“What hesitation?! I was just thinking about how to curse you! How to make you come to your senses!”

Fu Mingyu smiled: “Is that so? Usually, you’re quite good at cursing people, why the hesitation now?”

“I told you I wasn’t hesitating! Am I not allowed to run out of vocabulary?!”

Fu Mingyu’s eyes told Ruan Sixian that he didn’t believe her.

Ruan Sixian’s anger was completely ignited. She grabbed her bag and smashed it against Fu Mingyu while kicking him at the same time.

“What are you being so narcissistic about? Who do you think you are that everyone has feelings for you? My heart only pounds when I see dogs, do you understand?!”

Fu Mingyu stepped back twice, looking disheveled from her attack, and pushed her away saying: “Alright! I get it!”

Ruan Sixian wasn’t satisfied yet and kicked Fu Mingyu in the shin.

“If you get it, then get lost!”

Just as dawn was breaking, Ruan Sixian kicked her leg and suddenly opened her eyes.

She lay flat, staring at the ceiling, her chest still heaving violently.

Yes!

Why didn’t she just hit him last night?

No matter what she said, he wouldn’t believe her anyway. He would stubbornly live in his world, so she might as well have told him with actions.

Instead, after Fu Mingyu’s question last night, she had only verbally denied it—just like in the dream scene. For someone like Fu Mingyu, that had no impact at all!

He didn’t believe her denial, otherwise, why would he have let go of her hand without saying anything, just telling her to rest early before turning and walking away, not giving her any chance to continue denying?

The frustrating thing was that her normally brilliant mind jammed at that crucial moment. She went home and lay in bed all night thinking about how she should have cursed him back, but there was no time machine to take her back to that moment. No amount of thinking after the fact would help.

Ruan Sixian suddenly sat up, angrily glancing upward, wondering if going to hit him now would still be effective.

She picked up her phone and looked at it. It was only five o’clock—still early. Ruan Sixian lay back down to sleep.

But as soon as she closed her eyes, the scene from last night appeared in her mind again.

No, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She wondered if there was still any way to remedy the situation.

Ruan Sixian shot up again like a carp flipping out of the water, picked up her phone, and scrolled through her contacts.

Si Xiaozhen had been on the night shift last night and hadn’t finished work yet, so she couldn’t call her.

So she decided on Bian Xuan. She ran a bar and often worked until morning before going home to sleep.

She dialed the number, but no one answered until the call ended.

Ruan Sixian called a second time, a third time… until the fifth call when the phone was finally answered.

But Bian Xuan’s irritated voice came through.

“Sis!! What time is it?! What time is it now?! If you don’t tell me there’s an emergency, our friendship is over!”

After being yelled at by Bian Xuan, Ruan Sixian felt guilty. Her momentum diminished as she covered the phone and said quietly: “Were you already asleep?”

“Of course! I drank too much last night!”

“Oh…”

“What’s the matter! Speak quickly!”

Ruan Sixian: “Oh… last night, that dog of a man Fu Mingyu pissed me off. He—”

“Him again?!”

Bian Xuan interrupted Ruan Sixian, “You’re disturbing my sleep early in the morning just for this man? What if I had brought a handsome guy home last night? Can you live with yourself?!”

Ruan Sixian had just woken up, her mind wasn’t fully clear yet, but she was completely awake now.

“Sigh, just talk with me for a bit. I’m about to die from anger.”

There was a rustling sound from the other end of the phone.

Bian Xuan sat up, took a deep breath, and forcibly calmed herself. “Fine, go ahead.”

“Sigh, last night, Fu Mingyu…”

Halfway through, Ruan Sixian was interrupted by Bian Xuan again.

“Why is it him again, sis!” Bian Xuan sighed helplessly, stretching her leg to kick off the blanket. “You’ve been mentioning him way too often lately. My ears are growing calluses from hearing about him.”

Ruan Sixian paused: “Really?”

“Isn’t it so?” Bian Xuan simply sat up. “Let me tell you, I’ve never met this man, but I feel like I know him extremely well, okay? Next time, why don’t you invite him for a drink? I’ll treat. After all, we’re all so familiar with each other now.”

Ruan Sixian didn’t respond, so Bian Xuan continued, “Look at yourself. You hardly ever post on Moments, but since you’ve been back for just a few months, all your posts have been about him.”

Ruan Sixian: “Does that count? I’ve just been cursing him, okay.”

Bian Xuan: “But I don’t see you cursing anyone else! Look, I’ll check for you right now.”

She opened her Moments feed as she spoke. “The one about rejecting WeChat was about him, right? But you ended up adding him anyway. The ‘wild dog’ one was about him, that song was about him too. Oh, the breakfast post wasn’t about him. But look, you only posted four times, and three of them were about him.”

