76: Chapter 76 The wreaths on the grave hadn't even been removed yet when the person got out of the car.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts, the plane is about to—"

The flight attendant's announcement had looped for the fourth time. No one was listening.

In the back of economy class, Gu Zeyan shoved his phone against the window shade, the camera pointed at his meticulously maintained face.

"Family, it's me, Gu Zeyan, currently at Abu Dhabi International Airport, on the evacuation flight."

He smiled at the camera, but his dark circles were covered with three layers of concealer, and under the lights, they still looked bruised and purple.

The live stream viewer count jumped. 7.2 million.

Gu Zeyan leaned toward the porthole to let the audience see the cabin interior. Economy class was packed full; evacuated Chinese citizens, embassy staff, and journalists. The air was thick with the smell of instant noodles and anxiety.

"We've been waiting on the plane for over an hour." He lowered his voice.

"I heard we're waiting for two people. Reserved for first class. Think about it, first class—business class is for injured compatriots and public officials, and us guests are all crammed into economy. What level is first class? Special mission personnel."

The comments started scrolling—

[What kind of big shot is worth waiting this long]

[Brother Zeyan, you've worked hard!]

[Economy class is too shabby for you, babe]

[Could it be the ambassador?]

Gu Zeyan sighed, his posture perfectly poised.

"I don't know which leader it is, keeping over three hundred people on the plane waiting. I don't mind, but mostly everyone just wants to go home early."

He spoke graciously, and the fans in the comments were full of sympathy.

In the seat next to him, Han Xubai sat with his legs crossed, reading a book titled "Ala Country Commercial Arbitration Practice", his gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, not even raising his head.

Gu Zeyan leaned over. "Old Han, what do you think is the background of these two? Making the whole plane wait."

Han Xubai turned a page. "Those who can get an evacuation flight to reserve first class are either high-level diplomats or personnel on special missions. Stop guessing, it's useless."

"You're really boring."

"I'm very interesting, but I'm reading right now."

Gu Zeyan pursed his lips and shoved his phone back against the porthole.

"Alright family, we'll just wait—"

Halfway through his sentence, he caught something in his peripheral vision.

On the service road outside the runway, two cars were speeding toward the plane. A Li Auto MEGA and a black G-Wagon.

They weren't slow. They drove straight onto the tarmac.

Gu Zeyan slapped Han Xubai's arm. "Old Han! Old Han, look!"

Han Xubai's shoulder slumped from the slap, his book nearly falling to the floor. "What?"

"Those two cars—can cars just drive straight onto the tarmac?"

Han Xubai pushed up his glasses and glanced out the window. "Under normal circumstances, that violates airport safety regulations. Unless they have special clearance from the local aviation authority, or—"

"Or what?"

"Or you're the one who calls the shots around here."

Gu Zeyan immediately shoved his phone against the window glass. "Family, look! A car drove straight onto the tarmac! It's here, it's here, the big shots we've been waiting for have arrived!"

The comments exploded.

[Holy crap, they really drove in]

[That's such a huge flex]

In the camera view, the two cars stopped by the airstairs. The streamlined body of the Li Auto MEGA was particularly eye-catching on the runway.

Gu Zeyan blurted out— "Li Auto MEGA!!"

The comments went nuclear.

[Li Auto owners, assemble!!!]

[There's Li Auto in the Middle East???]

[This is Li Auto (salute)]

The door of the first G-Wagon opened. Four Ala Country men in white robes stepped out, moving in perfect unison, and stood on both sides of the MEGA.

Gu Zeyan laughed. "So that's it, it's local big shots who want to evacuate with us and head to the East for refuge."

He shrugged and made an "understand now?" expression at the live stream.

Comments:

[Winning big, are they Middle Eastern tycoons?]

[Wearing white robes, quite formal, must be nobility, right?]

[No wonder we waited so long, makes sense]

The driver's door of the MEGA opened. A figure stepped out, walked to the back, and opened the rear door.

Gu Zeyan squinted; the angle wasn't great, and he could only see half of the person's profile.

The person bent down into the back seat and, in one motion, hoisted the person inside onto their back.

A girl. Her right foot was in a cast, she was draped over the man's back, her hair hanging down and obscuring her face.

"She's injured," Gu Zeyan muttered.

