Infоrmаtiоn trаnsmissiоn hаs a time lаg, but thе intеrnеt еra has drastiсаlly shortеned this gaр.
Nоt lоng аftеr Нe Lanхiang went upstairs, Ruan Sixiаn's рhonе alsо bеgаn rеcеiving а stеаdу streаm of messagеs.
Нowеver, beforе she cоuld cheсk thеm оnе bу оnе, He Lаnхiang wаlkеd dоwn from thе seсоnd floor.
Не Lanхiang walked slоwly, even strаightеning а branсh in a floor-stаnding flоwеrpоt аs shе раssеd the соrner оf the stаircasе.
Aftеr rеturning tо her sеаt, undеr thе glow of the rеstaurant's crystal сhandelier, Нe Lanхiang's ехprеssion was calm. She stirred the soup in her bowl with a spoon and asked, "Are you finished eating?"
"I'm done, Auntie. Please take your time."
Ruan Sixian wiped her mouth with a napkin and glanced at her wristwatch.
It seemed today's meal would end here.
"There's an urgent work issue, so Mingyu has to rush back to the company soon," He Lanxiang said while having Auntie Luo bring over a bowl of coconut milk bird's nest. "I'm really sorry. If you're not in a hurry, have something more to drink. I'll have my driver take you home later."
As soon as she finished speaking, Ruan Sixian was about to respond when the two men upstairs walked out leisurely.
Although the villa was spacious, it wasn't empty. It was fully furnished with all the necessary household items, and the lady of the house had a taste for life—decorations were abundant but not cluttered.
Yet, the heavy footsteps of Fu Mingyu and Fu Boting seemed to echo through the house as if it were hollow.
Fu Boting glanced toward the dining room, his stern expression softening slightly as he picked up his coat and said, "We need to go to the company. Please continue your meal."
Fu Mingyu didn't say anything. He walked straight to Ruan Sixian, bent slightly, and whispered, "I have to leave first. Rest for a while. My mom will have the driver take you home, okay?"
Though he had only been in the study for about ten minutes, Fu Mingyu's expression was no longer as relaxed as before.
Ruan Sixian gently squeezed his palm. "Alright."
After Fu Mingyu left, Ruan Sixian naturally had no intention of staying to chat with He Lanxiang.
Soon, she was seated in the car arranged by He Lanxiang.
When she opened her phone again, every work group chat was already flooded with "99+" unread messages.
In just half an hour, by the time she checked Weibo, the hashtag #WorldAirlinesPassengerKneeling had already climbed to the top three on the trending list, not to mention the various aviation news apps pushing the story.
Under normal circumstances, this incident might not have gained such widespread attention. However, coinciding with the lingering buzz from Ruan Sixian's emergency landing a few days earlier and the afternoon interview—which had attracted many onlookers due to the commotion caused by Li Zhihuai's fans—the appearance of the keyword "World Airlines" immediately sent the topic soaring.
As for what exactly happened, the information online was unreliable, but someone in the work group had already summarized the entire incident.
It began with a World Airlines international flight from Sydney, Australia, transiting through Singapore and heading to Jiangcheng.
However, the flight was delayed for nearly six hours upon departure from Sydney.
Flight delays are common occurrences but have always been a headache for passengers. For airlines, the biggest challenge in handling delays lies in managing passenger emotions.
During this delay, World Airlines' Singapore branch explained to the waiting passengers that the delay was due to heavy rain in Sydney, when in fact, it hadn't rained there at all.
When the plane finally arrived in Singapore, passengers who had been waiting at the airport for six hours demanded an apology from the airline. When their request was ignored, they refused to board.Meanwhile, the passengers still on the plane in Sydney were unaware of the situation outside. After waiting in the aircraft for two hours, they were notified to disembark, and today's flight was canceled.
All of this happened this afternoon.
Four hours later, after waiting anxiously for several hours, passengers specifically went to the ground service desk to inquire, only to learn that the flight had already taken off half an hour earlier.
