Lin He and Ziyu accompanied Wen Ningxuan into the living room of their house. Wen Ningxuan found himself growing more curious. The furniture, while simple in style and made of common wood, lent the entire space a feeling of profound comfort. It contrasted sharply with his own home—vast, certainly, and filled with many valuable objects, yet it felt fragmented, more like a gallery than a residence. Wen Ningxuan asked, "He'er, who built this house for you? And who made the things inside?"

"The carpenters made the house, based on designs our young mistress came up with herself. The young mistress drew the plans, and we had the masons build it. Everything in here was conceived by our young mistress. She has many more things like this in her rooms," Ziyu stated with evident pride.

"He'er, you thought all this up? Where did you see things like this before? I've never encountered anything like them. Are they entirely your own creations?" Wen Ningxuan inquired, his curiosity piqued further by Ziyu’s words.

"Don't listen to Ziyu's nonsense. We all contributed ideas for the house; I just offered a few suggestions. As for the things in here, I saw elements in books and simply adapted the styles. I thought simpler designs were better; our house isn't large, and if we put too much in, there won't be room for people to stand," Lin He said with a smile.

Wen Ningxuan gazed at Lin He, remaining silent, yet his heart refused to settle. He couldn't fathom why He'er's thoughts were always so different from everyone else’s, always brimming with such ingenious, whimsical ideas. A woman like this was likely rare in the world, and yet he was the one fortunate enough to meet her.

Noticing Wen Ningxuan staring at her, Lin He felt a slight awkwardness and broke the silence, asking, "When did you return? Is the Caidie Xuan over there finished?"

"I came back the day before yesterday. Everything over there is done," Wen Ningxuan replied, still fixed on Lin He.

Lin He sat down on a chair beside her and inquired, "Then you'll have to travel there often from now on?"

"No need. I have trusted people managing the shop there. I only need to check in periodically," Wen Ningxuan agreed, taking a seat in the chair opposite Lin He.

"He'er, you..." Wen Ningxuan paused mid-sentence.

Lin He looked at him, perplexed. Ziyu, observing their silence, subtly moved a few steps toward the doorway. "Have you spoken to your mother and father about us? I was hoping to ask my father to come over in a few days to formalize our arrangement. Would that be agreeable?" Wen Ningxuan paused again, then continued speaking.

Lin He looked at Wen Ningxuan without responding. In truth, she had deliberately avoided discussing this matter with her parents. She simply didn't want to finalize anything so soon. Although they had tacitly approved their relationship, she was, at heart, a modern person. Even though her body was here, her mindset remained different. She found the ancient customs surrounding courtship and marriage difficult to accept. At this time, in the best circumstances, a couple might meet from afar before marriage; in worse cases, they wouldn't meet until the wedding day—a process entirely arranged by parental decree and matchmakers, with the couple having no real opportunity to ascertain compatibility. However, since this was the universal model, no one questioned its propriety.

Furthermore, Lin He felt this system was deeply unfair to women. Once an engagement was settled, the woman had no recourse to change it. Even if the fiancé proved to be terrible, a woman could not easily break the bond; attempting to do so would likely ruin her prospects for a respectable match afterward. Conversely, if the man wished to withdraw, he could easily do so as long as he returned the betrothal gifts, and people would merely speculate something must have been wrong with the woman. In the end, the engagement primarily bound the woman while leaving the man free.

Now that this situation involved her, Lin He absolutely refused to let it happen to her. While Wen Ningxuan was a good person and treated her kindly enough, they had spent very little time together, and she felt she understood very little about him. To agree now felt like crossing a threshold she wasn't ready for.

Moreover, she felt that deciding the rest of her life in such a short period was far too hasty. Yet, with Wen Ningxuan having asked directly, Lin He found it impossible to flatly refuse, but she also didn't want to give him a vague answer just to placate him. After some thought, she decided honesty was best. "Ningxuan, can we discuss this another time, please?"

Hearing Lin He’s words, Wen Ningxuan asked no further questions, merely nodding. His expression revealed little, but Lin He knew he must be disappointed. However, such was his nature; he preferred to bear any burden himself rather than place pressure on her.

Lin He smiled faintly, feeling the need to explain. "It’s like this: firstly, my elder brother, Dabao’s, situation is not yet settled. Our local custom dictates that the elder sibling must be engaged before the younger ones can proceed with such matters. Secondly, I truly feel we haven't spent enough time together. Consider it: setting aside the time before you went to the capital, since your return, we’ve only met a handful of times. I think the timing isn't quite right yet."

Wen Ningxuan had indeed felt disappointed initially. He had planned to discuss this with his father upon his return to secure the arrangement, making future meetings with Lin He easier. After all, in this era, most couples only met on their wedding night, and he and Lin He had shared some time together. As a man of this era, his thinking naturally aligned with its conventions—he felt the time was right. But hearing Lin He’s reasoning, he acknowledged her perspective was sound. It also demonstrated that she was considering the matter carefully and treating it with seriousness. Besides, her ideas were already known to be unconventional. With these thoughts, Wen Ningxuan’s disappointment began to fade. He spoke up, "Then I will listen to He'er. When you feel the time is right, I will speak to my father."

Lin He nodded, scrutinizing Wen Ningxuan closely, confirming that he genuinely accepted her reasoning. A wave of quiet joy washed over her. If Wen Ningxuan had reacted poorly to her explanation, her impression of him would have diminished. His current stance, however, made her hold him in even higher regard. In this age, to respect a woman’s decision and readily accept her differing opinion was truly the mark of a rare man.