Jiang City, autumn.

A gust of wind scattered the thick clouds covering the moon in the night sky, brightening the light cast on the ground. The rice in the fields reflected a dark golden color, rippling into shallow waves with the wind.

It was the early morning in the suburban farmland, so quiet it seemed as if the plants were asleep.

The old asphalt road connected to the field ridge followed the light ahead, abruptly cut off by a yellow painted line. On the other side lay the magnificent airport runway.

At this hour, the airport was completely different from the fields—brightly lit and bustling with activity. A Boeing 737 landed smoothly as more than a dozen shuttle buses moved forward in an orderly fashion.

Ruan Sixian pulled her flight case and walked quickly toward the Cheng Heng Airlines cabin crew meeting floor, her feet swift and her forehead beaded with fine sweat.

Inside the elevator, she took out her phone and checked the time: twelve forty-one. Less than five minutes remained before the pre-flight coordination meeting.

The elevator doors opened, and Ruan Sixian hurried through the crowded hall and turned toward the meeting room corridor.

Several flight attendants wearing the same blue uniform as hers stood at the door of meeting room B32, chatting together.

“Ruan Sixian, why are you just arriving now?” Jiang Ziyue asked, turning around from the group.

Ruan Sixian had made it just in time and sighed with relief. “I ran into something on my way out.”

As the chief flight attendant, Jiang Ziyue felt obligated to remind her: “Pay more attention next time. Everything else aside, you know today’s flight is particularly important.”

Ruan Sixian nodded in agreement.

Today’s flight from Jiang City direct to London was one of World Airlines’ core international routes.

What made it special was that Fu Mingyu, the Vice President of World Airlines, would also be on this flight.

Fu Mingyu usually traveled by private jet and rarely took World Airlines flights, so Jiang Ziyue, as the chief flight attendant, had briefed the cabin crew in their small group chat as soon as she saw his name on the passenger list.

Ruan Sixian glanced at the meeting room again. “They haven’t come out yet?”

Jiang Ziyue: “No, don’t know what this flight crew is dawdling about. Our captain is still in the restroom.”

“Then I’ll go to the restroom to adjust my scarf and touch up my makeup.”

Ruan Sixian had been afraid of being late when she left the dormitory, so she had jogged all the way. Her neck was sweaty, making the scarf feel sticky and uncomfortable.

After saying this, Ruan Sixian hurried to the restroom, turned on the faucet to wash her hands, and used her damp index finger to tuck a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

She looked at herself in the mirror—exquisite makeup, meticulously pinned hair, and a proper, form-fitting uniform. Not bad, but completely unremarkable.

Only the scarf around her neck tilted slightly like rabbit ears, made her look somewhat different from the other flight attendants.

But this was a difference only she noticed; no one else would pay attention.

Now even this interestingly crooked scarf had to be untied and properly retied by her.

As she lowered her hand, Ruan Sixian felt something in the inner pocket of her uniform.

She paused, unbuttoned one button, and pulled out the object.

It was a letter in a pink envelope sealed with red wax.

—This was the reason Ruan Sixian had been late leaving.

This afternoon, her roommate Si Xiaozhen learned that Fu Mingyu would be on Ruan Sixian’s flight. She wrote this letter and instructed Ruan Sixian to find an opportunity to give it to Fu Mingyu.

Seeing Ruan Sixian’s apparent reluctance, Si Xiaozhen said with reddened eyes: “We study together every day, prepare together for the flight recruitment exam, and registration was supposed to be next week, but then the Feathers Program gets canceled just like that! Don’t you want to try one more time?”

The Feathers Program was World Airlines’ internal pilot recruitment plan, selecting a certain number of employees each year for pilot training, regardless of position or gender. This year, just as the application period was approaching, Fu Mingyu, who headed the Flight Department, canceled the program.

For most people, this was just a minor, inconsequential change, but for Ruan Sixian and Si Xiaozhen, who had joined World Airlines specifically for this program, it was a devastating blow.

