Chapter 257: Summer, Beach, Fireworks, and Confession

Just as Chen Mo was about to say something important, in that split second!

Su Yuqing whipped her head around!

She was no longer gazing at the starry sky, no longer lost in the fireworks.

Her gaze, like two bolts of lightning carrying all her courage and long-suppressed emotions, shot straight and unreservedly into the depths of Chen Mo’s dark eyes!

Chen Mo froze, caught by her sudden, resolute stare. He could clearly see the emotion churning in her eyes, far more fiery than he had ever imagined—it was no longer shy avoidance, but an all-or-nothing courage, the decisiveness of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis!

He didn’t even see her move, only registered a blur of light and shadow.

A cool, slightly damp, yet incredibly steady finger pressed against his just-parted lips with a gentle but undeniable force and pinpoint accuracy!

"Shhh—"

Su Yuqing’s voice was soft, drowned out by the BOOM of another giant rose firework exploding, but Chen Mo read the word from the movement of her lips and her blazing eyes.

Time seemed to stretch infinitely, frozen in that moment.

Chen Mo’s pupils contracted. His mind went blank. All his prepared words, all his plans, were sealed and shattered by that single, unexpected finger!

All he could feel was the cool, soft touch on his lips, carrying the slight tremor of her fingertip, yet it held the force of a volcanic eruption.

’Chen Mo knew Su Yuqing must have guessed what he was about to say, but what did it mean that she was stopping him? Was this a rejection in disguise? Or was she just not ready?’

Just as doubt flickered in Chen Mo’s mind... in the next instant, before his astonished eyes, Su Yuqing rose onto her tiptoes!

Her movement held a do-or-die resolve and a heart-stopping courage.

The soft woolen shawl slipped slightly from her shoulders, revealing her graceful neck and collarbones.

She closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling violently in the pink, heart-shaped glow, and then—

She pressed her lips—carrying all the affection, dependence, longing, and desperate courage she had accumulated over an entire semester, over the whole of late spring—firmly and indisputably against Chen Mo’s, which were slightly parted in astonishment!

BOOM—!!!

As if providing a soundtrack for this earth-shattering act, countless massive bouquets of roses, formed from silvery-white and light-blue flames, burst open in the night sky!

The petals, layered and translucent like they were carved from ice and jade, radiated a cool yet supremely romantic brilliance. They complemented the pink, heart-shaped fireworks below, pushing the world’s colors to a fantastical peak!

The kiss was as brief as a shooting star, yet felt as long as if it had spanned centuries.

When Su Yuqing pulled back slightly, panting, her cheeks were already as red as the most brilliant sunset. Her eyes were misty, but they shone with a stunning brightness.

She gasped for breath, her chest heaving, but her gaze was clearer and more resolute than ever, locked firmly on Chen Mo’s speechless, astonished eyes.

She gave him no time to react or think. Against the grand backdrop of the cool light from the rose fireworks and the warm glow from the heart fireworks, her voice—clear yet trembling, filled with an incredibly distinct power—pierced the roar of the explosions and stabbed straight into Chen Mo’s ears and heart!

Their eyes met, and it was as if an electric current passed between them in silence.

In those familiar eyes, Su Yuqing saw her own small reflection, and she also saw a deep affection that needed no words—one that was already carved into his very bones.

All her hesitation, all her reserve, came crashing down in that instant.

She no longer needed flowery words or a meticulously designed scene. She only needed to say the truest words from her heart, words that had already been confirmed between them a thousand times over.

"Chen Mo! I like you!"

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it struck Chen Mo’s mind like a clap of thunder.

"No, it’s not ’like’! It’s love!" she began softly, but every word landed with the weight of all her strength. "It started on that stormy night when you opened the door and let light into my world! It started when you quietly accepted my vulnerabilities and looked after me in every little way! It started when we began living under the same roof, sharing every morning and every night!

You’re the one who showed me that this kind of warmth even existed in the world!"

Tears glistened in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. Her lips even curved into a tearful, yet incredibly radiant smile.

Her voice was thick with emotion, but every word cut clearly through the sound of the fireworks, like a vow being chiseled against the roaring backdrop. "The word ’like’ is too light, too flimsy. It can’t possibly hold all of my feelings for you!

It long ago turned into dependence, into habit, into... the kind of love where my world is no longer complete without you!

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment it took root and sprouted, but by the time I realized it, it had already silently grown into a towering tree, impossible to ignore and impossible to suppress any longer!"

She took another step forward, almost pressing against his chest, her eyes looking up at him, filled with an undisguised, infinite longing for their future.

"I researched so much for this moment, looked up so many guides, but I realized later that love isn’t something you can study. It just naturally takes root and sprouts at some unexpected moment!

Please forgive my clumsiness. Even after preparing for so long and researching everything, I still don’t know the best words to confess to you.

Right now, I just want to tell you what’s truly in my heart. Chen Mo, I want to spend every future sunrise and sunset with you. I want to be the one who stands by your side, sharing all your joys and sorrows.

I want to face all the storms of the future with you!

I want... I want to be with you! Always and forever..."

Just as Su Yuqing cast aside all her shyness and panic, pouring out her long-held confession to Chen Mo without reservation...

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—!!!

The eastern night sky suddenly lit up with a glorious golden light! The light wasn’t scattered; it condensed into a clear humanoid silhouette! It was the image of a broad-shouldered man, outlined in pure, burning golden flames, captured in a powerful running pose. He raced along a slanting path of light, unswervingly, toward the center of the firmament!

In response, the western sky erupted in an interwoven display of cool, silvery-white and dreamlike lavender! The flames flowed and converged, forming the silhouette of a graceful woman. Her skirts billowed, her posture light yet urgent, as she followed another slanting path of light, seeming to fly on the wind as she rapidly approached the center of the firmament!

The two giants of light and flame—one blazing like the sun, the other cool as the moon—raced toward each other across the vast night sky with unstoppable momentum, under the gazes of everyone on Bikong Island!

Just as they were about to meet at the deepest point of the heavens—

A point of intensely condensed white light silently erupted!

In the void between the silhouettes of Niu Lang and Zhi Nv, countless silk-thin gold and silver threads blazed into existence!

They wove together, spreading and constructing themselves at an astonishing speed!

In the blink of an eye, a massive bridge of light, shimmering with brilliant gold and silver, appeared out of nowhere, spanning the entire sky above the vast, starry expanse!

The bridge arched high, its railings and deck clearly visible, intricate and magnificent, as if woven from the very stars themselves!

At the very instant this radiant "Magpie Bridge" took its final form—

The golden "Niu Lang" silhouette took a great stride, stepping onto the bridge!

The silvery-lavender "Zhi Nv" silhouette drifted down, landing at the center of the bridge as well!

The two massive silhouettes converged in the very center of the Magpie Bridge!

At the core of their meeting point, a burst of incredibly warm and bright pink-gold light erupted! The light instantly, gently enveloped and merged the two figures!

Flames of gold and silver, pink and lavender, swirled and mixed passionately at the point of fusion!

A single, massive, clear silhouette of two figures embracing replaced the separate individuals, frozen in place at the center of the Magpie Bridge!

Niu Lang and Zhi Nv, having crossed the boundless Xinghe, were finally locked in a tight embrace on this miraculous bridge built of light and flame!

Just like Chen Mo and Su Yuqing, who were now half-embracing each other!