ATGJSY: Chapter 31
Rong Qian moved a chair into Shen Yi's room and sat with him through the night, eventually dozing off. When she woke up in the morning, she found Shen Yi's jacket draped over her.
Looking up, she saw that the bed was empty. She felt the sheets, which were still warm, and heard the sound of running water from the bathroom. Shen Yi was showering.
Stretching lazily, Rong Qian checked the time—it was six in the morning. Feeling unusually industrious, she decided to make breakfast.
Pouring oil into the frying pan, she turned the heat up high. Once the oil heated up and started to smoke, she cracked an egg into the pan. With a loud sizzle, the oil splattered, startling her into jumping back.
Holding the spatula, she watched as the egg began to burn. She wanted to flip it, but the sizzling oil seemed to warn her off. She was at a loss, fumbling awkwardly.
Just then, a hand reached out and took the spatula from her.
Catching a whiff of a fresh, clean scent, Rong Qian looked up to see Shen Yi, freshly showered and still enveloped in a mist of steam.
He expertly turned down the heat, lifted the frying pan, and with a flick of the spatula and a deft tilt of the pan, flipped the egg over.
Rong Qian was amazed and clapped her hands in praise, "Impressive!"
Shen Yi, expressionless, scooped out the burnt side of the egg and poured more oil into the pan. With one hand cracking an egg and the other holding the pan, he moved fluidly through the motions.
Rong Qian couldn't help but gaze at him with admiration. Despite their long acquaintance, Shen Yi never ceased to surprise her and make her eyes light up!
Like now, dressed in a crisp white shirt with sleeves rolled up, exposing his lean forearms. His hands, long and fair, made her wonder what it would feel like to hold them.
He must have showered hastily, as his hair was still damp and tousled, yet it seemed like an intentional style, a perfect example of artful dishevelment.
Indeed, when someone is naturally handsome, even dressed in rags, they look like royalty. His aura was undeniable.
"Plate."
"Hmm?"
Shen Yi looked up at her, "Plate."
"Oh!" Snapping out of her reverie, Rong Qian hurried to get a plate for him.
Realizing she'd been staring dumbly, she silently berated herself for being so entranced!
However, imagining him in the future, adored by countless girls and becoming a global sensation, she felt it was entirely reasonable to be momentarily mesmerized. His charm was simply irresistible.
Yet, such a person later vanished from the annals of history...
The thought darkened Rong Qian's mood. What would happen to Shen Yi in the future? Did he really die?
Shen Yi, with his obsessive tidiness, insisted on cleaning the pan right after cooking breakfast. As he washed the pan under the faucet, he was about to ask Rong Qian to take the breakfast out when he glanced up at her and suddenly dropped the pan in alarm!
With a clang, Rong Qian snapped out of her somber thoughts, confused by his reaction.
"Why are you crying?" Shen Yi's voice was laced with tension.
Rong Qian was taken aback. She was crying? She raised a hand to her eyes—wet. She really had been crying.
Why was she crying?
Wiping her tears away haphazardly, she smiled at him, "It's nothing, just got splattered by the oil. It hurt and made me tear up."
"Let me see." Shen Yi said, inspecting her hand. Sure enough, there were a few small red spots where the hot oil had splashed.
Frowning deeply, Shen Yi said, "I'll get some burn ointment."
"It's fine, it'll heal soon." Rong Qian stopped him. It was just an excuse she had made up; she hadn't even noticed the oil burns until he pointed them out.
Shen Yi scrutinized her, "Did you really cry because of the oil burn?"
"Yes, you might not know this, but I'm super afraid of pain!" Rong Qian declared confidently. Shen Yi's frown didn't ease. He looked at her and said, "Then doesn't fighting hurt?"
Rong Qian knew what he was referring to. She joked, "Fighting and getting hit are different. I train to avoid getting hit because I'm afraid of pain. Besides, what I do isn't fighting, it's self-defense!"
Shen Yi remained silent for a while before finally saying to her, "From now on, if you want to eat something, just tell me. You don’t need to cook."
