Fang Hao’s birthday party was set for Friday night at a Spanish-style bar-restaurant in the south of the city. Many people were invited, making it perhaps the grandest celebration Fang Hao had ever had, likely due to the special significance of turning thirty. Apart from Lu Yan, who couldn’t make it from Shanghai, he invited Fang Shengjie, Chu Yirou, Fu Zixiang, Zhou Qichen, and Chen Jiayu. Chu Yirou also invited Zheng Xiaoxu and naturally, Fang Hao also invited a few close friends from outside of work.
After the dinner at Taishan restaurant, Chen Jiayu spontaneously decided to go on a vacation with his mother to Hangzhou. It had been almost two weeks since he last saw Fang Hao. On the morning of the party, he ironed one of his casual shirts before leaving home. After landing at Daxing Airport in the afternoon, he specifically went to the lounge to change his clothes. He took off his four-striped uniform and replaced the pants with a pair of well-fitted dress trousers. For the shirt, he chose a dark blue one with very fine light blue and gold patterns and a stand-up collar.
Although he didn’t own many casual shirts, as he wore his uniform four to five days a week and casual clothes the rest of the time, this one was a classic. Fang Hao hadn’t specified a dress code for the party, so Chen Jiayu opted for a more formal look to be safe.
Zhou Qichen, on the other hand, arrived in a black T-shirt and jeans, dressed casually as always. When he saw Chen Jiayu at the restaurant entrance, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Looking sharp today!”
Usually seen in uniform, Chen Jiayu’s occasional effort in dressing up was indeed impressive, especially given his tall figure and broad shoulders, and a shirt like this highlights his stature even more.
Chen Jiayu calmly rolled up his cuffs and said, “Is that so?” He then glanced at Zhou Qichen’s casual attire and returned the compliment, “So do you.”
They went straight into the restaurant, and without needing a waiter to guide them, the two pilots with their 5.0 vision saw from a distance that Fang Hao and the others were in a semi-open booth in the corner.
Perhaps because Fang Shengjie, Chu Yirou, and Zhou Qichen all knew what was going on, the seat to Fang Hao’s right was treated like a hot potato during the seating arrangement, with everyone dodging it until it ultimately went to Chen Jiayu.
With twelve people squeezed around a table meant for ten, elbows and knees naturally brushed against each other. Chen Jiayu found his knees bumping into Fang Hao’s several times. Each time, Fang Hao would apologize, prompting Chen Jiayu to adjust his position with his long legs crossing each other. However, some people didn’t mind the closeness at all. Across from them, Zheng Xiaoxu and Chu Yirou sat closely, subtly displaying their affection and earning some teasing from Zhou Qichen.
After everyone decided on their dishes, Chen Jiayu passed the order to the waiter over Fang Hao, his left hand resting on the back of Fang Hao’s chair until the waiter took the menu away. If Fang Hao were to lean back, it would practically be a full hug.
Fang Hao wasn’t dressed formally today, but it was a departure from his usual simplicity. Usually, he opted for comfortable, basic clothes. If working a day shift, he’d likely be in a cozy linen shirt. Today, however, he wore a white cashmere sweater with a distinctive design around the collar, cut wider and lower than a regular crew neck, exposing a graceful section of the neck.
At the closest, Chen Jiayu’s arm was just a hand length away from Fang Hao’s neck. The sweater was well-tailored, fitting snugly like it was custom-made, outlining his lean chest muscles. Perhaps realizing his gaze was too direct, Chen Jiayu coughed and forced himself to look away.
Zhou Qichen leaned across the table and joked with Fang Hao, “How did things go with that issue on Wednesday? Good thing you could make it today, or we would have celebrated without you.”
Fang Hao laughed, knowing what he meant, “We’ve been in meetings for half a day these past two days.”
Zhou Qichen turned to Chen Jiayu and Zheng Xiaoxu, the two Boeing pilots, and joked, “The SOP for the 747 needs to be revised again. I’ve never heard of issues with the elevator before.” SOP refers to Standard Operating Procedures, which pilots frequently have to update and memorize, a common topic among them. Zhou Qichen, who flies an Airbus, wasn’t affected by the 747 issues and could remain indifferent.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zheng Xiaoxu nodded and said, “Changing the SOP is a small matter, but grounding the plane would be troublesome.”
