Chapter 079: If We’re Going, Then Let’s Go—Who’s Afraid of Whom?

Jiang Yao understood well that Cheng Yanchi’s claim of fearing she’d slip away again was just an excuse. Too much had happened back home, and Cheng Yanchi wanted to take her abroad for a change of scenery, hoping it might lighten her mood. Not wishing to disregard his kindness, Jiang Yao nodded. “All right then. What about Ye Yiyi…”

“She’ll be sitting this one out. Never mind that she argues with me every day—she’s genuinely busy lately.”

The airplane glided gently through the sky and finally landed at a foreign airport. Cheng Yanchi went off with his former teammates to scout the venue for their upcoming competition. Left alone in the hotel, Jiang Yao soon grew restless and decided to go out and explore.

By the deep blue sea, on a stretch of white sand, crowds flowed back and forth. Jiang Yao found a spot beneath a sun umbrella, reclining halfway as she watched the surfers out on the water. For some reason, her thoughts drifted to He Yunqing—the dawn of New Year’s Day, watching the sunrise with him by the shore. The memory brought an unconscious smile to her lips. She closed her eyes and savored the moment.

She wondered what He Yunqing was doing now, whether his injuries had healed. She hadn’t seen him since leaving Crescent Moon Town.

Unbeknownst to her, a shadow fell across her from above.

“What are you thinking about?” A man’s deep, magnetic voice sounded above her.

“I was thinking of He…” Jiang Yao nearly said the name outright, but caught herself midway and slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was He Yunqing’s impossibly handsome face, upside down and so striking it was almost criminal. Her eyes widened in disbelief; she nearly leaped from her chair, barely missing his head. Pointing a trembling finger at him, she stammered, “You—you, what are you doing here?”

He Yunqing echoed her tone, “Why can’t I be here?”

Jiang Yao swallowed, pinched her own cheek to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Her comical reaction made He Yunqing smile faintly. In a teasing voice, he said, “The moment you think of me, I appear.”

“Who’s thinking of you?” she retorted, forcing herself to deny it.

“Weren’t you just saying so yourself? Thinking of He…” he pressed.

“There are so many people in the world with that surname. Why assume I meant you?” Jiang Yao insisted. “Besides, how do you know I was even talking about a person? Maybe I was thinking about a river. Can’t I think about rivers?” As she spoke, she pointed at the vast sea, as if she’d found the perfect excuse. “Yes, I was just wondering how rivers flow into the ocean.”

He Yunqing narrowed his eyes at her. The way she tried to twist things…

“Fine. Then maybe it’s me who was thinking of you. And the moment I did, I appeared before you. Is that explanation good enough?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” she replied flatly.

Jiang Yao turned away, lying back on her chair with her back to him. He claimed to miss her? If he truly did, why hadn’t he visited her the entire time she was in the hospital? Why had she heard nothing from him at all after her discharge? And besides, he’d said himself that he…

Biting her lip, Jiang Yao said, “You have a girlfriend. Please, show some respect and don’t say such things to me.”

He Yunqing watched her little expressions, clearly amused. He strolled over and sat beside her, gazing at the horizon where the sky met the sea, his eyes and brows lit with laughter. “Are you jealous?”

If he hadn’t mentioned it, Jiang Yao might not have realized it herself. Was she… jealous?

“Who’s jealous?” she shot back, glaring at him deliberately before turning away, mentally cursing herself for being ridiculous.

“It’s perfectly normal to be jealous,” He Yunqing drawled on. “There are countless women who get jealous over me.”

Jiang Yao snorted, but inwardly she had to admit—He Yunqing really did have that kind of charm.

She plugged her ears, determined not to listen to his pleasant baritone, as though that might help steady her heart.

His warm hand gently caught her wrist, pulling her hand away from her ear. “But when it’s you who’s jealous, it truly makes me happy.”

Jiang Yao couldn’t help but turn back, only to meet the intense gaze in his eyes.

She clenched her fists, as if to say, “If you have a girlfriend, you shouldn’t be saying these things to me. What a scoundrel you are!”

He Yunqing laughed. “What girlfriend?”

“But you said during the card game…” Jiang Yao furrowed her brow, blurting out without thinking.

“If I hadn’t said that, do you think all those aunts and sisters would have let me off so easily? Wouldn’t they have been lining up to introduce me to a parade of girls?” He Yunqing replied softly.

Jiang Yao pursed her lips. That explanation, she believed.

He Yunqing did have that kind of appeal.

“Even so, when I was staying at Sister Wang’s house, she couldn’t help trying to set me up with her own sister.”

“What?” Jiang Yao was stunned.

He Yunqing tapped her gently on the head. “What’s with that look? But now, I actually want a girlfriend for real.”

Jiang Yao swallowed. Even a fool would know what He Yunqing meant.

She turned away and lay down again.

Sometimes, wanting and being able to are two very different things.

Since she was young, Jiang Yao had stopped entertaining fanciful dreams.

Her reaction was exactly what He Yunqing expected. He lay down beside her, watching the ebb and flow of people across the sand.

“After we left Crescent Moon Town, I was bedridden for days. As soon as I was well enough, I took an assignment abroad—came here for a performance.”

At the mention of his injuries, Jiang Yao turned back to look at him. “So… are you healed now?”

“You can see for yourself,” He Yunqing replied with a bright smile.

“You look lively enough,” Jiang Yao said, hands behind her head. “When are you going back?”

“The show ended yesterday, but I gave myself three days off,” He Yunqing explained patiently. “The great thing about being here is that hardly anyone knows me, so I don’t have to hide away. All the things I’d hesitate to do back home, I can do here.”

With that, he held out a hand to her. “This sea is dotted with beautiful islands. Do you dare come sailing with me?”

Jiang Yao looked into his earnest face and drew a deep breath. Thank goodness He Yunqing wasn’t truly a scoundrel—otherwise, with that face, his talent, and his knack for stirring hearts, he would have left a trail of broken hearts behind him.

Thinking this, she couldn’t help but smile.

She sat up from the lounge chair, placed her hand boldly in his, and raised her brows with a touch of defiance. “Let’s go. Who’s afraid?”