Chapter Ninety-Nine - The Beautiful Flight Attendant, Part Two

After the security check, the two girls and I, along with the female teacher surnamed Zhang, boarded the Boeing airliner. Although the C City Education Bureau had spared no expense to send us to the capital by plane, it was still public funding, so we could only sit in ordinary business class and were not allowed the luxury of first class.

Even so, that was already much better. If we had taken the train to the capital, it would have meant at least a day and a night of travel; by plane, it was only two hours.

In 1997, there were not even express trains, let alone high-speed rail. The technology of this country was in truth terribly backward. Aside from imitating a few simple technologies, nearly everything else had to be imported from abroad. That was precisely why the Japanese looked down on Chinese people so much, and also why that man, Tenda Shoichi, was able to win so much favor from government officials in C City.

To put it bluntly, if you had no strength, you could only swallow your anger. That was true of this country now, and even in my past life, in 2010, was it not the same? Only by then the nation had grown somewhat stronger, no longer as weak as it was now. To revive a country is truly no easy matter.

After putting my luggage in the overhead compartment, we sat down according to our seat numbers. In the end, Chu Qitong and I were seated together again. I had wanted to switch with Fu Ming, but who knew that after the teacher surnamed Zhang learned Fu Ming lived in the capital, she began chatting with her about the city’s customs and culture. It seemed this female teacher, nearing thirty, had never even been there.

Indeed, in 1997 the tourism industry had only just begun to emerge. If it were not for public funding, what working person could possibly afford such expensive travel costs?

This Boeing jet had originally been flying from South Sea Province to the capital, with C City merely a transfer airport. On the one hand, an airliner like the 757 needed to land for fuel; on the other, the empty seats could be filled in C City to increase revenue. Those were the reasons for the landing.

I saw that the cabin in front was already packed. I believed these passengers all knew the rules and had not even stepped off the plane.

“Dear passengers, good day. I am the chief attendant for Flight 7348. Please take your seats promptly according to your ticket numbers. The aircraft will take off in ten minutes. During takeoff there may be slight turbulence, so please do not be alarmed...”

The chief flight attendant, the so-called head stewardess, was relaying the information in her sweet voice. Only then did I begin to notice the graceful figures of the attendants moving about the aisle.

At this time, the word stewardess was merely a private colloquialism; the formal term was generally flight attendant. In my past life, people had been widely influenced by certain Japanese adult videos, so the word stewardess had come to represent sensuality and beauty. Yet that was also true: to become a stewardess was no easy thing. One needed not only good looks but also a good figure. Looking at the flight attendants before my eyes, all of them in blue uniforms, with long, silk-clad legs visible beneath their short skirts, moving briskly through the cabin, I could not help but swallow slightly.

Suddenly, a familiar slender figure seemed to appear in my line of sight. Looking more closely, I immediately grew excited. Wasn't the stewardess over there, helping a middle-aged woman with her luggage, my adopted older sister, Siya?

Seeing my beautiful, poised adopted sister, with her long hair pinned up and a stewardess cap perched on her head, I could not help quietly standing from my seat and walking over.

“Ma’am, when the plane takes off, please be sure to fasten your seat belt. The aircraft will shake a little, but it will settle down very quickly.” After helping the woman put her luggage into the hold, she lightly brushed back her bangs and smiled as she spoke to the lady seated there, completely unaware that I had already come up behind her.

“Ahem, beautiful attendant, may I ask for your mobile number?”

I deliberately lowered my voice and began teasing her.

The moment I said that, Siya stopped speaking. I knew she must have thought she had run into a lecher. Still wearing that radiant smile, she turned around and said, “Sir, I’m sorry, we are not allowed to give our contact information to passengers...”

She had barely gotten that far when she saw my face and instantly lit up with delight. Throwing her arms around me, she exclaimed, “Ah, how is it you, my little brother! What are you doing here?”

“Heh heh, what a coincidence, Sis. I never imagined you’d be on this plane.”

Feeling the firm softness of Siya’s full chest pressing against mine, I gave an awkward, wry smile. “Sis, we’re on a plane, you know. Don’t you see all those men glaring at me as if they want to kill me?”

