When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 88

Chapter 88

As this was her first time doing something like this, Yun Li asked him with light pants, "Will anyone come by?"

"No," Fu Shize answered.

Their current posture gave Yun Li a sensation of being in complete control. On the verge of losing her faculties, she pressed a flurry of kisses to the corner of his lips and asked with her last shred of reason, "Did you bring that?"

Fu Shize chuckled. "No."

"..."

Yun Li felt as though the air had frozen in place.

Locking eyes with him, she let out a disappointed "Oh," before realizing why he had remained so unfazed.

Suspecting he had deliberately avoided mentioning it beforehand, Yun Li felt her entire body grow hot from his teasing, igniting a powerful urge for retaliation.

Instead of retreating when his words trailed off, she pressed closer, lifting half of his shirt and lightly biting his adam's apple. Fu Shize's breathing turned ragged, though a smile still lingered in his voice. "You're pushing it."

Yet he allowed her to continue.

This only made Yun Li revel all the more in the process of "provokingly" teasing him while knowing he could do nothing to retaliate.

Deliberately moving at a snail's pace, she unbuttoned his shirt one button at a time. Listening to his breathing grow heavier, she smiled brightly. "Who told you to seduce me?"

"You have to take responsibility for that," Fu Shize said lazily, still leaning against the edge of the sofa.

"I'm willing to take responsibility," Yun Li declared solemnly.

Her attitude seemed brimming with sincerity, though it was actually rather wicked—knowing full well he couldn't do a thing to her, she deliberately uttered such words.

Fu Shize let out a low, husky laugh. Having played along with her long enough, he clamped a hand around her waist, his expression composed and at ease.

"You lied just now."

"..."

...

After showering, the two took their clothes down to the basement laundry room. Yun Li followed him down the stairs. With the indoor heating turned on, Fu Shize wore only a short-sleeved tee, revealing his athletic, slender arms.

Those were the exact hands that had held her just moments ago...

While murmuring things like "You said you'd take responsibility" and "Sit properly" right into her ear.

Yun Li felt her legs go slightly weak.

Fu Shize switched on the lights, catching the sultry, lingering charm in the corners of her eyes, and gave her head a light ruffle. He turned on the washer-dryer combo, tossed the clothes inside, and threw her socks into a smaller washer-dryer unit next to it.

The laundry room filled with the sound of spinning drums—a volume that wasn't bothersome at all and far superior in quality to the machine back at her place. Since the wash-and-dry cycle would take two hours, Fu Shize led her on a tour of the space.

Yun Li murmured softly, "Your place is kind of big..."

Fu Shize replied, "If you like it here, you can come over whenever you want to stay. I'll have Mom and Dad set up a room just for you."

"That's not what I meant." After pondering for a long moment, Yun Li said straightforwardly, "I probably couldn't afford a house this big."

Yun Li seriously suspected his standard of living would plummet the moment she moved in.

Fu Shize tilted his head, reminding her, "I can't afford it either."

"..."

Fu Shize continued, "Don't look down on it."

Sometimes Yun Li was left utterly speechless by his remarks. He could clearly tell she was looking down on herself, yet he turned around to tease her instead.

Brought back to this topic, Yun Li asked in a proper, down-to-earth manner, "Are you planning to stay in Xifu from now on?" As if afraid he might go back on his word, Yun Li added a condition: "With me."

Fu Shize remained silent. Realizing she had asked a redundant question, Yun Li cleared her throat and said earnestly, "Well, then I want to buy a place in Xifu sooner rather than later. The savings I have now should be enough for a down payment. If you're willing, we could buy one together."

Suddenly feeling a bit unsure, she told Fu Shize to "hold on a second," then lowered her head to pull out her phone and recalculate everything.

Finished, she nodded to confirm with Fu Shize. "Mhm, it's enough."

Fu Shize pondered for a moment before offering directly, "I have some savings. Should I buy one for you?"

The tone in which he said this was identical to when he had gifted a drone to Yun Ye.

Yun Li was taken aback. She could understand having her own income, but Fu Shize...

"...Where did you even get that kind of money?"

"Prize money from competitions, around a million or so, I suppose."

"..."

"?"

Fu Shize added, "My undergraduate and doctoral scholarships added up to over a hundred thousand."

"..."

