This flying club was jointly funded by Jia Mian, Lin Yihui, and several other high school classmates.

Including Lu Huaizheng, these young men were considered passionate youth in the ancient city. Their bond was forged from growing up together in the military compound. After Lu Huaizheng’s father passed away, he moved away with his aunt, and what he missed most were his brothers.

Surprisingly, when they reached school age, they all somehow ended up together again, boisterously sticking together until the end of their nine-year compulsory education. Then they simultaneously enrolled in No. 18 High School. The night before the high school entrance exam, the boys sprawled across the sofas in Lu Huaizheng’s home, asking what school he wanted to attend.

Lu Huaizheng, playing video games, casually replied, “Whatever. I’ll go wherever I can get in.”

He was still at an age of playfulness, not taking anything seriously, especially studies. Though he read all sorts of books haphazardly, if he had applied his intelligence to study, he might have gotten into No. 3 High School.

Lu Huaizheng was quite disdainful at the time. He tossed his game console aside, lazily leaned back on the sofa, and half-jokingly declared with a long sigh: “I won’t go there. The girls at No. 3 aren’t pretty.”

At that age, they all had a strange curiosity about girls, and it was rare to hear Lu Huaizheng bring up this topic on his own. The room immediately erupted, as they excitedly discussed how a certain girl in class definitely had feelings for him, and how others had actively pursued Lu Huaizheng.

Lu Huaizheng just smiled at it all, not answering, and continued to pick up his game console.

Suddenly the screen went black—Lin Yihui had pulled the plug. Then, with a beaming smile, he pulled out a disc from his pocket, grinning obscenely as he waved it: “I just copied this a few days ago. Wanna watch? Wanna watch? It’s Sora Aoi, Huaizheng’s favorite.”

Lu Huaizheng kicked him hard, laughing and cursing: “Go to hell! Hurry up and plug it back in!” After speaking, he got up to use the bathroom. When he returned, he found these guys gathered around his TV watching adult content.

At that time, Lin Yihui was still very overweight, sitting on his sofa with layers of flesh, like a giant hamburger.

Lu Huaizheng went over and slapped the back of his head, genuinely angry: “Are you looking to die?! Why don’t you go to watch at your own home?! If my aunt sees this, I won’t let you off!”

Lin Yihui let him hit him, his eyes fixed on the screen, nearly drooling.

In reality, these boys were usually well-behaved. Apart from occasional joking around, they didn’t do anything outrageous and were typical Beijing boys. Lin Yihui seemed careless and disorganized in his words and actions, but when entrusted with a task, he was meticulous. Jia Mian was typically shrewd, sweet-talking, friendly to everyone, and even-tempered. As for the others, whether rough or polite, they all valued friendship and loyalty.

And then there was Lu Huaizheng, who appeared to have the least temper but had the strongest one.

He was agreeable with everyone—”Sure,” “Okay,” “That’s fine”—but when truly provoked, his face would darken, instantly making you feel smaller.

This group had seen and tried almost everything together.

Jia Mian slapped his thigh and had a sudden inspiration—let’s learn to fly planes!

At first, Old Man Xiang disagreed, and flying wasn’t easy to learn. He thought it was just his son’s passing interest. Unexpectedly, he had a friend in the Air Force, and within a few days, the approval certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration was secured.

Jia Mian was stubborn at heart and refused to take any money from his father. In the end, he gathered a few brothers, pooled together nearly three million yuan, and obtained the business license. Lu Huaizheng was still in a temporary position then and couldn’t put his name on it, but he contributed money without keeping track.

Jia Mian, however, recorded every bit of it, so Lu Huaizheng was also considered a young boss of the club.

Yesterday, when he learned that Lu Huaizheng was coming, Jia Mian thought it was a rare opportunity and decided to invite all their classmates from back then, making it a reunion. But Lu Huaizheng didn’t know about this.

As a group of people gradually arrived, Lu Huaizheng finally realized what was happening.

Now, Lin Yihui was taking Yu Hao around, introducing everyone. “This is Wang Tao, also from Class 8…”

A man with glasses waved at her.

She nodded.

“This is Zheng Yitian.”

The man smiled at her.

“Jiang Yue and Zhou Di…” After Lin Yihui finished, before Yu Hao could speak, Jiang Yue had already said, “We’ve met before.”

