“Achoo!”

Walking out of the cafeteria, Ruan Sixian sneezed again.

This time she was certain someone was talking about her behind her back, most likely Jiang Ziyue.

That person must be mentally ill, telling her to stay away from Yue Chen.

What had she done?

For the past half year, she’d been avoiding Yue Chen whenever she saw him, barely exchanging a few words with him. What more did Jiang want? Should she never land again and just keep flying in the sky forever?

If she wanted something with Yue Chen, they could still chat over the radio even while flying.

Simply put, Jiang thought too highly of her own man, treating him like some treasure everyone wanted to steal. She should consider Yue Chen’s reputation at World Airlines—everyone knew him. Which girl serious about settling down would dare marry him? They’d save money on buying hats after marriage (implying he would make them a cuckold).

Ruan Sixian felt she shouldn’t have expressed her thoughts so directly earlier. She should have put on a pitiful face and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you would misunderstand. There’s nothing between Captain Yue and me. We were just chatting and catching up. I’ll try to have less contact with him in the future. Please don’t let this cause any rift between you two because of me.”

Just one paragraph like that would guarantee Jiang would be tossing and turning all night.

But the current situation was fine too.

Ruan Sixian knew other colleagues had already received wedding invitations. She had been worried that Jiang Ziyue might feel obligated to send her one too.

Now that she knew how wary Jiang was of her, and with their relationship already in tatters, she didn’t need to worry about that anymore.

What did this mean?

It meant Jiang Ziyue was complimenting her beauty in another way.

While Ruan Sixian was thinking about this, she had no idea she was currently enduring a wave of direct and crude compliments online.

[Do they still hire models for promotional videos? Can’t they use their employees?]

Two hours ago, just after the promotional post was published, someone commented on this under World Airlines’ official Weibo. The social media editor specifically shared it and replied: This isn’t a model, she’s one of our pilots.

Immediately, the usually sparse comments on the official account exceeded a thousand.

[Pilot sister! I can! I can!]

[Is appearance one of the recruitment criteria? If so, I’m not applying.]

[Sister is so beautiful, quickly tell me which flight, I want to be on it!]

[No wonder she flies in the sky, she must be a celestial fairy!]

[Is this okay… female drivers are bad enough, can we board planes with female pilots?]

[Hmph, some losers still look down on women. Was your mother born to let you discriminate against her? Why don’t you take a look at yourself—could you be a pilot? Oh wait, I forgot pilots don’t accept disabled people, and being brain-dead counts as a disability.]

[I’m also interested in the other pilots! Does anyone have a Weibo account?]

After fermenting overnight, the Weibo post had been shared over ten thousand times, and “World Airlines Female Pilot” quietly climbed to the top twenty on the trending list.

When Ruan Sixian woke up in the morning, her phone nearly crashed.

Her usually quiet Weibo was suddenly flooded with comments and private messages, and her followers had rapidly increased over several days.

Ruan Sixian was still a bit dazed. Based on people’s messages, she finally found the source of the commotion.

But there were too many comments for her to figure out how these people had found her Weibo.

Her profile picture was a half-body shot taken by the Seine River a few years ago, and her Weibo username was “Walking Shoulder to Shoulder with the Sun,” which had a slightly middle-school feel to it. That’s how everyone confirmed it was her.

Ruan Sixian opened her private messages and browsed through them. Most were from girls.

Some wanted to get to know her, some simply expressed admiration, and others just sent strings of “ahhhhhhhhh” like screaming chickens.

Of course, there were also very simple and direct messages expressing intentions, usually just two words—”Meet up?”

Ruan Sixian was curious about where these people got their confidence from. Curiosity made her click on one to check their Weibo, but self-preservation made her immediately exit and block them completely.

Being showered with compliments by so many strangers—what woman wouldn’t be happy?

Ruan Sixian gleefully took screenshots, about to send them to Bian Xuan and Si Xiaozhen, when her screen was suddenly interrupted by an incoming call.

She hadn’t saved the number, but she knew who was calling.

