Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Evening after the rain, the sky had turned completely dark.

The air carried the fresh scent of green grass, accompanied by the "rustle" of tree leaves as the wind sent it drifting through the gap in the window. A sliver of coolness brushed against her neck, pressing against the trickling sweat and slipping into her pores, causing them to suddenly relax.

There were low rustling movements inside the room.

In the darkness, Ruan Suxian could feel that her close-fitting clothes were already drenched in sweat, sticking to her skin and feeling thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Hiss—" Fu Mingyu frowned, his palm pressing against the back of her neck as his voice dropped into a hoarse murmur, "Babe, take it easy."

"Shut up."

Ruan Suxian buried her face in the crook of his neck, her eyes shut tightly as her other hand clenched his collar, trembling slightly.

Gritting her teeth, she suppressed her voice to an extreme degree and whispered, "Why aren't you done yet... I'm so tired..."

Fu Mingyu lowered his head, breathing out scorching heat as he peppered fine, warm kisses against her earlobe.

Pressed against his neck, the lights-off room was pitch black, magnifying both her sense of smell and hearing until everything felt overwhelmingly vivid.

The scent of him enveloped Ruan Suxian without a shred of room for argument.

Clearly the clean, crisp fragrance of silver fir, yet right now it carried an intensely burning heat.

The atmosphere in the room alternated between stifling constraint and fiery passion, wave after wave rising and falling.

Ruan Suxian's palms bore a thin layer of calluses, while her skin remained delicate.

Gentleness and subtle roughness existed side by side, every single movement feeling like it was plucking at a tightly strung bowstring.

Ruan Suxian's breathing grew increasingly constricted, her eyelashes trembling with tension as she lost all measure of time.

Not knowing how much time had passed, her arm suddenly went rigid.

She lifted her head, making out the sight in the darkness: Fu Mingyu's eyes were shut tight, his brows trembling slightly as a fine sheen of sweat coated his forehead.

Her mouth half-open, she momentarily forgot how to breathe.

The instant he slowly opened his eyes, consciousness snapped back into her, and she scrambled up to dash toward the bathroom.

In the dim room, Fu Mingyu leaned back against the sofa, letting out a long breath before leisurely tidying his clothes and using a tissue to clean up the soiled couch.

After discarding the tissue, he walked over to the wall and reached up to flip the light switch, brilliant illumination instantly flooding the entire living room.

The sound of running water from inside the bathroom filtered through the door gap, continuing for a long time.

Fu Mingyu walked up to the door and tried to open it, only to find it bolted from the inside.

Leaning sideways against the wall, he gave the door a light knock.

"Still not coming out?"

"None of your business!"

Ruan Suxian had finished washing her hands long ago, but looking at her slightly flushed palms, her breathing still hadn't fully settled.

Gazing at her reflection in the mirror, her cheeks were flushed crimson, and a few strands of sweat-dampened hair clung to her neck, making her look as though she were the one who had been thoroughly played with.

So exhausted!

How could this be even more tiring than wrestling with a control yoke?!

A few minutes later, she pulled the door open. Standing before her was Fu Mingyu, whose shirt sat impeccably smooth without a single wrinkle, even his collar fastened with meticulous precision.

How could someone who looked like they were on death's door just moments ago manage to recover within ten minutes as if ready to anchor the evening national news broadcast?

Lowering her head, Ruan Suxian shoved past him. "Move aside, you're blocking my way."

She stepped out into the living room. Fu Mingyu's jacket had been tossed onto the sofa; having apparently been pinned underneath her earlier, it lay crumpled and messy, its sleeves still full of creases.

As she bent down to pick it up, her eyes caught the contents of the wastebasket—tissues carrying a faint, indescribable scent.

Her ears were already burning red to begin with, but seeing this sight made her temples begin to throb insistently, the palm gripping the jacket growing burning hot.

She had been charmed, she was definitely under a spell.

How reserved she usually was, how thoroughly aligned with socialist core values as a young female citizen—and yet she had let herself be seduced into doing something she once thought she would never do in a million years.

Nearby, Fu Mingyu was knotting his tie, his slender fingers executing a deft, tight pull. Turning his head to see Ruan Suxian holding his jacket, he spoke up, "Babe, hand me my jacket, will you?"

