Chapter 10 – Back to January 1st

“So many people say that, but it’s really just professional habit. Nowadays, I subconsciously look at names twice whenever I see them, scared I might remember them wrong,” Bian Ji replied naturally and appropriately.

Yan Ankuo seemed displeased, “So that’s how it is.”

Bian Ji sighed repeatedly, “I never would have guessed that you picked your seat randomly? It’s truly a coincidence! I didn’t expect to run into you again. I thought you were going to stay in Kunming for a long time.”

Yan Ankuo said, “I stayed in Kunming for four days, returned to Shanghai last Monday.”

“Is legal work so demanding that you travel frequently?” Bian Ji was surprised.

“It’s the end of the year, things are busier.” Yan Ankuo glanced at him, “Fortunately, they’re busy.”

Bian Ji was cutting a troublesome piece of beef tartare when he heard this, pausing his knife and fork, raising his head curiously. He felt that the phrase “fortunately” carried deep meaning, but wasn’t sure.

Yan Ankuo picked up a plate of pesto snails as usual, as if he hadn’t been the one speaking just now. Sensing Bian Ji’s gaze, he looked back, “Mr. Bian came to the firm to look for me yesterday, was there something?”

Bian Ji didn’t expect Yan Ankuo to bring up this topic. He clearly remembered that only Qiao Yuan had left contact information.

Yan Ankuo reminded him, “I can see visitor records.”

Caught off guard, Bian Ji could only tell the truth, “Oh, yes! I have a friend who’s a pilot. He recently had some disputes with his company and wanted to consult a lawyer.”

Yan Ankuo showed no expression, sipping a bit of red wine, asking, “Why me?”

“We don’t know anyone in the legal field,” Bian Ji was somewhat embarrassed. This matter wasn’t handled smoothly. After all, the other party wasn’t a close relative or friend, suddenly seeking help was rash, “I just happened to remember that you introduced yourself as a lawyer, thinking I’d try my luck at Hengtian.”

Yan Ankuo thought for a moment, holding a wine glass in his hand, not immediately responding.

Bian Ji thought he was still upset about being disturbed so often, trying to put in a good word for Qiao Yuan, “But rest assured, I’m just helping make introductions, I won’t disturb you frequently! You can charge the consultation fee or agency fee as usual.”

Yan Ankuo’s softened expression suddenly turned cold again. He put down the wine glass, somewhat displeased, “It seems Mr. Bian cares a lot about friends.”

“Well, after all, we’re also half-professionals in the same field,” Bian Ji couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind his words, so he chose the most straightforward answer, “Captain Qiao is indeed an excellent pilot. Their opportunity cost is too high, it’s really not feasible to drag on like this.”

Yan Ankuo seemed skeptical, “How excellent?”

Bian Ji thought this was some kind of comprehensive client evaluation script and patiently answered, “He was recruited by University X for aviation. He’s flown for over ten years without a single mistake. In the circle, they don’t call him Captain Qiao, they call him Captain Machine, meaning he’s more precise than a machine.”

“Understood.” After saying this, Yan Ankuo didn’t pick up his knife and fork again.

Bian Ji thought he didn’t like the food, even though the menu was chosen based on Yan Ankuo’s stated preferences.

“Do you need another dish?” Bian Ji tentatively asked, “You haven’t touched much.”

“No need.” Yan Ankuo shook his head. Just then, his phone rang. He stood up, saying, “Sorry, I’ll take a call.”

Bian Ji rarely encountered social dilemmas he couldn’t solve. When faced with a stubborn social counterpart, he just needed to call over a waiter. Based on his observations on the plane last time, adding a mango dessert would do the trick — he remembered that Passenger Yan had finished that birthday gift.

When the new dessert was served, Yan Ankuo was still on the phone, looking gentler than usual. Bian Ji couldn’t help but wonder, who was on the other end of the phone.

This guess was confirmed within a minute, because when Yan Ankuo returned, he forgot to turn off his phone screen, leaving it brightly displayed on the table.

With some dark thoughts in mind, Bian Ji stole a glance, discovering the note read “Xiao Fan,” the profile picture was a cute cartoon girl. Their latest message was “Goodnight.”

When Yan Ankuo sat down, he noticed the additional dish on the table, asking, “Still hungry?”

Bian Ji shook his head. Although a vague emotion lingered in his heart, he didn’t show it, “Afraid you wouldn’t like the previous dishes, so I added a post-meal dessert for you.”

Yan Ankuo nodded. Bian Ji wasn’t sure if this response meant he liked it or not. However, the next second, he picked up a small spoon, scooping out a large chunk, beginning to taste it.

“Tastes good.” Yan Ankuo gave him a new spoon, “Want to try?”

Bian Ji hesitated, saying “yes,” taking the spoon and tasting it.

Cheese melted in his mouth, carrying the sweetness of mango. Bian Ji felt that the knot in his heart seemed to be suppressed by the cake.

Bian Ji wanted to ask about the person on the other end of the phone, so he probed, “Attorney Yan travels so frequently, doesn’t the family mind?”

Yan Ankuo didn’t think deeply, assuming he was referring to his sister and mother, casually answering, “No, everyone has their own things to do.”

Bian Ji thought these words implied he had a family.

“That’s good, ha-ha.” Bian Ji smiled evasively.

