Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 70

Chapter 70

The following afternoon.

The media team arrived at the World Airlines building right on time, and Ruan Suxian went to the designated room to have her styling done by the makeup artist.

There wasn't actually much to style; she still had to wear her uniform, tie her hair back, and keep her makeup understated to project an air of stern professionalism.

That worked out well enough, sparing her from having to redo her entire look before heading over to Fu Mingyu's place after the interview.

The interview, originally scheduled for three hours, wrapped up in just two and a half. Everything went exceptionally smoothly without a single hitch.

On the way to Lake Light Mansion, Ruan Suxian used her phone screen as a mirror, inspecting herself from left to right. "My makeup isn't too heavy, is it?"

Without even lifting his head, Fu Mingyu let out an affirmative hum.

"Can you at least pretend to put some effort into humoring me?" Ruan Suxian muttered, tugging at a strand of hair. "You're tight-fisted with words when it's time for serious talk, but whenever you spout nonsense, you act like you graduated straight from the Deyunshe crosstalk troupe."

Too bad that man possessed an uncanny hearing range.

"What nonsense did I spout?"

Ruan Suxian said huffily, "Nothing."

"How did the interview go today?" Fu Mingyu closed his iPad and leisurely unbuttoned his suit jacket.

"Not much to say—great, smooth, and I was eloquent, glib-tongued, and replied with absolute fluency."

Fu Mingyu chuckled softly and closed his eyes to rest.

Of course it was smooth; he had explicitly instructed the media early this morning to revise the interview script and remove any questions touching upon family matters. How could it not be smooth?

During the course of the interview, the media team had gradually released a few behind-the-scenes teasers, one of which World Airlines had even reposted.

Right now in the car, Ruan Suxian was picking and choosing through the comments under Weibo, feeling so pleased her tail was about to shoot straight up into the air.

"Hey." She nudged Fu Mingyu with her elbow. "Look how much presence your high school female classmate has."

Hearing the phrase "high school female classmate," Fu Mingyu had zero desire to open his eyes, but with the phone shoved right in front of his face, he was forced to humor her.

The moment he opened his eyes, however, he was greeted by a screen full of sycophantic praise.

[Sob sob sob, big sis! My goldfish of a boss evolved straight into a lucky koi the second he laid eyes on you.]

[Every single frame of this gorgeous big sis is heart-stopping.]

[What must it feel like to go through life with a face like that, and on top of that, soar through the skies? I seriously want to experience that.]

[Does big sis have a boyfriend? If so, would you mind adding one more girlfriend?]

Fu Mingyu lifted his eyelids. "You made me look at this?"

Taking the phone, he flipped through a couple of pages and read aloud word for word: "Sob sob sob, big sis, my goldfish..."

"Alright, alright, shut up!"

Having those sycophantic praises read aloud by him instantly overloaded her sense of shame, making all those words suddenly taste entirely different.

Like some kind of bizarre incantation.

Scrolling further down, Fu Mingyu finally spotted what Ruan Suxian was pointing at.

[Gorgeous big sis, please debut already! Star as the genuine lead in Clouds Part to Reveal the Sun. You are so much more prettier than that high school female classmate with a backstory. I officially and publicly give my blessing for World Airlines' President Fu to let gorgeous big sis buy her way into the cast!]

[What is wrong with people dragging my big sis into fan wars to step on others? [Question mark] Did you pay her appearance fee? Can you even afford it?]

[Did I call anyone out by name? Brainless fan stans, don't rush to make yourself the target of the shoe. Isn't it a fact that a certain high school female classmate with a backstory used their boss to generate hype? Are you playing blind and pretending you don't see it?]

[I suppose anyone comparing an A-list actress to a regular civilian must be visually impaired? Who are you trying to trash here?]

Likely because the fan club had informants keeping watch, a massive wave of fans flooded in shortly after, dragging this particular comment all the way up to the top of the hot comments section.

Fu Mingyu chuckled and handed the phone back to Ruan Suxian.

"Are you planning to back my career, Boss?" Ruan Suxian flashed him a flattering smile. "We can do a fifty-fifty split on my box-office earnings."

Fu Mingyu: "What kind of daydream are you having?"

"Stingy."

Checking her phone again, Ruan Suxian saw the number of fighting fans multiplying rapidly. The comment section, which had previously consisted entirely of sycophantic praise, was turning into a full-blown fan-war battleground.

