Lu Yan’s farewell party was scheduled at Xiangyuan, a Hunan restaurant close to the airport. Lu Yan frequented this place, and even during holidays and special occasions, she would order takeout from there for the air traffic controllers. Since Lu Yan’s hometown was in Hunan, it was only natural to choose something she liked for her send-off.
The composition of this gathering was quite unique. Typically, you couldn’t find any air traffic controllers in a group of aviation professionals, as they were usually busy discussing flight delays and control issues. Conversely, in a group of air traffic controllers, they would be venting their frustrations about flight operations, and you wouldn’t find any pilots in there.
However, Lu Yan had a wide network of connections, ranging from civil aviation to those she had worked with at Beijing Daxing Airport. The final group of attendees consisted of about a dozen people, roughly divided into half pilots and half air traffic controllers. Among the controllers were Wang Yuan, a friendly area controller, and Chu Yirou, whom Lu Yan had mentored in tower control three years ago and who had now become a capable and independent controller. Lu Yan also invited Fang Hao, who held a special place in her heart.
The pilots who had gathered were all top-notch from major airlines. Among them were Chen Jiayu, who had a close friendship with Lu Yan, and Zheng Xiaoxu, a colleague from Air China. There was also an energetic co-pilot named Zhou Qichen from Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines’ Captain Wu Yue, and a sharp and efficient female pilot named Su Li from Shandong Airlines, who happened to be Lu Yan’s old classmate.
As soon as Chen Jiayu took his seat, he laughed, “Yan’er, with Air China, Shandong Airlines, Hainan Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines all here, we could play Mahjong in all four cardinal directions.”
The other captains burst into laughter. Considering their busy schedules, organizing a gathering with over a dozen air traffic controllers and pilots had been quite a challenge. They even took a few votes in their WeChat group to finally settle on Friday night as the most convenient time. Chen Jiayu and Zheng Xiaoxu had both rushed over directly from their flights at the airport. Chen Jiayu had flights scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday this week, so he would need to head back to the airport early the following morning.
Zheng Xiaoxu stood up to pour tea for Chen Jiayu and said, ” Brother Jia, we work for the same company, but it’s been over a month since we last saw each other.” Zheng Xiaoxu primarily flew long international routes, and they had shared several flights together in the past. Recently, he had been operating flights from Beijing to Los Angeles.
Chen Jiayu acknowledged that they were indeed colleagues from the same company. “You come back every week. I just haven’t managed to catch up with you,” he replied, thanking him.
Zheng Xiaoxu said, “Well, it’s not easy to finally meet up this time; let’s have a drink.”
Chen Jiayu raised the tea in his hand and chuckled, “I have a flight early tomorrow morning, so I’ll stick with tea instead of alcohol.” Civil aviation has strict rules against alcohol consumption, and pilots must abstain from drinking for twelve hours before takeoff, which everyone at the table was well aware of.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yan turned to look at him: “You have a flight tomorrow? If I had known, we could have scheduled for Saturday, and you could have joined the party without worrying about getting too tipsy tonight.”
Chen Jiayu smiled, shook his head, and playfully teased her, “Your game, your rules – as long as you don’t party too hard without me.”
—-
When Fang Hao entered, he found himself in a relaxed atmosphere among pilots and air traffic controllers. At first, it seemed like no one had noticed him, and for a fleeting moment, he entertained the whimsical thought of turning back home. Among those present, he was only really familiar with Lu Yan, Chu Yirou, and the slightly chubby guy with glasses named Wang Yuan from the regional dispatch. He had also crossed paths with Zhou Qichen from Hainan Airlines, and if you stretched it a bit, he could claim to know Chen Jiayu somewhat. As for the rest of the group, he had no idea who they were.
However, Chu Yirou quickly spotted him and waved him over, saying, “Fang Hao is here. Come sit with us!”
