Chapter 527: Lu Fan: Booking the Entire Banquet Hall, a Feast of Flowers! Is This a Proposal?

They placed the items on the main table one by one, spreading a white tablecloth, setting the silverware, and lighting the candles.

Jiang Yixia watched them work, then turned to Lu Fan. “Let’s go. They’re starting to set up; we shouldn’t get in the way of their work.”

“There’s no need to leave,” Lu Fan said with a smile.

Jiang Yixia froze for a moment, looking at him. “What?”

“We’re eating here.” Lu Fan chuckled.

Jiang Yixia frowned in confusion. “Eating what? This is someone else’s banquet. Why are you crashing it?”

Lu Fan walked over to the main table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. He looked up at her, smiling. “This is our banquet.”

Jiang Yixia was completely stunned.

She stood in the middle of the banquet hall, watching Lu Fan sit at the round table draped in the white tablecloth. The candlelight flickered across his face, and his eyes were filled with amusement.

“You…” She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

“I booked this banquet hall,” Lu Fan said, leaning back in his chair, his tone relaxed. “I had these roses ordered from Kunming. That moon gate, those six floral pillars, those garlands—they were all prepared for you.”

Jiang Yixia’s face instantly turned red, the flush spreading from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears. “Are you crazy?” Her voice trembled slightly. “Just the two of us eating in such a massive banquet hall?”

“Is that not allowed?” Lu Fan chuckled. “You just don’t understand the world of the rich.”

Jiang Yixia glared at him, caught between anger and laughter. “You’re acting like a total nouveau riche!”

“I am not nouveau riche,” Lu Fan said with a straight face. “I’m a very rational person. I calculated it. Booking this hall, plus the flowers, decorations, and food—the total cost is well within my affordable range. This is called rational spending.”

“Rational spending?” Jiang Yixia couldn’t help but laugh. “You call this rational spending?”

“Of course,” Lu Fan said with a smile. “If you don’t believe me, I can send you the budget spreadsheet.”

Jiang Yixia looked at him, at a loss for words.

Her heart was beating fast, and her face felt burning hot, but she simply couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Chen He had quietly slipped out at some point, leaving just the two of them alone in the banquet hall.

“Come sit.” Lu Fan patted the chair next to him.

Jiang Yixia hesitated for a moment before walking over and sitting down beside him.

Two sets of tableware were laid out on the table, the silver forks and knives gleaming in the candlelight. Red wine had already been poured into the goblets, leaving a thin trail of crimson tears clinging to the glass walls.

Lu Fan raised his glass, looked at her, and smiled. “Cheers.”

Jiang Yixia glanced at him and raised her own glass. The two goblets clinked together, emitting a crisp sound.

She took a sip of the wine, set down her glass, and looked around the hall filled with roses. Suddenly, she felt a slight sting in her nose. “Lu Fan,” Jiang Yixia called out softly.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you do all this?”

Lu Fan looked at her. He stayed silent for a couple of seconds, then smiled. “I wanted to make you happy.”

Jiang Yixia didn’t speak. She lowered her head, her fingers gently stroking the wine glass.

“I couldn’t give you a good life in the past.” Lu Fan’s voice was very gentle. “Now that I have the means, I want to make up for it.”

Jiang Yixia’s eyes reddened, but she held back her tears. She looked up at Lu Fan, her voice trembling slightly. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll reject you?”

“I am,” Lu Fan replied with a smile. “But how would you know if you don’t try?”

Jiang Yixia didn’t reply. She picked up her glass and took another sip.

A waiter rolled a dining cart into the room. The first course was an appetizer, plated so exquisitely it looked like a painting. Jiang Yixia looked at the dish and couldn’t help but smile.

“What are you smiling about?” Lu Fan asked.

“I’m smiling at you,” Jiang Yixia said with a chuckle. “Making such a grand spectacle out of a meal… anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re proposing.”

Lu Fan looked at her, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement. “And if I am?”

Jiang Yixia froze, her face instantly turning completely red. She looked away, her voice a bit flustered. “Don’t spout nonsense.”

Lu Fan chuckled and said nothing more.

The two of them ate slowly as the dishes were served one after another. Every single course was as delicate as a work of art. Jiang Yixia ate very slowly, savoring every bite. She wasn’t savoring the taste of the food, but the feeling of this exact moment. It had been a very, very long time since she had felt this way—being treated with such care and held so dearly in someone’s heart.

“Yixia,” Lu Fan suddenly called out.

“Mhm?”

“Do you remember our first date? You wore a yellow dress.”

Jiang Yixia paused for a moment to think, then said softly, “I remember. I saved up for a long time to buy that dress.”

“You looked exceptionally beautiful that day,” Lu Fan said with a smile. “I didn’t even dare to look at you.”

“You didn’t dare to look?” Jiang Yixia teased playfully. “Your eyes were practically glued to me that day.”

“Were they?” Lu Fan laughed. “How come I don’t remember?”

“Of course you wouldn’t remember. You were too busy staring at me to watch where you were going. You almost walked right into a telephone pole.”

Lu Fan burst into laughter, thoroughly amused. Watching him laugh, Jiang Yixia smiled too.

The final course was cake. It wasn’t made by the hotel. It was the one Lu Fan had made himself, with unevenly spread frosting and the character for “Xia” written on top.

Jiang Yixia looked at the cake and couldn’t help but smile. “You made it again?”

Last time, due to the incident with Jiang Ming, she hadn’t gotten to eat the cake Lu Fan made.

“Yeah.” Lu Fan nodded, looking a little embarrassed. “I wanted to give it to you last time, but with what happened to your brother, it got delayed. So I just went ahead and made a fresh one yesterday.”

Jiang Yixia picked up her fork, cut a small piece, and put it in her mouth. The sponge was a bit tough and the frosting a little too sweet, but she ate it earnestly.

“Is it good?” Lu Fan asked.

Jiang Yixia nodded and took another bite. “Mhm.”

Lu Fan smiled as he watched her eat.

Jiang Yixia ate almost half the cake until she couldn’t take another bite. She set down her fork, leaned back in her chair, and looked at Lu Fan across the table. He was smiling at her, his eyes filled with absolute adoration.

She suddenly realized—wasn’t this very moment the exact scene she had dreamed of all those years ago?