UAAG CH48

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a small Middle Eastern country located along the Persian Gulf. Rich in oil production, it is extremely wealthy. Aside from the oil industry, which serves as its economic pillar, the UAE is most famous for the renowned tourism and shopping paradise—Dubai.

Someone once said: Almost all planes flying between the UAE and the rest of the world are headed for Dubai.

Dubai is home to over 75% of the hotels in the entire UAE.

Maha led the group to the GCAA (General Civil Aviation Authority) archives.

The middle-aged man wearing the small white cap spoke with a hint of pride in his tone: “Over the years, aviation accidents in the UAE have been few and far between. Among them, major crashes resulting in casualties are even rarer, numbering only a few. The Emirates Flight 411 crash was a heartbreaking tragedy in our national aviation history, so the records regarding it are the most extensive.”

The UAAG team flipped through a few archive boxes.

Zhuo Huan: “Bring them all to the new investigation headquarters.”

Maha froze: “All of them?”

Zhuo Huan swept a glance over him: “All of them.”

Maha: “Actually, I must remind you, Mr. Patrick, there are about ninety-six archive boxes here, all concerning the EK411 crash.”

Zhuo Huan: “That’s why I said, all of them.”

Maha: “…”

The GCAA was currently constructing a new investigation headquarters. Although Maha felt the workload was excessive and many documents didn’t need to be reviewed again—such as the full passenger manifest, since it had already been proven not to be a terrorist incident—Zhuo Huan had issued the order. He could only arrange for several young investigators to move the contents of the archive to the new headquarters.

It was getting late. After getting a general feel for the layout, the group returned to their hotel to rest.

Passing through the palm-lined beach avenue and crossing the slightly curved sea boardwalk, they arrived at the pearl of the Persian Gulf situated on the sea—the Burj Al Arab.

Stepping into the 360° panoramic elevator, Su Fei’s eyes lit up with excitement as he took out his phone to snap a couple of selfies.

“I’m going to post this on my Moments.”

Old Joseph: “Look at you, so unrefined.” After speaking, he also snapped two photos with a click-click.

Su Fei: “Didn’t you take some too!”

Old Joseph: “I took them to send to my dear daughter and grandson. Is that the same as you? Of course, I might as well post them on my Facebook, too.”

Su Fei: “…”

Lina smiled and said, “Because the price was too high, we didn’t book the top-tier Royal Suite this time. If there are no issues, I’ll wait for you downstairs in the lobby at ten tomorrow morning?”

“Okay.”

Fu Cheng raised his head and looked at Zhuo Huan.

He saw him leaning against the elevator railing, head tilted back, gazing at the vividly colored ceiling rich in Arabian character. The elevator chimed open, and Su Fei and Old Joseph got off first. When they reached the 28th floor, Lina also got off. She stood at the elevator door and waved: “See you tomorrow, Reid, Fu.”

The elevator doors slowly closed before his eyes. The mirror-like metal doors reflected the man’s handsome, tall silhouette.

At some point, Zhuo Huan was no longer looking at the ceiling. Instead, his head was turned, his clear eyes gazing quietly at him.

Their gazes met in the reflection of the metal doors, and Fu Cheng calmly averted his eyes.

“Guess why the two of us are staying on the same floor.”

Fu Cheng raised his eyes and looked at the other man.

The reflection on the metal door wasn’t truly as clear as a mirror. But through that slightly wavering shadow, Fu Cheng saw the man looking at him with a faint smile. His gaze was so clear, yet it was filled with an extremely discordant, irrational sense of ambiguity and seduction.

After a moment, Fu Cheng said, “It was a random arrangement by the hotel.”

Zhuo Huan: “Oh, but the person who distributed the room cards was Lina.”

Fu Cheng: “Lina was random too.”

“Heh,” a light chuckle. Zhuo Huan drawled lazily, “Trust me, in Stephanie’s world, the word ‘random’ never exists.”

