Chapter Thirty-Six: Give an Inch and They Take a Mile

But what was he doing, exactly? Was he giving her flowers? As soon as that thought crossed her mind, the gloomy clouds in her heart parted, and she felt as if a fresh sun had emerged from behind the mist. Instantly, her mood improved, even bubbling over with a secret delight.

Did he notice she’d just been upset and brought the flower to cheer her up? He wasn’t entirely heartless after all…

Bouncing merrily, Luo Yixia returned to her house, found a vase, filled it with water, and placed the flower inside. The two mothers watched as she walked out, clutching the vase with a goofy smile plastered on her face, utterly perplexed.

“Is she… carrying a vase outside?” Mrs. Yu Wenjing asked uncertainly.

“It looks like it. She even put a flower in it,” Zhou Yun replied.

Luo Yixia set the vase in the Song family’s living room, placing it right by the entrance where it could be seen at first glance. Then she leaned beside it, gazing at the flower with unabashed joy.

This was the first flower Song Chengyi had ever given her—a rose, no less.

Unable to resist, Luo Yixia took out her phone and snapped a few pictures. She couldn’t pass up such a rare chance to show off her happiness. After choosing two of the prettiest shots, she added a caption.

[The roses in the garden are in full bloom. How lovely not to have to pick them myself.]

She gazed at her post, smiling foolishly in a daze.

When Zhou Yun and Yu Wenjing came in, they saw the silly girl sitting alone in the living room, grinning to herself.

“Where’s Chengyi?” Yu Wenjing glanced around the empty room.

Luo Yixia, jolted from her reverie, replied immediately, “Chengyi is upstairs.”

“Go call him down. Zhou Yun and I found a few vacation spots for you two—come see which ones you like.” Yu Wenjing held a stack of photos in her hand.

“Okay.” Luo Yixia scampered upstairs.

She paused in front of Song Chengyi’s door, hesitated, then knocked.

“Come in,” came his voice from inside. Only then did Luo Yixia enter.

Song Chengyi was sitting by the window with a book, looking up at her as she came in.

“Mom asked you to come downstairs. She said they’ve found some vacation spots for us to look at.” Luo Yixia leaned against the doorframe, not stepping all the way in.

“All right.” Song Chengyi put down his book and stood up.

Luo Yixia headed back down.

In the upstairs living room, the two mothers were comparing the photos in their hands. When they saw the pair coming down one after the other, Zhou Yun called them to the sofa and spread out a selection of travel destination photos on the coffee table.

“Take a look and see where you’d like to go,” Zhou Yun invited.

Luo Yixia craned her neck to see—Bali, Phuket, New Zealand, Australia, Yunnan, Jeju Island, the Maldives, Tokyo… Her head spun with the choices, leaving her more uncertain than ever.

Song Chengyi glanced over the options and already felt a headache coming on.

Zhou Yun turned to Luo Yixia, who was sitting beside her. “Xiaxia, have you made your choice?”

Luo Yixia turned to look at Song Chengyi. “Let Chengyi choose.”

Better to leave this tricky decision to him.

“Chengyi, where would you like to go?” Yu Wenjing asked.

“Let’s go to Japan,” Song Chengyi said, picking up one of the photos at random.

Luo Yixia hadn’t really had a preference, but she hadn’t expected Japan. She wasn’t especially fond of the country, though she did like Japanese anime…

Still, since he’d chosen, Japan it would be. Yet as Song Chengyi made his choice, she couldn’t help but think that Bali or somewhere in Europe would be nice too—both were classic honeymoon destinations. Why pick Japan?

“Japan is fine, they’re all good choices. But at this time of year, the cherry blossoms in Japan have already faded,” Zhou Yun said with a hint of regret.