Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

It was already two in the morning the next day when the plane touched down in Madrid.

During this period, He Lanxiang had sent several messages to Fu Mingyu.

"What time do you arrive?"

"How is the weather over there?"

"I don't know if Europe is a bit chaotic right now. Pay attention to your surroundings as usual and bring bodyguards if you should."

Just as Fu Mingyu had anticipated, the nagging string of topics eventually wound its way to the young woman sitting near him.

"Is Zheng You'an doing okay on the trip?"

"Her parents arranged for someone to pick her up, so stop worrying so much. Get some good rest once you get off the plane; you've been way too exhausted lately."

When Fu Mingyu saw this message, he replied with a brief couple of lines.

"Arrived."

"I don't have that much idle time to fuss over other people."

Tagging along with Zheng You'an was something He Lanxiang had agreed to, and Fu Mingyu had raised no objections.

Yet this did not mean he harbored any other intentions; his mother's worries were purely overthought.

When it came to the matter of Zheng You'an, the Fu family held a minor divergence of views.

At He Lanxiang's birthday banquet last year, Dong Xian had brought Zheng You'an along, marking the first time Fu Mingyu and Zheng You'an met.

Unlike other pampered young heiresses, Zheng You'an seemed less than fond of such settings, handling social pleasantries with a hint of shyness. When Dong Xian brought her over to greet Fu Mingyu, she appeared rather bashful, her voice small and soft. Fu Mingyu had simply looked at her, nodding and smiling repeatedly.

In truth, on several occasions, he hadn't quite caught what she was saying.

Yet this scene, falling into the eyes of Fu Chengzhou and Zheng Huajing on the sidelines, struck both fathers as an exceptionally well-matched pairing.

From that moment on, the idea of playing matchmaker took root.

Naturally, Fu Chengzhou had also broached this intent with He Lanxiang. At the time, He Lanxiang put on a dignified, reasonable smile and declared that Fu Chengzhou's idea was not bad.

The two children were young and compatible, a talented man and a beautiful woman; if they could form a match, it would also be immensely beneficial to both companies.

However, in the depths of He Lanxiang's heart, she was ten thousand times unwilling.

She had no particular grievances against Zheng You'an—she even liked the young girl a little bit—but—have Dong Xian become an in-law of hers?!

She would rather her son remain unmarried for the rest of his life!

No, that was a bit too malicious.

Yet whenever she imagined that if Fu Mingyu and Zheng You'an truly ended up together, the frequency of her future encounters with Dong Xian would skyrocket by orders of magnitude, her prospective life felt utterly suffocating.

Fortunately, Zheng You'an was still studying abroad, and Fu Mingyu was busy, leaving little opportunity for matchmaking. Over the span of more than a year, the two had met no more than twice.

Yet now Zheng You'an had graduated and returned to China, growing more and more striking by the day, her pair of dimples sweet enough to kill when she smiled—what man could possibly withstand that?

At this thought, He Lanxiang began envisioning her future life: attending weddings alongside Dong Xian, delivering speeches on stage together, later sharing in attendance at their grandchild's one-month celebration and first-year birthday rituals, and even having the two families gather every single New Year while she forced herself to put on a show of profound in-law affection.

That life would truly be too difficult.

What on earth had she done wrong to deserve Dong Xian as an in-law?!

If the heavens were to arrange a true destiny-sent woman right now to capture Fu Mingyu's heart, she would be willing to eat a vegetarian diet for an entire year to express her gratitude.

At this moment, the aircraft was taxiing, its speed gradually slowing down.

Fu Mingyu tilted his head to glance at the woman in the adjacent seat.

Half an hour before landing, she had already sprung into action.

Whipping out a small pouch from goodness-knows-where, she fished out a pile of bottles and jars, patting one onto her face a moment, then curling her body up to smear something onto her feet the next, before finally coating her neck.

Tilting her head back, her neck was blindingly white.

Catching this sight out of the corner of his eye, Fu Mingyu suddenly recalled that Ruan Xian's neck was also very long and straight, like a swan's, always held high.

Today was the first time he had ever seen her looking deflated and dejected.

His thoughts drifting away, Fu Mingyu found it both amusing and exasperating, completely unaware that an unmasked smile of amusement was overflowing from his eyes.

The smile spread, softening even his demeanor.

Staring at his phone, realizing that Ruan Xian still hadn't replied to the message sent over a dozen hours ago, he didn't feel angry at all; instead, he casually tapped out another one.

[Fu Mingyu]: Why aren't you replying to my messages?

Ruan Xian had just arrived home when she received this message.

Due to torrential rain and flight delays, it took over a dozen hours before she finally made the return trip, bringing her home at this late hour.

She had even dragged Ni Tong back with her.

Speaking of which, Ruan Xian was also somewhat speechless.

With the weather turning hot recently, she had craved cooling relief and downed iced drinks frantically for several consecutive days, and retribution arrived right on cue today. Mid-flight on the return leg, Ni Tong's period had struck abruptly. At first, her lower abdomen felt merely a dull ache, but soon it felt like an electric drill was churning inside.

Yet she didn't utter a word, gritting her teeth to fly through the entire shift until she finally collapsed and squatted against a wall corner upon disembarking, unable even to stand.

In the dead of night, unwilling to trouble others, she insisted on going to her best friend's place at Minchen Mansions.

