At ten in the morning, inside Feng Xiaohe’s rented apartment, the luggage, large and small, was already prepared. Most of it contained clothes, every piece folded neatly.
She put away the cotton quilt that had been sunning on the balcony a few days ago, faintly smelling the scent of sunlight.
Turning around, she saw Feng Xiaona tiptoeing as if stuffing something into her backpack.
“Xiaona, what did you just pack?”
“N-Nothing.”
Xiaona froze like a child who had made a mistake. Xiaohe stepped forward, unzipped the backpack, and saw six thick workbooks.
“Haven’t I said it many times? We’re going to Tokyo for a vacation trip. Why did you still bring these killjoy things? When it’s time to study, study hard; when it’s time to play, relax completely. Don’t you understand?”
Xiaohe took the workbooks out of the backpack and replaced them with a Nintendo Switch handheld console she had just bought for her sister and an iPad. Xiaona stood to the side somewhat aggrieved, speechless and choked up, as if her older sister had forcibly taken away her favorite thing.
“In the past, we had no money, so your sister pushed you to study like crazy. But now, it’s completely fine even if you don’t work hard. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, understand? Besides studying every day, you must also learn to relax, or your body will break down.”
When there was no money, only the College Entrance Exam could change the trajectory of fate.
But with money, all roads lead to Rome. Sometimes Xiaohe worried that her sister would study herself silly and forget to enjoy the world’s splendors in her leisure time.
“Why do parents in other families wish their children would study all the time, but you keep urging me to rest well?”
“Because other people’s children aren’t as sensible and strong-willed as you, Xiaona.”
After stroking her younger sister’s soft, fragrant hair, Feng Xiaohe folded the freshly sunned quilt into a square and put it in the wardrobe.
Just after tidying up, the doorbell rang.
Feng Xiaohe went to the door and looked through the peephole, seeing Qu Xiqian and Feng Na dressed in casual clothes.
Immediately, Xiaohe opened the door for them.
“Good afternoon, Xiaohe.”
They had arranged beforehand that Qu Xiqian and Feng Na would also fly to Tokyo in J-Country today, as the tickets were discounted and relatively cheap.
The gathering place was Feng Xiaohe’s home.
“Miss Qu without her maid outfit feels so out of place.”
“Does it look bad?” Qu Xiqian stiffened and asked with some trepidation.
“No, it looks great. I feel this knitted sweater and long pants suit you very well, very literary.”
“Thank you…”
“If you’d take off those round glasses, you’d definitely be an amazing beauty.”
Qu Xiqian turned her face away, seeming a bit shy.
Feng Na and Xiaona hit it off immediately, chatting about recent TV dramas. Xiaohe noticed that the plots and characters they liked were so similar, and their facial features and behaviors were as if cast from the same mold, making Xiaohe feel that Feng Na seemed more like Xiaona’s older sister.
“Are you cleaning?”
Seeing Feng Xiaohe still holding a rag, Qu Xiqian immediately perked up.
“Ah, no need to help, I’m almost done tidying up.”
“Please don’t be polite. Cleaning is a maid’s duty, and it’s also my favorite thing to do.”
Even though she wasn’t wearing a maid outfit, Qu Xiqian’s body seemed deeply imprinted with maid genes. With a broom in her left hand and a rag in her right, she cleaned the seventy-plus square meter rental apartment spotless in no time, as if the floor could reflect like a mirror.
“Wait a moment, I’ll go cook now.”
“Okay, please let me help too.”
Qu Xiqian was not only adept at housework but also a skilled cook. Feng Xiaohe felt that Qu Xiqian was like a robot wearing human skin; no matter what she did, she possessed a mechanical perfection and elegance.
During the meal, Feng Xiaohe asked:
“By the way, what about those cat girls?”
“There’s no need to worry. I hired someone to take care of the cat girls and the bookstore,” Qu Xiqian said, putting on a composed expression as she picked up a piece of vegetable and put it in her mouth. “For me, the most important thing now is to rescue Master from the kidnappers.”
“But…”
Whenever she thought of Bincheng, the mere tip of the iceberg of the Yu Family’s wealth that Yu Qingxue had displayed made Feng Xiaohe shudder with lingering fear.
“I’m not afraid of danger, and I believe that, although Master’s books are currently ignored by the world, one day they will have a crucial impact on this world.”
Her eyes behind the round glasses suddenly became somewhat solemn.
Actually, it was originally just a joke-like absurd science fiction, with bizarre and laughable stories inside. But that book later became a true Book of Prophecy. Some scholars even believed that the World Line they lived in was created by Gao Sijin, and that they themselves were fictional characters.
In the end, alien battleships descended upon Earth, humanity lost its culture, and degenerated into thoughtless animals, raised by alien beings like chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep.
“Must we find him?” Feng Xiaohe asked.
“Yes, we must.”
We must protect the books, protect the culture, protect Gao Sijin.
Technology is advancing step by step, but it is also losing some of humanity’s most simple and honest things.
Her purpose in coming to this world was to see Gao Sijin create that book again, and then copy it down on the most simple paper to prevent the Book of Prophecy from turning into garbled code in the future that could not be interpreted or restored.
Feng Na and Xiaona also exchanged glances. It seemed as if they didn’t need words and could communicate simply with their eyes.
Looking at the group, Feng Xiaohe always felt that only she herself was left out.
Everyone else seemed to have clear goals, while she herself only said she was on a vacation, but actually fantasized about encountering Gao Sijin again on some street corner. But whether she could meet him depended entirely on luck. The only useful information she knew was that Yu Qingxue was studying at the University of Tokyo, but the university had seven campuses. Which campus would she go to find Yu Qingxue, and then find Little Ai?
“Ai, my Ai…”
Feng Xiaohe, pursing her lips, had specially put on makeup today, as if going on a date. Even though she knew it was ridiculous, she still wanted to give it a try.
After lunch, Qu Xiqian helped Feng Xiaohe clean up the dishes.
At eleven-thirty, the group got into Qu Xiqian’s Toyota Highlander SUV and headed to Pudong Airport. The traffic was good today, not too congested, and half an hour later they arrived at the airport.
Her heart was pounding.
“Xiaohe, let’s go.”
Looking back blankly, she seemed to hear Gao Sijin’s voice.
But Gao Sijin was not beside her.
Ah, she remembered.
It was a dream she had experienced before.
She had been holding Gao Sijin’s arm, with Xiaona following behind.
The family of three happily taking a commercial flight to Tokyo for a vacation.
Her consciousness was somewhat hazy. When she came to her senses, the people standing where Gao Sijin had been were Qu Xiqian and Feng Na.