“What were we talking about?” Yan Ankuo unexpectedly continued the conversation, “Your friend, what specifically is the dispute?”

Bian Ji briefly recounted the cause and effect.

After listening, Yan Ankuo directly asked, “Convenient to take a look at the contract clauses?”

Bian Ji didn’t have the contract saved, “I don’t have it either. Why don’t you ask him directly?”

Yan Ankuo said with a stern face, “How do I ask?”

“He left his contact information, at the front desk.”

“Really? The front desk didn’t sync it to me.”

“Well…” Bian Ji wanted to suggest adding WeChat, but remembering the previous polite refusal, he thought the other party might be wary of this. Moreover, Bian Ji didn’t have the hobby of bothering married men, quickly changing his words, “Then let me find his phone number for you.”

“Bian Ji.” Yan Ankuo, unable to bear it anymore, took out his phone, “Let me scan you.”

Bian Ji was taken aback, “What?”

“Sending files is more convenient via WeChat.” Yan Ankuo gave a reasonable explanation.

Although Bian Ji believed that Yan Ankuo had a myriad of ways to obtain the client’s email or WeChat, he still took out the QR code for him to add, then pushed Qiao Yuan’s business card towards him.

Attorney Yan placed the referrer in the “Client” tag bar right in front of him, giving a very official note: X Airline_Bian Ji. It seemed he genuinely considered him a potential case source.

Yan Ankuo finished the last bite of mango dessert, wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin, “By the way, you and Captain Qiao, are you particularly close?”

Bian Ji, under such scrutiny, felt oddly like a case party, “Not bad, we’re not in the same company, our routes usually don’t overlap, we’ve only been in touch more frequently recently.”

“Hmm.” Yan Ankuo didn’t reply, taking a while before commenting, “You’re quite enthusiastic.”

Bian Ji looked at him in confusion, agreeing, “Can’t be helped, it’s a professional habit. I have to be a bit warmer to everyone, or complaints are easy to come by.”

“No wonder.” Yan Ankuo seemed displeased.

Bian Ji asked him what “no wonder” meant, but he didn’t admit it.

This meal lasted over two hours. By the time they left, they were the only table remaining in the restaurant.

Yan Ankuo bid him farewell, raising his hand to hail a taxi, preparing to leave. Bian Ji lived close to the hotel, able to walk there, so he stood at the intersection, waiting until he got in the car before turning around.

Tonight couldn’t be said to have been fruitless. Discovering that Yan Ankuo was possibly not single and oriented towards women, Bian Ji spoke very politely tonight, not making any physical contact with him, not even shaking hands when bidding farewell.

“Goodbye.”

“Good night.”

Sitting in the taxi, Yan Ankuo couldn’t quite figure out Bian Ji’s thoughts.

This person was clearly bold, daring to rush into fire to save over a hundred lives, daring to risk complaints to restrain unruly passengers.

But this person was also strange, leaving only his friend’s phone number at the front desk, showing no intention of actively establishing contact upon meeting again.

Yan Ankuo even suspected, could it be that Bian Ji was just a complete workaholic, treating both passenger compensation and considerate care as his job?

Truly a hard-to-read individual.

When Bian Ji returned to the hotel, Chang Qing and the others had just come back. The crew all stayed on the same floor. Since they had to fly again the next day, none of them drank alcohol, simply taking a few photos on Oxford Street and by the Thames before returning.

“Brother Bian, just got back?”

“Mm, did you have fun?”

“It was alright, just too tired.”

“Then get some rest early.”

After exchanging pleasantries with several colleagues, Bian Ji hurriedly took a shower and lay down on the bed. The area around the hotel wasn’t bustling, lacking nightlife. There were only fireworks being set off on a mountain not far away.

The long-awaited drowsiness swept over, making Bian Ji a bit muddled. He wondered, hadn’t the New Year already passed? Why were they still setting off fireworks.

Dazed, he opened WeChat, discovering that the top message was the business card he forwarded to Yan Ankuo.

Yan Ankuo’s profile picture was very recognizable. Among a row of landscape pictures, only his was blank, the nickname also rigidly his full name plus English.

According to Bian Ji’s social habits, he should send a message saying “I’ve arrived home” or “Hope you have a pleasant journey” at this point, but he didn’t. Frequently disturbing a stranger and potentially married man didn’t meet professional standards nor moral norms.

Staring at their chat window for a while, Bian Ji mockingly smiled, tossing the phone aside, starting to change into pajamas.

At that moment, the phone suddenly buzzed.

Bian Ji clicked on WeChat, finding that it was a message from Yan Ankuo: [I’ve arrived home.] It seemed the other party cared more about social etiquette than he did. Bian Ji replied with a sense of distance: [You are probably tired, sleep early.] Yan Ankuo said out of context: [Seems I can still catch it.] Bian Ji didn’t understand: [Catch what?] Yan Ankuo said: [The tail end of January 1st.] Another second later, the phone received a screenshot of the local time, displaying “January 1, 2024, 11:59 PM.”

— An eight-hour time difference allowed them to return to the first day of 2024 after flying for eleven hours.

At that moment, fireworks suddenly burst outside the window, colorful lights falling on the window glass, refracting into even more colors.

Bian Ji’s face was filled with reflected light. He retracted his gaze, opening Yan Ankuo’s new voice message.

The voice was low, carrying a tone of weariness before sleep.

“Happy New Year.”