The elevator chimed. Zhuo Huan, hands clasped behind his head, strode out of the elevator, leaving Fu Cheng alone inside. As he walked forward, his back view seemed to overlap perfectly with that moonlit night in Helsinki. Confident, flamboyant—without any words or hints, he knew the person behind him would definitely follow in his footsteps, moving forward with him.

It could only be so, and would only ever be so.

However, this time, Zhuo Huan suddenly turned around. He frowned slightly: “Are you an idiot?”

“…”

Fu Cheng fell silent for a moment, then stepped out of the elevator.

Although they were on the same floor, their suites were not adjacent. Zhuo Huan’s room was at the end of the corridor. As Fu Cheng stopped in front of his door to open it, Zhuo Huan passed behind the young man. A faint scent of verbena rose in the air, and Fu Cheng was momentarily dazed; he felt like he had smelled this scent somewhere before.

…His shampoo at home seemed to be this scent?

Fu Cheng turned his head to look at the man. His lips parted, but the words didn’t come out.

Zhuo Huan had already reached the end of the corridor, swiped his card, and entered his room.

Fu Cheng withdrew his gaze and opened the door to enter his room.

The next morning, after breakfast at 9:30, the group gathered downstairs promptly at 10:00.

Arriving at the GCAA headquarters, Maha was waiting for them at the entrance again. This time, he had changed into a black suit, no longer wearing the white thobe from yesterday. “Since I am working with you, I thought I would respect you by changing into a suit you prefer. Perhaps it looks more pleasing to the eye?”

Lina laughed: “You are very thoughtful. Of course, if you want to wear the white thobe, we won’t have any objections; that looks very good too.”

Maha: “It’s fine, please come this way. The investigation headquarters is undergoing the final organization of documents. I estimate it will be fully organized and ready for use in another hour. Additionally, the survivor has also arrived at GCAA headquarters. Will Mr. Patrick and I go see her together?”

Zhuo Huan: “Me, and him, will go together.”

He lifted his chin slightly, pointing at Fu Cheng.

Maha: “Okay, then the three of us will go. The survivor is Yemeni and does not speak English, only Arabic. I can translate for you.”

Lina flashed a charming smile: “I think, Maha, perhaps you could go check on the investigation headquarters with Su Fei and Old Joseph, and I will replace you as the translator. She is a woman, and it is always easier for a woman to speak with another woman; she should feel more relaxed.”

Maha thought for a moment. “I think you’re right. Then, Miss Lina, I will trouble you to help me with this.”

Su Fei and Old Joseph followed Maha to the newly established investigation headquarters. Guided by a young investigator, Zhuo Huan, Fu Cheng, and Lina arrived in front of the conference room they had visited yesterday. The investigator stopped at the door and said in accented English, “She is right inside.”

Lina nodded. “Thank you. We have already received her file. We will go in by ourselves now.”

With a creak, the door handle was pressed down. Lina pushed the door open and saw the middle-aged woman sitting behind the conference table.

She was a weathered and exhausted woman. Her long hair was messy and dirty, tied back casually with a rubber band. Her skin had a sallow, dark yellowness that seemed to come from within. Her lips were dry and peeling, yet unexpectedly, her eyelashes were thick and long. Beneath those lashes were a pair of large, deep-set eyes. Unfortunately, those eyes were cloudy and dull; at a glance, they didn’t seem beautiful, but rather conveyed a sense of cold indifference.

Hearing the sound, she slowly lifted her head to look at them. Seeing three people, she showed no trace of surprise, even though one was white and two were Asian—starkly different from all the Arab-looking investigators at GCAA headquarters.

It was as if she were a corpse soaked in a glass jar, preserved in formalin for many years.

Her eyes were numb and hollow. Her head turned slightly as the three UAAG members walked into the room and pulled out chairs to sit down. Yet even this movement seemed mechanical, like wind-up clockwork—rigid and stiff. There was not a trace of vitality; she looked to be only in her forties, but she resembled an elderly person in her twilight years.

The strangeness of this survivor was noted by the three of them.