"So many people are arguing. Should I delete it?"

"No need to pay them any mind." Fu Mingyu glanced at her. "Is there any need to delete it just for her?"

Thinking it over, Ruan Suxian figured he had a point.

"Then would it be okay if I replied like this?"

Ruan Suxian showed him her phone again: My boyfriend says I'm dreaming, and he refuses to let me buy my way into the cast [Aggrieved].

Fu Mingyu gave her a sideways glance, a faint trace of amusement dancing in his eyes.

"As you like."

Two minutes later, Ruan Suxian's phone quieted down considerably.

No more fiercely combative fans flooded in; the place grew dead silent.

"We're almost there."

Fu Mingyu spoke up suddenly.

Ruan Suxian immediately put away her phone and sat up straight to adjust her clothes.—

The car drove into Lake Light Mansion, rolling slowly past the thick clusters of pine trees until it came to a halt right at the main entrance.

With the New Year fast approaching, decorative red lanterns were tastefully hung among the greenery nearby, injecting a lively festive atmosphere into the solemn, freezing winter.

Auntie Luo had been keeping her ears peeled and rushed out to open the door the moment she caught the sound of activity outside.

"You're here?"

Auntie Luo looked toward Ruan Suxian. "Is this Miss Ruan?"

"Mhm." As Fu Mingyu shrugged off his coat, he said to Ruan Suxian, "This is Auntie Luo."

"Hello, Auntie Luo."

Following him inside, Ruan Suxian took off her coat, and Auntie Luo immediately stepped forward to take it.

Stunned for a moment, Ruan Suxian wasn't quite used to that level of service. "No need, thank you, I can manage myself."

Auntie Luo smiled at her, took Fu Mingyu's coat, and added, "Doudou has already been sent off to school, he'll only be back this evening."

Fu Mingyu nodded. "Is his illness fully healed?"

"Oh, he's been completely better for ages."

"Doudou?" Ruan Suxian felt a bit bewildered. "Who's that?"

"Doudou..." Fu Mingyu, who had already been in the middle of untying his tie, paused his hands, lowered them, and looked at her with a straight face. "Ah, I never got around to telling you this, but although I'm unmarried, I actually have a son. You don't mind, do you?"

Ruan Suxian's mouth hung half-open while her brain experienced an immediate system crash.

Two seconds after rebooting, she had already cycled through a hundred and eight different ways to execute Fu Mingyu.

Where on earth did he get the sheer audacity to ask if she minded becoming an instant stepmother???

Just because of that face???

"You..."

"Fu Mingyu, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" HeLan Xiang strode down from the second floor, having overheard their exchange. She hurried over and pulled Ruan Suxian half a meter away from Fu Mingyu. "Don't listen to a word he says, he's just teasing you."

Ripping off his tie, Fu Mingyu chuckled softly as he strolled toward the living room.

Ruan Suxian drew a deep breath.

She had literally been calculating how many years a murder conviction carried just moments ago.

The weather being bitterly cold, Auntie Luo had prepared hot water in advance. Glaring at Fu Mingyu, HeLan Xiang took the cup from Auntie Luo's hands and handed it to Ruan Suxian.

"Drink some hot water first to warm up your stomach."

"Thank you, Aunty."

Ruan Suxian took a small sip, only to hear HeLan Xiang say, "Doudou is a dog he's raised for many years, practically no different from a real son."

Ruan Suxian nearly choked to death on her water.

True enough, though.

Fu Mingyu owning a dog he'd raised for years was, to her, practically no different from him having a real son.

"You've arrived?"

Hands clasped behind his back, Fu Boting leisurely strolled down from the second floor.--

Fu Mingyu had claimed his parents wanted to invite her to dinner specifically because of the emergency landing incident.

Based on Ruan Suxian's observations, however, the only one harboring that intention was his father.

Because he didn't steer the conversation away from the incident even once, peppering her with questions about every conceivable detail—even more than the Civil Aviation Administration had asked—until HeLan Xiang grew impatient sitting beside them.

She gave a quiet, pointed cough, and receiving the signal, Fu Boting finally stopped.

Yet good things never lasted past three minutes. HeLan Xiang remarked that the wind was quite fierce today, prompting Fu Boting to launch into a lecture on atmospheric structural layers.

From atmospheric structures, he naturally segued into the theoretical generation of aerodynamic lift.

And once he covered lift generation, he smoothly transitioned into airfoil design.

