J couldn''t even remember for how long she had been so depressed.


    She felt even more disgusted at the thought that Daniel and Kate might be out on a date together.


    She remembered that E had once told her that she was actually the one that sought after Samuel, and that the chase had been, indeed, very painful. And J was now in the same position as she was years ago. She also had a crush on Daniel, but she didn''t want to swallow her pride and go after him. She loathed doing things she didn''t agree with from the start.


    But what should she do then?


    Touching her aching abdomen, J wanted to return to her tent, but she couldn''t make a single move forward.


    She heard the sound of footstepsing closely to her and then a man sat down next to her.


    He looked into the same direction that J was looking, and asked, "Aren''t fireflies beautiful?"


    J nodded and thought to herself that these simple fireflies have a lot more beauty in them than a man carrying just an ugly heart.


    "What happened to you these past couple of days? You seem sad!" She looked confused, like a little rabbit which couldn''t find its way back home.


    She felt more and more morose. She buried her head between her knees, and answered, "I''m OK. Thank you for your concern."


    Brian looked at the fireflies and asked, "J, do you like Bill?"


    "Em? I like Bill because he helps me a lot." Obviously J had misunderstood Brian.


    Brian pulled up some des of grass and yed with them. After a couple of minutes, he asked J straightforward, "Would you like to be my girlfriend?"


    "Cough." J almost choked on her own saliva, and the shock brought by Brian''s words even made her forget about her aching stomach.


    "Brian, you... we... we''ve just met each other for a few days. Why would you say that?"


    Brian looked her in the eyes, and said, "It takes just a moment to fall in love with a person."


    ...


    J''s heart was beating faster.


    In such a romantic setting, and after a handsome soldier h


    “Who does she think she is? I won’t marry her even if she is thest woman on earth,” said Hiram Rong.


    “Marry into a family with tens of billions of assets? How lucky I am! I won’t be so foolish as to break off the engagement. At worst, I can receive money as part of the divorce settlement,” said Rachel Ruan.


    Their great-grandfathers made a pact about their engagement a hundred years ago...


    ou should refuse him without more ado. A vague attitude would harm you both."


    That''s the reason she refused Bill without further ado every time. And now she had to also refuse Bill''s cousin, and she didn''t feel at all proud of herself this time neither.


    She took a deep breath and then looked Brian straight in the eyes, "Brian, what you just said... makes me feel the warmth of a brother instead of a lover. Brian, can we be good friends in the future?"


    Brian nodded, "Don''t worry about it. Anyway, I couldn''t really spend that much time with you after all because I''m busy with the army. But I confessed my true feelings to you, and I hope I haven''t upset you because of this. I feel much better now. It''s OK, don''t worry about it."


    It was night outside, and J couldn''t see the emotions hidden in his eyes by the dark. After hearing Brian''s words, J felt more relieved.


    "It''ste. We should be heading back!" J stood up from the rock she was sitting on. The night was dark indeed, and she hardly saw the road under her feet. Suddenly, she slipped and fell straight into Brian''s arms.


    A cry sounded not far away, "I saw nothing." Then, they heard the person run away.


    J suddenly lost her words. She was now afraid that the gossip about her would never stop, or at least not in the near future. What a lousy misfortune!