UAAG CH35

The waiter brought over two cups of coffee, and Fu Cheng also ordered a portion of gingerbread.

Outside the window, the weather gradually darkened. Thick leaden clouds rolled in from the south, crossing the boundless sea surface to press heavily upon the city of Boston. After a short while, rain began to drift down. The rain crackled against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the coffee shop, and only then did Fu Cheng realize that it wasn’t rain, but very small hailstones.

He withdrew his gaze. “Uncle Vince, why are you here?”

The old man smiled. “I heard that they seem to be salvaging a plane on the beach over here. I knew it wasn’t Rogue 318, I just wanted to come and take a look. There’s nothing else to do at home alone, Evan, you know I get bored. Besides, if I hadn’t come here for a walk, wouldn’t I have missed meeting you?”

Fu Cheng: “These past few days I’ve been busy investigating the case, so I couldn’t go see you. I originally planned to visit you after the case was resolved and before leaving Boston.”

“You’re a good kid.”

Fu Cheng’s voice was gentle. “By the way, how is Lulu doing recently? Does she like the new cat food?”

Inside the coffee shop, the handsome and beautiful young man listened patiently to the old man speak, mostly about trivial household matters. Vince Presley was already in his seventies and had a bit of mild forgetfulness. He always rambled on whatever came to mind, sometimes even bringing up past events that Fu Cheng knew nothing about. But Fu Cheng showed not a hint of impatience; he listened quietly.

When the rain stopped, he settled the bill and helped the old man leave the coffee shop. He hailed a taxi for the old man, and after helping Uncle Vince into the back seat, Fu Cheng went to the front passenger window, bent down, and said to the driver, “87 Teplu Road, thank you.” Then he walked to the back seat and leaned down. “Uncle Vince, I’ll come see you when I finish my work.”

Vince smiled. “Okay, I’ll wait for you at home and make your favorite wraps.”

After the muffled sound of the engine starting, the taxi accelerated away and quickly disappeared at the end of the long road.

Fu Cheng watched the direction the car left from a distance. He didn’t leave immediately but watched in silence.

Suddenly, it seemed as if he had no strength left, powerless even to turn around. His feet were filled with mercury, tightly stuck to the earth, unable to move from the ground.

Like a track and field athlete who had just finished a ten-thousand-meter run, Fu Cheng suddenly felt extremely tired.

He didn’t want to care about what would happen next, didn’t want to pretend nothing was wrong and live through each day. If time stopped at this moment, nothing had happened, and nothing would happen.

That seemed pretty good too.

After a long time, Fu Cheng turned around with a calm expression. He had contacted the driver long ago, and now he walked towards the Bentley parked by the roadside.

Sitting in the car, Fu Cheng thought for a moment, opened his phone, and bought a few bags of cat food on Amazon.

Lulu was five years old this year, a blue bi-color Ragdoll cat.

Four and a half years ago, after the Rogue 318 air crash, in the waiting room prepared by Rogue Airlines for the victims’ families, Fu Cheng met Vince Presley for the first time.

Of course, there were chairs in the waiting room arranged by the airline, but almost no one was willing to sit on the chairs and wait meaninglessly. They were burning with anxiety, standing up one by one. Husbands and wives, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, they held each other’s hands, trembling, waiting with fear and expectation for the airline to give an answer.

Rogue Flight 318 did not crash.

It just disappeared.

Perhaps due to mechanical failure, it made an emergency landing on some island. Or maybe it took a wrong turn and lost its course. It went to New Zealand, went to Australia. It landed safely, just hadn’t had time to tell the world yet.

This expectation, like dead ashes, persisted until the senior management of Rogue Airlines, dressed in crisp suits, walked into the waiting room with solemn expressions.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for him to give the final answer.

At 7:12 AM on June 17, 2016, exactly 84 hours after Rogue Flight 318 disappeared, the airline finally told all the families.

“We are very sorry, Rogue Airlines Flight 318 is confirmed crashed.”

First came a moment of silence, then weeping, screaming, and wailing rang out in the quiet waiting room.

Fu Cheng gripped his cousin’s hand tightly. His cousin was crying so hard she was out of breath, almost fainting. Having endured three days and nights, only for this to be the final outcome, she simply couldn’t accept it. Fu Cheng comforted her incessantly, his cousin’s nails almost digging into his wrist.

Suddenly, he felt a salty taste in his mouth.

Fu Cheng paused, reached out, and touched his cold cheek. Only then did he realize that he was crying too.

The small waiting room seemed to become a purgatory on earth at this moment. Joy and sorrow, life and death separated; wives cried bitterly in their husbands’ arms, young children threw themselves into their mothers’ arms, vaguely understanding that they would never see their fathers again.

