The twelfth plane, J city
Only then did Zhai Xiaoyi remember that he really seemed to have made such a promise. He had previously forgotten due to the high stress level and mortality rate of the instance, but now he was back in reality and couldn’t ignore the matter any longer.
‘I’m sorry. How about we push the plans to next week? I have to go to the capital for a bit in a few days, but the second half of the week should be fine.’
‘Push it.. You know what, whatever. It is fine even if you don’t come; we can have just as much fun without you too.’ Xue Liuhe’s voice came from the phone. He sounded kind of sullen, Zhai Xiaoyi thought.
‘Come on, don’t be like this. Isn’t it only a week difference? How about this, I’ll ask my dad about the Soulframer piece you were asking me about. Will you be happy then?’ Zhai Xiaoyi felt like he had lost all integrity as he tried to coax the other.
Xue Liuhe had long wanted to get his hands on one of this artist’s pieces, and naturally he couldn’t turn down such a great opportunity. In the end he nodded reluctantly as he expressed his agreement.
‘Alright, you got me. I will. Next week you say? That might be even better than now. At first I only wanted to drag you outside today but now..’
‘Today? What’s with today?’ Zhai Xiaoyi felt even more confused.
‘Ah? There’s nothing today. I just wanted to invite you to eat out.’ Xue Liuhe laughed, ‘That’s the plan we made. A double date with RanRan and me. You really did forget it, didn’t you?’
‘I might have.’ Zhai Xiaoyi admitted. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Let’s forget about it. As long as you don’t forget the next time..’
The phone in his hand buzzed again and Xue Liuhe asked, ‘Wait, that sound. Are you texting someone right under my nose? Really? What if we went out today? Would you still have started texting in the middle of the conversation?’
Xue Liuhe was not one to get offended over every little thing, but even he had a bottom line; he could absolutely not bear people paying attention to anything else when he was talking to them.
‘I.. Ah. It is not like that at all. First off, it’s work related. Secondly, it is Xihua, so don’t get all jealous just because..’
‘It is because of him that I have the absolute right to feel jealous! If my mother was quicker to remarry I would have been the first to get to know you and then he definitely wouldn’t be there to worm himself into our friendship.. Right, that’s what he’s doing right now. He wants to take our quality time again.’
Zhai Xiaoyi felt like his head was spinning from this kind of argument no one but Xue Liuhe could make sound logical.
‘What are you talking about? Wasn’t it you who came to us? Wasn’t he nice to you the same way I was? Don’t talk nonsense.’ He rubbed his ear with one palm as he quickly typed back.
‘Send it to my email. Thanks again.’
The reply arrived in less than a minute. ‘Yeah, yeah just don’t forget the food you promised me. Right, you’re home?’
‘Yeah, I was already on my floor when I entered the thing.’
‘Did you also get a letter? Should we meet up there?’
‘Sure. I’m planning to go tomorrow, or maybe the day after. Whenever is fine.’
‘Alright. Tell me when you’re arriving then.’ Tian Xihua waited for an answer, but none came.
He put away his phone, carefully folding up the papers filled with notes into his bag before looking around himself.
He was still in the hotel room where he reappeared. None of his mother’s belongings were where she had left them. He could guess just how worried she must have been after not hearing from him for two consecutive days.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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He closed it behind himself, only leaving a slit to see the situation outside. After a couple of moments of noise the door opened.
A middle aged auntie pushed her cleaning cart into the room, and the crisp voice of a young girl followed her in.
‘Ming jie, you can’t believe this Xiao Wenmai either, right? One day he says this but changes his opinion in less than a day – how can the miss put up with him?’
The girl was jumping around happily as she spoke and reorganised the bed. She deliberately lowered her voice into a whisper but it still sounded loud and clear in the room.
‘Ming jie, what do you think? Are the rumours true? My little heart was so happy when the miss first introduced him to us. A fiance, after so, so long.. I was so happy for her. But now, with all this said and done I can’t help but wonder..’
The woman she called Ming jie hummed along with her. ‘It’s not good to gossip so much. Although, maybe it really has to do with the Xiao Group..’
‘I knew it. He is so rich and such a strange man. I think they don’t really like each other. That’s right, how could a wonderful person like our miss even like someone as..’ The two opened the glass doors leading to the small terrace, and soon their voices were covered up by the wind.
Tian Xihua took this chance to leave the room quietly, not bothering to even close the bathroom door after himself. The little maid saw something moving from the corner of her eye, and her movements froze as she turned to stare into the room.
Unfortunately, it was much brighter outside than on the inside of the room. She could only see the shadow of the bathroom’s door opening wider from the light force Tian Xihua pushed it with.
