Тhе оvеrhеаd lights shone brightlу, саsting а рallor ovеr thе facеs of thosе рrеsеnt.
Оnlу then did evеryone snap baсk tо reаlity, rising tо thеir fееt onе аftеr аnоther, еxchanging bеwildеred glаnces.
Jiang Ziуue was still frоzen in plасе until Yuе Сhеn drаgged her uр. Shе stumbled, brасing hеrself аgainst thе tаble, her fасe аshen and her liрs gradually lоsing соlor.
Оutside the privаtе rоom, thе сlаmоr wаs оverwhеlming—bоisterоus chаtter, the minglеd arоmаs оf foоd аnd winе lingеring in the air—making thе already stifling silenсe inside feеl even mоre suffосating.
А long time passed without a word spoken, not even the rustle of clothing.
Lin Hongji still held his wine glass, frozen mid-motion. His lips parted and closed repeatedly before he finally managed two words: "President Fu..."
Fu Mingyu, who had been leaning over Ruan Sixian with one hand propped on the table, lifted his eyelids and cast a cold glance in Lin Hongji’s direction, silencing him instantly.
The atmosphere in the room grew even heavier.
Ruan Sixian, who had remained silent since Fu Mingyu finished speaking, suddenly picked up her bag and stood. Keeping her head down, she pushed Fu Mingyu’s hand aside and walked toward the door.
As she passed the table near the entrance, those who had been discussing her earlier collectively took a step back, afraid to get too close.
But just as Ruan Sixian reached the door, she suddenly turned back and said softly, "Captain Lin, I... I never meant to ruin your birthday like this. I’m sorry."
Lin Hongji felt like crying. Please don’t drag me into this—it really has nothing to do with me.
Even after Ruan Sixian walked out the door, the lingering gazes of the crowd remained fixed on her.
Why had Ruan Sixian’s demeanor suddenly softened? Her voice had turned so quiet and delicate, and if they hadn’t been mistaken, her ears had even flushed red.
Was she putting on a fragile act in front of President Fu?
Fu Mingyu didn’t follow her out immediately. The hand she had pushed away hung loosely at his side as he rotated his wrist. When he looked up at the people around the table, his expression was inscrutable.
"Did you see?"
No one understood what he meant by that, only feeling as though a taut string in their minds had been pulled, stiffening their jaws.
Then, when Fu Mingyu spoke his next words, that string suddenly snapped.
"Is this how you make things harder for me?"
—Though there was a hint of resignation in his tone, the underlying warning was unmistakable.
When Ruan Sixian had been present, his voice had carried a trace of gentleness. But now, his tone and expression were eerily calm—so calm it felt devoid of warmth, like the deep sea before a storm, concealing turbulent waves beneath the surface.
Fu Mingyu left only those words behind before turning and walking out.
Lin Hongji wanted to chase after him and say something, but his legs refused to move, and he had no idea what to say.
The private room once again fell into a deathly silence.
It was a remark from the table at the far end that finally broke the stillness.
—"Ruan Sixian has quite the temper."
As if waking from a dream, everyone turned to look at Ni Tong.
Ni Tong was still in a state of stunned disbelief, her eyes vacant. "What’s going on? So President Fu is the one pursuing her?"
She felt like a complete fool, having once tried to teach Ruan Sixian how to chase after a man.
Once she spoke up, others chimed in.
"Damn... I thought she was just clinging to him as a casual fling, but it turns out it’s like this. What do we do now?"
"What should we do? Did she hear what we were saying earlier?"
"Shit, I was hoping to get promoted to chief flight attendant this year. Shit, shit, shit!""Who started spreading those rumors in the first place! Spreading things around without knowing the facts, and now we’re all going down together."
Amid the clamor, Jiang Ziyue pressed her lips tightly together, her nails digging into her palms, her breath escaping in faint, strained wisps.
Yue Chen suddenly grabbed the wine glass in front of him and smashed it to the ground. With a loud crash, the private room fell silent again.
