Blossom through the Cloud - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

"Achoo!"

Stepping out of the cafeteria, Ruan Sixian let out yet another sneeze.

This time she was certain that someone was talking trash about her behind her back, and most likely, it was Jiang Ziyue.

What was wrong with this woman anyway, telling her to stay away from Yue Chen?

Had she actually done anything?

For the better part of the past year, she had actively avoided Yue Chen whenever she saw him, barely exchanging a few words. What else did the woman expect? Should she stop landing altogether and spend her entire life flying up in the sky?

Truth be told, if she actually wanted to have something going on with Yue Chen, they could easily chat over the radio waves even while flying in the air.

To put it plainly, it was just overestimating one's man, thinking he was some precious treasure that everyone wanted to snatch the moment they laid eyes on him. She didn't even stop to think about what kind of reputation Yue Chen had within Century Airlines. Everyone knew what he was like—which girl looking for an honest, steady life would dare marry him, not to mention worrying about saving the cost of buying a hat after getting hitched?

Ruan Sixian felt that she shouldn't have expressed her thoughts so bluntly just now. Instead, she should have put on a pitiful, delicate expression and said to her: "I'm so sorry, I didn't think you'd misunderstand. Captain Yue and I really have nothing going on; we just chatted a bit to catch up. I'll make sure to keep my distance from him in the future, and I truly hope you won't let any rift form between us because of him."

Just that single line would have guaranteed a chaotic, sleepless night for Jiang Ziyue.

Still, turning out the way it did was fine too.

Ruan Sixian knew that her other colleagues had been receiving invitation cards one after another, and she had一worried that Jiang Ziyue might feel obligated out of social pressure to hand her one as well.

Now that she knew how wary Jiang Ziyue was of her—and that they had already torn off the polite facade—she no longer had to worry about that.

What did this go to show?

It showed that Jiang Ziyue was simply praising her beauty in a rather alternative way.

While pondering all this, Ruan Sixian had no idea that she was currently on the receiving end of a direct, unabashed wave of internet praise.

[Do promotional videos still hire models these days? Can't they just use their own employees?]

Two hours prior, right after the promotional Weibo post went live, someone left this exact comment under Century Airlines' official account. The social media manager specifically replied to it: Not a model, oh! This is one of our company's pilots.

Consequently, the usually sparse comments on the official account instantly surged past a thousand.

[Pilot-jie! I'm down! I am totally down!]

[Excuse me, is visual attractiveness one of the recruitment and assessment criteria? If so, I'm not applying.]

[Sister is insanely gorgeous! Quick, tell me her flight number, I'm booking a ticket right now!]

[As expected of someone who flies in the sky—is this an immortal fairy descended from the heavens?]

[Are you kidding me... female drivers are already nerve-wracking enough, can you actually trust a flight operated by a female captain?]

[Heh, some pathetic losers still look down on women. Was your mother even born just so you could go around discriminating against women? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror—could you even become a pilot if you tried? Oh wait, I forgot, pilots don't accept people with disabilities, and being brain-dead counts as a disability too.]

[I'm down for the other captains too! Can someone drop the link to their Weibo profiles?]

After a night of online fermentation, the post racked up tens of thousands of reposts, and the topic "Century Airlines Female Pilot" quietly climbed into the top twenty trending searches.

When Ruan Sixian woke up in the morning, her phone nearly lagged out entirely.

Her usually quiet Weibo notifications were suddenly flooded with all kinds of comments and private messages, and her follower count shot up rapidly over the course of a few days.

Still slightly dazed, Ruan Sixian pieced together the root cause based on the contents of the DMs.

However, there were simply too many comments, leaving her with no way of knowing how all these people managed to stumble upon her personal Weibo account in the first place.

Her profile picture was a half-body shot taken by the Seine River a few years ago, and her handle was a slightly chuunibyou-sounding "Shoulder to Shoulder with the Sun," so everyone easily confirmed her identity.

Ruan Sixian opened up her direct messages to browse through them. The vast majority were sent by other girls.

Some wanted to make friends, some simply came to confess their admiration, and others did nothing but spam screaming-chicken reactions like "Ahhhhhhhh."

Naturally, there were also very straightforward and blunt DMs expressing explicit intentions, usually consisting of just two words: "Hook up?"

Ruan Sixian was genuinely curious about where such people got their confidence. Curiosity compelled her to click on one profile to check their page, but a sudden surge of self-preservation instincts made her back out immediately and block them entirely.

