Chapter 27
The trip may seem to begin at this moment, but the actual preparations started a month ago. After General Manager Jiang gave the order, Song Jingliang, the chosen worker, began to have his assistant coordinate all aspects of the preparations.
Domestic flight plan approval, application for overflight permits from various countries, and approval from the Environmental Protection Administration. In addition, the Gulfstream G500 owned by the Jiang family also needs to be modified with an anti-icing system. It had never flown over the polar regions before, and the crew members received bonuses for 72 hours of polar training.
Before setting off, in order to adjust to the time difference, Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao took melatonin for a few days and also got vaccinated.
"Are you getting a rabies vaccine because you're afraid a polar bear will bite you?" Young Master Lu asked naively and foolishly, pressing his biceps.
"It's to prevent rabies from Arctic foxes. Without the vaccine, you can't play on dog sleds..." Young Master Jiang glanced subtly at Lu Mingxiao's strong arms, then at his own, his pure black pupils trembling slightly. He then spoke as if swallowing a lemon: "Why get a vaccine if you encounter a polar bear? All this fuss, is it for the polar bear's food safety?"
“Hey~ Jiang Xiaoyu…” Lu Mingxiao leaned closer to him: “Where did you get so angry? Warm yourself up before going to the polar regions, are you afraid of freezing? It’s okay, Brother Xiao has plenty of energy. If necessary, you can run into Brother Xiao’s warm embrace.”
He opened his arms to hug Jiang Huaiyu, but the young master, his ears turning red, dodged away in disgust.
The two bodyguards traveling with them exchanged a glance.
They knew some inside information and the relationship between Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao. They thought this trip was Jiang's way of making up for the real young master who had been separated from his parents for many years, and that the child who was switched at birth would probably be relegated to a supporting role. However, they did not expect that the two brothers, who were not related by blood, would get along so well and look like they had grown up together since childhood.
...
In the evening, after all the checks were completed, Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao boarded the plane with two bodyguards and a translator/assistant.
After the cabin of the Gulfstream was redesigned, it was divided into several areas. The lounge area only had four sofa-style seats. Jiang Huaiyu originally planned to go directly to the lounge area to play games, but suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Lu Mingxiao, "Brother Xiao, would you like to see the cockpit?"
Lu Mingxiao's eyes lit up.
He openly expressed his amazement at things he had never seen before, and even chatted with the crew member who was explaining the aircraft's configuration to him. Clearly, he didn't consider "not understanding" something to be ashamed of, and he listened attentively when the staff explained things to him.
As the plane prepared for takeoff, he sat back down next to Jiang Huaiyu and took the game controller that Jiang Huaiyu handed him.
"How are you feeling?" Jiang Huaiyu asked him casually, choosing a game that the two of them could play.
"Awesome, huh?" Lu Mingxiao chuckled. "I heard from the captain that we're going to land tonight to refuel the plane with antifreeze fuel."
"Well, the refueling and customs clearance time is relatively short, so we'll probably only have time to wander around the terminal." Jiang Huaiyu shook the controller: "Want to play this? Rabbit Man."
"Here you go." Lu Mingxiao grabbed a cushion and put it behind his head, then crossed his long legs: "Hehe, this is truly the highest-spec arcade I've ever been to."
However, the essence of two-player games is to shift blame, and this doesn't change just because you're thousands of meters in the air.
Lu Mingxiao held the controller, his whole body moving in sync with the game character's movements. His yellow rabbit bounced and finally leaped over the thorn bushes, its ears piercing straight into Jiang Huaiyu's rabbit's rear end. Jiang Huaiyu's rabbit, which was trying to climb over the wall, kicked Lu Mingxiao's yellow rabbit back into the thorn bushes.
Lu Mingxiao: "Jiang Xiaoyu! You son of a bitch!"
“No, sir.” Jiang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow: “Your face just happened to hit my foot, and you kicked it so far, did you say thank you?”
Lu Mingxiao: "You little rascal... come here, grab this carrot."
Two rabbits, each clutching a carrot, tumbled around. Lu Mingxiao exclaimed excitedly, "Hey! We're about to pass! We're about to..."
*Smack*
The two rabbits rolled into the thicket of thorns and were strung together with a carrot.
Lu Mingxiao: "Haha!"
"...What are you laughing at?" Jiang Huaiyu was also amused by the situation: "Are you so angry because you can't beat the game?"
“Now I know the advantages of playing games on a plane,” Lu Mingxiao said. “Even if I’m furious, I can’t just slam the door and leave.”
Jiang Huaiyu laughed out loud: "You can't just hug and roll over that spot. You have to go over it one by one, jumping at a 45-degree angle. Let's do it again."