Ruan Sixian: “…”

The breakfast post was also meant for him to see.

Bian Xuan: “How about this? I suggest you just quit your job. Give yourself a break and give him one too. Don’t give yourself heart disease from anger every day, okay?”

Ruan Sixian snorted: “I just finished my training flights. How could I quit now?”

Over the phone, Bian Xuan scratched her head in frustration.

Now she was completely awake. What had she done wrong to deserve such a friend?

“Fine, tell me. What exactly happened last night? I want to hear this.”

But Ruan Sixian fell silent.

She felt like she had lost her confidence.

“Never mind, you go back to sleep.”

“…” Bian Xuan held her breath in frustration. “Ruan Sixian, I’m going to end our friendship sooner or later!”

After hanging up, Ruan Sixian stared at the screen, opened her Moments, and deleted everything she had posted in the past few months.

But after deleting them, she suddenly regretted it.

Why did it make her seem guilty?

Is there a way to restore everything with one click?

Talk about troubles never coming alone—just as Ruan Sixian lay back down to catch up on sleep, the Flight Department called.

Now Ruan Sixian deeply understood how Bian Xuan had felt earlier.

A call at this hour wasn’t good news, but it was very likely about a sudden flight change requiring a temporary co-pilot assignment.

So even though she was very tired, Ruan Sixian didn’t dare sleep more. She got up promptly, answering the phone while heading to the bathroom.

But before she even left her room, she heard the person on the other end say that she needed to go to Shihang again this afternoon because Zheng You’an wanted to retake some photos.

Ruan Sixian: “…”

She sat back down on the bed. “Why? What’s wrong? Was something not photographed correctly?”

The person from the Flight Department said: “Miss Zheng said the outdoor shots don’t look natural enough. She wants to retake them—just one afternoon, it won’t take too much time.”

Ruan Sixian didn’t want to go. The Flight Department added: “Miss Zheng is quite the perfectionist, so…”

“Is this necessary?” Ruan Sixian looked at the daylight outside and said, “I don’t think I can take good photos. Can you replace me?”

Replacing her was of course not an option.

After much persuasion, the Flight Department finally convinced Ruan Sixian, along with some complaints.

They were also troubled, feeling that Zheng You’an’s requirements were too demanding, but they had no choice. They thought since Zheng You’an was the daughter of a partner company’s boss, and Fu Mingyu had personally agreed to let her do the photography, they would naturally try their best to meet her requests.

Ruan Sixian let out a soft “hmph” and said, “I understand. I’ll leave now.”

Fortunately, the temperature this morning wasn’t too high.

Ruan Sixian changed into her uniform again. When she reached Shihang’s entrance, the other pilots who had been called for the retake also looked annoyed.

—”I envy old Zhang. He has a flight today and escaped this torture.”

—”This is so frustrating. I was about to go fishing with my girlfriend early this morning, and now she’s angry too.”

—”Hey, are all artistic people like this?”

Ruan Sixian thought, yes.

Zheng You’an’s meticulousness was probably influenced by Dong Xianying.

She used to be the same way, seemingly with OCD. If a painting had even the tiniest imperfection that others couldn’t even notice, she would throw it away and start over.

The group dragged their reluctant feet inside.

Fortunately, the makeup artist was also afraid of Zheng You’an making her redo the makeup, so she put in tremendous effort and got it right the first time.

Zheng You’an nodded, looked at the pilots, and wanted to say something, but in the end just opened her mouth and said she would go set up the equipment first.

However, after a while, Zheng You’an’s assistant came in with cold drinks.

The morning temperature was gradually rising, but the sun wasn’t too harsh yet.

After the makeup artist finished her hair, Ruan Sixian took the iced coffee Zheng You’an had bought and walked toward the tarmac.

Outside, the various equipment was already set up, and Zheng You’an was standing in front of the camera adjusting something.

Someone was standing beside her.

Ruan Sixian squinted her eyes to see—it was Fu Mingyu.

He seemed quite free today.

Ruan Sixian walked toward them.

But her destination wasn’t Fu Mingyu.

She passed by them, tossed the coffee into the trash can, and as she turned around, she saw Fu Mingyu looking at her.

“You’re here?”

That tone, as if they were very familiar with each other.

When just last night they had a confrontation.

Ruan Sixian gave him a strange look, then turned toward the lighting board.

But after just a few steps, she heard Zheng You’an say behind her: “See, these photos don’t look very good.”

Who could look good in 38-degree heat, sister?

That was bad enough, but then she heard Fu Mingyu say: “Indeed, not very good.”