Shards of glass bounced onto Jiang Ziyue’s feet. She jerked her head up, staring at Yue Chen in disbelief, her expression on the verge of shattering.
"Feeling better now?" Yue Chen’s face flushed red, the color spreading down his neck, veins bulging on his forehead. "I told you to shut up—didn’t you hear me? Do you think you’re the only one with a mouth?"
Jiang Ziyue’s eyes were nearly bloodshot as she shrieked, "Are you even a man?! I’ll just resign if it comes to that—what’s there to be afraid of her for?!"
"You bitch!" Yue Chen was so furious he raised his hand, lifting it above his head. The others around him rushed to stop him, and in that moment, he regained his senses. His hand fell heavily, overturning a nearby chair. "If you want to leave, go by yourself—don’t drag me down with you!"
Pilots like Yue Chen were different from Ruan Sixian.
Ruan Sixian hadn’t been trained by the airline, so her contract was more flexible. But Yue Chen and others like him had signed with the airline the moment they were selected in high school—a fixed training program where the airline covered all the high costs of their education. As a result, their contracts were ironclad, leaving almost no possibility of switching jobs.
Even if they tried to force a job change, the breach of contract penalties would bankrupt them.
Now that Jiang Ziyue had offended their top boss, there was no guarantee Yue Chen wouldn’t be implicated.
He couldn’t change companies—he was at their mercy.
At the very least, he could be assigned only short-haul flights, flying several segments a day within the same region. The proportion of the most exhausting takeoffs and landings in his total flight hours would skyrocket.
Or, with a word to air traffic control, his flights could be pushed back during flow control. Not only would he be stuck in the cockpit, but without takeoff, there’d be no hourly pay.
On a larger scale, he could be demoted to co-pilot outright. And if things got even worse, he might even end up as a co-pilot for life.
The more Yue Chen thought about it, the more terrified he became. Seeing how gently Fu Mingyu had spoken to Ruan Sixian earlier, he knew these things weren’t impossible.
He understood all too well what a man could do for the woman he loved.
Especially when that man held a high position, with power and influence at his fingertips—the possibilities were endless.
If Yue Chen could think of this, how could the other pilots not? They all began to worry about their own futures.
And at that moment, Ni Tong stepped in to break the deadlock.
She first shared their fear, then calmed down a bit and said, "It should be fine... right?"
All eyes turned to her, the spotlight too bright. She took a step back, trembling as she spoke, "I also... well... had some unpleasantness with her before, and she didn’t... do anything to me..."
But was Ruan Sixian really the issue here?
The real issue was President Fu!
No one bothered with Ni Tong, turning their attention back to worrying about their own futures.
Meanwhile, the situation on the other side wasn’t looking good either.
When Fu Mingyu walked out, Ruan Sixian was already striding ahead, her bag in hand, moving as if carried by the wind.
"Ruan Sixian."
Fu Mingyu called out from behind. Seeing that she didn’t stop, he took a few quick strides to catch up and grabbed her wrist.
"You..."
Before he could finish, Fu Mingyu’s voice trailed off.
He looked down at Ruan Sixian’s face.Ruan Sixian hung her head, then suddenly shook off his hand when she noticed his movement and continued walking forward.
That damn man.
That stinking damn man.
After silently cursing him a few times in her mind, Ruan Sixian’s wrist was grabbed again.
She turned around and struggled. “Let go of me.”
Unable to free her hand, she could only look up and glare at him.
“I’ll handle this matter,” Fu Mingyu said. “There definitely won’t be any more rumors like this in the future. Can you calm down first?”
She continued glaring at Fu Mingyu without saying a word.
What was on her mind wasn’t that matter at all.
Fu Mingyu said, “Get in the car first. I’ll take you home. It’s going to rain soon.”
After speaking, he looked back. The driver had been slowly following them in the car and was now parked by the roadside where they stood.
