Chapter 260: Summer, Beach, Fireworks, and a Confession! (Huang Mao’s Confession)

The golden rain of light gradually thinned, and the night sky returned to its deep, inky blue, leaving only the starlight and the low murmur of the waves.

Atop the massive rock, the two remained in their embrace, still immersed in the tidal wave of emotions from their impulsive, passionate kiss.

Su Yuqing’s cheek was pressed tightly against Chen Mo’s heaving chest. She could clearly feel his strong, powerful heartbeat, a sound like a war drum hammering against her own unquiet heart.

She was too shy to lift her head, feeling utterly limp, as if all her strength had been drained away during that long, fiery kiss.

A lingering tingle, like a subtle electric current, still coursed over her lips and deep within her, a reminder of how real it all had been.

Chen Mo carefully tightened his arms around her. His warm breath grazed her ear, sending a faint shiver through her.

He lowered his head slightly, trying to get a clear look at her face.

"Mmm..." Su Yuqing let out a muffled hum, like a startled kitten. She buried her head even deeper, revealing only her earlobes, which were so red it looked as if they might bleed.

Chen Mo chuckled softly, and Su Yuqing could feel the vibrations from his chest against her cheek.

He said no more, simply stroking her back with his broad palm, over and over with infinite tenderness, as if calming a frightened fledgling.

His touch was filled with tenderness and adoration.

After a long moment, Su Yuqing finally summoned a bit of courage, stirred slightly, and lifted her head from his embrace.

Her misty eyes were astonishingly bright under the starlight, filled with shyness, sweetness, and the dazed look of one who had just had her first taste of passion. It gave her an alluring, heart-stopping beauty.

She stole a quick glance at Chen Mo’s face, just inches away and still flush with the afterglow of their passion. Her eyes then fell to his open collar, where the fabric was still wrinkled from her nervous grip.

"I..." She opened her mouth, her voice barely a whisper. "Just now... was I really clumsy?"

She was referring to her inexperienced response.

"No," Chen Mo denied at once, his voice firm and filled with an undeniable sincerity.

He raised a hand, his fingertip gently tracing her glistening, inviting lips. His eyes were as deep as the ocean. "You were wonderful..."

His voice deepened, laced with a hint of apprehension and deep tenderness. "Just now... I was too eager."

"No... I... I was just..." Su Yuqing shook her head. She paused, as if searching for the right words. "I was just so... so happy. So happy I’m a little... dizzy."

She had finally found a fitting description, and a fresh blush bloomed on her cheeks.

Chen Mo’s heart felt as if it had been struck by the softest thing imaginable, making it ache with a sweet, overwhelming tenderness.

He gazed at her, his eyes falling on the small pink pearl nestled at the hollow of her throat. It shimmered with a soft iridescence in the starlight.

"Do you know why I gave this to you?" Chen Mo asked with a smile, reaching out to touch the small pendant with extreme care.

Su Yuqing shook her head, puzzled.

"Because it’s a lot like you," Chen Mo said softly, his voice filled with a unique tenderness. "Gentle and quiet, yet it has a glow that’s impossible to ignore."

At his words, Su Yuqing’s heart quivered. She looked down at the pearl, then back up into his loving eyes. An immense wave of happiness surged through her, threatening to drown her. Her gaze fell to his lips, and she felt the urge to kiss him again.

Suppressing the impulse, she reached out, wrapped her arms around his waist, and buried her face once more in the warm crook of his neck.

Having grown up with such insecurity, she had never been so sincerely cherished and truly seen by anyone before.

Those sweet words, praising her for a glow that was impossible to ignore, struck the very softest spot in her heart.

The two of them held each other tightly, neither speaking another word.

A cool night breeze blew past, but their bodies, pressed close together, shared a continuous warmth.

The starlight shone down on them like a silent blessing.

Time seemed to freeze. In the vast expanse of the world, nothing existed but their heartbeats, their breaths, and the immense peace and contentment brought by a love that, though newly budded, already felt bone-deep.

On a slightly lower stone ledge not far from the massive rock, Huang Mao was going through the most nerve-wracking moment of his life.

At the exact moment the light-and-shadow figures of Niu Lang and Zhi Nv came together in a grand embrace at the center of the Magpie Bridge, sending a shower of golden splendor raining down, a massive cheer erupted from the beach below.

It was a perfect moment, rendered by the fireworks to seem like a miracle descending to earth!

He took a sharp breath, as if mustering every ounce of courage he possessed. While Zhao Yuanyuan was still lost in the afterglow of the fireworks, he suddenly grabbed her by the arms and spun her around to face him.

"Yuanyuan!" His voice cracked with tension, loud enough to overpower the lingering roar of the fireworks.

Zhao Yuanyuan, startled by his sudden movement and serious tone, felt the excitement on her face freeze, replaced by pure bewilderment.

She blinked her wide eyes, looking at Huang Mao in confusion. "Yellow Hair? What are you doing? You scared me!"

"Zhao Yuanyuan! I... I like you!" Huang Mao practically roared the words. His face was flushed crimson with a mixture of excitement and embarrassment, and beads of sweat had even started to form on his forehead.

The hands gripping her shoulders trembled slightly, but his gaze was incredibly focused, locked on her eyes, afraid to miss the slightest reaction.

"I don’t know if it started back in high school, when I first sat behind you in class! Or maybe it was when you started stealing my snacks! Or when we started bickering and messing around... All I know is, the moment I saw your smile, that smile as brilliant as the sun, that’s when I started to like you! The cheerful, sunny you—from that first second, I couldn’t look away!

And I don’t mean ’like’ as in friends! I mean the kind of ’like’ where I want to date you! The kind of ’like’ where I want to be with you, always and forever!"

His confession came out in a rapid-fire burst, the words tumbling out at an astonishing speed. It was filled with a do-or-die urgency, as if his courage would vanish if he hesitated for even a second.

He had bottled it up for too long. The "lines" he had rehearsed countless times were completely forgotten; what poured out instead were the raw words and feelings that erupted in his mind, full of a young man’s characteristic awkwardness and sincerity.

However, none of the expected reactions—shyness, joy, or even an emotionless rejection—appeared on her face.

Zhao Yuanyuan looked as if she’d been hit by a freezing spell. She was completely rigid.

The expression on her face shifted rapidly from bewilderment to utter shock, and then... to a complete blank.

Her large eyes, usually so full of life and sparkling with a mischievous light, were now wide and round. Her pupils clearly reflected Huang Mao’s nervous, expectant face and, behind him, the fading streams of light from the fireworks.

"Huh...?" Zhao Yuanyuan managed only a single, faint syllable, her voice laced with utter disbelief.