Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

If you looked at this person, he would say things like "we're even now" with his mouth, but his actual actions showed that he still held a deep grudge.

Ruan Sixian felt that she still shouldn't speak more than three sentences to Fu Mingyu, whether past or present.

Therefore, for the sake of both parties' physical and mental health, she chose to remain silent; otherwise, she couldn't guarantee whether she might have an outburst of passion and start spewing colorful curses.

However, while getting into the elevator, she glanced a few times at the medical bag in Fu Mingyu's hand. It was translucent, and she could make out a few boxes of medicine inside.

So much for being a straightforward guy—what good was taking medicine when he had a visible handprint on his face? Topical treatments were always the most effective.

"Did you not use the stuff I gave you?" Ruan Sixian said. "Why are you so distrustful of me? Taking medicine definitely isn't as useful as applying something externally."

Fu Mingyu glanced at her, looking as though he didn't want to speak at all, and only spat out three words after a long moment.

"Stomach medicine."

Oh.

No wonder she felt his energy wasn't too great today; it turned out he wasn't injured by her slap, but rather suffering from stomach trouble.

Returning home, Ruan Sixian flipped through a food delivery app. After browsing around, she found that she had grown tired of all the nearby restaurants and lacked any appetite, so she decided to cook something herself.

There wasn't much in the refrigerator, save for plenty of dumplings that Si Xiaozhen had frozen for her. Ruan Sixian took out a pack, brought a pot of water to a boil, and dropped ten dumplings in.

Just as she was about to put the remaining dumplings back into the freezer, however, she suddenly remembered the medicine Fu Mingyu had been holding earlier.

Stomach issues were probably caused by irregular eating habits.

By the time the thought crossed her mind, she was already considering boiling another portion of dumplings.

Yet when she saw the dumplings bobbing and dipping playfully in the boiling water, Ruan Sixian suddenly snapped back to reality.

She hadn't even eaten yet, so why was she borrowing trouble and worrying about whether he had eaten? If he wanted a meal, all it took was a single phone call and plenty of people would run errands for him.

In the end, she only boiled a single bowl of dumplings for herself.

Fifteen minutes later, the piping-hot dumplings were cooked and scooped out.

She was starving, dished them into a bowl, and brought them to the table, only to discover she was out of vinegar.

Unbelievable.

It was only then that she remembered she had used the remaining half-bottle of vinegar last week to clean out the drain.

Currently, she had three options: first, go downstairs to buy some herself; second, order a delivery runner; third, go upstairs and borrow a bottle of vinegar.

The dumplings were already cooked and steaming. Weighing the three methods, Ruan Sixian concluded that only the final option could get food into her mouth before the dumplings went cold.

Mhm, she nodded to herself and sent a text message to Fu Mingyu.

[Ruan Sixian]: Do you have any vinegar at home?

He replied rather quickly.

[Fu Mingyu]: ?

[Ruan Sixian]: I'm out of vinegar. Can I borrow some?

[Fu Mingyu]: Come get it yourself.

Ruan Sixian happily prepared to head out, but while changing her shoes, a sudden thought struck her, prompting her to ask one more question.

[Ruan Sixian]: Have you eaten?

[Fu Mingyu]: Not yet.

Fine, considering that the slap from yesterday had been a bit too devastating, Ruan Sixian decided to cede this bowl of dumplings to Fu Mingyu first.

However, when she arrived at Fu Mingyu's doorstep carrying the steaming bowl of dumplings, she found his driver standing there holding a food container.

The two of them locked eyes, and Ruan Sixian suddenly realized what was going on.

Simultaneously, the door clicked open.

Moving a step faster than Ruan Sixian, the driver handed over the container. "President Fu, your dinner."

Fu Mingyu took the container, then looked over at the nearby Ruan Sixian.

His gaze lingered on the dumplings in her hands before he spoke. "Didn't you say you were coming to borrow vinegar?"

"Oh, right." Ruan Sixian maintained an unruffled expression. "I'll just step inside, pour a little out, and leave."

Fu Mingyu didn't object, letting her step inside while the driver took his leave.

"The vinegar is in the kitchen. Go look for it yourself."

"Okay."

Carrying her bowl, Ruan Sixian walked into Fu Mingyu's kitchen and looked around.

Alright, same apartment complex, same building, yet the floor plans were truly worlds apart.

She hadn't paid much attention during her last visit, but it turned out the 01-units on each floor were massive—even the kitchen alone was bigger than her living room.

Hengshi Mining Co., Ltd. was living proof of wealth.

