Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ruan Suxian ended up paying for the meal today, which Yan An felt was utterly baffling.

It was his first time encountering such a situation: taking a woman out for dinner, only for her to secretly and imperceptibly foot the bill without him ever noticing when she paid.

Was it when she went to the restroom? Or when she stepped out to take a phone call?

He had no idea, but for a brief moment, Yan An felt his pride take a hit—how did it look for a woman to pay the bill when going out for dinner?

However, Ruan Suxian immediately followed up with a radiant smile. "This meal is to thank President Yan for the help yesterday. I'm sorry for disturbing you so late."

Yan An curled his lips. "It was merely a trivial favor."

"I know it's small potatoes to President Yan," Ruan Suxian said, standing up to grab her bag while keeping her smile bright. "But to me and my friend, it was a huge hassle. If not for you, we would have had to contact property management late at night just to track down the car owner. It would have been such a headache."

Ruan Suxian carefully observed Yan An's expression. Seeing the relaxed, pleased smile gradually return to his eyes, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Truth be told, she also knew men were quite sensitive about this sort of thing, but she personally disliked putting herself at a disadvantage in a newly formed acquaintance due to tangible emotional debts like "being treated to dinner" or "accepting gifts."

It was just that the restaurant chosen by these wealthy second-generation heirs was absurdly expensive; her heart genuinely ached for a good while when she paid.

Oh well, imagining that the money had been fished straight out of Fu Mingyu's wallet made her feel significantly better.

Meanwhile, stroked by Ruan Suxian's flattering words, Yan An felt quite pleased. Leaving the restaurant, he noticed the evening was still young and the night breeze felt rather pleasant, so he casually suggested finding a place to sit down for a bit.

Knowing when to quit, Ruan Suxian didn't push her luck or bruise Yan An's ego at this juncture. She simply mentioned that she had a flight tomorrow and couldn't drink alcohol, to which Yan An readily agreed that they could just have some soft drinks to help digest the meal.

After thinking for a moment, Ruan Suxian said, "There's a small, cozy bar nearby run by a friend of mine. If you don't mind that it's a bit small, we can head over there. The environment is very clean."

Naturally, Yan An had no objections. A five-minute drive brought them straight to Bian Xuan's establishment.

It wasn't yet eight o'clock, so the place was relatively quiet. Bian Xuan was sitting alone behind the bar washing glasses, while only two or three female patrons chatted quietly in the main hall.

After leading Yan An to a table, Ruan Suxian walked over to the bar to say hello to Bian Xuan.

Leaning against the counter, Bian Xuan looked smilingly in Yan An's direction. "Boyfriend?"

"No."

Ruan Suxian grabbed a glass and poured herself some fruit juice. "Just an ordinary friend. Hurry up and make him one of your signature cocktails."

Bian Xuan blinked. "Just an ordinary friend? He looks pretty decent though—tall, handsome, and clearly loaded."

Ignoring her, Ruan Suxian picked up a tray with the glass and walked back to chat with Yan An.

Just like over dinner, conversing with Yan An was remarkably comfortable. Naturally, they didn't talk about work; they chatted about everything under the sun, occasionally cracking jokes that left Ruan Suxian in stitches.

The entire evening was thoroughly pleasant—right up until that small hiccup occurred.

At the time, Ruan Suxian had gone to the bar to grab some wet wipes. Seeing that Bian Xuan was swamped, she decided to drop off a glass of wine at Table 3 on her way back.

The lighting in the bar was somewhat dim. As she wove between tables looking for the number and bent down to place the drink, a customer suddenly stood up and bumped into her by accident, spilling the entire glass of wine across her clothes.

The customer looked deeply apologetic and hurriedly grabbed some napkins to help her wipe it down.

"I'm so sorry, miss. I didn't see you there."

"It's fine."

The moment she spoke, both of them froze.

"Ruan Suxian?"

Seeming unsure, Jiang Ziyue leaned in closer under the dim light to take another look. "It's actually you?"

Ruan Suxian stared at her blankly, remaining silent for a moment.