After answering, Ruan Sixian didn’t speak. The other end was also silent for a moment.

“Ruan Ruan, is that female pilot on World Airlines’ official Weibo you?”

Ruan Sixian was still sitting cross-legged on her bed, tilting her head. She made a soft “Mm” sound.

Dong Xian’s voice immediately softened.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I always thought you were still working as a flight attendant.”

“You never asked.”

The sound of Dong Xian sniffling came through the phone. “Ruan Ruan, you’ve achieved your dream. Mom is very happy.”

Hearing this, Ruan Sixian felt no particular emotion and had nothing to say.

Their phone calls were always like this, with inexplicable silences.

Dong Xian couldn’t understand why Ruan Sixian had gradually become this way—so cold toward her, sometimes even a little hostile.

“Ruan Ruan, it’s your birthday today. Let me cook for you.”

“No need,” Ruan Sixian said. “I have plans with friends.”

After countless rejections, Dong Xian had already grown accustomed to it.

But today was different. The photos online left her stunned, and she could hardly believe that the daughter who was so silent and distant with her had changed so much. She wanted to see her. “Then can I bring you a cake?”

“My friends will order a cake for me. Um, I have to go now, I need to work.”

Dong Xian inhaled and let out a long sigh. “Alright, I won’t disturb you then.”

After hanging up, Ruan Sixian lay back down to continue sleeping.

Meanwhile, after Ruan Sixian became World Airlines’ promotional department’s KPI lucky charm, the official account quickly took advantage of the momentum and released a second wave of promotional content, thoughtfully including more photos of Ruan Sixian.

Fu Mingyu scrolled through the Weibo comments with a calm expression, then suddenly chuckled. “She is beloved by all.”

Bai Yang chimed in from the side: “Anyone who isn’t blind would love her.”

Fu Mingyu glanced at him, and Bai Yang immediately lowered his eyes, pretending he hadn’t said anything.

Fu Mingyu clicked on Ruan Sixian’s Weibo and checked her follower count, then instructed, “Tell the promotional department to exercise restraint. Don’t overexploit her.”

“Understood.”

Just as Bai Yang was about to leave to carry out the order, Fu Mingyu called him back. “Has everything been moved over?”

“I’ve arranged for people to move it. It should be done by this afternoon.”

Fu Mingyu nodded, and Bai Yang turned and walked out.

At the same time, Fu Mingyu’s phone rang.

He frowned, somewhat surprised, not knowing why Dong Xian would suddenly call him.

“Auntie, is something the matter?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask for a small favor.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“The female pilot on World Airlines’ promotional Weibo today—could you tell me her flight information? I need to see her about something.”

“I’m sorry, Auntie, I can’t disclose that.”

As he spoke, Fu Mingyu had already pulled up today’s flight information.

Ruan Sixian had reached her flight hour limit for the month and was off today.

Dong Xian hesitated for a moment, then asked, “You don’t need to tell me specifics, just roughly when she’ll be landing.”

Fu Mingyu smiled. “Auntie, I have so many pilots under me. How would I know exactly when each one lands?”

Then he asked, “Do you know her?”

Dong Xian made an affirmative sound.

Fu Mingyu said, “If you know her, you can call her directly. Don’t you have her contact information?”

“Yes.” Dong Xian pretended to acknowledge. “Thank you for your help. I won’t disturb your work anymore.”

“Alright.”

The phone made a “beep beep” sound, and Fu Mingyu held his phone, the screen automatically returning to the photo of that pitiful-looking girl.

In the evening, dark clouds rolled in before sunset, threatening a downpour.

Fu Mingyu didn’t have his driver take him, driving himself back to the Mingchen Apartments.

On the way, large raindrops began to fall.

Before entering the underground parking garage, he saw a black Porsche parked outside the main entrance. A middle-aged driver sat in the driver’s seat, while a woman stood beside the car, one hand holding an umbrella, the other carrying a cake.

