Chapter 13 – Will It Be Hard?

Bian Ji swore he would never drink water while chatting again. Hearing Yan Ankuo’s words, he nearly started coughing again.

Yan Ankuo handed him a few tissues, helping him clean up the water on the table in front of him. Bian Ji said “thank you” while urging Nie Hang to take his seat quickly.

“Brother Nie,” Bian Ji said helplessly, “I’ve only met Yan today for the third time, give me some face.”

He was afraid Yan Ankuo might think he had some ulterior motives, so he deliberately made it clear there was nothing between them.

With this plea for mercy, all three of them laughed, the awkward atmosphere dissipated, except Yan Ankuo didn’t seem to react much.

“Alright, I won’t bully you.” Nie Hang, who was naturally friendly, asked the person across from him, “Attorney Yan, don’t mind our jokes.”

“There’s no such thing.” Yan Ankuo tugged at the corner of his mouth, “You guys are just too lively.”

Ever since university, Yan Ankuo had to support his family, most of his friends were acquaintances from work, and opportunities to let loose were indeed few.

Bian Ji uttered an “oh”: “Saying I’m immature?”

Yan Ankuo was wronged, “You’re actually young.”

Bian Ji didn’t know where he got this misunderstanding, “I’m only two years younger than you!”

“Can’t tell at all,” Yan Ankuo was surprised, “I thought you were twenty-six or twenty-seven.”

Bian Ji leaned against the wall looking at him, “I’ve been working for ten years, how could I be twenty-six or twenty-seven.”

By the time they were all seated, Yan Ankuo asked, “Have you guys known each other for a long time?”

Nie Hang shook his head, “I’ve known Bian Ji longer, we met in junior high. I met Captain Qiao later, at University X.”

“Junior high?” Yan Ankuo became interested, “Were you classmates?”

As they spoke, the waiter knocked on the door asking if they could serve the dishes. Nie Hang knew some Japanese and replied fluently for him to go ahead.

A table full of delicacies was laid out, and no one touched their chopsticks for a moment. The birthday boy took the first bite, praising the person who ordered the food for their good taste and encouraging everyone to eat together.

Bian Ji picked up a piece of fish, “Yes, I transferred to Shanghai for school in junior high, Brother Nie and I were neighbors.”

“Where did you study?” Yan Ankuo asked casually.

Nie Hang then answered, reporting the name of a middle school.

Yan Ankuo was somewhat surprised, switching his language system to Shanghainese, asking, “Minhang District?”

Nie Hang nodded, responding in the same dialect, “You know about it?”

“It’s just three streets away from my house.” Yan Ankuo remembered there were people at the table who couldn’t understand the dialect, so he switched back to Mandarin, unbelievably tilting his head to ask Bian Ji, “How come I never saw you guys back then?”

The restaurant was bustling with people now, and even the private room could hear the clamor of conversation. Bian Ji had to lean in close to speak to him, “I only stayed here for a year, then I went to Guangzhou after high school.”

Yan Ankuo nodded, “Going back home for higher education is more convenient.”

Bian Ji didn’t answer immediately, fell silent for a bit, and shook his head, saying, “Not exactly for that reason, it’s complicated anyway.”

It was indeed a strange growth path; generally, even if a family moved frequently, they wouldn’t make their children run around so much during puberty.

Given the level of unfamiliarity between the two, Yan Ankuo tactfully didn’t pry further. Bian Ji thought he would sigh, “How come you transferred so many times,” or try to guess, “Was it because your parents’ jobs changed?” But he didn’t. He only took a small sip of wine, looked deeply into Bian Ji’s eyes, and asked, “Must have been hard… to travel such a long distance.”

Bian Ji felt the alcohol hit him a little, his face began to turn red. He covered his cheeks with cold hands to cool down, telling a blatant lie, “You get used to it.”

Yan Ankuo noticed he was hot, pushed his own cup over, using the cup’s sides to cool his wrist, adjusted the indoor temperature while asking, “Are you feeling better now?”

Bian Ji didn’t know if he meant the past “hardship,” or the current high temperature, and vaguely answered, “Yeah, much better.”

Yan Ankuo smiled with his eyes curved, consoling, “It’ll get better in the future.”

Looking into Yan Ankuo’s eyes, which were like the deep sea, Bian Ji felt something gently pierce his chest.

Irrespective of that fire, it was just that after seeing him reveal a bit of concern in public, his heart felt tight and uncomfortable.

Across from the dry ice platter emitting smoke, Qiao Yuan and Nie Hang also heard their conversation. Nie Hang was already half-drunk, knocked on the table, warning them not to whisper privately, the two good students obediently separated, joining the group to chat together.

Bian Ji didn’t indulge his emotions for too long, quickly retracted his gaze, and continued chatting with Nie Hang about the recent ridiculous complaints he received, as well as the emergency rescue incidents he once encountered. Finally, he egged Nie Hang to put on the birthday hat that came with the cake.

Nie Hang refused to comply, saying he was too old to wear that thing.

“Put it on.” Qiao Yuan looked at him, smilingly persuading, “It’s cute.”

Nie Hang stopped resisting and obediently lowered his head.

Qiao Yuan helped him secure the paper band, took a step back to look, unable to hold back a laugh.

“What’s wrong?” Nie Hang hurriedly checked the mirror, “Is it really ridiculous?”

The two people opposite also laughed along, Bian Ji said, “Wait a moment, I’ll take a picture of you.”

Bian Ji held the phone and snapped photos for a while. Nie Hang grew impatient and urged him to hurry up. Bian Ji said, “Alright, alright,” while showing him the photo album from afar.

“Shit!” Nie Hang immediately tried to grab the phone, “Delete it!”