"Lunar New Year money and red envelopes saved up since childhood total a few hundred thousand as well. If that's not enough, my grandparents and maternal grandparents all left houses and money for me."

"..."

Fu Shize didn't shy away from discussing these things in front of her. Indifferently, he said, "I can just pay for the house myself, and I'll have an income once I start my job. Keep your little vault of savings to buy things for yourself."

Yun Li retorted firmly, "Nobody's money falls out of the sky. I can make my own money too; I don't want to take advantage of you."

Because of the disparity in their family backgrounds, she was all the more reluctant to let anyone think she had her eyes on Fu Shize's family wealth, or that she needed to rely on him just to buy her own home and car.

Fu Shize smiled. "Didn't you take advantage of me just now?"

"..."

"Besides, you got it wrong." Fu Shize pulled her a bit closer to him. "Everything of mine is yours."

Before going to sleep, Yun Li once again had Fu Shize read to her from the book. Tucked inside its pages were a few note cards he had made. Remembering something, Yun Li asked him, "Why didn't those postcards match your handwriting?"

Fu Shize answered, "I wrote them with my left hand."

"Oh." Yun Li's eyes curved. "I knew it, especially since your handwriting is so pretty." Stingless with her praise, she kissed his cheek. "You're pretty like that too."

The corners of Fu Shize's mouth twitched upward as he resumed turning the pages.

"Did you ever think about telling me halfway through?" Yun Li hugged him, murmuring, "I feel so bad for you. For that year and a half, you were the only one keeping me company."

Fu Shize countered, "You were keeping me company too."

He was a fragile person; whenever he felt like giving up, catching another glimpse of her would always spark a renewed sense of strength deep within his heart.

Believing he was just comforting her, Yun Li pressed on, "Did you ever come looking for me in the UK during that time?"

Yun Li hoped his answer would be no.

Fu Shize didn't answer right away. Seeing the corners of her eyes already growing red, he stroked her eyelids and lightly pinched the tip of her nose. "No. That year and a half was very busy; I didn't have the time."

Yun Li breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing this, Fu Shize tightened his embrace, pulling her hand back to continue reading the book.

...

Upon returning to Xifu, Yun Li and Yun Ye retrieved the drone, which had a small chipped corner. Not being skilled at repairing such dents and dings, she searched online for numerous tutorials, but due to her academic workload, she had to set it aside temporarily.

Aside from her daily trips to the company, Yun Li spent her time working on her graduation thesis alongside Fu Shize. She secretly contacted Fu Zhengchu to form a small team and entered EAW's VR game development competition, hoping to present it to Fu Shize as a birthday gift.

Under Fu Shize's watchful supervision, Yun Li managed to submit her thesis for the first round of reviews.

If all went smoothly, she would graduate in March.

Fu Shize's doctoral dissertation had already been completed long ago. During their study sessions, he was usually writing or revising English academic papers intended for publication.

Following that, Yun Li began looking into properties in Xifu.

Having already discussed this with Fu Shize previously—where Fu Shize wanted to pay for the whole thing outright only to be rejected by Yun Li, who insisted they each pay fifty-percent—she prepared for action.

With this plan in motion, Yun Li made an announcement to Yun Yongchang over the dinner table: "A-Ze and I are planning to buy a house in Xifu, and we're going to go check some out soon."

Over the past few months, Yun Li had regularly brought Fu Shize home for dinner, and both sets of parents had already met. Hearing about purchasing a house, Yun Yongchang didn't seem surprised; he merely asked her, "Which area are you looking at?"

Yun Li named a few newly developed residential complexes.

Noticing his brows gradually furrowing, Yun Li placated him gently, "I've already contacted a real estate agent. The locations and prices of these developments are quite suitable, so we're going to go look at the show flats later."

Yun Yongchang shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice and made a unilateral decision: "Just buy in the neighboring building. It's close to home."

"..."

His overbearing attitude only cemented Yun Li's conviction that living in the same residential complex as him—let alone the very next building—was a fate worse than death.

"That complex is already quite old, plus it's a bit far from my company..." Yun Li attempted to make him understand her perspective. Hearing this, Yun Yongchang's brow twitched. "Didn't you grow up right here? Now you're looking down on it? If you live in the next building, your mother and I can easily pop over to help if anything comes up."

Yun Li thought it was utterly absurd. Clearly, she and Fu Shize were paying for it with their own money, yet Yun Yongchang's attitude remained so domineering.