Which woman wouldn't be thrilled after receiving a mountain of compliments from total strangers?

Delighted, Ruan Sixian took a screenshot, and just as she was about to send it to Bian Xuan and Si Xiaozhen, her screen suddenly cut to an incoming phone call.

She hadn't saved the number, but she knew who was calling.

After swiping to answer, Ruan Sixian remained silent, and the person on the other end also paused for a moment.

"Ruanruan, was that female pilot on Century Airlines' official Weibo today you?"

Still sitting cross-legged on her bed, Ruan Sixian tilted her head and uttered a faint, "Mhm."

Dong Xian's voice instantly softened.

"Why didn't you ever tell me? I always thought you were still working as a flight attendant."

"You never asked."

The sound of Dong Xian sniffing came through the phone line. "Ruanruan, you've achieved your dream, and Mom is genuinely happy for you."

Hearing that, Ruan Sixian felt no ripples in her heart, nor did she have anything to say in response.

Their phone calls were always like this—frequently lapsing into unprovoked silences.

Dong Xian couldn't understand why Ruan Sixian had gradually turned out this way toward her, treating her with such extreme coldness and at times even a hint of hostility.

"Ruanruan, today is your birthday. Let me cook you a meal."

"No need," Ruan Sixian said. "I've already made plans with a friend."

This was countless times she had turned down an in-person meeting, and Dong Xian was already accustomed to it.

Today was different, however. The photos online had left her dazed for a long time, making it hard to believe that the daughter who always gave her the silent treatment had changed so dramatically. She desperately wanted to see her. "Then can I have a cake delivered to you?"

"My friend is already ordering a cake for me. Anyway, I have to go, I need to get to work."

Dong Xian drew a sharp breath and let out a long sigh. "Alright, I won't disturb you anymore."

After hanging up the call, Ruan Sixian lay back down to resume her sleep.

Meanwhile, after Ruan Sixian soared to become the KPI lucky koi of Century Airlines' publicity department, the official account seized the trending momentum to drop a second wave of promotional copy, thoughtfully attaching several more photographs of Ruan Sixian.

Fu Mingyu scrolled through the Weibo comments with a calm expression, then suddenly let out a faint chuckle. "People really do love everything she touches."

Bai Yang chimed in from the side: "Anyone with working eyes would."

Fu Mingyu shot him a look, and Bai Yang immediately directed his gaze inward and downward, pretending he hadn't said a word.

Fu Mingyu tapped back into Ruan Sixian's Weibo profile, checked her follower count, and instructed, "Tell the publicity department to know their limits and stop over-exploiting her image."

"Understood."

Just as Bai Yang turned to carry out the order, Fu Mingyu called him back. "Have the items been moved over?"

"I arranged for movers; everything should be settled by this afternoon."

Fu Mingyu nodded, and Bai Yang walked out.

Simultaneously, a call came through on Fu Mingyu's personal phone.

Frowning with a hint of surprise, he wondered why Dong Xian would suddenly be calling him.

"Auntie, is something the matter?"

"Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask a small favor."

"Go ahead, please."

"That female pilot featured on Century Airlines' official Weibo today—could you tell me her flight schedule for today? I need to reach her about something."

"I'm sorry, Auntie, but I can't disclose that information."

While speaking, Fu Mingyu had already pulled up today's flight roster.

Ruan Sixian had maxed out her flight hours for the month and was scheduled for a day off.

Hesitating for a moment, Dong Xian tried again: "Then you don't have to give me specifics, just tell me roughly what time she gets off duty."

Fu Mingyu smiled. "Auntie, I have so many pilots under my command; how could I possibly know when every single one of them finishes their shift?"

He then followed up with a question: "Do you know her?"

Dong Xian uttered a soft "mhm."

Fu Mingyu replied, "If you know her, you can just call her directly. Don't you have her contact information?"

"Ah, yes." Dong Xian feigned agreement. "Sorry to trouble you, I won't keep you from your work."

"Alright."

The dial tone echoed through the phone. Holding the device, Fu Mingyu watched as the screen automatically reverted to the photo of his little troublemaker— -

By evening, dark storm clouds rolled in before the sun could even set, carrying the heavy threat of a torrential downpour.

Rejecting the driver's offer, Fu Mingyu drove himself back to Minchen Apartments.

Before he could pull into the underground parking garage, he spotted a black Porsche parked outside the main gate. A middle-aged driver sat in the driver's seat, while beside the car stood a woman holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying a cake box in the other.