Lu Yan also beckoned him to sit, adding, “Come on, squeeze in a bit this way.” Lu Yan had her close female pilot friend, Su Li, on her right, and Chen Jiayu was seated to her left. When Chu Yirou arrived, she naturally took the seat on Lu Yan’s left. So, the only available spots were to the left of Chu Yirou and to the right of Chen Jiayu.
Fang Hao glanced around at the pilots in their uniforms while he was dressed casually since he wasn’t on duty. He wore a white T-shirt with a blue cardigan, a pair of dark jeans and felt a bit out of place.
But Lu Yan didn’t seem to mind and even complimented his coat as he sat down.
He greeted Lu Yan, saying, “Hello, Sister Yan, sorry I’m a bit late; there was some traffic on the way.”
Lu Yan didn’t bother with formalities and jokingly responded, “Your place is just a fifteen-minute drive from here; you should give yourself a penalty drink for being late, haha.”
Fang Hao was quite obedient this time, nodding in agreement, “Sure.” As soon as he said that, Chen Jiayu filled his glass with liquor.
Zhou Qichen was surprised and exclaimed, “Wow, you’re starting already? We need to look at our Mr. Fang.”
Fang Hao raised his glass and gestured towards Zhou Qichen, saying, “Long time no see, Brother Zhou.”
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.
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Fang Hao didn’t expect Chen Jiayu to be so openly observing him and felt a bit awkward. He decided to greet him as well, “What a coincidence, Captain Chen.”
Chen Jiayu responded with a somewhat mischievous smile, “Don’t be so formal; after all, we’re senior and junior brothers, sitting at the same table for dinner.”
Fang Hao naturally understood what he meant. No matter what kind of disagreement there was, he didn’t want to disrupt Lu Yan’s gathering with any arguments, so he went along with it and said, “Alright, Brother Jia.”
Chen Jiayu felt pleased this time.
He looked at Fang Hao and suddenly asked, “When did you find out?” Naturally, he was referring to Lu Yan’s departure.
Fang Hao replied, “Two days ago,” and then took another sip of his drink. “It was quite sudden.” He seemed to remember something and glanced back at Chen Jiayu, saying, “You probably found out earlier than us.”
Chen Jiayu nodded without denying it.
Fang Hao understood; after all, Chen Jiayu was Lu Yan’s closest friend, and their relationship wasn’t just based on work, so it made sense that he had received the news earlier. After a moment of thought, he added, “For you guys, you’ll still have the chance to meet her regularly if she’s based in Pudong.”
Zhou Qichen chimed in, “Right, Yan’er, we’ll catch you on the Pudong Tower frequency from now on. I’ll probably fly to Pudong more often, so I’ll be counting on you for support.”
Lu Yan was also familiar with Zhou Qichen and didn’t mind poking fun at him, “I took care of you in Beijing, and now I’ll cover you all the way to Shanghai.”
Zhou Qichen said, “That’s right, we can’t take off or land without checking your mood first.” Zhou Qichen was quite a character, very playful, and always quick with a witty remark. In fact, he wasn’t a university classmate of Lu Yan or Chen Jiayu. He simply got along well with Lu Yan over the past couple of years in Daxing, forming a solid friendship and becoming part of their social circle. People who didn’t know him well wouldn’t guess that he used to be an outstanding naval pilot for carrier aircraft. He was among the best of the best. Three years ago, he transitioned to civil aviation, and he was one of the last to do so with a glowing recommendation from the military. Since then, he has consistently been a star performer at Hainan Airlines, logging some of the highest flight hours among pilots in the Beijing region every year. In another year or so, he would likely be promoted to captain.
When the topic shifted to air traffic control, Wu Yue suddenly brought up, “By the way, didn’t KLM have a tire burst last Friday? It was A330 Captain Lang Feng’s first flight.”
Hearing this topic, Fang Hao felt a bit of a headache, as it reminded him of the incident where Chen Jiayu confronted him inside the control tower. Fortunately, except for Lu Yan, who had some knowledge of the situation, nobody else present was aware of what had happened. Over the past two months, there hadn’t been any significant incidents at Daxing Airport, so there wasn’t much to discuss. The only major news was the KLM tire burst.
