The True Record of a Flirty Omega's Failed Balancing Act - Chapter 22

Chapter 22

◎What did you just say?◎

The concrete and steel outside the window were gradually replaced by lush green plants and trees. Ning Chanyue’s car was driving on the highway. Perhaps because it wasn’t a holiday, there were very few cars on the highway. After driving for almost an hour, night gradually fell, and Ning Chanyue turned on the car lights.

“Are we almost there?” Xu Guiyi asked.

Ning Chanyue glanced at Xu Guiyi, who was in the back seat, through the rearview mirror. And Xu Guiyi, through her glasses, happened to be looking at her as well.

So Ning Chanyue nodded and said with a smile, “After the next rest stop, we can get off the highway.”

There was only Xu Guiyi in the back because her sister got very carsick, so she didn’t bring her along. After hearing Ning Chanyue’s words, Xu Guiyi nodded and moved her gaze back to the laptop on her lap.

After more than half an hour, when Ning Chanyue made the last turn, she suddenly slowed down. Slowly, Ning Chanyue parked the car on a flat area. She pointed out the window and said to Xu Guiyi, “This is a valley, and it’s by a river. Let’s stay around here tonight.”

Xu Guiyi naturally had no objections.

So the two of them got out of the car. She didn’t know if it was the first or fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, but a full moon hung high over the mountain. Ning Chanyue took Xu Guiyi’s hand and quickly walked to the creek on the side. There were quite a few black and red fish in the creek, swimming by one after another. Ning Chanyue squatted down and casually stirred the water. The fish seemed to be startled. They shook their tails and scattered in all directions.

Ning Chanyue looked up at Xu Guiyi and said, “Do you think I lived in an environment like this when I was a child?”

Xu Guiyi squatted down. She seemed to think seriously for a while but still shook her head. “Compared to mountains and rivers, the countryside is probably more like endless wheat fields.”

After saying that, Xu Guiyi turned around and looked at Ning Chanyue very seriously. Feeling Xu Guiyi’s gaze, Ning Chanyue tilted her head. She blinked her eyes, as if asking if something was wrong.

Xu Guiyi said, “Did what they did to you make you sad?”

On the way here this afternoon, Ning Chanyue had told Xu Guiyi all the painful and depressing things her biological mother had told her yesterday.

But after Xu Guiyi’s words fell, Ning Chanyue shook her head.

“After hearing my biological mother tell me all of this last night, I did feel a little down. But when I got home, I thought that if it weren’t for what I’ve been through, I would probably still be trapped in that village and wouldn’t have become who I am today,” Ning Chanyue continued. She didn’t mind the dirt and sat cross-legged by the creek. She leaned her head on Xu Guiyi’s shoulder, paused, and then said, “After all, I’m quite satisfied with my current situation. Although… she was the one who voluntarily gave me away at the time, she also seems like a pitiful person. I’ll be good to her in the future.”

Xu Guiyi didn’t ask Ning Chanyue why she didn’t resent her or what she planned to do with her two mothers. She just put her hand on Ning Chanyue’s head, which was leaning on her, and stroked her hair with a little pity.

“Alright, it’s rare to be here. Let’s go for a walk.” Not wanting to talk about this heavy topic in this kind of setting, Ning Chanyue stood up and also pulled on Xu Guiyi’s sleeve, wanting her to get up with her.

After Xu Guiyi got up, she held Xu Guiyi’s hand tightly. A gust of wind blew by, bringing with it a chill and also the fresh scent of soil after the rain into Ning Chanyue’s nose.

Ning Chanyue breathed in greedily a couple of times.

The two of them held hands and didn’t follow the dirt road. Instead, they walked wherever they pleased. After walking for more than ten minutes, they didn’t see a single person. Not even a person, there wasn’t even a single light on the mountainside in the distance. It was as if the two of them were the only people left in the world.

The whole valley was very quiet, or rather, secluded. It was so secluded that she could hear Xu Guiyi’s shallow breathing next to her.

“It’s fireflies.”

When they got to a forest of unknown trees, Ning Chanyue suddenly stopped and pointed at the fireflies gathered together, adding a few specks of light to the dark night. She said it with a little surprise.

“Do you like them?” As if she had thought of something, Xu Guiyi turned her head and asked.

Ning Chanyue knew why Xu Guiyi would suddenly ask her this. It was because once when they were walking together in college, she had suddenly said that she had never seen fireflies before and wanted to go to a forest with fireflies to see them.

Perhaps by chance, Xu Guiyi had seen a few reports or papers about Weijinshan. At that time, Xu Guiyi touched her head and mentioned that they could go to this place to see them. She had always wanted to go there too.