Thinking of how he had called her "babe" right beside her ear just moments ago, a wave of heat rushed straight to Ruan Suxian's face, and she promptly hurled the jacket right at his head.

"Do your own things yourself from now on!"

Looking slightly baffled and pretending not to understand the subtext of Ruan Suxian's words, Fu Mingyu pulled the jacket off his head, draped it over his arm, and stepped forward to give Ruan Suxian's head a playful flick.

"Alright, then I'm heading back to the company to work." Lowering his gaze to look at her, he added, "Get some rest early, you look pretty tired."

Ruan Suxian: "..."

Who's to blame?! Whose fault is this?!—

After Fu Mingyu left, Ruan Suxian returned to the dining room to clean up the table.

Hardly had she started when with a sharp "clack," a bowl dropped back onto the tabletop and rolled around twice.

Moving with lightning-fast reflexes, Ruan Suxian bent down to catch it just in time to prevent a casualty.

Yet after catching it, she simply closed her eyes with a helpless sigh.

She suddenly felt as though her fifty-kilogram arm workouts at the gym had all gone to waste.

After washing the dishes and heading into the study, Ruan Suxian pulled out her study materials, put on her headphones, and prepared to study with a completely pure, desire-free mindset.

Yet as she worked through the practice problems, she noticed the handwriting flowing from her pen was horribly slanted, her hand refusing to obey her commands.

There won't be a next time.

Next time, I'm cutting my own arms off like the Venus de Milo.

Her phone chimed with an incoming message.

[Zheng Youan]: ...

[Ruan Suxian]: ?

Realizing she hadn't been blocked, Zheng Youan immediately unloaded a prepared text block.

[Zheng Youan]: Let me apologize first. I tried calling President Fu just now and he wouldn't pick up. Regarding what happened yesterday, I was just talking nonsense, please don't take it to heart. I'll confess my motive: I just didn't want my family trying to force a match between me and President Fu, so I made up a rumor. At the time, I was certain my family wouldn't let it slip, but I never expected it to reach your ears. I really didn't see anything; after landing in Spain that time, we parted ways immediately. I made the whole thing up.

Ever since Fu Mingyu's denial, Ruan Suxian had wondered whether Zheng Youan had simply misread the situation or intentionally spread the story.

The former was far more likely; after all, no matter how much Zheng Youan disliked Fu Mingyu, she wouldn't try to ruin his reputation like that.

Yet she hadn't expected it to literally be fabricated out of thin air.

Seeing that Ruan Suxian hadn't replied instantly, Zheng Youan cautiously tapped out a few more characters.

[Zheng Youan]: You guys didn't end up fighting over this, did you?

Before Ruan Suxian could figure out how to respond, another message popped up.

[Zheng Youan]: You guys didn't actually come to blows, did you?!

"..."

Well, they kind of did, actually.

[Zheng Youan]: This whole thing was my fault. If you guys actually broke up, I'll compensate you with a brand new boyfriend!

[Zheng Youan]: Young single corporate presidents might be rare, but one about to take office is right here!

[Ruan Suxian]: No need, sis.

[Zheng Youan]: No, no, no, I should be calling you sis.

[Ruan Suxian]: We're fine!

[Zheng Youan]: Don't stand on ceremony, it was my loose mouth that stirred up trouble, I ought to pay reparations.

[Zheng Youan]: ?

[Zheng Youan]: You guys are really fine?—

Because Fu Mingyu had been busy earlier and hadn't had time to answer Zheng Youan's calls, Zheng Youan naturally panicked, assuming he was in a towering rage and hovering on the brink of illegal retaliation. Too terrified to call him again, she had pivoted instead to seeking repentance from Ruan Suxian.

Knowing the full sequence of events now, Ruan Suxian figured she ought to give Fu Mingyu a heads-up so he wouldn't hatch any heinous schemes in hindsight.

She deliberately glossed over the real reason Zheng Youan had slandered him, claiming instead that Zheng Youan had simply been drunk and spouting nonsense.

"She said whatever you want to do with her now is fine, whether you want to kill or carve her up, it's completely up to you."

"Mhm." With one hand holding the phone while the other rapidly flipped through documents, Fu Mingyu replied indifferently, "Mhm, got it."