This time, Jiang Xiaotu landed safely with the carrot in her arms. Lu Xiaotu followed suit, kicked hard, and successfully jumped onto Jiang Xiaotu, where they bounced together.
The two had dinner before the plane landed. As they descended the flight path, the cold Siberian wind blew, and Lu Mingxiao couldn't help but sneeze.
"You know what, this northwest wind is really strong."
At this age, boys eat a lot but get hungry quickly. After wandering around the terminal for a while, Lu Mingxiao ate half a can of bear meat and a serving of venison dumplings. Finally, he drank two bowls of borscht in the VIP lounge.
The two bodyguards, who were a size larger than Lu Mingxiao, were stunned.
Is the young master starving because he's been wandering around?
Seeing the two bodyguards' increasingly affectionate gazes, Jiang Huaiyu, while drinking yogurt and biting on a straw, explained, "He's like this at home too; he needs to eat from a basin."
The bodyguard chuckled dryly, "You're still growing, so you should eat more, but bear meat and venison... cough, eating too much of them will cause internal heat."
Lu Mingxiao looked up in confusion: "Feeling hot? It's okay, I brought some cooling pills."
bodyguard:……
Forgot that this seemingly tall and strong young master was actually a minor and should sit at the children's table when eating at the banquet.
At 4 a.m., the plane completed refueling and customs clearance and set off again.
During this period, even the energetic Lu Mingxiao was completely exhausted, and the two boys basically slept through the rest of the flight.
The initial excitement of the trip faded, and the slight noise in the cabin didn't affect my sleep at all. I slept exceptionally soundly at an altitude of thousands of meters.
When Lu Mingxiao woke up, he didn't immediately realize where he was. He muttered to himself, "I'm going to be late, Jiang Xiaoyu..."
No one paid him any attention. The faint hum of the turbine reached his ears. He came to his senses and belatedly felt a numbness in his arm. There was a warm, cuddly figure next to him.
Young Master Jiang huddled beside him. The cabin was so warm that he had wrapped the blanket up in his arms. His dark blue silk pajamas made his neck look exceptionally white.
Lu Mingxiao carefully turned to the side, watched for a while, and couldn't help but reach out and gently brush the hair on Jiang Huaiyu's forehead with his fingertips.
He felt that the day had been magical. Before the sun had even risen, he had already traveled from one country to another. All he had to do was eat, drink, and have fun. All the complicated procedures were handled perfectly for him. Everyone he saw smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to serve you."
This was indeed a life he had never seen before.
But the most amazing thing is...
A thousand meters above the sky, a cute little fish was sleeping beside him.
Lu Mingxiao smiled silently.
The polar region was shrouded in a long night, and the halo of light from the porthole resembled a small, moving star. In this hazy starlight, a gentle kiss landed on Jiang Huaiyu's brow, and the starlight also fell into his dream.
...
When Jiang Huaiyu woke up, Lu Mingxiao was taking a shower. She didn't know why he was taking a shower so early in the morning.
After washing up and having breakfast, the plane began its descent.
By the end of December, Tromsø had entered polar night. Except for the midday sky, which was a deep blue, it was basically pure darkness. The plane underwent another inspection at the airport to ensure that it could continue its polar flight, and a new crew was also needed.
Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao had their documents verified again and had to sign several agreements.
"I thought our plane could fly directly to that Jiliwa Island." Young Master Lu's signature was casual, but he couldn't understand the documents at all: "What is this?"
Ha, the future of the Jiang family is truly predictable.
“President Lu, this agreement states that you cannot die in Longyearbyen…” Jiang Huaiyu smiled gently, like a competent secretary, her tone calm: “If you’re going to die, you must die somewhere far away.”
Lu Mingxiao got goosebumps. He reached out and pinched Jiang Huaiyu's face, squeezing it in the middle. The little fish pouted, as if it was about to blow bubbles.
"If you scare me again, I'll tell you a ghost story tonight."
Jiang Huaiyu: "Hmph."
...
"So, birth and death aren't allowed on the island? How amazing!" Lu Mingxiao leaned against the porthole, looking at the twinkling lights of the small town and the endless snow-capped mountains hidden in the darkness. "Why? Is it to prevent the virus from contaminating this pristine land?"
"That's one reason. The biggest reason is that newborns and the elderly are too vulnerable and more susceptible to illness in extreme weather. Medical conditions in Longyearbyen are limited and transportation is inconvenient. This regulation is also a way to protect human life."
When I landed, all I saw outside was endless snow and darkness.