Refusing to back down, she shot back directly, "Stay out of it. I'm buying it with my own money."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yun Yongchang felt his anger flare up. "Now that you're making money, you're completely ignoring my opinions, is that it? Who raised you up until now?"

The previously harmonious dinner grew tense because of their bickering.

Yun Ye impatiently cut off Yun Yongchang. "Dad, stop talking. Let Sis make her own decisions about her house."

"What are you sticking your nose in for?" Yun Yongchang glared at him. "Your sister doesn't know how to deal with people; when it comes to buying a house, people like us should be the ones checking it out. What kind of decent place could she possibly pick?"

"..."

Yun Li could hear the condescension in his words. Slamming her chopsticks down onto the table, she stormed off straight to her room.

Yun Ye lowered his gaze, silently wiping his mouth with a napkin without uttering a word.

Inside her bedroom, Yun Li sat on the bed with her knees pulled to her chest. Seeing Yun Ye follow her in, her eyes grew slightly damp and she complained, "Why does he have to be like this?"

For all these years, Yun Yongchang had never once given her an affirmation.

Just as she was feeling elated and joyful over being able to buy her own home, Yun Yongchang always managed to pour cold water right over her head.

Both of them knew Yun Yongchang's personality all too well.

Not knowing how to comfort Yun Li, Yun Ye simply sat down beside her and silently started playing with the stuffed rabbit toy on her bed. After a moment of hesitation, Yun Ye decided to tell Fu Shize about the situation.

Ever since Fu Shize began coming to Yun Li's home, almost every week when Yun Li picked Yun Ye up to go home, she would bring Fu Shize along.

Yun Ye could clearly tell that Yun Yongchang liked and approved of Fu Shize immensely.

Following another fierce argument between Yun Li and Yun Yongchang at the dinner table, a prolonged stalemate settled over the household. Yun Li started leaving the house early every single morning, heading out either to study or to work.

Feeling like she was giving him the cold shoulder, Yun Yongchang treated her with extreme hostility day after day. Yet this did nothing to make Yun Li soften her stance, as she simply stopped speaking to him altogether.

Yang Fang had a soft personality and, caught between father and daughter, had no idea how to mediate.

Fuming over the whole ordeal, Yun Yongchang received a phone call from Fu Shize, who requested a private dinner together.

The meeting place was set outside in a private dining room.

Once they met, they didn't touch upon the topic of Yun Li immediately; Yun Yongchang asked about his studies and work as usual, and Fu Shize answered truthfully.

As they chatted, Yun Yongchang caught a glimpse of Yun Li's videos playing on Fu Shize's phone.

Yun Li had been a content creator for six or seven years.

Yun Yongchang had once tried to understand it, but because he didn't know how to operate the software, he had failed.

Previously, he had dismissed Yun Li's career as a content creator as not a "real job," subjecting her to a round of sarcastic mockery and lacking the pride to ask his own children about it, meaning he had never actually watched her content.

After a brief silence, he asked Fu Shize, "What is this?"

Fu Shize switched back to Yun Li's homepage and handed the phone over to Yun Yongchang.

The phone screen scrolled up and down. The series of videos Yun Li had updated since returning to Xifu focused on popular science regarding automobile structures and emergency troubleshooting. She had previously borrowed a car from a driving school and would sometimes ask him strange questions about it.

Believing she wasn't doing anything serious, Yun Yongchang had answered her inquiries without ever asking what she was actually working on.

"This 'Idle Cloud Dida Jiang' is Lili," Yun Yongchang observed as Fu Shize pointed to a set of numbers. "These are the view counts."

"How much is this?"

"This symbol means ten thousand, so this is three million views."

"...Meaning three million people watched it?"

Fu Shize explained as simply as possible, "You could say that."

Following his impression, he tapped into the latest video of Yun Li's series and opened the comment section: "These are comments from other viewers."

There were tens of thousands of comments, the vast majority expressing praise and recognition for the creator.

Among them was one that read: [Why is my wife so amazing?!]

Idle Cloud Dida Jiang: [When I was little, my dad used to explain these things to me all the time. Like father, like daughter haha ^^]

Seeing this, Yun Yongchang fell silent, muttering half to himself after a long pause, "Why is this person calling my daughter that..."