Judging by Ruan Suxian's understanding of domineering CEOs from novels and television dramas, the more nonchalant the tone, the deeper the fury.

"Are you mad?"

Fu Mingyu: "A little."

A CEO's "a little" certainly couldn't be equated with an ordinary person's "a little."

Ruan Suxian probed further: "Are you plotting how to take revenge on her right now?"

Fu Mingyu gave a light chuckle. "Hardly necessary."

From June of this year up to the present, nearly all the five-star hotels under the Zheng family's umbrella in third-tier cities had already closed down, and their market share in second-tier cities was also hanging by a thread.

Outside observers might not necessarily spot the Zheng family's decline, but as a long-term business partner, Fu Mingyu could glimpse the clues from all sorts of angles.

Besides, ever since the Zheng family had tried to force him and Zheng Youan together two years ago, he had already sensed that the Zheng family's prospects were far from optimistic.

Lifting his gaze, Fu Mingyu swiftly signed a document first. "I have no desire to bicker with her."

"Oh, is that so." Ruan Suxian chuckled on the other end of the line as well. "You're surprisingly magnanimous."

"Whether I'm magnanimous or not, you're probably the person who feels it the deepest."

Ruan Suxian let out a soft huff. "I'm going to go read."

Fu Mingyu: "Mhm? Reading so late, you must still have plenty of energy?"

"...Fu Mingyu, let me tell you, don't even dream of stepping foot in my house ever again."

After hanging up the phone, Fu Mingyu chuckled and put down his fountain pen. Bai Yang stepped forward to collect the documents.

Standing up and checking the time, Fu Mingyu turned to ask Bai Yang, "Has my mother returned?"

"Madam just touched down."

Nodding, Fu Mingyu instructed Bai Yang to have the driver head back to Huguang Mansion tonight.

He arrived a few minutes before Helan Xiang. Doudou padded over to his side, rolling onto its back to beg for belly rubs.

After playing with the dog for a bit and preparing to head upstairs to change clothes, he heard movement at the entrance.

Helan Xiang walked in radiant with high spirits, draped in a glistening piece of faux fur. Standing beneath the light, she shimmered like someone who had just stepped off a Broadway stage.

Spotting Fu Mingyu at home, she halted in her tracks, standing right where she was to look him up and down. "Well, well, who's this? Wandered into the wrong house, did you?"

Then she turned back to wave at the driver: "There's an unauthorized intruder illegally breaking into my home, hurry up and call the police."

The driver, lugging her suitcase behind her, couldn't help a chuckle.

Glancing at her with cold eyes, Fu Mingyu unbuttoned his cuffs and walked toward her.

Sometimes he wondered if there was something wrong with his constitution, seeing as every single woman around him possessed a tongue sharper than the last.

Swaying gracefully to the table, Helan Xiang fished a sapphire velvet box out of her bag, pulled out a necklace, draped it over her finger, and turned to face Fu Mingyu, lifting her chin. "Take a look."

Fu Mingyu merely glanced at it, having little interest in things women adored.

"Very pretty."

"Did I need you to tell me it's pretty? Don't I have eyes?"

Helan Xiang gave the necklace a shake, the pendant casting a faint gleam under the floor lamp.

Fu Mingyu raised his eyes. "Over budget?"

"..." Helan Xiang snapped the necklace back into place. "So vulgar!"

Carefully nesting the necklace back into its box, she continued, "Originally, this time when I went over there, I only wanted to check out an art exhibition. But Mr. Lester heard I was in town and insisted I attend his banquet. I didn't want to go, but since the man came to invite me personally, how could I refuse to give him face?"

Fu Mingyu nodded without picking up the thread.

This Mr. Lester was someone Helan Xiang had mentioned before—an up-and-coming jewelry designer from the UK who had signed with a Chinese jewelry brand earlier this year and had been stationed domestically ever since.

"So I casually praised his award-winning necklace this year, and the next thing I knew, without missing a beat, he just gifted it to me. The hospitality was too overwhelming, I couldn't push it away even if I tried."

Helan Xiang rubbed her temples. "I originally wanted to keep a low profile, but with him pulling a stunt like that, every single woman at the banquet was staring right at me. What a hassle."

