Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

No one knew how much time had passed. With the door to the conference room ajar, the number of passing people gradually increased until Jiang Ziyue gave two light coughs. "Alright, stop messing around. The captain will be coming up soon."

Just as her words fell, the door to the conference room was pushed open, but the person who entered was Wang Lekang.

His face, which usually wore a cheerful smile year-round, was crumpled into a tight knot, dark and stormy. Everyone could naturally guess that nothing good had happened.

The room full of people looked at one another in dismay, none of them daring to speak first. They could only hold their breath and stare at Wang Lekang.

Wang Lekang strode over and stood before the conference table, a belly full of fire waiting to be vented as his expression shifted back and forth.

Yet given that he was habitually refined, he rarely resorted to shouting even when enraged. In the end, he simply raised a finger and pointed at the few people before him.

"Did you all forget everything I said at the last meeting? Let me tell you, behave yourselves from now on. You can do whatever you want after your shift ends, but while you're on the clock, keep yourselves in line! If anyone pulls any more nonsense, pack up and get out of here!"

Ruan Sixian furrowed her brows slightly.

She was planning to deliver a letter to Fu Mingyu on the plane shortly.

Could Wang Lekang possibly be directing that at her?

Surely not; he didn't know anything about it.

Yet when people felt a guilty conscience, they always suspected that everyone else's glances held a special meaning. Ruan Sixian lifted her head, hoping to search for some trace of a clue on Wang Lekang's face, but unfortunately, all she saw was his fury-laden back and the door he had slammed shut, which was still trembling slightly.

Leaving a room full of people utterly baffled.

— "What is wrong with the boss today?"

— "Who knows? Has his menopause started early?"

— "Who on earth provoked him?"

Someone suddenly snapped out of it. "Could it be because President Fu is on this flight today?"

— "No way, we were just talking about it today, how could he possibly know?"

"Alright." As the purser, Jiang Ziyue vaguely felt it had something to do with the jokes they had just been sharing. "Get yourselves ready to board."

In the end, no one dared to guess why Wang Lekang had flown into a rage, but they genuinely didn't dare to step out of line. Once they boarded the plane, every single one of them behaved as docilely as emotionless robots.

After the captain completed the walk-around aircraft inspection, the boarding gate prepared to let first-class passengers board first.

Before that, however, they had to welcome a special guest first.

The captain led the flight crew, and Jiang Ziyue led the cabin crew, standing respectfully at the cabin entrance.

Ruan Sixian should have stood in the second row, but she was the tallest and stood out too much in the crowd, so she automatically retreated to the very back row.

Half a minute later, the person everyone had been waiting for finally appeared from the jet bridge.

At that exact moment, Ruan Sixian distinctly felt a subtle shift in the surrounding atmosphere, with several flight attendants beside her leaning forward by a fraction.

The midnight night sky was as thick as ink, with only the stark white incandescent light of the corridor illuminating the way.

Fu Mingyu strode forward, holding his phone and speaking on a call.

Until he neared the cabin entrance and saw the dense crowd of people, he frowned almost imperceptibly, immediately ending his call.

Following closely behind him was another young man of similar age, presumably an assistant or secretary.

The two of them walked one after the other into the aircraft, sweeping their gazes across the group.

Inside the spacious cabin, a wave of oppression materialized out of nowhere.

Ruan Sixian secretly sized him up, her heart beating like a drum.

She must have lost her mind to believe Si Xiaozhen's nonsense, actually harboring the extravagant hope that someone like this could soften up for even a moment.

Clearly, this man had "I have no heart" written all over his entire being.

The captain, who was somewhat older, smiled warmly and said, "President Fu, welcome aboard this flight."

Fu Mingyu extended a hand to shake his, uttering a brief "Thank you," before glancing toward the cabin crew. He crashed straight into Ruan Sixian's assessing gaze without any warning.

Their lines of sight collided. Before Ruan Sixian had time to react, he looked away and stepped directly into the first-class cabin.

An unvarnished, blatant dismissal.

Ruan Sixian even wondered if that glance just now had been nothing more than an illusion.