Zhou Qichen hadn’t been to Daxing in the past few days, so this was the first he had heard of it. When he heard Lang Feng’s name, his ears perked up, “Did it happen during takeoff or landing? I hope there was no fire; this is big news.”
There was a moment of silence in the room. None of them had been present at the time, and they were all hearing about it through rumors. Fang Hao then said, “It happened during takeoff, but fortunately, it didn’t damage the engine or landing gear. We still don’t know the exact cause. No foreign objects were found on the runway, and KLM will send investigators in the next couple of weeks.”
Lu Yan playfully raised an eyebrow in Fang Hao’s direction, saying, “We really have to thank our eagle-eyed Fang Hao. He spotted it with binoculars while making rounds in the control tower.”
Chu Yirou finally understood the whole story and turned to Fang Hao, giving him a meaningful look, “So that’s what happened. When Lang Feng came to see you that day, you should let him invite all of us to have dinner together.”
“Oh, Lang Feng can speak Chinese,” Zhou Qichen couldn’t hide his admiration.
Fang Hao replied, “Yes, he’s quite fluent.”
Zhou Qichen playfully remarked, “Fang Hao, once we’re done with this meal, can you introduce me to him? I used to worry about the language barrier, but now that I know he speaks Chinese, it’s not a problem.”
His friends around him were aware of his inclination, and they all joined in with laughter. Lu Yan teased him, saying, “Weren’t you practicing English at Hainan Airlines? Have you wasted these past two years? Besides, why would Fang Hao introduce him to you? Hainan Airlines focuses on international routes, requiring captains to speak English during routine flights and air-ground communications. You often encounter foreign crew members there.”
Zhou Qichen laughed along, raised his glass, and said, “Alright, let’s have another round. Mr. Fang, Just for your… heroic efforts to save our nation’s flower.” “Our nation’s flower” was clearly a reference to Lang Feng. It was all in good fun, and Zhou Qichen had thick skin; he didn’t mind a bit of post-meal banter.
Lu Yan smiled and pulled out a slim cigarette, her long wavy hair cascading over her shoulders. She looked stunning with her striking features. Fang Hao naturally took out a lighter and lit it for her. After a brief pause, he asked, “Do you have anything else?”
Lu Yan nodded and also handed him a Nanjing cigarette. He lowered his head and lit it for himself.
Fang Hao held his cigarette and took a long drag. He steered the conversation back on track, saying, “The tire burst incident is actually a minor one; you just need to write a report, and it’s done. Mishandling it would be the real problem.”
Zhou Qichen looked at him and said, “Impressive, Mr. Fang. You and I would make quite a team.
Fang Hao was amused, “Well, then, you go first.”
Chen Jiayu took the opportunity to nudge Zhou Qichen, “You’ve been busy greeting everyone for a while now, but you haven’t had a bite yourself.”
Zhou Qichen smiled and made an excuse, “Well, I haven’t even had much of the cold dishes. Can’t be too greedy.”
“This is a lucky break in an unfortunate situation,” Chen Jiayu couldn’t let go of the topic, speaking softly, “Thank goodness it didn’t hit any other components.” Airplane tires are different from car tires; they have to withstand the pressure of tens of thousands of tons of the aircraft’s weight. Therefore, their construction materials are different. When a tire bursts during takeoff, the damaged part can be expelled at extremely high speeds. If it hits other components, such as the engine or fuel tank, it could lead to more serious problems.
Zhou Qichen became interested, “So, Jiayu, have you ever experienced a tire burst?”
Chen Jiayu calmly said, “I’ve never had a tire burst, but I’ve encountered my fair share of other issues.”