The older woman looked back at her, and she quickly grabbed her sleeve. ‘Ming jie, Ming jie, you don’t know of any ghost stories here in the hotel, do you? There is no way it is haunted, right..’
Tian Xihua slowed his steps into a leisurely stroll once he reached the end of the floor. He turned left, and another corridor came into view, identical to the one he just left behind. He walked straight towards the stairway on the other end.
The corridor had the same green and golden decorations as the other halls. The carpet was a fresh dark green, the same shade as the heavily embroidered curtains. The walls were tall and painted a calming shade of teal, making the paintings in their golden frames appear especially mesmerizing.
Tian Xihua didn’t look at any of it. He was deep in thought, enough so that he almost didn’t notice when he bumped into someone.
‘Ah! Apologies. I wasn’t watching where I was going..’ He said quickly, reaching out to help the woman gain back her balance.
Lin Ran looked up to the person who almost knocked her over. The young man wore a thick, green sweater and had a laptop case under his arm. His hair looked messy as if he hadn’t had the time to comb it yet, and there were a few scattered flower petals amidst the dark curls.
She smiled up at him and waved her hand dismissively. ‘It’s nothing. Thank you for catching me though.’
‘You’re welcome then. Uh, have a nice day.’ The youth nodded briefly with a smile that wasn’t a smile on his lips before he left hurriedly in the direction of the main entrance.
Lin Ran let out a laugh as she shook her head lightly. She didn’t waste any more time standing in the corridor, and walked into the lavishly decorated dining hall.
She sat down next to an elegantly dressed man and closed her purse. The mobile phone she pulled out landed on top of the table, and she gave a radiant smile to the man who just finished a call.
‘I didn’t take too long, did I?’
Xue Liuhe’s dark eyes were filled with her reflection. He smiled back at her as he picked up his chopsticks, ‘Not at all. You came back just at the right time, the waiter just left a moment ago.’
Lin Ran had gone out to the restroom to call the number she had already called over ten times in the past two days with no avail. Before today the call didn’t even connect, but now an automatic voice told her that the line was busy.
That gave her a sense of hope. At least the boy didn’t completely abandon her matter, but instead he simply just had something to do.
The two ate in silence, and only after a couple of minutes spent in tranquility did Xue Liuhe open his mouth to make small talk.
‘I just spoke to my friend I mentioned to you earlier. I don’t know if you still remember him, but he said that he would be glad to get to know you and apologised for missing out on the chance today.’ He twisted Zhai Xiaoyi’s words skillfully so that they fit his narrative perfectly.
Lin Ran tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she ate. She had recently redyed her hair, and now the long locks were a consistent strawberry-blonde color.
‘I’d love to get to know the person you cherish so much too. Would you mind telling me more about him?’
Xue Liuhe shook his head slightly as his smile widened. ‘There’s nothing much to say. I’ve already told you about my mother; well, when we moved to the city I got accepted into a prominent school here. I met him on my first day, and we’ve been best friends ever since.’
‘Oh? How long have you two known each other?’ Lin Ran asked.
‘It should be about seven years? I’m not completely sure, it was all such a long time ago. He was two years below me but he came to look for his friend, and that kid happened to be my new deskmate. It is a..’
The ringing of Lin Ran’s phone cut him off. He smiled lightly, and gestured to the girl to feel free to accept thr call. As Lin Ran held her phone to her ear with an apologetic look, he looked down and concentrated on his meal.
‘Miss Lin, I found the person you are looking for. Is it convenient for you to talk now?’ The voice of the teenager sounded and Lin Ran couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice as she replied.
‘Convenient? Of course. Tell me, what did you find?’
Xue Liuhe looked up for a moment with a light smile in his eyes. ‘Business?’ He mouthed.
Lin Ran nodded quickly as she listened to Zhai Xiaoyi talk.
‘I have the address, but there are some things that are inconvenient to say over the phone. If your brother doesn’t mind, it would be best if I could go with the two of you.’
‘Sure. Is tomorrow alright? Do I need to pick you up?’
At first, Zhai Xiaoyi wanted to say no, but then he thought about it. Why should he have to make things more difficult for himself? If the offer was already made, there was no use of rejecting it.
‘Only if it’s convenient. At seven in the morning, let’s start out early. I still have other business to deal with afterwards, I hope you can understand.’
‘Seven in the morning?’ The girl on the other side of the line sounded a bit stunned.
‘Yeah, if that’s alright. Right, about the payment. It would be best if you could pay me in cash..’
