The glass shards in the office had been swept clean, and the scattered documents had all been organized. Bai Yang walked in hurriedly with his brows tightly furrowed.

Behind the desk, Fu Mingyu’s computer was on, but he was standing by the window taking a call.

When Bai Yang entered, he seemed to have something to say. Fu Mingyu turned to glance at him, gesturing for him to wait a moment.

A few minutes later, after hanging up the phone, he turned and sat back at the desk, scrolling through his phone while saying to Bai Yang, “Has the Super Star completed its test flight?”

“It’s done, no issues,” Bai Yang said. “Mr. He Lan personally conducted the test flight.”

Due to the nature of his industry, the Diamond DA50 Super Star that he had ordered yesterday had already been delivered today and was parked at the Nan’ao General Aviation Airport in the western suburbs. It had immediately completed its test flight.

“Good.” Fu Mingyu put down his phone, glanced at the time, and asked, “What about the airport?”

Bai Yang replied, “Nan’ao General Aviation Airport has cleared the north-facing runway and designated airspace from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow. No other commercial or general aviation aircraft will occupy the flight path during that time. However, the Nan’ao owner mentioned that a friend of his urgently needs to take a private pilot license test, so it will take about two hours tomorrow. But since they’re beginners, they won’t take off, just operate on the ground.”

“That’s fine.”

Nan’ao General Aviation Airport was a commercial airport. Although Fu Mingyu had paid to reserve it, scheduling was indeed difficult. The owner of Nan’ao was his friend and had put in considerable effort to help, so naturally, he wouldn’t quibble over such small matters.

Fu Mingyu opened his computer and continued reading what he hadn’t finished earlier.

After Bai Yang finished speaking, he added, “But just now, regarding Miss Li…”

Fu Mingyu looked at his computer without raising his eyes, asking carelessly, “What about her now?”

Bai Yang helplessly took out his work iPad, never having expected to repeatedly check Weibo today.

“She just posted on Weibo according to the requirements of the PR department.”

Today, the PR department had been in contact with Li Zhihuai and made direct demands—first, clarify that they were only high school classmates; second, clarify exactly what they did that morning.

The PR department had been handling this according to Fu Mingyu’s personal news management requirements. For a long time, except for necessary business activities, he had stayed out of the public eye. Especially after Yan’an from Northern Airlines repeatedly made headlines for personal matters and received various degrees of punishment from his family, Fu Mingyu became even more reclusive, with an online presence close to zero.

So he would certainly not make a special appearance for Li Zhihuai.

“The request was simple. She said it was just a matter of one sentence and posted it directly, but the PR department just saw it and is very dissatisfied.”

Bai Yang thought for a moment and added, “Since the content has already been posted and has gained even more attention than the earlier news, asking her to change it now might seem like they’re trying to cover something up. So they want to ask for your opinion first—whether to intervene again.”

Fu Mingyu raised his eyes slightly, “Cover something up?”

Bai Yang, accustomed to reading all kinds of flight data, didn’t know how to summarize these messy matters verbally.

“Let me see it.”

Bai Yang handed over the iPad as instructed. Fu Mingyu glanced at it, seeing a brief passage. His expression didn’t change, but his index finger tapped the desk lightly.

“This is her response?”

At first glance, she did indeed follow his requirements.

Fu Mingyu gave a cold laugh. Out of respect for the high school homeroom teacher, he had thought Li Zhihuai would inherit her father’s style of handling matters. He hadn’t expected her to be so clueless.

Looking further at the related content, the screen was filled with various lively reactions.

Fu Mingyu quickly scanned through comments like “clarification means going public,” “sending sweet hints,” “so the rumors about you starring in an aviation-themed movie had a reason,” and all sorts of opinions that had already distorted the original intent of the clarification.

Fu Mingyu tossed the iPad aside and asked, “What’s the current level of discussion about this?”

Bai Yang replied, “The hot search ranking is rising rather than falling.”

So many people know about it now.

Fu Mingyu glanced at his phone, which was indeed continuously receiving new messages.

Ruan Sixian must have seen it too.

He stood up, removed the sleeve band from his arm, tossed it onto the desk, and walked to the window with his phone, dropping a single line:

“Handle it immediately.”

Bai Yang turned and left at once.

But before the door closed, Fu Mingyu called him back, “Ask the driver where she went.”

Bai Yang naturally knew who “she” referred to. While he went to ask the driver, Fu Mingyu checked his phone again. The call he made kept repeating a mechanical female voice:

“Sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached at the moment…”

He suspected Ruan Sixian had blocked him.

