Bonus chapter (2/5)
Xiao Yiheng hadn’t contacted Li Cheng for 1 day, 14 hours, 23 minutes.
Li Cheng knew Xiao Yiheng—this was not normal.
Even during the most tiring period of Li Cheng’s training camp when the two couldn’t exchange even a few words a day, Xiao Yiheng insisted on saying good morning and good night to Li Cheng every day. Even if Li Cheng didn’t respond, he still conveyed his greetings.
But their chat record remained the same as the day before. Li Cheng texted him a lengthy paragraph, but Xiao Yiheng didn’t even respond with a punctuation mark.
Li Cheng attempted to call Xiao Yiheng. Overseas calls were costly, but he couldn’t care less.
However, he merely received the mobile network operator’s cold response—”The number you’re calling is switched off.”
With his personality, Xiao Yiheng would swap his phone and contact Li Cheng as quickly as possible if his phone was lost or broken. It was inconceivable to have gone so long without communicating!
All of the panic and worry that Li Cheng had been repressing in his heart burst forth in a moment, causing him to conjure up all kinds of awful scenarios.
No…don’t think about it.
Li Cheng bit his bottom lip and pulled out his phone to call Teacher Qiu Xian.
The call was soon connected.
Li Cheng didn’t waste time and jumped to the point, asking, “Teacher Qiu, have you and your spouse visited Xiao Yiheng at the camp lately?”
“What?” Teacher Qiu Xian stated unequivocally, “Oh! No, we haven’t. In fact, we planned to see him at school for the Spring Festival and send him some dumplings, but we haven’t been able to reach him in the last few days, and his phone has been switched off.” She paused for a second and questioned sharply, “Li Cheng, what’s wrong with Xiao Yiheng? Could it be that you too can’t contact him?”
“…”
Li Cheng’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t want to concern the teacher, so he pretended nothing had occurred and replied, “Umm, unfortunately, we quarreled lately. I am in Australia right now to participate in the competition, so I can’t return. I hoped that if you were intending to go to the school to visit him, you could help me coax him…”
Teacher Qiu, as expected, was duped by him. She was convinced that the young couple was having an argument. She eagerly explained how omega would coax alpha after a conflict. As he hummed in agreement, her pointers entered Li Cheng’s left ear and exited via his right ear.
After Li Cheng hung up the phone, he went straight to the coach’s room and asked her to let him return home ahead of time.
Coach Yu was surprised by his request: “… You aren’t attending the closing ceremony? The closing ceremony is the day after tomorrow. You’ll be the flag bearer once more. Following the closing ceremony, the entire delegation will charter a flight back to China. We’ve already notified the media. When we return, there will be media interviews…”
Li Cheng cut in hurriedly: “Coach Yu, I am really, really, really very anxious. I can’t wait for three days. I must attend to an urgent matter when I return to China. As for the flag bearer at the closing ceremony, I’m sorry, but please find someone else on the team.”
The coach ultimately agreed to his early departure after noticing that the anxiety on his face did not appear to be feigned.
“If you go back alone, you must pay attention to safety on the road.” Coach Yu stated, “If something happened and you need help from the team, simply speak up.”
Li Cheng shook his head and didn’t say anything else. He knew that if he told everyone he was in a hurry to get back home because his boyfriend hadn’t responded to him for a day, everyone would think he was making a fuss.
He did, however, believe in his sixth sense and the unspoken understanding between him and Xiao Yiheng.
Xiao Yiheng must be in trouble!
“By the way, there’s one more thing I’d like to remind you of.” Coach Yu took a brief pause, “The team doctor stated that the inhibitor injection you received prior to the competition should have been entirely metabolized in your body by now. You can enter the estrus period at any time, and due to the drug’s side effects, your estrus will be extremely dangerous this time. You must pay attention to your physical changes, Li Cheng. After returning to China, it is advisable to stay at home and wait quietly for the estrus to pass.”
Li Cheng gave a bitter smile. Would he be able to “remain quietly at home”? If something had truly happened to Xiao Yiheng, he wouldn’t be able to stop even if the estrus had broken out.
After saying his goodbyes to the coach, Li Cheng booked a ticket for the earliest available flight and dashed back to the dormitory to pack his belongings.
He didn’t have much luggage, and a lot of it was unnecessary. He tossed away the majority of the items, leaving only two gold medals and everyday necessities in the empty suitcase.
… …
The aeroplane landed at China’s Capital Airport after ten hours of flight time.
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 hoped that the text messages were all sent by Xiao Yiheng, but his expectations were dashed.
All of the text messages were from his teammates, the majority of which were sent by Zhou Jian.
Li Cheng couldn’t hide his disappointment.
Zhou Jian: Li Cheng, why did you leave so suddenly?
Zhou Jian: The coach just told me that something came up and you needed to return to China. She asked me to carry the flag in your place.
Zhou Jian: What happened? Why did you leave in such a hurry?
