The stove at the entrance roared, flames leaping from the scalding stone pot, and the boiling aroma filled the entire cramped shop.

The server deftly cleared away the empty bowls from the previous table, grabbed a greasy cloth, and quickly wiped the table.

“What would you two like to order?”

Ruan Sixian glanced at the menu on the wall and said, “Spicy and sour clam noodles, with extra clams please.”

The server looked at Fu Mingyu, but her voice wasn’t as crisp anymore, “And you, sir?”

Fu Mingyu said coolly, “The same as hers.”

“Alright!” The server raised her head and shouted toward the stove, “Two spicy and sour clam dishes!”

Ever since Fu Mingyu had followed her in, Ruan Sixian could feel the surrounding gazes gradually focusing on him.

The small shop was noisy and crowded, filled with the atmosphere of everyday life, while Fu Mingyu’s demeanor was dignified and his expression indifferent, completely out of place in this environment.

He didn’t look like someone who would appear in a place like this at all, but rather like a character from the movie playing on the TV in the corner of the shop.

Ruan Sixian hadn’t expected him to come in.

Ten minutes earlier, caught in her lie, Ruan Sixian had maintained a calm expression while feeling extremely awkward as Fu Mingyu walked up beside her and asked, “Didn’t you say you’d already eaten?”

Ruan Sixian said stiffly, “Just a snack.”

Fu Mingyu looked at the shop’s environment and asked, “Would you like to go somewhere else?”

Ruan Sixian thought to herself that after queuing for so long, how could she leave? Even a Michelin-starred restaurant couldn’t drag her away from the allure of clam noodles now. “No, I want to eat here.”

After saying this, she deliberately asked, “Director Fu, would you like to join me?”

Something that cost just over ten yuan per bowl, how could Fu Mingyu possibly eat it?

Moreover, the environment here… well, it couldn’t exactly be called clean.

However, unexpectedly, he nodded, “Mm, sure.”

So he quietly stood beside Ruan Sixian for ten minutes, waiting for their number to be called, then followed her inside.

Ruan Sixian felt like she had dug herself into another hole.

If she could eat this food, why couldn’t Fu Mingyu?

Was one of them more dignified than the other or what?

But when two steaming bowls of clam noodles were served, upon careful sniffing, the fishy smell of clams and the sour smell of vinegar were quite pungent.

Ruan Sixian saw Fu Mingyu distinctly frown across from her.

Indeed, he couldn’t bring himself to eat it.

Ruan Sixian directly picked up the small bowl, ladled some soup, took a sip, and deliberately displayed an expression of great enjoyment.

“So delicious.”

She looked at Fu Mingyu, raising her eyebrows at him, “Director Fu, pick up your chopsticks. It’s really good.”

She didn’t believe Fu Mingyu would eat this stuff.

Sure enough, although Fu Mingyu was seated, he stayed almost half a meter away from the table, wiped the spoon with a napkin, and followed Ruan Sixian’s example by ladling a small bowl of soup.

But when he lifted the bowl, he still couldn’t bring himself to take a sip.

The entire bowl was filled with the smell of cheap spices, and what was that oil floating on top?

He looked up, meeting Ruan Sixian’s mischievous gaze.

Setting down the bowl, he decided to change the subject.

“In November, the company will begin its nationwide tour for recruiting flight students. Would you like to go?”

“What would I go for?”

“To give presentations.”

Ruan Sixian made an “oh” sound and picked out a clam to eat.

“I’m just a co-pilot. Shouldn’t the captains be the ones giving presentations?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Fu Mingyu said. “Having female pilots give presentations will attract more female applicants.”

Ruan Sixian suddenly looked up and asked, “What, you want to recruit more female pilots?”

“I’ve never considered a pilot’s gender,” his gaze lingered slowly over Ruan Sixian’s face, with a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. “Of course, if they’re female pilots like you, I wouldn’t mind recruiting a few more.”

Ruan Sixian laughed, “Trying to take advantage of your position, Director Fu?”

