*** = Scene change***** = TimeskipARC 1 (THE CEO), PART 8
— But of course, nothing in the world was perfect.
The night before their honeymoon was bachelor night. Qingruo was congratulated on her marriage, especially since her husband was such a dreamy man, while Feng Qi was congratulated on once again entering the grave known as marriage.
When he and An Qi divorced, Feng Qi had sworn to never marry again. But now?
As soon as he entered the private room, he was besieged by people and punished with drinks. His flight wasn"t until two in the afternoon of the next day, so he accepted all of the drinks and continued drinking through dinner, completely unrestrained.
An Qi was at home taking care of her children, so Jing Cheng toasted Feng Qi on her behalf. Feng Qi downed the shot and remarked, "But this can"t be regarded as a toast from An Qi. Wait until I hold my child"s full moon party, then the two of you can come back and she can toast me herself."
"Thinking so far ahead already." Jing Cheng nodded with a laugh.
After three rounds of drinking, the room was abuzz with activity and excitement.
Qingruo and her friends were downstairs celebrating her own bachelorette party. Feng Qi was worried about her getting drunk, so he called her a total of six times within a single hour, repeatedly telling her to drink less and that he would go down and take her home soon. After hanging up for the nth time, someone handed him a cup of wine. Feng Qi turned his head and accepted the drink after seeing that it was from Jing Cheng.
The two of them were childhood friends. Sometimes they would go half a year without any contact, but if one of them needed help, the other would always be the first to lend a hand. A while ago, because of An Qi, their friendship had become more or less strained. People in the circle seldom invited Feng Qi and Jing Cheng out at the same time.
Jing Cheng proposed a toast to him. "I hope you have a happy marriage1This is an actual saying in Chinese, similar to "happy birthday" and translates directly as "happy marriage."."
Feng Qi smiled and nodded as he touched Jing Cheng"s cup with his own. "I will."
Having come from a political family, Jing Cheng was more restrained than Feng Qi, who came from a business family, and knew when to let certain things go. Although Feng Qi was an expressive man in general, Jing Cheng had not seen him care so earnestly for someone else before.
After silently standing for a moment, Feng Qi spoke up. "Jing Cheng, An Qi followed me for several years, but I never treated her well. Now that I think about it, I really owe her. She wasted her youth on me."
Jing Cheng nodded. He wasn"t mad and waited for Feng Qi to continue.
"There"s probably no point to saying this now, but that"s just what I think. No matter what, you should indulge her more and make her happier. I"ll feel a little better if you do that."
Jing Cheng laughed, as those words were enough to confirm that Feng Qi had truly moved on. "Mhm." Then he jested, "If An Qi and your wife fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?"
Feng Qi was stunned, but only for a moment. Once he recovered, he chuckled and responded without hesitation, "An Qi, of course. I have to help a brother out, don"t I? If my woman ever finds herself in trouble, I"ll obviously jump in and share the burden with her."
The two shared a laugh.
***
By the time Feng Qi arrived to pick her up, Qingruo had already been reduced to a drunk, giggly mess. He felt both anger and amus.e.m.e.nt, but the former was directed at the people who made her drink so much. Although he knew that most of them meant well, he still held a bit of a grudge against them.
He coaxed and held her as they made their way to his car. Qingruo had fallen asleep in his arms, but her hands were still latched onto the lapels of his coat and one of her fingers was hooked in a b.u.t.tonhole.
It was hard to get her inside the car while holding her, but he managed. Before he could pull away, however, she frowned and whined in a soft and sweetly inebriated voice, "Feng Qi~"
The man sighed and responded gently. Without letting go, he clambered into the backseat and drew her into his embrace, and only then did her furrowed eyebrows even out. She buried her little face in his chest and rubbed, staining his black shirt with messy makeup. Feng Qi looked down and adjusted her to a comfortable position. He didn"t want to touch his lips to her face, so he landed one on the top of her head instead.
The clingy kitten was acting obedient. He gently patted her on the back and told the chauffeur to start driving, but slowly.
Chauffeur Xiao Zhao shuddered; President Feng"s current behavior was even sweeter and more meticulous than when he was chasing girls in the past.
***
Feng Qi and An Qi"s marriage three years ago could be considered a very offhanded affair. Rather than saying they went on a honeymoon, it would be more accurate to say that they had merely shared the same flight. She"d lost sight of him after they got off the plane.
Therefore, in a sense, Feng Qi"s honeymoon with Qingruo could be considered his first ever honeymoon.
And one time in high school, Feng Qi went out with a few cla.s.smates on a weekend.
Some of them had come from a different family background as him. Feng Qi, as a second-year high school student, was arrogant and too lazy to arrange anything special, so he had simply aboarded a train with his cla.s.smates, carrying the travel bag his family"s servants had packed for him.
It had happened during the peak of the tourist season, catching them in the endless sea of people on the train, and although Feng Qi and his cla.s.smates had managed to get a berth beforehand, waiting in line for the restroom had cost him half an hour of time, and when he was hungry, none of the food he bought was to his taste.
Then, after Feng Qi and his group got off the train, they started to argue about the eating and lodging arrangements, and the places they wanted to visit.
Annoyed already by the congestion of people at the tourist site, the clamor of his cla.s.smates had only made the whole situation worse. On the third day, he called his chauffeur to pick him up and never went on a trip with any of his cla.s.smates again.
From that experience, Feng Qi learned that if he ever wanted to test what kind of people his friends were, the best thing to do would be to go with them on a trip.
For his honeymoon with Qingruo, Feng Qi was prepared to counter any issues that might crop up. Because it was their honeymoon, he didn"t bring along any of his a.s.sistants or secretaries. Chu Yang had already contacted a number of hotels and drivers, so the rest was up to Feng Qi and Qingruo.