‘I’ll take care of it, don’t worry. I’ll just bring it with myself tomorrow, how does that sound?’
‘Perfect. At seven then.’ Zhai Xiaoyi ended the call. The kitten rubbed against his calf and he bent down to rub its fur.
There was a stack of about a dozen plastic folders in front of him, and he reached out to close one as he opened the next one, only to pull out a stack of papers from inside. He turned the pages until he got to one that only had half of it filled with words.
This case seemed rather simple, but it was this simpleness that made him interested. He pulled out an empty page from another stack, and started taking notes meticulously.
He wrote uninterruptedly until the sky dimmed outside and his stomach let out a low growl. He occasionally picked up one of the books from the coffee table, and read a certain paragraph over and over again before copying it to the paper.
When he felt that he was done, he folded up the paper and put away the files. He pulled out his phone to look something up online as he put on a hoodie. He pulled down a worn out snapback from under a leather jacket, and put on both of them.
After getting dressed, he grabbed the file he had been working on previously and stuffed it into his bag together with the old book and papers he had filled with notes earlier.
He thought for a moment, and refilled a bowl with water before putting it back in its place. He spoke to the kitten as he rubbed the cat’s head, ‘Don’t worry, even if I don’t come back tonight I’ll get someone to check up on you. How does that sound, ah?’
By the time he left the apartment, the corridor was already dark. He locked the door behind himself, but didn’t put away his keys just yet.
He pushed the hat back from his forehead and walked towards the stairwell shrouded in darkness. Every step he took echoed in the building dully.
He didn’t go all the way down, but stopped on the fourth floor instead and knocked on a dark wooden door. A single lightbulb lit up over his head, and soon the sound of footsteps came from inside. The door opened slightly.
A young boy stood on the other side, with no intention of speaking up. He had big headphones the shape of seashells around his neck. The voice of a news anchor could be heard even outside the apartment. He held his palm out towards Zhai Xiaoyi, who simply placed his keys onto the boy’s hand.
The other just nodded and was about to shut the door, when Zhai Xiaoyi stopped him.
‘I might not be back for a couple of days..’
‘I’ll tell grandma.’ The door closed in front of his nose. Zhai Xiaoyi shook his head with a sigh as he headed outside. A couple of minutes after he left, the lights inside the stairwell lit up.
He held his phone as he walked, occasionally looking down at the map opened on his screen.
Near the eastern border of the city, there was a community park called Quietude Park. It was a beautiful garden, rich in all kinds of plants. It was a peaceful and tranquil place, far from the noise of the highways beyond the northern border.
The entire park was the size of about four or five football fields. In the middle, there was a deep lake that seemed black in the darkness. This lake was precisely the place Zhai Xiaoyi was looking for.
At this time, Lin Ran just happened to have arrived at the coffee shop.
She went straight to her bedroom after the usual round of greetings. She changed into casual wear and went to the bathroom to wash off her makeup. Lin Xu was following after her as he babbled excitedly.
‘If he wants us to take him to the capital, does that mean that she’s always been so.. so close? I’m so nervous. To be honest, I thought that she had died a long time ago.’
Lin Ran wasn’t paying attention to him. She tied her hair up and went into the kitchen, occasionally letting out a ‘mmn’ as she began preparing ingredients.
Lin Xu sat on the counter and helped her pick out the spices she asked for. ‘I will have to go and thank old Han personally. If I knew that it could be done in only a couple days..’
‘What do you think, if we asked him, would he be able to help the others too? There are too many who have to bear their grievances day by day. If he helped just a couple of us..’
Lin Ran shook her head. ‘Do you think any ghost can just pay him seventy thousand like us? Where would they even get the money from? Paper money? No. The kid doesn’t seem like the kind who would help just about anyone without any gain.’
Lin Xu let out a sigh. ‘Xiao Liu only has ten years left. He never wants to talk about why he stayed but he goes out to search every day..’
‘Ask him yourself when you see him tomorrow. If you find something he wants in exchange, you might be able to make a deal with him.’ Lin Ran put a lid on the pot and sat down to the dining table. ‘The thing I’m worried about is what he has to say. He said there were details he couldn’t mention over the phone.. Why do I feel so strange about that?’
The author has something to say:
Tian Xihua: (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿)
Next tuesday we’re having a double update because it’s the last day of this term at my school:) Happy pride month everyone!
Did he actually already find the address? Damn, that was fast. Thanks for the chapter. ❤
I want him to help the person who only has 10 years left…
Thanks for the chapter! <3
(= ^ ･ ｪ ･ ^ =)) ﾉ 彡 ☆, thanks!)
Thanks for the chapter!!!