Noticing Yun Yongchang's obvious softening, Fu Shize showed him some of Yun Li's other metrics. Seeing her follower count, Yun Yongchang asked, "What does this mean?"

Fu Shize patiently explained, "All these million-plus people are following Lili. Whenever Lili posts a new video, they all get to see it."

Fu Shize played a video for him. In it, Yun Li spoke with calm poise, simply laughing off a flubbed line and carrying on.

The daughter he had raised had shed the childishness and shyness of her youth.

Plunging into a prolonged silence, Yun Yongchang finally asked, "Was buying a house your idea or Lili's?"

"Lili's. She has a stronger sense of independence than I do," Fu Shize answered without any awkwardness, speaking with total candor. "My parents' wish was for us to buy it outright and put the house in Lili's name, but Lili insisted on paying half."

Yun Yongchang could vividly picture Yun Li opening her eyes wide in stubborn defiance, refusing to let anyone look down on her.

"My daughter has always been like that," Yun Yongchang said after a moment.

Steering the conversation to the main point, Fu Shize said in a deep voice, "Lili has mentioned you to me many times. She has always respected you and holds deep affection for you."

Pausing briefly, he continued, "However, she feels that you almost always make decisions unilaterally, ignoring her own thoughts and failing to respect her, which is why arguments have constantly persisted between you."

Had this happened any earlier, Yun Yongchang might have blurted out that the girl simply had an introverted personality, and that his meddling was purely out of a desire to keep her from getting bullied.

Yet he had just exploded into a fresh argument with Yun Li a few days prior.

Or rather, whenever they spoke, it invariably devolved into a quarrel; peaceful coexistence seemed an impossibility.

Yun Yongchang recalled how Yun Li used to wrap her arms around his neck in her childhood, clinging to him affectionately and calling him Daddy.

Ever since the issue with her left ear was discovered, ever since the school called him a few times to report that classmates had written offensive words like "deaf" on Yun Li's clothes and school bag, and ever since he learned that Yun Li was being ostracized by peers and growing increasingly reclusive and withdrawn, Yun Yongchang had unconsciously concluded, while trying to protect her, that Yun Li was simply that kind of person.

A child lacking capability and stubbornly set in her own ways.

Possessing a stubborn disposition, Yun Yongchang rarely reflected on the flaws in his own behavior, naturally assuming all his actions were for his daughter's own good.

Yet inexplicably, these words coming from a third party actually landed in his mind.

No matter how Yun Li tried telling him these things directly in the past, he had never listened.

Upon returning home later that day, Yun Yongchang went straight to his room, fumbled with opening the app following Fu Shize's instructions, and began watching Yun Li's videos.

For hours on end, he watched with a wide smile plastered across his face. Within those few hours, he shared these videos with his friends and relatives, proudly telling them that his daughter had over a million followers.

Just as he finished sharing them, he heard the front door open. Stepping out of his room, he saw Yun Li walking in after picking up Yun Ye. She didn't even spare him a glance before walking straight back to her bedroom.

Yun Yongchang felt a chill run right through him.

Remaining frozen in place for a long time, he finally walked over and knocked on Yun Li's door.

"Yun Li!"

Hearing his booming voice, a wave of annoyance washed over Yun Li. She pulled the blanket over her ears, utterly unwilling to deal with Yun Yongchang.

Sensing the situation was turning south, Yun Ye tried to intervene: "Dad, stop knocking..."

Ignoring him, Yun Yongchang hammered heavily on Yun Li's door once more. From inside came the sound of her jumping onto the floor, followed by hurried footsteps marching toward the door.

Yun Li yanked the door open with a snap.

The person standing before her wore a grim expression. By reflex, Yun Li anticipated another round of lecturing from Yun Yongchang, and asked with unbearable exasperation, "Dad, haven't you caused enough of a scene?"

Seeing her speak to him in such a manner, Yun Yongchang defaulted to his usual retort: "Is that any way to talk?"

Stalemated with him for days and bewildered as to why her father always carried such an overbearing aura, Yun Li threw caution to the wind and snapped, "Why shouldn't I talk to you like this?"

Yun Yongchang remained stubbornly silent.

"I feel so hurt. For all these years—"

Yun Li's voice choked up slightly. "I've worked so hard. Ever since I was little, I wanted to prove to you that I'm not that useless, and that the gap between Yun Ye and me isn't that vast."