Lu Yan took a deep look at him and sighed, “These past few years, You’ve really had quite the… well, you know.” She didn’t state it too directly, but most people in the room understood what she meant. When it came to aircraft malfunctions and accidents, Chen Jiayu had encountered more than just the incident in Hong Kong. While some commercial airline pilots fly their entire careers without a single safety issue, Chen Jiayu has, in recent years, faced landing gear light malfunctions, engine failures that required diversion to other airports, passengers with sudden asthma attacks, radio malfunctions, and various other situations.
So, when the engine malfunctioned on the flight from Jakarta to Shanghai, he was momentarily flustered but started to flight-check things as if it were second nature. It was only later, as time passed, that he gradually realized this might be the most serious flying issue he had ever encountered. He thought for a while and couldn’t decide whether to lament his streak of bad luck or thank fate for always keeping him prepared for the worst-case scenarios.
“You had a tire blowout at Hongqiao Airport, and the engine caught fire. At the time, you had no choice but to take off,” Zheng Xiaoxu chimed in, “That incident made it to the national news.”
Chen Jiayu chuckled, “Yeah, someone on the plane recorded the whole thing. They said it was like riding a rocket.”
Zhou Qichen quipped, “Seems like you’re a celebrity on the national news, Jiayu.”
Lu Yan joined in, “These days, there’s no problem that can truly stump Young Master Chen.”
Seeing everyone sharing their stories, Chen Jiayu changed the topic slightly and turned to Zhou Qichen, “Didn’t you also experience a bird strike, and it was so intense you had to parachute?”
Zhou Qichen grinned, “Well, that’s not something I can talk about.” It happened during a military exercise, so it naturally wasn’t reported. However, multiple fractures and surgeries to heal the wounds with metal pins couldn’t lie.
Lu Yan didn’t spare Chen Jiayu either. She suddenly asked, “I heard through the grapevine that a director wanted to make a documentary about your emergency landing in Hong Kong a few days ago.”
Chen Jiayu nodded, “Yeah, but I haven’t agreed to it.”
Lu Yan suggested, “Why not make a documentary? It could promote civil aviation. I bet even a movie about it would be a hit.”
Chen Jiayu said, “I’m too busy, and pilots already get a lot of attention.” He took a moment to look at the air traffic controllers present and added, “If you ask me, it should be you guys who should be celebrated. You are our guardians of the blue skies, right?” He smiled, and his final sentence sounded like he was reciting a promotional slogan, leaving Lu Yan feeling a bit embarrassed.
With that remark, the conversation shifted from flying to air traffic control. Several captains encouraged them to share various unusual situations they encountered while controlling air traffic. Wang Yuan, the area controller in Beijing, shared a story about military activities that weren’t properly notified, nearly leading to a mid-air crash between two military aircraft. Fang Hao, who was at the Beijing Capital Airport during the incident, nodded in agreement. It was indeed a serious incident, and if civilian aircraft had done something similar, the pilots involved would likely have been fired in minutes.
When it was Fang Hao’s turn, he cleared his throat and began to tell his story, “A few months ago, I was directing a cargo plane departing from Beijing to Hainan. I told them there was a queue behind them and that they needed to climb to 6,000 as soon as possible. But they said that altitude was too bumpy and asked if they could go up to 6,200 or down to 5,800. It was during the summer holidays, a peak time for passenger flights, so I told them it wasn’t possible and they had to manage. Both of those altitude levels had problems,” he paused for a moment, took a slow drag of his cigarette, and then continued, ” Then they said, “Beijing, we are carrying a plane full of breeding pigs. If we shake them up too much and disrupt them, we’ll have to pay the customers.”
Chu Yirou burst out laughing, which was understandable since all sorts of goods were transported by air, including animals and plants.
Lu Yan had already guessed the outcome, but she still led on, saying, “So, what happened? Did you change the altitude level for them?”
Fang Hao kept a straight face, maintained a serious expression, and continued his story, “Of course not. I told them, ‘You and the pigs can overcome it together.'”