Ruan Suxian wasn't entirely unaware of the gossip circulating within World Aviation during that period—after all, walls had ears, and former colleagues had dropped hints to her. She had just joined Commercial Aviation back then, bogged down by internal recruitment and flight assessments, and by the time everything settled down and she traced the root of the trouble, who else could it have been besides Jiang Ziyue?

Still, Ruan Suxian hadn't bothered to investigate. She hadn't planned on having any further entanglement with World Aviation anyway, and later, after entering the flight academy, she was so exhausted every day that she collapsed into bed the moment she touched it, leaving her with zero energy to dwell on the matter.

Seeing her again now, Ruan Suxian felt a deeply subtle sensation in her heart.

This momentary silence only deepened a minor misunderstanding in Jiang Ziyue's mind.

Taking in Ruan Suxian's attire and glancing at the surrounding environment, Jiang Ziyue couldn't help letting out a soft sigh.

"I never expected such a coincidence, running into you here." Jiang Ziyue continued wiping down Ruan Suxian's clothes and, acting like an experienced senior colleague as she used to, adjusted Ruan Suxian's collar. "How have you been lately?"

"Pretty good," Ruan Suxian paused. "Are you off today?"

"Yeah, I'm transitioning to domestic flights now—four legs per rotation, much more relaxed." With that, she let out another long sigh. "I can't believe three years have flown by in the blink of an eye. Not long ago, some of our old colleagues were still bringing you up."

"Me?" Ruan Suxian smiled faintly. "What is there to talk about with me?"

Pulling out a fresh napkin to wipe her own hands, Jiang Ziyue spoke in a rather earnest, heart-to-heart tone. "It's just such a pity. You were young, pretty, and smart, and Wang Lekang liked you too. If you hadn't been so impulsive back then and quit, you'd easily be a purser by now, and maybe even have transitioned into management."

"Still, seeing that you're living quite comfortably now isn't bad either. After all, the flight attendant industry only looks glamorous on the surface; in reality, the suffering is endless. Even I can't stand those days of turning night into day anymore..."

Whether out of a guilty conscience or something else, once Jiang Ziyue got the conversational ball rolling, she simply couldn't stop.

However, Ruan Suxian didn't have as much leisure time as her. She had a flight early tomorrow morning, and right on cue, Bian Xuan called out to her from behind the bar, giving her the perfect excuse to say she was busy and head off.

Watching Ruan Suxian's retreating figure, Jiang Ziyue suddenly remembered something. She pulled out her phone, found the photo Ni Tong had sent her previously, and compared it against the figure by the bar, studying that silhouette intently.

Having already arranged for a chauffeur to wait on standby when they decided to go grab a drink, Yan An shared the back seat with Ruan Suxian on the return trip.

No sooner had they stepped into the car than Ruan Suxian received a WeChat message from Jiang Ziyue: I almost forgot to mention just now—when do we find some time to get together for a gathering?

Ruan Suxian couldn't fathom why people nowadays loved organizing gatherings for no reason at all, completely ignoring the lack of any real bond—especially when there was a guilty conscience lurking beneath the surface.

After a brief moment of thought, she replied: Well, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

As her phone screen flickered on and off, Yan An, sitting right beside her, caught a glimpse of her display.

"Do you like Japanese actors?"

"Huh?" Ruan Suxian asked reflexively. "You know him too?"

It was hard to imagine a man like Yan An instantly recognizing a Japanese male celebrity; it felt quite surreal.

"I do." Yan An lifted a hand to cradle the back of his head and rolled his neck. "Back in high school, what was it called again—Hana..."

"Boys Over Flowers."

"Oh right, Boys Over Flowers was super popular back then, and every girl in the class talked about it every single day until I got sick of hearing it."

Sick of it?

You guys wouldn't understand.

Ruan Suxian turned on her screen and took another appreciative look at her husband's god-tier visage.

It was normal—male jealousy was entirely expected.

Recalling his youth, Yan An continued, "What annoyed me the most was the girls at school constantly saying Fu Mingyu's vibe was just like that one guy..."

Ruan Suxian snapped her head up. "Who?"

Yan An scratched his temple. "What was his name again—Little, Little Chestnut?"

Ruan Suxian: "............"