After the aircraft entered its cruising altitude, the flight attendants began to move about. While bustling in the galley, the first-class flight attendants still couldn't resist quietly discussing Fu Mingyu, who was sitting right in the front row.

Ruan Sixian also snuck a few glances as she passed by Fu Mingyu's seat.

He and his secretary were seated in the same row, with the overhead reading light switched on, deepening the sharp contours of his face.

In person, he looked even more striking than in the photograph.

With a man like this—the chairman's son, parachuted into senior management at such a young age—it was hardly any wonder that people's imaginations ran wild.

Ruan Sixian stroked the letter tucked inside her bag, having already backed out in her mind countless times.

In this world, how many people were truly different on the inside than they appeared on the outside? Fu Mingyu's entire aura demonstrated that he had always stood above the clouds; expecting him to be even one-tenth as easygoing as a normal person was a delusion, let alone hoping for anything else.

Yet as Si Xiaozhen had said, giving it a try wouldn't cost her anything. If it didn't work out, so be it.

Thinking along these lines, Ruan Sixian slowed her pace slightly as she walked, pondering how she should broach the subject with him later.

Just at that moment, it was time to serve coffee, giving Ruan Sixian a burst of momentum as she immediately walked toward the galley.

Jiang Ziyue was preparing food right next to her, pulling faces at the refrigerator while muttering under her breath.

Ruan Sixian had her mind occupied and didn't pay attention until Jiang Ziyue poked her.

"Why are you zoning out?"

Ruan Sixian coughed twice to mask her awkwardness. "What did you just say? I was focusing on the coffee temperature."

Jiang Ziyue glanced cautiously toward the passenger cabin and said, "Let's swap with each other in a bit. You go serve the passengers on the left, and I'll take the right."

The right side—where Fu Mingyu was.

Ruan Sixian pressed her lips together and didn't agree right away.

Jiang Ziyue nudged her gently with her shoulder. "Deal?"

Ruan Sixian forced a smile and agreed, then asked, "Why the sudden switch, though?"

Jiang Ziyue was plating some fruit, staring fixedly at an orange as she poked it with a fork. "My ex-boyfriend is over there."

"Huh?"

Ruan Sixian glanced outward.

Compared to encountering your boss while on flight duty, running into an ex-boyfriend had an even lower probability.

Ruan Sixian asked again, "Didn't you check the passenger manifest yesterday? How do you look like you had zero mental preparation?"

"I did check it, but there are so many people named 'Zhang Wei' in the entire world, how was I supposed to know it was him?" Jiang Ziyue dropped a piece of orange as she spoke, picked it up, and hurled it forcefully into the trash can. "So unlucky!"

Ruan Sixian pulled her further into the galley, lowering her voice. "A passenger is coming out from that side, keep your voice down."

Jiang Ziyue forced her expression back into shape, though she still couldn't help muttering, "He even deliberately flirted with me during boarding. Asshole, stinking asshole, men are all assholes."

Ruan Sixian patted her shoulder to soothe her emotions. "Don't get too worked up. He's just an ex-boyfriend; just treat him like an ordinary passenger."

"My foot an ordinary passenger. What ordinary passenger is that much of an asshole?" Jiang Ziyue looked solemnly at Ruan Sixian once more. "Seriously, you're still young. Once you've been through a few more relationships, you'll know—men are all assholes."

Ruan Sixian hummed in agreement twice, keeping her promise to swap with Jiang Ziyue, and the two of them split up to head out.

After finishing the meal service for the entire row, Ruan Sixian went around pouring coffee for the passengers who requested it.

When she reached the end of the aisle, she turned her head to look at Fu Mingyu's row.

Jiang Ziyue had already moved on with the meal cart, while Fu Mingyu sat with his head lowered, looking at the iPad on his tray table.

The palms of Ruan Sixian's hands grew slightly warm. After a moment of hesitation, she walked toward Fu Mingyu.

"Sir, would you like some coffee?"

Fu Mingyu didn't raise his head, simply reaching out to push his cup forward slightly. "Thank you."

Ruan Sixian bent down to pour the coffee, paused for a beat, and didn't leave immediately.