The two walked from the MEGA to the airstairs. The Ala Country men in white robes cleared the path on both sides. Two airport ground staff stood at the bottom of the boarding stairs, bowing at ninety degrees.

The show of status was off the charts.

Gu Zeyan held up his phone, the camera tracking the two figures. "Family, this injured girl seems to be—"

The two turned around. Facing the plane.

The man was wearing a clean white T-shirt and a sports jacket, his short, layered hair tousled by the sea breeze. The girl on his back turned her head, her casted leg swaying.

Their faces came clearly into focus on camera.

Gu Zeyan's mouth dropped open. He didn't close it. He almost dropped his phone.

He whipped his head around, grabbing Han Xubai's sleeve with enough force to yank him halfway out of his seat.

"Old Han!! Look!! That—is that Li Li and Jiang Rumu?!"

The last few words were shouted. The entire back half of economy class heard it.

Han Xubai reflexively leaned toward the porthole, his gold-rimmed glasses pressed against the glass. His book fell completely to the floor.

"...Yes."

These two words detonated the entire surrounding area.

In the front seat, Yin Ruoying was touching up her makeup. Her eyebrow pencil slipped, drawing a jagged line across her brow.

She jerked her head to glare toward the window.

Every word she had said two days ago in the live stream questioning Li Li's identity was now bouncing back at her. Her hand holding the eyebrow pencil froze for two whole seconds, then she slowly lowered it, not drawing on her face anymore.

Fang Ruowei was recording a video for her front-facing camera, muttering about "Warzone Outfit Series Episode 4." Hearing the shout, her hand slipped, and the phone slammed face-down onto the tray table.

Wen Ditang was curled up in her seat clutching a pillow; hearing the sound, she sprang up, her head hitting the bottom of the overhead bin.

"Hiss—"

She clutched her head, tears of pain welling up, but she didn't care, scrambling over barefoot.

The flight attendant reached out to stop her. "Miss, please return to your—"

Shen Jue exploded from his seat across the aisle. At 1.87 meters tall, he took one step across the aisle, nearly knocking over the food cart. Just as the flight attendant opened her mouth to say the second "please," he was already at the porthole.

Both hands pressed against the glass.

Outside the porthole, Li Li was carrying Jiang Rumu on his back, walking to the bottom of the airstairs.

Sunlight shone on them.

Jiang Rumu's hand rested on Li Li's shoulder, her casted leg dangling in mid-air. She turned her head to say something, and Li Li jostled her on his back as he retorted.

Alive and kicking. Alive.

Shen Jue's nose stung. Tears fell instantly. Without any warning, without any build-up, they just splashed onto the back of his hand.

A 1.87-meter-tall grown man, crying without any grace.

He freed one hand and frantically slapped the porthole.

"Brother Li—!! Sis—!!"

Bang, bang, bang, bang. The window frame was shaking from the impact.

The passengers nearby all turned to look at him.

The flight attendant completely gave up on maintaining order.

Cen Ye stood up from a seat three rows away. He didn't run; he just strolled to the window with his hands in his pockets. He leaned over and took a look.

Then he took the unlit cigarette he'd been keeping behind his ear and twirled it between his fingers.

"Damn."

Just one word. But the curve of his mouth couldn't be suppressed.

An arm in a loose hoodie reached over, wrapping around Shen Jue's shoulder and patting it twice.

"Alright, stop hitting it. If you break the window, you won't be able to afford the damages."

Shen Jue wiped his face. "Brother Ye, they're alive."

"I'm not blind."

Cen Ye tucked the cigarette back behind his ear.

Qi Wanyin didn't move. She was sitting by the window, with a perfect view of the airstairs.

She watched the two people outside slowly walk up.

She lowered her head, tucked her falling hair behind her ear, and reopened the book in front of her that was halfway through.

She turned a page. Then turned it back.

She hadn't read a single word.

In Gu Zeyan's live stream, the comments weren't just scrolling. It was a riot.

Seven million people going crazy at once.

[Ahhhhhhh!!!!]

[Li Li!! Jiang Rumu!! Alive!!]

[I'm crying, does anyone get it]

[The whole internet burned paper for you two for three days and you're here carrying people onto a plane????]

[The grave is piled with wreaths and you're still alive, return the goods, return the goods!!]

[Li Li and Mumu!! My Li Li and Mumu!!!!]

