His expression was serious, whether he was asking about the Snake game or something else.
In fact, even Qin Zhen himself wasn’t quite sure.
Whether the world they were half-dreaming through contained a false sense of reality.
“It’s not retarded.”
He sighed, shoved the phone back into Shen Jin’an’s hands, and from the side, with a half-embrace, he gripped Shen Jin’an’s hand, pressing the directional keys on the phone one by one.
Shen Jin’an’s hands were getting hotter and hotter. Taking advantage of the moment when Qin Zhen was deeply engrossed in the game, he glanced sideways at Qin Zhen. For the first time in his life, deep down, he didn’t want to push this embrace away, and even quietly pressed a little closer into Qin Zhen’s arms.
Qin Zhen noticed, lowered his eyes to glance at him, the smile on his handsome features unchanged.
The Snake on the phone screen slowly grew from a small segment into a long strip, and just as it was about to clear the level, Qin Zhen pressed pause.
The live broadcast interface on the computer screen was still open, and the room was very quiet. He suddenly said, “I’m going back to my hometown tomorrow.”
Shen Jin’an snapped his head up to look at him, a faint, shimmering light flashing in his eyes.
Qin Zhen understood. Without thinking, he voiced a refusal: “You can’t go. Stay here.”
Mu Xiaoxiao had sent him a message yesterday saying she had found some news regarding the president of the Shen Corporation.
By now, news of the disappearance of the Shen Group’s president had long been spread around.
Over half a month had passed, and the president of such a massive enterprise had yet to show his face. More and more people in Huishi’s upper circles had seen the surveillance photos from that night, and most of them felt that Shen Jin’an was doomed.
She had heard from her dad that quite a few people were also looking for Shen Jin’an, and their reach had already extended to neighboring cities.
Qin Zhen didn’t understand the complexities of high-society circles, but he knew that Shen Jin’an’s current situation was ambiguous, and at the very least, he couldn’t openly use his ID card to take public transportation.
Besides, his family situation was too complicated; it wasn’t suitable for Shen Jin’an to go.
Really not suitable.
He pondered for two seconds, then touched Shen Jin’an’s face and added, “I’ll be back in two days.”
Shen Jin’an’s face darkened. He pushed away Qin Zhen’s hand, cold and mocking, “You think too highly of yourself. I never said I wanted to go.”
Despite saying that, when Qin Zhen prepared to leave the next day, Shen Jin’an stayed in the bedroom and wouldn’t come out. Qin Zhen knocked on the door several times, but there was no movement inside.
Knowing that Shen Jin’an was unhappy and didn’t want to talk, Qin Zhen said at the door that he should take care of himself and come out early to eat the food on the dining table.
With a loud click, the apartment door closed.
The person in the bedroom finally stood up and walked to the balcony.
Shen Jin’an hadn’t slept all night, deep bruises visible under his eyes. His overly pale skin showed a sickly tint under the blazing sun, and his exquisite face grew increasingly gloomy. As if immune to the burning heat, he stared intently at the exit downstairs.
He seemed to have been abandoned.
This thought suddenly sprouted, instantly growing wildly in his mind. Unreconciled, he silently recited Qin Zhen’s name, dark undercurrents surging in the depths of his eyes.
He wanted to drag the person back. He wanted to lock the person away.
Just, what would he drag him back for? And what could he do if he locked him away?
He didn’t understand, and he couldn’t figure it out.
He picked up his phone and pressed the assistant’s number several times. Each call hung up in less than three seconds. When the other party finally called back, he didn’t answer, directly pressing the power button.
The figure downstairs still hadn’t appeared. Just as Shen Jin’an’s eyes half-drooped and his fingertips tightened to the point where his nails were about to pierce his palms, the door behind him suddenly opened.
He turned around, stunned.
Qin Zhen was also quite surprised to see Shen Jin’an, but he quickly figured it out, his peach-blossom eyes smiling yet not smiling, “You were watching me from the balcony?”
