Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Since she had received her partner's New Year's gift, she naturally had to express something in return.

However, this was Ruan Suxian's first time giving a gift to a man, so she wasn't quite familiar with the routine and had no idea how to pull off an air of casual composure.

After thinking it over, she decided she might as well just dive straight in.

She reached out to pull on Fu Mingyu's tie.

"Lean closer."

Obeying her, Fu Mingyu bent his torso to lean in near her.

Ruan Suxian began untying his neckwear.

"What are you up to?"

Catching her hand, Fu Mingyu murmured in a low voice, "It's a holiday today, and I'm very busy."

"..."

Suddenly grabbing the Windsor knot, Ruan Suxian used both hands—one above and one below—to give it a fierce yank, tightening the knot hard around his neck.

Fu Mingyu let out a hiss. "Are you trying to murder me?"

"Can't you keep your mind out of the gutter for even a single second?" Abandoning her earlier meticulous care, Ruan Suxian undid the tie with a few violent tugs and tossed it aside.

Just as Fu Mingyu was about to say something, the LED display on the office door flashed brightly.

Bai Yang was outside, coming in on business.

Naturally spotting this as well, Ruan Suxian kept quiet, clutched the tie, and sat upright with proper posture.

Holding a folder, Bai Yang walked in with an expressionless face. Glancing at the "disheveled" Fu Mingyu without any visible change in expression, he walked straight up to spread the documents across the desk and said, "President Fu, here is a file that requires your signature."

As a qualified assistant, aside from being rigorous and conscientious in his work, he also needed top-tier emotional regulation skills—he couldn't be jittery or easily startled, otherwise he might accidentally become collateral in his boss's romance.

Straightening the collar that Ruan Suxian had disheveled, Fu Mingyu stood up and walked to the desk. Sliding one hand into his pocket while using the other to flip through the paperwork, he gave the contents a quick scan before picking up his fountain pen and cleanly signing his name. As he lowered his head, the setting sun streamed through the window onto his face, casting a shallow layer of golden light over his features.

Ruan Suxian kept her gaze fixed on him quite blatantly.

Her boyfriend was truly so handsome—his eyes, nose, mouth, facial structure... even individual strands of hair grew right where her aesthetic preferences wanted them.

Standing nearby, Bai Yang reported on the workflow: "Starting from six this afternoon, passenger traffic for this holiday has begun to surge sharply. All duty operations managers are on station, and current flight and line maintenance operations are completely normal. In twenty minutes, the operational monitoring data for all flights will be synced over."

Finishing his report, Bai Yang scooped up the signed documents, turned around once more with an expressionless face, and strode out.

Before stepping out, he pressed the button by the door; once he left and the door clicked shut, it automatically engaged the external security lock.

Turning around, Fu Mingyu walked back toward Ruan Suxian and settled down beside her.

A roguish smile danced in his eyes as he tipped his chin upward. "Shall we continue?"

Continue your head.

Ruan Suxian pulled out the box she had hidden behind her back and said with a huff, "Your gift."

Fu Mingyu stared unblinkingly at Ruan Suxian.

Feeling somewhat uneasy under his gaze and choosing silence over words, Ruan Suxian simply dove right in.

Usually, when she saw Fu Mingyu wearing a tie, it was tied in a Windsor knot—a neat, simple triangle whose structural principle was probably much like a silk scarf.

Fiddling with it, she muttered, "Even though this doesn't match the quality of the ones you usually wear, if you dare say you don't like it, it can be put to some other use."

"Oh? What kind of use?"

"Just—"

Ruan Suxian looked up, met Fu Mingyu's ambiguous gaze, and trailed off mid-sentence.

With all those dirty thoughts bouncing around in his head, why didn't he go apply to be a house painter instead?

Two seconds later, she couldn't resist grabbing his neck again and snarling fiercely, "An executioner's noose."--

Ruan Suxian discovered that Fu Mingyu was now completely immune to her fierce threats.

Hearing the words "executioner's noose," he simply burst out laughing instead.

It was terribly unrewarding, leaving her with no desire to talk to him further.

Right at that moment, the doorbell chimed again. Dropping the tie, Ruan Suxian stood up and walked over to the window.

Hearing a woman's voice outside, she glanced back to see an assistant carrying a food delivery box inside, bending over to set the items out one by one on the reception table.

The reason a holiday battlefield was a battlefield was precisely because even someone in Fu Mingyu's position dared not easily abandon his post.

Packed flight schedules instantly doubled the probability of accidents; even a minor unexpected delay could trigger a domino effect impacting subsequent flight operations, let alone the fact that if any safety incident occurred during this period, the brunt of the responsibility would fall squarely on Fu Mingyu.

Lowering his head, Fu Mingyu finished knotting his tie just as the assistant finished arranging the food boxes and quietly retreated out the door.

"Come eat dinner." Recalling something, Fu Mingyu asked, "I won't be able to get away for almost the entire duration of these few days, and your schedule is packed with flights for the next three days as well?"

"Mhm."