Rubbing his brow bone, he turned and picked up another phone to call her, but still couldn’t get through.

This afternoon was a rare sunny day in winter, with light illuminating the corridor, making it more transparent than usual.

Fu Mingyu rang the doorbell three times, but there was no response from inside. He then knocked, but still, no footsteps approached.

He took a deep breath and called Ruan Sixian again, but still couldn’t get through.

Calls not going through, no answer at the door, and possibly she hadn’t even entered after the driver dropped her off.

Fu Mingyu stood at the door for several minutes, his gaze growing increasingly heavy.

Half an hour later, he appeared at the entrance of Bian Xuan’s bar.

It wasn’t yet 3:30 p.m., so the bar was closed, without a single person outside, just a few stray cats leaping about.

Fu Mingyu frowned as he looked around, the irritation in his eyes evident.

Calls not going through, unable to find her—Fu Mingyu was now more worried that something might have happened to Ruan Sixian.

He clutched his phone, stood in the sun for a while, then got back in the car and returned to Mingchen Apartments. He asked the property management to check the corridor surveillance footage from that afternoon.

The footage showed that Ruan Sixian had returned home at 1:30 p.m. and hadn’t appeared in the surveillance since, meaning she’d been at home all along.

Fu Mingyu returned to her door and pressed the doorbell several times, but still no one came to open it.

He called her repeatedly, still with no result.

What made it worse was that she had these two days off from her flight schedule and wasn’t on standby, so she had every reason to turn off her communication devices.

Fu Mingyu stared heavily at the door, clenched his fist, and knocked forcefully several times, saying, “Ruan Sixian, I’ll explain everything to you, but open the door first.”

After knocking a few more times without a response, Fu Mingyu almost slammed the door, but still to no avail. So he took out his phone and found Ruan Sixian’s WeChat.

[Fu Mingyu] — Open the door.

The message was successfully sent, indicating he hadn’t been blocked.

He took a long breath, leaned against the wall, and typed another message.

“You can be angry however you want, but open the door first and let me explain everything clearly.”

After sending it, there was no response for several minutes, nor did it show “the other party is typing.”

Fu Mingyu stared at his phone for a while, slowly lowered his head, and for the first time in his twenty-eight years felt what it meant to be at a loss.

The sunlight outside shifted from bright to dusky, then to nightfall, and the city lights had unknowingly illuminated the night sky.

Ruan Sixian had been reading books all afternoon, her eyes dry and irritated. After applying eye drops, she put on her coat and prepared to go downstairs for some food.

However, the moment she opened the door, she saw Fu Mingyu standing at her doorstep.

He wasn’t wearing an overcoat, still in the indoor suit, which seemed too thin for this weather.

Ruan Sixian was startled, “What are you doing?”

When he saw Ruan Sixian, Fu Mingyu let out a slight sigh of relief.

The next second, however, he noticed her red eyes and the traces of moisture at the corners that hadn’t yet dried.

“You’ve been crying?”

“Who’s crying?” Ruan Sixian was puzzled, even showing a hint of a smile on her face. “Don’t tell me you thought I was hiding away, crying in secret?”

“What were you doing this afternoon?”

“I was reading.” Ruan Sixian leaned against the door. “With so many exams every year, don’t I need time to prepare?”

Fu Mingyu turned to look out the window, his brows knotted into a “川” shape, as he let out a long breath.

“Did you see Li Zhihuai’s content?”

“I saw it on my way back,” Ruan Sixian leaned on the door, looking Fu Mingyu up and down. “This female classmate of yours is quite something. We’re all living our first life, how does she have so many tricks up her sleeve?”

“You didn’t see what came after?”

“What else was there to see?”

After returning home, Ruan Sixian was indeed still troubled, so she put on noise-canceling headphones, set her phone to airplane mode, and read books all afternoon.

It was just a high school classmate, not even an ex-girlfriend—not worth bothering about. Better to spend the time studying more. Troublemakers come and go every year, but professional exams happen several times annually.

And as she read, she gradually calmed down.

Fu Mingyu bent slightly at the waist, his tone carrying a carefulness he hadn’t noticed himself, “You’re not angry anymore?”

For an entire afternoon, he had stood at her doorstep, waiting for her to open it.

Without seeing her, his nerves had been constantly on edge, as if waiting for judgment.

He knew the PR department’s efficiency well. By the time he left, they had already resolved the issue. Li Zhihuai had called him several times during this period, which he didn’t answer, but it was clear she was quite anxious.

But he hadn’t expected that she simply hadn’t seen it, focusing instead on preparing for her exams.

Ruan Sixian gave a small eye roll: “Am I an air pump that has to vent anger every day? Who is she to deserve my anger?”