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Fang Hao thought of something, suddenly turned his head, and whispered playfully to Chen Jiayu, “It’s the Runway 17 Left that got hit. Are you heartbroken?” His face was very close, and the corners of his mouth were curved in a smile.
Chen Jiayu felt his ears burn, feeling scorched by this whisper, and was momentarily distracted. He sighed, “17 left, really?” He wanted to joke about how they had chosen the captain’s favorite out of seven other runways to damage, but what he said was, “It’s so close to the terminal; luckily, there were no major incidents.”
Fang Hao nodded, “I hope the results will come out soon.”
Chen Jiayu continued, “The cargo flight… do you know what they were carrying?”
“I didn’t check at the time. If we wanted to investigate, we could find out, but I can’t tell you.” This implied the contents were classified. Following Chen Jiayu’s train of thought, Fang Hao guessed, “You think the large equipment was poorly secured.”
“Uh-huh, a cargo plane and an elevator issue. I guess it’s possible that the cargo shifted during takeoff, broke out of the cargo hold, likely damaged the tailplane, and perhaps… the black box too.” Chen Jiayu was familiar with the structure of the 747. The tail of the cargo hold houses the flight recorder, commonly known as the black box, along with the hydraulic lines and horizontal stabilizer. That could explain the elevator control problems. Seeing everyone deep in thought, he quickly added, “I’m just guessing.”
The pilots present all understood, but no one spoke because they all felt that his analysis made too much sense.
“Enough, don’t talk about work outside of the airport,” Zhou Qichen saw that some of Fang Hao’s non-aviation friends were also there and quickly changed the subject. However, those friends, including Fang Shengjie, were all very interested in listening.
Their group spent almost two and a half hours in the restaurant before they finished, and basically, all the young people were talking about changing the venue to continue the party elsewhere. Fang Hao had anticipated this and had prepared drinks and snacks at home, so the party moved to his place for the second half of the celebration.
Chen Jiayu didn’t drink at the restaurant and drove with Zhou Qichen, who had had a couple of drinks, while Fang Hao took his younger brother and two friends, leaving the rest to Chu Yirou’s car.
Zhou Qichen, sitting in the passenger seat, sighed that they hadn’t had a chat like this in a long time and asked about his mother’s condition. With a sigh, Chen Jiayu admitted that things were not looking good. He briefly recounted everything that had happened recently, including his sudden trip to Hangzhou and his mother’s decision to try for conservative treatment.
Zhou Qichen tried to comfort him, “I can imagine how you feel. Although my situation is a bit different, but it’s been hard for both of us.”
Chen Jiayu was somewhat familiar with his story. The fact that Zhou Qichen, a promising naval carrier pilot, decided to switch to civil aviation was largely due to the difficulties of concealing his sexual orientation in the military. Everywhere he turned, he needed to hide, feeling almost suffocated by the lack of freedom. His decision to change jobs was sudden and surprised his family. At first, he made up a few excuses to appease his parents, such as failing the physical examination due to old injuries and the higher salaries and better treatment in civil aviation, but he couldn’t convince them. Zhou Qichen, too, had a strong personality. Stubborn and headstrong, and when cornered, he came out to his family. After that, it was a total disaster, and they cut off contact with him for three years.
Chen Jiayu didn’t want to bring up his own heartache; he could only say, “It’s not easy for anyone; some things……are beyond our control. Although it’s hard and sometimes painful, we have to accept it. There’s no other way.”
“Yeah,” Zhou Qichen then changed the subject, “Let’s talk about something happier. I am curious about something, and I’m just asking. Don’t mind me if you don’t want to answer. Is there someone special in your heart?”
As Chen Jiayu was driving, he offered a wry smile and said, “If you’ve already pieced it together, why bother asking me?”
Zhou Qichen didn’t hesitate and responded, “So, Fang Hao… he really does match your type, doesn’t he?”
Why does everyone seem to know my type so well?