"On the evening of the 4th, Uncle Yan's seventieth birthday banquet is being hosted at the Warner Estate. Will you accompany me?"

Ruan Suxian blinked. "Who?"

"Uncle Yan," Fu Mingyu said. "Yan An's father."

Ruan Suxian: "..."

She wasn't surprised in the least that Fu Mingyu was attending Yan An's father's birthday banquet.

After all, she had known for years that World Aviation and North Aviation enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership, maintaining intricate cooperative ties dating back to Fu Mingyu's father's generation—making them family friends in every sense of the word.

Fu Mingyu figured Ruan Suxian probably disliked attending such functions, but in his eyes, accompanying him as his date was necessary.

First of all, attending such events with a girlfriend was considered default etiquette; secondly, ever since World Aviation's official social media account spoke up last time, anyone acquainted with Fu Mingyu—as well as those on the periphery—was well aware of his girlfriend's existence.

Moreover, for the sake of this girlfriend, Fu Mingyu had broken precedent by making a high-profile statement to sever ties completely with Li Zhihuai's side. If Fu Mingyu were to show up alone at this social gathering, it would inevitably spark speculation among some people regarding his "girlfriend."

Fu Mingyu posed the question once more, "Are you going?"

"Of course I am," Ruan Suxian said. "Anyway, you know the fact that Yan An used to chase me; as long as you don't mind, I have nothing to object to."

"Why would I mind, didn't he fail to win you over?" Fu Mingyu chuckled softly. "Instead, you don't need to stress over these things, him and I have been like this since we were kids."

Ruan Suxian stopped listening to him as her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Attending a banquet of this caliber for the first time—what on earth should she wear?

They had to head over on the evening of the 4th, and she wouldn't be free until the afternoon of the 3rd, meaning she'd have to rush out to buy an outfit like she was going into battle.

So annoying.

"Why are you only telling me today?" Ruan Suxian grumbled, deeply irritated. "Couldn't you have mentioned it earlier?"

Fu Mingyu had been about to pick up some food, but hearing her sudden outburst, his hand paused in mid-air with a look of pure bafflement. "I gave you four days' notice."

Ruan Suxian glared at him. "What do you know? Even a year in advance wouldn't be too early."

This kind of mindset was carbon-copied straight from his mother's playbook, who regularly prepared for banquets ten days or even half a month ahead of time, making a massive fuss over this and that.

"Oh, right," Fu Mingyu remembered another detail. "The Zheng family is going to be there this time too."

The Zheng family.

Without needing Fu Mingyu to explain, she knew he was intentionally bringing it up because that meant Zheng Youan's family.

"If they go, they go."

Pausing for a moment, Ruan Suxian muttered under her breath, "It's not like I need to go out of my way to hide from them, right?"

"Alright, I'll pick you up at five o'clock on the afternoon of the 4th."--

Fu Mingyu possessed an exceptionally rigid sense of punctuality; if he said he'd arrive at five, he wouldn't be a single minute early.

Ruan Suxian finished all her preparations by four-thirty, left cooling her heels at home for a full half-hour.

During that span, she opened the window once to test the temperature outside with her hand.

It was truly freezing.

Glancing back down at the dress she was wearing, she was struck by the sudden realization that being a woman was desperately hard work.

Though she had no intention of entering a beauty contest at the banquet, she couldn't afford to look outdone by her impeccably tailored boyfriend either.

Therefore, warmth simply did not factor into her considerations.

Unfortunately, her luck was less than stellar—upon waking up that very morning, her period had arrived ahead of schedule to give her a surprise.

What could she do? Going bare-legged was simply a sign of respect toward the dress.

Respect knew no seasons.

As the clock hand hit five, the doorbell rang right on schedule.

When she opened the door, a rush of cold wind swept inside, though not a single muscle on Ruan Suxian's face twitched.

Fu Mingyu paused for a fraction of a second.

The person standing before him wore a wine-red evening gown that nipped in at her waist to emphasize her proportionate figure. With clean, sharp tailoring, the off-the-shoulder design accentuated her superior collarbone and shoulder lines, while a small inverted-triangle cutout right at the center added a hint of daring, understated sexiness.

The necklace he had gifted her hung just above her smooth collarbones, immediately drawing all focus straight toward her chest.

Catching the look of sheer awe in Fu Mingyu's eyes, Ruan Suxian decided the freezing cold was entirely worth it.

Tipping her head slightly, she asked, "What, don't recognize your own girlfriend anymore?"

Reaching out toward her, Fu Mingyu grasped her palm and smiled. "Stunning."

Donning her coat, Ruan Suxian stepped out in full satisfaction alongside Fu Mingyu.

Her high heels clicked against the hallway floor with a crisp, pleasing rhythm uniquely belonging to a woman.

"Cold?"

Fu Mingyu asked.

Ruan Suxian gritted her teeth. "Not cold. It's just a short walk, and isn't there heating inside anyway?"--

Helan Xiang and Fu Boyan arrived a little earlier.

Music was already drifting through the grand banquet hall as Helan Xiang, holding a glass of champagne, calmly surveyed her surroundings.

