Because of his kiss, Dong Huiying was momentarily stupefied. The flickering flames in the hearth suddenly brightened then dimmed, yet they made his eyes appear clear and sober, even more icy. He was very clear-headed, he knew what he was doing. This was probably a proposal, wasn’t it? Could it be classified as a proposal? But who would propose in such a calm manner? His iciness implied a lack of feelings... Dong Huiying suddenly furrowed her brows, "Do you like me?" Yixuan smiled gently, "Of course I like you." "What do you like about me?" "You are gentle to my brothers, you stood up for me, you saved Third Brother, and now you are treating Second Brother." "Is this really what you think in your heart?" Yixuan pondered for a moment, then nodded lightly. Dong Huiying took a deep breath, "So, that’s why you want me to be your wife?" Yixuan noticed that something was off about her. Dong Huiying pursed her lips, then, with partially hidden eyes, no longer naive or deliberately coy, nor cunning, nor lively, but quietly and softly, she said to him... "Yixuan, you are afraid of me, I know." "There are some small details that I didn’t notice before, but I gradually started to feel them." "I might be a bit straightforward, like a good buddy slapping shoulders, these kinds of physical actions are quite common." "I remember in the beginning, Shujun was also , every time I moved closer, his body would stiffen terribly, he was extremely nervous, because he was afraid of me... Was it perhaps because of the deep shadows of the past? He was afraid I’d hit him, afraid I’d become violent towards him?" "But later, Shujun wasn’t like that anymore, maybe because he started to accept me, to look at me with fresh eyes, at least he wasn’t afraid of me anymore. He became more genuine in front of me, joking and laughing, but you... Yixuan, until now, you have not changed, you are still afraid of me." She slowly lowered her gaze, twisting her fingers. "You are different to me." Because when she first arrived, she came to a strange place and the first person she saw when she opened her eyes was him. Therefore, afterwards, every time she saw him, she felt a sense of kinship. Especially at that time, Yue Ning was extremely hostile towards her. When Yue Ning spoke ill of her, when Yue Ning looked impatient with a cold face, when Yue Ning occasionally glanced at her with harsh, critical eyes, every time she turned around and saw his gentle smile towards her... Honestly, it felt truly comforting. It was as if the grievances she suffered, the wounds in her heart, were being soothed by him. Even though she knew that, because of past events, he hated her just like Yue Ning did. She took ninety strokes of the big board for him, primarily to make a break with the past. She wanted to let people know she had changed, she was no longer the person she used to be; she didn’t want them to hate her forever. In her heart, she believed that since she took over Dong Dabao’s body, thus those who had been deeply hurt by Dong Dabao had also become her responsibility. She tried hard to change, to alter their perception of her, to heal their disabilities, to give them a better future. Perhaps she was old-fashioned, or maybe she was too stubborn, but she believed... In the early days, she could have simply walked away, could have ignored it all, could have been indifferent to their fate—after all, their relationship wasn’t that good at the time, they even hated her. And if she had left, she would have avoided a lot of trouble. But she did not do so.