Hearing this, an idea sparked in Fu Mingyu's mind. He strolled slowly over to the table and flipped the box open once more to inspect the necklace inside.

Helan Xiang was still venting her annoyance from behind: "Sigh, you know Qu Xunyan, right? She usually only wears Buddhist prayer beads and has zero interest in these things—she was only accompanying her younger sister. But even she ended up staring at me for a few glances today, leaving me so embarrassed. Ah well, I suppose it's true: with something this gorgeous, what woman wouldn't love it?"

The moment her words fell, Fu Mingyu snapped the lid shut, turned around, and asked, "Sell it to me. Deal?"

The second Helan Xiang realized what Fu Mingyu was planning to pull, she clutched her chest and gasped for air, nearly losing her footing entirely: "Fu Mingyu, have you lost every shred of conscience?! I raised you with painstaking effort, and this is how you treat your own mother?!"—

Christmas Day was spent entirely by Ruan Suxian up in the air.

On the day before New Year's Eve, Bian Xuan dragged Ruan Suxian out shopping.

Walking down the street together and taking in the New Year's decorations plastered everywhere, both of them felt a chill run down their spines.

"Whenever I think back to when I was just a regular flight attendant, every single time National Day, New Year's Day, or Chinese New Year rolled around, I'd get goosebumps all over my body."

Linking her arm through Ruan Suxian's, Bian Xuan strolled along at a leisurely pace. "From my college graduation all the way through transitioning to private aviation, I didn't spend a single New Year's at home for four straight years. Every year we'd ferry everyone else home while we huddled in a hotel room with zero food delivery options, choking down instant noodles to get by. Thinking about it now, that really wasn't a life fit for humans."

With that, she patted Ruan Suxian's shoulder. "Good thing I escaped. You've still got a lot of suffering ahead of you, though."

To ordinary people, holidays meant vacation and rest; but to anyone in the aviation industry, they were the absolute arena of suffering.

Everyone prayed holidays wouldn't come, much less had any mood to celebrate or exchange gifts, and over time the sense of ritual for festivals faded away entirely.

Feeling rather sleepy, Ruan Suxian sipped her milk tea while letting her gaze wander aimlessly down the shopping street.

As they passed a luxury menswear boutique, however, her steps came to a halt.

"What is it?" Bian Xuan followed her line of sight. "Want to pick up a New Year's gift for your boyfriend?"

Ruan Suxian didn't answer, her feet automatically carrying her inside.

Two lines of attendants stationed at the entrance stepped forward with trays of drinks and warm towels, guiding Ruan Suxian and Bian Xuan over to the new arrivals section.

Ruan Suxian circled the display once, her gaze eventually settling on the ties.

Some twenty ties sat arranged inside the transparent glass cabinet, most of them leaning toward understated designs. After studying them for a couple of minutes, Ruan Suxian shook her head.

"Forget it."

"Don't like them?" Bian Xuan asked. "I think they look pretty nice."

"They look nice, but his ties all seem to be custom-made."

"So what? It's the thought that counts." Bian Xuan hauled her back. "If you give it to him, would he dare say he doesn't like it?"

Ruan Suxian thought about it, the corners of her lips lifting. "He wouldn't dare."-

Purchasing a dark-patterned black silk tie, Ruan Suxian tucked it carefully into her flight case, laid a cashmere shawl smoothly over it, and gave it a gentle pat.

Sigh, Fu Mingyu, if you dare say you don't like this, this tie is going to become your executioner's noose.

At 6:00 PM on December 31st, the flight operated by Ruan Suxian touched down on its return leg.

Once the final passenger had disembarked, the captain led Ruan Suxian through the cabin to conduct a row-by-row inspection.

"Ah, another year gone by just like that."

The captain patted an overhead bin, finding a sense of reassurance in the familiar sound. "Year after year of endless rushing, when is it ever going to end?"

Stepping out of the cabin, the safety inspectors and cabin crew were all crowded together on the crew stairs, exchanging New Year blessings.

The tarmac wind was fierce, blowing Ruan Suxian's hair into disarray. She pulled out the scarf she had been carrying, wrapped it around her neck, and strode toward the crew bus.

She urged the flight attendants still wearing skirts to board first, waiting behind with the captain.