Sensing her abnormality, Fu Mingyu lifted his eyes and looked over.

His eyes were long and narrow, with fan-shaped, slightly open double eyelids that reined in the sharp hostility of his entire face, yet the upturned corners of his eyes added an extra touch of unbridled flair.

Only, when he cast a cold glance at someone, no matter how picturesque the scenery, it was mixed with frost.

Ruan Sixian lost her nerve quite pathetically and retreated.

About an hour later, Fu Mingyu's secretary called her over to refill their coffee.

Ruan Sixian took out the letter, tucked it beneath the base of the pot, and walked over once more.

After pouring coffee for the secretary, she turned her gaze to Fu Mingyu.

He was still holding his iPad, and the screen displayed a 3D structural diagram of the aircraft's interior.

The image was exceptionally clear, and Fu Mingyu zoomed in on the details, his fingers sliding across the screen as if he had automatically blocked out everyone around him.

He was so focused that Ruan Sixian felt terribly embarrassed to disturb him, yet the letter pressed against the bottom of the pot constantly reminded her: time and tide wait for no one, time and tide wait for no one.

Still, he looked genuinely busy. Even if she gave it to him, he might not necessarily read it.

Just as Ruan Sixian was undergoing a fierce battle within her own mind, the secretary spoke up, "Is there anything else?"

Ruan Sixian was so nervous she panicked, saying in a low voice, "Do you need a coffee refill?"

The secretary raised an eyebrow and tapped his finger against the coffee cup in front of him, which still had half a cup left.

Ruan Sixian took his silence as a sign that he didn't need any, and turned back to Fu Mingyu.

"Do you need a coffee refill?"

Fu Mingyu curled his fingers slightly, resting them against his chin as he lightly rubbed it.

Only then did he raise his head to look at Ruan Sixian.

"No."

From the moment he lifted his gaze to look at her, Ruan Sixian knew this would be his answer. She wasn't surprised, nodding as she turned to leave.

Meanwhile, Fu Mingyu cast a sideways glance at her retreating back, the look of impatience in his eyes growing even denser.

As luck would have it, the secretary chuckled softly beside him. When Fu Mingyu looked over, the secretary instantly reined in his smile and handed him a sheet of paper.

"This is the draft proposal for the ACJ31."

As Fu Mingyu reached out to take it, he glanced once more at the figure walking away ahead.

Just how on earth did Wang Lekang handle things?

After a short while, this flight attendant predictably returned with the coffee pot again.

She seemed to be holding something else in her hand.

It looked like a letter.

Pink.

Fu Mingyu raised his head and stared straight at Ruan Sixian.

The woman standing before him wore Hengshi Airlines' traditional light blue uniform, possessing delicate and pretty facial features.

Furthermore, she was tall, with a slender waist, long legs, and an exceptionally fine figure.

Pity that, beautiful as she might be, she was completely devoid of memorable traits: heavy makeup, red lips, stiff smile, utterly cliché.

Seeing Fu Mingyu unblinkingly sizing her up, and remembering that she was asking an unreasonable favor of him, Ruan Sixian grew even more nervous. Her head buzzed, her throat tightened, and she said in a low voice, "Sir, would you like a coffee refill?"

As she spoke, she clutched the letter tucked beneath the base of the pot tightly, her fingers shifting nervously as she gently pushed the letter forward, wondering when the right moment would be to slide it across.

This tiny movement was captured entirely by Fu Mingyu.

Fu Mingyu saw the clear expression of hesitation mixed with expectancy appear across her face.

He turned off the iPad screen, rolled back his cuffs a fraction, and said offhandedly, "Do you not want to do this job anymore?"

Ruan Sixian froze for a second. Thinking of the contents of that letter, she replied, "Yes, I don't want to be a Shihang flight attendant anymore, I want to be..."

Fu Mingyu lazily rotated his wrist, lifted his eyelids, and spoke.

"The boss's wife?"

Ruan Sixian: "...Huh?"

"Keep dreaming."

"..."

Ruan Sixian stood frozen for quite a long while.

Only a single thought echoed in her mind.

Men are all assholes.