"Little Chestnut my foot."

"Besides, his name is Shun Oguri."

"...Little Chestnut?" Choking slightly, Yan An flashed a wide grin. "You're really something else. Actually, I kinda feel that way too—he's way better at acting all aloof and pretentious than that guy."

...?!

Ruan Suxian stared at Yan An.

What is that supposed to mean?

Who is acting aloof and pretentious?

However, missing Ruan Suxian's murderous glare, Yan An turned away to take a phone call from his assistant.

Until the car pulled up downstairs, Ruan Suxian remained unilaterally furious at Yan An for insulting all high school girls everywhere.

How was he anything like him?

She replayed Fu Mingyu's appearance in her mind over and over again—they didn't look alike in the slightest, okay?

Was everyone collectively blind?

After Yan An left, Ruan Suxian stood in the elevator lobby, watching the numbers on the display descend into negative floors before slowly climbing back up, her mind still swarming with images of Fu Mingyu.

With a soft ding, the elevator doors slid open.

With her eyes glued to her phone, Ruan Suxian stepped in with her front foot and nearly got dragged in by her back foot.

What a coincidence; talk about the little chestnut and the little chestnut appears.

Giving him a sideways glance, Ruan Suxian marched straight to the opposite corner.

It seemed just like last time: the two of them were trapped in the same elevator yet exchanged zero conversation.

Ruan Suxian didn't even bother uttering a greeting, and Fu Mingyu fared no better—the moment the elevator doors opened, he couldn't avoid glancing at her before immediately looking away.

In reality, though, Ruan Suxian had secretly sneaked several peeks at Fu Mingyu.

Does he look like him?

Not really, their facial features are completely different.

But didn't Yan An say it was about his vibe, not his facial features?

Ruan Suxian sneaked a few more glances—and suddenly, there really seemed to be a tiny fraction of a resemblance.

Once you accept a certain premise...

No, stop right there.

He doesn't deserve it.

Sometimes, people could acutely sense when someone's gaze landed on them even in a noisy environment, let alone inside a confined, completely silent elevator.

Every few seconds, Fu Mingyu could feel the furtive gaze of the person beside him stealthily drifting toward his face.

He abruptly turned his head, and sure enough, he locked eyes with Ruan Suxian.

She was trying to look careful and nonchalant, but her expression actually carried a faint trace of complex internal struggle.

"..."

Ruan Suxian quietly averted her gaze, acting entirely artificial as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her fingers brushing against her slightly heated cheeks.

Getting caught red-handed while sneaking a peek naturally brought a flush of embarrassment, but she pretended as though absolutely nothing had happened.

This time, the tables turned, and Fu Mingyu's gaze landed on Ruan Suxian.

Openly and squarely.

"Did you go drinking?"

From the moment she stepped inside, Fu Mingyu had caught a faint whiff of alcohol on her.

"No."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"..."

Your powers of observation are truly terrifying.

Ruan Suxian adjusted her expression within a single second, and said with a dark, gloomy tone, "Does blushing always have to mean drinking? What if I just got back from doing a disco dance on top of someone's grave and the adrenaline hasn't worn off yet?"

Lacking the mood to spar with her witty retorts, Fu Mingyu said in a deep voice, "You have your inaugural flight tomorrow morning. Don't you know how serious an issue drinking is?"

"I already said I didn't drink." Hearing his tone of absolute certainty, Ruan Suxian felt it was a direct insult to her professional ethics, and an unnameable fire flared up inside her. "Is getting a glass of wine spilled all over me at a bar something I can control?"

A bar?

Before Fu Mingyu could carefully parse the ambiguous atmosphere implied by that location, the elevator doors opened, and Ruan Suxian strode right out.

Perhaps she was genuinely ticked off, or perhaps she felt a lingering awkwardness from getting caught sneaking glances at him moments ago—either way, Ruan Suxian didn't want to spend another secondary with him.

Yet Fu Mingyu suddenly called out to her from behind.

"Ruan Suxian."

Ruan Suxian turned back, looking at Fu Mingyu with a puzzled expression.

"What?"

"First, Yan An is from North Aviation. It's inappropriate for you to get so close to him."

