I sat down in the circle with a smile, watching the two little animals from a distance.
Please, please… This is my earnest instruction, my earnest instruction…
If only time could stand still at this moment. The sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and a snow-white moon rose in the deep blue western sky, the light dimming. She sat peacefully in her enclosure, watching her little animals joyfully return to her side.
Author's Note:
I've finished a small part of the work, but overall I'll still be very busy. It's been so long since I updated that I've forgotten where the story left off, sob sob.
I'm thinking of starting a new fanfic about "Sisters Who Make Waves" couples, let's see if there's anything interesting in the next episode! Hahahaha
Chapter 16 Time Difference.
Fly from the J Islands to Buenos Aires for a connecting flight.
Qin Ruoshui flew to L City, while Qi Yi'an flew to Central Asia and then crossed the entire Eurasian continent to return to China.
During the pandemic, airlines and national policies changed frequently, and people on the road were anxious. The two, wearing masks, almost got separated several times in the crowded airport.
They were separated again. Qi Yi'an ran up and down the various elevators and stairs in the airport, trying to connect to the Internet to call Qin Ruoshui. Finally, he broke down in a moment and slumped down against the wall.
Whether they got lost or not, they were destined to part ways.
…
Exhausted from her journey and jet lag, Qin Ruoshui was somewhat disoriented. She slowly walked to a quiet corner by the window in the waiting area and sat down. She opened her backpack and watched as a box of white cotton swabs slowly and quickly turned black before her eyes…
What's wrong with the air here? Is it highly oxidizing? ...
She looked closer and saw that a hint of blood seemed to be showing through the darkness.
She must be exhausted; her eyesight was failing. She threw away the cotton swab and closed her eyes.
I have tinnitus in both ears, and the air is filled with noise... Is it the sound of an airplane engine running...? Human voices...? The sound of medical equipment...?
…The child said that Buenos Aires means “good air” in Spanish…
She took a deep breath under her mask…
I couldn't even say goodbye before I couldn't find her anymore.
…
Will we ever meet again?
…
…
Qi Yi'an arrived in China in the early hours of some unknown time, trembling with exhaustion and feeling utterly disoriented. He was immediately placed in quarantine in the suburbs, beginning another period of disorientation and uncertainty. All he could recall were white walls and ceilings, monotonous lights—the same despairing days he had been dreaming of.
More than ten days later, by the time she finally managed to hail a taxi back to the city, it was already noon. As soon as she got out of the car, she was hit by the sweltering heat of midsummer. Supporting her weak body, she walked through two sweltering blocks to get a replacement SIM card for her stolen phone before finally returning to her dormitory.
So tired, so tired.
She forced herself to clean the dust off the bed and then lay down without a second thought.
After a long sleep, Qi Yi'an woke up in the evening and finally connected to the internet on his phone.
A text message from Qin Ruoshui popped up on the lock screen. The date must have been when she returned to E country... a long time ago.
…
Back in China, back to my familiar life, everything slowly started to get back on track.
Graduating students are busy preparing for the future, and perhaps due to immense psychological pressure and lack of exercise, or perhaps because of recent mental and physical exhaustion, Qi Yi'an soon fell ill again. A serious illness close to graduation followed by a period of mental and physical exhaustion, leaving him disoriented and unable to distinguish directions, ultimately led to the cancellation of his dissertation defense.
During her illness, she seemed to experience every single symptom of COVID-19, undergoing repeated blood tests and temperature checks, and countless throat swab tests. In her swaying, half-awake state, Qi Yi'an vaguely remembered telling Zou Yibei that she was probably going to die. Did she end up in the ICU, or was she put on a ventilator after a tracheotomy? She had walked a tightrope between life and death again, but remembered very little.
Fortunately, she eventually survived in a daze and inexplicably continued her bewildered life.
The only problem is that I can't get over the time difference. I stay awake all night until the first light of dawn and can't fall asleep. Even when I do fall asleep, I don't wake up until at least the afternoon. I feel like a lonely soul in the dead of night with my days and nights reversed.
After being discharged from the hospital, I had a constant stream of gatherings. I had been away from home for a long time since returning from abroad, and with graduation season approaching and the fact that I was recovering from a serious illness, I wanted to see all my relatives and friends.
Qi Yi'an answered Qiao Xin's call.
"Hey, Ms. Qi~~~ Are you finally feeling better? Let's get together, we've been planning this for ages, you're the only one missing."
“…Programmer?” Qi Yi’an frowned, his face full of disdain. “You’ve gotten even more affected by not having called in months.”
"Oh, didn't I just hook up with my Nan-gege?" Qiao Xin said while making a phone call, admiring her newly done nails. "See you after get off work, let's keep in touch~ All the girls are coming."
Qi Yi'an got up and tidied up for a while, moving her belongings from her dorm room to her newly rented apartment. She planned to pursue a master's degree after graduation, but universities abroad had to postpone their opening dates due to the pandemic. With a few months to spare, she decided to drift around City B, doing some internships or something. What to do?
