Chapter 25 – U-Turn

Tang Pingxia got straight to the point, “I was watching TV today with nothing else to do and saw you on the news.”

Tang Pingxia had led a life of strict rules and hardships. In order to escape her family that favored sons over daughters, she left home before she was twenty to work elsewhere, then married a Chinese literature teacher and became his full-time wife. In her early thirties, her husband cheated on her, caught red-handed in bed with another woman. She slapped him twice, didn’t ask for anything to expedite the divorce, started looking for a job again, and never returned to Guangdong.

Bian Ji was the only connection Tang Pingxia had to her painful past, and he was happy that she found her own path in life. However, it had been too long since he last saw his mother, so his tone was flat as he asked, “What news?”

“A piece of news,” Tang Pingxia said halfway through before she forgot the specifics. She flipped through their chat history and read aloud, “It mentioned how well you handled the accident, quickly evacuating over a hundred passengers, something along those lines.”

It had been nearly two months since the accident; this was the first call Bian Ji received from his parents. He said indifferently, “Yeah, the company recently arranged an interview.”

“Lucky you, having to be interviewed. You’re more articulate than when you were a kid,” Tang Pingxia commented objectively, seemingly unaware of the dangerous flight that preceded the interview. “I never thought Baobao would be so impressive now, unafraid even in front of the camera.”

Bian Ji didn’t comment on his mother’s praise, only reminded her softly, “Mom, it was a fire on the plane.”

“I know, didn’t you put out the fire? Your uniform is quite handsome, too.” Tang Pingxia said.

Bian Ji wanted to ask if she understood what an in-flight fire meant to a flight attendant. He wondered why neither she nor Bian Cheng had shown any concern during the two months since the incident, questioning whether their safety wasn’t important to them and if appearing on the news was the only reason worth a phone call.

He glanced at Yan Ankuo beside him and ultimately swallowed his words.

“It’s almost New Year’s, are you coming back?” Bian Ji changed the subject.

Tang Pingxia said, “Yes, shall we meet up some time?”

Meeting his own mother required an appointment, something Bian Ji had gotten used to and no longer found strange. “Which day? I’ll book a restaurant.”

Tang Pingxia said, “I arrive on the seventh, so the eighth would be fine.”

Bian Ji asked, “Is Uncle Zhou and little Rui coming? Will a small table be enough?”

Uncle Zhou was Tang Pingxia’s current husband, and Xiao Rui was their young daughter. Bian Ji had only seen them once when he flew to England two years ago and could barely remember how tall Xiao Rui had grown.

Tang Pingxia shook her head, “They won’t be coming, but still book a medium-sized table.”

“Someone else?”

“The wife from next door, do you remember her?”

Bian Ji honestly replied, “No recollection.”

“She has a daughter who just graduated from graduate school, incredibly smart.” Tang Pingxia, being from Shanghai, often spoke with an accent. “It’d be nice to meet up together.”

Bian Ji suddenly tightened his grip on the steering wheel, pressing harder on the brake. Yan Ankuo looked up in confusion, wondering what was wrong.

Bian Ji shook his head at Yan Ankuo, then lowered his voice and sternly told Tang Pingxia, “Let’s just meet among family. We don’t need to include outsiders.”

“What kind of talk is that!” Tang Pingxia was dissatisfied. “I’ve already made plans with the wife from next door.”

“Mom, you know my situation,” Bian Ji’s face darkened, his tone serious and intimidating. “This kind of thing can’t be changed no matter who I meet.”

Bian Ji spoke vaguely, unsure if Yan Ankuo understood, but currently, that didn’t matter. The priority was to cancel the meeting.

Tang Pingxia tried to persuade him, “Why are you still so stubborn? Haven’t you suffered enough in the past? Besides, what’s wrong with meeting? Would your mother harm you?”

Listening to her, Bian Ji found it somewhat amusing.

“Do you know,” Bian Ji didn’t care if the person beside him heard, revealing his desolate tone and expression completely. “That news you mentioned actually happened two months ago. After the incident, even friends from across the ocean came to ask if I was safe.”

Tang Pingxia paused, feeling guilty and anxious. “I just saw that you seemed fine…”

“Mm. I’m doing well, and even if not, I can handle it myself.” Bian Ji reiterated. “So, during the New Year, I only want to see you. If that’s not possible, then let’s not meet at all.”

“Baobao…don’t blame me,” Tang Pingxia suddenly softened her tone, gently calling Bian Ji by his childhood nickname in Wu dialect. “We’ll meet.”

This name hadn’t been heard in over two years, only occasionally used by Tang Pingxia over the phone. Bian Ji’s heart softened, sighing, “What’s your flight number?”

“I haven’t bought it yet, send me your schedule, I’ll take your flight back.” Tang Pingxia, seeing her request accepted, smiled sweetly like a young girl.

Bian Ji said, “Wait a moment, I’m still in the car, I’ll send it to you later.”

After hanging up the phone, Bian Ji felt overly exhausted, breathing heavily, and felt an itch in his throat, lightly coughing to try and clear it.

Yan Ankuo, hearing this, quickly picked up a bottle of mineral water and asked, “Need some water?”

“It’s nothing.” Bian Ji shook his head to indicate, “Just occasional coughing.”

Yan Ankuo refuted his frequency term, “You just coughed at least three times during that phone call.”

“…”. Bian Ji wasn’t embarrassed to be caught, explaining, “It’s laryngitis, it worsened a bit after being exposed to heavy smoke last time.”

“So it hasn’t improved after so long?”

“It’s an old issue.”

Yan Ankuo remained silent for a moment before decisively saying, “U-turn ahead.”

Bian Ji was puzzled, “?”

“Head to the pharmacy first.” Yan Ankuo said firmly, as if giving an irrefutable command to an autonomous driving system. “U-turn.”

“It’s really not necessary, I’ve been there.” Bian Ji insisted, “The doctor prescribed medicine, which is at home.”

Bian Ji had already passed the route where he needed to make a u-turn and continued driving steadily. Yan Ankuo looked at him and asked, “Then did you take it?”

“…” Bian Ji said embarrassedly, “No.”

Yan Ankuo calmly asked, “Why not follow the doctor’s instructions.”

Bian Ji showed a pained expression, “Too busy. My memory isn’t as good as it was in my twenties, it’s easy to forget when busy.”

“Since you know your body isn’t the same, why aren’t you taking care of yourself?” Yan Ankuo stared at the driver’s side profile, making Bian Ji feel a bit uneasy while driving. “I don’t believe there isn’t even time for a drink of water on your flights.”

Bian Ji coughed lightly, smiling bitterly, “Mainly because taking medicine isn’t on the checklist, so it’s easy to forget.”

Before each flight, there was an Emergency Checklist to be checked against. Having flown over ten thousand times, he could remember the corresponding steps even if the list couldn’t be found; this was a skill developed through repetition. Illness was different, most of the time, it would pass after lying down and enduring for a week, rarely requiring effort to check against, and no one had taught him how to check against a non-existent checklist.

Yan Ankuo searched the car for a while, finally finding a notebook. After getting Bian Ji’s permission, he tore out a page, placed the notebook under it, and wrote on his lap.

Bian Ji drove with undivided attention, not noticing what he was writing.

After Yan Ankuo finished writing, he neatly folded the paper and held it between his index and middle fingers. “New Checklist, keep it.”