Setting Up Stalls – Chapter 181

First Time on an Airplane

Su Ruixi was not satirizing Lu Province Airlines, but sincerely felt that way. Even a person like her, who almost never used her phone, knew that Lu Province Airlines had gained a huge wave of presence on social networks because of its “doggy sneaky-sneaky”¹ takeoff video.

It was also mocked by the vast number of netizens for its “pulling a scallion from dry land”²-style takeoff.

Su Ruixi quite liked Lu Province Airlines, because it isn’t late.

After hearing Su Ruixi’s words, Sun Miao could not hold it in. She put on her headphones, opened her phone, and started searching. Then, she saw a plane with a “doggy sneaky-sneaky” expression preparing to take off. That furtive feeling was truly revealed from the inside out in the image of it walking with tiny little steps toward the airport runway.

This video was indeed funny, making Sun Miao unable to resist saying, “It’s actually quite fun.”

During check-in, there were still some flights that had the word “Delayed” appended to them due to the influence of the plum rain weather. In the waiting lounge, Sun Miao saw the raindrops dripping pitter-patter down the outside of the glass and felt a little uneasy. However, Lu Province Airlines truly had its unusual aspect. Among a whole slate of “Delayed” flights, only it still had its original departure time.

Before she knew it, it was one hour before takeoff, and the terminal staff began checking tickets for boarding.

Sun Miao sighed with emotion, “So early.” She had never been on a plane, but she had taken the high-speed rail, and high-speed trains all start checking tickets only ten or so minutes in advance. However, she was not too surprised, because Sun Miao had already started doing her homework the past two days and had also searched for questions like “What do I need to know for my first time on a plane?”

However, after searching, knowing was one thing, but actually boarding this far in advance was still quite surprising.

“VIPs are a little earlier. Let’s go, let’s head over.”

A staff member came to guide them, leading them to board first. Sun Miao, carrying her backpack, was about to follow when she saw that Su Ruixi, carrying her handbag, was a bit slow. She subconsciously reached her hand out toward Su Ruixi. Sun Miao’s original intention was to help carry the bag, but after Su Ruixi saw her hand, she leaned over and directly held it.

It was Sun Miao, on the other hand, who was a little embarrassed.

She did not have many friends and just maintained her boundaries, not getting too close to other women. She had forgotten that it was actually a very normal thing for two girls traveling together to hold hands or link arms. So she carefully glanced at the staff member’s back and, seeing that the person was not paying attention to them, she then gave Su Ruixi a big smile and squeezed her hand even tighter.

Just like that, the two of them, under the staff member’s guidance, boarded the plane ahead of others and were then guided to their seats in business class to sit down.

Lu Province Airlines’ business class was not as luxurious as the kind of first-class cabins used for showing off wealth online. There are relatively few domestic airlines that have first-class cabins; they are generally used more on international routes, while domestic routes almost never have them. But business class is standard, and it was not like what was shown in many videos; it was just that the seats were wider and the service provided was a bit better.

Led by the staff member, Sun Miao and Su Ruixi quickly arrived at their seats.

Su Ruixi just took one look and said to Sun Miao, “You take the one inside by the window. I’ll sit on the outside.”

Sun Miao did not refuse and quickly agreed, “Okay.”

She was even a little eager to try, because she really wanted to see what the scenery outside looked like when the plane took off. Sun Miao took off her backpack, and a staff member said with a smile, “Do you need help putting this up above?”

Sun Miao’s backpack did not have to be placed in the overhead luggage rack; during takeoff, she could also just place it at her feet and hold it there. Because it still had quite a few things inside, Sun Miao politely declined. Su Ruixi said they could manage by themselves, so the staff member left first, saying, “Alright, just call me if you need anything.”

After sitting down, Sun Miao started to get curious, looking this way and that. She even watched the introductory video on the panel in front of her with great interest. Su Ruixi watched her for a moment, then paid her no more mind, instead picking up her phone to look at the work-related content her assistant had sent.

Sun Miao watched for a while and then stopped. After a moment, she saw people boarding and excitedly asked Su Ruixi, “Are we about to take off soon?”

“Yes, there should be about half an hour left.”

“There’s still that much time left.”

“Yes. Look, the plane ticket says our flight is at 9:35, so it will definitely take off at that time. Lu Province Airlines is very punctual, you can rest assured on that point.”

Sun Miao curbed her impatience and started waiting again. She was really like a little child. One moment, she would see the transport vehicle bringing the luggage over to be loaded and, upon seeing Su Ruixi’s luggage, would say, “Susu-jie, that’s your luggage.” When the plane started moving on the runway, she would also ask, “Are we about to take off soon?”

If a relative’s child had asked such a thing, Su Ruixi’s eyes might have rolled all the way to the heavens. But since the person asking was Sun Miao, Su Ruixi would apply a double standard and think: Our family’s Miaomiao is so cute.

While thinking this, she continued to make small talk with her.

When the plane really took off, Sun Miao’s eyes widened, and she gripped Su Ruixi’s hand. Lu Province Airlines had that kind of domineering energy about it; even though the rain outside was falling ceaselessly, it still performed a “pulling a scallion from dry land.” It suddenly pulled up sharply, and both Sun Miao and Su Ruixi felt their backs being pressed tightly against their seatbacks.