Li Cheng sent him a reply.
Small Round Orange: Came back for work.
Zhou Jian: … …
Zhou Jian: Is it related to your boyfriend?
Li Cheng didn’t expect Zhou Jian to be so keen.
Small Round Orange: Yeah.
Zhou Jian: … …
Jian Zhou: Do you recall what I said to you before we left for the Games? I said I have something to tell you after I win the gold medal.
Zhou Jian: I wanted to tell you in person, but I didn’t anticipate you leaving so abruptly.
Li Cheng had a vague recollection of this incident, but he was entirely focused on Xiao Yiheng’s business at the moment, and nothing or no one else could impact him.
Small Round Orange: If you have something to say, just say it directly on WeChat, okay?
Zhou Jian fell silent and did not respond.
Li Cheng didn’t take this episode to heart. His entire attention was focused on his boyfriend, who had been out of touch for three days at the time. Nothing else could have an effect on him.
He walked out of the airport and promptly hailed a taxi to the Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts.
It had recently snowed in the capital, and the wheels left a trail of muddy tire tracks on the accumulated snow.
Red lanterns hung from the branches on both sides of the street in that silver-white landscape. When Li Cheng looked around, he noticed “Celebrate the Spring Festival” slogans everywhere.
“Is it approaching the New Year?” Li Cheng inquired of the taxi driver.
“Yes,” The taxi driver said, beaming. “Today is the 29th of the twelfth lunar month!”
The taxi came to a halt outside the Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts. Li Cheng stepped out of the car, carrying his luggage. He knocked on the Academy of Fine Arts’ gate and informed the security guard that he was looking for someone.
The Academy of Fine Arts’ winter camp was not on holiday. The students would spend their final Spring Festival of high school painting.
“Looking for someone? No, no, that’s out of the question!” The security guard waved him away repeatedly. “The winter camp is closed. I can’t let anyone in!”
Li Cheng inquired: “Can you contact that man and ask that he meet me at the gate? Please?”
However, the security guard was obstinate, stating that no one was permitted to leave or enter the building.
However, how could such rules deter Li Cheng?
He went straight away to the back wall of the school, found a place without a camera, and simply jumped over the fence with a simple run-up and hand support!
The last time, Xiao Yiheng climbed the high fence for Li Cheng. This time, Li Cheng was looking for him.
The Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts campus was modest, and Li Cheng soon found the students’ studio.
Because it was lunchtime, the studio was deserted and no one could be seen.
Li Cheng entered the studio and examined each piece of art one by one. He was well aware that this was the final piece of artwork created by the pupils in order to compete for the limited number of recommendations. In ten days, whomever could create an artwork that impressed all of the teachers would be allowed to stay.
The forms of the art works varied, and they were not limited to a single mode of expression. Li Cheng moved between the rows of art pieces. He noticed sketches drawn with black carbon pencils, abstract works layered on top of each other like mosaics, landscape paintings, and numerous oil paintings.
Among these works of art, however, none was signed by the three familiar characters.
Finally, Li Cheng stood in front of an easel, its back facing the corner. A thick felt material was used to cover the easel. There appeared to be a mystical voice directing Li Cheng to it.
He slowly moved his fingers to grab a corner of the felt material, and gave a gentle tug. The felt cloth slid down the edge of the picture frame, exposing the art beneath.
It was an unfinished painting.
It was a portrait with a plethora of vibrant hues.
Gold, orange, blue.
It was the brilliance of music notes falling on piano keys, the splendour of gushing water falling into the sea.
A magic wand had morphed into a paintbrush, directing the colors into a spectacular blend.
The appearance of the person in the painting was hazy. The outline of the face, lips and nose were not clearly defined. Only a pair of eyes, as if they were alive, were skillfully drawn.
Those vivacious eyes were filled with love and faith. Every person who saw those eyes would be enchanted by their brilliance.
Li Cheng stared blankly at the painting.
He held his breath and simply stared.
Because he recognized the individual in the painting.
—That was himself.
There was no doubt that the unfinished portrait was Xiao Yiheng’s work.
It was one of several occasions Xiao Yiheng had drawn Li Cheng.
Though the meaning was altogether different this time. It was no longer a sketch drawn for self-entertainment; it had been meticulously outlined by the alpha and would be presented with the most perfect attitude in front of all teachers—Xiao Yiheng planned to use that painting to knock on the door of Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts.
Li Cheng then remembered that Xiao Yiheng had promised him over the phone that he would give him a surprise gift when he returned from the tournament.
Li Cheng had already lifted the veil on the intriguing gift, but where had the young alpha who painted the artwork gone?
There was a sudden flurry of cries from outside the classroom door as Li Cheng stood stunned—”The golden-haired boy! Who are you and how did you get in?!!!”
The owner of the voice was a girl. Her voice was clearly shaking, but the words she shouted were ridiculously threatening: “You, you, you, don’t move! Let me tell you that all of the paintings in this room are priceless. If you dare to draw on one casually, you’ll not be able to compensate even if you lose your fortune!!”