Bian Ji dodged quickly, had Qiao Yuan hold Nie Hang still, and secretly showed Yan Ankuo the photo, asking which one was the ugliest. This was the first time Yan Ankuo had heard such a request, he chose the one with the most distorted expression. Bian Ji immediately decided, “Alright, I’ll send this one.”

Nie Hang bared his teeth at him from across the table, but restrained by Qiao Yuan’s hold, he could only threaten verbally, “Bian Ji, if you dare send it, I’ll spill all your embarrassing stories from the last ten years tonight.”

Bian Ji hesitated for a moment, unfortunately, it was just a moment. Later, the three aviation personnel’s WeChat received that emoji.

Yan Ankuo wasn’t in their group, but he was laughing along on the side, leaning against the wall, watching Bian Ji’s antics, with a high smile on his lips.

Nie Hang was a man who sought revenge, for the next half hour, he recounted Bian Ji’s antics from junior high, such as arguing with teachers, climbing trees to collect bird eggs, and fighting with classmates.

The smile on Yan Ankuo’s face grew deeper, “Bian Ji even fought with classmates from neighboring classes when he was young?”

Nie Hang nodded, “Yeah, he was quite good at fighting. Don’t look at him always smiling now, he used to be terrifying when he got angry.”

“Hmm, I’ve had the honor of witnessing it, it is scary.” Yan Ankuo smiled, “But pretty handsome.”

On the plane, when the chief attendant suppressed the unruly passenger, dragged the reluctant ones down the slide, Yan Ankuo saw all of this.

Being praised, Bian Ji didn’t show much joy, he continued to pour tea for the people at the table, and extinguished the flame in the alcohol stove.

Nie Hang continued talking about childhood anecdotes, even Qiao Yuan couldn’t bear to listen anymore, asking him if he needed water. The former naturally took a sip from Qiao Yuan’s glass, only realizing something was off after drinking, asking Qiao Yuan if he was implying he was too noisy. Bian Ji chimed in, scolding him for not noticing earlier, and the table erupted into chaos again.

Later, the topic gradually veered off course. Bian Ji began recounting ridiculous passengers he encountered before disembarking. This time, it was because the flight attendants were too busy, the trays were disheveled during meal service, and hadn’t been tidied up in time, resulting in a complaint right after disembarking.

Even Yan Ankuo, an outsider, couldn’t help feeling indignant upon hearing this, “This kind of complaint is accepted?”

Bian Ji said helplessly, “Yes, we have regulations for our appearance.”

“This is nothing.” Nie Hang took over the conversation, “There was a passenger before who said our flight attendant’s announcements lacked warmth. He called the headquarters, and her performance score for that month was cut in half, she even had to apologize to him.”

“Backwards priorities.” Yan Ankuo frowned, “Isn’t ensuring the safety of passengers the primary task of flight attendants? If they only focus on service, anyone could do it, why go through so many tough trainings?”

Nie Hang sighed, “Who says it isn’t! We’ve complained about this many times, Bian Ji even reported it to headquarters last time.”

Yan Ankuo turned to Bian Ji, “Was the report effective?”

“It was somewhat useful, they said they were preparing a hearing, to listen to everyone’s opinions.” Bian Ji shrugged, “But societal perspectives, company positioning, these are things I can’t change.”

Yan Ankuo fell into deep thought. Although he often socialized before, the topics at banquets were stocks, real estate, job levels, or case sources. This kind of “pointless” gathering, he last participated in during university.

Nie Hang feared the only non-aviation person at the table wouldn’t fit in, and asked, “Listening to us talk about all these trivial matters, do you find it boring?”

Yan Ankuo didn’t feel neglected at all, shaking his head and saying, “No, it’s very interesting.”

Nie Hang explained, “Mainly because we’re in the air every day, such a small space, the work is also monotonous, besides these sky-related things, there’s not much else to talk about.”

As he spoke, he didn’t forget to poke fun at Bian Ji, “Who can be like Chief Attendant Bian, having a romantic encounter on every flight, having old friends all over the world.”

“Eh?” Bian Ji didn’t understand, how did he become the center of attention again, “No, why are you picking on me again?”

Qiao Yuan didn’t talk much, but now he joined in the teasing, hinting, “Can’t be helped, your romantic encounters are a bit too conspicuous.”

“Captains,” Bian Ji had no choice but to lift the filled small cup, “Don’t gang up on me, I’ll drink this wine, alright?”

Nie Hang got excited, telling him to finish it in one go. Bian Ji wasn’t afraid, raised his head and did it, but because he drank too quickly, he choked a bit and coughed.

Yan Ankuo quietly handed Bian Ji an identical cup, removing the one in front of him, and whispered, “New cup, warm water.”

Nie Hang’s keen eyes spotted his subtle action, asking what he was doing.

“I was telling Bian Ji,” Yan Ankuo maintained his composure, blatantly lying, “Actually, your job was what I dreamed of as a child.”

Although it was a lie, the content was sincere.

Nie Hang was successfully distracted, somewhat surprised, “Really?”

“Mm.” Yan Ankuo talked about the past calmly, as if retelling a book, “A lot of things happened at home before, there weren’t many opportunities to go out, and when the opportunity came, there was no money – you may not believe me, but I only flew for the first time at the age of twenty-six.”

Bian Ji really didn’t expect this, but he didn’t think it was a big deal either.

Yan Ankuo pushed the cup replaced with water towards Bian Ji again, filling his own with sake, “So, I really envy you guys for being able to go to so many places.”

Yan Ankuo’s gaze was so earnest that Bian Ji was somewhat drawn in.

The blue sky was one of the choices Bian Ji had no way out of, so he never imagined that there would be a man who was already so successful in the secular sense, solemnly telling him these words of envy.