"I might not be as good at academics as Yun Ye, but I managed to study away from home all on my own without taking a single penny from you, and I've even built a channel with over a million followers."

"Yet in your eyes, your daughter seemingly only has flaws and defects. You think you're looking out for me and showing love, but have you ever considered what you're actually doing—"

"You've been steadily crushing my self-confidence and dignity."

"Dad, sometimes I genuinely don't know what to do anymore." Unable to hold back her tears, Yun Li continued, "I know you're afraid of me getting hurt, and I know you've always wanted to protect me because of my ears. Exactly because of that, I've suffered so much too. You're loving me the wrong way, but precisely because you love me..."

"I find it even harder to figure out how to handle the issues between us."

She had no way to resolutely cut ties with Yun Yongchang; she couldn't bring herself to disregard his feelings.

Yet she was in agony.

Yun Yongchang remained tight-lipped, his jaw locked hard.

Hanging back in the corner with his headphones still on, Yun Ye could hear Yun Li's choked voice clearly. He stepped forward, grabbed Yun Yongchang by the shoulder, and said, "Dad, stop fighting."

Yun Yongchang didn't move. Yun Li spoke intermittently, "I'll take you to see the apartments once I've picked one out. Just support me and validate my decision for once, can you do that?"

Catching sight of her tears and recalling the videos he had watched throughout the day, Yun Yongchang let out a heavy sigh, stood up, and retreated to his room.

Feeling a sense of utter despair—as if dealing with Yun Yongchang was an impossible task where every approach and emotion yielded zero results—Yun Li stood there in a daze, only to see Yun Yongchang return silently to the living room.

Out of touch with the modern era and facing rapid digitization in banking, he had preserved his habit of using a traditional bank passbook. He placed an old passbook onto the table and said flatly, "All the money inside is for you."

Not registering what was happening right away, Yun Li sniffled and bluntly refused, "Keep it. Leave it for Yun Ye."

Yun Yongchang spoke with unyielding firmness: "Yun Ye gets whatever you get, and besides, can't this kid make his own money? There's no need to save your share for him." Struggling intensely for a moment, he forced out, "If he doesn't know how, he can learn from you."

"..."

Clutching the passbook, Yun Li returned to her room in a daze, still unable to process what had just occurred.

A moment later, Yun Ye walked in wearing his headphones and asked incredulously, "Is something wrong with my ears, or is my headset broken?"

Yun Yongchang had practically never validated Yun Li, let alone admitted that she excelled in an area compared to Yun Ye.

Sensing that her stand tonight had actually paid off, Yun Li felt a mix of laughter and tears. Opening the passbook and glancing inside, she was utterly shocked by the numbers.

With no intention of spending the money, she tucked the passbook directly into her drawer.

Reflecting on the preceding events, Yun Li's emotional turbulence rapidly faded, replaced by a growing, triumphant cockiness as she lorded it over Yun Ye: "Did you hear that? Dad told you to learn a thing or two from me."

"..."

Yun Li gloated, "Look at that, I can actually talk some sense into our old man now!"

Suddenly, it clicked for Yun Ye that Fu Shize must have said something to Yun Yongchang. Lifting his gaze to see her serene expression, he kept the truth to himself and simply mirrored her smiling lips.

Yun Yongchang no longer interfered with Yun Li's house-hunting process, focusing instead on repeatedly drilling details like lighting and layout into her. Although Yun Li found him nagging, seeing that his attitude was no longer as rigid as before, she simply muttered a few perfunctory words of agreement to breeze through it.

After scheduling a time with the agent, Yun Li and Fu Shize toured a residential complex near the company. Since it was the weekend and Yun Ye had no classes, he tagged along behind them to join in the excitement.

Noticing Yun Li repeatedly eyeing apartments in the eighty-to-ninety square meter range, Yun Ye asked her, "Sis, are you guys planning to buy a three-bedroom?"

"..."

With zero experience in buying property, Yun Li blinked at Yun Ye's question before turning back to look at Fu Shize. "How many rooms do we need?"

Fu Shize looked up from the promotional flyer, considered for a moment, and asked her, "How many do you want?"

Yun Li thought about it. "Three?"

Fu Shize replied, "Then let's pick a five-bedroom."

Yun Li: "..."

It dawned on her belatedly that Fu Shize's question had been about how many children they wanted. Her face flushed red, and she coyly muttered, "Two is enough."