Laughter filled the dining table, and Fang Hao quickly added with a smile, “Let me correct that. I did change their route and had them descend to a lower altitude. Otherwise, I might be held responsible if Hainan’s pork prices went up in the future.”
Chen Jiayu also joined in the laughter. He was surprised as he watched Fang Hao beside him telling jokes in such a serious manner. His initial impression of Fang was that he was very rigid as if he wanted to engrave “rules and regulations” on his forehead. However, after this interaction, he realized it might not be the case after all.
As the meal was coming to an end, everyone was still in high spirits. By this point, Fang Hao had already had three drinks, but since he had eaten some food, he was feeling alright. Lu Yan suggested, “Shall we change venues and have a few more drinks?”
Fang Hao responded, “Sister Yan, wherever you say you want to go, we will accompany you.”
Some of the married captains and air traffic controllers decided to head home. Chen Jiayu, who had initially planned to abstain from alcohol that day, found himself agreeing somewhat spontaneously when Lu Yan asked.
Considering that some of them had to work the next day, they wrapped up the gathering before midnight. Fang Hao had enjoyed a few drinks, around five if he counted, but he didn’t appear too drunk. It seemed like the kind of tipsiness that would fade away after a good night’s sleep.
As he was leaving, Fang Hao hugged Lu Yan and said, “Sister Yan, we should plan a trip to Shanghai to visit you and Brother Lei sometime.”
Lu Yan replied, “Fang Hao, take care of yourself, not just when it comes to commanding aircraft, you know what I mean.” She said it very seriously. Fang Hao hadn’t been particularly sensitive to office politics and had clashed with superiors due to his single-minded approach in the past. While his competence had led to rapid promotions, plenty of people in the control tower still didn’t appreciate him. With her deep experience and wide network, Lu Yan used to speak up for him at every turn. However, once she left, Fang Hao would have to rely on himself. He understood what Lu Yan meant very well.
Zhou Qichen was drunk to the point of blackout and was already being carried away by Zheng Xiaoxu and the others. After saying goodbye to Lu Yan, Fang Hao took out his phone and hailed a taxi. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Chen Jiayu and Lu Yan exchanging farewells.
Lu Yan asked, “Jiayu, there’s something I haven’t wanted to ask in front of others. What really happened between you and Yan Yu back then?”
Yan Yu was his former girlfriend. Chen Jiayu was bisexual, having been attracted to both men and women, which had led to various rumors circulating within their social circles. Many flight attendants and stewards claimed to have dated him, but most of those claims were false. Only two individuals had been involved with him romantically, and Yan Yu was one of them. She had previously worked as a flight attendant at the same company, but they had broken up shortly after the emergency landing incident in Hong Kong.
Chen Jiayu found it difficult to speak, saying, “I haven’t been hiding it from you, but let’s talk about it another time. I don’t know where to start.”
Lu Yan nodded understandingly and didn’t press further. She knew Chen Jiayu very well, “I’m not trying to dredge up the past. It’s just that one of her friends asked me about you in the past few days, and I thought you should know.”
Chen Jiayu was taken aback; he hadn’t expected this, “Alright, I understand.”
Author note: The story about the cargo plane transporting pigs is from a Bilibili video, but it doesn’t appear to be true.
Translator notes: I tried to search for that video, but I don’t think I used the correct keywords. XD Almost 4000 words! 😀 Enjoy
MC and ML haven’t even gotten together yet but we already have love rivals and ex-girlfriends entering the picture. 😅
Thank you for the update!
😆
Pigs on the plane 😂😂
Thank You for the new chapter (∩˃o˂∩)♡
XD I would like to see that vid. 😂
The conversation about the cargo carrying pigs actually made me laugh here. Our MC is so witty!
I don’t know why but exes appearing on novels give me anxiety.
Thanks for the update! I enjoyed reading this long chapter 🤍
I got a little attached to Lu Yan, I’m sad she’s leaving already
She’s a really nice. Everyone needs a big sister Lu Yan. Thanks for reading and for the comments.💜