UAAG CH60

For a full seven days, everyone worked day and night, turning their schedules upside down, until they finally completed the 631-page investigation report.

In mid-May, the GCAA held a press conference in Dubai. The Emirates 411 crash, sealed away for twenty-three years, was given a new conclusion, bound once more, and placed into the investigation headquarters’ archives.

Maha joked, “Back then, most accident investigation reports were preserved in text form. Each one was written into a thick book and placed in the archives. Now, the main method of recording has become electronic, and the printed version has become more of a formality.”

Old Joseph said, “So it’s much more convenient to search.”

Maha nodded. “Yes. I really want to thank Mr. Patrick this time, and thank you all. I’ll take you to the airport.”

Lina smiled faintly. “No need, I’ve already arranged a car.”

Maha insisted, “I happen to have some business at the airport too, let’s go together.”

The black Rolls-Royce drove along the narrow coastal highway. On either side of the boundless coastline was the clear azure sea and sand as fine and white as snow. After arriving at Dubai International Airport, Maha personally escorted the five UAAG members to the first-class VIP lounge.

Emirates’ service was as considerate and thoughtful as ever. An hour later, everyone boarded the return flight.

As the plane taxied slowly on the runway, Old Joseph turned off his phone and looked up to address the group: “I really envy Lowrence. It’s only today, eighteen years later, that I realize the reason I haven’t been promoted at the NTSB for so long isn’t because I lack ability. Look at Lowrence, I think he’s about to get promoted again!”

Su Fei asked curiously, “What’s up with Lowrence?”

Old Joseph spread his hands. “Ask Fu. He wrote the investigation report, he knows best.”

Su Fei looked at Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng was looking at his phone. Hearing this, he turned it off, looked up, and thought for a moment. “Mn, it’s nothing really. It’s just that, as everyone knows, NTSB Deputy Director Andrew found key clues while investigating the Emirates 411 crash twenty-three years ago, which earned him a promotion opportunity. It was a key turning point in his life. Although the accident investigation has taken a turn now, Deputy Director Andrew’s speculation back then was still not wrong.”

Fu Cheng put down his phone. “Back then, the cause of the accident given by the NTSB was that the engine fan blades had accidental quality damage, resulting in unexplained fractures. The true cause found now is that the shockwave from the internal fuel tank explosion shattered the fan blades that had accidental quality damage.” He paused, “So regarding the most critical cause, he was still right.”

Old Joseph: “See? Lowrence rushed to Dubai two months ago non-stop, wanting to wipe his boss’s ass. Now the results are out, his boss is perfectly fine and is still a top-tier air crash investigator. But in Deputy Director Andrew’s eyes, Lowrence’s status has definitely risen further. Hey, do you know what that kid messaged me just now?”

Su Fei: “What did he say?”

Old Joseph huffed. “He said that when I go back to the US next time, he’ll treat me to dinner to celebrate his promotion! I told him didn’t he just get promoted? And he said he has a premonition that in at most another half a year, he might get promoted again! I despise Lowrence, that sycophant, he only knows how to kiss up to his boss!”

Lina smiled gently. “In the workplace, standing on the right side is crucial. Such situations are common everywhere. Not just the NTSB, but the UN as well. And I also feel that Deputy Director Andrew is a leader worthy of respect. Perhaps Lowrence’s praise and following are sincere?”

“Heh.”

A contemptuous, disdainful snort attracted everyone’s attention.

Lina looked at her friend and smiled. “Of course, Reid is an even more respectable and good boss.”

Su Fei: “RIP, if we kiss up to you, will you give us a raise?”

Su Fei just said it casually. No one expected Zhuo Huan to actually answer him: “Tsk, did you kiss up?”

Su Fei: “…?!”

Holy shit?!

The punk teen’s eyes lit up, and he half-stood up in excitement, only to be reminded by the flight attendant to sit down quickly. Old Joseph beat him to it, saying in a sincere tone, “On this plane, I’m afraid no one admires Reid more than I do. Becoming McFly’s chief designer at 22… Five years ago, when I first met him at the Rogue 318 investigation headquarters, I asked for his autograph.” He looked at Zhuo Huan. “Hey Reid, you remember that, right?”

Zhuo Huan raised an eyebrow, glancing lightly at Fu Cheng out of the corner of his eye, his voice lazy: “Oh? Maybe.”

Old Joseph: “Of course you do! I just want to ask, do you know at what age Reid graduated and from which school? Lina, you’re not allowed to say, that’s cheating.”

The blonde woman smiled gently and took a sip of coffee.

Su Fei scratched his head. “How would I know? I know RIP went to Stanford, but what age he graduated… 17?”

