Chapter 37: Yearning, Confirming Feelings

The trip to the vacation island was scheduled for the day before Xu Muzhou’s birthday. Not too many people were going, just two or three male classmates who were close to Xu Muzhou, and a few friends that Gao Qiong often hung out with.

They had agreed to depart around noon on Friday. Because of the distance, even by plane, they would probably arrive in the evening.

“Why didn’t you bring anything?”

On a luxuriously appointed private jet, Gao Qiong tossed her deflated backpack to the flight attendant and looked at Fang Chuning, who was empty-handed.

Fang Chuning’s attention wasn’t on her. Her eyes followed the young man who had just boarded the plane and was looking for a seat. He looked so good in what he was wearing today – a light blue loose short-sleeved shirt, off-white casual pants, and white sneakers. This ordinary outfit looked extraordinarily different on him.

Indeed, attractive people look charming even in a sack.

She wanted to go sit with him but felt that might seem too purposeful.

“Hey,” Gao Qiong waved her hand in front of her eyes, “I’m talking to you, can you hear me?”

Fang Chuning had completely tuned her out. She wanted to sit closer to the young man, but it seemed the men and women on the plane had already automatically allocated seats, with boys sitting with boys and girls with girls. It would be too conspicuous for her to suddenly go sit on the boys’ side.

The boys had already started chatting and laughing. Xu Muzhou’s expression was gentle and serene, occasionally nodding and responding with a few words. His eyes turned slightly, falling on the girl standing there in a daze.

A tickle rose in his heart. He looked up and smiled at Qin Shaoqing beside him, “Aqing, let’s switch seats. I might need to use the bathroom later.”

Qin Shaoqing agreed readily without thinking much of it.

Xu Muzhou’s seat was close to the aisle, and across the aisle there happened to be an empty seat. Fang Chuning noticed it immediately. She cleared her throat lightly and walked over to sit down, trying to appear natural.

Gao Qiong, who saw through everything, felt like cursing. She followed and gestured to the girl sitting on the inside of Fang Chuning, “You sit somewhere else, I want to sit here.”

After sitting down, she couldn’t help but mutter, “Your favoritism is way too obvious!”

Fang Chuning’s face was beaming, as if she had just heard her speak, “Huh?”

Gao Qiong: “……”

She never knew this person could be so lovesick when in a relationship!

After responding to her, Fang Chuning’s attention drifted to the right again. Her hand reached into her pocket and fingered the brooch she had prepared, pondering for a moment but still not taking it out. It might seem more sincere to give it to him after they got off the plane.

“Fang classmate.”

A soft call came from the right. Fang Chuning looked over to see a hint of blush on the young man’s milky white face, the corners of his cherry-red lips pressed into a shy smile.

“Thank you,” he said.

Perhaps it was because the plane had just taken off, but Fang Chuning felt her heart beating a bit fast, and her head was slightly dizzy. “Wh-what?”

“Thank you for going to so much trouble to help celebrate my birthday.”

The young man’s eyes curved into crescents. His smile was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

Suddenly feeling her nose get hot, Fang Chuning raised her hand to touch the tip of her nose and looked away, her expression very unnatural. “We’re all classmates, no need to be so polite!”

Gao Qiong, sucking on a straw in her yogurt cup beside her, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: “That’s quite a statement. How are other classmates supposed to feel? Not everyone can have such a good relationship as classmates like you two.”

She emphasized the word “classmates” heavily, adding a touch of awkwardness at the right moment. Fang Chuning reflexively smacked her on the forehead with the back of her hand. Gao Qiong cried out in pain, squinting and covering her forehead.

Fang Chuning quickly glanced to her right out of the corner of her eye and saw the young man still looking at her. Her ear tips turned bright red, and in her flustered state, she instinctively reached for her pocket, took out the brooch, and held it out stiffly. “For you.”

Xu Muzhou’s expression showed slight surprise: “Fang classmate…”

“I promised you last time I’d give you a better brooch. Consider it a birthday gift.”