Qingruo was wearing a backpack, and she also brought along a decently sized suitcase. Seeing that, Feng Qi sighed in relief.
When he accompanied An Qi on their honeymoon, An Qi had brought along four suitcases, a separate handbag, and several personal a.s.sistants. That was one of the main reasons why he had left without her after the plane landed.
Because she"d brought along too many things, they had had to wait for the tour guide to find a bigger car. Feng Qi had genuinely wanted to experience what a honeymoon was like, but when the plane was about to land and he saw An Qi start to freshen up her makeup, fix her hair, and slip on sungla.s.ses… he had been scared away.
Back to his honeymoon with Qingruo.
The couple slept —hand-in-hand, with their fingers intertwined— on the plane for nearly ten hours and woke up in high spirits. As the plane slowly landed, Qingruo pulled their interlocked hands to her chin and gave a small yawn before asking him, "When we get to the hotel, should we eat first or rest first?"
Despite the yawn, her eyes were bright, and her complexion was good too. Feng Qi wasn"t tired either. "Eat first and rest at night. Jet lag."
Qingruo cheerily nodded.
He had with him a suitcase, but no backpack. As he stood, he wanted to take her backpack for her, but she had already hoisted it over her shoulders and was in the middle of trying to free the hood of her coat from beneath it. He laughed in spite of himself and helped her by lifting the backpack a little and smoothing out the hood once it was free.
She pulled on his arm and said cutely, "Thank you."
Since the flight was an overseas flight that took over 12 hours, virtually no pa.s.senger was without a heap of luggage. And as it turned out, among them Feng Qi and Qingruo were the ones who had packed the least. With only a suitcase each, they were able to hold hands as they pulled their luggage along.
Feng Qi turned his head and looked around. The crown of the airport"s highest floor was made of translucent blue gla.s.s. People of all colors, some tired and others seemingly tireless, rushed about the sunlit lobby. It was almost noon.
Ah. He"d clearly gotten off the plane already, but his heart was still flying. So this was the feeling of going on a honeymoon with someone he loved.
The driver who arrived to pick them up had prepared a car with a generous trunk and was therefore surprised when he saw the couple"s meager luggage. With poor Chinese, the driver praised them for their compatibility; Feng Qi was very handsome, and Qingruo was extremely beautiful.
They got into the car and sat in the backseat. Feng Qi wrapped an arm around her waist and moved her backpack aside. The seats were so wide that the couple only occupied half of the s.p.a.ce.
Feng Qi grumbled, "How come I"m "very" handsome, but you"re "extremely" beautiful?"
Qingruo was cheerfully chatting with the driver in English. Feng Qi could understand what was being said, but because he was unhappy with the adverbs the driver had used, he pretended he didn"t and ignored the driver when he tried to exchange a few words with him.
Qingruo lifted her head and carefully scrutinized him. Feng Qi raised his chin slightly and unabashedly allowed her to evaluate his face. After a while, he quirked an eyebrow. "I"m also "extremely" handsome, right?"
She laughed and nodded firmly. "Right!"
He happily kissed her.
***
None of the problems that he had prepared for came up. Indeed, Feng Qi and Qingruo were very compatible. Neither of them deliberately catered to each other, but they shared great tacit understanding. Feng Qi felt that if it was with Qingruo, he could look forward to traveling around the world on an airplane, a train, a ship, a car, and anything else.
But of course, nothing in the world was perfect.
After finishing his breakfast in the dining area of the hotel, Feng Qi ordered breakfast for Qingruo and carried the tray to their room.
She was still asleep.
Their plan for the morning was to get up at eight o"clock and leave the hotel at nine o"clock because they were going to another city. They bought the train tickets when they were out strolling the day before.
And currently, the time was 10:17.
He sighed and set the tray on the table in the small living room before entering the bedroom.
He had accompanied her on a shopping trip, where she took a fancy to a beautiful European-style skirt. Needless to say, she had looked breathtaking in it.
That evening when they returned to the hotel, Qingruo had put on her new skirt and even changed her hair and makeup to match.
And then…
And then Feng Qi failed to contain the carnal beast inside him. Qingruo"s makeup was smeared, and the skirt… was torn to pieces.
Cough. He really didn"t know the skirt would rip that easily. Afterward, Qingruo lost her temper, and he did feel a little guilty.
Earlier in the morning, Feng Qi had pieced the skirt together and sent a picture of it to Chu Yang, instructing him to get another one custom made.
However, it would take time for the order to be completed. In the meanwhile, he could only bow his head and acknowledge his mistake.
He joggled her hand and lightly bit it. The bones of her hand were small, and the slight meatiness of it felt nice against his teeth. A vampire would love the tactility of her hand…2*cough* Arc 5, hint hint?
She harrumphed softly. He looked up at her and continued to nibble.
She pulled away her hand, and he switched to nibbling on her clavicle.
"Feng Qi!"
Although her tone was one of anger, she had, after all, just woken up, so it still carried the vestiges of the previous night"s indulgence.
"Baby, I was wrong," he apologized, half-lying on her body, and asked before she could speak, "I"ll go buy tomorrow"s train tickets?"
Qingruo frowned and was a little more awake. She took his hand and pulled him down before rolling over to wrap her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his chest, filling her ears with the steady rhythm of his heart. "Let"s go together in the afternoon."
"Okay." He caressed her head. "Are you still tired? You should sleep a little longer."
He felt a p.r.i.c.kle of distress in his heart and reached out to take her hand and intertwine their fingers. "Baby, I"ll be careful from now on."
No【Black Box】this chapter
VIN: The An Qi string has been tied up beautifully and maturely :))
RELEASE SCHEDULE: One arc every month.