Surprisingly, there were only a little over a hundred passengers on the plane, with dozens still left behind at the airport.
Among these stranded passengers, some knew the plane was about to depart but refused to board due to their demands for an apology going unmet. Others simply never received any notification of the departure.
The frustration accumulated from the delay erupted in an instant. The stranded passengers were outraged, and tensions escalated. Among them, an elderly passenger became so agitated that their blood pressure spiked, causing them to collapse at the airport. A pregnant woman, overwhelmed by anxiety and emotional distress, experienced signs of a threatened miscarriage.
The manager who arrived on the scene failed to handle the situation promptly and made statements that were clearly self-justifying, further escalating the conflict.
One passenger, desperate to return to Jiangcheng for their daughter's wedding—a delay that would inevitably cause them to miss it—fell to their knees in front of the manager, weeping and pleading. Meanwhile, angry passengers began throwing the compensation cash provided by the airline at the manager's face, with others quickly following suit.
These scenes were captured by other people at the airport and posted online, sparking widespread discussion. Marketing accounts immediately posted provocative content to stir up public sentiment, and within just over an hour, World Airlines found itself at the center of a storm of public criticism.
Seeing all this, Ruan Sixian finally understood why Fu Boting was so furious.
This year, major airlines have been aggressively expanding into overseas markets. However, with the market itself nearing maturity, service has become the key factor in capturing market share.
The series of incidents triggered by this flight delay—culminating in passengers being hospitalized, kneeling, and other extraordinary events—directly challenged World Airlines' service standards in overseas markets.
For an airline, delays due to weather or air traffic control are already significant tests of service. Yet, when the delay occurred, the staff failed to promptly reassure passengers or address their inconveniences. Later, when the situation spiraled completely out of control, the manager rushed to the scene but still couldn't resolve the issue.
The entire sequence of events clearly exposed the lack of coordination in internal communication and the chaotic information transmission mechanisms within World Airlines' Singapore branch.
As for assigning responsibility, in Fu Boting's eyes, Fu Mingyu was the first to blame.
Since the beginning of last year, after Fu Boting handed over full control of World Airlines to Fu Mingyu, he had relieved himself of most of the pressure and devoted himself entirely to the affairs of the aviation financial leasing headquarters.
Therefore, he wouldn't blame anyone else for this incident—only Fu Mingyu, for his inadequate supervision of the overseas branches and excessive delegation of authority, which led to such an outcome.
A single accident is the result of a thousand hidden risks. For an airline, the occurrence of such a service incident indicates that thousands of underlying issues have emerged, and no one can guarantee that none of them involve safety hazards.
If a safety accident were to actually occur, it would be a responsibility no one could bear.
Before even arriving home, Ruan Sixian received numerous messages from friends, all asking about the details of this incident.Ruan Sixian had only gotten the information from the work group chat, and she wasn’t sure if it was complete, so she didn’t go into detail.
Now the screen was flooded with related messages. She frowned, unable to imagine how much pressure Fu Mingyu was under at the moment.
The driver pulled up downstairs.
When Ruan Sixian got out of the car, she felt a chill on her face.
She looked up and saw countless tiny snowflakes dancing erratically under the glow of the streetlights.
It was snowing now, of all times.
Ruan Sixian tightened her scarf and headed upstairs.
By now, the incident had been fermenting online for over an hour. Ruan Sixian saw colleagues from other departments in the work group chat saying they were rushing back to work overtime. Today, Fu Boting was personally holding a meeting.
How long had it been since he last involved himself in World Airlines’ affairs? For him to step in now, he must be furious.
So Ruan Sixian had initially wanted to ask Fu Mingyu how he was doing, but considering the current state of the company, she decided against it. He probably had no mind to check personal messages.
Back home, it was still early. Ruan Sixian sat in the study for a while but couldn’t focus on a single page of her book.
As soon as her eyes fell on the text, her mind was flooded with chaotic thoughts.
