As his body temperature slowly rose, a flush of red quickly crept up Xia Li's cheeks.
Her eyes brimmed with shyness and panic, and she hastily pushed Jiang Cheng away.
"Young Master Jiang, I'll go prepare some dessert for you. Please wait a moment."
Xia Li drew a deep breath, her voice trembling faintly, as if those few words had cost her every ounce of strength.
Without waiting for Jiang Cheng's reply,
Xia Li spun around at the fastest speed she could manage.
Her steps somewhat disordered, she fled from Jiang Cheng's room; her retreating figure looked almost like a rout.
Watching this scene, the corners of Jiang Cheng's mouth curved into a faint smile.
He made no move to stop Xia Li from leaving.
After all, he really had pushed things too far today.
Given Xia Li's current favorability value and loyalty toward him,
had the scars on her body not made her heart so sensitive,
the boundaries between the two of them would likely have been crossed by now—they'd already be counting one, two, three, four.
Recalling that scene, Jiang Cheng immediately picked up his phone and sent a message to Wang Sheng.
Early the next morning, Jiang Cheng woke up leisurely.
When he strolled to the dining table downstairs, he still didn't see Xia Li's familiar figure.
Although she had used the excuse of preparing dessert for him when she left yesterday,
in the end it was another nanny who brought out the sweets.
Jiang Cheng understood perfectly: Xia Li was deliberately avoiding him.
But he wasn't in any hurry.
After a simple breakfast, Jiang Cheng boarded the red flag car and slowly headed toward Demon Capital Airport.
The car had just come to a steady stop in front of the VIP terminal
when he saw Wang Qing deferentially following a middle-aged man, already waiting at the entrance for quite some time.
Although Jiang Cheng wasn't here today to catch a flight—he had only come to pick someone up—
the previous incident of Mouse Line being banned nationwide had been hugely influential.
The airline side knew full well that this had to be Jiang Cheng's doing.
Mouse Line, a black-sheep blogger who had given many airlines headaches and whom they deeply feared,
had repeatedly left carriers at their wits' end.
Had he not accidentally kicked the iron plate that was Jiang Cheng this time and been banned across the entire internet,
their airline's stock would almost certainly have suffered a sharp drop.
Precisely because of this, upon learning Jiang Cheng was coming to pick someone up,
the airline attached extreme importance to it.
Not only did they send Wang Qing, the manager of the VIP lounge, but even the airport's operations manager came personally to greet him, to show respect and gratitude.
When they saw Jiang Cheng step slowly out of that Kyoto red flag car with its ostentatious license plate and unmistakable prestige,
the welcoming party first exchanged glances, surprise and awe mingling in their eyes.
Then they quickly reacted, hurrying forward to meet him.
The middle-aged man in the lead extended his hand first, his face full of warm, respectful smiles, his eyes brimming with ingratiation and anticipation.
"President Jiang, hello, hello! Welcome to Demon Capital Airport. I'm the airport's head, Zhao Qiming."
Zhao Qiming bowed slightly, an obsequious smile plastered across his face.
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's gaze shifted to Wang Qing, who stood behind Zhao Qiming.
In the past, whenever he came to Demon Capital Airport, it was always Wang Qing, the VIP lounge manager, who handled his reception.
He hadn't expected that today even the airport's top official would come out to greet him.
This subtle change made a trace of puzzlement surface in his heart.
Still, to Jiang Cheng, whoever showed up to receive him was merely a trivial formality.
He merely extended his hand symbolically for a light handshake
and went straight to the point: "The flight I'm waiting for should be arriving soon, right?"
His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority.
Zhao Qiming, as if he had long since prepared the answer, responded at once.
"President Jiang, it'll be here very soon. Let me take you to the nearest waiting lounge."
With that, he stepped slightly aside, making a "please" gesture to guide Jiang Cheng forward.
After entering the VIP passage of the terminal,
Jiang Cheng followed the staff's directions straight to the indoor reception room overlooking the aircraft landing runway.
Jiang Cheng lifted his wrist slightly and glanced at the Patek Philippe in his hand.
The watch gleamed with understated luxury under the lights.
Looking at the dial, he saw there were still ten minutes before Zhou Ying's plane touched down.
The first-class flight he had booked for Zhou Ying came with Wi-Fi.
So Jiang Cheng snapped a photo of the location map and sent it to Zhou Ying.
Indeed, today not only was Xia Meng returning, but Zhou Ying, who had been away for a competition, also happened to be coming back.