Though Fu Mingyu's kitchen was huge and fully stocked, everything was completely brand new, with even the condiments remaining unopened.

When Ruan Sixian found the vinegar, she even checked the expiration date.

Good, it hadn't expired.

Just then, Fu Mingyu walked into the kitchen to grab a pair of chopsticks. As he passed by Ruan Sixian, he said, "Take it with you. I don't use it anyway."

"No need," Ruan Sixian said. "I'll just pour out a little."

With that, she stripped off the outer plastic seal and gripped the cap to twist it open.

Huh?

It was this tight?

She applied a bit more force, but it still wouldn't budge.

Was she really going to let a bottle of vinegar defeat her?

Ruan Sixian twitched her neck, tightened her grip around the bottle, and poured all her strength into it. Right as the cap was about to give way—she noticed Fu Mingyu looking at her with a rather strange expression.

How to describe that look? Ruan Sixian felt as though his entire face was stamped with the question: "Is this motherfucker even a woman?"

Recalling that the handprint from her slap was still faintly lingering on his face, Ruan Sixian subconsciously relaxed her grip, her mind scrambling to figure out how to naturally and unpretentiously fake the expression of someone who simply couldn't open a bottle.

"Can't open it?"

Before she could even put on her performance, Fu Mingyu saw right through it.

Ruan Sixian nodded. "Yeah, this cap is way too tight."

Tilting his head, Fu Mingyu looked down at her. "Why don't you just smash it open with your fist?"

Ruan Sixian: "..."

He really wasn't treating her like a woman at all.

She took a deep breath, reminding herself: This guy apologized, and you already slapped him in the face, so stop chewing him out mentally.

"President Fu, I am a woman."

Fu Mingyu let out an "oh." "Then why don't you smash it open with your cute little pink fist?"

"..."

To hell with holding back.

"I'll smash your head with my cute little pink fist!"

Ruan Sixian lashed out with a kick toward his shin, but the cunning jerk seemed to have anticipated her diversion—while talking trash about fighting, his feet were ready.

He nimbly sidestepped to dodge the blow, while simultaneously swiping the bottle of vinegar right out of her hand.

With a gentle twist, the cap popped right off.

Ruan Sixian stood there in quiet speechlessness.

He handed the bottle back, lifted his eyelids slightly, and raised an eyebrow. Ruan Sixian felt as though he was about to expose her charade of pretending she couldn't open it.

Ruan Sixian looked up at him, waiting for him to gloat.

"Didn't you say drinking vinegar makes you throw up? Trying to lose weight today?"

"..."

At that moment, Ruan Sixian realized that her constant urge to hit this man wasn't actually because of that incident from a few years ago.

It was simply because this man was pure, unadulterated, and thoroughly—asking for a beating.

So much so that even her dreams tonight featured him.

She dreamed she had arrived at a seaside beach.

The sky here was deeply blue, the sunlight brilliantly bright, the seawater crystal clear, and the sea breeze tender.

She spotted Fu Mingyu standing right there.

She rushed forward and kicked him.

Damn it, her foot hurt—that bastard's shell was way too hard! -

Early the next morning, Ruan Sixian woke up an hour earlier than usual.

Having heard about the exploits of today's supervised training instructor, Helan Feng, she specifically went downstairs for a morning jog, hoping to present her absolute best mental state to this instructor.

With just one minor caveat: word was he was Fu Mingyu's uncle. She just hoped Fu Mingyu didn't inherit the family personality.

Unfortunately, fate didn't align with her wishes. Before Ruan Sixian even reached the Dispatch Department, she ran into a few pilots along the way who were chatting about the fact that Helan Feng would be supervising her flight today.

They said his strictness wasn't just ordinary strictness; he excelled at launching soulful interrogations against first officers from multiple angles.

For instance, during one training flight, the first officer misread the altimeter and kept desperately climbing even after reaching cruising altitude. Helan Feng suddenly turned to the first officer and asked: "Young man, did you bring an oxygen cylinder?"

First officer: "N-no, why?"

"You dare fly out into outer space without bringing an oxygen cylinder?"

While listening to this story, Ruan Sixian caught sight of Fu Mingyu's figure appearing in the distant glass corridor.

Great, looks like it really is a family-inherited personality.

Ruan Sixian pumped herself up, collected her flight task assignment sheet and the day's aviation weather report, stopped by the aviation medical office and air traffic control to obtain their signatures and stamps, and headed to the conference room.

She was the first to arrive. The conference room was still quiet, and she reviewed her navigation charts with single-minded focus until the cabin crew members walked in.

