"Тhеrе аrе nо medicаl реrsоnnеl in the cabin!"
Ni Тоng rushed into thе coсkрit аnd lеаnеd over tо check on the cарtain. А few strаnds оf hеr nеatlу stуlеd hаir frоm the mоrning had comе lоosе. "After cirсling for so lоng, many раssеngеrs аrе grоwing impatiеnt."
Ruаn Sixiаn glаnсed sidеwaуs аt the cарtain, whо had fainted in thе pilot's seаt, tооk a dеep breаth, аnd sаid, "Cаll thе third flight аttеndаnt in tо takе сarе of thе caрtain. Yоu gо оut and infоrm thе раssengers that wе are prepаring to land."
She gаve Ni Tоng anоthеr loоk. "Fix your hair. Don’t cause panic."
Ni Tong immediately reached up to smooth her hair but didn’t leave right away. "Given the current situation... can we land?"
"Go now!"
Ni Tong couldn’t say another word and immediately ran out.
Two minutes later, the third flight attendant entered, fastened her seatbelt, and sat beside the captain.
Clenching her hands nervously, she asked, "What’s the situation now?"
"It’s manageable," Ruan Sixian said. "Don’t worry."
In truth, the situation was far from manageable.
The captain’s incapacitation was secondary; the main issue was that the airport’s primary runway, designed based on the most frequent wind direction throughout the year, was currently unusable.
If the plane attempted to land with a tailwind, it could easily overshoot the runway.
However, the secondary runway was now experiencing strong crosswinds, which could tilt the plane sideways. Moreover, she anticipated that the ground drainage situation might lead to a "waterplane" scenario.
Even if the captain were conscious, this would be an extremely difficult landing.
"Fifty percent."
After communicating with air traffic control, Ruan Sixian silently repeated this number to herself.
The crosswind intensity was now almost at the regulatory limit, barely meeting the conditions for landing.
She estimated the probability of a successful touchdown at only fifty percent.
She had encountered more challenging situations in the flight simulator, but the difference was that now, the safety of hundreds of people in the cabin weighed heavily on her shoulders.
With the captain incapacitated, she had no right to panic. She had to remain exceptionally clear-headed at a time like this, rapidly calculating all the data in her mind.
The plane turned, entering the approach path.
"Ah..." After passing through the clouds, the flight attendant beside her sighed in relief and murmured quietly, "Finally, we can see the runway!"
But as soon as she finished speaking, the rain intensified again, turning the windshield into a virtual waterfall.
The wipers couldn’t keep up with the downpour, and visibility narrowed steadily during the descent.
Ruan Sixian pressed her lips tightly together, almost peering through the gaps to glimpse the runway ahead.
Feeling the vibration upon touchdown, the flight attendant beside her patted her chest, about to turn and offer Ruan Sixian some encouragement, only to see her brow furrowed tightly.
Following Ruan Sixian’s gaze toward the left window, the flight attendant’s heart suddenly raced—
The rain showed no signs of letting up. Ground crew in raincoats hurried across the airport, directing arrangements to keep the runway clear.
Inside the crew vehicle, phone rings overlapped incessantly.
"How’s the drainage on the secondary runway?"
Fu Mingyu asked.
"The rain came too suddenly and heavily, and the water couldn’t drain in time. The ground crew is handling it now."
Bai Yang glanced at his phone and added, "The National Civil Aviation Administration and the Jiangcheng Civil Aviation Administration have dispatched personnel to Jiangcheng International Airport to assess the situation immediately. Will you be heading over?"
"Leave it to General Manager Hu. I’ll stay here."
Fu Mingyu took out his constantly ringing phone, opened WeChat, and his gaze lingered on Ruan Sixian’s last message.[Ruan Sixian]: Alright, alright, I know. We're about to take off, so just be quiet already.
Hundreds of flights shuttle through the sky every day. Despite everyone's utmost caution and the mobilization of all resources to ensure the safety of each flight, nature's whims can strike without warning. Human effort is utterly insignificant in the face of nature's might.
Amidst raging storms, hail, and thunderclouds, he could stand safely in the crew bus. Yet his girl—slender-waisted, with delicate legs, bright eyes, and gleaming teeth—who should have been cherished and pampered her whole life, was instead constantly battling the forces of nature.
The sound of rain in his ears seemed to ebb and flow, but Fu Mingyu remained silent, his gaze fixed intently on the runway ahead. An intensely somber aura emanated from him, keeping others on the crew bus at a distance. Even Bai Yang beside him dared not breathe too loudly.
If not for the flashing lights outside and the movement of personnel, Bai Yang might have felt as if time had frozen.
The watch on his wrist ticked away second by second.
After what felt like an eternity, Bai Yang's eyes lit up. "They've landed!"