“Hmm?” Seeing her expression, Fu Mingyu relaxed and reached out to pinch her face, “Who was it that charged at me with murderous intent today?”

Ruan Sixian slapped his hand away and glared at him, “I couldn’t be bothered to be angry with her, but you caused the trouble, so I’m angry with you.”

“What do I need to do for you to forgive me?” Fu Mingyu asked, “Want an airplane?”

Ruan Sixian thought for a moment, then nodded solemnly, “I’ll go upstairs later to choose one.”

“You don’t need to choose from those—they’re all yours,” Fu Mingyu said. “Go to bed early tonight, and come out with me tomorrow morning, okay?”

Hearing that a room full of aircraft models was all hers, her eyes inadvertently brightened.

This was quite a win.

Moreover—it seemed this man didn’t just have that one room of aircraft models; he must have hidden many more elsewhere.

Ruan Sixian was a bit excited, pursing her lips as she nodded, “Fine, let’s see if they’re exquisite enough.”

Meanwhile, Li Zhihuai made her seventh call to Fu Mingyu, but he still didn’t answer.

She opened Weibo and saw that although her fans kept defending her in the comments, she could still see various mocking remarks in the newest comments.

The origin was the Hengshi Aviation official Weibo account’s repost of her post three hours ago.

“A detailed explanation: First, visiting Miss Li’s father because he was the high school homeroom teacher of our Operations Director, Mr. Fu. Respecting teachers is everyone’s responsibility.

“Second, Mr. Fu and Miss Li have been very busy in the ten years since high school graduation, meeting only three times for a total of two hours and five minutes, of which two hours were from last night’s chance encounter at the reception and this morning’s visit to the hospital. Classmates are destiny, but graduation marks the end of that destiny. Reunions depend on luck. May everyone cherish their classmates.

“Third, please stop spreading rumors. Our Director Fu has gone to appease his girlfriend.

“Fourth, log onto Hengshi Aviation’s official website to register as a member. New winter routes are now open. Enjoy your exclusive flight butler service. The most beautiful routes are with Hengshi Aviation.”

The first two points precisely refuted the ambiguous parts of her statement, leaving her no face, with each ending seemingly deliberately mocking her. The final point was a direct advertisement, appearing not to care about her feelings at all.

Li Zhihuai had nowhere to vent her anger, so she turned and threw her phone at the young man in charge of publicity.

“Look at what you’ve done!”

This publicity manager had only been appointed recently. He wasn’t professionally trained but had some cunning, usually manipulating minor public opinion quite effectively.

But this time his cunning backfired. He didn’t dare say a word and could only accept the blame.

“Let me tell you, you know how much effort I put into getting this female captain role. I’m even studying for my private pilot license. If this gets messed up, you can get out immediately! I don’t care whose nephew you are!”

The next morning.

“Are you taking me to mine coal?”

Watching the car drive toward increasingly remote areas, and looking at her clothes, Ruan Sixian couldn’t help but ask.

She had woken up early this morning and carefully applied makeup, pairing it with a form-fitting knit dress that looked both sexy and elegant.

But when Fu Mingyu arrived, he immediately told her to change clothes, not even glancing at her carefully crafted appearance!

So she changed into another dress, but Fu Mingyu wasn’t satisfied and directly found her a set of black jackets and pants from her closet.

Fu Mingyu turned to look at her while driving, “You look good.”

Ruan Sixian tugged at her collar a couple of times, unable to understand what looked good about this.

She turned to look out the window, feeling somewhat depressed.

She had thought she could dress beautifully for a date, but instead, she was forcibly dressed like a coal miner.

An hour later, Ruan Sixian looked up to see Fu Mingyu driving into Nan’ao General Aviation Airport.

She blinked, beginning to understand somewhat, though not entirely certain.

“Why did you bring me here?”

As Fu Mingyu reversed into the parking lot, he smiled at her, “Didn’t you like solo flights? Today, the entire airspace is yours.”

“The entire airspace is yours” had a more fatal attraction for Ruan Sixian than “The entire diamond mountain is yours.”

From getting out of the car to walking into the airport, her palms were slightly warm with excitement.

When she saw the runway was truly empty, she immediately ran toward the row of Cessnas at the apron.

But Fu Mingyu held her back, “Wait, don’t rush.”

He led her to another side of the apron.

At position number three sat the Diamond DA50 Super Star.

The brand-new general aviation aircraft, without a speck of dust, stood out prominently on the apron.

Li Zhihuai had been captivated by this aircraft as soon as she arrived.

