"Hey, Zhuang Ya, this, that..." Lin Tian’s hand hung in mid-air, not knowing what to say. Some things are better left unsaid, lest it becomes awkward for both parties.
But he had mistaken again. Zhuang Ya took off her scarf, wrote a string of digits on it that looked like a phone number, and then looked up to see Lin Tian reaching out. Puzzled, she asked, "Mr. Lin, what did you want to say?"
"Uh, nothing, just feeling a bit airsick. I was just moving my hands and feet," Lin Tian hurriedly made up an excuse and pointed at the scarf, asking, "What are you doing with this?"
Zhuang Ya’s face turned slightly red as she handed over the scarf, saying, "This is my phone number. I didn’t have paper, so I had to write on this. Give it to you. I often fly around, so I’m quite familiar with airports and flights. If you need help in the future, feel free to contact me."
Actively given her number by a beauty, Lin Tian was delighted, though he heard the flimsy reason from Zhuang Ya. But he didn’t think she would throw herself at him, probably just felt good vibes.
He nodded and took the scarf, which was smooth and supple to the touch, like a woman’s skin, carrying Zhuang Ya’s warm temperature and a faint scent of perfume. The row of graceful numbers was clearly written on it.
"Miss Zhuang, this scarf smells lovely, unlike us stinky men whose things smell of sweat, haha," Lin Tian even deliberately sniffed it.
Hearing him call himself a stinky man, Zhuang Ya chuckled and said, "Mr. Lin, you really have a sense of humor. We’ll be arriving at Zhonghai City soon. I have to help my sisters. I hope we meet again if we’re destined. Bye!"
"Goodbye," Lin Tian waved and smiled. But after Zhuang Ya left, Lin Tian noticed Miss Xiao not far away. He had been blocked from seeing her just before, and was too busy talking with the beautiful woman; he didn’t know how long Miss had been standing there.
The beauty had gifted a scarf; hopefully Miss Xiao hadn’t seen that. Lin Tian hurriedly pocketed the scarf. But then thought it wrong, why fear her seeing it? He hadn’t done anything wrong. He was dignified and righteous. Thinking that, he took out the scarf again and walked towards her.
"Hey, Miss, you heading to the restroom too?" Lin Tian greeted, though the words didn’t come out nicely.
Asking a beauty about the restroom, Xiao Manxuan indeed gave him a glare, glancing at the scarf in his hand and said flatly, "So, you’ve charmed another beauty, got even her scarf. Impressive huh."
How could his words sound so sour? And which eye of yours saw me courting a beauty? We barely exchanged a few words, and if anyone was courting, it should be her courting me, Lin Tian thought indignantly. Aren’t you being too unfair?
"Miss, I don’t appreciate that comment. We were just engaging in normal male-female communication, pure and simple," Lin Tian said fervently, as he had no other intentions. As for whether the beautiful stewardess had any ideas, that’s beyond his control.
"Hmph, even talking about male-female communication, it’s normal?" Xiao Manxue scoffed twice and said, "If it was normal, would you accept someone else’s scarf? Hmph!"
Just accepting a scarf, why make a mountain out of a molehill, Lin Tian didn’t want to argue, and retorted, "I think you’re the one who’s not normal."
"Lin Tian, you..." Xiao Manxue bit her neat teeth and stomped on Lin Tian’s foot with her high heel, huffing away.
He waved and called out from behind, "Hey, Miss, aren’t you going to the restroom?"
Xiao Manxue completely ignored him and walked back to the economy class. Lin Tian was confused; he really couldn’t understand what was on this woman’s mind. Why was she so quick to anger? Could it be that time of the month?
When he walked back to his seat, the Miss still ignored him. Lin Tian asked Xiao Manxuan, "What was your sister trying to do just now?"
"She was looking for you. Seeing you hadn’t come out for so long, my sister thought something had happened to you," Xiao Manxuan said, looking at him strangely. Why did her sister go in to find someone, only to come out separately?
"Oh, I see..." Lin Tian glanced at the Miss, who was resting with her eyes closed, realizing that she had been worried.
He wanted to say something, but two people emerged from the direction of the restroom, Futian Yizhi and his translator. By now, Futian showed no signs of disarray; his hair was neatly combed, and his face was clean, only his complexion and lips were somewhat pale.
After Futian sat down, he didn’t look towards Lin Tian. Bai Yuanhao asked with a puzzled expression, "Mr. Futian, is everything okay? You were in the restroom for quite some time."
As he asked, he glanced at Lin Tian, his implication clear, as both had entered the restroom around the same time, and Bai Yuanhao was worried Lin Tian might have been up to something inside.
"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Yuanhao. I just felt a bit airsick, a little rest should help," Futian Yizhi indeed did not disclose what had happened in the restroom.
One, he had no evidence; two, it would be too humiliating to reveal that someone had held his head down to clean the toilet. If that got out, he wouldn’t be able to hold his head up again.
"That’s good then." Bai Yuanhao had a gut feeling something happened that he wasn’t aware of, because Futian Yizhi seemed unchanged. But his pallor was too severe to be just airsickness, yet without Futian Yizhi mentioning it, it wasn’t appropriate for him to pry further.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the airplane is about to land. Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts..."
The voice of the flight attendant came over the speaker. Finally, Zhonghai City was reached; after taxiing, the plane finally came to a stop.
Once on solid ground, Lin Tian breathed a sigh of relief. It was safer on the ground for a body like a ’zombie’; if something unexpected happened high up, who knew if he could withstand it. Another odd thing was that Sun Hai and his son had never shown up, and after disembarking, it was unclear where they went.
Nearing the exit, Bai Yuze stuck close again, saying magnanimously to Xiao Manxue, "Miss Xiao, consider it again. I have an invitation and can bring one more person. You won’t find good jadeite raw materials in the outer areas. Lin Tian can’t help you or the Xiao Family, but if you ask me, I can bring tremendous assistance to the Xiao Family."
"I’ve thought it through very clearly; there’s no need for Mr. Bai to trouble himself," Xiao Manxue said expressionlessly, keeping him at arm’s length, coldly stating, "Furthermore, Lin Tian is our Xiao Family’s person. You have no right to speak ill of him. Putting others down to elevate yourself only shows your incompetence!"
The Miss was cool and sharp as a whip; Lin Tian, standing next to her, gave a thumbs-up, openly praising her. Bai Yuze’s face turned awkwardly red, being called incompetent by the woman he was pursuing felt like a knife in his heart, slicing away all his pride.
He was somewhat scheming and didn’t lose his temper on the spot but instead threw a glance at the smug Lin Tian. Bai Yuze, unaware that his grandfather had already felt threatened by Lin Tian and even made threats, laughed and said, "If I were you, I’d act like a man, leave the Xiao Family, leave Miss Xiao, instead of clinging on and refusing to leave. You can’t help the Xiao Family!"
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