CH 155

Chapter 155 The Journey

This was definitely the most tormenting dinner Jian Chi had ever had.

Ji Huaisi picked vegetables for him, Shao Hang also picked vegetables for him. Ji Huaisi and Jian Chi were talking, but Shao Hang had to interrupt, and he deliberately made it difficult for him to do anything. Jian Chi’s bowl was piled full, then finally Wen Chuan said that it would be wasted if he couldn’t finish it. Jian Chi nodded in agreement, then did Shao Hang stop his childish behavior.

In front of Jian Chengchao, no one would do too much.

However, Jian Chi felt that even if Shao Hang kissed him in front of his father, with Jian Chengchao’s reaction speed, he would first think it was a joke among friends.

Jian Chi made an excuse to escape back to the bedroom, the door was cut off from the surging air, and his ears were immediately clear.

The background music of the TV and the sound of chatting can be heard from time to time outside. Fortunately, Ji Huaisi was here, and Jian Chengchao’s satisfaction with him was obvious to the naked eye, but it was also because Ji Huaisi was here that Shao Hang seemed like he ate a pound of explosives, and he made no secret of his hostility. Jian Chi held his breath for a while, confirmed that the movement outside was peaceful, then breathed a sigh of relief.

This kind of scene was full of weirdness, and he couldn’t tell where it was. The time, place, characters, atmosphere and things were all wrong, but no one but him seemed to notice the strangeness.

If the situation just now happened a few more times, Jian Chi felt that it might cost him his life. 

When a knock on the door sounded, Jian Chi raised his head and faced Wen Chuan, who pushed the door open. His dangling heart fell back to it’s original position. He got up and planned to get out of bed, “Is my dad looking for me?”

Wen Chuan closed the door with his hands behind his back, walked to him and sat down beside him, “No, I’m looking for you.” 

When he met Wen Chuan’s eyes, Jian Chi was inexplicably frightened, he didn’t know what to explain. He struggled to organize the language: “I didn’t know my dad would call you over tonight. I wanted to send Ji Huaisi home from the hospital, but…”

“I guessed it,” Wen Chuan said, “Shao Hang is trying to demolish Ji Huaisi’s stage and uncle thinks they are fighting between friends and doesn’t care.” 

The novel idea was not much different from Jian Chi’s guess.

Jian Chi had a strange feeling that he didn’t know how to describe, his lips opened and closed, and after several repetitions, he said, “Don’t you think… this is very strange?”

“Strange?” Wen Chuan paused.

“I’m talking about our relationship,” except Wen Chuan, it seems that no one else can let Jian Chi express his inner feelings earnestly and calmly, and the words after the first word gradually become smoother, “No normal person should, after rejecting and breaking up, still stay with each other in this way, like tonight. I shouldn’t tolerate this abnormal relationship, right?”

“Have you only discovered it now?”

Wen Chuan looked into Jian Chi’s eyes, his pale lips curved upwards, fleetingly, “It’s too late.”

“What…” 

The suddenly lowered head brought the distance between the two faces very close, and the tip of his nose only needed a little bit of a distance to touch. Jian Chi looked at his flawless face and fell into a short blank, and heard Wen Chuan’s voice slowly ringing: “Before you found out, everyone had this feeling that it would happen sooner or later. If it was earlier, the scene may be very unpleasant. I don’t know when they understood, but after seeing you and Ji Huaisi break up, I found that all the previous attachments came from my wishful thinking. Compared with fighting for a result, your feelings are  more important. I think they may have noticed this.”

Wen Chuan said in a low voice.

“What is the normal standard of judgment? That it must conform to the world to be normal? What if the world is wrong? I just follow my heart, and it tells me that I want to stay by your side, no matter what my status is.”

Originally overthinking it, Jian Chi’s heart trembled uncontrollably.

His breath was stagnant, Wen Chuan raised his hand and caressed the back of Jian Chi’s head, took it to his direction, and the tips of their nose touched. Jian Chi couldn’t tell whether it was his breath or Wen Chuan’s breath, but it interchanged and stirred his rational strings.

“You said that in university, you will give me an answer, I’m still waiting,” Wen Chuan’s dark eyes were filled with a layer of tenderness that was hard to see, and he said everything silently, “Don’t run away this time, wherever you are, I will find you.”

There was a series of footsteps from far to near, right outside the door, followed by Shao Hang’s voice and the knock on the door. It was a pressing precarious gloom: “Wen Chuan, come out for me, I know you are inside.”

Jian Chi wanted to turn his head but was blocked by Wen Chuan. As if he hadn’t heard the movement outside, he said, “I was led astray by you just now. I had something I was going to ask you about.”