Fu Mingyu and Dong Xian hadn’t met many times, and the rain made it difficult to see clearly. He only felt the person looked familiar. It wasn’t until he entered the elevator that he realized who it was.

Although his understanding of Ruan Sixian and Dong Xian was limited, Fu Mingyu could guess that if Ruan Sixian wanted to see her, Dong Xian wouldn’t have needed to call him specifically to ask about flight information.

Only because she couldn’t get information from him did she go through the trouble of finding her address.

Fu Mingyu’s finger was about to touch the button for the 16th floor, but thinking of this, he moved it down slightly and pressed the 14th floor.

The elevator slowly stopped.

Before the doors fully opened, Fu Mingyu heard the off-key singing from outside.

As the gap in the doors widened, Ruan Sixian in her red dress gradually fell silent.

She coughed once to cover the embarrassment of her singing, revealing a dignified smile.

“Mr. Fu, off work?”

“Yes.” Fu Mingyu looked her over. “You seem in a good mood today?”

“It’s alright.”

Ruan Sixian got in and pressed the button for the first floor. The doors slowly closed.

When the elevator started descending, she suddenly asked, “Were you going up or down?”

“Down.”

“Oh.”

Ruan Sixian wasn’t in a great mood today. A few days ago, Bian Xuan’s grandmother fell ill, so she closed up and went back to her hometown and hasn’t returned yet. Only Si Xiaozhen was celebrating her birthday with her. Then she received Dong Xian’s call. Her concern didn’t exactly ruin her mood, but it didn’t bring joy either—it hovered somewhere in the middle, neither here nor there.

But in the afternoon, she received countless compliments from netizens, nearly drowning her in flattery, making her feel like she truly was a fairy descended from heaven.

A fairy naturally couldn’t be troubled by worldly matters.

It wasn’t appropriate to sing in front of Fu Mingyu right now, but her happiness couldn’t be suppressed. Her mind automatically started a concert, and her fingers tapped the rhythm behind her back.

But the heavens always have a way of punishing earthbound fairies.

When the elevator stopped at the eighth floor, Ruan Sixian had a premonition that Erlang Shen had sent his Howling Celestial Dog to take her back to heaven.

The sound came before the dog appeared.

Ruan Sixian’s mental concert instantly lost power.

This is why it’s better to be rich.

If they weren’t living in detached villas, Ruan Sixian would never be able to demand that residents in the same building couldn’t keep dogs.

She silently retreated to the corner, holding the railing, nervously making eye contact with the dog.

Ruan Sixian’s nerves were tense, her palms cold. In her peripheral vision, she could see the reflections of two people in the elevator door getting closer and closer until they overlapped.

The cool scent of fir trees on him also drew nearer—Ruan Sixian’s line of sight was gradually blocked by his body. Before her eyes were his shirt and his collar.

Ruan Sixian looked up at him, blinking, seemingly not understanding this move.

She stood in the corner, and Fu Mingyu’s body almost confined her to this right angle.

But unlike before, he was facing Ruan Sixian rather than with his back to her.

The narrow space suddenly constricted, making it difficult for even breathing to flow.

He still lowered his head, staring directly at her.

His gaze was particularly calm as if maintaining his habit of looking straight ahead.

But his gaze remained fixed on her face!

Ruan Sixian couldn’t handle staring into Fu Mingyu’s eyes like this.

She turned her face away, but her heartbeat still accelerated uncontrollably.

Wait, if you’re blocking the dog, just block the dog. Why are you facing me?

The dog was blocked, but this posture was too strange.

It would have been easier to face the dog than to face this man.

Apart from the sounds of the dog moving around, Ruan Sixian could only hear her breathing and heartbeat.

When she lowered her eyes, Fu Mingyu could see the brown eyeshadow on her eyes, the upturned eyeliner, and her particularly curled long eyelashes.

He recalled that this was probably the first time he’d seen her wearing makeup in the past six months.

“Dressed up so beautifully, who are you going to meet?”

Ruan Sixian: “…”

For the entire sentence, she only focused on the word “beautiful.”

