UAAG CH81

Having taken the morning off to see Fu Xiao off at the airport, Fu Cheng returned to the COMAC factory in the afternoon to continue working.

The design of the COMAC CR939 had reached its most critical stage. This week, everyone was busy in the lab. It was said that Chief Designer Wu hadn’t been home for five days. After returning to COMAC, Fu Cheng went straight to the test pilots’ lounge, where both Du Sen and Zhou Jin were present.

Seeing him, Du Sen was surprised: “Senior brother, aren’t you going to rest a bit longer? You only took half a day off?”

Fu Cheng shook his head: “It’s too busy lately. The test flight is in three days, we have to seize the time.” He paused, looked around, and asked Du Sen: “Where is the Commander?”

Du Sen: “The Commander went out just now. He had something to say to Chief Designer Wu. He said if you came, you could find him in the rest area on the third floor.”

“Okay.”

Fu Cheng quickly took the elevator to the third floor.

The transparent panoramic elevator ascended continuously, reflecting Fu Cheng’s face on the glass. Upon reaching the third floor and stepping out of the elevator, Fu Cheng saw Commander Nie and Chief Designer Wu from a distance. The two stood on the balcony, with the surging ocean in the distance. They stood side by side, their expressions solemn and grave, seemingly discussing something in low voices.

A few minutes later, Wu Hui left first.

Nie Xiang frowned and looked at the sea for a long time. He turned his head, saw Fu Cheng, and waved to him.

Fu Cheng walked over.

Commander Nie: “A couple of days ago, that kid Zhao Jiuchen became a flight instructor and went to teach a bunch of new recruits.”

Fu Cheng was stunned, and a tanned, young, smiling face instantly appeared in his mind. He asked: “How come Captain Zhao suddenly went to be an instructor? He’s only twenty-nine.”

Commander Nie glanced at him and said calmly: “Three months ago, he got a bit injured on a mission. Not a major injury, but it affected his vision. He couldn’t stay on the aircraft carrier anymore, so he went to teach those recruits.”

Fu Cheng was speechless.

Commander Nie: “Life is getting better and better. In the first few years, there were few soldiers, few planes, few everything. Now we have more and more of what we have, but good pilots are always the most scarce.” He looked at Fu Cheng meaningfully, the meaning in his eyes self-evident.

Fu Cheng suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Commander Nie changed the subject: “Old Wu just told me that the CR939 should work this time.”

Fu Cheng: “The lab has been very busy recently. The lab data obtained several times this time is very good.”

“How is your relationship with Zhuo Huan?”

“Teacher Zhuo?” Fu Cheng turned his head in surprise to look at Commander Nie.

Commander Nie frowned. Perhaps due to years of frowning, there was a deep crack-like mark between his eyebrows: “Yes, you’ve been at UAAG for a year, how is your relationship with him?”

Fu Cheng: “…Not bad.”

Commander Nie: “COMAC wants him.”

Fu Cheng looked up at him.

Commander Nie said firmly: “Not just COMAC, the country wants him too. Old Wu has hinted at it several times, but he still hasn’t given a definite answer about coming back to work. The country wants to achieve something in civil aviation airliners. We are already nearly a hundred years behind the West. If we don’t do it now, it will be too late. Moreover, Shenyang Aircraft and Chengdu Aircraft are both short of talent.” He looked at Fu Cheng and said word by word: “Very short, very short.”

Fu Cheng: “Why would Teacher Zhuo refuse?”

Commander Nie got angry at the mention of this: “It would be fine if he refused! He just neither refuses nor agrees now!”

Fu Cheng: “…”

Commander Nie: “What is this problem? Can’t he just say what he wants to say directly? Where is he dissatisfied? Is it that our country’s aircraft manufacturing level is not as good as the West? Yes, that is indeed incomparable, but if it were comparable, why would we need him? But we are wholeheartedly going to build aircraft! COMAC showed him our sincerity this time too. What more does he want? Did he eat too many Western hamburgers and look down on our rice?”

Fu Cheng: “Teacher Zhuo isn’t that kind of person.”

Commander Nie: “Go help inquire again, what exactly does he want!”

“…Okay.”

Fu Cheng didn’t expect that Commander Nie took the time to come to COMAC again this time specifically to talk to him about this matter. However, Fu Cheng was also completely clueless about this.

He remembered half an year ago, just after UAAG solved the American Airlines Flight 4012 case in Boston, when they returned to China, they took Lina’s father’s private jet. On the plane, Mr. T directly stated that he hoped Zhuo Huan would return to McFly. At that time, Zhuo Huan directly refused.

Or four months ago, when they were in Los Angeles, McFly’s chief designer and Zhuo Huan’s teacher, Mr. Thor Rayner, also mentioned this matter, but Zhuo Huan still had no intention of going back.

Just like a train running incessantly, Zhuo Huan suddenly stopped, without any cause, without any reason.

He left the aircraft design world, he investigated air crashes, he accepted commissions from McFly and COMAC, but he never built aircraft himself again.

Seeing Commander Nie off, watching Commander Nie’s retreating figure, Fu Cheng’s lips moved, but he didn’t tell him about McFly’s invitation to Zhuo Huan.

Perhaps Commander Nie also knew that McFly must have continued to invite Zhuo Huan, hoping he would go back. But in this world, no one knew exactly why Zhuo Huan left. Two years ago, what made him suddenly resign from his position as chief designer at McFly and leave this giant in the aircraft manufacturing industry? And what made him establish UAAG a year later and start investigating air crashes?

