Chapter 69 - His Heart Was Saying Her Name

Feng Xuan sat on the leather seat in front of Qing Chen. As much as she would like to stay by his side, the airplane chairs were unfortunately not made to cooperate. She pulled up the cover of the window and saw nothing but darkness outside.

A pretty tall girl in a uniform had handed them champagne flutes and a plate of fruits and biscuits as they both did not have much of an appetite.

"I've seen Wang Yimin earlier," said Qing Chen. "She was mad at you. Why?"

Feng Xuan choked on her champagne and began to laugh. "She did not tell you why?!"

Qing Chen shook his head while loosening the tie on his neck. "She stopped me from walking and said, 'your wife made a big mistake'. What is that about?"

"Oh," she said. "It was just because I made us rent dresses instead of buying new ones."

Qing Chen's eyebrows rose to the heavens. "Why did you rent a dress? Was your card not working?"

She waved it off. "It is working just fine. Besides, it was not like the renting shop for this was cheap. We got the dresses from the VIP tier, she was friends with the designer."

"But, why didn't you buy a new one?"

Feng Xuan breathed out. "Well, I am not going to wear this again and what am I supposed to do with it? Stash them on my wardrobe and give it away to charity the next season? It was a waste of money. It's not even that much of an important occasion."

Qing Chen chuckled at this. "We got money to waste."

"I know," Feng Xuan said. "But the thing is, when I lived overseas the last few years, I learned to be independent and to manage my finances. True, my father gave me more than enough but when I was sitting-in in classes, some professors did not like that a foreign student such as me was getting free education. So I had to cut my expenses because my father did not know I was studying business back then and was actually paying tuition out of my allowance. I was surprised to know the price of it!

I only worked because I was bored in my apartment, but when my co-workers—who were also students—worked, they did it so they could have money to spend for the next month. And my cousin was crying over a rented dress," Feng Xuan lightly laughed. "But of course, she's Wang Yimin, we ended up buying these dresses anyway as she took a pair of scissors and sliced through about five dresses in the boutique to mix and match. This is why the dress are in two different colors," she said and gestured to her blood red top and the light pink skirt. "She took them home and sewed it before sending me mine with the note: 'So you don't get to be called the Rent Queen' with a handdrawn angry emoji."

Qing Chen laughed at this. "Scandalous, wouldn't it be?"

"It would have been," Feng Xuan nodded. "People will say you ran out of money after being married to me for two months."

"Has it been already?"

"Next week," she said, biting on a biscuit. "So are you finally going to tell me where we are going?" The pilot had not announced anything before they took off.

Qing Chen gave her a smile and shook his head. "No."

"When are we going to get there?"

"Probably by morning. You should get some sleep," he winked.

Her mouth opened. "Are you taking me back to the West?!"

"Go to sleep, Feng Xuan."

As if on cue, the attendant appeared and helped her recline her chair that it was already a make-shift bed. She was handed pillows and a blanket and the lights dimmed. "I'm surprised you do not have a bed in your plane."

"The bigger one was under maintenance," Qing Chen answered, reclining his own seat. "This was the best I could get on short notice. Don't worry, I will have the other jet take us back home to Chengshi."

"Since when did you plan this?"

Qing Chen already had his eyes closed. "This morning."

"Is this like a big romantic gesture?"

"A big romantic gesture?" Qing Chen laughed. "I do not think I believe in those. This?" he twirled his fingers in the air. "This is nothing. We would be doing this every weekend if I was not so busy."

Feng Xuan raised the blanket to her shoulders. "What is a romantic gesture?"

Qing Chen opened his eyes a little and looked at her with a sly smile. "Maybe we will know once we land. Good night, Feng Xuan."

But even in the dimly lit plane, Feng Xuan did not easily fall asleep. She was looking at Qing Chen who had settled on his own chair and was already in deep slumber. How she wished she could crawl and hug him.

Alarmingly, she realized it was the fortieth night of her good night kissing Qing Chen and she had not been able to give one. She padded on the carpeted floor and leaned down on his face. "Good night," she whispered and pressed the lightest of kisses on his cheek.