This sentence took Jian Chi’s attention away. Looking into Wen Chuan’s eyes, “What’s the matter?”

Shao Hang was still making noises tirelessly outside the room, which was bound to break the atmosphere inside, but at this moment, his ears only allowed Jian Chi to catch Wen Chuan’s answer. His lips were pressed against his earlobe, and he spoke loudly. His voice was warm and powerful, and after a moment of silence, a mighty turmoil erupted in his heart.

“Would you like to take a graduation trip?” 

On the day that the admission letter was mailed to his home, Jian Chengchao was as excited as the first time he received a letter from Sainston. As the main person, Jian Chi was calm, and spent an afternoon choosing the courses he had already decided on, submitting tuition fees, rehearsing every step countless times in his heart, then really pressing the confirmation button, and his calm heart finally became a little faster.

Jian Chi checked the weather forecast of Boros again three days later, and it happened to be a sunny day suitable for flying. University started on February 1st, and this year, he was doomed to not be able to celebrate the New Year at home, but Jian Chi did not plan to get on the plane to leave on the eve of February 1st. He had already bought tickets and was leaving 3 days later.

Jian Chi thought about this graduation trip for a long time, and often thought about the route of the trip before going to bed. The end result was often that he couldn’t sleep.

Wen Chuan’s proposal was not a surprise that suddenly fell on his head. Even without him, Jian Chi would seriously consider taking a trip. He didn’t tell anyone about this idea, including Ji Huaisi. Once informed, it will always turn into a disguised invitation in the end.

Jian Chi didn’t want to repeat the embarrassing scene where everyone gathered that night. Even the best-tempered Ji Huaisi and Wen Chuan, he didn’t want to see them be put in a difficult situation. Without Wen Chuan’s suggestion, Jian Chi might choose to travel alone in the end.

The tour began in Boros. Jian Chi had already anticipated that the next four years of study and working life would not necessarily allow him to travel all over the country, and the first place he wanted to know was the country where he was about to start a new life. To this end, he had already done his homework, including famous scenic spots, and delicacies recommended by locals. When he came across inconsistent information when checking places, Jian Chi went to ask Shen Shuting, after all, as a half boros person, he had the right of speech.

Shen Shuting can always accurately pick out what Jian Chi didn’t like to hear, and gave useful information before he couldn’t bear it. He ignored Shen Shuting, but Shen Shuting would come to tease him. One morning, when Jian Chi woke up, he heard the sound of commotion downstairs while eating breakfast. Jian Chi held the breakfast in one hand and looked out the window unintentionally. At a glance, the cup in his hand almost fell to the ground—Shen Shuting was standing downstairs.

A man with blond hair and blue eyes suddenly appeared in an ordinary residential building, showing nobility in his gestures, and people passing by couldn’t help but take a few more glances. Jian Chi didn’t want to go down and stand beside Shen Shuting at all, which would definitely make him famous among the neighbors, but in the end, he was really afraid of being discovered by Jian Chengchao, so Jian Chi still walked towards Shen Shuting with a numbing scalp of onlookers.

In the first sentence of them meeting, Shen Shuting asked, “Why did you block me?”

Jian Chi wanted to answer him, don’t you think this is worth blocking?

Of course, Jian Chi also kept it a secret from Shen Shuting about this travel plan. If he told him, he would have no freedom at all in Boros. As for whether Shen Shuting would find him as easily as finding his address, Jian Chi could only resign to fate.

Three days later, on the same comfortable sunny day, Jian Chi arrived at Chuanlin International Airport with a suitcase full of luggage.

The hall was crowded with people, and the radio broadcasted the flight information in different languages in turn. Jian Chi wanted to contact Wen Chuan. Before leaving, he was worried that his luggage would not fit, so they made an appointment to meet directly at the airport. However, there was only half an hour left for the check-in, and Jian Chi still did not see Wen Chuan.

There was no reply to the message, and his phone could not be reached. Jian Chi even wanted to let the airport broadcast a notice of missing person, and soon thought that Wen Chuan might not have come at all. Last night, they also talked about the itinerary after landing and the first scenic spot to go to. Did Wen Chuan suddenly regret it in those few hours?

Jian Chi was not sure whether to go through the security check first, or wait for Wen Chuan until in the last moment, someone suddenly called him from behind: “Hello, are you Mr. Jian Chi?”

Looking at the man in the airport uniform, Jian Chi replied: “I am.”

“Are you waiting for Mr. Wen?” The staff member said, “He has already boarded the plane and asked me to pick you up. I will help you check your luggage first. Please come this way.”