After getting off work, Zou Yibei drove to pick her up, and the two went to Qiao Xinyue's restaurant together.
"Oh, Ms. Qi~ you're getting thinner and thinner, your chest is so flat it's almost gone." Qiao Xin immediately pointed to her flat chest and compared it to Zou Yibei's E-cup breasts.
Qi Yi'an rolled her eyes and looked at the person in front of her with their flamboyant fingers and effeminate nail polish.
“Hey, programmer,” she looked up at him, barely managing to hide her surprise, “you’re getting more and more effeminate. Have you completely given up on being a man?”
Qiao Xin smugly tossed his hair. He hadn't cut it for months during the pandemic, which suited this cross-dresser's taste perfectly. "I didn't do this because I like it, you know~"
“I like it,” Zhao Xiaonan chimed in from the side, casually putting her arm around his waist.
Qi Yi'an glanced at the two of them in alarm, then looked at Zou Yibei with a face full of suspicion.
Zou Yibei pursed his lips helplessly and closed his eyes in acquiescence.
"What the hell! Zhao Xiaonan, you perverted scumbag, you've scumbed to so many scumbag girls, now you're scumbing to cross-dressers???" Qi Yi'an asked loudly, his emotions running high.
“What do you mean by ‘crossdresser’?” Zhao Xiaonan pressed her down. “A programmer can be a little princess too, okay?”
"Who can't be a little princess?" The cross-dressing man straightened his Lolita princess dress. "Come sit down, let's see what you'd like to eat?"
After graduation, he wouldn't be punished for strange behavior anymore since he wasn't in school, and he wouldn't be financially restricted by his family after starting work. He could finally start to let loose. Qi Yi'an was quite happy for him.
She looked at the menu. She wanted to eat…shrimp…asparagus…and…
The restaurant door opened, and two impeccably made-up young women walked towards them. They were her two roommates, Liang Meng and Bu Nana. Qi Yi'an noticed that they seemed to be increasingly adopting the style of wealthy ladies.
"We didn't even get to take a graduation photo together, let's take one later!"
The group chattered and laughed, having a great time. After a few glasses of Yanjing beer, Qi Yi'an joined in their banter, laughing until his facial muscles ached a little.
I'm so happy...
This restaurant didn't put wasabi on their asparagus...
"We've all heard about it, Qi Yi'an. Apparently, you've had some kind of romantic escapade in Country E. Come on, tell us!" Zhao Xiaonan egged them on. The others joined in the teasing.
"This guy actually refused to come with me on the evacuation back to China!" Zou Yibei complained.
"Hahahaha, as expected of you!"
The group chattered amongst themselves, and after dinner, they were dragged to a bar for another round of drinks.
It was already midnight when I got home after the show.
Qi Yi'an checked his phone messages and saw his grandfather's missed calls.
Qin Ruoshui's message remained on the lock screen.
After they parted ways, Qi Yi'an didn't reply to her, and Qin Ruoshui didn't contact her either. She was always one to give and take. They were separated by half the globe, each with their own time and space. Their lives went on, neither indispensable to the other. The events of the past few days were still vivid in her mind, yet they lacked a sense of reality, like a dream. A dream that happened in another world, involving two other people.
…
The last time Qi Yi'an saw Qin Ruoshui was when he was boarding the plane. He had already checked his ticket, but he still couldn't give up and turned back to search for her one last time.
Finally, my gaze settled on that person. A familiar figure was peering out from the moving walkway opposite the ticket gate, searching for something. Our eyes met, and the girl smiled.
Seeing the familiar smile, Qin Ruoshui smiled back, waved, and tried to walk against the pedestrian crossing to the ticket gate. Qi Yi'an was about to say something when he was pushed and shoved by the boarding crowd.
Could there be a more hasty farewell...? Qi Yi'an smiled bitterly. The scene from that day now seemed like a lifetime ago.
I've been struggling with jet lag these past few days, and my eyes have been red, swollen, and painful. The feeling is even stronger now.
Qin Ruoshui's message only said: Have a safe journey [rose emoji]
"Have a safe journey," she murmured, clutching the blanket. At four in the morning, the birds outside the window started chirping again.
Qi Yi'an wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and raised his hand to type.
Flat-headed lynx:
-You're nowhere to be found
I waited anxiously for news for more than ten minutes.
Qin Ruoshui:
Go to bed early.
…
Flat-headed lynx:
Are you real?
Qin Ruoshui:
-I don't know...
…
At five o'clock in the morning, when it was nighttime in Country E, sleepiness finally overwhelmed me.
She felt she would never be able to overcome jet lag in her entire life.
Author's Note:
...I'm stuck...
I'm so sorry to my friends who pre-ordered the character storylines and to my little group of lovely wild readers [kneeling].
I'm so busy, I can only update occasionally.
Chapter 17 The Doctor.