When she rose, she saw that Qing Chen peeled his eyes open. "Did I wake you?"

"I'm still trying to sleep."

"Oh, sorry. I'll get back to my seat now."

She started moving, still wrapped with her blanket when Qing Chen caught her arm and pulled her towards him until she dropped on his lap with a yelp. "What are—"

"It's fine," he said and pulled her close to his chest.

"You are swaddling me," she said as his arms rested on top of her stomach and wrapped behind her back. Her legs were raised on the armrest.

"I am. So please, go to sleep already."

Feng Xuan did her best to be motionless as she felt Qing Chen's breathing go slower and rhythmic. SHE WAS ON HIS LAP FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. How would she be able to fall asleep like this? It was one thing to cuddle while sleeping, but to sit on Qing Chen's lap? She was practically sitting on his—

She wanted to slap herself for having even thought of that. Feng Xuan forced her eyes shut and willed herself to sleep. She clutched on his arm and pressed her head against his chest. She could feel his heart drumming against her ear and she had the crazy thought that his heart was saying her name, "Feng Xuan, Feng Xuan…"

She almost laughed at the thought but bit her lip as Qing Chen stirred, nestling her closer—if that would be even more possible. She did not know what poison it was she drank tonight that these thoughts appeared in her head, but listening to the steady beat of Qing Chen's heart, sleep took her almost immediately.

Feng Xuan woke up at the sound of the pilot's voice on the speakers announcing that they would land soon. She moved her head and lifted her eyelids.

"Good morning, wife."

A phone came into her view and the screen was displaying a spaceship shooting laser beams to incoming creatures. This was the first time she saw Qing Chen playing a game. "What time did you wake up?" she yawned.

"Around thirty minutes ago."

She quickly scrambled to her feet, almost falling on to her face as her foot got caught in the blanket. "I'm sorry. You should've woken me up."

"It's fine," he answered and put down his phone. Feng Xuan saw how wrinkled his shirt and pants were. "You can use the bathroom to wash up."

Feng Xuan found a change of clothes hanging behind the door as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. She saw a white denim romper and a pair of sandals. Where are we? she asked. Clearly, it was not somewhere cold or else Qing Chen would have send her layers of clothes. So somewhere hot then, she thought.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Feng Xuan saw that all the window shades were lifted upwards and now she could see clouds and how light it was. She sat down in front of Qing Chen and looked outside but still could not see ground. Judging from the way the sun shone, they were somewhere really, really hot.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Past noon."

"I slept that long?!" Feng Xuan did an estimate in her head. If they were on that plane in the span of those hours they are probably near the West, but the West did not get this hot. She gave a gasp. "Oh my God! We're going to the Isles?!"

Qing Chen only smiled at her. "Eat your breakfast," he said and took his turn in the bathroom. The attendant from last night pushed a cart and served her food.

When Qing Chen got back in his seat wearing a thin white shirt and a pair of shorts, she was already half-way through her pancakes.

"Why do I only get two?" she pouted.

"Because we're going to have lunch the moment we get to the place," Qing Chen replied and gave his other pancake to Feng Xuan. "I do not want your appetite ruined."

When breakfast was over, Feng Xuan was practically jumping up and down her seat as they landed. "I'm so excited!" she said while they were making their way out of the plane.

The sun immediately warmed her cooled skin and while they exchanged pleasantries with the pilot and the attendant, their bags were being loaded in the already waiting car. "Where's the driver?" she asked.

"I'm right here," he said with a smile, pushing a pair of sunglasses to his face. Feng Xuan's stomach dropped at how handsome he looked. He handed her an aviator with reflective lenses.

"You're driving?!" she laughed as he opened the door for her.

"How are we supposed to be alone if we would always have a driver?" he smiled.

Alone, Feng Xuan repeated as Qing Chen rounded around to his door. They smiled at each other as they started to move away from the airport. Yeah, this ought to do some good. For the first time they were completely detached from their world and finally be together in their own accord.