Chapter 534: Extra: Que Feiling Is the Best Fortune (Final)

Jiang Qingli was toying with his ear feathers, asking casually, “Kiss where?”

Que Feiling’s eyes lit up. “I get to choose?”

Jiang Qingli realized something was amiss. She had barely paused before he was already kneeling beside her legs, head bowed.

…

It was a cold winter day.

Yet the stuffy interior of the car felt as hot as a summer afternoon.

Jiang Qingli’s vision was blurry. Her hand fumbled for a hold, accidentally pressing a button and turning on the stereo.

The fast-paced drumbeat made her jump.

But Que Feiling wasn’t the least bit affected. He lifted his head and grinned at her. “This is a song by my favorite band! I love every single track on their new album! I was even going to play it for you. The lyrics are really profound!”

That only seemed to spur him on.

By the time the song ended, Jiang Qingli was leaning weakly against the seat, clutching a throw pillow. Her head was still spinning.

Que Feiling straightened her skirt, then leaned in to nuzzle her cheek, eager to get her opinion. “Which song was your favorite?”

In truth, Jiang Qingli hadn’t been able to make out any of the lyrics. She hadn’t even noticed how many songs had played.

And it was all thanks to the main culprit right in front of her.

Jiang Qingli reached out and pinched his “beak.” Just as she was about to feign a scolding, the driver in the front seat suddenly requested to speak with them.

The passenger cabin was completely soundproof, so anyone in the front had to send a request to communicate with the back.

Que Feiling glanced at Jiang Qingli. Seeing that she wasn’t going to stop him, he pressed the button.

The driver’s voice came through. “Young Master, it looks like there are paparazzi up ahead. They’re probably trying to get a shot of you and District Chief Jiang. Should we take a detour?”

Que Feiling glanced at Jiang Qingli and reluctantly grunted in agreement.

“But if we take a detour, we might be late,” the driver reminded them.

“In that case…”

Que Feiling turned his head, staring at Jiang Qingli with pleading eyes.

His relationship with Jiang Qingli was currently semi-public.

Their close friends and family knew, but the public did not.

Given Que Feiling’s flamboyant personality, he was dying to announce it to the world. However, he had performed a divination, and the results indicated that they should avoid letting outside factors interfere with the early stages of their relationship.

Furthermore, the Que family had been embroiled in a scandal involving collusion with officials two years prior. Que Feiling was afraid that people would make the same malicious assumptions about Jiang Qingli, and that their budding romance would be strangled in its cradle. So, he remained very low-key.

But…

Now, almost three years had passed since Jiang Qingli’s medal ceremony.

According to statistics from dating websites, the three-to-five-year mark was the most common time for couples to get married.

‘The thought made Que Feiling a little anxious.’

He trusted Jiang Qingli’s sense of responsibility, but with so many conniving males around her, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t whisper poisonous words in her ear out of jealousy and keep him from marrying her.

Que Feiling wasn’t worried that Jiang Qingli would dump him.

‘Please, he was a Vermilion Bird!’

‘Not to brag, but even if he were just a fashion accessory, he’d be the most beautiful and rarest one out there!’

But every so often, Que Feiling would see Qin Muye reposting things about the Prince’s happy family life on his social feed.

And a crowd of their colleagues would be in the comments, showering him with praise.

Every time, Que Feiling’s masculine pride and vanity made him want to pick a fight with Qin Muye. But starting a fight would guarantee him an earful, so he could only bottle it up in silence.

‘The frustration was about to give him an ulcer.’

‘But he couldn’t just force her to go public. That would be so tacky.’

Que Feiling’s fingers tightened in his pocket, rubbing against the object in his palm.

He let out a breath. Just as he was about to tell the driver to take the detour, Jiang Qingli spoke first. “No need for a detour.”

With that, she lowered the car window.

A floating camera hovered not far away. Jiang Qingli raised a hand, pulled the stunned Que Feiling closer, and called out to it, “We’re on a date. Do not disturb.”

The window slid back up before the paparazzi could get a look inside.

The whole exchange took only a few seconds, but Que Feiling was completely petrified.

Jiang Qingli reached over and tapped his forehead. “Stunned silly?”

“I’m so happy!”

The ear feathers Que Feiling had just retracted popped out again. He excitedly tackled her back onto the seat, burying his face in her embrace and nuzzling against her as a pleasant, bird-like trill rumbled in his throat.

‘He’s starting his mating ritual again.’

Jiang Qingli suspected that if they weren’t in the car, he would have transformed into his beast form on the spot and started plucking out feathers for her. Vermilion Birds were beautiful creatures and keenly aware of their good looks. Because of this, Que Feiling had, on more than one occasion, shifted into his beast form at home to beg for pets and offer her his feathers.

‘It was rather cute, actually.’

Jiang Qingli reached out and ruffled his hair vigorously.

–

They didn’t go to some trendy, influencer-hyped restaurant that evening.

Que Feiling took Jiang Qingli to the Que family’s villa, nestled halfway up a mountain in the suburbs.

The weather was perfect. Looking up revealed a sky full of stars, and the top-floor, floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic night view of the entire First District.

After dinner, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.

The two of them chatted in the warmth of the villa, each holding a carton of ice cream.

But they were only halfway through their ice cream when Que Feiling leaned in. Under the pretext of wanting a taste of her flavor, he kissed her.

On a night like this, a kiss, once started, was bound to lead to something more.

The passionate entanglement didn’t end until the ice cream had melted into sweet puddles.

Que Feiling got up to pour her a glass of warm water.

His jacket was still bunched up under Jiang Qingli’s lower back, digging into her uncomfortably.

Jiang Qingli lazily pulled it out from under her and tossed it onto the carpet without a second thought.

Something tumbled out of the pocket, revealing the sharp corner of what looked like a metal object.

She had barely gotten a look at it before Que Feiling hurried back over. He handed her the water, then retrieved a thin blanket and draped it over her before wrapping his arms around her from behind to watch the falling snow.

In the time they had been fooling around, the snow outside had already coated the buildings in a thin, silvery-white layer, silent and gentle.

Que Feiling rested his chin on Jiang Qingli’s shoulder, inhaling their mingled scents. A smile touched his lips. “This is bliss.”

Jiang Qingli ruffled his hair, her curiosity piqued. “What was in your jacket pocket?”

Que Feiling froze. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his skin growing warmer.

‘Getting shy again?’

‘Could it be a proposal?’

‘But Que Feiling is huge on ceremony. If this were a proposal, he would have already transformed the entire estate into something extravagant and ridiculously expensive.’

Jiang Qingli waited quietly for his answer.

After a moment, Que Feiling spoke in a small voice. “This afternoon… didn’t you ask what I divined using that fake devotee’s tools?”

“So you do remember,” Jiang Qingli said. “I thought that was your little secret.”

“How could I forget anything about you? Besides, I have no secrets from you,” Que Feiling mumbled. “I was just too embarrassed to say… It’s so childish to still believe in this stuff at my age.”

“I never said that,” Jiang Qingli said, turning to rub his cheek. “Last time, I distinctly remember saying it was cute.”

“I remember.”

He was just embarrassed with himself.

They hadn’t turned on the lights in the room.

They could see each other by the ambient light from outside the large windows, but it was too dark to make out a blush.

This gave Que Feiling a small sense of security.

He picked up his jacket and dug into the pocket as he spoke. “I did a reading on the future of our relationship. Even though that guy was a fake devotee, his tools were identical to the ones at the temple… I have a feeling the reading was very accurate.”

“And the result?”

Que Feiling placed the fortune slip in her palm.

“It’s the highest possible blessing.”