Master Zhuo was never good at socializing. He sat on the far left, Fu Cheng sat in the middle, and Lina sat on the right. Obviously, the primary person to conduct the interview with the survivor this time was Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng lowered his voice and said to Lina, “Communicate with her a little first; her mood seems very low.”

Lina nodded and looked at the woman. Her voice was gentle: “Hello, my name is Lina. These two beside me are my colleagues, Reid and Evan. We were specially invited to conduct the aircraft accident investigation. I heard from Maha—you should know Maha, the investigator who communicated with you a few times over the past few days. He told me your name is Amira.”

The woman looked at Lina with listless eyes: “Yamila Betty.”

Lina exchanged a glance with Fu Cheng. She turned her head back and smiled gently: “Then may I call you Betty? I have a good friend with that name; calling you that reminds me of her.”

“Mn.”

“You are Yemeni?”

“Mn.”

“I heard from Maha that you have lived in Dubai for twenty-four years. This is my first time in this city; do you have any recommendations?”

Betty stared straight at Lina, making the fine hairs on Lina’s back stand up one by one.

Betty: “Just ask directly about the events from twenty-three years ago.”

Lina looked at Fu Cheng and whispered, “She wants me to talk directly about twenty-three years ago.”

Fu Cheng paused. “Alright, let’s get straight to the subject.”

With Lina translating almost simultaneously, Fu Cheng and Betty communicated quite smoothly.

Fu Cheng: “According to the records, twenty-three years ago, you were in the middle economy class, seat number 65J. Do you still recall this?”

“Mn, I remember. I was by the window.”

“So when the plane took off, what were you doing?”

“It was my first time on a plane. I was looking outside.”

“What did you see?”

“It was daytime,” Betty said expressionlessly. “I was looking out the window. The wing was in front of me; I could see the wing and the ground. After the plane ascended, the ground became smaller. Then suddenly, a very small fragment flew up from the surface of the aircraft wing, flying into the sky. Not long after, with a boom, a fire started under the wing. I saw fire.”

After Lina translated, Fu Cheng’s expression darkened, and he looked seriously at the woman in front of him. “Are you sure you saw a very small fragment fly up from the plane’s flap?”

Betty asked back numbly, “Flap?”

Fu Cheng grabbed a piece of paper, folded it in half, and used it to represent an airplane wing. He pointed his finger at the trailing edge of the paper: “Flap.”

Betty: “Oh, it flew up.”

Fu Cheng: “Think back. How big was that fragment? Was it as big as this paper?”

Betty looked at the paper in Fu Cheng’s hand for a long time before withdrawing her gaze. She raised her hand and extended one finger: “About the size of my fingernail.”

Fu Cheng frowned.

Obviously, he knew that what this woman was saying had to be wrong.

Emirates Flight 411 used a Boeing 777 model aircraft. This plane is a veritable giant of the sky, seating ten per row in a 3-4-3 layout. The 65J seat where this woman sat was about ten meters away from the wing. Looking at the wing through the small window, the point of reference changes; after takeoff, the reference is the boundless sky. If it really were a fragment the size of a fingernail, she absolutely wouldn’t have been able to see it; it would have been instantly swallowed by the infinite sky.

This was a typical visual error. She couldn’t judge the size of the fragment correctly.

“Do a live aircraft experiment.”

Fu Cheng turned his head and saw Zhuo Huan with his arms crossed, leaning against the back of his chair. Sensing Fu Cheng’s gaze, he lifted his eyes and said to him, “Go directly to Emirates Airlines. Arrange for her to board a plane and look again.”

Lina found Maha and tactfully presented UAAG’s request.

Maha agreed immediately: “Does it need to take off?”

Fu Cheng: “No need, just boarding is fine. Arrange a maintenance truck as well; we need to stand on the boom lift of the truck to conduct a field experiment.”

Maha laughed: “Haha, that’s even simpler. Of course, even if a plane needed to take off, it wouldn’t matter. This is an Emirates crash; Emirates will cooperate fully.”

Fu Cheng raised an eyebrow.

