After the Divorce, My Wife Is Impossible to Coax - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The person sitting behind her was like a statue—motionless and silent. An Zhaoyu found it rather dull; her extensive explanations had been purely for her own psychological comfort.

It was just as well that she didn’t speak. In the silence, An Zhaoyu could pretend she was Lu Shen, imagining that Lu Shen was accompanying her on this flight just as she had during her pregnancy.

She wondered what Lu Shen was doing at this moment.

Likely working. Hopefully, that annoying Alpha intern wasn’t trailing behind her. An Zhaoyu disliked many people, but Jiang Chu was easily in her top three.

This stretch of ocean would make Lu Shen sad, wouldn’t it?

The race schedule was tight. An Zhaoyu planned to circle back here on the return trip to pay her respects to the crashed CF-9507 and Lu Shen’s mother.

To An Zhaoyu, this race was no different from an ordinary flight, except it was longer and required more sustained concentration. But no one knew that during every “ordinary” flight, she was prepared for a crash.

Otherwise, why would she keep a photo of Lu Shen and Lucia kissing in her breast pocket?

It was a perfect candid shot set against the endless blue sea, both Lu Shen and Lucia with their eyes closed. A teammate who loved photography had captured it by accident while trying to photograph Lucia; Lu Shen had simply stepped into the frame. The photo had been given to An Zhaoyu as a wedding gift.

The gauze with the lipstick stain was gone, but she kept the photo with her at all times.

If she truly crashed one day, the biggest difference between her body and the others’ would be the photo of Lu Shen in her pocket. That alone would confirm her identity instantly—more humanely than an ID card and without the need for DNA testing.

In that moment, her love for Lu Shen would finally be out in the open. Only then would An Zhaoyu be honest with the whole world: she loved Lu Shen—loved her so much that she brought her along on every flight.

An Zhaoyu was the first to reach the seventh checkpoint. Just as she was about to head for the final one, Wen Su and another plane dove down from the clouds. Only one of them would be able to claim the checkpoint and earn the chance to compete with An Zhaoyu.

The two planes became entangled in the air. The foreign plane had intercepted Wen Su first. They were on the outbound leg while An Zhaoyu was on her return leg; flying in the opposite direction, she had a front-row seat to their fierce exchange.

They likely assumed that An Zhaoyu, being an Omega, was less competitive than an Alpha, which was why she hadn’t faced any harassment along the way.

Seeing Wen Su being intentionally blocked, her expression sharpened. She began to take the initiative, refusing to let the foreign plane break away.

Tsk, tsk. The combative Alphas are at it again.

If she had wasted time playing tricks like that, An Zhaoyu would have finished the checkpoint long ago. Their scuffle undoubtedly bought An Zhaoyu time. As long as she set off immediately for the last checkpoint, victory would belong to her without question; neither of those Alphas could catch her.

This was the price of underestimating an Omega.

But their opponent was An Zhaoyu—an Omega who never viewed her sub-gender as weak and refused to allow others to look down on Omegas. She didn’t want people saying that an Omega’s victory came only because the Alphas underestimated their opponent. Winning the race was never her ultimate goal; crushing these self-righteous Alphas with pure skill was.

Thus, she decided to do now what she had planned for the return trip: she piloted the trainer plane in three low-altitude circles over the sea.

If only Lu Shen were here. An Zhaoyu could show her that this stretch of ocean wasn’t so terrifying; she could bring her closer to the place where her late mother had last been.

Seeing that she hadn’t left, the two Alphas grew even more frantic. They performed a violent duel over the “Devil’s Triangle,” hindering each other’s progress.

On the other side of the cockpit, Lu Shen pressed herself against the window, feeling the vastness of the sea through the oval glass.

Jiang Nian had been tricked onto that plane by the joint efforts of Lu Congwen and Wei Ruicheng. They had originally planned to sell her off to some obscure small country—much like her origins—but no one expected the plane to crash mid-way. Perhaps this ending wasn’t any worse than what they had planned; to them, it was all the same.

They believed that as long as Jiang Nian was removed from Lu Ming’s side, Lu Ming would return to the laboratory as before, obsessively researching pheromone drugs that disregarded ethics.

But ever since Jiang Nian and Lu Ming got together, Lu Ming never stepped foot in a lab again. She seemed to become a “normal” person, gaining the ability to perceive the beauty of the world. Her only thought was to travel the globe with Jiang Nian. She was no longer willing to use her genius brain to create the profits they desired; her “talent had run dry.”

Lu Shen’s blue eyes were filled with sorrow. After her Mammy passed away, her Mamma had locked herself forever in that stone castle.

Jiang Nian was one of the few people whose body was actually recovered after the crash. The police investigating the accident said her body had been pushed to the surface by a beluga whale. That was why Lu Shen loved belugas so much; perhaps they were friends or relatives of Lucia.

An Zhaoyu grew bored watching the Alphas compete. She glanced back at the “mute” passenger, who was pressed against the window looking at the sea below with a lingering gaze.

An Zhaoyu’s heart skipped a beat. For a split second, she had an illusion—she actually felt the mute looked a bit like Lu Shen.

She quickly snapped back to reality. How could Lu Shen possibly be on this plane? In the eyes of a non-professional, this race was essentially a suicide mission. Lu Shen cared so much about the baby; she wouldn’t leave the child to join her here.

Even if Lu Shen, like this mute, didn’t talk much.

