Chapter 9 - The Blushing Bride

As soon as Feng Xuan got out of Wang Yimin's sight, she fished her phone from her bag and went to search for a Qing on the internet. The internet pulled out a lot of results, none of which she thought what she was looking for. She headed on to the news tab and scrolled, scanning her way down for something that might be relevant to her.

Some words in bold caught her eye. "Qing" "The Kingly Hotel" "CEO" "Qing Zihao passes title to son Qing Chen". Feng Xuan opened a new tab and typed in the letters of the name: Qing Chen.

The phone's signal immediately stopped as the elevator descends and the search page was stuck in blank. Feng Xuan wanted to huff out. She just wanted a look. True, she had promised herself not to find who she would be married to. But honestly, the curiosity was killing her.

She clutched tightly on her phone as she looked upwards to the digital numbers on the screen. 40... 39... 38... Maybe she shouldn't really look for her soon to be husband. What good would it do anyway? She was going to meet him in just a few short minutes.

She sighed and took a deep breath. A sharp yet sweet smell entered her nose. Something like the smell of grass and champagne mixed together.

Feng Xuan looked from the corner of her eyes and saw a tall man bowed to his cellphone. He had a sharp nose and thick lips, his eyes were downturned and his hair almost touched it. As if sensing someone watching him, the guy's eyes suddenly shifted to the corner and Feng Xuan stood up straighter, looking straight ahead and almost gasped because there, in the reflection, she saw the man already looking at her.

Feng Xuan immediately turned her gaze to her feet, clutching harder now on her phone as she felt her face getting warmer. She could feel her heart hammering against her chest.

Even without looking, she could still feel the man's gaze on her.

"Hello."

The sound made Feng Xuan gasp to herself. Was he talking to her? Of course, they were the only ones in the elevator.

"H-hello," she replied, just out of politeness. Luckily, the elevator slowed to a stop and it dinged as they reached the 30th floor.

Feng Xuan's phone vibrated in her hand even before the elevator doors opened. She was about to check the message when the search page finally loaded.

Feng Xuan's eyes went wide. She looked at her phone and the man beside her. And back at her phone again. The guy saw himself on her phone and Feng Xuan embarrassingly stashed her phone back in her bag, looking away but not before she saw a smile spread on the guy's lips.

She just wanted to jump out of the elevator and hopefully trip and break her neck.

Qing Chen saw his pictures on the girl's phone and immediately knew that this was the same girl he saw from afar last week. His bride.

"Please," he told her as the elevator doors opened.

The girl was red as a tomato as she stepped in the hallway that would lead them to the restaurant. Qing Chen closely followed. He could see that the woman was rushing away from him, as if they weren't headed to the same place.

Qing Chen smiled to himself and called for her. "Excuse me."

The woman stopped dead on her tracks. Feng Xuan was already cursing in a number of words in her head. She heard the footsteps getting closer to her.

"If you don't mind me asking," the man stopped just beside her, "are you Feng Xuan?"

Ah, it was really him. And he already knew her. How did he know? Was it really obvious from her outfit that she was getting married tonight? Or maybe it was because of the bouquet she was holding?

"Y-yes," she quietly answered, wishing her long hair was down to cover her face with.

A hand showed up in her field of sight. "I am Qing Chen." Feng Xuan shyly took the hand. "But I guess you already know that."

Feng Xuan could feel herself getting swallowed by her whole being. This is just so embarrassing, she thought. She really shouldn't have tried to know to whom she was getting married.

The warm hand shook hers and released. "Shall we?" The man asked.

How can he be so calm? she asked herself. As if seeing and talking to me for the first time was just nothing to him.

Feng Xuan kept her face low as she was sure she was still red with all the blood that rushed to her face earlier. It was a short hallway and the glass doors were open and they walked right in. The woman behind the podium smiled and nodded to Qing Chen and they stayed walking on the sides.

It was a full house and there was a slight buzz of the people talking and eating. The lights were soft and warm and the walls surrounding were made of glass that gave them the perfect eye-level view of the city skyline. Feng Xuan was in awe.

They turned to a hallway and a man in a suit standing guard opened the door.

Feng Xuan stepped first on the inside. She immediately saw her father seated on the square table. The room also had glass walls.

"There you are!" Feng Lizhao smiled at her as she walked in. "Ah, I see you've met Qing Chen."

"We got acquainted by the elevator," said the baritone voice from behind her.

A waiter guided Feng Xuan to the seat next to her father.

"What have you done to your bride?" laughed an old man with a receding hairline. The laugh lines on his skins made Feng Xuan feel warm, like he had lived a good life. A pipe dangled from one corner of his lip. "Look at her, she's red as a lobster."

Feng Xuan blinked slowly, praying that her blood would stop coming to her face.

"Nothing," Qing Chen answered, taking his seat in front of Feng Xuan. She looked as red as her dress.

"Oh," the old man cooed. "She's literally a blushing bride."

Her father joined in the laughter and Feng Xuan found herself smiling instead of being more embarrassed. After all, by the end of the night, they would all be family.

When she lifted her eyes, she saw her very-soon-to-be-husband looking at her. Feng Xuan's lips widened a fraction more by the concerned look on Qing Chen's eyes.

After seeing that she was fine, Qing Chen smiled back at her.

Feng Xuan was more than surprised when she felt a little flutter in her heart.