“Wait— —” Jian Chi was taken to the checked luggage position in confusion, “Has he already boarded the plane, why didn’t he tell me?”

“There is no signal on the plane, and the rest, I am not sure. I just follow the instructions of the guests.”

All procedures went smoothly with the help of the staff, but Jian Chi just felt that something was wrong. He had never been on a plane before, but he remembered that he bought an economy class ticket. He should follow the rest of the guests to the security check, and then check the ticket and board the plane. All the steps were described in this way. No one ever told him that a staff would suddenly appear. The staff helped him with everything, and then took him to a special passage where there was no queue.

“Did you make a mistake? I bought economy class, are you sure I’m going here?” 

The staff glanced at the ticket handed out by Jian Chi and said with certainty, “It is here, you can feel rest assured and follow me.”

“But…” 

The staff’s firm attitude prevented Jian Chi from going on.

Walking through the spacious passage, the stewardess standing on both sides of the cabin door led him into the interior of the plane with a professional smile. The curtains on both sides were pulled aside, and Jian Chi, who was about to move forward, froze in place. The scene in his eyes left him blank, and he almost forgot to breathe.

Shen Shuting was sitting at the front with a glass of alcohol poured on the small table by the window, and his expression remained unchanged when he saw him, “What are you doing standing there? Come and sit down, the plane will take off soon.”

“Why does he have to sit on your side?” Shao Hang’s dissatisfied voice interspersed, and the last sentence was said to Jian Chi, “I have reserved a place for you.”

Ji Huaisi, who was sitting in the back, got up and walked towards him with a helpless smile: “I was waiting for you to tell me about this plan until last night, but I didn’t get it.”

“You… all knew?” Jian Chi felt that his brain was not enough, and he couldn’t figure out what went wrong.

Shen Shuting said, “What do you think?”

Jian Chi felt that Shen Shuting used those four words to degrade his IQ, and was about to refute it when his back suddenly hit a chest. He turned his head, and met Wen Chuan’s dark apologetic eyes. He whispered: “Change was faster than the planning.”

Is this a question of fast or slow? Obviously, it had become two completely different things. When Jian Chi regained his senses, he was already sitting next to Shen Shuting. The scenery outside the window was moving from slow to fast, and he could clearly feel the sound of the wheels rolling across the runway. Jian Chi finally found his voice: “Since you knew, why didn’t you say it?”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Shen Shuting leaned over to Jian Chi’s side, causing Shao Hang to spit out a warning, which was completely ignored by Shen Shuting, “Don’t like this surprise?”

“No…”

This was indeed an accident that can’t be said to be more surprising or more hilarious.

Jian Chi looked at Shen Shuting’s face that was close at hand, his own face was reflected in the emerald pupils, and Ji Huaisi reminded him to fasten his seat belt and sit in his seat, either intentionally or unintentionally. Shao Hang was still telling Shen Shuting to stay away, and when the plane was stable, he had Jian Chi come over. Wen Chuan explained that he didn’t lose contact on purpose, this change also made him feel sudden, but not unexpected.

After all, it was inevitable that they ran into each other, and once again faced the scene of ‘overcrowding’.

The moment the plane took off from the ground, the weightlessness of the body and the lightness of the soul, Jian Chi couldn’t describe the feeling at this moment. Shen Shuting seemed to read what he wanted to say from the bottom of his eyes, and his cold face showed a rare warmth hooked to the corners of his lips.

“Can’t speak anymore?”

“I have to gradually get used to it,” Jian Chi said, “My ears are so prickly.”

Shen Shuting handed over a mint, and the coolness in his mouth dispelled the discomfort caused by the buzzing. The plane gradually stabilized at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the sun shone through the glass, the clouds overlapped, and Shen Shuting’s voice fell in his ears.

“Enjoy this trip,” he said. “The plane will take ten hours, and I will say a few words less during that time.”

Jian Chi couldn’t help but smile.

It was like helplessness, like throbbing, like a little bit of unspeakable expectation.

A person’s journey may be exciting, but the addition of others heralds the possibility of discovering more unknown landscapes.

Saintston will not be the end of the journey, nor will it be their end. This was a long and splendid journey, taking life as a unit, and going straight to their future.

Finish.

There will be a lot of extras in the follow-up. The personal ones are tentatively scheduled for Wen Chuan and Bai Yinian, and there will be many sweet daily life in college and work (Shura Field). The extra update is irregular, and it will be finished in June.

Finally, thank you for reading here, thank you for your comments and support, whether it was criticism or encouragement as the driving force for me to write. I know there are many imperfections in this piece. I am trying my best to write it well and present the best look. I hope everyone likes it, and I hope the next one will be even better. I love you.