Will You Marry Me? (Part 3)

Maybe her prayers were answered by God, Jiu Lan regained a sudden burst of strength and slowly... slowly... she tried to move up her hands and she succeeded! Trembling softly, she gripped Yao Ling's golden hairpin tightly. When she was finally able to put on the hairpin, she smiled happily.

Her job was done… She was finally able to go peacefully.

"Be happy, Ling-er…" After saying that, she lost all her energy. She let go in content and her smile was growing bigger.

*Bang*

Yao Ling heard a loud bang sound from behind her and she turned around in a hurry. There… she saw her mother falling in slow motion. She couldn't breathe and she also could feel her tears trying to escape from her eyes. Her eyes were burning because she tried very hard to contain the hot tears.

"Mother… mother…" She shouted in panic. "Yao Ying… Yao Ying… please help me!"

Yao Ling heard the door was being opened from outside, she found his calming presence. "Help me put my mother on the bed! Hurry up! She fainted!"

After touching Jiu Lan's body and put his hand under her nose, Yao Ying understood one thing. He couldn't find Jiu Lan's breath anymore. She was gone. He helplessly looked at the grief-stricken Yao Ling. She still didn't realize that her mother was gone. Yao Ying sighed, not knowing what to say, but he still helped Yao Ling put Jiu Lan's on her bed.

Yao Ling touched her mother's body softly, trying to find her pulse. However, she felt no pulse from her wrist. Her whole body was shaking in fear. Her heart was breaking. "Yao Ying… why... why can't I feel her pulse? I… I… I can't feel it. She's not dead, isn't she? She wouldn't leave me alone, right?"

Yao Ying looked at her sadly. 'What should he do?' He thought to himself. She was in pain and yet he didn't know what he was supposed to do. Yao Ying felt he wasn't good at comforting people.

He finally decided to hug the girl in front of him. "Yao Ling… listen to me… She's gone…. Mother is gone!" He couldn't bear to hear her heartbreaking cries, but he had to be cruel. Jiu Lan was gone. He always thought of her as his mother too, but his sadness couldn't compare to the sadness of the girl in front of him.

Suddenly, a realization hit him. Yao Ling has no one, but him. He wouldn't go back on his own promise to himself. He will protect her! In this life, he belongs to her and her only.

Yao Ying looked at Yao Ling who was broken beyond repair. He needed to do something! He couldn't let her waste her life because of her grief!

"Should we… bury her?" Yao Ying asked softly, trying to wake Yao Ling out of her reverie. For a few days, she just hugged Jiu Lan's body – not moving at all just like a statue. She still wore her hairpin ceremony outfits – what once was a simple and clean red dress, but was now wrinkled and messy. Her hairpin was still there -- in her hair, the last memory of her mother putting it on her kept replaying in her mind.

Yao Ying sighed when he didn't hear any answer. He already tried a lot of soft ways to coax her, but she didn't budge at all. She was so stubborn! Those few days might have been the days when he spoke the most. He couldn't stand it anymore and finally decided to try the hard way.

He yelled loudly, "Yao Ling! Wake up! Do you want your mother's body to rot? You should send her away when she's beautiful! Do you think Mother would want to see you like this? Wasting away?"

Yao Ling jumped at his loud voice, crying loudly. Yao Ying hugged her and started to coax softly again, "Please be strong! Don't you want your mother to look beautiful when she's gone? She wants you to be happy, so you should send her away with a smile. Do you think she will be able to rest in peace if she sees you like this? You are her beloved daughter!"

Yao Ying's words started to resonate with her and she nodded softly. After that, both were trying to tidy Jiu Lan up and Yao Ling put light make up on her. Jiu Lan looked beautiful and serene.

"Mother told me she wanted her body to be burnt and then we should throw her ashes into the ocean," Yao Ling explained sadly.

Yao Ying just nodded, and he prepared everything without saying a word. After finishing with the preparations, they brought Jiu Lan's body to the beach and put her on a wooden ship which full of branches. Both silently cried and burnt the body by throwing a torch at the wooden ship. Yao Ying pushed the ship to the ocean and both of them let Jiu Lan go. They stayed back to see the wooden ship was burnt to nothing and it was slowly going out of their sight.

Yao Ling thought back to her mother's last wish. She had to get married. She was coming of age already, but how could she get married in a mourning time like this? However, she already promised her mother. Mother said she would say something to Yao Ying, but she was gone before she was able to do that.

'How could I bring it up? ' She thought to herself. Yao Ling shyly looked at Yao Ying, but she didn't dare to say anything.

She decided to rest for the day, and she would think about it again tomorrow. She couldn't sleep and curled herself on her bed. Deep in thought, she didn't realize Yao Ying's presence was there until she felt her blanket moving up. Yao Ying tried to put the blanket on her after she felt her breath start to get steady. He thought she was already asleep.

That night… she felt his warmth and how much he cared about her.

The next day, Yao Ling woke up because of a wonderful and tantalizing smell. She opened her eyes and saw Yao Ying cooking. It was supposed to be her job, but the last few days, she didn't even pay any attention to it. She sat down on her bed and looked at Yao Ying intensely. 'What should she do?' At this moment, her grief is being replaced by her nervousness. She gripped her clothes tightly out of nervousness.

Feeling an intense gaze toward him, Yao Ying looked at the source – Yao Ling. He put on a rare smile and asked, "Come on! Eat! You didn't eat anything the past few days. I don't want you to get sick."

Yao Ling numbly nod. They sat down and ate. Yao Ying was wondering why she kept peeking at him, but he said nothing. He didn't want to push her. She would tell him when she was ready.

"Ying ge ge…"

"En."

"Mother wants me to go find my real family."

"En."

"She was supposed to ask you to accompany me."

"En."

"Will you marry me?"

"En."

'En? Ying ge ge only said 'en'? What does he mean? Does he understand or not? Does he even hear what I asked about? Does he mean… he would really marry me? Or…' Yao Ling just looked at him seriously, trying to see his reaction.

There was a big question in her mind. 'Will he really marry me?'

---Edited by: L0v3lamb---