Early in the morning on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Yusuf Zuck and Ruth Wilcox took a taxi to the airport. The two were returning to Beijing together: Ruth Wilcox to attend to her hotel business, and Yusuf Zuck was going to pick up his car in Beijing and then head south to Hebei. He had promised Paisley Kirk and Miles O'Brien—he owed them that much.
At the same time, he also made contact with Marlon Shepherd, asking him to come to Sanya after the Spring Festival to help with property registration and to assist Rachel Fournier and Sophia with their driving tests.
When the two had arrived in Sanya, they brought plenty of New Year's goods, but on the return trip, their luggage was empty.
At 8:40 a.m., the two of them, sitting in the departure hall, heard the announcement to start checking tickets and boarding, then they joined the queue and slowly moved forward.
By 9:50 a.m., both had passed through the security check and were heading towards the boarding gate.