As Wen Su tangled with the other Alpha, she felt a problem with the controls—mechanical failure! She immediately stopped the pursuit and decisively activated the parachute system.

An Zhaoyu’s intuition for danger was far beyond ordinary. The moment Wen Su’s plane malfunctioned, she sensed the flight path was wrong. She immediately pulled her gaze away from Lu Shen and entered a state of high alert.

Wen Su jumped directly from the air. It was extremely dangerous; she wasn’t at a high enough altitude for the parachute to deploy fully, and the temperamental sea waited below. The other Alpha was stunned, watching Wen Su and her plane plunge into the ocean one after the other. The accident happened so fast his own plane almost collided with them.

Wen Su! Lu Shen saw the Alpha in the blue flight suit fall straight into the sea.

An Zhaoyu calmly piloted her plane to hover over the spot where Wen Su hit the water. Her timing was perfect. After plunging into the deep, Wen Su used every ounce of strength to surface. As soon as she came up, she saw An Zhaoyu lower the smart-grippers used for training. She reached out and managed to grab hold.

This thrilling accident alerted the race organizers, who sent out a distress signal to attract nearby naval rescue. Everyone’s heart was pounding, especially Wen Su’s, who was soaked to the bone. She had no time to wonder why her plane failed; she only felt as though she had brushed past the Grim Reaper.

Fortunately, the person racing with her today was An Zhaoyu. Had it been anyone else, she likely would have lost her chance at survival.

The sea looked calm from above, but falling in revealed its fury. The currents at different depths were chaotic. As she surfaced, Wen Su felt her body being pulled in every direction. Despite being an expert diver and swimmer, she was forced to swallow several gulps of seawater. She was now exhausted and nearly dehydrated.

Her Alpha competitor had successfully finished the checkpoint task, but he didn’t fly off. On one hand, his remaining opponent was an Omega, so there was no rush; on the other, he still respected Wen Su as a competitor and wanted to ensure her safety.

As Wen Su neared unconsciousness, a rescue boat finally arrived. An Zhaoyu lowered her steadily onto the deck.

As long as there’s a hospital nearby, her life shouldn’t be in danger, Lu Shen made a rough assessment of Wen Su’s health.

The race continued. After retracting the smart-grippers, An Zhaoyu’s plane took flight again, piercing through the clouds with a touch of arrogance and returning to high altitude. The foreign Alpha immediately gave chase.

Now, it was the true battle for the championship.

The foreign Alpha had clearly realized she wasn’t as easy to fool as he had imagined. With the finish line in sight, the lure of the championship was too great. He intended to block An Zhaoyu from reaching the final checkpoint just as he had with Wen Su.

An Zhaoyu wasn’t as combative as Wen Su. She simply maneuvered the plane to skillfully avoid him, disdaining any further interaction. No matter how he provoked her, she only pressed toward the final goal.

She ignored him completely.

No one knew that An Zhaoyu’s fatigue had reached its peak. The previous checkpoints and the recent high-stakes rescue had drained her patience and energy. The closer she got to the destination, the more this long flight challenged the limits of her physical endurance.

She had to find a way to stay in peak condition.

She couldn’t listen to mystery novels anymore; that meddlesome, bold mute in the back would surely ruin it for her.

If only Lu Shen were here. An Zhaoyu even found the mental capacity to daydream. She thought about the wonderful time she spent with Lu Shen before her departure, especially certain… details.

Captain An suddenly felt much more alert. If she could just get Lu Shen to give her a “bite” right here on this plane, she would surely secrete enough dopamine to stay invigorated until tomorrow.

Going back after the race to spend seven days and nights with Lu Shen was the only motivation sustaining An Zhaoyu through this competition.

Golden Eagle Racing Champion? First place? All of it was crap!

She just wanted Lu Shen!

The plane streaked through the final checkpoint, leaving a long, spiraling curve of clouds behind. The Alpha pilot nearby watched in disbelief as her plane, as if suddenly injected with adrenaline, completed the checkpoint requirements with a series of rolls.

It was by a hair—less than a second—but An Zhaoyu finished the checkpoint before him.

Lu Shen, who had been feeling a bit drowsy, was jolted awake by the rotation. She looked blearily at An Zhaoyu, who was still piloting ahead, completely unaware of the “R-rated” thoughts swirling in the Captain’s mind.

The plane landed at an airfield in a small country, six hours behind her home time. Below was a crowd of cheering people of all complexions. They were like fervent believers; some threw colored candies into the air, others popped open beers. Countless banners stretched across the crowd, blending together in a display of passion.

Those banners… An Zhaoyu looked at them, a bit surprised. During the race, she had no access to the internet, so she hadn’t realized that her participation as the sole Omega had attracted massive media attention.

Banners in English read: Omega, You rock! The Chinese counterparts read: Omega, Greatness! There were messages in languages from all over the world.

Are all those people below Omegas? This was the first time An Zhaoyu had felt such passion, but she enjoyed it thoroughly. She felt no discomfort.

It was an innate confidence, one that didn’t surprise Lu Shen. This glory was well-deserved.

As she deplaned, Captain An was mobbed by the crowd. With a confident smile, she walked spiritedly to the organizer’s area to accept her trophy and certificate.

As for her acceptance speech, An Zhaoyu had only one request:

“Please help me change this background behind me to a blue one. Thank you.”

Support