Fu Mingyu said nothing, pushing a bottle from the table’s edge toward Ruan Sixian.

“What?”

“You should add more vinegar.”

?

With such a vivid imagination, why not write novels?

Ruan Sixian put the vinegar back in its place: “Sorry, I never eat vinegar. It makes me sick.”

Fu Mingyu nodded casually, still showing no intention of picking up his chopsticks.

Ruan Sixian looked at him for a few seconds, took out a disinfectant wipe from her bag, carefully wiped a pair of chopsticks, and handed them to Fu Mingyu.

“Director Fu, eat up.”

Fu Mingyu took the chopsticks, paused, and said, “I don’t eat clams.”

“That’s simple. Little Ruan at your service.”

Ruan Sixian smiled and pulled his bowl over, carefully picking out the clams.

Although he knew she had no good intentions, seeing her eyelashes flutter as she looked down, a hint of sweat on the tip of her nose, and the corners of her mouth curved upward, Fu Mingyu still smiled.

A few minutes later, all the clams from Fu Mingyu’s bowl had migrated to Ruan Sixian’s bowl.

Ruan Sixian pushed the bowl back, smiling at him, “All done.”

Fu Mingyu made an “oh” sound, “I don’t eat noodles either.”

“…”

“Fu Mingyu, are you looking for trouble?”

“Eating noodles makes me sick.”

“Good, very good.”

Ruan Sixian clapped her hands, “One might think I’m dining with the emperor.”

By the time Ruan Sixian finished her clam noodles, Fu Mingyu still hadn’t touched his chopsticks.

But he went to pay before she put down her chopsticks.

A total of thirty-six yuan, Fu Mingyu gave the owner a hundred-yuan note.

“Keep the change.”

“Hehe, enjoy your meal.”

The owner took the money, his face blooming into a smile, thinking to himself that rich people knew how to find pleasure in strange ways.

Fu Mingyu turned back and beckoned to Ruan Sixian.

“Let’s go.”

Ruan Sixian was a bit full and wiped her mouth leisurely before slowly getting up.

The pedestrian street was still bustling with people coming and going, though their pace was unhurried.

Colorful neon lights and noisy music complemented each other, while girls with street stalls called out to sell their wares, their voices seeming to slow the passage of time.

“How much was it just now?”

Ruan Sixian asked.

“Are you going to give me money?”

“Yes.”

“No need.”

Fu Mingyu continued walking forward.

Ruan Sixian lagged a step behind, pouting behind him.

The few dozen yuan clam noodles treated him with the air of someone who had hosted an imperial feast yet didn’t care about it at all.

But in the next second, she heard him say with amusement: “You already said I was a pig farm.”

—How could I possibly charge you money?

Ruan Sixian held her breath on the spot.

Two seconds later, she still couldn’t hold back.

“Fu! Ming! Yu!”

Fu Mingyu turned back and calmly asked, “What’s wrong? Still hungry?”

Ruan Sixian didn’t know how she managed to restrain herself from killing Fu Mingyu right there on the street.

Was it cultivation?

Was it upbringing?

No, it was the constraints of a lawful and harmonious society.

Ruan Sixian’s pace quickened almost to a jog, but Fu Mingyu caught up with her effortlessly.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you,” he caught Ruan Sixian’s wrist. “Seriously, will you join the recruitment tour? It starts on November 11th, and the first stop is your alma mater.”

Ruan Sixian was still angry and didn’t notice he had said “alma mater.”

“No! On Double Eleven, I only want to take advantage of the discounts to buy your life!”

“Oh?”

Fu Mingyu’s expression remained calm, but his words were inappropriate, “You want me to give you my life? That’s a bit too fast.”

“…”

Ruan Sixian: How can there be such a shameless person in this world?

Ruan Sixian: Did Mother Nüwa momentarily forget to shape his face?

Ruan Sixian: Did his embryo accidentally forget to develop a face during development?

After Ruan Sixian sent a series of complaints, Bian Xuan replied with a yawning emoji.

