Hard to Escape - Chapter 16

Candle: Alright kids, are you wondering if I forgot to include “part 1” in the title? The truth of the matter is that this chapter’s a bit on the short side. It’s slightly longer than a typical release but also too short to divide in half so I, *cough* VERY GENEROUSLY, *cough*, decided to just release the entire thing. You’re welcome, now enjoy this big shocker of a chapter!!!

When I made my way back, Su Lin Lin had already taken a seat back in the private room and talking with Yin Li. His expression seemed rather aloof. I sauntered over next to Yin Li and took the initiative to rest my head on his shoulder. Then, I crooked my head and looked at Su Lin Lin. Yin Li immediately ended his conversation with her and rubbed my head. Then he bent his head down to me, and his hair brushed against my forehead. In a low voice, he said, “When this gathering is over, I’ll bring you somewhere.”

I agreed. Looking into his pair of beautiful eyes, I immediately lost all my interest in Su Lin Lin’s expression. Even up to when we finally left the hot pot restaurant, I was still lost in a dizzying sense of bliss.

Yin Li retrieved his car, and without any explanation drove on for almost half an hour. We even traversed some mountain roads before finally coming to a stop. The air atop the mountain was clear and fresh, but the night was a bit chilly. Yin Li took off his jacket and gave it to me. “I can’t drive any further from here. We might need to hike up the mountain a bit.” Then he came over and took my hand. His palm was warm. “There’s a newly-built astronomical observatory here. Tonight the sky is clear, very suited for stargazing.”

I’d heard of this stargazing observatory before, it had been mentioned in the news quite often. It had been under construction for some years, and was a rather large building. Next month it was set to open to the public. I never knew that Yin Li had the mind to leisurely go stargazing in his free time, in the middle of the night.

“Come over here.” Yin Li called me over, then crouched down in front of me. Seeing me staring blanking at him, he shot me a glance. “I wasn’t prepared for you to be wearing heels. Next time, I’ll leave a pair of your slippers and sneakers in my car. For now just quickly come over, I’ll carry you up.”

I was somewhat embarrassed. “This pair are wedges and the heel’s only a few centimeters. I can just walk by myself.”

Yin Li unexpectedly gave me an unhappy look. “You want me to crouch here for nothing? Also, even though you’ve recovered from your car accident, you shouldn’t engage in any exercise that’s too strenuous. Wearing those wedges to hike up the mountain, do you want to end up in the hospital again?”

Only at this did I reluctantly climb onto his back. But once I was leaning against him, I didn’t want to get off. His back was broad and warm, and his stride was measured and steady. I rested against him as the starlight shone brightly down on us, illuminating the narrow path. Our surroundings were quiet and tranquil, with a sense of mystery about them. You could only hear the faint sounds of crickets chirping. The night air smelled of wet dew and fresh grass, with the subtle scent of tobacco from Yin Li’s neck mixed in.

In an absent-minded moment, a secret wish appeared in my heart: To walk together down this road without stopping, to continue on like this until we both grew old.

But Yin Li evidently wasn’t thinking of such sentimental things. He halted firmly in place and told me, “We’re here.” Left with no other option, I rubbed my eyes and slid off his back.

As far as I could see, whole observatory building in front of me was white, and its glass doors were etched with constellation designs. Yin Li swiped a card and unlocked the door. Only once I walked into the main hall did I lift my head and notice with some surprise that the ceiling was spangled with constellations and star clusters. They had probably used some kind of fluorescent paint. In the darkness, it looked like a starry sky dangling from the heavens. I was transfixed and couldn’t look away. The whole main hall area had been designed to resemble an exhibition hall, they’d used entire sheets of glass for the walls. On this mountaintop, with no towering skyscrapers obscuring the view, the moonlight poured freely into the hall, reflecting off the hall’s milky ceramic tiles. The swirling light seemed to pool beneath our feet into a shimmering lake of moonlight.

At this moment, it was as if Yin Li and I stood amidst the cosmos, possessing both the moon and the stars.

While I was staring upwards, lost in my thoughts, Yin Li had opened the door to the observatory deck. He returned and took my hand to lead me over, saying, “Let me show you the real stars, they’re much more beautiful than the ones inside.”

Yin Li brought me out onto the observatory deck. He bent over and began to fiddle with the telescope settings. “If it was a bit later in the night, we could’ve seen the stars even more clearly.”

I moved over to the telescope and looked through the lens. Yin Li stood by my side, pointing out the stars in the Milky Way. It looked just like a sheet of clouds illuminated by light. I’ve never seen the Milky Way this close before, so I mostly felt that it seemed even more real to me now. The stars, separated from me by thousands and millions of light-years, made the universe feel grand and magnificent. I didn’t know much astronomy, so I could only feel deeply moved by the beauty and mystery of it all.