And she noticed that she had confidently accepted thousands of compliments today, even forwarding them to Si Xiaozhen and others.

But with Fu Mingyu’s single “beautiful,” she blushed.

She murmured: “A friend.”

“Male or female?”

Ruan Sixian’s voice grew even quieter: “None of your business.”

“Just asking.” He said slowly, “Male or female?”

Who casually asks the same question twice?

Ruan Sixian didn’t want to answer, but the shadow over her head had a kind of pressure that weighed so heavily she couldn’t lift her head.

“Male.”

“Oh.” Fu Mingyu seemed to know Ruan Sixian was saying this deliberately, and asked again, “Are you coming home tonight?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll drive you there.”

His tone was too direct, not a negotiation at all.

“No need.”

“Are you sure?”

The elevator stopped at the first floor at that moment, the doors slowly opening, and the “pitter-patter” sound of rain came through.

Ruan Sixian: “…”

She had closed her windows before going out, concentrating on her makeup, and hadn’t noticed it had started raining.

The dog owner pulled the dog out, took two steps, then froze.

Ruan Sixian had a small scheme in mind and immediately pressed the close door button.

By the time the dog owner reacted, the doors had already closed.

But Fu Mingyu still stood motionless.

Ruan Sixian pushed his chest and pressed the button for the basement at the same time, urgently saying, “Hurry, hurry.”

When they reached the parking lot, Ruan Sixian sat in the passenger seat. As she pulled out the seatbelt and buckled it, she suddenly thought of something and laughed softly.

Fu Mingyu: “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” Ruan Sixian said. “Just thinking that your passenger seat is quite comfortable.”

“Mm.” Fu Mingyu nodded. “Not everyone gets to sit here.”

Ruan Sixian turned her face away without speaking.

If they continued, this topic would only go in one direction.

A man’s passenger seat sometimes did have special implications.

Just then, Si Xiaozhen suddenly called.

Today’s downpour had changed weather patterns, requiring many flight routes to be altered. Si Xiaozhen, as a dispatcher, couldn’t leave and had to work overtime.

“…”

It wasn’t an intentional cancellation—work was just like that. Ruan Sixian understood but was still disappointed.

Fu Mingyu had his hand on the steering wheel, turning his head to look at Ruan Sixian.

“Your friend isn’t coming?”

He sounded a bit gleeful at her misfortune.

Ruan Sixian turned her head away without speaking.

Fu Mingyu started unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Let’s go back then.”

Ruan Sixian didn’t speak, nor did she object.

It was pouring outside. If she ate alone in a restaurant, especially on her birthday, the loneliness index would be too high.

Reentering the elevator, Ruan Sixian’s mood was low, all the earlier excitement gone.

She lowered her head to press the button for the 14th floor but was suddenly pulled back by Fu Mingyu.

“Come upstairs and eat with me.”

He didn’t wait for Ruan Sixian’s answer and directly pressed the 16th floor.

Fine.

With her low spirits, Ruan Sixian didn’t want to struggle or talk.

She didn’t want to eat alone on her birthday.

Fu Mingyu sometimes barely qualified as a person; he would have to do so.

Reaching the 16th floor, Fu Mingyu pressed his fingerprint while unbuttoning his jacket.

As the door opened, he suddenly thought of something and turned back with a smile: “You dressed up so beautifully today, and in the end, only one man gets to see it.”

Ruan Sixian smiled without sincerity: “Yes, lucky you.”

After entering, he immediately took off his jacket, draped it over the sofa, and walked toward the kitchen in his shirt.

Ruan Sixian peeked in. “Not ordering takeout?”

“No.”

“You can cook?”

“It’s acceptable.”

Fu Mingyu opened the refrigerator, looking at the fresh food his housekeeper had stuffed in, and asked, “What do you want to eat?”

“A royal feast.”

Ruan Sixian raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Can you manage that?”

Fu Mingyu ignored her, reaching into the refrigerator to rummage around, then turned to look at her: “Longevity noodles, want some?”