Fu Mingyu's eyes remained deep and unreadable. He said nothing, his line of sight closely following the flickering lights ahead.
But the next moment, Bai Yang glanced at the real-time information on his phone and added, "But they're severely off the runway centerline!"
Due to the powerful crosswind, the aircraft had deviated significantly from the indicator lights at both ends of the runway. It was no longer on the centerline. If this continued, the plane was likely to veer off the runway entirely.
The flight attendant's heart pounded fiercely. She gripped the armrest tightly, her palms slick with sweat. Yet, seeing Ruan Sixian's composure, she inexplicably felt a sense of calm settle over her.
"Do you need help?" she asked, noticing Ruan Sixian vigorously working the rudder pedals, trying to alter the aircraft's direction by controlling the rudder on the vertical stabilizer.
However, compared to flight, ground taxiing speed was much lower. Ruan Sixian used both feet while simultaneously operating the reverse thrust levers and the nose wheel steering control with her hands. It should have looked awkward, yet she appeared not the least bit flustered.
"Deflect the ailerons to maximum right," Ruan Sixian spoke, her voice even cooler than usual. "First on the second row of the main instrument panel. Don't panic."
The flight attendant sat beside the captain. This lovely, vibrant young woman was touching the instrument panel for the first time. Though nervous, her physical control was excellent, without even a hint of a tremor.
"Is this okay?" she asked.
Ruan Sixian didn't answer. The flight attendant turned and saw the indicator lights almost parallel to the fuselage, allowing herself a slight sigh of relief.
Even Yan An had heard the news and come to the airport. Braving the rain, he entered the crew bus where Fu Mingyu was, brushing water off his clothes. "What's the situation now?"
"The plane has returned to the centerline," Bai Yang reported, his usually steady voice now tinged with anxiety. "But due to water on the runway causing tire hydroplaning, the aircraft isn't decelerating consistently."
"Holy... a seaplane?!" Yan An froze, his hand hanging mid-air, a sudden chill running through his body.
Fire trucks and ambulances were already in position. The approach lights remained piercingly bright through the curtain of rain. A sea of red flashing lights filled the view, reflected in Fu Mingyu's pupils.
Seeing him like this, Yan An's mouth fell slightly open. He whispered, "Is she on that plane?"
Fu Mingyu still didn't speak, his gaze locked on the scene ahead. Under the guidance of the runway lights, the rapidly taxiing aircraft was now faintly visible.Yan An held his breath, the tension in the cockpit so thick it could be cut with a knife.
On the shuttle bus nearby, Jin Ya and Jin Xuan, the siblings, were as quiet as the rest of the crowd.
“Should we just not go today?” Jin Xuan whispered. “The weather is too terrifying.”
“Can we even leave now? We’re already on the shuttle bus.” Jin Ya’s palms were sweating. Since there weren’t many people on the first-class shuttle, she had space to pace back and forth. She bit her lip nervously, her heart pounding in her throat. “If I were on that plane, I’d be scared to death. With the captain suddenly incapacitated, wouldn’t the plane just crash all over the place?”
After saying this, she took out her phone again to check the news. “It’s been so long, why hasn’t there been any news about a successful landing yet? Did something happen? Wuwuwu, I don’t want to fly anymore.”
“Stop making a scene!”
A female passenger behind her couldn’t stand Jin Ya spreading panic and shot her a glare. “If something happens to the captain, isn’t there still the co-pilot?! What mode of transportation doesn’t have accidents? We’re still waiting for news, why are you being so pessimistic? Even in Typhoon weather, people can land safely. What are you panicking about? Honestly, just spreading doom and gloom here, aren’t you afraid of scaring the children on the bus?”
Then she turned to comfort a child who was on the verge of tears. “Don’t be scared, little one. It’s okay. See, even when the windshield cracked, nothing happened. Now, for sure, nothing will happen either. You have to trust the adults, okay?”
Inside the cabin at that moment, the flight attendant watched as the plane sped past taxiway B4 in the blink of an eye. The breath she had just let out was caught again, her nails unconsciously digging into her palms.
The remaining runway space ahead was not long, and the plane still hadn’t managed to slow down, continuing to taxi at high speed.
If things continued like this, the plane would overshoot the runway.
Ruan Sixian pressed down on the brake pedals, pouring all her strength into her legs, but the plane still hadn’t successfully decelerated.
The flight attendant didn’t dare make a sound to disturb Ruan Sixian, but the runway lights on either side flashed by rapidly. The runway grew shorter and shorter as the plane approached its end.
She lowered her head, staring at Ruan Sixian’s legs as if staking her life on them.
With only a few hundred meters of runway left, Ruan Sixian had mere seconds.
What to do…
What to do…
There was only one last resort.