The NTSB established an investigation team.

On June 19, Zhuo Huan said he was invited to represent McFly Company and join the investigation team.

However, they had never seen such a hell, almost drowned in suffocating sadness and despair. Hundreds, thousands of people begged bitterly for three days and nights, but God did not hear their prayers. The world became black and white at this moment; no sound entered their ears anymore. Apart from uncontrollable crying, there was almost nothing else they could do.

His cousin cried until she had no strength left, leaning on Fu Cheng’s shoulder, weeping silently.

Just then, Fu Cheng suddenly saw an old man leaning on a cane stand up. His face was covered in tears, his eyes red. Going against the people hugging and crying, he walked alone, lonely towards the door.

Fu Cheng’s heart skipped a beat, and he inexplicably followed. Then, just as Vince Presley climbed over the railing and was about to jump off the six-story building, Fu Cheng dashed forward and pulled him back.

There were more than 298 victims on Rogue Flight 318.

298, this wasn’t just a number.

Every number represented a once vibrant life.

Behind every number was a shattered family.

Sometimes when Fu Cheng recalled it, he felt that perhaps he really was fated with Uncle Vince. Firstly, at that time, he subconsciously followed and stopped Uncle Vince from committing suicide. Secondly, Fu Cheng only learned afterwards that Uncle Vince’s daughter, Amy Presley, was actually sitting next to his uncle and aunt.

Rogue Flight 318, economy class row 11, was in a 3-5-3 configuration.

Amy Presley sat in seat 42K, while Fu Cheng’s uncle and aunt sat in seats 42I and 42J.

Perhaps when boarding the plane, they had greeted each other. Amy Presley liked taking photos and carried a DSLR with her. Uncle Vince said that every time she flew, she liked to take pictures of the clouds outside the window and take photos with strangers sitting together.

They boarded the plane together and took photos together.

When the air crash suddenly happened, his aunt sitting next to her might have held the hand of this young girl who was alone tightly, telling her not to be afraid.

Although he didn’t see that scene with his own eyes, Fu Cheng thought it must have been like that.

Amy was Vince Presley’s only daughter. Amy’s mother passed away very early, and he almost raised his daughter alone. Faced with such a tragedy, Vince was close to giving up the will to live at that time. Fortunately, the pet shop delivered a Ragdoll cat at that time. It was ordered by Amy before she left Boston, intended as a gift to keep her father company.

Lulu’s arrival saved Vince Presley; he came back to life.

Later, whenever Fu Cheng had the opportunity to go to the United States, he would take time to come to Boston to see Uncle Vince.

Thinking of the past, Fu Cheng closed his eyes. After a long while, he sighed.

By the time he finished meeting Captain Kyle’s family and returned to the investigation headquarters, it was already 7 PM. As soon as he entered the door, Fu Cheng saw a familiar figure. He was surprised: “Lina, back so soon? Are you done with your business?”

Lina turned around and smiled at him: “Of course. I have quite a few friends in Boston. I asked a friend at the police station to check the surveillance footage, and I quickly found the person I was looking for.”

Old Joseph laughed heartily: “May I ask Miss Lina, in which city do you have fewer friends?”

Lina pretended to think: “At least in the United States, I think I have quite a few friends in every city. Why, Old Joseph, do you need my help with something?”

“Hahahaha, I was just thinking, if I do anything shady in the future, I’ll have to avoid you and your friends. Otherwise, what if you find out?” Old Joseph hugged his arms tightly, pretending to be afraid.

Everyone laughed together.

Su Fei asked curiously: “Sister Lina, who did you go looking for? Why did you suddenly need to find someone? Is this person related to our accident this time?”

“Can’t say it’s related.” Lina smiled, “Originally, I wanted to find this little liar to get the money back, to preserve someone’s self-esteem. But later, after finding the person, I discovered that although he is a little liar, he is also a kind little liar. Not everything he said was a lie, so I didn’t bother anymore.”

Fu Cheng thought for a moment: “I feel like you’re implying something.”

Lina: “I didn’t name anyone.”

“How is Kyle’s situation?”

A thick folder slammed onto the table in front of the four with a “bang”, interrupting their chat. Lina closed her mouth and walked away snickering. Su Fei and Old Joseph quickly turned their heads back to their own work.

Fu Cheng looked up at Zhuo Huan and said: “I met Kyle’s wife and son. But I couldn’t talk much with them. They just arrived in Boston and were very exhausted, with no energy to accept investigation. I’ve made an appointment for tomorrow morning. I’ll see them again after they’ve rested well.”

Support me on Ko-fi