Gu Zeyan held his phone, his hands shaking. But his variety-show brain had already automatically kicked in—this live stream clip was worth at least 30 million views.

Footsteps came from the direction of the cabin door.

Shen Jue whipped his head around. Everyone in economy class turned their heads.

Two people appeared at the cabin door.

Li Li stood in front, Jiang Rumu's left arm draped over his shoulder, his right hand around her waist, letting her lean her weight on him.

Jiang Rumu's casted leg dangled, her left foot supporting her weight on the ground, half her body hanging on Li Li.

The two met the dense crowd of gazes in the aisle.

Shen Jue had already rushed over.

The 1.87-meter-tall guy blocked the entire aisle. Tears still hanging on his face, he grinned from ear to ear.

"Brother Li!!"

Li Li looked at this big, crying-and-laughing face. "Did you change your pants?"

The smile on Shen Jue's face instantly froze. He looked down. "…Yes."

"That's good." Li Li patted his shoulder, "Move aside, Mumu can't stand."

Shen Jue immediately dodged to the side, nearly pulling down a suitcase from the overhead bin.

Cen Ye leaned against the armrest, tilting his chin at Li Li. "Brother Li."

"Hm."

Li Li supported Jiang Rumu as they passed by him.

"It's so good you're back!"

Li Li didn't respond to that. A bit cheesy.

In the front row. Yin Ruoying sat in her seat without moving. She hadn't had time to wipe off her crooked eyebrow, one high and one low on her face. She watched Li Li pass by.

She pressed her lips together. She didn't say hello.

That remark from two days ago in the live stream, "What amateur could be that calm in a gunfight," was stuck in her throat now, unable to go up or down.

Wen Ditang clutched her forehead, which she'd just knocked red, and stood by the aisle, her round, apricot-shaped eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Li Li... you guys..."

Her chestnut-brown fishtail braid hung over her shoulder, a few strands of hair loose and stuck to her forehead.

"How did you..."

Li Li glanced at her. "Hard to kill."

Two words, crisp and clean, directly blocking all follow-up questions.

Wen Ditang bit her lower lip and retreated to the side of her seat.

Jiang Rumu didn't say a word the whole time. It wasn't that she didn't want to. It was that hundreds of eyes in economy class were staring at her being half-carried by a man down the entire aisle, her face burning so much she couldn't speak.

The ice queen of the entertainment industry, casted leg, torn sweatpants, a messy ponytail, hanging on a man in a white T-shirt.

If this look were photographed—it had already been.

Gu Zeyan's live stream camera tracked them the whole time. Seven million people saw it clearly.

Li Li helped her through business class and into the first-class compartment.

The moment the cabin door closed, Jiang Rumu pushed his hand away, hopped on one foot to the seat, and buried her face in the cushion.

Her ears were bright red. "Li Li."

Her voice was muffled by the cushion.

"Hm."

"Everyone on the plane was looking at me just now, and you still called me Mumu."

"It's normal for them to look at you, you're a star. We have the friendship of people who almost died together, can't I call you Mumu?"

"They weren't looking at a star! They were looking at a—"

She raised her head. "Couldn't you have let me walk in myself?"

Li Li said: "You have one leg, and this aisle is over sixty meters long. Hopping on one foot would take four minutes. Plus, you'd definitely stop to greet people you know, smile at fans, maintain your persona—at least eight minutes. Three hundred people waiting another eight minutes."

He sat in the seat opposite her and fastened his seatbelt. "Public resources, use them sparingly."

Jiang Rumu glared at him. Glared for three seconds. Turned around to face the wall.

Outside the porthole, the Abu Dhabi skyline shimmered white in the sunlight.

At the end of the runway, the engines began to rumble at a low frequency.

In economy class, Shen Jue curled back into his seat, still wiping away tears. Cen Ye took out his earphones and put them in, the curve of his mouth never fading. Qi Wanyin closed her book and leaned back against the seat with her eyes closed.

Gu Zeyan stared at his phone screen.

Live stream viewer count—14 million. It doubled.

The comments weren't text anymore, it was a whole wall of exclamation points and crying faces.

He swallowed, preparing to wrap up with a few lines to harvest traffic—

A comment floated across the middle of the screen.

The font was the largest, the color the reddest.

[The whole internet burned paper for three days, who's going to return the wreaths on the grave? Waiting online, it's quite urgent.]