Chen Jiayu was reminded of his conversation with Lu Yan, when she said, “I should have guessed,” and it made him wonder, “So tell me, what exactly is my ‘type’?”
Zhou Qichen couldn’t describe it either and even had to use hand gestures, “Just that kind that is……strong-willed.” He said. Liang Yinan was like that, Yan Yu was too, and Fang Hao even more so. But he tactfully did not mention the names of these exes.
Chen Jiayu mulled it over and finally admitted that Zhou Qichen was right.
Yet, this description could hardly encapsulate Fang Hao’s full personality and the nuanced experiences one has when in his company. He recalled Fang Hao in a myriad of settings, authoritative at work, decisive yet easy-going in daily life, carefree in some matters, blunt and insensitive in others, but fiercely determined in certain things. He yearned to get to know him better; two meals were hardly enough. To him, Fang Hao was like a captivating book with a never-ending story.Endlessly fascinating. Chen Jiayu wanted to dive into it, page after page, where each page turned, only made him want more. He wanted to share every meal with him and peel all the world’s seafood for him……
Eventually, Zhou Qichen snapped Chen Jiayu out of his thoughts. “So, how are things going between you two?”
Chen Jiayu replied, “We’re still figuring things out.”
“Ah, you’re not official yet.” Zhou Qichen guessed.
Chen Jiayu corrected him, “It’s not the right time yet.”
Zhou Qichen tsked twice and said, “I never thought Fang Hao would date within the industry… But I think you’ve got a good shot.” Zhou Qichen had observed that Chen Jiayu knew his way to Fang Hao’s house without needing a GPS, suggesting he’d made this trip many times. It appeared that even someone as principled as Fang Hao could bend the rules for the right person. If these two aren’t together yet, it would be soon.
“So, is there a story behind this?” Chen Jiayu asked curiously. Were there any previous dalliances that didn’t work out? He hadn’t heard anything about any exes, and he was genuinely curious about who Fang Hao would date.
Zhou Qichen shook his head: “I haven’t heard of anything like that. He’s principled.”
“Oh,” Chen Jiayu remembered hearing the same from Lu Yan. He then asked Zhou Qichen, “What about you? Are you still single?”
Zhou Qichen didn’t mind sharing: “I’ve been single for a while. I did meet someone I was quite fond of in Shenzhen, but we ended things when I moved to Beijing.”
Chen Jiayu mused for a moment, then concluded, “That’s unfortunate. Sounds like you didn’t like them enough.”
Zhou Qichen gave him a look: “You are right.”
As Zhou Qichen and Chen Jiayu pulled into Fang Hao’s residential complex, they saw Fang Hao’s dark gray Honda Accord had already arrived and parked neatly at the entrance. Chen Jiayu was a bit puzzled as to why Fang Hao hadn’t parked in the garage, but then he saw it—a deep blue Tesla parked awkwardly nearby. Leaning against it was a tall figure in full pilot uniform, cap neatly worn, tie perfectly adjusted, with four silver stripes on his shoulders. It was Lang Feng.
Fang Hao wouldn’t normally invite Lang Feng to his birthday party at his home, given their limited interactions where they had only met a few times and exchanged a single gift. However, after realizing that his attempt to play matchmaker on WeChat almost caused a misunderstanding, Fang Hao decided to try inviting Lang Feng to his birthday party in an attempt to mend fences face-to-face. Unexpectedly, Lang Feng, who happened to be in Beijing, readily agreed.
Seeing Lang Feng standing there, Zhou Qichen was perplexed. His first thought was that Lang Feng was still pursuing Fang Hao, even flying all the way from the Netherlands for his birthday. Then he remembered Fang Hao’s explanation, and everything clicked. Realizing Fang Hao’s sincere intentions for his friends, he felt embarrassed about his previous misunderstandings.
When Chen Jiayu saw Lang Feng, his mind immediately recalled the two recent encounters with Fang Hao and remembered Fang Hao’s comment, “It doesn’t count.” Seeing Lang Feng bringing gifts to Fang Hao’s birthday party, he couldn’t help but overthink. However, he kept his thoughts to himself. On the surface, he acted normally. He rolled down the window and greeted him. Fang Hao also stepped forward and greeted Lang Feng, saying: “You’re here. I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long.” Chen Jiayu observed their conversation from the side, their expressions and interactions seemed neither too intimate nor distant, very normal.
