<h4>Chapter 268: Chapter 268: The Firefly is Here</h4><h4></h4>


    "Heh, if that day reallyes, I’ll have to represent all the girls in the world setting off firecrackers for you," Nan Qing said with a face full of disdain. "Since we arrived here, you’ve already taken four calls, each from a girl, each asking when you’ll spend time with them. And now you’re telling me that when you’re looking for a ce to stay, you’d choose me? Are you kidding me?"


    A blush climbed up Wang Yixuan’s cheeks, and he coughed awkwardly, scratching his nose and chuckling sheepishly, "This... I just returned to the country, and those girls miss me so much that, well, business is indeed a bit busy, embarrassing, really embarrassing."


    Nan Qing pursed her lips, showing no interest in engaging with him.


    She turned to continue her unfinished painting, but from the corner of her eye, she saw someone standing at the doorway, someone she would never forget even in her dreams—Su Cheng.


    "How did you get here? You... weren’t you going to find Fu Han?" Nan Qing instinctively sidestepped away, widening the gap between herself and Wang Yixuan.


    Since they were discussing colors, Su Cheng had already arrived, and due to the distance, he couldn’t hear their conversation clearly, but it wasn’t hard to see the intimacy between them: pinching cheeks, heads bumping together — which couple doesn’t engage in such close gestures?


    An inexplicable anger surged up within him,pounded by his recent failed confession. He was so furious, but he held his breath and stayed silent, just wanting to see when they would notice him.


    Now, hearing Nan Qing’s words, he couldn’t help but sneer coldly, "I had no idea your rtionship had gotten this good. Should I be drinking to your happiness in a little while then?"


    Nan Qing’s face reddened with embarrassment,pletely forgetting that just a minute earlier she had been secretly tallying Su Cheng’s wrongs in her heart. Now, she was only frantically trying to exin, "No, it’s not like that, don’t—"


    But she was cut off before she could finish, not by someone else’s words, but because Wang Yixuan pulled Nan Qing into his embrace, while he provocatively looked at Su Cheng: "Yeah, congrattions on your urate guess. When Nan Qing and I set a date, we’ll definitely notify you toe celebrate with us, okay?"


    "What did you say?" Nan Qing’s eyes widened in disbelief.


    "Don’t talk, I’m helping you!" Wang Yixuan whispered in Nan Qing’s ear, his voice so low only the two of them could understand.


    Nan Qing felt moved. Although she didn’t know what Wang Yixuan nned to do, she obediently shut her mouth. But her eyes looking toward Su Cheng were filled with undeniable worry.


    Su Cheng watched Wang Yixuan and Nan Qing in disbelief; the two of them were brazenly whispering to each other, a sight as shocking as Fu Han and He Xing kissing in public.


    Wait, he’d never seen Fu Han and He Xing kiss in public before, and why was heparing Nan Qing with Fu Han?


    Su Cheng’s heart was in turmoil, aplete mess.


    Suddenly, he felt utterly uninterested. Since he didn’t like Nan Qing, she could be with whoever she wanted to be with—it was her right.


    "If it’s true, then congrattions," Su Cheng said slowly as he turned around, taking steps towards the door. Just before leaving the gallery, he suddenly looked back at Nan Qing: "You don’t need to tell me when your big day is set. I won’te to witness it, so as not to be a bother."


    The spacious gallery was left with only Nan Qing and Wang Yixuan. She recalled Su Cheng’s departing silhouette, which felt like a heavy mountain on his shoulders, forcibly bending his back.


    Nan Qing’s heart ached as though pierced by needles. She took several steps back to distance herself from Wang Yixuan: "Why... why did you say what you did just now? We clearly have nothing between us."


    "So, you want to exin things clearly to Su Cheng?" Wang Yixuan wasn’t angered by the interrogation, in fact, he even began tough: "Then you can go exin now; he must not have gone far."


    Without hesitation, Nan Qing ran towards the door, but just as one foot crossed the threshold, Wang Yixuan suddenly spoke again: "It’s just that if you exin now, you’ll always live under Su Cheng’s thumb for the rest of your life."


    With those words, Nan Qing’s feet seemed to be nailed to the floor, and she could no longer lift them.


    Wang Yixuan smiled in anticipation and beckoned Nan Qing with his finger: "Come here, girl. Let this expert in love teach you. Your sweetheart obviously likes you, it’s just that there seems to be a hurdle in his heart he can’t get over. If you don’t want to give up on him, then listen to mymand."


    "You?" Nan Qing’s face was full of skepticism, but she stillplied and walked towards him, though not without issuing a threat: "If all you have are lousy ideas, don’t me me for getting angry."


    ...


    The night on Lanwan Mountain is beautiful, one of the few ces in A City where you can see the stars.


    After dinner, Fu Han made the excuse of needing to digest and went out for a stroll, heading straight up to the Observatory at the mountain’s peak.


    She wasn’t sure if she’d ever used a telescope before but after fiddling with it, she actually saw the vast expanse of twinkling stars, glittering like broken diamonds, exceptionally beautiful.


    Fu Han was so engrossed that shepletely failed to notice He Xing approaching her side.


    A breeze picked up, the night air far morefortable than the hot wind of the day, driving away the heat. It seemed to carry a faint fragrance, cool, distanced, yet familiar.


    She turned, puzzled, and her first glimpse was of someone standing silently beside her. She hadn’t managed to see his face clearly before she let out a frightened yelp.


    "Xiaohan, don’t be afraid, it’s me." He Xing quickly caught her in his arms, holding her steadily.


    "You’re so annoying, not making a sound when you walk," Fu Han said, pounding He Xing’s chest forcefully, a look of residual fright on her small face.


    "Sorry, I won’t do that again," He Xing apologized with his mouth, yet took the opportunity to catch Fu Han’s hand, pressing it against his cheek. His deep voice in the night was exceptionally clear, as if with a magical power: "I saw you hadn’t returned for a while and I was worried about you, so I came out to find you."


    Looking up at the night sky, the image of fireflies came to Fu Han’s mind, and she murmured, "Where have all the fireflies here gone?"


    "What did you say?" He Xing became excited, grasping Fu Han’s shoulders: "Xiaohan, did you remember something?"


    His eagerness for her to remember the past made Fu Han feel repulsed, and she pushed him away, saying emotionlessly, "I don’t remember anything, I’ve just heard that there are many fireflies here on summer nights."


    Visible disappointment washed over He Xing’s face, but after a few seconds, he smiled again: "Xiaohan, don’t be mad, I just remembered the times we watched the stars and the fireflies together."


    So there really was such a memory. Fu Han’s emotions becameplicated.


    Looking around, for some reason, she felt the urge to flee the ce, but then she spotted a firefly that hadnded on He Xing’s shoulder.