Sun Miao, who usually seemed exceptionally reliable and could even calmly grab a kitchen knife when facing a man looking for trouble, was now genuinely a little nervous. She reached out and gripped Su Ruixi’s hand tightly, so tightly that Su Ruixi’s hand even began to hurt a little. But Su Ruixi did not let go; instead, she turned her own hand over to hold Sun Miao’s.

The plane’s ascent was very fast. In a short while, it leveled out and arrived above the clouds.

Only then did Su Ruixi have a moment to look at Sun Miao beside her. “Miaomiao, what’s wrong?” Sun Miao had already gripped her hand tightly before the “pulling a scallion from dry land” takeoff. It was just that the ascent was too bumpy and the noise was too loud; Su Ruixi had tried to say something to Sun Miao midway through, but Sun Miao had not heard her clearly.

Now that she could hear again, Sun Miao patted her chest. “That scared me to death! I really had ringing in my ears just now.”

“Did chewing gum not work?” When the plane was taxiing onto the runway, Su Ruixi had seen Sun Miao follow an online tutorial, taking out a piece of chewing gum and chewing away on it in her mouth, all to alleviate the effects of the change in air pressure. But looking at her now, the chewing gum probably had not worked.

“It was useless.” Sun Miao’s little expression looked rather dejected.

Su Ruixi reached out and rubbed Sun Miao’s head, comforting her as one would a small child. “Have some water. Drinking some water will make you feel a bit better.”

After drinking some water, Sun Miao did indeed feel a little better.

The flight to Qin Island was one hour and forty minutes long. A meal was provided on the plane, but looking at the airplane food, Su Ruixi had no appetite at all.

Su Ruixi had not originally planned to eat, but Sun Miao, having never had airplane food before, was a bit curious and asked for a meal. Su Ruixi thought for a moment, thinking to herself that with Sun Miao accompanying her, perhaps she could eat a little, so she also asked for one. The business class airplane food should, by rights, be much better than in economy class, but the moment Su Ruixi saw it, she was truly speechless.

It was brought out complete on a tray. In the bottom right position was a bowl of white rice. In the very center was a long, narrow plate containing a vegetable salad, on top of which were placed a few shrimp and sprinkled with some vinaigrette. Above the salad was a small bowl, the same size as the rice bowl, which contained some slices of ham… or would it be more appropriate to call it luncheon meat? Then, in the top left, there was also a small bowl containing some fruit like cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices.

That was all. There was nothing more. Sun Miao’s meal was exactly the same.

In the past, Su Ruixi might have been able to go against her conscience and eat a little. A vegetable salad was just a vegetable salad; something like that mixed with a bit of vinaigrette could not possibly be that disgusting. But not now. The moment she saw the shrimp, Su Ruixi knew——it was one hundred percent frozen. She could not eat it, absolutely could not eat it.

Sometimes, Sun Miao also made shrimp very simply: plain-boiled³ and served with a dipping sauce, a simple meal. But she used fresh shrimp, and prepared it very well, without a trace of fishy smell. The meat was fresh and Q-bouncy⁴, and Su Ruixi could eat fifteen or sixteen of them in one sitting.

Su Ruixi was completely lacking in interest and really did not want to eat this meal.

Sun Miao, however, ate very happily. In no time, she had finished the portion in front of her, except for the rice. In truth, the portion size of the airplane meal was not very large. The flight attendant⁵ had also said just now that they could ask for more if they were not full.

Sun Miao did not want more, however, because she had eaten some snacks before boarding and was genuinely not hungry now. She was eating this purely out of curiosity.

Sun Miao noticed that Su Ruixi was sitting beside her, holding her chopsticks without moving for a long time. She spoke up at the right moment, “Susu-jie, you don’t want to eat? Then give it to me.”

Wasting things was always bad, and Sun Miao could not stand to see waste. Su Ruixi’s expression was as if she had been instantly saved. She heaved a sigh of relief, “Okay, you eat it.”

Sun Miao swapped their two meal trays and, in no time, finished eating the small amount of food. By the time they were deplaning, Sun Miao could not even be bothered to look at the surrounding scenery; she just patted her stomach, feeling very full.

Seeing her like this, Su Ruixi could not help but laugh. “You’ve been eating all morning. Will you still be able to eat lunch?”

Sun Miao immediately waved her hand. “No way. I estimate I’ll have to digest for a while. Let’s just eat something simple for lunch.”

Su Ruixi, of course, had no objections. They did not even need to retrieve their own luggage. Even their luggage received preferential treatment, being taken out in advance and set aside. When they arrived, there was even a dedicated person to deliver it to them. Sun Miao smoothly took the suitcase, and just as they exited the station, Su Ruixi started making a phone call.

Not long after, a driver shifu⁶ wearing a formal suit and white gloves jogged over, took the suitcase from Sun Miao’s hand, and led the two of them to the nearest parking spot. He then led them into the car and headed straight for the hotel.

At that moment, Sun Miao truly experienced what people online called “a rich person’s vacation.” The suitcase truly never needed to touch the ground. Whether departing from home or arriving at the destination, there would be someone helping to carry it the entire way; only for a very short stretch did she need to handle it herself.

Sun Miao, who was used to being poor, could not help but sigh from the bottom of her heart, “It’s so good to be rich.”

Su Ruixi, listening from the side, did not think Sun Miao was being a gold-digger⁷. On the contrary, she felt quite proud. “Mm.” Her tone clearly said: Since you know, why don’t you hurry up and cling to me?

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