Outside the window, the snow fell heavier and heavier, rustling as it drifted down, making the indoors feel especially quiet.
After her shower, it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. Ruan Sixian leaned on the balcony railing and looked out through the window. Many children were running outside to play in the snow, and a few girls had come out wearing hats to take photos.
Though there wasn’t much snow, they all seemed quite happy.
But Ruan Sixian was restless.
It had been a long time since she’d felt this sense of helplessness.
She didn’t know what Fu Mingyu was doing now, what situation he was facing, and there was nothing she could do about it.
After a while, she sent him a message.
[Ruan Sixian]: I’m going to sleep. Tomorrow morning, I have to go to the aviation medical center for a check-up. If there are no issues with my physical or mental health, I’ll be back to flying soon.
As expected, by the time she closed her eyes, there was no reply from him.
But Ruan Sixian didn’t fall completely asleep.
Though her consciousness was hazy, she could still faintly hear the sound of snow falling outside.
After some time, in a half-asleep state, Ruan Sixian sensed a faint rustling sound in the room.
Thinking it was the window in the living room left open, she ignored it.
Suddenly, a pair of cold lips pressed against hers, kissing her gently yet insistently, parting her lips and delving deeper.
Ruan Sixian’s mind was still foggy. A muffled sob was swallowed as her mouth was instantly invaded.
Damn!
Her body reacted faster than her mind. The moment she opened her eyes, before she could even see who it was, her hand had already swung out.
A sharp slap echoed through the room.
The icy sensation from the slap was quickly replaced by a stinging pain in her palm.
It was at that moment that Ruan Sixian froze.
After a long pause, his voice, filled with helplessness and exhaustion, came from the darkness.
“You hit me again.”
In the pitch-black room, only a faint light seeped through the curtains, half-concealing Fu Mingyu’s face.
She realized it was him because of the familiar scent of fir on him.
—And that familiar feeling.
“No…” Ruan Sixian’s hand was still frozen mid-air, but her logic was surprisingly clear at that moment. “Are you a pervert, sneaking into a woman’s room in the middle of the night to steal a kiss? In ancient times, you’d be thrown into a pig cage for this.”
Fu Mingyu let out a cold laugh."Steal a kiss? You're my girlfriend, why would I need to steal a kiss?"
And "sneak in"—had she forgotten she gave him the passcode to her home?
Ruan Sixian had nothing to say. She didn't lower her hand, instead reaching out to gently touch his cheek.
"Does it hurt?"
"Don't you know how strong you are?"
"Oh..."
As she withdrew her hand, Ruan Sixian brushed against his shoulder and felt something cold and icy.
Snowflakes.
She casually brushed them off.
"How are things?"
Fu Mingyu didn't speak, but the atmosphere around him felt heavy.
In the hazy glow of the light, he stared intently at Ruan Sixian.
"In three hours, I'm leaving for Singapore."
Ruan Sixian had already expected this. After something like this happened, Fu Mingyu would definitely have to go personally.
"Mhm, when will you be back?"
"I can't give you a definite answer," he said. "Mr. Hu will temporarily oversee matters at World Airlines. I'll personally go to Singapore to reorganize the operations department. How long it will take depends on the specific situation there."
He paused, then added, "After that, I'll also conduct random inspections of other overseas operations departments. It'll probably take one or two months."
Ruan Sixian let out an "oh," lowering her head, lost in thought.
Fu Mingyu's phone buzzed once. Without looking, he knew it was Bai Yang calling.
He didn't answer the call, instead speaking softly, "Wait for me to come back."
"Can I even run away?" Ruan Sixian muttered. "The contract still has a few years left."
Fu Mingyu chuckled, a hint of helplessness in his smile.
Even now, he couldn't hear her say something sweet.
"Get some rest early."
With those words, Fu Mingyu stood up, ready to leave.
Suddenly, his tie was tugged, pulling him forward until he half-knelt on the bed.
Ruan Sixian tilted her head up and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"I'll be waiting for you to come back."
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