Just as she was about to step up, a commotion erupted in the distance.

Ruan Suxian and the captain turned their heads to look, while the crew members who had already boarded the bus poked their heads out to see.

"Oh my, looks like someone's causing trouble!"

"Who on earth is starting trouble on New Year's Eve?"

"Are they fighting?"

"Seems like it's over on the maintenance side."

When someone suggested going over to take a look, Ruan Suxian stopped them. "There are security personnel handling it, it's freezing out here, don't go catch a cold."

As the crew bus drove past that area, the troublemakers had already been taken away.

After leaving the airport and returning to the World Aviation Building, Ruan Suxian and the captain went to the flight department to submit their flight logs, running into people inside celebrating the New Year, so they lingered a little longer.

When she came out, Ruan Suxian received a message from Fu Mingyu stating that he had finished his meeting, was walking out of the conference room right now, and told her to come find him in his office.

So Ruan Suxian headed in that direction.

After walking a few steps, she suddenly spotted a man standing ahead in the glass corridor. He had both hands braced against the wall with his waist arched and his head buried deep.

This person wasn't a stranger.

He was that high school alumnus of Ruan Suxian's who worked as a mechanic; the two of them usually exchanged a few words whenever they bumped into each other.

Was he... crying?

Ruan Suxian walked up slowly, stepped behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Tan Shan?"

Tan Shan turned around with bloodshot eyes. Recognizing Ruan Suxian, he immediately whipped his head back away.

"What's wrong?" Ruan Suxian asked. "Did something happen?"

Tan Shan maintained his previous posture, bracing against the wall while his shoulders shook.

After standing there for a moment and seeing that he apparently didn't want to talk, Ruan Suxian turned to leave.

Yet the moment that thought crossed her mind, Tan Shan spoke up.

"It's so meaningless." His voice was hoarse, laced with a crying tone. "Going to work, earning money, it's seriously so damn meaningless."

"What's wrong?" Thinking of something, Ruan Suxian asked, "Was that incident on the tarmac just now involving you?"

Swallowing hard, Tan Shan choked out, "Yeah, I hit someone. I couldn't hold it in anymore."

Ruan Suxian: "Huh?"

Tan Shan turned back to look at her, his bloodshot, strained eyes wide open.

He opened his mouth several times, swallowing his words over and over, his lips pressed tight as his chin trembled slightly.

Ruan Suxian felt as though a single string inside him was stretched to its absolute limit, on the verge of snapping at any second.

"Tomorrow is the New Year," Ruan Suxian said. "Everything's fresh in the new year, nothing that can't be overcome."

She had intended to offer comfort, but her words apparently struck a raw nerve in Tan Shan, causing him to suddenly collapse against her shoulder and howl openly.

"What a load of crap, everything getting better! Nothing gets better! It's never going to get better!"

Startled stiff, Ruan Suxian didn't dare make a single movement.

Wait, weren't adults supposed to suffer in silent, wordless breakdowns? Big guy, what's going on with you?!

Completely emotionally shattered, Tan Shan didn't care who was standing in front of him; he just desperately needed a shoulder to lean on.

"It's too hard, I've got it too hard, is this the life a human is supposed to live? My girlfriend hounds me every day to buy an apartment, saying if we don't buy one next year she's done waiting and will head back to our hometown for blind dates. I want to buy a place too, damn it, but I can't afford it! My monthly salary is only that much, I have to eat, survive, and still send money back to my parents—where the hell am I supposed to buy an apartment?!"

With her back rigid, Ruan Suxian had no idea what to say, managing only a dry: "Then why'd you hit someone?"

"I couldn't stand that Captain Zhang any longer, what a piece of work! Every single time he forgets to turn off the radar, are we mechanics' lives not lives?! Who can take that kind of radiation?! I can't afford a house, I'd at least like to live a few more years. I've reminded him several times and he keeps forgetting, do they seriously not treat us mechanics like human beings?!"

"Uh..."

Whenever Ruan Suxian boarded a flight, some captains would remind her to make sure the radar was turned off upon landing—as leaving it on posed a severe hazard to the ground crew guiding the aircraft to a halt—while other captains wouldn't bother, or would simply forget themselves.