“I just arrived not too long ago. There was a delay today. I didn’t arrive at the airport until after eight and missed dinner. So, I came straight to your house.” Lang Feng explained.
Having received Lang Feng’s message earlier, Fang Hao nodded in understanding. “Did you park outside? Let’s head up together then. I only have one temporary parking permit, and I gave it to Jia Ge, sorry.” He gestured towards Chen Jiayu’s car.
Although he knew that the temporary parking permit was given to him casually by Fang Hao during dinner, in Chen Jiayu’s view, it seemed to distinguish between closeness and distance, which was quite meaningful to him.
Lang Feng quickly reassured him, saying it was no trouble, but he didn’t move from where he stood. Then, looking at Fang Hao with difficulty, he said, “Maybe one of you can help me…”
Fang Hao instantly understood—the parking spaces outside their community were quite limited. Aside from a few parallel spaces that could be directly occupied, the remaining ones required side parking and the space was quite tight.
“I’ll do it,” Fang Hao said understandingly.
“Ah, sorry for the trouble,” Lang Feng replied. He then walked over to Chen Jiayu’s side and waited obediently.
Chen Jiayu chuckled inside the car and teased Lang Feng: “A dignified Airbus pilot can’t parallel park?” He watched as Fang Hao sat in the Tesla, straightened the car with one move, and then, with the second move, squeezed the car diagonally into the tight parking space, not wasting an inch of space.
Zhou Qichen, sitting in the passenger seat, came to his defense, “They don’t test that at flight school. Besides, flying an Airbus is like playing a computer game. Maybe you’ve just gotten rusty with the Airbus after flying Boeings these past few years.” He directed the last sentence at Chen Jiayu. Zhou Qichen, like Lang Feng, was also an Airbus pilot, while Chen Jiayu had been flying Boeings since his rectification two years earlier.
Airbus’s design emphasizes computer control, making pilots more like flight system administrators. Instead of a hydraulic system, Airbus uses an electronic one. Consequently, flying the newer Airbus models feels more like operating a computer game joystick, especially when compared to older 737 models.
Lang Feng lowered his head, seeming to glance towards the passenger seat, meeting Zhou Qichen’s gaze. He explained, “In Europe, we don’t have parking spaces this small. It’s not something I’m used to.”
Zhou Qichen felt there was something in his eyes, yet also nothing at all.
Hearing their banter, Fang Hao joined in as he got out of the car, “In my opinion, you, an Airbus pilot, driving a Tesla is quite fitting. It’s all about computer-assisted driving, isn’t it?”
Zhou Qichen asked Lang Feng curiously, “Can’t Tesla park automatically?”
Lang Feng leaned over a bit, smiled at him, and politely replied, “Well, it’s a rental. I don’t dare to try.”
Translator notes: Alright! Birthday party 1 out of 3! The author split it into 3 parts…and our ship is finally starting to set sail and also side pairing is coming hahaha.
Thank you to VitaB & AnyA at Ko-fi for their coffee boost! I’m HYPED about the next couple of chapters!
Not only is the main couple not together yet but even the side one isn’t. Can’t wait for both couples to get together and feed us with sweetness.
Thank you for the chapter!
The author is defintely cooking…
“To him, Fang Hao was like a captivating book with a never-ending story. Endlessly fascinating. Chen Jiayu wanted to dive into it, page after page, where each page turned, only made him want more. He wanted to share every meal with him and peel all the world’s seafood for him……”
omg???? 😭😭😭😭 Chen Jiayu you’re so whipped
I’m so excited for this birthday, Fang Hao is about to get a very special gift indeed 🤭
I’m so happy we have an entire other novel with the side paring, they’re quite sweet.
Thanks for the chapter! ❤
That’s my most proud paragraph yet hehe. They are so poetic when they think of each other.
Thank you for the quick update!
thank you for reading! I’ve been excited for the birthday party. hahahah
Sail!
Thank You for the new chapter (๑♡w♡๑)