The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

"I saw it."

Someone whispered something, and everyone's eyes turned to the window.

Beneath the gray-white clouds, a blue and white Boeing 737 was descending steadily, with the navigation lights at the wingtips flashing red and green alternately. The landing gear was down and the flaps were in the fully open position.

On either side of it, two Flying Shark 15s, one on the left and one on the right, maintained a precise escort distance down to the meter, their wings almost touching the wingtip vortices of the passenger plane.

As the passenger plane descended to 500 meters, the two Flying Sharks simultaneously pulled up, their wingtips creating two parallel white vortices. They circled once above the control tower before making a graceful combat turn and disappearing into the clouds.

They completed their escort mission and handed the final journey over to Ji Bai.

The passenger plane was getting closer and closer, and its tires were aligned with the center line of the runway.

On the runway, all the emergency vehicles had their lights on, and the red and blue flashes formed a long river of light in the early morning mist.

Firefighters gripped the valves of the water hoses, paramedics held the handles of the first-aid kits, and special operations team members stood ramrod straight.

All eyes were on the slowly descending plane.

The tire touched the ground.

A short, sharp rubber scraping sound, very faint, fainter than any landing heard at the airport normally.

The thrust reversers activated precisely on time, the engine roared to a sudden increase, all the wing spoilers rose, and the speed decreased evenly and steadily.

There was no bouncing, no side slipping, and no deviation from the center line by even half an inch.

The Boeing 737 moved so smoothly, as if it were being supported by an invisible hand, that it taxied for hundreds of meters on the runway before finally coming to a steady stop at the parking position at the end of the runway.

"Perfect landing!"

The tower dispatcher put down the microphone and found that his palms were sweaty.

In the command center, someone started clapping, and then the applause joined in. Several young dispatchers hugged each other, jumping and shouting. The conductor took off his headset and slammed it on the table, then turned around and punched the air.

The elderly man standing in front of the big screen did not applaud, but he took off his reading glasses, took out a handkerchief from the pocket of his Zhongshan suit, and slowly wiped the lenses. The tight curve at the corner of his mouth finally relaxed.

"Let's go pick him up." The old man turned around and strode out of the command hall.

……

At this point, the cabin had completely exploded.

The moment the plane came to a complete stop, the entire cabin was silent for about 0.5 seconds.

Then, as if someone had detonated more than a hundred emotional bombs at the same time, everyone jumped up from their seats. Screams, cries, laughter, applause, and stomping mingled together, almost blowing the cabin ceiling off.

The middle-aged man who had previously boasted that he would have rushed to help if his seatbelt hadn't been unbuckled was now so excited that he ripped off his seatbelt, stood on the seat, and raised his arms, shouting:

"We're here! We've arrived!"

Some people hugged the strangers next to them and wept with joy, while others pounded on the armrests of their seats and shouted, their ecstatic joy at surviving the ordeal breaking through all restraint.

No one can remain calm after going through all of this.

Just over ten hours ago, they thought they were going to perish in the Pacific Ocean.

More than ten hours later, they stood firmly on the land of their motherland.

"We survived! We really survived!"

"Thanks to that young man! Without him, we wouldn't have made it through any of the robbers, bombs, or missiles!"

"This isn't just flying; it's like surviving a near-death experience!"

The crowd buzzed with discussion, all eyes turning towards the cockpit, their gazes filled with gratitude and undisguised admiration.

Ji Bai stood up, stretched his shoulders, and then stepped out of the cockpit.

He walked along the corridor, step by step, toward the cabin door.

As they passed each row of seats, someone would stand up, and then the entire row would stand up.

No one organized it, no one spoke, but everyone did the exact same thing.

He gave the boy a thumbs up!

Ji Bai paused at the cabin door.

He turned around, smiled at the passengers filling the cabin, and then gave them a thumbs up as well.

……

The area below the gangway was already packed with people.

Police, medical, fire, special forces, and dozens of people in formal attire who clearly weren't airport staff.

As soon as Ji Bai stepped down the gangway, a group of people swarmed around him, surrounding him completely.

Leading the group was an elderly man with gray hair, wearing a dark Zhongshan suit. He walked very fast, almost jogging, to meet them.

He grabbed Ji Bai's hand and held it tightly: "Ji Bai, you must have been frightened on the way! I am from the Council of Advisors... never mind, these titles are too long for you to remember, just call me Old Zhou."

As soon as Lao Zhou finished speaking, several other people with equally excited expressions rushed to introduce themselves.

"Hello, Ji Bai. I'm from a certain bureau of the General Staff... cough, anyway, I'm here to pick you up!"

"Hello Ji Bai, I'm from the Office of the National Science and Technology Leading Group..."

"I'm from the State Administration of Science, Technology and Education..."

"I am……"

As Ji Bai listened to the long list of various "references", "offices", "institutes", and "companies", his mind buzzed and his scalp tingled slightly.

People from the Heavenly Palace have arrived!

And the lowest level is Star Lord!

At this moment, Old Zhou released his hand, stepped aside, and his expression suddenly became serious: "Ji Bai, how are you feeling now?"

Ji Bai stretched his shoulders and smiled slightly: "Feeling good."

Old Zhou nodded, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes.

The child, having just escaped a life-or-death chase at 10,000 meters in the air, uttered the first words upon stepping onto the ground. These were not words of fear, nor tears, nor the reaction of any normal person in such a situation.

Instead, it was just a simple "Feeling good!"

Calm, composed, with an indescribable tenacity.

Old Zhou paused, glanced at the person next to him, as if confirming something.

The woman next to him, who was wearing glasses, nodded slightly.

Old Zhou turned back, his gaze returning to Ji Bai's face, his voice gentle yet tinged with seriousness: "You've had a long journey, but you're safe now."

He paused, then slowly uttered the next sentence, each word carrying immense weight:

"Someone wants to see you."

Ji Bai was taken aback. He had just landed and someone was already so eager to see him?

Then, he nodded thoughtfully.

"Then... please lead the way!"

Old Zhou nodded, then stepped aside to protect Ji Bai as they walked to a bulletproof Hongqi sedan that had been waiting for a long time.

The moment he opened the car door, Ji Bai suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "By the way, you don't need to wear a hood, right?"

Old Zhou's lips twitched, then he laughed: "Hehe, as expected of classmate Ji Bai, seeing is believing."

"You've heard my story before?" Ji Bai bent down and got into the car.

"I heard about it from Old Wang from the School of Mathematical Sciences."

Ji Bai leaned back in his chair and pursed his lips: "Looks like Old Wang has been talking badly about me behind my back. By the way, why didn't Old Wang come?"

"Old Wang is in a terrible situation now."

Old Zhou sighed meaningfully, "After this, he'll probably get a beating. If it weren't for that old geezer making you go abroad, there wouldn't have been so many close calls. Although there were unexpected situations, it was still a bit of recklessness."

Ji Bai chuckled: "Then I'm relieved."

"Hahahahaha!"

Old Zhou was taken aback at first, then burst into loud laughter.

He had thought Ji Bai would plead for Old Wang, but he never expected this answer.

This boy is really interesting.

The court session is about to begin... cough cough, how could someone still make such a joke?

This kind of mindset is truly rare.

Old Zhou stopped laughing and patted the back of the driver's seat in the front:

"Set off!"