Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Catching Fu Mingyu's expression, Ruan Suxian squeezed out a beaming grin.

"Then off you go, then."

With that, she turned to head toward the cockpit.

Before she had even taken two steps, her wrist was grabbed by someone.

Before she could even turn her head, Ruan Suxian began struggling. When she couldn't shake free, she finally spun around.

"President Fu, even if you are the president, if you block me from returning to the cockpit, I'm fully within my rights to have a safety officer deal with you."

Hearing this, Fu Mingyu immediately released his grip.

"Apologies."

Apologies?

Ruan Suxian stared at Fu Mingyu in disbelief.

Was this scumbag of a man being so easy to talk to today?

He apologized just from being threatened for a second?

Deciding that she wasn't the type to nitpick over such trivial matters, Ruan Suxian lifted her chin slightly, considering the score settled.

It was just that this scumbag possessed quite a bit of strength.

She rubbed her wrist; from that brief grab just moments ago, it was still aching a little.

If he ever got seriously ticked off in the future and decided to throw hands, she wasn't guaranteed to come out on top.

Pondering this, Ruan Suxian figured she should quit while she was ahead.

——Assuming Fu Mingyu didn't go out of his way to provoke her further, that is.

With nothing else left to say, Ruan Suxian turned squarely on her heel and headed to the cockpit.

Three hours later, the aircraft touched down smoothly.

The invited media representatives didn't linger and departed the plane in an orderly fashion.

By the time Ruan Suxian disembarked, it was right around noon. After a two-hour rest, this same flight would make its return leg back to Jiangcheng.

Captain Fan proposed that they all grab lunch together, and with no objections raised, the group dragged their flight cases and hurried toward the restaurant.

With their long legs and brisk strides, Captain Fan and the others walked ahead, leading the pack. Busy looking down at her phone, Ruan Suxian gradually lagged behind by a step without realizing it.

The moment she turned her phone back on, a flood of notifications poured in as friends in the know reached out to ask how her inaugural flight had gone.

Bian Xuan and Si Xiaozhen proved to be the most down-to-earth, directly dropping red packets into the group chat.

Opening them with eager anticipation, she found five yuan and twenty fen.

Now that was truly thoughtful.

Ruan Suxian sent back a smiley-face emoticon.

[Bian Xuan]: A token gesture is enough. Your salary is so high, do you really care about our little red packets?

[Si Xiaozhen]: Exactly. Logically speaking, today is your big day of celebration, so you should be the one sending us red packets.

No sooner had Si Xiaozhen finished typing than five separate red packets worth two hundred each landed in the chat. Relying on her fast fingers, she snatched three of them, leaving Bian Xuan with only two.

[Bian Xuan]: You woman, sending five of them was totally intentional, wasn't it?

[Si Xiaozhen]: Hehe, our Ruan Ruan is just rolling in cash.

[Ruan Suxian]: Don't say I'm playing favorites. I'll send another batch; grab them yourselves.

With that, she dispatched a few more red packets. This time, Bian Xuan managed to win back her losses and felt thoroughly satisfied.

[Bian Xuan]: Thank you, Captain Ruan. Wishing you rapid and soaring promotions~

[Si Xiaozhen]: And a simultaneous thank you to President Fu for blessing the common folk~

[Ruan Suxian]: What does this have to do with him?

[Si Xiaozhen]: Didn't half your annual salary come straight out of his personal account?

[Ruan Suxian]: ......

[Ruan Suxian]: Once it hits my bag, it's my money. It has nothing to do with him anymore.

[Si Xiaozhen]: Alright, alright~ Captain Ruan is the boss today; Captain Ruan calls the shots.

Hearing herself addressed as "Captain" over and over again felt immensely gratifying to Ruan Suxian. Feeling thoroughly pleased, she sent two more red packets across.

After soaking in a wave of rainbow-fart flattery, Ruan Suxian exited the group chat. Scrolling down, she saw that Yan An had also sent a message.

[Yan An]: Landed safely? Flight went well?

[Ruan Suxian]: Very OK.

[Yan An]: Good to hear. What time is the return flight?

Seeing a question phrased like that, Ruan Suxian could more or less guess what Yan An was about to say next.

She figured that if Yan An really wanted to invite her out for dinner tonight, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world; it was just that she expected to be completely exhausted after the afternoon return flight, making it pointless to force herself out to see Yan An when she was dead tired.

[Ruan Suxian]: Landing around seven, probably.

Sure enough, the very next second, Yan An sent out his invitation.

[Yan An]: Then how about grabbing dinner together tonight?

[Ruan Suxian]: Let's save it for next time. I'll be pretty beat today and just want to go home and rest.

[Yan An]: Got it. Have a pleasant flight this afternoon, then!

[Ruan Suxian]: Thanks.

Just as she exited the chat window with Yan An, a new message popped up.

It was from Fu Mingyu, asking where she was.

Ignoring it, Ruan Suxian tucked her phone away.

The few minutes she had spent glued to her phone had caused her to lag behind by quite a few paces, and the cabin crew trailing behind had already caught up to her.

"Copilot Ruan! Copilot Ruan!"

