Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 57

Chapter 57

"Hmm?" Fu Mingyu chuckled. "What kind of thrill?"

Ruan Suxian rested her hand on the door-unlocking button, glaring at him coldly. "Shall I have you return to where the dream began to search for that thrilling feeling?"

"From dusk until deep into the night?"

"Fu Mingyu, don't forget you're a human being."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to satisfy me?"

Ruan Suxian took a deep breath, choosing not to speak any further.

Seeing this, Fu Mingyu tilted his head back and burst out laughing.

He usually talked a big game, but she really couldn't take a tease—she actually thought others couldn't tell that even the tips of her ears had turned red.

This was the first time Ruan Suxian had seen him laugh with such unreserved abandon. Even if she were slow-witted, she finally realized she had just been played.

And there was a high probability she had misinterpreted it herself.

Yet Fu Mingyu's expression just now had clearly and unmistakably guided the topic in that direction, as if he were terrified she wouldn't realize he was acting like a rogue.

Ruan Suxian found that Fu Mingyu was becoming increasingly unreserved. He had gradually cast off the shackles of his identity and was now sprinting down the path of revealing his true masculine nature with no intention of turning back.

The aircraft suddenly plummeted sharply, surging forward before abruptly climbing back up and banking backward.

Since there was nothing else in the airspace, Ruan Suxian felt she deserved a moment of willful indulgence to express her frustration.

"Are you actually mad?" Fu Mingyu didn't seem intimidated by this sudden display of stunt-flying at all, reaching out with complete composure to tweak a strand of hair by her cheek. "How much longer are you planning to linger in this thrilling place?"

"..."

Without another word, Ruan Suxian turned the aircraft around and headed back.

It was already approaching noon, time to land.

Yet she remained curious about what on earth Fu Mingyu had done here back in the day that could make it unforgettable for a lifetime.

Pondering this for a moment, she asked, "Out here in the middle of nowhere, did you fall hopelessly in love with a wild jungle woman back then?"

Fu Mingyu didn't quite grasp her train of thought.

"Are you insulting me or insulting yourself?"

Just as Ruan Suxian opened her mouth to snap back, a sudden realization hit her.

Wait, what did he mean by that?

Pondering it further, it sounded as though he had indirectly confessed his feelings to her all over again—?

In the end, Ruan Suxian didn't ask whether he had fallen for a wild woman or engaged in a dawn-to-dusk wilderness battle with someone here. When they landed, Fu Mingyu explained it himself: back in college, he had come here to play with a few friends using a helicopter. As a result, they got separated from the pilot, there was no cell phone signal in the mountains, and after wandering around blindly for a while, the lot of them crashed right into a waterfall. Soaked to the bone, they sat there for half a day just to dry their clothes, and then had to rely on themselves to drill wood for fire and survive the night before someone finally found them.

Fu Mingyu called it the most outrageous thing he had ever done in his life, though Ruan Suxian failed to see what was so nostalgic about it.

Perhaps a man's happiness was just that simple.

Yet after thinking about it for a moment, that was the adolescent version of Fu Mingyu—one she had never had the chance to witness.

She couldn't see him sitting cross-legged on the ground in the wilderness, nor could she see him tumbling into a waterfall with his friends, swimming ashore, and stripping off his T-shirt. She hadn't been able to meet those completely different facets of Fu Mingyu, which left her feeling surprisingly wistful.

As they stepped off the plane, Li Zhihuai had already left. The boss of Nan'ao treated the two of them to lunch, after which they returned to the tarmac.

Since they had chartered the entire day, Ruan Suxian would feel a pang of regret over the money if she didn't fly until the end.

Still, piloting a general aviation aircraft was quite exhausting, and the thought of Fu Mingyu sitting comfortably beside her enjoying the ride felt slightly rigged.

Normally, I'm the one working for you as your pilot, but now that you're trying to coax me, I'm still the one carrying you?

So, before boarding the plane, Ruan Suxian waved at him. "Come here."

Hearing her from across the way, Fu Mingyu glanced over. Instead of coming closer, he stayed right where he was, leaning his arms against the fuselage. "What?"

"You know, acting as your driver this whole time is pretty tiring," Ruan Suxian said. "How about this, care to settle my wages later on?"

Fu Mingyu tilted his head, looking at her from afar. "Did you forget that this plane was a gift for you? Why are you still treating yourself like a hired driver?"

Ruan Suxian froze.

She had actually assumed Fu Mingyu was just putting on a show in front of Li Zhihuai earlier. After all, that whole incident could have been resolved with a single model plane; who would have guessed he actually bought a real one?

"Huh?"

Fu Mingyu walked over and gently tucked a strand of hair blown loose by the wind behind her ear.

"What's wrong? Don't like it?"

Her brain told her to play it cool right now, but as she looked at the man before her, her mouth automatically blurted out, "I like it."

"As long as you like it."