"Zheng Taichu has been talking to Yan An and his daughter for nearly twenty minutes straight. Is he starting to hatch ideas again?"

Fu Boyan followed his wife's gaze across the room.

"With the situation growing more and more severe, he's already starting to clutch at his final straws."

"My goodness," Helan Xiang remarked, "didn't he look down on Yan An before?"

"What else can he do?" Fu Boyan countered. "When your son makes such a high-profile announcement about having a girlfriend, is the man supposed to shove his daughter forward shamelessly?"

"Still, you shouldn't throw your own daughter into the fire pit like that. Not that I'm complaining, but while Yan An is a fine kid in every other aspect, he just can't seem to settle down—and look how old he is."

"Does he even have any room left to pick and choose?" Fu Boyan glanced sideways at her. "If you feel sorry for them, you could always lend a hand. Don't you still have an unmarried son left?"

"Heaven forbid, he chased him all the way overseas, are you even his biological father?" Helan Xiang pulled a face, casting a sidelong glance toward Dong Xian across the room. "Besides, who would want to become in-laws with her? Total buzzkill all day long. Luckily our Mingyu has a girlfriend right now; I really ought to thank her properly, otherwise who knows if those people would be swarming all over us again. Oh right, they're bringing his girlfriend over in a bit—put on that civilized expression of yours and don't go scaring the poor girl."

Fu Boyan offered a faint smile. Giving him a sideways look, Helan Xiang clicked her tongue. "Forget it, you'd better not smile at all. Ah, looks like they've arrived!"

The couple turned their gazes toward the entrance simultaneously.

Two ushers in tailcoats pushed open the heavy banquet hall doors. Bathed in the glow of the overhead crystal chandeliers, Fu Mingyu was walking toward them.

The woman resting her hand in the crook of his arm was wrapped in a crimson gown with a rippling silk mermaid silhouette, her exposed calves slender and fair as she stepped steadily and decisively in a pair of slender stilettos.

Though she hadn't seen her face yet, Helan Xiang had already mentally awarded her a hundred out of a hundred.

With a figure and poise like that, how bad could her face possibly be?

Clinging to Fu Boyan's arm, Helan Xiang massaged her temple. "Sigh, as one gets older one wants to keep a low profile, but people keep forcing me to win glory. What can I do, I really didn't want to make everyone envious in every single aspect, it's such a burden to draw jealousy."

Fu Boyan let out a sigh, maintaining his habitual silence.

Just as Helan Xiang noticed Fu Mingyu and his companion, everyone else naturally took notice as well.

Momentarily, gazes converged on them one after another.

Sensing the shift in the banquet hall's atmosphere, Dong Xian turned her head as well.

"Ruanruan?" Dong Jing was right beside her, looking thoroughly astonished at the sight. "Turns out her boyfriend is him?"--

Ruan Suxian looped her arm through Fu Mingyu's, maintaining a polished, proper smile while discreetly pinching his arm hard with her fingers.

"You didn't tell me your parents were coming."

"I wanted to tell you last night, but didn't you hang up on me because you were in a rush to go buy a dress?" Fu Mingyu looked down at her sideways. "Are you nervous?"

Could she not be nervous?

Ruan Suxian had never imagined she would run into Fu Mingyu's parents quite this soon.

And in a setting like this, no less.

Glancing down at her own outfit, she muttered under her breath, "If you'd told me earlier, I wouldn't have worn this dress."

Before Fu Mingyu could reply, Helan Xiang and Fu Boyan had already walked up to them, arm in arm.

Tipping her head, Helan Xiang looked over Ruan Suxian without the slightest attempt at concealment.

"Dad, Mom." Releasing Ruan Suxian's arm to clasp hands with her instead, Fu Mingyu introduced, "This is Ruan Suxian."

Ruan Suxian chimed in immediately: "Hello, Uncle and Auntie."

Helan Xiang nodded in satisfaction. "I've heard about you for a long time, and seeing you in person today, you're even prettier than your photos. Are you cold on your way here? Would you like some hot water?"

"I'm not cold." As Ruan Suxian spoke, her peripheral vision caught two figures approaching, prompting her to tighten her grip on Fu Mingyu's hand slightly. "Thank you, Auntie."

Helan Xiang smiled as she appraised Ruan Suxian, growing more pleased with every glance.

At that exact moment, Dong Xian and Dong Jing walked up.

Glancing at them, Helan Xiang smiled and remarked, "I was just saying I'd have Mingyu come over to greet you two. Here, let me introduce you, this is Mingyu's girlfriend, Ruan Suxian."

"..."

Ruan Suxian first nodded toward the utterly stunned Dong Jing. "Auntie."

The smile on Helan Xiang's face stiffened by a fraction.

Wait a second, who did she just call "Auntie"?

Did Dong Jing have other biological sisters?

Slowly, Ruan Suxian turned her gaze toward Dong Xian, keeping a poised smile plastered across her face. "Mom."

Helan Xiang: "..."

Clutching her husband's arm tightly, she nearly lost her footing entirely.