He suddenly realized that the wealth of this group of people might far exceed his imagination.

Since it was just a static experiment, the group soon arrived at Dubai International Airport by car. There, Emirates had two Boeing 777s parked in a maintenance hangar.

Upon hearing Zhuo Huan’s request, Emirates sent a staff member to assist with their work.

“Do you really not need it to take off, just driven to an open area? Of these two Boeing 777s, we plan to repair one for continued use, and the other has already been signed for—it will be sold to Flydubai once repaired. So the second one cannot be used casually, but do whatever you want with the first one. We can arrange for it to be refueled and take off for the experiment at any time.”

Lina translated the Emirates employee’s words for everyone.

Su Fei’s eyes went wide: “What the f*ck? Does fuel cost nothing? Does taking off cost nothing? Why does it feel like flying a plane for them is simpler than me going out for a meal?”

Fu Cheng: “Perhaps in the eyes of Emirates, the cost of flying a plane isn’t much different from the cost of you going out for a meal.”

Su Fei: “…”

These UAE tycoons aren’t human!

Of course, this was just a simple experiment. They only needed to drive the plane to a place with a wide field of view so the sky could be the reference point; there was no need to actually fly the plane.

Lina took Betty and Su Fei to board the plane. On the other side, Fu Cheng and Zhuo Huan stood on the boom lift of the maintenance truck. Once they were steady, the driver activated the lift, sending them to the right wing of the aircraft. At this moment, Fu Cheng looked toward the passenger cabin and saw Su Fei standing at the small window of seat 65J, waving vigorously at him.

Through the walkie-talkie, Lina’s voice sounded: “This is about the position. She says this is likely the place where she saw the fragment fly out.”

The lift stopped suddenly. Because Zhuo Huan had his hands in his pockets and wasn’t holding the railing, inertia caused his body to jerk backward. He immediately took his hands out of his pockets, but before he could grab the railing, a hand firmly grasped his arm, pulling him back.

He looked up into the young man’s surprised and concerned eyes.

“Teacher Zhuo, are you okay?”

Zhuo Huan stared at him fixedly for a moment, then curled his lips: “Mn.”

With the position confirmed, the next step was to start the experiment.

Fu Cheng had prepared many black iron sheets of various sizes. He was going to place them on the wing one by one for Betty to identify. However, just as he picked up an A4-sized iron sheet and was about to place it, a warm body leaned against his back.

His body stiffened instantly.

The person didn’t lean completely; he just leaned forward slightly, turning sideways to rest against him while standing.

Fu Cheng was silent for a moment. “Teacher Zhuo, why are you leaning on me?”

Zhuo Huan’s voice was cool: “I’m afraid of falling again.”

Fu Cheng: “The lift isn’t moving now; it’s fixed.”

“What if it moves?”

“…”

Fu Cheng: “Hold the railing.”

Zhuo Huan: “Oh, I won’t. It’s dirty.”

Su Fei’s face appeared in the window. He looked at the two people ten meters away. From his angle, he couldn’t see how tightly pressed together they were. Similarly, due to the height, Old Joseph and the Emirates staff standing on the ground couldn’t see clearly what they were doing either.

Su Fei picked up the walkie-talkie: “Hey, Brother Fu, why aren’t you starting yet?”

Ignoring the man leaning on him, Fu Cheng expressionlessly placed the A4 black paper on the wing.

Inside the plane cabin, the survivor with tired eyes leaned against the window, just as she had twenty-three years ago, looking at the wing flying in the blue sky outside.

The next moment, Lina’s voice came from the walkie-talkie: “She says it doesn’t look like it.”

After testing about seven times, they found the fragment the size of a fingernail that Betty had described.

The maintenance truck’s lift hummed, and Fu Cheng and Zhuo Huan returned to the ground together.

Old Joseph held the A5-sized iron sheet: “Have you ever seen a fingernail this big?”