Fortunately, one of them was on a daytime flight and the other on an evening flight.
Soon the phone screen lit up, and Zhou Ying's reply appeared.
"Hehe, I can see you~~"
Reading those playful words, Jiang Cheng could almost picture Zhou Ying's mischievous, lively look in his mind.
He shook his head helplessly, yet the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve upward.
Not wanting to dampen her spirits, he cooperated fully and replied: "You've landed?? Why can't I see you?"
After sending the message, Jiang Cheng slowly turned his head and, through the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazed out at the airport runway.
At first his eyes swept the tarmac with a leisurely anticipation.
Moments later, his brows knitted tightly of their own accord.
Out on the glide path, an airplane had appeared from nowhere, looking completely out of place and showing no sign of preparing to land.
A wave of dread rose in Jiang Cheng's heart.
He glanced sideways at Zhao Qiming, who stood waiting beside him; when the man offered no warning, Jiang Cheng's unease deepened.
Right then, the Danger Perception Skill in Jiang Cheng's mind let out a sharp beep.
A huge red exclamation mark materialized in mid-air.
Immediately, a notification tone rang out in his consciousness.
'Alert: Danger Perception Skill has detected that a connected individual is in mortal peril.'
The instant he saw the symbol, Jiang Cheng felt as if a sledgehammer had slammed into his chest; that long-absent jolt echoed in his heart.
His eyes snapped to the prompt from the Danger Perception Skill.
As the information unfolded,
a terrifying scene flashed before him:
Flight B320—Zhou Ying's flight—was landing when it violently collided with an aircraft taxiing abnormally on the runway.
In an instant, flames shot sky-high; the massive impact tore both planes to shreds.
Shards of metal flew in all directions, thick smoke billowing across the sky.
Hundreds of passengers shrieked in terror, only to be swallowed by the blast.
Lives vanished in the blink of an eye; the runway became a fiery hell.
Ground staff fled in every direction while alarms shrieked across the airport.
Only eight minutes remained before landing, and Zhou Ying was still aboard that B320.
Jiang Cheng's face turned paper-white; it felt as if an invisible hand had clenched his heart, nearly stopping it.
He spun round and roared at the airport manager beside him, Zhao Qiming.
'Why is there a plane on the runway? Stop it—B320 is landing in eight minutes, isn't it?'
His voice cracked with urgency and fury.
His eyes blazed, as though they could incinerate everything in sight.
Jiang Cheng's sudden shout struck Zhao Qiming like lightning; the man jumped in fright.
He had been standing humbly, head lowered in deference at Jiang Cheng's side.
Now, feeling the crushing pressure radiating from Jiang Cheng,
especially seeing the murderous look on his face,
his heart lurched; he whipped his head toward the runway.
One look and Zhao Qiming's own brows snapped together, his legs going weak beneath him.
'President Jiang, this…this is wrong. I'll contact the tower right away,' he stammered.
Fumbling, Zhao Qiming pulled out his radio.
Voice trembling, he called the tower.
'Tower, tower, emergency on the runway—unauthorized aircraft has entered B320's approach path. Investigate and stop immediately!'
But only static crackled back; no reply came.
Zhao Qiming's face turned even paler as he switched channels and repeated the call.
Panic peaked; a wave of dizziness hit and he grabbed a nearby chair for support.
Once steady, he shouted hoarsely to the two behind him.
'How…how is a plane taxiing there? This is bad—get to the tower at once! B320 is on final; how did that thing get onto the runway? All of you keep calling the tower!'
Inside the tower, controllers were in chaos.
Equipment failed without warning, lights flashing wildly, alarms blaring.
Controllers yelled into mics, trying to reach the aircraft on the runway,
but every comms line was dead.
They scrambled to reboot, sweat dripping, eyes wide with terror and helplessness.
A dozen seconds later, a message finally arrived from the tower.
'Tower here—an operational error caused the aircraft to take off early, and now all systems are down; we've lost control!'
The instant the words ended, Zhao Qiming forgot everything else.
Legs like lead yet rubbery, he sprinted for the emergency command desk.
He flicked his radio on as he ran, sweat streaming.
His breathing turned ragged; even the static sounded unbearable.
Behind him, Wang Qing's face was equally bloodless.
All of them were seasoned aviation professionals.
The moment Jiang Cheng had spoken, Wang Qing had foreseen the chain of horrors about to unfold.