show.

As the leader, he had truly failed; he didn’t even know his own brother-in-arms was getting married.

“By the way, Big Brother, you should also hurry things up on Sister-in-Law Long’s side. You are twenty-five this year. In any other family, you would have married long ago.”

It was a rare moment where Sun Ziyue, even with a beauty in his arms, didn’t forget to care for the lonely Luo Bai.

Though, when he mentioned ‘Sister-in-Law Long,’ his expression was a bit smug, winking repeatedly at Luo Bai.

After seeing Sun Ziyue off, Luo Bai paced back and forth in the courtyard alone.

Sun Ziyue’s words were a jest, but they had truly woken Luo Bai up.

He was indeed no longer young; it was time to start a family.

However…

Long Miaoming still maintained the appearance of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old. Although he knew her actual age far exceeded that number, he still felt a bit hesitant to make a move.

But then again, there didn’t seem to be any other candidates.

Just as Luo Bai was contemplating his lifelong affairs, Sun Ziyue, who had already walked far away, suddenly doubled back.

“Big Brother!”

“What bullsh*t do you have to say now…”

Luo Bai sensed that things weren’t that simple.

“Nothing, just reminding you to be more proactive when you find Sister-in-Law later. After all, girls are thin-skinned.”

“Get lost!”

Long Miaoming was currently in the courtyard pruning the flowers and plants.

In truth, Luo Bai was also a man who liked flora, but he had been too busy in the past, leading to these plants being neglected.

As a result, they had grown somewhat unsatisfactorily.

But things were better now; they had Long Miaoming to specifically look after them.

A figure approached quietly.

Luo Bai watched Long Miaoming, who was wholeheartedly tending to the plants, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to open his mouth.

Should he say directly that he liked her?

Would that make him seem too frivolous?

Then what if he hinted at it?

Tsk, it was his first time revealing his heart to a girl, and he didn’t know how to drop hints.

Maybe he should just wait for a matchmaker to mention it.

Feeling a bit guilty, Luo Bai wanted to slip away, but at that moment, Long Miaoming spoke up.

“Beautiful Brother, do you have something on your mind?”

Long Miaoming glanced at Luo Bai with feigned confusion. Actually, she had noticed him the moment he entered the courtyard; she was just curious about what he was doing there.

“Nothing, nothing…”

Being called out suddenly, Luo Bai’s tongue tied into knots, and he didn’t know what to say.

“Then why did you come here?”

Long Miaoming looked at him inquisitively.

Luo Bai gritted his teeth. Better a short pain than a long one; instead of lingering like this, it was better to take a gamble.

“I came to find you… to chat.”

His original momentum, upon meeting Long Miaoming’s wide, questioning eyes, inexplicably crumbled.

The words ‘confess’ that were at the tip of his tongue turned into ‘chat’…

“Is that so?”

Long Miaoming said casually. Suddenly, she reached out her small hand and plucked a very beautiful, slender flower from the bushes.

“Beautiful Brother, lower your head.”

Luo Bai froze and instinctively lowered his head. Long Miaoming stood on her tiptoes and tucked the freshly plucked flower behind Luo Bai’s ear.

The warm sunlight shone upon them—the girl playfully standing on her toes, and the man submissively bowing his head with a trace of doting affection on his face.

Perhaps there was no pair in the world more perfectly matched than the two before them.

“Eh? Girl, isn’t this something only you girls do?”

Luo Bai snapped out of it, looking at Long Miaoming with some speechlessness, yet he did not remove the flower from his head.

“Beautiful Brother looks very good like this too.”

Long Miaoming gave a mischievous smile.

“Now tell me, what did Beautiful Brother want to chat about?”

“It’s nothing much.”

Returning to the main topic, Luo Bai felt ill at ease all over. If one observed closely, they could even see his face turning a shade of crimson.

He didn’t look like a general who galloped across battlefields; he looked more like a green youth just starting out.

“It’s just that… I might be heading out for a campaign this summer.”

Luo Bai blurted out this sentence for no apparent reason.

The moment the words left his mouth, he wanted to slap himself. Why bring up something so completely unrelated?

Long Miaoming looked at him, puzzled.

“If you’re going on a campaign, then go. Why tell me, Beautiful Brother?”

“Ah, this… no, that’s not…”

Luo Bai was at a loss for words.

He took a deep breath, calming the agitation in his heart.

“Miaoming, I am twenty-five this year.”

Long Miaoming became even more confused.

“Beautiful Brother, are you perhaps too bored? Isn’t that something I knew long ago?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

This time, Luo Bai truly couldn’t stop his face from flushing.

He looked like a steamed crab.

Tsk, how hateful. Why should a grown man feel embarrassed over this?

“Then what do you mean?”

“I mean…”

Luo Bai forced himself to calm down and looked into Long Miaoming’s eyes very formally.

“I am twenty-five this year, and it is time for me to marry and establish my career.”

Good. Luo Bai had finally said it.

Although it wasn’t a direct declaration, it was as good as one.

“Well, that’s quite good. Marrying and establishing a career…”

Long Miaoming’s tone was originally indifferent, but she suddenly realized something, and her words came to an abrupt halt.

Long Miaoming looked at Luo Bai in shock, then pointed a finger at herself.

After receiving Luo Bai’s confirming response, the entire dragon was suddenly dazed.

What was this? A sudden arrival of happiness?

Long Miaoming snapped out of it. This meant that Beautiful Brother had just… confessed to her?

Alright, although the format was quite novel.

But it seemed to be the truth.

Long Miaoming’s large eyes instantly curved into crescent moons. Smiling broadly, she jumped over and gave Luo Bai’s shoulder a hard pat.

“Not bad, Beautiful Brother. You’ve finally seen the light!”

Luo Bai was stunned for a moment.

“Miaoming, you… you agree?”

“There is no reason to refuse, is there?”

Long Miaoming said casually, but as soon as she finished, she was pulled into Luo Bai’s embrace.

“That’s good. That’s good.”

Luo Bai spoke while laughing.

But, for no reason at all, he suddenly remembered the fortune that the fortune teller had read for him.