Lina: “If a blue whale had fingernails, maybe they’d be this big?” As her voice fell, Lina turned her head, her gaze lingering on Fu Cheng and Zhuo Huan for a moment. She curled her red lips: “Alright, let’s go back to the investigation headquarters.”

The sudden witness gave a new twist to the already closed case of Emirates Flight 411. However, the clues this witness could provide were truly too few. From beginning to end, all she said was that she saw this “small” fragment fly off the wing seeking freedom before the engine exploded.

Fu Cheng asked a few more careful questions, and Betty cooperated fully. As long as he asked, she would answer. It was just that twenty-three years had passed, and there were many things she could no longer remember clearly. The only thing fresh in her memory, as if carved into her brain, was that “small” fragment.

When the questioning ended, Maha escorted Betty out of the GCAA headquarters. Fu Cheng watched her retreating figure disappear among the skyscrapers.

Lina: “It’s said that in another half month, she will be deported back to Yemen.”

Fu Cheng turned to look at her.

Lina said as if speaking casually, “Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world. Maha told me that twenty-four years ago, she was kept by a Dubai businessman and came here to be his mistress. Unfortunately, five years later, the wealthy merchant abandoned her. She refused to leave here and return to Yemen, so she became a prostitute. A few years later, when her youth was gone, she worked as a dishwasher and a cleaner, barely scraping by to pay the document fees and rent to the smuggling snakehead. Last month, that snakehead was caught and gave up her and many other stowaways. She was supposed to be deported back to Yemen last month, but then she mentioned this matter and was bailed out by the GCAA people, allowing her to stay in Dubai for another month.”

Old Joseph sighed: “She’d rather be a prostitute than go home? No matter how bad it is there, it’s still home.”

Su Fei was more concerned with: “I knew it, she must have been very beautiful when she was young! I thought her eyes looked very nice.”

After a moment of silence, Fu Cheng said, “Being born beautiful into poverty is not necessarily a good thing.”

The group returned to the investigation headquarters.

All the documents had been fully organized. Ninety-six archive boxes were placed on metal shelves, waiting to be reviewed.

Zhuo Huan: “Everyone, read through all these documents once.”

UAAG members: “…”

Zhuo Huan raised his eyes: “Including the investigators sent by GCAA to reinvestigate the accident.”

Maha and the others: “…”

Maha stood up, intending to plead for his colleagues—perhaps skip the unnecessary documents. However, Zhuo Huan looked at him first and spoke: “When will the NTSB people arrive?”

Maha’s expression froze on his face.

Seeing his reaction, Zhuo Huan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Maha said awkwardly, “Well, Mr. Patrick, I haven’t told you about this yet. The NTSB side… actually, we haven’t told them that a new witness has appeared.”

Everyone from UAAG was stunned.

Zhuo Huan: “This is a Boeing aircraft; the NTSB has the right to intervene. Furthermore, there were 66 Americans on board, including 4 victims.”

Maha: “This matter is quite complicated. First of all, it involves smuggling. There were issues with the identity checks by the Immigration Bureau and the Civil Aviation Authority back then. This…” He hesitated for a long time. “This counts as a scandal. A stowaway slipped away right under our noses without being detected. Once reported, it will definitely affect the government’s image.” And it would affect the people in charge back then.

Zhuo Huan scoffed: “For such a stupid reason?”

Maha was stunned. He thought for a moment and softened his voice: “This is also to protect the survivor. Once the public knows that she clearly saw clues to the accident twenty-three years ago but didn’t provide them, she will definitely be condemned. The victims’ families might also make things difficult for her.”

Zhuo Huan stopped smiling and stared at Maha without saying a word.

Maha wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered, “And… what if after the investigation, we find that the appearance of this witness doesn’t affect the results of the investigation back then? What if it’s the same conclusion?”

A sarcastic smile appeared at the corner of Zhuo Huan’s mouth. He mocked: “The cause of the 1998 Emirates Flight 411 crash published by the NTSB and GCAA was that a fan blade in the engine’s low-pressure fan had a quality issue with an extremely low probability, causing the blade to break, get sucked into the engine, and lead to an engine explosion…”

“You’re telling me that before the engine exploded, someone saw a fragment the size of your face fly off above the wing, and this could be unrelated to the accident?!”