Yu Hao was startled.

Nearby, Zhou Di grinned and continued: “At Brother Chang’s wedding. You’re Sister Tao’s colleague, right?”

Now she remembered.

At that time, Zhao Dailin had said that Zhou Di’s smile resembled a recently popular young actor. Yu Hao didn’t pay much attention to entertainment news, but his advertisements had been numerous lately, leaving an impression.

Just as she was about to speak, Lu Huaizheng came up from behind, handed her a bottle of water, and looked at Zhou Di. “Why didn’t Lin Chang come?”

Zhou Di scratched his head, his eyes too innocent: “He seems to be getting divorced from Sister Tao lately.”

Hearing Song Xiaotao’s name, Yu Hao momentarily lost focus, her gaze unintentionally fixed on Zhou Di.

Then Yu Hao felt someone tap the back of her head. She looked over abruptly, but Lu Huaizheng wasn’t looking at her. He quickly glanced elsewhere, coughed, and didn’t speak, his brows slightly furrowed, showing some impatience.

Yu Hao realized she might have been staring at Zhou Di for too long…

Even the twenty-five-year-old boy was embarrassed.

Half an hour later, Jia Mian arrived. He hadn’t changed much—elegant and refined, with unremarkable features except for a pair of black grape-like eyes that shone brightly, making him look energetic. He hurriedly got out of the Porsche.

Two people followed behind him.

A man and a woman.

Lu Huaizheng was leaning at the door waiting, with Yu Hao standing at the side. When Jia Mian approached, he immediately noticed Yu Hao and greeted her first: “Huaizheng said he was bringing someone. I guessed it would be you.”

Yu Hao, also leaning by the door, lowered her head and smiled.

After speaking, Jia Mian looked at Lu Huaizheng. They hadn’t seen each other for some time. Jia Mian punched him lightly on the chest.

He remained leaning against the door, unmoved.

Jia Mian cursed: “Damn, you’ve gotten even more solid!”

Lu Huaizheng laughed but didn’t respond to him, instead going to greet the two people behind.

Behind stood a handsome man, next to a tall, slim young woman wearing a beige woven hat, dressed in a tank top with a long skirt, very beautiful.

The woman first glanced at Yu Hao, then shifted her gaze to Lu Huaizheng, smiling meaningfully: “Long time no see.”

Lu Huaizheng replied calmly: “Long time no see.”

Then Yu Hao felt a weight on her shoulder as Lu Huaizheng’s hand rested there. He turned to introduce her: “Song Ziqi, Kong Shadi.”

…

Song Ziqi was a civil aviation pilot, and Kong Shadi was a flight attendant.

But the relationship between these two seemed strange.

At the same time, Kong Shadi also thought the relationship between Yu Hao and Lu Huaizheng was strange.

The relationships between these two “couples” seemed odd—this was the impression of the others at the club.

For instance, Song Ziqi brought something for Kong Shadi to eat, but she wouldn’t touch it, insisting on getting another piece herself. Then she chewed and finished it all, deliberately avoiding his piece. When Song Ziqi handed her tissue, she acted as if she didn’t see it, reached past him to get a tissue herself, wiped her hands clean, and then lowered her head to play with her phone.

She completely ignored him.

Lin Yihui watched with amusement from the side and couldn’t help but interject: “Hey, are you unsatisfied with your boyfriend?”

Kong Shadi snorted: “He’s not my boyfriend.”

Lin Yihui’s expression became mysterious as he teased her: “Really? Then can I pursue you?”

Kong Shadi turned to look at him, smiling sweetly: “Sure!”

As a result, Lin Yihui was dragged away by Song Ziqi, who grabbed his ear. “Brother, I’m joking! Just joking! I really wouldn’t dare! People say, a friend’s wife—” It seemed Song Ziqi increased his grip, as Lin Yihui cried out in pain, “Slip of the tongue! It was a slip of the tongue! Damn! My ear!”

Compared to Kong Shadi, Yu Hao received the treatment of a respected sister-in-law. Teasing Kong Shadi might get your ear twisted by Song Ziqi at most. Plus, the young woman was naturally open and easygoing, speaking without thinking, so no one took offense.

Yu Hao was different.