Ruan Sixian: “…”

She instinctively touched her face.

Not good-looking? After makeup yesterday, she had looked in the mirror for a long time. She looked very good!

Ruan Sixian pondered this question all the way, not looking back once, and didn’t notice Zheng You’an’s expression change slightly when she heard what Fu Mingyu said.

She closed the LCD screen and looked up. “Let’s begin.”

Ruan Sixian took her position according to yesterday’s setup.

Every time she looked at the camera, Fu Mingyu was standing next to Zheng You’an, his gaze meeting hers from afar.

Fu Mingyu indeed thought the previous photos weren’t very good—they didn’t capture Ruan Sixian’s usual beauty at all. Random candid shots would have been better.

Like now, she stood under the plane in her uniform, her flight cap tucked under her arm, turning her head to look to the side. Just this glance was much more beautiful than the stiff smile in the photos.

Seemingly feeling his gaze lingering on her, Ruan Sixian turned her head, glared at him, and then turned away in annoyance.

Fu Mingyu lowered his head and laughed softly.

“What are you laughing at?” Zheng You’an suddenly asked. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Fu Mingyu turned to look at her, the smile not yet fading from his lips. “You keep shooting. I’m just watching.”

Zheng You’an nodded in agreement.

When Ruan Sixian looked back, she saw Fu Mingyu smiling and talking with Zheng You’an.

Still smiling, and so naturally too. As if he wasn’t the one standing in the blazing sun!

Ruan Sixian felt increasingly uncomfortable, and her forced smile became extremely rigid.

Zheng You’an peeked from behind the camera and said: “Why don’t you relax your facial muscles first? Your smile looks too unnatural now.”

Ruan Sixian tried to relax, but it was completely ineffective.

She suddenly glanced at Fu Mingyu.

He was smiling quite naturally, wasn’t he?

“If you make him leave, my smile will be natural.”

“…”

Zheng You’an choked for a moment and hesitantly turned to look at Fu Mingyu. “Is she talking about you?”

Fu Mingyu didn’t answer her question, just glanced at Ruan Sixian, then turned and left.

The pilots beside her finally whispered: “With Director Fu watching, I was feeling stiff all over too.”

“But I didn’t dare say that.”

Their admiration was completely evident.

Meanwhile, behind the camera, Zheng You’an gave Ruan Sixian a few extra glances.

After pondering for a moment, she said nothing.

After the shooting ended, it was already noon.

Ruan Sixian didn’t go to the cafeteria with the other pilots for lunch, planning to eat at home instead.

Fu Mingyu’s car was parked at Shihang’s entrance.

Ruan Sixian saw it from a distance, her footsteps faltering slightly. After thinking for a moment, she decided to go around it.

She didn’t want to see Fu Mingyu right now.

But there was only one gate, and after walking just a few steps out, the car followed her.

Fu Mingyu rolled down the window, and a wave of cool air flowed out.

“Have you eaten yet?”

Ruan Sixian ignored him and continued walking.

The car just kept following.

Ruan Sixian stopped helplessly. “Why are you following me?”

Fu Mingyu’s expression remained unchanged as he got out and opened the passenger door.

“Get in, I’ll drive you.”

“Are you that free?”

Fu Mingyu raised his hand to look at his watch. “Not very free, so hurry up and get in.”

“No.”

Ruan Sixian ignored him again and continued walking forward.

Fu Mingyu followed unhurriedly, saying from behind her: “It’s so hot. Are you planning to walk back?”

“I can call a taxi myself.”

“It’s rush hour now.”

“Then I can wait.”

“Why are you being so stubborn?” Fu Mingyu said. “How come Yan An can give you a ride, but I can’t?”

Ruan Sixian: “…”

His angle is so tricky I don’t even know how to answer.

“Are you in a bad mood today?”

Ruan Sixian turned around, standing three steps away from him.

“Yes, and if you know I’m in a bad mood, don’t provoke me.”

“Have I provoked you? I haven’t spoken to you at all today.”

Ruan Sixian took a deep breath. “Your very presence—just breathing—makes me angry.”

After saying this, Ruan Sixian continued walking.

But she felt Fu Mingyu still following her.

Ruan Sixian turned back and said: “What are you doing now? I told you last night, I have no feelings for you.”

Fu Mingyu nodded: “I know.”

You know and you’re still pestering me!

Before Ruan Sixian could speak, Fu Mingyu said: “Then why are you angry with me today?”

?

Yes.

Why am I angry at him?

Ruan Sixian was stunned for a moment. Looking up, she saw a hint of amusement in Fu Mingyu’s eyes and suddenly realized.

This dog of a man is playing mind games with me!