At my words, Siya seemed to realize something was amiss at once and hurriedly let go. A little red in the face, she shot me a glare and said coquettishly, “Serves you right, teasing your sister like that. Tell me, how did you get on this plane? Are you going to the capital too?”

“Yes. I happened to win a qualification to compete in the national computer contest, so I’m flying to the capital too. I really can’t believe it, though—running into you on a plane like this, heh.” As I said that, I pointed behind me at Chu Qitong and Fu Ming. “They’re here with me. You know Miss Chu as well.”

“Oh, that Miss Chu, huh? Tsk tsk, little brother, be honest with me. Did you already win over that young lady?”

Her teasing, knowing look made me feel embarrassed, so I quickly waved my hands and said, “No, no, don’t talk nonsense. She also qualified for the competition, so we’re traveling together.”

“I see. Heh heh, all right then, I’ll go say hello. The plane is about to take off. Come on, let’s go together.”

Siya seemed very happy to see me. After introducing me to another stewardess beside her and asking her to help look after the others for a moment, she walked with me to Chu Qitong’s seat.

When Chu Qitong saw Siya, a smile finally appeared on her face. After exchanging greetings with her, Siya headed toward the rear of the cabin, while I returned to sit beside Chu Qitong and glanced at her lightly.

“What are you looking at? Go stare at your Su Xin!”

Chu Qitong clearly felt my gaze and shot me a cold glare, leaving me with no choice but to turn my face away. Sigh, it seemed the little demon’s anger still had not subsided.

The plane soon began to move slowly. At first there was only a slight trembling, but as the airliner picked up speed, the shaking grew stronger and stronger. After only a short while, I suddenly felt a downward pressure, my body beginning to tilt, the angle gradually increasing. Then, in an instant, all those sensations vanished, and everything was as before. By then I knew the plane had finally left the ground.

A two-hour journey was neither short nor long, so there was no point in preparing to pass the time. I simply began circulating the Purple Sun true qi within my body in silence.

I had never given up on cultivating the Purple Sun Divine Skill. On my previous visit to the Chu household, the violent eruption of true qi had caused some damage to my meridians, but at the same time, it had unintentionally expanded them once more. After I recovered my vital energy, the Purple Sun Divine Skill abruptly broke through from the lower stage of Chaos Beginning and entered the middle stage.

With frequent cultivation, I came more and more to appreciate how miraculous the Purple Sun Divine Skill truly was. The difference between the lower and middle stages of the same level was like heaven and earth. If I had still been in the lower stage, I absolutely would not have been able to withstand the combined assault of the two ninjas under Tenda Shoichi. But now that I had reached the middle stage, I could withstand the joint attack of at least four ninjas at once.

Of course, the number of ninjas I mentioned was based on Tenda Shoichi’s men. If some high-level ninja were to appear, that would have to be counted separately. In any case, as I was now, dealing with ordinary external martial arts experts was basically no problem. Naturally, I was not so foolish as to try to stop bullets with my body.

As for modern firearms, I had already found a countermeasure. Among the alien technology left to me by that outer-space octopus, I discovered a defensive device similar to a bulletproof vest. Its name was the Optical Force-Field Dome, and I renamed it Light-Condensed Armor.

Heh, in truth, this Light-Condensed Armor was worn on the body just like ordinary underclothing. Though it looked unremarkable, its principle was to use optical energy condensation to instantly generate power that could withstand all incoming attacks. Thin though it was, it was enough to resist the impact of tank shells!

Heh, don’t be frightened. The thing that could resist tank shells was the genuine Light-Condensed Armor, whereas what I was wearing now was only a defective version. Why a defective version? The reason was simple: I could not find all the materials needed to make it in 1997. In truth, not only in 1997—even in the era of my previous life, I would still have been unable to gather them all. Some of the materials did not even exist on Earth. Tell me, how was I supposed to find them?

So I could only make a flawed imitation. But do not underestimate this imitation. Although it could not withstand shells, it could truly resist bullets fired at close range. However, due to differences in materials, the optical energy condensation effect could only occur three times. In other words, the counterfeit I was wearing could only block three bullets for me. And for someone like me, who had already become a true martial arts expert, the ability to withstand three bullets meant the difference between life and death in that brief span of time.

Light-Condensed Armor truly was indispensable for travel, home defense, and all manner of dangerous ventures.