Even the most mischievous ones like Lin Yihui and Jia Mian had been Lu Huaizheng’s brothers-in-arms since high school, and they knew how much Lu Huaizheng cherished Yu Hao—treating her like fragile porcelain that might break at the slightest touch. Even when fighting, with blood covering his head, if he saw it was raining, he’d stop everything, hastily wipe his face, and turn to bring an umbrella to his Yu Hao.

If anyone dared to have designs on Yu Hao, he would fight them to the death.

Back then, the brothers all knew that Yu Hao was his bottom line. They could joke about anything else, but when it came to Yu Hao, he softened. Seeing that after all these years, Lu Huaizheng’s feelings for Yu Hao hadn’t diminished at all.

Mainly because they couldn’t beat him before, and now after eight years as a special forces soldier, probably all of them combined couldn’t beat him. Who would dare bring trouble upon themselves?

So, they treated Yu Hao with the same respect as they would their grandmothers.

“Sister-in-law, let me turn on the air conditioning for you.”

“Sister-in-law, would you like some water?”

“Would you like some grapes? They’re specifically from Prussia, just air-shipped this morning…” Jia Mian paused, then said, “If you find peeling them troublesome, Sister-in-law, I can find someone to peel them for you…”

Lu Huaizheng, who was leaning in his chair looking at his phone, kicked him away, saying, “Enough, get lost.”

Among Lu Huaizheng’s brothers, Yu Hao was most familiar with Jia Mian, because whenever something happened, it was always Jia Mian who came to inform her. Sometimes when Lu Huaizheng was busy with training, he would have Jia Mian deliver things to her. Seeing him now, Yu Hao felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.

The two sat on the second floor of the flight base.

Hearing Jia Mian’s footsteps going downstairs, Yu Hao sat on the sofa and asked softly: “Is Jia Mian married?”

“No.” Lu Huaizheng put his phone back in his pocket, pulled the low table with grapes closer, popped one into his mouth, and then offered one to her, asking, “Want one?”

Yu Hao reached out to take it, lowering her head to slowly peel the skin. “Does he have a girlfriend?”

When she looked up, Lu Huaizheng had returned with a plate. He sat down next to her again, legs spread wide, holding a dark grape between his fingers. He inserted a toothpick into it, cutting along the core, and shaking his head. He glanced at her briefly, half-jokingly and casually saying: “You seem quite interested in my friends.”

After speaking, with one hand, he gently squeezed the two ends of the grape, and the slippery fruit emerged from its shell, bright and bare on the plate, as transparent green as jade, beautiful and plump.

Lu Huaizheng placed the plate in front of her. Seeing no response, he reached for another grape and continued his smooth, seemingly practiced grape-peeling motion. He looked back at her meaningfully and asked: “Zhou Di is handsome, isn’t he?”

After saying this, he peeled another grape and placed it on the plate, giving her a rare sardonic glance.

His expression was disapproving, but his hands didn’t stop. He continued peeling grapes for her one by one, and soon the plate was full.

Yu Hao looked at the plate of round, jade-like “jade beads” and asked, “Do you want me to be honest?”

Lu Huaizheng kept his head down, holding the toothpick in his injured hand, piercing a grape, and grunted.

“He is quite handsome.”

After Yu Hao spoke, she secretly observed him and noticed that he clenched his jaw, seemingly twitching slightly. Then he directly pierced through the grape, like it was on a skewer, motionless, as if it was stuck on the core. Then he tossed the toothpick aside and leaned forward to get another one from the low table.

“He has a girlfriend.”

Yu Hao let out an “Oh,” and muttered softly: “You’re not jealous of Zhou Di, are you?”

Lu Huaizheng silently continued peeling grapes, casually speared one with a toothpick, handed it to her, and said with a straight face: “No.”

It was as if he was using this action to prove he wasn’t jealous, though it seemed half-hearted.

“I was just lost in thought earlier, I wasn’t staring at him on purpose,” Yu Hao said.

Lu Huaizheng sighed, ruffled her hair, and said, “I know.”

“Are we going to stay here for three days?” Yu Hao asked.

He stroked her head: “Do you want to go back?”

“No,” Yu Hao said honestly: “I want to stay with you.”

Lu Huaizheng hunched over, had a thought, and nodded, “Then let’s stay a few more days.”

“Where will we sleep tonight? My luggage is still in your car.”

“Do you have enough clothes to change?”

Yu Hao thought for a moment, “Yes.”