Li Cheng had no intention of destroying the paintings in the room (albeit he was very suspicious of the term “priceless”). He put down the felt cloth in his hand and turned around honestly: “Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding. I’m here just to find a friend.”
While he was speaking, he turned around to see a girl his age standing outside the studios’s door. She was clutching a broom and staring at him warily.
The left side of the girl’s hair was dyed pink, while the right half remained black. She wore two tall ponytails on either side of her head. The contrast of pink and black colors made her unforgettable.
When Li Cheng saw the girl’s appearance, he blurted out her name: “—Are you Amy?”
“—Are you Li Cheng?”
Both fell silent at the same time.
“—Are you Xiao Yiheng’s classmate?”
“—Are you Xiao Yiheng’s boyfriend?”
There was silence again.
“—I heard Xiao Yiheng mention you!”
“—I heard Xiao Yiheng mention you!”
“…”
“…”
Fearing that they might become repeaters again, the two gazed at one other in dismay.
In the end, the impatient Li Cheng spoke first: “Amy, I’m looking for Xiao Yiheng. Do you know where he is?”
Amy’s expression became very dazed when she heard his question.
“He didn’t tell you about such a major incident?”
Li Cheng questioned, “What are you talking about?”
“He quit winter camp!” Amy explained regretfully, “A couple of days back, he was painting in the studio when he suddenly received a phone call. His expression became very wrong, and he abruptly dropped out of school that night.”
Li Cheng: !!!
“Dropped out of school???” Li Cheng thought he had heard it wrong.
How could Xiao Yiheng possibly quit school? He loved painting, and it took all his hard work to get the opportunity to study at the Huaguo Academy of Fine Arts. How could he have given up so easily?
But Amy’s tone was adamant. She saw Xiao Yiheng leave with his luggage. Other students speculated that Xiao Yiheng must have become tired of painting and desired to return to his role as a study god, so he left without looking back!
Amy, on the other hand, was skeptical. She followed Xiao Yiheng, babbling about why he had abruptly dropped out of school. But Xiao Yiheng didn’t elaborate—”He just said I should give you the painting he drew.” Amy scratched her head. “At the time, I felt that was quite odd. He did not provide me with your contact information. How was I supposed to present you with the painting? I wasn’t expecting you to find it on your own.”
Li Cheng examined the artwork, thinking that Xiao Yiheng’s abrupt departure had turned into a mysterious puzzle. It was as if a tangled mass of woolen yarn had been thrown in front of him, but he couldn’t discover the major threads that were concealed inside it.
Li Cheng: “What then? When Xiao Yiheng left school, was there anything unusual? For example, was his expression very depressed?”
“No… Oh, yes! He got in a car parked on the side of the road after walking out of the school gate!”
Li Cheng instantly inquired about the car’s characteristics.
“It wasn’t anything exceptional; it was just an automobile that you see everywhere… I recall that, in addition to the driver, there were two other people in that automobile. One was in the rear row, but I couldn’t make out their faces, and the other was in the front passenger seat. After Xiao Yiheng was seated in the rear seat, the middle-aged woman in the front passenger seat got out and sat in the back seat as well—all three of them sat in the back seat, just like the escort in a TV series.” Amy could still recall that bizarre scene after so many days because of it.
A middle-aged woman?
A middle-aged woman who would come to school looking for Xiao Yiheng and had the power to force him to “actively” quit the camp?
A dreadful thought occurred to Li Cheng.
Li Cheng tried desperately to stop his imagination from running wild, but after ruling out all other possibilities, the only option that remained was the correct one.
Even if the answer was so cruel.
Amy questioned timidly, “Li Cheng, do you know where Xiao Yiheng has gone?” as she noted the dramatic shift in Li Cheng’s expression.
“… I know.” Li Cheng stated as he booked the first available flight to Huacheng on his mobile app. “Xiao Yiheng should have been taken away by his parents.”
Go go Chengcheng get ur boyfriend out of the evil crutches of those parents😁
No… i believe in Yiheng… no way he doesn’t have a plan… he must have known this would happen although it was a bit too early… XYH jiayou
Thanks for the chapter € ^ *^)/// ~~ ♡♡♡♡♡
Ah lmfao sorry for replying xxx
Np 😁
After so many good news came a bad news. Yiheng might be taken forcibly by his parents.
Hes 18 though. How can they force him now?!
Nooooo QAQ You got this ChengCheng, get your man back!!
thanks for the chapter <3
Li ge go save your husband!
Thank you for this chapter!!
His parents are truly terrible. I hope Yiheng wins an admission ticket. He needs to be free.
I will be very disappointed if XY doesn’t have a plan.
I’m sure Yiheng has a plan~
Thanks for the chapter <3
UGH
Why can’t Yinhengs parents just let him do what he desires? He is already skilled in every other subject, isn’t that enough?! 😭