“No,” Shen Jin’an instinctively denied. A few seconds later, he stared coldly at Qin Zhen and turned to walk toward the bedroom, “Why did you come back?”
Qin Zhen gave an unbothered oh and took the car keys off the hook, “Taking you with me, are you going or not?”
Shen Jin’an’s steps stopped immediately, his face glowing with beauty, “Going.”
“Even if it’s very poor and the conditions are very backward?”
“Mn.”
“Even if the car ride on the road takes a long time and is very hot?”
Shen Jin’an stared at him with furrowed brows, seemingly feeling that Qin Zhen was trying to dissuade him, but refusing to open his mouth first or give Qin Zhen that out. He changed his shoes with lightning speed and stood at the doorway, looking entirely ready for Qin Zhen to leave.
Qin Zhen stared at the food on the table for a long time, internal conflict warring within him.
In the end, he figured he should take him along anyway.
No matter where he was, he had to protect Shen Jin’an first before he could save him, and at the very least, he had to take care of Shen Jin’an and make sure he ate well.
Hearing the word save, 999 quickly popped out to peek from the dark, quietly probing Qin Zhen’s thoughts.
Is this how it’s done? It didn’t understand either, but it always felt like something was off.
The hosts it had bound to in the past for missions, didn’t they all investigate the target’s past like criminal investigators?
Why did it feel like this host didn’t take the target’s past seriously at all?
He only thought about how to take care of the target, not rushing to complete the mission at all.
Driving back from Lian City to Qin Zhen’s hometown took over four hours.
The mid-July weather was growing increasingly scorching. When the two stopped halfway to rest at a service area, Shen Jin’an lost the vigor he had when they set off. He slumped listlessly in the passenger seat, his pretty eyes gazing wearily at Qin Zhen.
Probably due to rarely going out, Shen Jin’an’s skin was as if it had never been exposed to the outdoors; through the glass, a small red patch had been baked onto the side of his face by the sun.
Seeing that he wasn’t wearing his usual cold expression, Qin Zhen instead felt regret for not driving the nice car Shen Jin’an kept in the garage, which had a much stronger windshield UV protection index.
He went to buy two bottles of iced water for Shen Jin’an to hold, turned the air conditioning to maximum, put his own sunglasses on Shen Jin’an’s face, and then took a quilt from the trunk to wrap around Shen Jin’an, making him look like a wrapped rice dumpling.
“Still hot?” he asked.
Shen Jin’an didn’t know what he was thinking about; he blinked at Qin Zhen, and finally reached out a slender finger to touch Qin Zhen’s forehead, asking instead of answering, “Are you cold like this?”
Both of them froze.
Over so many days, they had interacted quite a bit, but this was the first time Shen Jin’an had taken the initiative to reach out and touch him.
Qin Zhen paused for two seconds, grabbed Shen Jin’an’s hand to pull it down, returned to the driver’s seat, fastened his seatbelt, and stared straight ahead.
As the car started up again, Qin Zhen said, “Not cold. The weather’s hot.”
Shen Jin’an stared at his hand that had just been pulled away for a few seconds, wondering what he was thinking, before pressing his lips together and saying nothing more.
The car passed across a sea-crossing bridge, went through a tunnel, and eventually arrived at a place where tall buildings could occasionally be seen in the distance.
Qin Zhen’s hometown was a very small city.
With pleasant summer temperatures and distinct four seasons, it had failed to develop long-term due to an unfavorable geographical location. As a result, over the years, most of those who passed the university entrance exams stayed in the big cities and didn’t return. Coupled with the many young people leaving for work in major cities, the city was mostly populated by middle-aged and elderly residents.
When the two drove up to the entrance of the residential complex, the security guard in the booth glanced at them twice, getting ready to ask for their parking card, when he suddenly stared fixedly at Qin Zhen for a long time, bolted out of the booth, and yelled, “Qin Zhen? Qin Zhen, you’re back?!”