Her clothes were being tightly clutched in his grip, and she could feel a damp patch forming right over her shoulder.

"So meaningless, what's the point of this damn job!" He had started off just choking back tears, but now he was full-on venting. "Not to mention the radiation, we're always taking the blame for everything. Damn it, during that Sichuan Airlines incident, the media all reported it was because of careless mechanic maintenance that the windshield shattered. Screw that, what did it have to do with the mechanics?! That was a factory-original aircraft that the mechanics hadn't even touched!"

As his breakdown spiraled further out of control, Ruan Suxian had no clue what to do either.

Besides, they were of the opposite sex, and more importantly, this was her boyfriend's company! This looked awfully bad!

"Um..." Ruan Suxian pushed him away gently. "Let's talk this out slowly..."

Prompted by her push, Tan Shan simply squatted down right on the floor, burying his head in his hands to steep in his own sorrow.

"I still can't afford to lose this job... I don't know how to do anything else..."

Terrified that Tan Shan might execute a sudden sit-up and lunge back onto her shoulder at any second, Ruan Suxian took a step back. "I'm going to head—"

Her phone buzzed once, sending a strange jolt through her heart.

Pulling it out to look, it was indeed a message from Fu Mingyu.

[Fu Mingyu]: Look up.

Acting like she was following machine instructions, Ruan Suxian immediately lifted her head.

Through the glass corridor, she spotted a figure standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of the director's office opposite.

"..."

Sighing softly, Ruan Suxian put her phone away.

Covering his face, Tan Shan choked out, "Sorry... I said too much... sorry for making you stand here and listen to me vent."

"I've got somewhere to be, so I'll get going first."

Time to go coax her boyfriend—

Before stepping into Fu Mingyu's office, Ruan Suxian paused, pivoted toward a female assistant's desk, squatted down to open her flight case, and retrieved the box containing the tie.

After entrusting her flight case to the assistant's care, she kept her hands behind her back, concealing the box against herself, and walked inside quietly.

Fu Mingyu was standing by the window making a phone call.

Catching sight of Ruan Suxian entering, he turned his head and raised a hand to signal for her to wait a moment.

Ruan Suxian sat down on the sofa, hiding the box behind her back.

During the few minutes while Fu Mingyu finished his call, she sat with absolute posture, straight as an elementary school student.

Once the call ended, Fu Mingyu turned and walked toward her.

He sat down beside her, stretching out his long legs in a relaxed posture while remaining silent, flipping through his phone to browse something.

Looking awfully cold.

Ruan Suxian inched a bit closer.

"President Fu?"

He said nothing, continuing to scroll.

Ruan Suxian tugged on his sleeve.

"Boyfriend?"

Still nothing, not even lifting his eyes.

Licking the corner of her lips, Ruan Suxian edged closer still.

"Older brother?"

The movement of his fingers abruptly halted.

Turning his head to look at Ruan Suxian, Fu Mingyu's eyes shimmered with a faint, bright light, his eyebrows giving an imperceptible arch.

Yet he still didn't speak, simply straightening his torso and leaning forward to reach toward the coffee table.

Ruan Suxian caught the edge of his sleeve.

"I ran into my high school alumnus just now, he was having a bit of an emotional breakdown, and then—"

Suddenly, a sapphire velvet box materialized right before her eyes.

The lid sprang open, revealing a necklace inside that caught the soft, lustrous light; the pendant was small and shaped into an exquisite hexagon.

"New Year's gift."

Ruan Suxian's mouth fell slightly open.

Clearly just a holiday present, yet she was struck by a wave of delicate happiness that blossomed slowly outward, quietly flooding every corner of her heart before she even realized it.

"I..." She floundered for words. "I don't really lack anything..."

"Is a gift defined by whether you lack it?" Fu Mingyu lifted the necklace out, reached around the back of her neck, and clasped it on for her.

Staring unblinkingly at Fu Mingyu, Ruan Suxian completely forgot to even glance down at her own New Year's gift.

Sliding his fingers along the chain down to the pendant, Fu Mingyu gave it a gentle tweak.

"Even though I've heard you say before that you don't like these things—"

"I do like it."

The words tumbled straight out of Ruan Suxian's mouth.

Because you're the one who gave it to me, that's why I like it.