Before she could even greet them, another person entered.

Everyone turned their heads to look. The newcomer was dressed in uniform, tall and well-proportioned, with a striking appearance and spirited posture—at a glance, he clearly shared blood ties with Fu Mingyu.

However, even the wrinkles on his face seemed to spell out the word "strict."

Since everyone in the conference room was female, the atmosphere instantly turned solemn.

Walking into the conference room, Helan Feng's gaze landed straight on Ruan Sixian, and upon noticing her uniform, he looked momentarily surprised.

A few seconds later, however, as if recalling something, he let out a low chuckle with his head bowed down.

Everyone in the room was a bit bewildered.

Wasn't the rumor that this instructor was exceptionally harsh? Super difficult to deal with? Why did he start laughing the moment he walked in without saying a word?

Clueless, nobody dared to ask.

Realizing he might have lost his composure slightly, Helan Feng cleared his throat with his fist pressed against his mouth. "Ahem, let's begin."

Throughout the entire pre-flight briefing, Ruan Sixian began to doubt the rumors she had heard.

Wasn't this instructor quite amiable and easygoing?

He hadn't interrupted her once during the briefing, and even tossed out a couple of compliments praising how meticulously she reviewed her navigation charts.

"Alright, let's head over."

Helan Feng picked up his water cup for a sip when someone knocked on the door from outside and announced, "There's a change to today's flight crew roster."

Everyone looked over as the person continued, "President Fu is scheduled to attend a meeting in Xicheng today, but there's heavy fog over there and flights can't depart, so he's flying to Lincheng first. Since your flight timing aligns, he and Secretary Bai are taking jump seats to lock in some crew slots."

Helan Feng choked on a mouthful of water, bending over into a fit of coughing. Ruan Sixian rushed over to pat his back. "Are you alright, sir?"

Waving a hand, Helan Feng rasped, "I'm fine, just a bit surprised."

Ruan Sixian didn't understand what was so surprising about that; aviation personnel traveled for work all the time, and hitching a jump seat was a common occurrence.

Yet when Ruan Sixian checked the passenger manifest earlier, she remembered there was only one empty passenger seat left on this flight—were Fu Mingyu and Bai Yang going to squeeze into it together?

The person at the door sensed Ruan Sixian's confusion and added, "President Fu is taking the cockpit jump seat."

Ruan Sixian: "..."

Fine, since he was a certificate holder, obtaining special authorization to enter the cockpit was a breeze for him—after all, he was a certificate holder himself. -

Yet when Fu Mingyu took his seat in the rear of the cockpit, Ruan Sixian still felt the atmosphere turn bizarre.

She never would have expected there would come a day when she'd bump into Fu Mingyu sitting right inside the cockpit.

As she put on her headset, she glanced backward. The palm print on his face had already vanished completely.

Meanwhile, Fu Mingyu wore a placid expression, showing no emotional shifts whatsoever upon catching Ruan Sixian's gaze.

Seated beside her, Helan Feng kept turning his head to eye Fu Mingyu with a beaming smile.

"What brings you running into the cockpit?"

Knowing what his uncle was grinning about, Fu Mingyu didn't mind at all and answered flatly, "Heavy fog in Xicheng; flights can't take off."

He didn't bother offering any excessive explanations—the reality was what it was, and since flights were operating normally, who would willingly take a detour? Besides, there was nothing he could do about whatever wild theories his uncle was cooking up.

Helan Feng was indeed deliberately teasing Fu Mingyu.

He hadn't officially started supervising flights yet following his aircraft conversion training, but Fu Mingyu had proactively brought it up to him and arranged a shift assignment.

Normally, a matter like this would never require Fu Mingyu's personal attention, leading Helan Feng to assume that the first officer assigned this time must be a pilot he deeply appreciated.

Yet the moment he laid eyes on Ruan Sixian, as a man, he understood— -

Inside the cockpit, Fu Mingyu remained exceptionally quiet, not uttering a single word because he had closed his eyes to sleep the moment he boarded.

At this point, Ruan Sixian was checking the preparation checklist in silence.

Originally, discovering that Helan Feng was actually easy to get along with had completely dispelled her nervousness, but ever since Fu Mingyu walked in, she found herself losing her ease once again.

Right, he was the boss; who wouldn't feel nervous working with their boss watching?

Noticing Ruan Sixian's tightly furrowed brows, Helan Feng asked with a smile, "Are you especially terrified of me?"

"Huh?" Ruan Sixian looked up. "Not at all, sir."

"Well, you look quite tense."