Old Joseph said righteously, “One look and I can tell you’re not a loyal fan of Reid. Fu, do you know?”

Fu Cheng looked calm: “I don’t know.”

Zhuo Huan glanced at him.

Old Joseph said seriously, “Sixteen! Su Fei, one year earlier than you!”

Su Fei: “…”

Old Joseph blew another round of smoke up his ass, finally looking at Zhuo Huan expectantly: “Reid, is that enough?”

Zhuo Huan let out a careless laugh. He unwrapped the eye mask from the drawer beside his seat. “Lina, give them a raise.” With that, he put on the eye mask, closed the door to his seat suite, and seemed ready to sleep.

Old Joseph hadn’t even been happy for two seconds before he suddenly realized: “Hmm? What do you mean give ‘them’ a raise?”

Lina covered her lips and chuckled softly. “Actually, Reid had planned to give everyone a raise upon returning to China this time anyway. An additional budget for UAAG has been approved.”

Old Joseph: “…”

Su Fei: “Hahahaha, luckily I haven’t had time to blow smoke for RIP yet, you beat me to it!”

Everyone joked around for a bit longer, and soon, they all closed the doors to their seats, planning to rest.

The flight from Dubai back to Shanghai took about nine hours.

Fu Cheng lay on the bed, connected to the plane’s Wi-Fi, looking at his phone screen. Suddenly, a message popped up at the top. Fu Cheng paused for a moment and tapped open the message.

[Zhuo Huan: You didn’t know?]

Silence for a long time.

[Fu Cheng: Know what?]

Zhuo Huan didn’t reply for a long time.

Just as Fu Cheng was about to put down his phone, he replied. It was a voice message.

His fingers gripping the phone tightened slightly. Fu Cheng played the voice message.

“Aren’t I very famous in the Chinese aviation industry? Many pilots admire me… ah, does that include you?”

The man’s slight, lazy voice sounded low. The last four words carried a hint of a smile. Fu Cheng could almost imagine the man holding down the voice button, wearing his signature nonchalant smile as he said those words.

The exact same question. Nine months ago, Zhuo Huan had asked it, and Fu Cheng had answered.

That was in a bar in Helsinki, Finland.

Does that include you?

Of course it does.

[Fu Cheng: Aren’t you sleeping?]

He didn’t answer the question.

[Zhuo Huan: Aren’t you sleeping?]

[Fu Cheng: I’m browsing Facebook.]

Unexpectedly, Fu Cheng answered like that. Zhuo Huan initially thought this was some new way of flirting the young man had invented. This blunt answer stunned him for a moment before he sent a question mark.

Fu Cheng looked calm. He opened Facebook, took a screenshot, and sent it over.

[Fu Cheng: Yamila Betty has been sponsored and seems to have decided to publish a book. However, before her new autobiography is released, she opened a Facebook account and has been serializing it there.]

Zhuo Huan: “…”

What the fuck does this have to do with me?

Fu Cheng looked at the phone screen and saw Zhuo Huan send another question mark, this time three at once.

He was silent for a moment, then closed Facebook.

Five minutes later, Fu Cheng got up to go to the restroom. Before opening the door, he thought for a while, then took out his phone and sent a message. Pulling open the cabin door of his seat, he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye getting up and walking towards the front of the first-class cabin along with him.

Fu Cheng walked ahead without changing his expression. Zhuo Huan, hands in his pockets, followed behind him.

No one noticed their movement one after the other. Pushing open the restroom door, Fu Cheng walked in but didn’t close it. When Zhuo Huan walked in, he saw the handsome, beautiful young man leaning against the wall next to the door. The bright light reflected deep in his pupils. He tilted his head slightly, looking at Zhuo Huan without a word.

The door clicked shut.

In the quiet restroom, the hum of the aircraft engines buzzed.

Emirates’ first-class restrooms were unbelievably large, like a five-star hotel.

Zhuo Huan cupped Fu Cheng’s face, pressed him against the wall, and lowered his head to kiss him. Saliva spilled from the corners of their entangled lips. Only after kissing the person in front of him until his lips were red and swollen did the man let him go with satisfaction.

Foreheads touching, they panted lightly.

“It includes me.”

Zhuo Huan was slightly stunned, looking down at the young man before him. He curled his lips, lazily: “Mn?”

Fu Cheng looked up at him. The extreme proximity created an illusion that if he reached out, he could seize this brilliant, dazzling star. He parted his lips, his heart beating in his chest.

Fu Cheng didn’t speak for a long time, so Zhuo Huan kissed him again.

