Chapter 370 - An island

When they arrived at the foyer, Xiao Lei thought that they would be taking the car. To her surprise, a little buggy was waiting for them at the foyer. 

"Mr. Han, Ms. Xiao," a servant greeted them with a bow. "May I please take your luggage?" 

Han Ye nodded and handed the two identical luggage to the servant, who then promptly put it on the buggy. He then took Xiao Lei's hand and walked her to the buggy. Once they were seated, Han Ye took out an eye mask from his back pocket and said, "Please put this on, Ms. Xiao."

Xiao Lei raised a brow at him, and after a few seconds, she said, "I'm not into this, Mr. Han..." 

"What are you thinking about, Ms. Xiao? It's just to avoid the surprise being found out," Han Ye said with a chuckle. He then leaned forward and whispered, "And who knows, you might like this kind of stuff later on. We shouldn't dismiss it so early on..." 

BAM! 

Xiao Lei's punch landed on Han Ye's stomach, causing the guy to bowl over slightly as the servant who was about to drive the buggy looked back in alarm. Han Ye chuckled as he rubbed his aching belly before waving a hand nonchalantly at the servant. "It's fine... I deserved that. Please start driving."

The servant nodded and quickly started the buggy. 

"Come on, Ms. Xiao. Be good," Han Ye said as he signaled her to put on the eye mask. 

Looking at his expectant face, Xiao Lei could only sigh and take the eye mask. After she put it on, she could feel Han Ye reaching over to help her adjust it. "Happy now, Mr. Han?" 

"A little," Han Ye said. So many thoughts were in his mind, mostly about her on the bed, getting tied up while wearing that eye mask. If Xiao Lei knew what was on his mind at the moment, she would probably throw the eye mask at him before punching him until he turned senseless.

Xiao Lei felt him taking her hand as well as the warmth of his body when he sat closer to her. 

"In case you fall off... As a gentleman, I should always keep you close to protect you," Han Ye joked before putting his hand around her waist. "It won't take long, at most 10 minutes..."

Xiao Lei nodded. She rested her head on his shoulder as she felt the cool breeze of the night. And not long later, she heard a very loud noise, and she could feel the wind getting heavier and heavier.

"No way!" Xiao Lei gasped and tore off the mask.

"Hey..." Han Ye frowned. "That's not the plan!"

"Wow..." Xiao Lei murmured as she stared at the helicopter, which had the Du Family's emblem at the side, that was slowly landing down on the ground. "This is... a little over the top, isn't it?" 

Han Ye laughed and quickly told the buggy driver to stop. "We'll wait for it to land, then walk from here."

When the buggy stopped, Han Ye got down from it and went to the other side to help Xiao Lei down. "Nothing is over the top for my birthday girl," he said when Xiao Lei was firmly standing on the ground. 

"President Du allows you to use his private helicopter?" 

"Technically, it's the Du Family's helicopter, and," Han Ye scratched his nose awkwardly as he admitted, "President Du doesn't have much of a say when Madam President Du already agreed to it."

Upon hearing him, Xiao Lei smirked as she said, "So, you skipped Dad and went for Mum's permission..." 

She was referring to how kids tend to play their parents against each other's decisions, like when the father disagreed with someone, they would go to their mother to get her approval... And a mother's approval was usually the law in the house. 

Han Ye smiled smugly. "I heard that Mum is the strongest person in a household, so..." 

He then went to the back of the buggy and took out two matching jackets that he had prepared beforehand. Putting one on Xiao Lei, he said, "It will get quite cold when we are up in the air later. Put this on..." 

He then put on the other jacket. Once the helicopter landed, Han Ye waited for the signal before approaching it with Xiao Lei. 

Xiao Lei was so excited. This would be her first time in a helicopter since childhood, and she could not wait to see Imperial City from the sky. When she was strapped down onto the helicopter with the helmet on, she asked, "Are you going to tell me now where are we going?"

"An island," Han Ye replied once he was properly strapped down next to her. He then signaled the helicopter pilot to take off. "Look outside. The view of Du Mansion from above is pretty awesome..."

"I think all views are awesome when we view it from high above," Xiao Lei said into the microphone attached to the helmet as the helicopter slowly took off.

As the helicopter rose higher and higher, Han Ye's attention was fully on Xiao Lei while the latter looked out of the window with a childlike curiosity on her face. For him, who was used to flying around on private helicopters and airplanes with President Du, this kind of view was already nothing to him. 

But he knew that for Xiao Lei, this was something that she hadn't done for a long time, and it was probably something that would trigger the fond memories that she used to have with her parents.

And he was right, because right now, Xiao Lei's mind was full of images of her parents, as well as her grandfather, from before the old man passed away. In her mind, she could hear their laughter, almost as if they were still by her side. Everything that she kept suppressed over they years, every happy memory from when she was still Fan Wushuang... all of them slowly presented themselves in her mind, as if she were watching a movie. 

"Dad... Mum..." She muttered as she placed her hand on the window while looking down at the Du Mansion, which was getting smaller and smaller. "It's my birthday today..." 

Since her microphone was on, Han Ye could hear what she was mumbling about, and he reached over to take her hand. When Xiao Lei looked at him, he said with a gentle smile, "I'm sure they are celebrating with us at this moment..."

Xiao Lei smiled. "Thank you, Han Ye... Today has been great..." 

"It's not over yet..." Han Ye smirked. "I might regret it in the future when I can't top this birthday, but I'm still going to make this the best birthday you would ever have in a long time."