Fu Mingyu turned around, opened the cockpit door, stepped one foot up, and looked back over his shoulder. "Get in. I'll be your driver this afternoon."

Ruan Suxian froze yet again. She had no idea Fu Mingyu also held a private pilot's license.

Although it made complete sense logically speaking—how could an airline's operations director possibly not have one?—she still found it immensely shocking.

She stood rooted to the spot, watching as Fu Mingyu climbed into the cockpit, fastened his seatbelt, put on his sunglasses, rested his elbow against the window frame, and looked down at her from above. "Are you not getting in?"

Ruan Suxian figured he must have known how striking he looked right then, and was deliberately trying to seduce her.

Well, mission accomplished.

What was it like to wander aimlessly across the sky in a plane piloted by your own boyfriend?

Ruan Suxian couldn't organize a single coherent thought in her head.

His style differed from hers; rather than sightseeing, he pursued the thrill brought by sheer speed, steering her through thread-like strands of white clouds, chasing the fading light at the edge of the sky, skimming past fiery maple forests, and circling amidst emerald waters and verdant mountains.

Yet no scenery of lakes and mountains, no floating mists, no rolling peaks could hold a candle to the man right beside her.

Lacking any inclination to admire the scenery, she found herself turning her head again and again to steal glances at him, her heart gripped tightly the entire time.

As the aircraft climbed in altitude over and over, Ruan Suxian felt as though she were sinking into an abyss at that exact same speed.

He probably knew she was watching him, or perhaps he didn't, occasionally flashing a smile or exchanging a few words with her, yet the vast majority of his focus remained firmly anchored on piloting.

Ruan Suxian confirmed it once more: he was deliberately seducing her.

Yet nobody could possibly resist this kind of temptation.

Quietly clenching her fists, Ruan Suxian tried desperately to suppress the surging wave of heat threatening to burst forth from her chest.

No! Ruan Suxian, you are not such a superficial person! You cannot fall just because he's handsome!

You're just being shallow, completely knocked out by the airplane he bought you!

By the time they landed, Ruan Suxian felt she still hadn't recovered her composure.

The moment she hopped down, she even staggered slightly on her feet.

Fu Mingyu turned back to look at her with an expression of utter disbelief.

"Are you motion-sick?"

I, Ruan Suxian, am a woman capable of soaring thirty thousand feet into the high skies—how! could! I! possibly! get! motion-sick!

I'm just a little person-sick, that's all.

"No." Ruan Suxian waved a nonchalant hand. "I just lost my footing for a second."

Evening had fallen, and it was time for them to leave.

The boss of Nan'ao came over to chat with Fu Mingyu. As long-time friends who clicked well, the boss kept asking about the flight experience with the Super Star, noting that if it proved truly worthwhile, he might consider purchasing a few units himself.

The airport wind remained fierce, howling past their ears and making Fu Mingyu's voice sound alternately near and distant.

Standing right beside him while replaying the earlier scenes in her mind, Ruan Suxian lost control of her footsteps, slowly shuffling behind him to wrap her arms around his waist.

Fu Mingyu was slightly startled, though he didn't think too much of it. While continuing his conversation with the Nan'ao boss, he reached down to clasp the slender hands resting across his lower abdomen.

His palms seemed perpetually warm.

Rubbing her face twice against his back, Ruan Suxian stood on her tiptoes, lifted her chin to rest it against his shoulder, and whispered in an ultra-low voice right into his ear: "I suddenly really want to kiss you right now."

Mid-sentence, Fu Mingyu merely paused for the slightest fraction of a second—so subtly that even the Nan'ao boss didn't notice—before smoothly continuing his conversation.

His expression didn't even shift.

Fine then.

Ruan Suxian felt a twinge of disappointment, concluding that she must truly lack any charm whatsoever.

She slowly loosened her grip, listlessly grinding the toe of her shoe against the pavement.

Ten minutes later, their conversation finally wrapped up.

After bidding farewell to the Nan'ao boss, Fu Mingyu took her hand and walked toward the parking lot.

He remained silent the entire way, his expression calm.

Ruan Suxian figured it probably wasn't a lack of charm on her part; he must have simply been hard of hearing and missed it entirely.

Upon reaching the parking lot, Ruan Suxian stayed quiet, walking around to the passenger side and pulling the door open to climb in.

Just as she was about to pull the door shut, she felt a strong opposing force yank it wide open. Immediately afterward, a body squeezed inside, one leg wedging firmly between hers.

Fu Mingyu leaned in over her, pressing his weight forward while propping one hand against the car seat right behind her head.

Ruan Suxian blinked, seeming to realize something as her heartbeat threatened to leap straight out of her throat.

He stared down at her intently, his gaze lacking its usual deep-spring tranquility; instead, flames seemed to be flickering within his eyes.

His free hand reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Babe, open your mouth."

He sounded somewhat urgent, eager to jump straight to the main event.