Chapter 3 Four Stripes
Xu Songning fell silent, his mind a jumble of thoughts.
"Let me tell you, the girl on duty said that even though he was wearing a mask, you could tell he was really handsome! She described his aura as being like a movie star! He's definitely more handsome than your ex! I've seen almost all the captains at your airport, but I never thought there would be such a stunner I hadn't seen before." Zhou Qiao seemed to be reminiscing.
"Captain?" Xu Songning gripped his chopsticks tightly.
"I heard he was wearing a uniform, four stripes, no doubt about it."
"No need," Xu Songning replied calmly. Regardless of whether it was the captain she met today, she didn't want to contact him again.
"Oh? Really not? Can I add him? He's such a handsome guy, it would be a real shame to let him go." Zhou Qiao sighed regretfully.
"Can't."
"Fine." Zhou Qiao had no choice but to give up on the idea. She crumpled the note into a ball and was about to throw it into the trash can when she paused.
I secretly took a picture before throwing the crumpled paper into the trash.
After taking a shower, Xu Songning tucked herself into the warm bed, leaving only her small face sticking out. She checked her phone; there were no new messages on WeChat. She scrolled through some short videos before preparing to sleep.
She heard her neighbor seem to have gone out; a soft sound of the door closing rang out, and she drifted off to sleep.
In her dream, she was wearing an air traffic control uniform, sitting in front of the radar directing the planes at the airport to land one after another under her orderly command.
She was giving a passionate speech when a hand suddenly reached out from behind her.
"Lu Xiaomeng, stop causing trouble!"
Lu Xiaomeng had never actually come to the dark room to look for her, but in her dream, she subconsciously thought it was Lu Xiaomeng.
"Fly here."
A man's magnetic voice rang in her ear, and his breath reddened her ears.
A finger with distinct knuckles pressed down on the information on the radar, drawing a nonsensical curve, as if deliberately causing trouble.
"Ms. L, why are you ignoring me?"
A large hand covered the radar, obscuring most of the information, which was a huge interference for approach control.
She opened that hand, but the information on the radar was already blurred, as if it had been wiped away by that hand.
She tried to open her eyes wide, but the radar started flashing static, just like an old television from her childhood.
But there were still more than a dozen planes that hadn't landed within her radar range!
Xu Songning had never encountered this situation before. She tried to notify the plane through her headset, but there was no sound from the headset. She could only hear her own echo and crackling static.
She clenched her fists, turned around, and loudly accused the man, whose face was completely obscured in her dream, and who had no expression.
"Hmm..."
Xu Songning woke up with a headache, and not only that, but the pain in her familiar abdomen made her take a deep breath.
After coming out of the bathroom, she took a chewing ibuprofen tablet from the bedside table, put it in her mouth, and noted the date on her phone.
She sighed, realizing she shouldn't have been thinking about men. It had happened three days earlier than expected.
All my dreams are nightmares!
When I first started working in air traffic control, I would spend my days learning from my mentor in a small, dark room, and at night I would dream of sitting at the control panel, clumsily sorting the aircraft.
There are too many planes in the sky; she can't possibly control them all in her dream, and accidents happen frequently.
This led to a period of neurasthenia in her, during which she would try to label every car in the road with a specific order, merging and exiting according to her own ideas.
After two years of internship, she also became an independent air traffic controller.
The relentless work schedule of the past few years has placed immense pressure on her shoulders, making it impossible for her to relax at any moment.
Colleagues around me come and go.
Approaching is actually a job that's easy to leave. The practical work is too difficult, there's no room for error, and the salary isn't that attractive.
In his first month at work, Xu Songning received his meager salary, but was also exhausted by the work and looked pale.
High pressure and low pay—even though she was mentally prepared, she still felt it was a bit outrageous.
At that time, his colleagues all thought that this young man would definitely leave, but Xu Songning exceeded everyone's expectations and persevered through gritted teeth.
"Beep beep".
The phone notification sound interrupted Xu Songning's thoughts.
She looked down and saw it was a message from Lu Xiaomeng.
"Sister Xu, it's my birthday this Friday. Please come to Sister Zhou's bar! I've checked your schedule, and you're free this Friday! You can't refuse!"
Xu Songning thought about it with his fingers and knew that Lu Xiaomeng would invite a lot of people. She had many good friends, and Xu Songning suspected that she had friends in various positions at the airport.
Just to be on the safe side, she still asked, "Who did you invite?"
Lu Xiaomeng immediately added her to a small group chat. There were about twenty people in the group, and messages kept popping up. Everyone was very active.
Xu Songning opened the group chat; most of the members were people he knew, and a small number were probably friends outside of Lu Xiaomeng's social circle.
Feeling slightly relieved, she asked about the list again, and only after confirming that there were no people she didn't want to see did she agree, "Okay."
"I love you!" Lu Xiaomeng's emotions were always very intense, and she sent a little girl emoji with a heart shape on her face.
Xu Songning chuckled softly. She didn't have many friends, and Lu Xiaomeng was one of a kind—a clingy, enthusiastic girl, like a sunflower growing freely.
On Friday, Xu Songning arrived at the bar called "Freedom" ahead of everyone else, holding a bunch of sunflowers in his hands.
"A beautiful lady like you can come, but why did you bring me a gift?" Zhou Qiao leaned against the bar, teasing her on purpose.
"Your gift will have to wait, this is Xiaomeng's." Xu Songning handed the small square bag to Zhou Qiao, who then put it in the cabinet for her.
"Then why did you come so early? Are you still interested in that captain?"
Zhou Qiao leaned close to her ear and chuckled softly.
"I..." Xu Songning wanted to lie, but then felt it was unnecessary, so she raised an eyebrow, "Where's your contact information?"
Zhou Qiao stretched out her empty hands with an exaggerated expression, "Of course I threw them away! My dear sister, you yourself said you didn't want to continue developing this relationship."
"I just wanted to know..."
What did she want to know? Did she want to know if that person was Xiang Yun? She convinced herself that it was just to avoid another awkward encounter at work.
"Just throw it away."
Zhou Qiao smiled mysteriously and handed her the picture on her phone.
"Hey, remember to treat me to a meal!"
Xu Songning looked up and saw a crumpled piece of paper in the picture, with elegant and flowing handwriting on it, which could be considered quite beautiful.
She inexplicably opened WeChat and searched for the number.
A Ragdoll cat appeared on the screen, taking up the entire profile picture. It had soft white fur, ears that stood up alertly, head tilted, licking its paws and staring at the camera. Its blue eyes met Xu Songning's gaze, just like a noble princess.
WeChat name: X
Ah...it doesn't match that man's style at all.
Xu Songning didn't realize that he had actually laughed out loud, and his mood was exceptionally bright.
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