Chapter 55: Travel
Penguin Logistics Dormitory, 7:00 AM.
All was quiet , only the dawn light. Even those animals in heat had returned to their nests to hibernate. Those damned chirping birds had no place to shelter in the mechanical city, so there were no noisy calls to wake people up.
Li Lin enjoyed this rare private time; even though awake, he didn't want to move, lying in bed constantly wriggling, stretching his body, feeling the lazy magic transmitted from his limbs, feeling as if his life was about to reach great consummation. He hadn't had such a refreshing sleep for a long time. The wolf howls that tormented him were gone, the peddlers' cries that irritated him were also gone; only pure silence and serenity remained.
Ah, how could there be such a wonderful time.
Time, stop, because you are so beautiful…
'Knock, knock, knock.'
"…What is it, so early in the morning."
"Don't forget our plan, the boss specially approved some time for us, don't laze in bed here, hurry up and get up."
Li Lin could feel Sora standing outside the door, looking smug, even without opening his eyes.
Sora was a child who could achieve what she set her mind to, and was also very swift and decisive, not the conventionally cute idol type. So if she decided on something, it would definitely be done at the first opportunity. For example, yesterday they confirmed the fake boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, and today she had already arranged it.
Last night, Sora had already contacted some tabloid reporters and trustworthy media to prepare a statement, and today she was to go out with Li Lin to show their faces, let people take some photos, and prepare for some hype. Of course, it was all within the planned scope. For this kind of thing, the boss, without a second word, strongly supported it, directly approving a day's leave, allowing the two to have a whole day to go out and flaunt their relationship.
But, really don't want to go out, this warm bed…
"Prophet? How much longer do you want me to wait?"
"Wait for me five…"
"Five minutes?"
"Five years…"
'Click! Thump!'
"…"
I knew it, so-called private space is just something I imagined.
Hearing the sound of someone taking out a key, directly unlocking and pushing open the door from outside, Li Lin, covered by his quilt, sighed in his heart, feeling he was truly plagued by disasters.
The power of a Terra idol was really no joke. Just when Li Lin thought he could laze around for a while longer by covering himself with the quilt and clinging to the bed, he felt his body lighten; he was lifted out of the room, quilt and all, and directly thrown onto the sofa. Li Lin emerged from the quilt with a bewildered expression, then saw Sora's bright, smiling face.
"Good morning, get ready to dress, let's go for morning tea together."
"…"
Li Lin silently pulled up his shirt, covering his shoulder exposed due to the rough action, wondering if his positioning had encountered a small problem.
Lungmen morning tea shops could be considered a major feature of Lungmen. Even many high officials wouldn't forget the taste of street snacks; occasionally seeing some people in tea shops early in the morning bragging about their trades worth hundreds of millions, in Lungmen, it could very likely be true. This, to some extent, had already become a social tradition.
By eight o'clock, most people having morning tea had already left one after another; only some relatively idle people were still drinking tea and arguing (抬杠 - tái gàng). And undoubtedly, the trio preparing to patrol the streets was one of them. Ch'en, Swire , Hoshiguma, the three formed a triangle, sitting impatiently in the dim sum shop, attacking each other. This, to some extent, was already a daily routine. Usually, it was Ch'en and Swire arguing, with Hoshiguma pretending not to hear.
'Arguing again…'
And today wasn't any special day either. After eating and drinking her fill and planning the upcoming patrol route, Hoshiguma listened to the two's quarrel, sighed, and turned her head to look at the shopping street.
But as soon as she saw the pair, seemingly a couple, entering as soon as the door opened, Hoshiguma almost spat out everything in her mouth.
This is incredible! T-Rex—referring to a certain white-haired, red-eyed youth still growing, currently 1.6 meters tall—and Little White Rabbit—referring to a certain popular singer, cute-type idol—are dating!
Watching the shocking scene, Hoshiguma abruptly whipped her head around to look at Old Ch'en and Swire, who were still arguing.
"…Old Ch'en, you said you're quite familiar with that Butcher of Kazimierz, right?"
"Should be alright, I guess. What's wrong?"
"Then do you know if he has a girlfriend?"
"No."
"Then what am I seeing now…"
Watching the cute yellow-haired girl holding Li Lin's hand, happily walking into a gift shop, Hoshiguma pointed at their departing backs.
The white-haired, red-eyed youth and the cute blonde girl walking hand-in-hand on the street, no matter how you looked at it, was a scene as beautiful as a painting. But for those who knew these people's identities, seeing this scene made their stomachs feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Towards this shocking scene, Hoshiguma felt she should call others to take a look no matter what. But she didn't hear any echo from behind. When Hoshiguma felt something was wrong and looked back, she saw Old Ch'en and Swire with their mouths agape, looking at the two walking together, with expressions of utter disbelief. That expression was like seeing an astronomical spectacle like Mars crashing into Earth.
"…"
Fine if Old Ch'en is surprised, what are you surprised about?
No, I'm quite surprised too. Her being surprised seems fine then.
Looking at the shocked Swire, Hoshiguma thought with a somewhat numb mind. And after a while, Ch'en silently stood up and slapped a sum of money on the table.
"…Follow them and see."
"What?"
"Follow them and see. I suspect our excellent operator might very likely have been hypnotized."
"…??"
Old Ch'en, I think you're the one who's hypnotized? Just how much do you not want to see this scene?
Looking at Old Ch'en, full of righteous indignation and exuding an aura of justice, and Swire beside her, who loved to watch the fun and didn't mind stirring up trouble , Hoshiguma suddenly felt isolated and helpless, having truly no common ground with these two superintendents who, in various senses, needed some treatment. But seeing the other two excitedly disguising themselves and following behind, Hoshiguma could only sigh and silently follow behind the two superintendents, staring at the somewhat incongruous figures of the pair.
Because ultimately, Hoshiguma was also quite curious. This scene was like a Saiyan suddenly marrying an Earth woman, making people doubt if the Earth woman could bear it, while also feeling there might be some unspeakable green secret involved. If you ask if she wanted to see, she definitely wanted to.
'This is all Old Ch'en making me do it, has nothing to do with me…'
After silently chanting the blame-shifting mantra in her heart, Hoshiguma also followed behind the two, the three of them sneaking around watching the couple who were shopping, starting to observe them secretly.