[Bian Xuan]: Fu Mingyu again?

Ruan Sixian’s typing hands paused.

She had just written a line in the edit box—”Fu Mingyu is simply a big idiot”

She expressionlessly deleted this line.

Ruan Sixian: No, I’m angry about a TV show, absolute idiot.

[Bian Xuan]: Oh, I thought it was your Director Fu again.

[Bian Xuan]: Who else could make you this angry?

[Bian Xuan]: Going to attend to customers, bye.

Four days later, Ruan Sixian reached her maximum flight hours and took her regular rest. She had arranged in advance to visit a small town in the suburbs with Si Xiaozhen. Si Xiaozhen was always enthusiastic about such things and had already booked a hotel.

However, just as Ruan Sixian was preparing her things, she received another message from the Flight Department.

Regular meeting tomorrow morning, training in the afternoon.

Fine, life is life, born to work.

Ruan Sixian went to Shihang Airlines with resignation written all over her body.

She yawned while greeting colleagues around her.

Before her mouth could close, the people around her suddenly grew quieter.

Ruan Sixian looked over instinctively. A group of people were walking briskly toward the elevator, with Fu Mingyu at the lead.

The others seemed to instantly fade into the background as Ruan Sixian stared at Fu Mingyu, thinking, “You’d better not come over to bother me, or I really can’t guarantee I’ll save your face at the company.”

Half a minute later, the elevator doors closed, and the atmosphere around relaxed again.

Good, you saved your life today—you should thank your habit of looking straight ahead, you know?

After arriving at the meeting room, the Flight Department manager still hadn’t arrived.

Ruan Sixian sat by the window, propping her temples and gazing into the distance outside, doing eye exercises.

This gaze landed on Zheng You’an.

Ruan Sixian blinked, becoming slightly more alert.

Why was she here?

Fu Mingyu had the same question.

He made a phone call while standing by the window, and when he looked back, he glimpsed Zheng You’an standing in the hangar below.

“Why is she here?”

Bai Yang stepped forward and said, “The company’s 30th-anniversary celebration and the World Aviation Exhibition preparations have begun. She’s the photographer.”

This year, Shihang’s 30th anniversary coincided with the World Aviation Exhibition, which would be prepared together. Additionally, with the new ACJ31 aircraft joining the fleet, this event was exceptionally important. The Public Relations Department had formed a special team to prepare since mid-year, and Fu Mingyu had overseen everything from start to finish, only relaxing his attention this month as the work entered its final stages.

However, this didn’t mean he was completely unconcerned about the remaining promotional work.

Shihang had always had a fixed photography team they collaborated with, which over the years had never submitted unsatisfactory work. This had given Shihang’s promotional images a particularly grand appearance, standing out in various image exhibitions.

After the previous recruitment promotional photos, Fu Mingyu thought the PR Department had clearly understood that Zheng You’an’s style wasn’t suitable for the aviation industry.

But even so, they had taken it upon themselves to change the photography team.

Fu Mingyu narrowed his eyes, raising his hand to remove the sleeve garters from his shirt and tossing them onto the table.

There was a “smack” sound, and Bai Yang’s brow furrowed in response.

Having worked with Fu Mingyu for two years, he knew this was a sign of extreme anger.

“Call the PR Department manager over.”

At six in the evening, Ruan Sixian, finished with training, rubbed her shoulders as she walked out.

Sitting in the office all day was truly more tiring than sitting in the cockpit all day.

Several colleagues asked her to join them for dinner, and she agreed, but before that, she needed to go to the restroom.

The 16th floor was the Flight Department, which had fewer people compared to other departments, and the restrooms were rarely used.

Ruan Sixian pushed the door open while looking at her phone. Before she even reached the sink, she heard an extremely angry female voice from one of the stalls.

“Fu! Ming! Yu! Are! You! Sick!”

Who is it?!

Who is it?!

Ruan Sixian perked up her ears, wanting to know exactly who it was!

In Fu Mingyu’s territory!

Speaking such a truth!