Ruan Suxian felt as though they had picked up the examination hall and dumped it right onto the dining table!

While carefully crafting her replies to avoid tripping up anywhere, she simultaneously kicked Fu Mingyu under the table.

I came to your house for dinner, not to take an exam!

Fu Mingyu chuckled softly and spoke up, "Dad—"

"Are we going to eat this meal or not?" HeLan Xiang beat Fu Mingyu to the punch. "Can you stop talking about all this?"

The professional interrogation finally came to a halt.

Throughout it all, Fu Boting's expression remained entirely placid, leaving Ruan Suxian completely unable to gauge his attitude.

At least an examiner provided feedback after an evaluation; Fu Mingyu's father didn't drop a single hint of a score!

So exhausting.

Fortunately, once the academic chat was banned, Auntie Luo brought out the tableware.

With the meal officially underway, Fu Boting adhered strictly to the adage of remaining silent while eating and speaking while resting, keeping his microphone muted for the most part. HeLan Xiang was slightly more active, though she refrained from chatting nonstop through the meal, limiting herself to occasional remarks inquiring about Ruan Suxian's daily life.

Quiet though it was without being boisterous, this kind of dining atmosphere was something Ruan Suxian hadn't experienced in a very long time.

It had been ages since she had sat before a steaming dining table in the dead of winter, enveloped in a "family" atmosphere and enjoying a hot meal in peace.

"Would you like some soup?"

Before asking, Fu Mingyu had already ladled out a bowl of soup and placed it in front of her.

Ruan Suxian accepted it and said, "Thank you."

"Oh my," HeLan Xiang chimed in, "why are you two being so polite?"

"Right," Fu Mingyu agreed with a nod. "She's usually extremely polite and deferential toward me."

Lowering her head, Ruan Suxian kept silent.

I'm just putting on an act for your parents, and you're already trying to win an Oscar.

HeLan Xiang curled the corners of her lips without commenting further.

If they were genuinely that polite, she wondered where that slap mark had come from—purely flirtatious roleplay, no doubt.

A few minutes later, the phones of both Fu Mingyu and Fu Boting chimed simultaneously.

With synchronized movements, the two men pulled out their devices to check them.

Fu Mingyu's brows suddenly knitted together into a tight frown, while across the table, Fu Boting put his phone away with practiced nonchalance, used a napkin to dab the corner of his mouth, and said, "Come with me for a moment."

Ruan Suxian, who had been in the middle of talking to HeLan Xiang, suddenly watched the two men stand up and gesture for them to continue eating.

Shortly after, Fu Boting and Fu Mingyu walked upstairs one after the other.

The atmosphere turned abnormal so abruptly that anyone could feel it. Looking toward the stairs where they had vanished, Ruan Suxian said, "They..."

HeLan Xiang paused in thought for a second, picked up her spoon, and took a sip of soup. "They probably have some urgent business to attend to. Pay them no mind, let's eat."

Despite her words, her own expression struggled to remain calm.

She knew her husband and son better than anyone; just how abnormal that moment had been was even clearer to her than to Ruan Suxian.

Given Fu Boting's personality, workaholic though he was, and strict and rigid as he usually appeared, he wouldn't pull someone away midway through a meal while his son's girlfriend was visiting.

The dining room instantly felt much emptier.

Sitting opposite each other, Ruan Suxian and HeLan Xiang remained silent.

Over ten minutes ticked by, and the two men upstairs still hadn't come back down.

Dabbing her mouth with a napkin, HeLan Xiang said, "I need to use the restroom."

With that, she stood up, walked upstairs, and headed straight for the study.

Normally, the soundproofing of the study was the best in the house, but standing outside it now, HeLan Xiang could still catch muffled sounds from within.

The commotion was quite distinct—Fu Boting was yelling at someone.

Though the specific words remained unclear, she could tell his anger was running high.

Frowning, HeLan Xiang raised her hand to knock, but before her knuckles hit the wood, a loud crash of shattering glass erupted from inside.

Startled, she abandoned the idea of knocking and shoved the door open directly.

"What is going on?!"

Fu Mingyu stood before the desk, his expression heavy and grim.

Meanwhile, Fu Boting's neck was flushed an uncharacteristic, furious red. His chest heaved violently as he glared daggers at Fu Mingyu.

The shattered teacup lying at Fu Mingyu's feet had clearly been hurled straight at him by Fu Boting.