Hearing someone call her, Ruan Suxian stopped in her tracks and looked back.

The junior flight attendants hurried over with dainty steps. "Do you have a shift scheduled for tomorrow?"

Ruan Suxian nodded. "I do. Why?"

During the initial line-training phase, flight hours weren't tracked quite as rigidly as they were for fully qualified pilots, meaning she had flight duties lined up for the next two days straight.

One of the flight attendants pouted. "We were hoping to invite you out to hang out and go shopping if you had any free time."

"Let's wait until I have some downtime." Ruan Suxian glanced backward. Jiang Ziyue was trailing in the rear, and seeing them halt, she too had slowed her pace, looking somewhat reluctant to catch up with them.

"Let's exchange WeChat contacts, then!"

"Sure."

Ruan Suxian pulled out her phone again to let them scan her QR code. While this was happening, Jiang Ziyue strode past them and took the lead.

"Manager Jiang."

Once she finished adding them, Ruan Suxian quickened her pace to walk alongside Jiang Ziyue.

Left with no choice, Jiang Ziyue slowed her steps to march shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

"You've barely said a word all day," Ruan Suxian remarked. "Is something on your mind?"

Perhaps women were simply sensitive, or perhaps Jiang Ziyue truly had something weighing on her conscience, but she kept feeling as though Ruan Suxian's words had a hidden meaning.

"Ruan Ruan." Jiang Ziyue simply came to a halt and turned to look at Ruan Suxian.

Stopping as well, Ruan Suxian lowered her gaze slightly to meet Jiang Ziyue's eyes.

"What is it?"

Jiang Ziyue scuffed the tip of her shoe against the ground, mustered her courage, and said, "After you resigned back then, some rumors started floating around the company about you and President Fu. Did you know about them?"

Ruan Suxian nodded. "I caught wind of a few whispers vaguely."

It was an entirely expected answer; Jiang Ziyue had never imagined she would be completely oblivious, just as she hadn't expected Ruan Suxian to ever return to World Aviation.

Besides, back then... she hadn't genuinely intended to spread the rumors far and wide; she had merely felt anxious upon seeing Ruan Suxian dining with Captain Yue in London. Driven by a touch of malice, she had muttered a few things to her close colleagues, never dreaming that it would spread from ten to a hundred people and snowball beyond all control.

"At the time... I told them the actual situation, but people always tend to believe whatever suits them. Still, try not to dwell on it; that business happened so long ago, and staff members have cycled in and out over and over again. No one brings it up anymore."

Ruan Suxian stared at Jiang Ziyue in silence for a long moment.

Just as she saw goosebumps starting to prickle across the other woman's back, she smiled and patted her shoulder. "Let's leave it at that, then."

With that, she turned to walk away, but Jiang Ziyue hurried after her. "And as for President Fu..."

Suddenly, a male voice cut Jiang Ziyue off.

"Miss Ruan!"

Turning toward the sound, Ruan Suxian and Jiang Ziyue saw Bai Yang walking toward them.

"More trouble?"

Why did Fu Mingyu have so many things to deal with today?

Hearing the tone of Ruan Suxian's voice, Bai Yang paused in his tracks.

What sin had he committed to deserve being sent to light this powder keg?

"President Fu would like to invite you to join him for lunch."

Having delivered his line, Bai Yang stared quietly at Ruan Suxian, vowing not to utter a single extra syllable.

Jiang Ziyue looked at Ruan Suxian in astonishment.

President Fu?

Lunch?

It wasn't just Jiang Ziyue who was baffled; the person involved, Ruan Suxian, was equally bewildered.

Did this man seriously harbor the firm conviction that she was interested in him?

Inviting her to lunch, of all things.

Was he going to whip out a room key any second now and say, "Miss Ruan, since you're so interested in me, I'll give you a chance"?

Terrifying.

Ruan Suxian didn't answer immediately, causing Bai Yang to exhale a sigh of relief.

As long as she was considering it, it was fine—she had better not refuse, otherwise he'd have to trot back and trigger the other powder keg.

"Is he..." Ruan Suxian began slowly, "that idle?"

Bai Yang: "......?"

"He's... not particularly busy, I suppose."

"Well, I am very busy."

Seeing that Bai Yang still wasn't leaving, Ruan Suxian gave him a wave. "Just tell him you couldn't find me, wouldn't that finish the job?"

An epiphany struck Bai Yang like a bolt from the blue. He thought to himself—that made sense; the airport was massive, and it was entirely normal if he failed to track Ruan Suxian down.

Feeling a wave of relief, he turned around and began walking back.

He hadn't even taken two steps when he spotted Fu Mingyu standing in the distance near the exit, his face dark as he stared fixedly in the direction Ruan Suxian had just departed.

Bai Yang's feet instantly felt as though they had been filled with lead.

"President Fu..." Bai Yang walked over gingerly. "Miss Ruan is probably rather busy, and the flight crew still has..."

"Forget it."

Interrupting Bai Yang, Fu Mingyu turned on his heel and strode toward the VIP passageway.

Forget it?

Bai Yang froze in place.

The powder keg just... went out like a damp squib?