"Having an instructor present makes any captain feel nervous."

"I bet those guys were just talking trash about me behind my back. Don't worry, though, I'm very amiable toward female pilots." He chuckled—especially when it was a rather unique female pilot at that.

Ruan Sixian nodded. "Mhm, thank you."

As soon as she said that, Helan Feng glanced back at Fu Mingyu.

Wonderful, he was still asleep and seemed entirely unbothered.

Throughout the pre-flight preparations, Helan Feng said almost nothing else, leaving the operations entirely in Ruan Sixian's hands.

It wasn't until the aircraft was pushed back that he spoke up in a serious tone: "During takeoff roll, you must counteract crosswinds by applying downwind rudder, but don't rush to press the control column. Just as the wheels leave the ground and the wind picks up slightly, be mindful of banking marginally into the wind. Overdo it, and the spoilers will deploy, negatively affecting aircraft performance and handling."

Ruan Sixian nodded. "Understood."

"After liftoff, the aircraft will automatically establish a drift angle. Pay attention to bank angle corrections."

"Got it."

"When the time comes, shift your visual focus from outside to inside the instrument panel. Ensure your attitude alignment is free of bank angles upon entering the instruments, and keep it level when transitioning."

"Understood, sir."

"Alright, that's about the gist of it. You handle the controls from here on, I'll keep watch, and ask if you run into any issues."

Ruan Sixian put on her headset and communicated with the air traffic control tower. Soon enough, the aircraft taxied onto the runway and began its takeoff roll. Helan Feng also focused intently on monitoring Ruan Sixian's movements.

The moment the push-back sensation hit, Fu Mingyu slowly opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on Ruan Sixian.

He could see her profile, as well as her eyes behind her sunglasses.

She looked at the instrument panel with intense focus, communicating with the tower in a solemn, serious manner, completely devoid of any makeup.

Yet at this moment, she possessed a unique charm that Fu Mingyu had never witnessed in any other woman.

As the aircraft sped down the runway at lightning speed, watching the person operating it filled Fu Mingyu's chest with a swelling sensation.

At the exact moment of liftoff, a soft curve touched the corners of Ruan Sixian's lips.

Fu Mingyu's gaze lingered unblinkingly, and his heartbeat skipped a beat right then.

He took a deep breath, though finding it rather difficult to exhale smoothly— -

Half an hour later, the aircraft entered its cruising phase.

Helan Feng unfastened his shoulder harness, stretched his limbs, and remarked, "Not bad, your takeoff just now was absolute perfection."

Hearing a compliment from this particular instructor brought a smile to Ruan Sixian's face that she couldn't suppress no matter how hard she tried.

Unable to resist, Helan Feng turned back to look at Fu Mingyu once more. "Why have you been sleeping the whole time? Aren't you going to offer a word of evaluation for your employee?"

Fu Mingyu opened his eyes, swept a cool glance over Helan Feng, and replied, "With you here, what qualifications do I have to offer any evaluation?"

Helan Feng let out a light huff, then suddenly turned to Ruan Sixian and asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Hearing that question, Fu Mingyu's eyelids twitched and his brows knitted together, though the person sitting up front couldn't possibly notice his expression.

Ruan Sixian froze for a second. "Huh?"

"Just asking out of curiosity," Helan Feng said. "People our age love chatting about these things."

"Oh..."

Why hadn't her colleagues warned her that this instructor loved gossiping during the cruise phase?

"No, I don't."

"Then you need to hurry up," Helan Feng said. "The absolute best period to sort out your personal life is while you're still a first officer. Once you become a captain later on, you'll be way too busy, and it won't be convenient anymore."

"Oh... noted."

"I'll keep an eye out and help you scout around when I get the chance."

"Oh... thank you..."

"What's there to thank me for, small matter." He hesitated for a moment, glancing sideways at Fu Mingyu. "What do you think of my nephew? The one sitting right back there. He's handsome, young, promising, and single too. How about you consider him for a boyfriend?"

Ruan Sixian replied almost without a second thought: "I think he's terrible."

The cockpit plunged into an abrupt silence, sinking into an eerie and awkward stillness.

Helan Feng rubbed the bridge of his nose, awkwardly turned his head away, and prepared to change the subject to break the ice.

Right at that moment, the man behind them let out a soft scoff. "Have I ever been your boyfriend? How can you be so certain I'd be terrible as one?"

Ruan Sixian found it amusing. "Do I really need to crawl inside a refrigerator and freeze for a couple of days just to evaluate how well it cools things?"

"Yes."