"It’s not that I want to eat, but I want to cook for you."
Rong Qian was simply being honest, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said. However, Shen Yi's ears turned red, and the smile curling at his lips betrayed his delight.
"In any case, you should stay out of the kitchen," Shen Yi advised her with mock seriousness.
Rong Qian laughed, "Are you afraid I'll get burned again?"
"I'm afraid you'll cry."
Shen Yi gazed into her eyes, and those three words slipped out almost involuntarily.
Rong Qian was momentarily stunned. Goodness! She almost fell for his charm!
In the end, Shen Yi still applied burn ointment to her hand.
"That time Lu Xuan carried you to the hospital in the middle of the night, was it because of one of your headaches?"
After breakfast, Rong Qian stood at the kitchen door while Shen Yi focused on washing the dishes. He didn’t look up but replied to her question, "Something like that."
"So stubborn," Rong Qian chuckled, shaking her head at his obstinacy. "Lu Xuan told me that you guys have a 20-day break for Christmas. Does your holiday start today?"
Unlike in their home country, there were no summer or winter breaks here. Typically, universities in the U.S. had a three-month break during June, July, and August, and a 20-day break for Christmas.
"Yes."
"So, do you have any plans for the 20-day holiday?"
Shen Yi finished rinsing the last plate and turned to look at her. She was leaning against the doorframe, biting into an apple. She loved apples, especially the crisp, crunchy ones.
According to her, eating apples helped her concentrate. Her colleagues relied on smoking to stay alert, but she disliked the smell of smoke and found it unhealthy.
Shen Yi rarely heard her talk about herself. When he did, he immediately asked if her colleagues were also time travelers. She had deftly changed the subject, evading his question.
Shen Yi was intensely curious about her identity, but Rong Qian always managed to distract him with an excuse or another task before he could press further. Eventually, he stopped asking.
"Is there something on my face?" she asked, noticing him staring at her in silence. She instinctively touched her face.
Shen Yi shook his head and was about to say something when a rapid knock sounded from outside.
They exchanged a glance. Just in case, Rong Qian was about to hide when they heard an anxious voice, "Shen Yi! Are you home?"
It was Lu Xuan!
Shen Yi went to open the door, Rong Qian following behind him. As the door opened, Lu Xuan stood there, breathless and sweaty, asking, "Shen Yi, have you seen Shiyi? Or has she been here?"
Shen Yi shook his head. "No."
"Chen Shiyi? What's happened to her?" Rong Qian asked with concern.
Lu Xuan, after his anxious journey, found a sense of reliance upon seeing the composed Shen Yi and Rong Qian. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "She didn’t return to the dorm last night. Her classmates said she left school alone yesterday afternoon and hasn’t been seen since."
Rong Qian glanced at Shen Yi, then motioned for Lu Xuan to come in and explain everything.
According to Lu Xuan, a few days ago, Chen Shiyi had mentioned finding a part-time job and that she had an interview in a couple of days. She had left school yesterday afternoon for this interview and hadn’t been heard from since.
Lu Xuan now deeply regretted not asking for more details about the job and its location. Chen Shiyi had kept it a secret, wanting to surprise him, so he hadn’t pressed for information.
Looking back, Lu Xuan blamed himself for his lack of vigilance, for allowing her to go to an unknown place alone. What if she had been deceived? Or worse, drugged and sold?
The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became, to the point where he nearly slapped himself. Shen Yi, quick to react, stopped him from hurting himself.
"I went to the police this morning, but they said it hasn't been 24 hours yet, so it doesn’t count as a missing person case. They told me to keep looking," Lu Xuan said, frustration and guilt evident in his voice. He was on the verge of breaking down.
Rong Qian remained calm.
Missing person cases were common in police work. Compared to those who reported disappearances months after the fact, Lu Xuan’s promptness in going to the police was commendable and would greatly aid in the investigation.
However, even though the U.S. police wouldn’t open a case yet, Rong Qian, as a detective, wasn’t one to sit idly by.
Previous / Table of Contents / Next
Comments
Post a Comment