Fu Cheng walked back to the lounge.

He lowered his head looking at his phone, clicking open the chat page with Zhuo Huan. His finger hovered over the input key for a long time, but he didn’t know what to say, just quietly looking at it like this.

In the empty corridor, the sound of footsteps echoed.

His gaze stayed on the blinking cursor in the input box. Fu Cheng pondered for a long time, and just as he was about to type, his hair was suddenly pulled gently. He was slightly startled, turned his head, and saw the glass door of the smoking room open. Zhuo Huan leaned against the door, a cigarette in his mouth, chin slightly raised, looking down at him. His hand was still raised in the air, making no attempt to hide the fact that he had just pulled Fu Cheng’s hair.

Zhuo Huan: “Looking at what so intently, didn’t even see me.”

The smoking room was a fully transparent glass room, yet Fu Cheng hadn’t noticed Zhuo Huan walking all the way here.

Fu Cheng: “Nothing.” He put the phone back in his pocket and stepped into the smoking room.

With the obstruction gone, the glass door closed automatically.

Fu Cheng: “Got a cigarette?”

Zhuo Huan looked at him, chuckled softly, took out a silver cigarette case from his pocket and handed it over. Fu Cheng held the cigarette in his mouth, looked around, and found a lighter on the table in the room. After lighting the cigarette, the two leaned against the metal railing by the window.

Zhuo Huan: “Took leave in the morning?”

Fu Cheng: “Saw my sister off.”

“Oh, your sister left.”

Thinking for a moment, Fu Cheng looked up at him: “Teacher Zhuo, my sister knows you.”

Zhuo Huan didn’t react: “What?”

Fu Cheng: “The Rogue 318 crash, she is a family member of a victim, so she knows you.”

“…Oh.”

“I told her that you have been salvaging the plane at your own expense since then.”

“Hmm?”

“She is also very grateful to you.”

Zhuo Huan’s hand holding the cigarette shook over the glass ashtray. He exhaled a puff of smoke, turned his eyes to look at Fu Cheng: “Also?”

After a moment of silence, Fu Cheng: “I am also very grateful to you.”

Zhuo Huan laughed: “Then what about like?”

Fu Cheng’s body paused slightly. He raised his head to look at the man in front of him. Their eyes met. Zhuo Huan took the cigarette out of Fu Cheng’s mouth with one hand, then lowered his head and kissed him. The bitter and rich smell of smoke multiplied, rushing back from the mouth to the nasal cavity, stinging the eyes hot and wet. They closed their eyes, leaning against the metal railing, kissing the person in front of them wholeheartedly.

When the kiss ended, Zhuo Huan lowered his eyes to look at him, took a drag of the cigarette, and smiled faintly: “Not saying it?”

Fu Cheng panted slightly, not making a sound.

Zhuo Huan: “Oh, I know even if you don’t say it, you’ve liked me for a long time…”

“Like you.”

The voice stopped abruptly. Zhuo Huan lowered his eyes, seeing the young man looking up, his lips wet with ambiguous water stains from saliva. He looked at him with calm eyes, and said it again quietly and gently: “I like you.”

A brief silence of a few seconds.

“Fuck.”

Lowering his head to seal the young man’s lips, Fu Cheng reached out to hug his waist. Zhuo Huan pressed him against the edge of the metal railing, kissing him forcefully. Between lips and tongue, mouth and nose, the whole world smelled of this person. In the spacious and empty smoking room, only the deep yellow twilight of the setting sun and the sounds of ambiguous wet kissing resounded.

Directly having the impulse to press the person in his arms down and fuck him right here, but Zhuo Huan gritted his teeth and held back.

Zhuo Huan, angry out of embarrassment, accused the victim first: “Where did you learn to be so seductive?”

Fu Cheng had long been accustomed to this person’s conduct. He wiped the saliva from the corner of his lips and asked back calmly: “I’m straight, don’t you know that, Teacher Zhuo?”

“Huh?”

“It’s you who only thinks about going to bed all day, what does it have to do with me?”

“…”

Zhuo Huan pinched his chin and said fiercely: “Fu Cheng, have you noticed, you’re very good at talking back to me now. You weren’t like this before, you were so obedient before. Tsk, were you pretending before?”

The extremely close distance allowed Fu Cheng to almost clearly see the light-colored, diffused iris patterns in this man’s eyes. He looked at himself badly, his tone also very displeased, but Fu Cheng’s heart was very peaceful. Something invisible bloomed in the bottom of his heart. He heard himself say: “Now I can not only talk back to you, but also kiss your mouth.”

Zhuo Huan was suddenly stunned.

The next moment, Fu Cheng looked up and kissed him.

…

After finishing the cigarettes, the two walked out of the smoking room together.

Zhuo Huan was rarely in a good mood. Working overtime continuously for a week without rest had filled him with low pressure. Now his mood was much better, and his brows that had been tightly furrowed were also relaxed. Before entering the lab, he called out to Fu Cheng: “Your birthday the day after tomorrow?”

Fu Cheng stopped and looked at him: “Yeah.”

Zhuo Huan: “Oh, go to my place.”

Fu Cheng: “…Hmm?”

“Celebrate your birthday for you.”

__

Author’s Note:

Zhuo RIP: …Fu Cheng is getting fucking better at this, damn!

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