Jiang Huaiyu was wearing a woolen hat, but Lu Mingxiao still reached out and pulled up the hood of his down jacket.
If the midday sky in Tromsø is a deep blue with a faint glimmer of light, then the polar night in Longyearbyen is a dense, pure black. Every little house in the town is lit up, and the lights fall like stars over this northernmost town in the world.
After arriving at the hotel and settling in, we had lunch at the hotel restaurant.
The restaurant's plating was thoughtful and exquisite, and the taste was also good, but the portion sizes were really not enough. After finishing the set meal, Lu Mingxiao felt he was still not full and only wanted a bowl of rice.
It was still dark when Lu Mingxiao finished dinner and checked the time. It was only a little past seven in the evening. He couldn't sleep at all, so he dragged Jiang Huaiyu out for a walk.
“You’ve already flown all the way to Earth, it’s not worth it to just lie in the hotel…” Lu Mingxiao helped the young master change his clothes, putting on layer after layer: “Come on, let’s go out and take a look.”
"Wearing so many layers of clothes is such a hassle..." Jiang Huaiyu couldn't understand Lu Mingxiao either: "Are you a husky? You can't stay still for even a moment. We're going out to sea on a boat tomorrow, can't we go tomorrow?"
"No trouble at all, I'll put it on for you..." Lu Mingxiao put earmuffs on him, wrapped a scarf around his neck, and finally, satisfied, pulled the chubby Jiang Xiaoyu out the door.
Without bodyguards or assistants, the two of them strolled around a nearby supermarket for a while. Lu Mingxiao spotted spicy strips on the shelf and felt a sense of warmth, like meeting an old friend in a foreign land, so he bought two packs.
Looking at the prices again, buying two packs of spicy strips in full with cash shows quite a bit of financial strength.
Carrying snacks, the two walked through the snow towards the hotel.
"Can we go somewhere warmer next time?" Lu Mingxiao chuckled as he listened to the familiar sound of footsteps on the snow. "Liang Jing's family has all gone to Hainan Island for the winter. But you, you've gone from a place where it's minus twenty degrees to a place where it's minus thirty degrees. It's too hot here. Did you come here to escape the heat?"
"I originally planned to see the aurora last summer." Jiang Huaiyu exhaled a puff of white mist, her eyelashes adorned with tiny ice crystals. "But I didn't go to see the aurora; I came to see you instead. That's how I am; if a plan doesn't go through, I feel really bad. But if I came by myself, I wouldn't use our family's plane; it's too much trouble..."
As he spoke, he suddenly slowed his pace.
Lu Mingxiao turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"
Jiang Huaiyu's eyelashes, adorned with tiny ice crystals, trembled.
"Lu Mingxiao, look, it's the aurora borealis."
The city is not the best place to observe the aurora, as the lights will affect the observation. In Jiang Huaiyu's plan, she did not want to see the aurora today.
But then that turquoise suddenly came into view. Behind the colorful little houses were the shadows of the mountains, and above the mountains was a floating turquoise, a veil of green dancing gracefully.
The two boys looked up together.
Lu Mingxiao let out a soft "wow," and after a moment said, "It appeared so suddenly, it was outside of our plan."
Jiang Huaiyu's gaze fell from the sky, landing lightly and silently on Lu Mingxiao's profile like snowflakes.
"Yes, it's so sudden..."
Beyond the plans of life.
Jiang Huaiyu smiled and said, "But it looks very good."
Seemingly sensing something, Lu Mingxiao suddenly looked down at him.
Their eyes met unexpectedly. The small ice crystals on Jiang Huaiyu's eyelashes melted, blurring her vision, while Lu Mingxiao's sharp features softened with an indescribable tenderness through the mist.
"Shall we hold hands, Jiang Xiaoyu?" His Adam's apple bobbed as he asked the question as casually as possible. "I'm afraid you'll slip."
"Oh." Jiang Huaiyu took his hand, trying to suppress the smile on her lips: "This snow is quite slippery."
The snow was fluffy and crunchy underfoot.
Even though they were both wearing gloves, they could almost feel each other's body temperature. As Lu Mingxiao listened to his heart pounding, he regretted bringing gloves with him when he went out.
Author's Note:
If you don't wear gloves, your paws will freeze off! [cat paw]
Sorry for the long wait, my darlings! I'm so stuck today. I started writing this chapter at 10 AM, and I've only gotten this little bit so far! [melts emoji]
My head hurts so much right now. I'll rest for a bit and see if I can have sex tonight. It really hurts! [crying emoji]
The first 100 comments will receive a red envelope (cash gift)! [heart emoji]
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