She deliberately lowered her voice, but still couldn’t escape Gao Qiong’s ears. She leaned over to look at the brooch, her upper body almost pressing on top of the girl. “This brooch looks familiar.”

Gao Qiong didn’t bother to lower her voice, and people in the cabin turned to look. A male classmate recognized the sapphire brooch in her hand at first glance and exclaimed in surprise, “I’ve seen this brooch in a magazine! I heard from my mom that it was recently bought by a mysterious buyer at an auction for three million.”

Hearing this, others turned their attention to the brooch in the girl’s hand. The brooch had a unique shape, like birds nestling together, with two sapphires set in it being the most eye-catching. Under the lights, they sparkled like the lively eyes of birds.

“Oh, I remember now,” Gao Qiong said with interest, rubbing her chin. “It even has a name, called ‘Yearning’, with the ‘year’ from ‘yearning’ and the ‘ning’ from ‘longing’, representing two people in harmony, mutually in love~”

She drawled out the last syllable mischievously in the girl’s ear. Fang Chuning’s hand holding the brooch trembled slightly, her expression a bit stiff. She really didn’t know about this meaning; she had simply thought it suited him best, so she had taken it.

Everyone’s gazes in the cabin focused on the two of them. Fang Chuning’s outstretched hand froze there, not knowing whether to give it or not.

Everyone already thought they were dating anyway, so why bother with so many concerns? Thinking this, Fang Chuning suddenly felt more confident. Her expression became even more solemn: “A birthday gift for you.”

Everyone’s gazes very tacitly turned to the young man’s face.

A lovely crimson blush spread across Xu Muzhou’s milky white face. Not only did his face turn red, but even his ears and neck were tinged with a pretty pink. His thick eyelashes fluttered, and he reached out to take the brooch. His peach blossom eyes, brimming with autumn ripples, looked at her brightly: “Thank you… I really like it.”

The gauze curtain between them was suddenly lifted. At this moment, it was as if they had confirmed each other’s feelings, smiling at each other.

Looking at her friend’s silly grinning face, Gao Qiong suddenly realized that love really could make people lose their intelligence!

The plane arrived a little earlier than expected. When they disembarked, it wasn’t fully dark yet. They didn’t go directly to the island but stayed overnight in a nearby city, planning to take a boat over early the next morning.

Although the island belonged to the Fang family, it was open to the public. The island was quite large and in a prime location. It had hotels, restaurants, and marine entertainment projects for tourists to enjoy, making it a famous tourist spot with considerable annual profits.

Ever since getting off the plane, the corners of Fang Chuning’s mouth hadn’t dropped. She never knew that confirming mutual feelings with someone you like could be such a joyful thing. Her whole being was bubbling with pink bubbles.

“Can you stop grinning like an idiot?” In the hotel room, Gao Qiong, who was playing a game, couldn’t bear it anymore.

However, the girl immersed in her own world couldn’t hear her at all. Lying on the bed with her feet swinging back and forth, she would occasionally giggle stupidly at her phone.

Gao Qiong had thought she must be chatting with Xu Muzhou and thus couldn’t contain herself, but when she leaned in for a closer look, she saw that this person was actually reading dating tips – the kind of thing only elementary school students would believe in, and she was reading it with such delight.

Really unbearable. Gao Qiong stood on the bed and kicked her lightly, “Stop looking at that and play the game.”

“You play first,” came the extremely perfunctory mumbled response.

Gao Qiong lay across her back in exasperation, reaching out to cover her phone screen.

The girl neither moved nor spoke. Gao Qiong thought she had finally come to her senses and tilted her head to look at her, only to see her staring blankly at a spot in the room, lost in thought.

“What’s wrong with you?” Gao Qiong waved her hand in front of her face.

Fang Chuning’s expression was one of wonder, as if she had discovered a new world. The corners of her lips were pressed into a silly smile: “Have you noticed?”

Gao Qiong was taken aback: “What?”

“I never realized before that Xu classmate could be so cute.”

“……”

Damn! Gao Qiong stood up on the bed, kicked her once, and jumped off to return to her own room.