Still half asleep, she grabbed the phone by her bed and, with unclear consciousness, found that familiar cat avatar-
Are you asleep?
After sending it, she tried hard to open her eyes. In a brief moment of haziness, she saw the “typing” indicator at the top of the chat box flash once.
It just flashed once.
It seemed like the other person had instinctively and accidentally clicked into reply to her.
But he immediately realized and then pretended not to be there.
It wasn’t until eight in the morning that the other person, as if timing it, replied: Just woke up.
Lin Zhexia looked at this “just woke up” for a long time.
She was a bit angry, but more than that, it was an emotion called concern.
Concerned that he wasn’t sleeping at night again.
Concerned that he was afraid she would worry, so he deliberately pretended to be asleep and didn’t reply.
Concerned that it might… affect his competition the day after tomorrow.
And it was physics, a very important competition for him.
Suddenly, Lin Zhexia felt as if her whole body was filled with something called courage and impulse. She opened a travel app to check tickets to the neighboring city.
It was over fifteen hundred kilometers from here to Haicheng City.
More than six hours by high-speed rail.
The next train was at three in the afternoon.
“Xiaxia,” in the afternoon, Lin He, still worried, called her every day, “How are you doing at home?”
Lin Zhexia said, “Mom, I’m fine.”
Lin He: “Why is it so noisy there? Where are you?”
Lin Zhexia stood alone in the crowded train station, surrounded by people coming and going, with screens showing train schedules constantly flashing: “I… I’m out playing with classmates.”
Lin He: “Classmates?”
Lin Zhexia was afraid the train station announcements would reveal her location, so she didn’t want to talk much with Lin He: “Yes, it’s too noisy here, not convenient to talk on the phone. I’ll text you later. That’s it, I’m hanging up now.”
Lin Zhexia hurriedly hung up the phone.
Then she held the ticket from Lianyun City to Haicheng City in her hand, looking for the entrance location on the flashing schedule screen.
Lin He usually restricted her movements strictly, so this was the first time she had traveled far alone.
Going to a place more than a thousand kilometers away by herself.
Haicheng City was a northern coastal city, a place completely different from Lianyun City.
But just thinking that the person a thousand kilometers away was Chi Yao, she didn’t feel afraid at all.
Looking back later, the time on the train that day seemed very brief, yet also very long. The scenery outside the window kept changing, leaving the Jiangnan water towns, passing through large farmlands and mountains, and stopping at several different cities along the way.
Finally, she squeezed out of the crowd at the train station, stood at the exit of Haicheng City Train Station, looked at this unfamiliar city, and only then belatedly felt a bit lost.
Chi Yao had sent her photos of the hotel before, but she didn’t know the specific location.
It was already past nine at night.
The sky was dark, and the accents of people talking around her also felt unfamiliar.
Someone saw her standing at the exit and tried to talk to her, but they spoke in a local dialect she couldn’t understand.
Lin Zhexia ignored everyone.
Finding a corner at the exit to crouch in, she made a phone call to Chi Yao.
“Chi Yao.”
After the call connected, she asked: “Are you asleep?”
On the other end of the phone.
Chi Yao sat in the chair by the window, looked at the bed that showed no signs of use, and said, “About to sleep.”
Lin Zhexia thought, yeah, right.
She didn’t persist with this topic and suddenly said: “Do you believe in magic?”
The other end of the phone was silent for a moment.
In those brief seconds, he seemed to hear some noisy sounds.
“It’s so late, and you’re not home. Where are you now?”
Lin Zhexia didn’t answer his question and continued on her own: “I know magic. If you share your location with me, I can appear by your side.”
On the other end of the phone, the young man’s tone changed.
Chi Yao’s voice lowered as he repeated the question: “Where are you?”
Lin Zhexia immediately realized Chi Yao was a bit angry.
Or rather, anxious.
Lin Zhexia didn’t dare to continue joking and honestly said, “I’m in Haicheng City now.”
“Haicheng City Train Station Exit 2, by the side, next to the pillar.”