“How did you sneak into the GCAA? Tsk, idiot.”

Maha’s face turned completely red from the scolding, his body trembling. Zhuo Huan finished speaking and stormed off, the main door slamming against the frame with a loud bang.

Fu Cheng’s gaze darkened, and he immediately stepped forward to chase after him.

Lina immediately said, “Sorry Maha, Reid didn’t mean it. He’s just unreasonable like that. However, I actually can’t understand why you wouldn’t make this public, or even tell the NTSB who investigated with you back then. The NTSB has extensive investigation experience, and their database must have a lot of documents regarding this accident, perhaps even ones you don’t have.”

Maha felt his face burning hot. He was nearly forty and hadn’t been scolded like that in a long time. He said sheepishly, “I don’t blame Mr. Patrick, it’s just that this incident is really complicated. There’s the smuggling issue, and we also wanted to protect the witness…”

Lina smiled gently: “Is it really because you want to protect the witness?”

Maha froze. He slowly looked up at Lina, mouth open, but unable to say a word.

On the other side, Fu Cheng chased after Zhuo Huan the moment he stormed out. But Zhuo Huan walked too fast; when Fu Cheng reached the corridor, he only saw the other man’s retreating back striding away.

Fu Cheng searched for a while before finding him on the balcony on the second floor of the GCAA headquarters.

Leaning against the marble railing, the boundless azure ocean lay in the distance. Amidst the surging waves, snow-white seagulls broke through the surf.

Zhuo Huan smoked a cigarette while staring indifferently at the distant sea and seabirds.

Fu Cheng watched him for a while, then walked over.

“Teacher Zhuo, Maha is just an investigator. Not publishing the clues and not contacting the NTSB isn’t decided by him. What’s the use of getting angry at him?”

Zhuo Huan didn’t look at him, gently exhaling a puff of white smoke.

Fu Cheng was silent for a moment. “You haven’t smoked in a long time.”

Zhuo Huan finally spoke, sneering: “I’m not with you 24 hours a day; you just haven’t seen it.”

Fu Cheng: “Smoking is bad for your health.”

As if hearing something funny, Zhuo Huan turned his head to look at him: “You’re telling me smoking is bad? You f*cking don’t smoke? You look like a model student, gentle and refined on the surface—don’t you know what you’re like in private?”

Fu Cheng looked at him expressionlessly: “You get angry whenever you encounter something you don’t like. You turned thirty years this year, Zhuo Huan.”

“None of your business.”

“Then what’s the use of getting angry at me?”

“Then why the f*ck did you chase after me seeing I was angry? Why not just rush up and kiss me to put out the fire? Do you understand or not, Fu…”

Burning hot lips suddenly sealed off the rest of the words. Fu Cheng tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and decisively used action to stop this person from speaking further. However, in a place Zhuo Huan couldn’t see, his fingers were trembling slightly, completely unlike his outwardly unshrinking demeanor.

Zhuo Huan was startled for a split second. The next moment, he cupped the back of the young man’s head, pressed him against the marble railing, and kissed him fiercely. Tongues licked, bit, and sucked; saliva drew ambiguous silver threads between their lips. The clear and clean scent belonging to the young man mixed with the humid, salty sea breeze and filled Zhuo Huan’s nose.

After a long time, their four lips parted. Fu Cheng panted lightly, his face devoid of much expression, light as the clouds and gentle as the breeze. Aside from his slightly flushed complexion due to lack of oxygen and somewhat swollen red lips, there was nothing to suggest he had just been kissing someone passionately.

Zhuo Huan steadied his breathing, darkened his gaze, and looked at the calm young man in front of him.

He suddenly laughed, holding Fu Cheng’s face with both hands. He lowered his head slightly, forcing their eyes to meet.

Then, he squeezed out the words one by one through his teeth.

“You really have a face that fcking begs to be fcked.”

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