He nodded, “I’ll go with you to get them later. There are no hotels nearby, just a few suites in the club, where Jia Mian and the others usually stay. I’ll have them prepare them. You and Kong Shadi will each have a room.”

“What about you?”

He had finished peeling the grapes and wiped his hands with a tissue, looking at her: “I’ll squeeze in with them.”

The club didn’t have many rooms, just four in total. Since there weren’t many people usually, apart from Lin Yihui and Jia Mian occasionally staying overnight, others rarely came. It was essentially a private base. Being in a suburban area, it wasn’t developed. Most people who came here to experience flying would return the same day after finishing.

Private gatherings like theirs were different; those who planned to stay overnight would usually book in advance.

As they chatted, the plate of grapes was nearly empty. When Jia Mian came up, he saw Lu Huaizheng taking a tissue to wipe Yu Hao’s mouth. The sight made him cringe so hard he felt goosebumps all over. Then he turned to see the empty grape skins piled on the empty plate, the peeling technique Lu Huaizheng’s.

Jia Mian thought to himself.

This is why women are willing to devote themselves completely to Lu Huaizheng.

Lin Yihui came up from behind, hooking his arm around Jia Mian’s shoulder as he leaned against the wall. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you going over?”

Jia Mian sighed: “We’re out there working hard measuring wind speed, while your brother Lu is in here coaxing his woman. Look at those grapes, all peeled by him, and sister-in-law ate them all.” At this point, he seemed a bit aggrieved: “She didn’t save even one for me.”

Lin Yihui thought it was no big deal and perfunctorily patted his shoulder to console him. “No need to measure anymore. We can’t jump today. It’s going to rain soon. Song Ziqi said we’ll have a barbecue tonight. Let’s just have some skewers and talk about tomorrow later.”

Lin Yihui had a loud voice. After he spoke, those two looked over.

Lu Huaizheng stood up and walked over. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s going to rain soon. Let’s jump tomorrow. Why don’t you take Yu Hao downstairs for a walk? Zhou Di has some model aircraft, newly developed. Want to take a look?”

When the two went downstairs, Kong Shadi was chasing Song Ziqi, seemingly trying to grab something.

He was cornered against the wall and had no choice but to capture her from behind, looking down at the girl in front of him, exasperated: “So many people are watching. What are you making a fuss about?”

Kong Shadi had a fearless attitude, clinging to him like a fish-catching creature, using both hands and feet. “I don’t care who’s watching! Give me back my phone!”

Song Ziqi said lazily: “Miss, take good care of your cervical spine. I see you’ve already developed a dowager’s hump. You’re always on your phone. It’s confiscated for now.”

Kong Shadi bit Song Ziqi’s shoulder, and he howled in pain, cursing loudly: “Damn, Kong Shadi, are you a dog?!”

The entire flight base was in chaos because of these two.

Before dinner, there was a heavy rain, and the mountains were shrouded in mist.

During dinner, the group started talking about their school days. Though they hadn’t been drinking, they all seemed drunk, their faces red and necks thick as they recounted past events.

“You don’t know, I later went back and saw Jin Gang again. Guess what? He got together with the widowed barber next door to us at that time. They didn’t even have a wedding, just hurriedly got their marriage certificate.”

Speaking of Jin Gang, they all looked wistful. They knew that although Jin Gang was fierce and not good at expressing himself, he truly cared for them like his own children.

“I was wondering why Jin Gang was always waiting at the entrance every Monday, catching one example after another and sending them straight to the barbershop. It was all to support Sister Hong’s business!”

“Sister Hong hasn’t had it easy either. Her husband died, and she raised her child alone. Jin Gang had been in the military before, very stubborn, and truly good to his wife. I went back to see him later, walking with his wife and child. His face was so full of smiles it was almost all wrinkles.”

Song Ziqi and Kong Shadi weren’t from the same school as them and had left early, going who knows where.

The remaining ones were all from No. 18 High School, drinking sparkling water while reminiscing.

Lu Huaizheng turned to look at Yu Hao and, amidst the noisy chatter, tucked her hair behind her ear, asking, “Are you bored?”

She shook her head.

Yu Hao quite enjoyed hearing them talk about their random stories. It was as if that vibrant, youthful time was right before her eyes. For a moment, she seemed to return to the night after Class 8’s victory in the basketball game.