Fu Mingyu hadn't met Dong Xian many times, and the gloomy, rainy weather obscured her features, making her look only vaguely familiar. It wasn't until he stepped into the elevator that he remembered who she was.

Although he didn't know the full story between Ruan Sixian and Dong Xian, Fu Mingyu could roughly deduce that if Ruan Sixian had any desire to see her, Dong Xian wouldn't need to go out of her way to call him and fish for flight schedules.

Failing to get any information from him was precisely why she had to go to such lengths, running around to track down her residential address.

Fu Mingyu's finger hovered right above the button for the 16th floor, but thinking of this, he shifted his finger down slightly and pressed the button for the 14th floor instead.

The elevator glided to a halt.

Before the doors even fully opened, Fu Mingyu heard someone singing off-key enough to rival Siberia.

As the gap between the doors slowly widened, Ruan Sixian, dressed in a striking red dress, abruptly cut off her singing.

She offered a small cough to mask the embarrassment of her terrible tone, then slipped into a poised, dignified smile.

"President Fu heading off work?"

"Mhm." Fu Mingyu looked her up and down. "In a good mood today?"

"Decent enough."

Ruan Sixian stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor as the doors slowly closed.

When the elevator began its descent, she suddenly asked, "Are you heading upstairs or downstairs?"

"Downstairs."

"Oh."

Ruan Sixian's mood had actually been somewhat gloomy today. Bian Xuan's grandmother had fallen ill a couple of days ago, forcing her to rush back to her hometown, leaving only Si Xiaozhen to accompany Ruan Sixian for her birthday. Midday, she had also received that call from Dong Xian; while the woman's concern couldn't quite be said to have ruined her day, it certainly didn't bring her any joy either, leaving her stranded in an awkward middle ground where she felt neither up nor down.

Yet by the afternoon, she had received countless waves of internet praise that practically drowned her in compliments, making her feel as though she truly was an immortal fairy descended to the mortal realm.

Naturally, immortals shouldn't let mundane matters bother them.

While it wasn't appropriate to sing out loud in front of Fu Mingyu, her bubbling happiness couldn't be suppressed, and her brain started up its own internal concert while her fingers tapped out rhythms behind her back.

However, the heavens always liked to hand out a little punishment to fairies visiting the mortal world.

When the elevator stopped at the eighth floor, a premonition struck Ruan Sixian that Erlang Shen had dispatched his Celestial Hound to drag her back to the heavenly palace.

The dog hadn't arrived yet, but its barking came first.

Ruan Sixian's internal concert instantly short-circuited.

Oh, how wonderful wealthy people had it.

If she hadn't lived in a multi-unit complex, Ruan Sixian would never have been able to demand that residents in the same building be barred from keeping dogs.

Silently backing into a corner, she clutched the handrail and stared in terrified caution at the incoming dog.

With her nerves strained and her palms cold, her peripheral vision caught the mirrored reflection of the elevator doors showing the two figures drawing closer and closer, until they nearly merged.

The crisp, clean scent of cold fir radiating from his body also grew closer—Ruan Sixian's line of sight was slowly blocked by his broad chest, leaving her staring directly at his crisp shirt and collar.

Lifting her gaze to look at him, Ruan Sixian blinked, utterly failing to understand this maneuver.

She was pinned right in the corner, yet Fu Mingyu's frame practically enclosed her within that right angle.

The only difference from before was that he was facing her instead of turning his back.

The narrow space instantly compressed so tightly that even breathing became difficult.

He kept his head lowered, staring straight down at her.

His gaze was exceptionally placid, as if he were simply maintaining his habit of looking straight ahead.

Yet his eyes were glued unblinkingly to her face!

Ruan Sixian couldn't handle it; she couldn't sustain this kind of eye contact with Fu Mingyu.

Averting her face, her heartbeat accelerated out of control.

Hold on, if you're trying to block the dog, fine—what on earth is the meaning of standing right in front of me facing me?

Sure, the dog was blocked out, but this posture was way too bizarre.

If she had known, she would have rather faced the dog—it was vastly more relaxing than facing this jerk of a man.

Aside from the chaotic sounds made by the dog, Ruan Sixian could hear nothing save the sound of her own breathing and heartbeat.

As she lowered her gaze, Fu Mingyu could clearly see the brown eye shadow dusted over her eyelids, her upturned eyeliner, and her exceptionally long, curled eyelashes.

Recalling the past, he realized this was probably the first time in over half a year that he had seen her wearing makeup.