“Ah!” The flight attendant nearly fainted when she saw Ruan Sixian suddenly release the brake pedals—
In the passenger cabin, most passengers thought the plane had already landed and had turned on their phones, the sounds of text messages ringing out one after another.
Ni Tong sat in her seat, sensing that the plane hadn’t slowed down yet. Her entire body tensed, and the chaotic noises in the cabin seemed to fade away as if sucked into a vacuum.
It’s fine.
She silently comforted herself.
Situations like this had happened before.
It must be fine.
Suddenly, she bent over again, covering her face with her hands.
But in those situations, there was always a captain in charge. Now, with their captain incapacitated, there was only a co-pilot.
Abruptly, a surge of inertia pushed Ni Tong forward. She sat up straight, staring at the exit indicator lights outside the window, almost forgetting to breathe.
“What’s going on? Braking so suddenly.”
Unaware of the situation, a passenger couldn’t help but complain—
The moment she released the brake pedals, Ruan Sixian mustered all her strength and pressed down again. The plane’s taxiing speed suddenly dropped, and the braking effect reached its maximum in that instant.The flight attendant beside her felt as if she had come back to life, her mind buzzing.
She couldn’t believe that Ruan Sixian had released the brake pedal only to reapply it.
“Exit at B3!”
The air traffic controller issued the command again.
Unfortunately, by then, B3 had already been passed.
“Exit at B2!”
Even with the braking effect, the plane had already passed B2.
Only B1 remained ahead.
That was the very end of the runway.
“Exit at B1!”
Inside the crew bus where Fu Mingyu was, an overwhelming sense of tension first settled in, especially when everyone saw the plane pass B2—it felt as if darkness had fallen before their eyes.
The plane, which should have turned onto the taxiway at B4, still hadn’t changed course after passing B2.
Everyone present knew exactly what this meant.
Ahead lay the end of the runway, beyond which stretched endless fields.
Fields were often said to represent hope, but at this moment, they spelled despair.
It seemed almost certain that the plane would meet its end in those fields.
The lives of everyone on board, the future of the entire airline, and the reputation of the aircraft manufacturer—all seemed doomed.
The final second stretched out like an eternity.
The rain remained heavy, so dense that even the lights couldn’t pierce the night.
Breaths inside the bus grew faint, suppressed to the lowest point, as gazes and thoughts seemed to freeze in place.
Yet, in the blink of an eye, the atmosphere among the line of ground crew and maintenance staff outside the bus shifted abruptly, and two seconds later, a burst of cheers erupted in delayed realization.
By the time the cheers reached the crew bus, ambulances and fire trucks were already speeding toward the apron.
“Holy shit…” Yan An stared blankly ahead, murmuring, “That’s insane…”
Fu Mingyu finally relaxed his brow, opened the car door, and stepped into the rain.
When the air traffic controller issued the command, the plane had finally slowed enough to turn onto the taxiway.
Seeing the data, the controller on the other end of the headset let out a long sigh of relief.
“Did the braking work?”
He asked.
A gentle voice came through the headset.
“Yes, I released the brake pedal and reapplied it.”
The controller’s half-exhaled breath froze.
If the decision to reapply the brakes had been made a second later, the plane would have already rolled over the indicator lights and off the runway, with unimaginable consequences.
But reapplying the brakes was the boldest maneuver he had ever witnessed in his career.
Without reapplying, the braking effect wouldn’t be optimal, and the plane was destined to overshoot the runway.
Reapplying offered a glimmer of hope, but it was also the riskiest move. In that critical moment, if the person operating the brakes had been 0.1 seconds too late or failed to press the pedal to the floor instantly, the consequences would have been even more terrifying.
The controller had been in his position for nearly a decade and had seen all kinds of emergencies, yet he was left speechless at this moment.
He found it even harder to imagine that the person who dared to do this was a woman.
The flight attendant beside Ruan Sixian felt as if she had been revived.
Leaning back in her seat, she looked at the still-unconscious captain beside her and, for some reason, felt her eyes grow slightly moist.
She had never imagined that the captain, who had seemed so healthy, would suddenly fall ill mid-flight.
Nor had she expected to encounter such extreme weather at this very moment.
Once she got off the plane, the first thing she would do was buy the bag she had been eyeing for half a year but couldn’t bring herself to purchase.
The plane slowly came to a stop on the apron.
Ruan Sixian relaxed her hands and feet, tilted her head back to look at the lights in the rain, and finally let out a sigh of relief.She felt as if she hadn’t taken a proper breath for a while.
It was like being reborn from the brink of death, draining all her strength. The lights before her seemed to spin, and scenes flashed through her mind like a movie reel.
There was her father, her mother—all sorts of long-buried memories swirled before her eyes.
And in the final moment, as she gathered her emotions, the person who appeared before her was Fu Mingyu.