Ruan Sixian opened her mouth as if to refuse, but Si Xiaozhen continued: “I’ve sent him many emails without receiving any acknowledgment. This is our only option now. I know you think this method is ridiculous, but what if? What if Vice President Fu is an approachable and kind person who would reconsider after reading my letter? And besides…”

Ruan Sixian raised her hand, interrupting Si Xiaozhen, and accepted the letter.

“I just think, couldn’t you change the envelope? This makes it look like I’m delivering a love letter.”

Unexpectedly, this was Ruan Sixian’s only hesitation. Si Xiaozhen lowered her head shyly: “You know I love pink, and I don’t have any other envelopes.”

What more could Ruan Sixian say?

Now that she was already at the terminal, there was no way to change the color of the envelope.

“What are you doing?”

Suddenly, Jiang Ziyue pushed open the door, half her body leaning in. “The captain’s here. Hurry up, the meeting’s starting.”

Ruan Sixian quickly hid the letter behind her back and nodded: “Okay, I’m coming.”

Jiang Ziyue caught this small movement, her gaze sweeping over suspiciously. “What are you holding?”

Ruan Sixian didn’t want Jiang Ziyue to see what she had in her hand, but her instinctive hiding movement had been too obvious, making it seem like she had something to hide. With Jiang Ziyue’s questioning eyes upon her, Ruan Sixian could only slightly wave the item in her hand.

“Just this, nothing special.”

Once Jiang Ziyue saw the pink envelope clearly, her tightly pursed lips relaxed. “What nonsense. Come on, don’t dawdle.”

Ruan Sixian tucked the letter into her inner pocket, buttoned up, and walked toward Jiang Ziyue.

Because Fu Mingyu was on the VIP passenger list, the captain paid extra attention to this pre-flight coordination meeting, speaking twenty minutes longer than usual.

By the time it ended, it was time to board, but they received a notification from the control tower that due to traffic control, they would be delayed for about an hour.

Suddenly there was more time. The captain stood up to stretch his muscles and said to the two co-pilots beside him: “Shall we go buy something to eat?”

The three of them left, leaving the cabin crew in the meeting room.

Another delay. Everyone had to wait, not counting the flying time, and gradually small complaints arose in the meeting room.

During this time, Ruan Sixian went out to take a phone call.

Before she hung up, Ruan Sixian heard the conversation in the room becoming increasingly animated, as if they were discussing something exciting.

“What are you all talking about?” Ruan Sixian pushed open the door. “I could hear your voices from outside.”

Jiang Ziyue rolled up the passenger list and rested her temple on it, tilting her head with a smile: “They’re betting on who can get President Fu’s phone number today.”

Ruan Sixian made a confused sound. “For what?”

—”What do you think? To date him, of course!”

—”It’s rare to be on the same flight with him, a precious opportunity! If not now, when?”

—”It’s a long-haul flight of more than ten hours. I refuse to believe we can’t find a chance to ask for his contact information. If all else fails, we can ‘accidentally’ spill coffee like others have done, hahaha.”

—”Spilling coffee is too harsh. I think maybe I’ll pretend to trip during turbulence and conveniently fall into his arms.”

Spill coffee… pretend to trip…

Ruan Sixian’s eye twitched as she listened.

Even idol dramas from ten years ago weren’t this clichéd.

But from their tone, it was clear they were just joking.

Ruan Sixian sat down with a smile, her fingernail scratching her temple.

“What kind of dreams are you having?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she froze.

How did she let her thoughts slip out?

The atmosphere in the meeting room stagnated briefly.

It quickly heated up again with a dismissive comment.

“Dreaming isn’t against the law, and besides…” the person lowered her voice, “President Fu’s brother’s fiancée is a flight attendant. They met on a plane. What do they call it? Anything is possible.”