"Dressed up so pretty—who are you going to see?"

Ruan Sixian: "..."

Out of the entire sentence, her brain locked onto a single word: "pretty."

Moreover, she discovered that while she had accepted thousands of online compliments with total ease—even forwarding them to Si Xiaozhen and the others—a single word of praise from Fu Mingyu actually made her blush.

She muttered two low syllables: "A friend."

"Male or female?"

Ruan Sixian's voice dropped lower: "None of your business."

"Just asking," he murmured slowly. "Male or female?"

Who casually interrogates someone twice like that?

Ruan Sixian didn't want to answer, but the shadow looming overhead carried an oppressive weight that pressed her head down, making it impossible to look up.

"Male."

"Oh." Fu Mingyu seemed to know she was answering out of spite, and followed up: "Then are you coming home tonight?"

"Not coming back."

"Then I'll drive you over."

His tone was far too direct, offering no room for negotiation.

"No need."

"Are you sure?"

Right on cue, the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors slid open, letting in the pattering sound of heavy rain from outside.

Ruan Sixian: "..."

She had closed her windows before heading out to focus on applying her makeup, completely failing to notice that it had started raining outside.

The dog owner pulled the pet outside, only to freeze in place after taking two steps.

Seizing the opening, Ruan Sixian hurriedly hit the close-door button.

By the time the dog owner recovered, the doors had already shut.

Yet Fu Mingyu remained standing right where he was, unmoving.

Reaching out, Ruan Sixian gave his chest a light shove while hitting the basement parking button, saying urgently, "Hurry up, let's go." -

Arriving at the parking garage, Ruan Sixian climbed into the passenger seat and pulled out her seatbelt to buckle up, when a sudden thought struck her, bringing a faint smile to her lips.

Fu Mingyu: "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing," Ruan Sixian said. "Just thinking that your passenger seat is actually quite comfortable to sit in."

"Mhm," Fu Mingyu nodded. "And it's not a seat just anyone gets to occupy."

Averting her face, Ruan Sixian stayed quiet.

If the conversation continued down this path, there was only one possible destination.

A man's front passenger seat indeed carried special implications at times.

Just then, Si Xiaozhen suddenly called.

With severe rainstorms altering weather conditions and forcing numerous flight routes to be rerouted, Si Xiaozhen couldn't leave her post as a dispatcher and had to pull overtime.

"..."

It wasn't a deliberate abandonment; that was simply the nature of the job. Ruan Sixian understood completely, but disappointment still settled in.

Resting his hands on the steering wheel, Fu Mingyu turned his head to look at Ruan Sixian.

"Your friend isn't coming?"

He sounded almost like he was gloating.

Turning away, Ruan Sixian remained silent.

Fu Mingyu began unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Then let's go back up."

Offering neither words nor objections, Ruan Sixian said nothing.

With a torrential downpour raging outside, if she had to eat alone at a restaurant on her birthday, her loneliness index would simply be off the charts.

Stepping back into the elevator, Ruan Sixian's atmospheric pressure hit rock bottom, completely stripping away the elation she had felt when heading out.

Lowering her head to press the button for the 14th floor, her hand was suddenly pulled away by Fu Mingyu.

"Come upstairs and eat with me."

Without waiting for her reply, he pressed the button for the 16th floor instead.

Fine.

Depressed and heavy-hearted, Ruan Sixian lacked the energy to struggle or argue.

She didn't want to spend her birthday eating a lonely meal by herself anyway.

Fu Mingyu barely scraped by as a decent human being sometimes; she supposed she could make do.

Upon reaching the 16th floor, Fu Mingyu punched in his fingerprint scanner while unbuttoning his jacket.

As the door clicked open, a sudden thought crossed his mind, and he turned back with a smile. "You dressed up so pretty today, and in the end, the only man who gets to look at you is me."

With a humorless smile, Ruan Sixian replied, "Yep, lucky you."

Stepping inside, he shed his jacket, tossed it over the sofa, and walked toward the kitchen in his shirtsleeves.

Peeking her head in, Ruan Sixian asked, "Not ordering delivery?"

"Nope."

"Can you cook?"

"Decently enough."

Opening the refrigerator and surveying the fresh ingredients stocked by his housekeeper, Fu Mingyu asked, "What do you want to eat?"

"A full imperial banquet."

Ruan Sixian raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Can you do that?"

Ignoring her, Fu Mingyu rummaged through the fridge shelves, looked back over his shoulder, and asked, "Longevity noodles—want some?"