Coincidentally, Ruan Xian lived right there, so she ended up being the one to drive Ni Tong over.

Yet upon reaching the door, knocking yielded no response, and a phone call revealed that her friend had returned to her hometown.

Ni Tong's complexion had already turned the color of withered greens, and squatting on the ground, she couldn't even squeeze out a complete sentence. Left with no choice, Ruan Xian had to haul her back to her own place to rest.

Initially, Ni Tong resisted, whimpering about wanting to go home.

Knowing that Ni Tong felt awkward about their initial awkward meeting and didn't want to stay at her apartment, Ruan Xian didn't press the matter and simply said, "Then go back on your own."

True to her word, Ni Tong tried to move, steadying herself against the wall to stand up and shuffling step by step toward the elevator.

Watching her retreating back, Ruan Xian remarked, "Your skirt is stained."

"Ah? Where, where? Is it big? Is it obvious?"

Ruan Xian used her thumb and index finger to outline an egg-sized circle. "About this big."

Unable to check her own backside, Ni Tong hesitated for two seconds between going to Ruan Xian's place versus heading home with blood stains on her trousers, before caving. "Then I'll go wash my skirt at your place."

Though she said that, the moment Ni Tong entered the apartment, she collapsed onto the bed and refused to get up, tossing and turning while muttering that she would never drink iced water again.

Ignoring her, Ruan Xian headed to the kitchen to brew ginger brown sugar water. It was only then that she finally had the free time to take out her phone and check it.

The timing of opening her phone was sheer coincidence; Fu Mingyu's message popped up right at that moment.

Why aren't you replying to my messages?

Ruan Xian felt there was nothing to reply to, because his previous message had been: "She is not my girlfriend."

That had been in response to her remark: "President Fu, taking your girlfriend out while still finding time to care for me—isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

When Ruan Xian saw that message earlier, she had thought: What does that have to do with me?

Besides, it made it look as though Fu Mingyu was explaining himself to her.

If she replied with something like "Oh, got it," wouldn't that be even stranger?

So Ruan Xian simply chose not to reply.

Yet who would have expected him to chase after her a dozen hours later demanding to know why she hadn't answered.

As if he desperately needed to extract an answer from her.

Casually, Ruan Xian typed out a few perfunctory characters to brush him off.

[Ruan Xian]: Oh, was busy playing Candy Crush and didn't see it.

That explanation should do the trick, right, Boss? No problem anymore, right?

Yet the moment the message went through, Fu Mingyu replied in a flash.

[Fu Mingyu]: ?

[Fu Mingyu]: Not replying to messages is very impolite.

Ruan Xian: "......?"

Intentional or otherwise, Ruan Xian had cursed out Fu Mingyu countless times, spitting out every flavor of abuse imaginable—how on earth could he possibly think she would treat him with polite decorum?

[Ruan Xian]: Is this your first day knowing me? Do I even possess such a thing as politeness?

[Fu Mingyu]: Ruan Xian, quit while you're ahead. I don't have that much patience to waste on you.

Ruan Xian: "......???"

Talking to this person was so exhausting! Just who was wasting whose patience here?!

Right on cue, the water on the stove began to boil. Flustered, Ruan Xian dumped the brown sugar in, losing all patience to type out a text. She held down the voice message button and blurted out, "President Fu, are you exceptionally idle right now? Aren't you tired? Don't you have work to do? Don't you need to attend meetings? Shouldn't you be resting after flying for a dozen hours?"

Can you please give it a rest for a while???

The moment the voice message sent, Ruan Xian heard movement behind her. Turning her head, she saw Ni Tong bracing herself against the doorframe, looking pale in complexion yet possessing eyes glowing with burning curiosity.

"Uh... I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, I came out for the restroom."

Paying her no mind, Ruan Xian turned back to stir the brown sugar water in the pot.

Stepping forward with feeble strides toward the bathroom, Ni Tong hesitated for a moment as she passed Ruan Xian, then whispered, "You shouldn't talk to him like that."

Ruan Xian: "What?"

Ni Tong continued, "If you ask like that, it's very easy to get the opposite effect. You have to know how to use the right methods."

With that, she shuffled weakly into the washroom.

Simultaneously, a reply came through from Fu Mingyu.

[Fu Mingyu]: Since you know I'm busy, settle down. I'll be back next Saturday.

Ruan Xian: ???

You're coming back, so you come back—what does telling me mean? Are you expecting me to roll out a red carpet and bring a megaphone to welcome you?

Is World Aviation's bureaucratic culture really this heavy?

Turning off the stove, she earnestly attempted to view things from Fu Mingyu's perspective to comprehend his unhinged ramblings.

Two minutes later, she chose to give up.

However, she finally figured out what Ni Tong's earlier words had meant.

Yesterday, Ni Tong had asked if she was chasing President Fu, which meant Ni Tong assumed she was pestering Fu Mingyu for idle chat.

To verify her hypothesis, the moment Ni Tong emerged, Ruan Xian asked, "What did you mean by what you said earlier?"

Though her stomach ached, out of gratitude for Ruan Xian's benevolent deed today, Ni Tong didn't mind offering a word of guidance.

"You can't show concern for someone like that. You have to take it step by step; asking that many questions all at once will just annoy him."

Ruan Xian: "............"

"What kind of concern am I showing him—am I wondering if his coffin lid needs a sliding latch or a touchscreen display?"