She walked around the aircraft, examining the facilities in the cockpit, and took a breath.

“It’s so beautiful.”

The owner of Nan’ao accompanied her, smiling as he said, “This model isn’t suitable for beginners. When you’re more familiar, you might consider renting one in the future.”

He then checked his watch, “You came early today, the instructor hasn’t arrived yet. Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Li Zhihuai’s attention was completely on the aircraft. She nodded casually and then asked, “When the instructor arrives, can he take me for a ride?”

“That’s not possible,” the Nan’ao owner said. “This was bought by my friend as a gift for someone. It has nothing to do with me, but if you want to try sitting in it, you could ask for his permission.”

Li Zhihuai blinked, “Who is it? Would that be okay?”

Just as she spoke, a voice sounded from behind.

“It’s mine.”

Li Zhihuai turned around to see Fu Mingyu walking toward her.

And he was holding a woman’s hand.

The woman was tall, wearing a flight jacket almost identical to Fu Mingyu’s, yet it couldn’t hide her slender, graceful figure.

The airport wind was strong, blowing the woman’s shoulder-length black hair into disarray. When she raised her hand to smooth her hair from the top, revealing her entire face, Li Zhihuai’s mind went blank for a moment.

So this was his girlfriend?

In her moment of daze, Fu Mingyu was already standing in front of her.

“I gave it to my girlfriend, so I’m afraid others can’t try it.”

?

Ruan Sixian had been silently drooling over the aircraft when she suddenly heard Fu Mingyu say this, thinking she had misheard.

She turned to look at Fu Mingyu, only then noticing another woman beside them.

A second moment of confusion.

Li… Li what tree was it again?

This was Ruan Sixian’s first time seeing this person in reality. She tilted her head and examined her for a couple of glances.

Li Zhihuai couldn’t detect any emotion in her eyes.

Anger, hostility… not even indifference.

She didn’t know if this woman was completely unaware of yesterday’s events or if she simply didn’t regard her at all.

Either way, it made her uncomfortable.

Fu Mingyu, noticing Ruan Sixian looking at Li Zhihuai, squeezed her palm and asked, “Won’t you try it?”

Ruan Sixian had no interest in dealing with any Li Tree or Peach Tree. She withdrew her gaze, let go of Fu Mingyu’s hand, and walked toward the aircraft.

Fu Mingyu watched her back as Li Zhihuai’s voice sounded in his ear.

“Mingyu, yesterday…”

“No need to address me so intimately,” Fu Mingyu was speaking to her, but his gaze remained fixed on Ruan Sixian ahead. “If not for Teacher Li, after all these years, I might not even remember your name. You can call me by my full name, or ‘Director Fu’ works too.”

If not for the wind stopping momentarily, Li Zhihuai could hardly believe that the person who had been so pleasant in front of her father just yesterday morning would say such things now.

“Yesterday’s matter was handled by my publicity team. They didn’t have many thoughts about it, just…”

“I don’t care what the thoughts were, but you provoked my girlfriend,” he stepped forward, moving past the position where he had been shoulder-to-shoulder with Li Zhihuai. “She’s magnanimous and won’t hold it against you, but I’m not as generous as she is.”

With that, he strode toward the aircraft.

Ruan Sixian had already opened the cockpit door but hadn’t climbed in yet, still examining the exterior.

Li Zhihuai watched the two figures, and took a deep breath, but found it difficult to exhale smoothly.

She admitted that when her publicity team was writing the response yesterday, she hadn’t stopped them, which meant she had tacitly approved.

But she had only wanted to level out some resentment from many years ago.

Just a little, a little whim.

She hadn’t expected it to be twisted like that.

Now she was the female lead, the focus of attention wherever she went, accustomed to being adored.

She hadn’t truly intended anything more, but she indeed hadn’t taken Fu Mingyu’s “girlfriend” seriously.

Looking up now, seeing that woman’s delighted expression, Li Zhihuai thought back to many years ago.

When she graduated from high school, she heard that Fu Mingyu had gone to get his private pilot license. She had secretly imagined sitting in an aircraft piloted by Fu Mingyu, gliding over the mountains and rivers of Jiangcheng, overlooking this familiar city.

Today, she saw another woman about to sit in the position she had once yearned for.

As if drawn by an obsession, she couldn’t look away, wanting to see what expression that woman would have when sitting beside the pilot’s seat.

A few minutes later, she blinked, watching that woman climb into—the pilot’s seat?

She thought she had seen wrong and stepped closer, observing Fu Mingyu boarding from the other side.

Minutes later, she watched wide-eyed as the aircraft rushed toward the runway and took off at the end.