Seizing the moment when he wasn’t paying attention, Ruan Sixian pulled her hand free and slapped him on the back.
Fu Mingyu thought she was still angry about that matter. He turned around, pressed her shoulders, and said seriously, “I told you, I’ll give you an explanation for this.”
Under the streetlights, Fu Mingyu finally saw that Ruan Sixian’s face was as red as a ripe apple, and the flush faintly extended to her fair neck.
The two stared at each other, neither speaking first.
After about ten seconds, Ruan Sixian suddenly slapped his shoulder again.
The force wasn’t exactly heavy, but it wasn’t light either—it carried emotion.
Fu Mingyu frowned, took a deep breath, and felt his patience wearing thin bit by bit.
“Say something,” he lowered his gaze. “Do you need to slap me one more time to feel better?”
Ruan Sixian clenched her fist.
Although she didn’t know what she looked like right now, she felt as if everything above her neck was enveloped in a wave of heat radiating from herself.
In short, she was sure her face was completely flushed.
“Bring your face over.”
Fu Mingyu naturally wouldn’t actually bring his face closer.
He just looked at Ruan Sixian, his dark eyes unreadable.
Another silent stare-down ensued, and just like before, Ruan Sixian suddenly reached out, her palm touching Fu Mingyu’s cheek as she pushed it aside.
“Why did you have to say those things there?!”
After throwing out this sentence, she immediately walked to the roadside, quickly pulled open the car door, and got in.
This “slap” felt soft, almost like a cat’s paw.
The warmth of Ruan Sixian’s palm still lingered on his cheek. Fu Mingyu brushed it with his hand and caught a glimpse of Ruan Sixian’s faint profile through the car window.
A moment later, he lowered his head and smiled, then turned and got into the car.
The driver silently drove toward Mingchen.
The back seat was spacious. Fu Mingyu crossed his legs, unbuttoned his cuffs, and glanced sideways at Ruan Sixian.
Ruan Sixian was squeezed against the far side, facing the window, but she noticed Fu Mingyu looking at her in the reflection.
“What’s wrong?”
How dare you ask?!
Ruan Sixian wished she could kick him out of the car right then and there.
Just because I usually seem bold and fearless, do you think I don’t get embarrassed?
Saying something like “Didn’t you tell them I’m the one pursuing you?” in front of so many people, and all of them colleagues—is that something a normal person would do?
Even though she knew Fu Mingyu was interested in her, such things were fine to discuss privately, but saying them out loud in public was like a grand confession scene.
What woman wouldn’t be embarrassed?!
Ever since Fu Mingyu uttered those words in the private room, Ruan Sixian’s chest had swelled with emotion, and her entire face began to heat up.
She hadn’t felt such emotional turmoil even when arguing with Jiang Ziyue.Meanwhile, that dog of a man remained utterly unruffled, his expression unchanged and his heart steady, even casually asking her what was wrong.
After taking a deep breath, Ruan Sixian calmed down and was about to speak calmly when he spoke again, "Everything I said today was serious."
Ruan Sixian: "..."
Even though there was an entire empty seat between them, Ruan Sixian felt as if the space around her was suffocatingly narrow, as if Fu Mingyu's presence was enveloping her.
"Oh."
"Oh?" Fu Mingyu tilted his head to look at her flushed face, finding it amusing. "Is that your way of agreeing?"
"Agreeing? Don't be so full of yourself." Ruan Sixian lifted her chin as if she had heard a joke and snorted coldly, "Why don't you give it a try? If you manage to win me over, I'll take your surname."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Ruan Sixian choked, her mind buzzing with embarrassment.
The driver in the front seat suddenly coughed, though she couldn't tell if he was laughing at her.
Damn...
Ruan Sixian closed her eyes in regret.
Had her brain been fried today, or had her wits completely hidden away in shame? How could she have said something so idiotic?
Yet another wave of humiliation washed over her.
"You're right, if I succeed, of course—"
"Fu Mingyu, shut up!"
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