But Yin Li didn’t seem to be the type to take up astronomy as a hobby in his free time. My gaze turned away from the night sky to focus on him. I couldn’t repress some doubt from arising in my heart. Why did this man bring me to an observatory in the middle of the night? It definitely wasn’t to take me stargazing or to help me treat some neck problem.

I looked at him.

Yin Li was also looking at me. As graceful as always, he spoke neither urgently nor slowly, “The closest star outside our solar system that is visible to us is 4.2 light years away from Earth. The furthest one we can see is 13.7 billion light years away. The universe is filled with different, unique stars. Some are young and still forming. Some have already died, but their light still shines on in the vast universe, searching for a companion.” After this line, Yin Li finally made a movement. I saw him reach a hand into the pocket of his pants, taking out a black, velvet-covered little box. Then he stared into my eyes as he got down on one knee before me.

“These stars aren’t in the same galaxy, aren’t in the same region of the universe, and furthermore don’t even exist in the same time frame. Yet their light is still has the chance to cross paths with each other in our eyes.”

I stared into Yin Li’s eyes, which were even more beautiful than the stars. At this moment my mind was like a vast universe, in which newly forming stars were rattling around, the bright, glittering lights growing stronger and stronger. I watched him open the box, revealing a beautiful diamond ring.

“You’ve lost your memories of the past, lost the past we once shared. Perhaps my existence in your eyes may never catch up to where yours walks in mine, and perhaps our two worlds may never align. But no matter if its the you in the past or the you in the present, I had the chance to meet and reunite with you. I love you. We’ve crossed time and space to be able to meet like this.”

After saying this, Yin Li gave me a strong and steady smile. Then he took out the ring, pulled my hand forwards, and slid it on. Finally, he kissed my ring finger with a feeling of devotion. “You are the splendid, shining star I intercepted from orbit.”

“Yan Xiao, marry me.”

The stars in my mind finally detonated with a loud BOOM, the newly-formed stars explosively colliding with each other. The chaos created a vast cloud of cosmic dust and lightning, obscuring the entire universe. Its destructive power was immense. Yet I somehow felt that the violence of these young, exploding stars held a beauty of their own.

My muddled head finally formed a thought—in front of a proposal like this, rather than focusing on how many carats this diamond was, my mind had drifted away to the universe’s Big Bang. There probably was something wrong with this brain of mine.

Fortunately, on the descent down the mountain the cold wind blew me back to my senses. Yin Li piggybacked me again. I leaned against his back, still immersed in the moment of that proposal. The first immense wave of joy that crashed over me was immediately followed by an immense wave of hesitation and indecision. After Yin Li had finished speaking, I had been at a complete loss as to what sort of expression I should make in this sort of situation, but Yin Li had remained calm. He stood up and kissed my cheek, then said soothingly, “I only wanted you to know my feelings. My promise to you won’t change, but you don’t need to rush yourself to give me a reply. I know you need time.”

It was already almost midnight. I lifted my head and gazed out the window. Even without the telescope, I could still clearly see the stars shining brightly. Yin Li calmly stood by my side, also staring up at the tranquil night sky. Our thoughts at this moment were probably completely different. One person that had just proposed and one person that had just been proposed to.

Yin Li had always been a considerate person. I did indeed need some more time to digest this. He was naturally very understanding, which put me at ease.

On the way down the mountain, I repeatedly played back that proposal scene in my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I that my character was indeed quite noble.

Even in front of such a dazzling diamond ring and such a handsome face, I was still able to hold my ground. For exhibiting a modern-day woman’s elegance and detachment, I really was worthy of praise.

The whole way back my thoughts were full of self-admiration. When we got home, I fell asleep the instant my head touched the pillow. But perhaps this New-Age Woman’s Aloofness had become too excessive, for that night in a strange dream, I coldly rejected the man kneeling before me proposing marriage. The details of this dream obviously weren’t realistic. This man held a red box and the design of the ring looked different. He even spoke beautifully fluent French. Only, I couldn’t see his face clearly, but it clearly wasn’t Yin Li.

Candle: Phew, that was a big shocker, wasn’t it?? While translating the proposal part I, to borrow a turn of phrase from our Chinese comrades, 哭笑不得 (ku xiao bu de, “didn’t know whether to laugh or cry”). On one hand, Yin Li’s flowery speech about light from stars coming from different times and meeting up -> metaphor for their relationship and whatnot, made me really want to beg Author Daren to choose something easier to translate. On the other hand, wtf is with the logic of marriage proposal -> Big Bang??!! …Maybe our MC’s head really has a hole in it.

And then the last bit with the strange dream….hhHHHMMM.

Do you guys think Yan Xiao will accept Yin Li’s proposal or nah? *Wiggles eyebrows*