The words he wanted to say were blocked by this intense and tender kiss. Fu Cheng closed his eyes, hugged his back, and opened his lips to kiss back.

‘Of course there is someone on this plane who understands you better than Old Joseph.

It’s not Lina.’

The Emirates 411 crash was thoroughly concluded, but its story didn’t stop there.

Yamila Betty, the survivor of the Emirates 411 crash, and also the new witness who suddenly appeared twenty-three years later.

She suddenly started serializing articles on Facebook, recounting her experience that day twenty-three years ago, that half-hour, and even the twenty-three years of life that followed.

At first, only Fu Cheng noticed Betty posting serialized articles on Facebook. After returning to Shanghai, he didn’t continue reading Betty’s articles, but Lina and Su Fei became interested, chasing updates every day.

Su Fei: “Is this real or fake? It’s too touching. Brother Fu, do you know what she wrote in today’s update?”

Fu Cheng looked up at him: “Mn?”

Su Fei: “She said she was able to get on that plane because the Dubai businessman who kept her wanted to take her abroad for fun. But the businessman sat in business class and only bought her an economy class ticket. It was her first time on a plane in her life. She was terrified and didn’t dare touch anything. Sitting next to her was an elderly Australian couple. They were very kind, talked to Betty, and even helped her with her luggage.”

Old Joseph: “Just that?”

Su Fei: “I haven’t finished yet! Betty said that at the moment the crash happened, the old lady sitting on her left held her hand tightly, encouraging her not to be afraid. She was only nineteen then. The touch of the old lady’s warm hand gave her a memory she couldn’t forget for a lifetime. In the twenty-three years since, she has felt the strength of that warm hand every day, but that old couple died!”

Zhuo Huan happened to walk past the office area with a cup of coffee. He scoffed: “Nice fabrication.”

Su Fei: “…”

“Fine, I guess it’s made up too.”

Lina said, “Not necessarily. There were quite a few survivors of the Emirates 411 crash, but as far as I know, Yamila Betty was indeed seated next to an elderly couple from Australia, and unfortunately, they really did die.”

Old Joseph: “A half-true, half-false story is the most touching? But I guarantee, give that lady another chance, and she still wouldn’t have told the truth back then. Her eyes told me that. But it didn’t cause any major mistakes. The real cause of the Emirates 411 crash had similar precedents before, and it had long attracted industry attention.”

Su Fei started looking for allies: “Fu, do you think what she said is true?”

Fu Cheng thought for a moment: “At least to her, she feels it’s true.”

Old Joseph clapped his hands: “Alright, alright, let’s stop talking about Yamila Betty. Hehe, going to Reid’s house for barbecue tonight. Do you have my birthday present ready?”

Old Joseph’s birthday was in late April. However, during his birthday, everyone was busy contacting the Tsunai Lab and doing experiments together, so they completely ignored his birthday. So after returning to Shanghai, Lina decided to throw him a belated birthday party, and even Zhuo Huan’s objections were useless.

Su Fei: “Of course it’s ready, just wait and see.”

Old Joseph looked at Lina. Before Lina could speak, he said, “Having your blessing is enough, Lina. I’m truly touched you still remember my birthday.”

Then, he looked at Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng opened the drawer to take out the gift bag.

Old Joseph hurriedly said, “Wait until we get to Reid’s house to take it out. It’s not good to take it out now… Fuck, Martell?!”

Fu Cheng smiled and handed it over: “Happy Birthday, Old Joseph.”

Old Joseph happily accepted the paper bag printed with the Martell winery logo and said, “Fu, you really understand me too well.”

At 4 PM, with Zhuo Huan’s permission, everyone got off work early.

When they arrived downstairs at Zhuo Huan’s house, Master Zhuo suddenly received a phone call. He frowned, gave his key card to Lina, told her to take everyone up first, and walked aside to answer the call.

Glancing at Zhuo Huan’s back, Fu Cheng walked into the main entrance with Su Fei and Old Joseph.

Suddenly, catching a glimpse of a graceful and charming figure in his peripheral vision, Fu Cheng froze abruptly. He immediately turned his head to look. However, he didn’t see anyone. Looking at the empty first-floor lobby, he slowly frowned.

Old Joseph: “Fu, why did you stop?”

Fu Cheng: “Nothing, I seem to have mistaken someone.”

He strode forward to catch up.

__

Author’s Note:

Zhuo RIP: Wow, Fu Cheng actively messaged me to go find him. See, I don’t need to say that sentence, right?

Fu Chengcheng: …

Zhuo RIP: He’s had a crush on me from the start. [Serious face]

Volume 5: Heathcliff

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