But at that time, it was close to graduation. Xu Guiyi was busy with her internship at the hospital, and Ning Chanyue was often out on auditions. They were always together less than they were apart, so they agreed that they would come to this place for their graduation trip when it was close to graduation.

Ning Chanyue smiled and nodded, but then she asked Xu Guiyi back, “What about you, do you like it here?”

Xu Guiyi, however, slowly shook her head.

After a pause, she said, “Compared to liking it, I feel more of a sense of tranquility.”

“Tranquility?”

With the mountains and water and no one around, it was indeed very tranquil. But Ning Chanyue seemed a little disappointed by this answer and slightly lowered her eyes.

Another gust of wind blew by, blowing Ning Chanyue’s long, loose hair in front of her. Xu Guiyi slightly turned around and tucked her hair behind her ear. Then her fingertip lightly touched her face. Feeling the warmth of Xu Guiyi’s finger, Ning Chanyue looked up again.

Ning Chanyue saw that Xu Guiyi was looking at her, and her eyes were full of gentleness. She parted her lips and said, “Yes, it’s very tranquil. Not only is the atmosphere in this valley very tranquil, but my heart also seems to be. I don’t have to think about those other messy things anymore.”

Only then did the corners of Ning Chanyue’s lips turn up a little. The ripples on the corners of her lips seemed to symbolize the slight ripples in her mood at this moment. She held Xu Guiyi’s hand that was on her face and said, “I only have to think about you in front of me, right?”

After Xu Guiyi nodded, the smile on Ning Chanyue’s lips grew wider. She jumped a little and continued to hold Xu Guiyi’s hand and walk into the forest. It was even darker in the forest. After walking a few more steps, the fireflies that had gathered in front of the forest scattered all at once and flew into the forest, as if playful children were rushing home to tell their parents about this unfamiliar guest. But a few of them followed behind them, blinking at them curiously.

And also lighting up the way for them.

When she and Xu Guiyi used to travel, they always went to some well-known tourist attractions. They had never been to a place like this. Ning Chanyue sighed. A place like this was hard to come by, and perhaps there wouldn’t be many opportunities in the future.

As they walked, Ning Chanyue suddenly turned her head and said, “Actually, I also brought some fireworks.”

“Fireworks?” Xu Guiyi raised her eyebrows. “No wonder I saw you putting something in the trunk when you left. Is it a big production?”

Ning Chanyue slightly nodded. Yesterday, when she took her biological mother back to the hotel, she had a flash of inspiration and got out of the car to buy some. Later, she felt it was a little too ordinary, so she drove to another place at night and bought some more.

It was only because when her eyes caught sight of the fireworks on the side of the road at that time, she suddenly remembered that Xu Guiyi had said a few years ago that she wanted to take her to another place to see fireworks. They had a fireworks display there every year that was brilliant and colorful. Ning Chanyue, who was lying in bed at that time, secretly saw that Xu Guiyi had saved a video of the fireworks and watched it many times.

She didn’t know if Xu Guiyi had gone by herself in the past few years, and she was also afraid that she didn’t like them anymore. Ning Chanyue looked at Xu Guiyi’s expression and said with a little hesitation, “Should I go get them now?”

…

The night sky was ripped open by a cluster of blue light points. Immediately after, with a crackling sound, thousands of gold leaves poured down from the sky, forming a waterfall of light like a sunset glow. Before it had completely fallen, another firework exploded. Purple-red and silver-white intertwined into bundles of pistils, dyeing the dark blue night sky into a gorgeous silk.

As another firework was about to rise into the night sky, Ning Chanyue suddenly looked at Xu Guiyi and said, “Happy 26th birthday, Xu Guiyi.”

Xu Guiyi looked at her, nodded, and said, “You be happy too.”

Ning Chanyue bit her lip. Looking at Xu Guiyi’s trembling eyelashes, she suddenly spoke again, “Will I still be in your 26th year, Guiyi?”

But the subsequent sound of firecrackers seemed to be more intense than the previous ones. A series of crackling sounds made Ning Chanyue quickly take a step back. She instinctively wanted to cover her ears, but before her hands could get close, Xu Guiyi’s hands had already covered them, gently pressing against Ning Chanyue’s outer ears, blocking most of the sound for her.

But after the excitement, all that was left was endless silence.

When the last firecracker fell, Xu Guiyi finally put down her hands that were clinging to Ning Chanyue. In Ning Chanyue’s expectant eyes, she asked, “What did you just say?”