Chapter 19
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All the on-site work was finished, and when it was time to return, Sun Chen had lost his sleeping pills and didn’t have time to take them in advance, so he ended up rescheduling his flight. After much thought, Liu Cheng, worried about Sun Chen’s fear of flying and the fact that the sleeping pills would last longer than the three-hour flight, took it upon himself to change his flight to match Sun Chen’s. After sending off the rest of the crew, Liu Cheng and Sun Chen were left alone. Sun Chen didn’t know about Liu Cheng’s arrangement, but when he noticed that Liu Cheng hadn’t left, he wasn’t surprised. Instead, he casually confirmed with Liu Cheng about the flight change.
“How convenient, we’re on the same flight,” he remarked nonchalantly after hearing Liu Cheng’s confirmation.
Liu Cheng stared in disbelief, thinking, Do you really not know I switched my flight just to be with you?
After that, Sun Chen took the sleeping pills he managed to buy and sat in the airport lounge, busy with his tablet.
Liu Cheng didn’t want to disturb him initially, but then he noticed that Sun Chen was engrossed in a mystery escape game on his device.
He quietly sat beside Sun Chen and pretended to offer advice, “I think there’s something wrong with that drawer.”
Sun Chen shot him a disdainful look. “You don’t think I know that? The drawer is locked.”
“Well, just find the key,” Liu Cheng suggested, realizing how dumb he sounded—who wouldn’t know that a locked drawer needs a key?
…Except that this wasn’t the right approach…
In the end, Sun Chen smashed the drawer open with a hammer to retrieve the disc inside. Liu Cheng was speechless. “Does this game not follow the usual logic?”
Sun Chen nodded in agreement. “This is a game made by Lin Dun; it’s not supposed to be normal.”
Liu Cheng was surprised. “I thought Lin Dun usually made those dating sim games with cute girls.” He remembered once seeing his friend He Zaifeng completely engrossed in one—it was truly disturbing.
Sun Chen continued playing while casually correcting him, “Lin Dun tailors his games for different people. If he made one for you, it would probably be something like ‘If You’re a Man, Go Down 100 Floors.'”
Liu Cheng was silent for a moment. “Do you think I should go down 100 floors too?” he asked quietly.
“Sometimes,” Sun Chen replied without hesitation.
Liu Cheng felt something inside him shift—a strange softness. “So, when do you think I shouldn’t go down 100 floors?”
Sun Chen answered, “When I think you should go down 101 floors.”
Liu Cheng was stunned.
The whole time Sun Chen had been focused on his game, but now he looked up and glanced at Liu Cheng. “Just kidding.”
Back when Sun Chen had lost his memory, Liu Cheng had once coached him, “If you can’t clearly express with body language and facial expressions that you’re joking, at least follow up with a clarification that you’re kidding.”
…The Sun Chen who regained his memory hadn’t forgotten that advice.
“Xiao Chen…” Liu Cheng whispered, moved by the memory.
“What?”
Liu Cheng didn’t have a good reason. “I just wanted to call you.”
Sun Chen, who had seemed to be in a good mood earlier, suddenly turned cold. “Stop bothering me while I’m playing. Go sit somewhere else.”
Liu Cheng knew he had overstepped, so he quietly moved to the next seat—though it was only one seat over. After a while, he moved back, asking, “How’s the game going? Did you escape yet?” Even he felt like a fool, but if being a fool was what it took, then so be it.
Surprised by Liu Cheng’s persistence, Sun Chen glanced at him before seriously responding, “I’m outside the room now. But I think I need to go back inside, considering Lin Dun’s games aren’t that simple.”
Liu Cheng thought that understanding Sun Chen was what was truly difficult. Yet, Sun Chen suddenly became friendly again, seriously discussing the game with him.
Being terrible at games, Liu Cheng could only offer his best guess, “You used the hammer to smash the drawer earlier, so maybe it can also smash the doorknob?”
Sun Chen paused in shock before turning to study Liu Cheng intently.
Liu Cheng felt guilty under the scrutiny. “I was just guessing.”
Without a word, Sun Chen returned to the game and tried smashing the doorknob with the hammer.
…The game ended. Sun Chen had successfully completed it.
Liu Cheng was at a loss for words.
Sun Chen scrutinized him again. “Lin Dun enjoys making elaborate mazes just to mess with people, but his goal is really just to entertain. I didn’t expect you to understand him so well. Do you know him better than He Zaifeng does?”
