#and i swear chen jiayu is so good later

[yue-muffin]

Chapter 6-7!

Alright, I was still not one hundred percent on board with Chen Jiayu as of this chapter (I swear I come to love this guy! but for now...I was still side-eyeing him). I couldn't believe he continued to hold this chip on his shoulder to the point of confronting an air traffic controller who is probably Fang Hao in the airport cafe of all places, about an incident that happened a week ago and wasn't even major (would be more understandable if there had been an actual safety concern, or if Fang Hao was rude or unprofessional to him...but he was not. especially in an emergency, atc are supposed to stick to standard terminology and be composed and to the point).

Moving on, it was actually not unsurprising that Fang Hao remembered his flight number (/call sign? I get kind of confused about which they use when, but in any case, Air China's callsign is the same as the company's name so it wouldn't make a difference). Same goes for any of the other stuff Fang Hao remembers - you would think it would be easy to forget in the chaos, after it's happened, but I've seen interviews of air traffic controllers who can remember memorable incidents like that fairly easily, even down to which taxiway or runway they were on, the aircraft involved, etc.

Anyway, Lu Yan is right to be cackling at him for trying, only to make a fool of himself. He really should have just dropped it!

Going into chapter 7, we get a little more insight to Chen Jiayu as a person, and the responsibility and fame that have been foisted on his shoulders as a result of him just doing his job. This is when he started growing on me, I guess!

We get the narrative reminding us that he was labeled as a hero by the media, but in his heart doesn't feel like he was being heroic, and it wasn't this awe-inspiring 'self-sacrifice' they make it out to be. He was just trying to do his job: fly the plane, and get himself and everyone to safety. I would also feel incredibly awkward with that much praise...some people are just like that. Others soak it up and take it much better.

The other reason he doesn't like all the attention, though, is related to PTSD. The story doesn't define it as such, but clearly this is something he struggled with after the incident, and probably still does to an extent. It says that every time he is asked to talk about it, "he had to relive those terrifying moments on the air" but "faced with someone as enthusiastic and passionate as Yang Weian, he had no choice but to engage". So, even just casual talk, answering questions and such, causes him some psychological distress.

Another detail we get about Chen Jiayu: he's a good son, a good role model, and he has a hard time saying no to people. It's all a recipe for disaster, mentally...all that pressure on his shoulders, and so far it's shown he only ever gives to others, or others are relying on him, but there are few he can rely on (Lu Yan being one of them, but she's moving away!). Even his parents, who supported him, are now growing older and have health problems, so it's their turn to rely on him.

But well, moving on!

We get a nice, stress-free interaction between our main leads! Granted most of it was work related, but they have a short friendly chat over the radio. Then, Chen Jiayu ends it with "don't forget to accept my friend request btw!" Hahaha, this guy.

I guess he gets away with it because he's the airline's golden boy lol.

All this gets recorded, by the way, so if anyone ever went back and listened to these recordings haha...

And to end the chapter, Fang Hao accepts his friend request and his "apology" (which he only gave as a perfunctory thing, not because he actually meant it).

I actually have no idea how anyone can function on the hours these people have to work...