Overhearing their conversation, Yun Ye felt a two-bedroom was much too small and frowned. "Two probably isn't enough."

"Kids shouldn't stick their noses into adult matters," Yun Li snapped, glaring at Yun Ye.

Blindsided by the scold, Yun Ye didn't get mad. Instead, he feigned nonchalance and said, "Hey, Sis..."

After hesitating for a long stretch of silence, Yun Li urged him, "Spit it out if you have something to say."

The words had barely left her mouth when Yun Li's hand froze as she noticed Fu Shize looking her way.

Damn it, could she take back that rough language?

With a schadenfreude chuckle, Yun Ye watched her. Ignoring him and trying desperately to salvage her image, Yun Li softened her tone. "I meant, tell me whatever's on your mind, your big sister will listen."

Yun Ye grinned, exposing his canine teeth and dimples, his tone dripping with negotiation: "Can you leave a room for me?"

Yun Li was speechless. "What on earth would you need a room for?"

"..." Yun Ye insisted stubbornly, "Just leave one for me!"

Glancing sideways at him, Yun Li replied impatiently, "Fine, fine, I know." There were quite a few layouts on the flyer, and Yun Li lingered a bit longer over the larger units. Having been out for a while, she caught sight of a bubble tea shop and muttered off-handedly, "Yun Ye, go buy us some milk tea."

Yun Ye: "Oh, what do you guys want?"

When Yun Li and Fu Shize studied together, they frequently ordered milk tea delivery. Without missing a beat, Fu Shize stated, "Matcha latte, hot, sugar-free. Ovaltine, hot, sugar-free with ice cream."

Yun Ye stood frozen for a beat, repeated the order mentally, and trotted off toward the nearby milk tea shop.

Staring at his tall, slender figure—the younger brother who used to be shorter than her now towered over her by a head, his previous brashness replaced by a quiet calm as he kept his hands in his pockets while waiting in line—she watched as he pulled out his phone and tapped away after a moment.

Yun Li's phone buzzed.

Yun Ye: [Holy crap, hot Ovaltine sugar-free with ice cream? Hot? With ice cream? Did I remember that wrong?]

Looking at the message phrased in classic Yun Ye fashion, Yun Li suddenly understood why Yun Ye wanted a room left for him.

Emotions welled up slowly inside her.

She looked up at Fu Shize. "Can we keep a room for Yun Ye?"

It was simply that, in this sudden instant, the reality of sorrow hit her.

Only now, with the milestone of buying a home directly before her, did Yun Li truly realize that she was stepping into a brand-new phase of life. In this phase, she would gain a lifelong partner.

Yet simultaneously, her greatest sorrow lay in knowing that a certain distance would inevitably form between her and Yun Ye, whom she had watched grow up.

Though Yun Li had spent years away at school in the past, both she and Yun Ye had always shared an implicit understanding: the moment holidays arrived, she would come home; Yun Ye would see her, and she would see Yun Ye, even if the two of them didn't exchange a single word all day. Flashes of memory crossed her mind—ever since her freshman year of college, Yun Ye's smile had carried a youthful boyishness as he persistently asked her, "When are you coming home?"

Acknowledging her thoughts, Fu Shize offered soothing reassurance: "We'll be seeing your brother often."

Her phone buzzed once more. Yun Ye: [That's 42 yuan.]

Yun Li transferred him ten cents.

The lingering melancholy vanished right along with it.

...

Following that train of thought, her mind drifted toward the prospect of their marriage.

When Fu Shize had previously mentioned wanting to get engaged right after graduation, Yun Li had turned him down, and he hadn't brought it up again since.

Yet now, their graduation theses had already been submitted.

Yun Li racked her brain for a subtle way to drop a hint. She had previously stated so stubbornly that they needed to date for two or three years before marrying, and now she was slightly regretting that impulsive refusal.

She looked at Fu Shize. From across the table, he occasionally raised his eyes to meet hers, his eye corners curved with amusement.

Yun Li weighed her phrasing.

When are you going to propose to me?

No, way too direct.

Is this house okay to use as our bridal home?

No different from the first option.

What you said before about getting engaged right after graduation—does it still count?

That would be a massive slap to her own face.

Fretting for ages, Yun Li eventually phrased her question with the utmost subtlety: "This house... we bought it together, right?”