Liu Cheng felt as if he was being wrongly accused, as if he were experiencing snow in June. “It was just a lucky guess…”
Sun Chen continued his observation. “What do you think of Lin Dun as a person?” His tone suggested that he might jump to the absurd conclusion that Liu Cheng had a crush on Lin Dun.
To be fair, Liu Cheng did have a good impression of Lin Dun, despite the latter’s unfriendly attitude towards him—mainly because Lin Dun had stood up for Sun Chen, for which Liu Cheng was grateful. But given Sun Chen’s line of questioning, Liu Cheng had to make his feelings clear. “I’m not saying Lin Dun has a bad personality, but I do think He Zaifeng has poor taste… Lin Dun is too short, and no amount of working out will fix that… Plus, his face is too round, baby fat is still fat…” Liu Cheng desperately listed all of Lin Dun’s flaws.
Sun Chen stared at him. “If you talk about Lin Dun like that, I’ll tell him.”
Liu Cheng was filled with mixed emotions.
“…When did you learn how to tattle so well?”
“Twelve days ago.”
“…How did you come up with such an exact number?”
This time, Sun Chen ignored him. After finishing the game, he took a screenshot and busied himself with uploading it to his phone.
For some reason, the specific number made Liu Cheng instinctively think of twelve days ago—when Sun Chen had finally found his long-lost childhood friend, Chen Xi.
That day, Liu Cheng had originally planned to have dinner and watch a movie with Sun Chen. He had been meticulously preparing for days, treating it like a date no matter how much he tried to downplay it. But when he saw Chen Xi, he fled in defeat.
Utterly defeated.
“Xiao Chen, did you end up watching Midnight Convenience Store?” Liu Cheng asked suddenly after a long silence.
Sun Chen answered quickly, “I saw it on opening night.”
He didn’t even need to ask; Sun Chen must have gone with Chen Xi. Liu Cheng fell silent.
For once, Sun Chen initiated the conversation, changing the subject. “Since I’ve returned to S Station, I haven’t seen Gu Qingqiu?”
Liu Cheng admitted honestly, “I asked someone to poach him to another station.”
“For a high salary, I bet?”
Liu Cheng was about to nod in agreement when he realized just in time—Sun Chen’s current salary at S Station was probably lower than Gu Qingqiu’s, and it was Liu Cheng who had ensured Gu Qingqiu got that high salary.
Wait—
Liu Cheng suddenly realized something else: Sun Chen, while not exactly wealthy, earned a decent income and usually didn’t care much about money. So why was he concerned about Gu Qingqiu’s salary?
“Xiao Chen, are you still bothered by Gu Qingqiu? You know you’re better than anyone else; there’s no need to hold a grudge against Gu Qingqiu.” Liu Cheng couldn’t help but whisper, “This is all my fault…”
At that moment, the airport’s PA system announced that their flight had been delayed.
Outside the large floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky was heavy with dark storm clouds. The weather forecast had already predicted that a storm might disrupt normal airport operations. With this delay, they might end up being stuck here.
Liu Cheng looked at Sun Chen, who was starting to feel the effects of the sleeping pills. “You stay here and don’t move. I’ll go check if there are any other flights we can take.”
“Just worry about yourself. I don’t need you to look after me. I’m staying on this flight,” Sun Chen said coldly, frowning.
Liu Cheng hesitated, feeling as though he had somehow upset Sun Chen despite his best efforts to be careful. “Xiao Chen, what’s wrong?”
Sun Chen didn’t answer. He put away his tablet and phone, then hugged his backpack and started dozing off right there on the chair.
Even though Sun Chen was holding onto his backpack as a precaution, Liu Cheng worried that he would fall into a deep sleep and decided not to leave. Besides, the thought of being stranded with Sun Chen, meaning he could spend even more time with him, was actually appealing. Liu Cheng had originally been concerned about Sun Chen’s potential anxiety, but now, this situation seemed like a blessing. He quietly returned to Sun Chen’s side and sat down again.
As the delay continued, the previously quiet lounge became filled with murmurs of frustration. Sun Chen, oblivious to it all, rested his chin on his backpack and fell into a deep sleep. Liu Cheng, watching his peaceful sleeping face, couldn’t understand the impatience of those around him—he felt unusually calm .
“…Xiao Chen, do you think there’s still hope for me to become a better person than Chen Xi? And could you wait for me? Wait for me to become better than Chen Xi?”
But Sun Chen, now completely asleep, didn’t respond.
Liu Cheng gently brushed aside the bangs that were almost poking Sun Chen’s eyes, then pulled out his phone.
Finding Yu Xingzhou in his contacts, he sent a message—
“Double Sun Chen’s salary. I’ll cover the extra.”