Ruan Suxian arched an eyebrow.

And so?

"Second, Yan An is a playboy who switches girlfriends faster than he changes clothes. Think it over carefully."

Hearing those words, Ruan Suxian slowly turned around and looked straight at Fu Mingyu, as if seriously mulling over what he had said.

Yet a few seconds later, she piped up instead: "And what about you, President Fu? Are you a playboy?"

Clearly not expecting her to ask such a thing, pivoting the conversation directly from Yan An onto himself, Fu Mingyu frowned slightly, his thoughts spinning out of control.

"Don't compare him to me."

Ruan Suxian let out a soft hrumph and turned on her heel to leave.

That night, a gentle, drizzling rain descended upon the city whenever it pleased, before quietly fading away before dawn broke, clearing a bright expanse of sky for the rising sun.

Ruan Suxian slept soundly, waking up naturally just before her alarm went off.

The notion of being too nervous about an inaugural flight to fall asleep simply didn't apply to her; the moment her head hit the pillow, she could drop off into deep slumber instantly.

That didn't mean Ruan Suxian wasn't thrilled, however.

After finishing breakfast, she slipped into her freshly washed uniform, meticulously tying back her hair with such flawless precision that even her hairline looked razor-sharp.

The uniform fit her so perfectly it looked custom-tailored, smooth and crisp against her frame. It contoured her figure while concealing her voluptuous curves, radiating from inside out the exact same spirited, dashing air reflected in her gaze.

She skipped makeup entirely, applying only a layer of sunscreen. Every pore on her body felt as wide open and smoothly breathing as if she were taking in fresh air for the first time, giving her a profound sense of rebirth.

A completely unprecedented feeling welled up from deep within her heart, washing over her vision as a brand-new scroll slowly unfurled before her eyes.

Meanwhile, parked downstairs were two vehicles.

With the morning air crisp and refreshing, Yan An leaned against the door of his car, adjusted his tie, glanced sideways at the nearby vehicle carrying a chauffeur and Bai Yang, and let out a light sneer.

As the seconds ticked away, Yan An figured Ruan Suxian should be heading out soon, so he stepped into the first-floor lobby elevator bay.

Sure enough, the floor indicator for the right-hand elevator was slowly ticking downward.

Yan An smoothed back his hair facing the elevator doors, straightened his expression, and prepared to greet Ruan Suxian with a warm smile.

When the elevator doors parted, however, they welcomed the exact face he least wanted to see at this moment.

"Oh, President Fu, morning."

Fu Mingyu grunted an acknowledgment, casting an up-and-down glance at Yan An, who was dressed in uncharacteristically serious and proper attire.

"What are you doing here?"

"What else would I do? Naturally, I'm here to pick Ruan Suxian up for work."

Yan An flicked his lapel. "I must say, you guys at World Aviation are a bunch of penny-pinchers. You won't even assign some company cars to your pilots—what happens if someone runs into trouble trying to hail a cab?"

Ignoring him, Fu Mingyu raised his chin with a faint, smiling smirk. "President Yan, if I were to date someone from your company, wouldn't that feel a bit inappropriate? I notice you have plenty of top-tier talent too—why don't we negotiate a trade and transfer them over to us at North Aviation instead?"

The chime of the adjacent elevator sounded, but it was conveniently drowned out by Fu Mingyu's voice.

"Has anything even materialized yet?"

Accustomed to Fu Mingyu's cold barbs and often left speechless by his barbs, Yan An possessed absolute confidence today.

"I'd say yes. We click amazingly well; it was love at first sight."

"Is that so?" The corners of Fu Mingyu's lips curled up slightly. "Funny, I feel like she's more interested in me."

"...?"

Standing inside the elevator and having listened to the entire conversation, Ruan Suxian took a blank, deadpan, deep breath, then instinctively clenched her fists tight.

What's this? The rain cleared and the weather got nice, so now you think you're back in the game?

She took a step forward, stomped her way right up to Fu Mingyu, completely brushing past Yan An who had been squeezed to the side, and declared: "President Fu, you really are a busy person prone to forgetting things. Do you seriously not remember me?"