Thank goodness I didn’t die—it would have been such a waste to leave this man for another woman—
The crew stairs were quickly set up, and medical personnel were the first to rush into the cockpit, carrying away the captain who had collapsed due to illness.
She turned on her phone, and hundreds of missed call notifications nearly crashed it.
She didn’t need to reply to each one now—the news had likely already broken the story.
She had opened her phone because, before takeoff, she had promised Fu Mingyu she would let him know when she landed safely.
[Ruan Sixian]: Landed safely.
So cold?
Do you know I saved your plane, your passengers, and your employees?!
Ruan Sixian put away her phone, stood up, and pushed open the now-unlocked cockpit door.
Fu Mingyu was standing right outside, his clothes almost completely soaked, with droplets of water still dripping from his hair.
He stared intently at Ruan Sixian, his dark eyes seeming to hold countless unspoken words.
But in the end, he only said four words.
“Are you hurt?”
Ruan Sixian shook her head, and the next second, he pulled her tightly into his arms. Her nerves were still on edge, and she wanted to tell him about what had just happened.
“That…”
“Don’t move.”
Fu Mingyu tightened his grip, pressing the back of her neck. His hair was damp with rain, the moisture seeping into his fingertips. “Hold me for a while.”
His patience was running thin, and his arms wrapped around her so tightly she could barely breathe.
Yet he said nothing, letting people come and go around them, casting curious glances, without loosening his hold.
The familiar scent at the tip of her nose had a calming effect.
Her brain, which had been on high alert for over an hour, finally relaxed. Ruan Sixian didn’t raise her arms to hug him back but simply leaned tightly against his chest.
A false alarm was the most exhausting thing of all.
At a time like this, having someone’s embrace all to herself filled the void of all her fears.
After holding each other quietly for a long while, Ruan Sixian patted his back.
“Capitalist, you’d better give me a raise.”
Fu Mingyu seemed not to hear her words, gently stroking her back with his palm. After a long pause, he finally said, “I’m already yours. What more do you need a raise for?”
“Even brothers settle accounts clearly,” Ruan Sixian said, lightly punching his back. “So, are you giving me a raise or not?”
Fu Mingyu released her. “Close your eyes.”
Ruan Sixian gave him a suspicious look but, perhaps swayed by his face, obediently closed her eyes.
And prepared herself for a passionate kiss.
A second later, warmth touched her eyelids.
After a lingering pause, she heard Fu Mingyu say, “Let’s go. The Civil Aviation Administration is here.”
“Oh…”
Perhaps because the day had been too harrowing, even such a light kiss left Ruan Sixian feeling a bit dazed as she walked off the plane.
She forgot to press on with her reasonable demand for a raise!
By now, the ambulance had already driven away, and passengers were gradually disembarking.
Ni Tong and the flight attendant who had been in the cockpit earlier had regained their composure, standing at the cabin door, bidding farewell to each passenger.
“Take care, please remember your belongings, and have a pleasant journey.”They wore exquisite makeup, their uniforms lending them an air of grace and gentleness.
Passengers emerged one after another—some returning a smile, others not even looking up as they hurried down the stairs. No one knew what they had just been through.
As Ruan Sixian and Fu Mingyu boarded the crew bus, the first shuttle bus pulled up nearby.
Some passengers, delayed by the landing, dragged their luggage roughly. Others, caught in the heavy rain, rushed into the shuttle bus with clothes held over their heads.
Only a handful noticed the fire trucks nearby, their expressions flickering with confusion before they dismissed it and sprinted toward the shuttle bus.
They only felt the turbulence during the landing, complaining about the rough ride, unaware that they had brushed shoulders with death mere seconds earlier.
Inside the operations building, a prepared conference room was opened for the civil aviation officials and the flight crew.
Fu Mingyu did not enter. He had far more to attend to.
But when the conference room door closed, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he leaned against the cold wall for a long time, listening to the tense and relieved conversations inside.
It was only then that the true aftershock of fear slowly washed over him.
If she had panicked in that moment, if they had been just one second too late—
Fu Mingyu dared not imagine the consequences.
Whether it was a catastrophic crash or this woman vanishing from his life forever.
Only when he saw the plane come to a steady stop on the tarmac, with the dust settling and cheers erupting around him, did something inside him burst forth.
He had once felt a strong desire to conquer this sharp-tongued, beautiful woman, a curiosity about her, and the most primal attraction.
These were the most common reasons for falling in love.
Yet, in the moment he saw her step out of the cockpit unharmed, all those feelings were cast aside, replaced by a swelling ache in his heart.
Like the awe he felt as a child reading about legendary generals, or the reverence he held as a teenager for monarchs who ruled the world.
The shift within him was profound and unmistakable. She, along with the blazing fire of that moment, was seared into his heart—burning and indelible.
He knew then that he could never escape her.
To submit to her, yet to yearn to possess her forever.
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