It was just like this—the same group of people, with flickering lights casting shadows, brilliantly swaying in the candlelight. Everyone seemed slightly intoxicated, murmuring about those school events.

“Hey, do you remember?”

Beginning like this, countless memories rode on the clouds and dust of years, surging back.

They hadn’t changed much.

Still passionate, full of zeal, with promising futures, chaseable memories, hazily year after year, still carrying the spirit of youth.

Perhaps caught up in emotion, Jia Mian opened a few bottles of alcohol, and the talk increased. He suddenly stared at Yu Hao, smiled, and called out, his eyes reddened, either from drinking or on the verge of crying.

“Sister-in-law.” He gritted his teeth as he called out, paused, and poured himself a drink. Yu Hao stared at the liquid bubbling up, finding herself swept up in emotion as well. Then he said, “You truly are our sister-in-law. Thank you for coming back. You don’t know how my brother lived after you left.”

Yu Hao instinctively looked at Lu Huaizheng, but he remained expressionless, reaching over to take Jia Mian’s drink. However, Jia Mian clutched it tightly to his chest, tilting his head with a stiff neck, looking at the two of them. He seemed truly drunk.

“Don’t move!” He pointed a finger at Lu Huaizheng, not letting him touch the drink: “Listen to me. I know these things, if I don’t say them, you’ll never tell Yu Hao. My brothers and I just can’t stand seeing you suffer silently like this. There are already so many girls who like you. If you keep doing this, it makes it very difficult for us to find girlfriends, you know?!” At this, he seemed to whine, “I don’t care. Just pretend I’m drunk. If you want to hit or scold me, do it tomorrow. Tonight I’m drunk, so I’m the boss.”

Lu Huaizheng had also drunk quite a bit, and his head felt heavy.

Jia Mian swayed as he looked at Yu Hao and said: “Do you know how my brother has lived these past years?! He’s been waiting for you all this time, always waiting. Every time we told him to stop waiting, that you wouldn’t come back, he would say, what if? What if she comes back?!”

Lu Huaizheng kicked Jia Mian, telling him to shut up, but Lin Yihui blocked him, “Let him speak. You’ve been holding it in for so long, I’m afraid you’ll develop problems!”

Lu Huaizheng became angry: “What the hell do you know!”

The group of men held each other back, inexplicably red-eyed with emotion.

Then a clear, cold voice was heard, “Jia Mian, go ahead and speak. I want to hear it.”

Seemingly granted permission, Jia Mian hurriedly said: “In our sophomore year, a student in your class used prohibited electrical equipment, which resulted in a fire. We had just finished P.E. class when we saw thick black smoke billowing from your classroom. My brother was standing right next to me. As soon as he saw your classroom on fire, he threw down his ball and ran straight toward your classroom. At first, I didn’t understand why he was running, but then I realized it was because he had forgotten that you had already transferred to another school.”

“Once, Fat Hui was being extorted by some students from another school. My brother doesn’t like to solve problems with violence, but those thugs were too persistent. It was one of the few group fights during our student years. He was afraid you’d worry, so he lied to you, saying he went to training. Later, when you saw the wound on his head, you knew he had been in a fight. You were angry with him for days. You didn’t know that day, after fighting until exhausted, lying on the ground unable to move, it started to rain. He got up from the ground, grabbed his clothes, and left because you were in the library that day without an umbrella. He rushed to bring you an umbrella, not even treating his wounds. And then, you were still angry with him.”

“He doesn’t like us mentioning these things to you. I’ll only bring it up this once and never again.”

…

What Lu Huaizheng never expected was that.

No one left that night; they all stayed over. Apart from Yu Hao and Kong Shadi each having a room, the remaining two rooms had to be shared by eight or nine men. With eight or nine men squeezing into two rooms, it was impossible to sleep comfortably.

So everyone stared at Lu Huaizheng and Song Ziqi with resentful eyes.

Song Ziqi, without hesitation, grabbed his pillow and left.

Lu Huaizheng remained motionless, continuing to sit for three more minutes.

The remaining eight people’s gazes, fierce as wolves and tigers, were fixed on him as if they wanted to pierce a hole through him. He leaned back on the sofa, scratched his nose, and said, “I’ll leave too. There aren’t enough beds for all of you anyway. I’ll just sleep on the couch.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Everyone shouted in unison.

…