—”Remember this: whoever becomes the boss’s wife in the future, don’t forget to promote me. I’m not asking for much, just make me chief flight attendant.”

—”Well, considering you covered my shift last time if I become the boss’s wife, you’ll be chief flight attendant immediately.”

—”Thank you in advance, but what if I’m the future boss’s wife?”

Ruan Sixian listened for a while, growing increasingly confused. “Wait, why are you all so excited? What if he’s an old man with a belly bigger than a pregnant woman? Would you still want to date him?”

This comment made everyone burst into laughter.

Ruan Sixian was even more bewildered. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh my, it seems our Ruan Ruan doesn’t keep up with the outside world. Here, let big sister show you a photo.”

Jiang Ziyue hooked an arm around Ruan Sixian’s neck while pulling out her phone to show her a picture.

The photo was taken secretly. Fu Mingyu wore an impeccable, high-end suit with a black overcoat draped over it, striding quickly toward the company headquarters entrance.

With broad shoulders and long legs, he took large steps. His straight back and the fluid lines of his legs complemented his clothing perfectly. His presence seemed to pierce through the photograph, grabbing one’s attention and making the surrounding people appear automatically blurred.

Even though the photo didn’t capture his face.

No wonder the flight attendants were so excited. It was understandable.

However, with just one glance, Ruan Sixian mentally erased the string of descriptors “approachable and kind.”

Impossible. Impossible.

Those adjectives had nothing to do with him.

The people inside were joking freely, completely unaware that outside the half-closed door, the face of Cabin Services Manager Wang Lekang had turned as black as Guan Gong’s.

Standing beside Wang Lekang was none other than Fu Mingyu, the central figure of their current topic.

The floor lights blazed brightly, and occasional hurried footsteps echoed clearly in the long corridor.

Yet the laughter from behind the door was even clearer.

The laughter pierced Wang Lekang’s ears like knives.

He secretly glanced at Fu Mingyu, who was looking down at the documents in his hand, his gaze calm, as if he hadn’t heard the conversation inside.

But if he truly hadn’t heard, why would he linger here?

The voices inside grew increasingly unrestrained. Wang Lekang felt like he had needles in his back, desperate to rush in and silence them.

But Fu Mingyu remained impassive, so Wang Lekang didn’t dare make the first move.

After a moment, Fu Mingyu slowly closed the document in his hand and returned it to Wang Lekang unchanged.

Wang Lekang reached out to receive it, but the document stopped a hair’s breadth from his palm.

“Is this the result of your recent rectification efforts?”

One sentence made Wang Lekang stiffen his back, not knowing how to respond.

The story was almost comical. Two months ago, on one of Heng Shi Airlines’ core international flights, a “heartwarming incident” occurred. A business class flight attendant accidentally spilled coffee on a VIP passenger.

This passenger was no ordinary person—he was the youngest son of the major shareholder of Jiang City Steel Industry.

But because of this service mishap, not only did they not become enemies, they fell in love. Their romance came quickly and was envied by many.

Since then, some flight attendants have quietly begun to imitate this, and the rate of service “accidents” suddenly skyrocketed during that period.

Other incidents aside, this matter happened to be witnessed by a minor shareholder of World Airlines, who shared it as an anecdote with Fu Mingyu.

Romantic affairs between men and women couldn’t be prevented by external forces, but using work opportunities for personal desires was a major taboo in the service industry.

So at that month’s departmental summary meeting, when Fu Mingyu mentioned this matter, Wang Lekang immediately stated that he would rectify the situation.

Who would have thought that just as Wang Lekang was reporting on his work, Fu Mingyu would witness this kind of “disorder” firsthand?

“If they no longer wish to do this job, they can say so at any time. Heng Shi Airlines has never forced anyone to stay.”

Fu Mingyu relaxed the force in his hand, and the document finally landed in Wang Lekang’s palm.

Though it was just a few sheets of paper, it felt as heavy as a pound of iron.