83

Our Reality

Chapter 83

Ji Yushi had been transferred from Ning City to Jiang City to complete an A-level mission and went missing for a full month, and when the entire squad returned safely, he was also the last to return. All this time, his family had been worried about them. As soon as they heard that he had returned, the Ji family couldn’t wait any longer and Ji Minyue drove directly to Ning City to pick Ji Yushi up.

Ji Yushi opened the back seat door, threw his belongings in and then sat in the front passenger seat.

Ji Minyue had already talked to him through the phone earlier so when he saw him, his first words were: “You’ve lost weight!”

This was just like the bubble world. Ji Minyue had gained weight himself so he would pay more attention to whether another person had lost weight.

Ji Yushi calmly said to him, “I wish I could say something like that when I see you.”

Ji Minyue who had sworn countless times that he would start exercising but was always too lazy to start almost spat out blood, “…Little classmate Ji, can’t you be a little more affectionate?”

“Of course I can.” Ji Yushi proceeded to change his tune, “Brother, thank you for coming to pick me up.”

His younger brother was still a younger brother who held grudges.

It seems that despite going missing for a month, he wasn’t left with any psychological shadows.

Ji Minyue was satisfied when he saw this. He started up the car and drove out, “Didn’t you say earlier that you would be out soon? Why did you take so long?”

Ji Yushi froze for a moment and then said, “Said a few words to Cap Song.”

When Ji Minyue heard this, he frowned, “Why? Does he have a problem with you? Even if he has his prejudice, this mission is already over. Why is he still making things difficult for you? I can’t believe he still won’t let you off even when you’re about to leave. I don’t think you should agree to transfer over in the future even if they’re lacking in people. Look at what a mess this one became….”

The window rose.

The car drove out of the Jiang City branch.

As Ji Minyue’s voice got angrier and angrier, the large silver-white building grew smaller and smaller through the rear-view mirror.

Ji Yushi rested his head against his seat. The air-conditioning in the car was quite refreshing.

But his ears were still hot.

Song Qinglan’s words were of course not what he thought he meant but this straight man who had only recently become bent seemed to have a special ability to say things too ambiguously, making others start thinking too much.

“I’ve escaped singlehood.” Ji Yushi suddenly said.

“What?” Ji Minyue was caught by surprise so he didn’t hear him clearly, “What did you say?”

Ji Yushi, “I’m dating.”

Ji Minyue almost ran a red light when he heard this. He changed the car into automatic driving mode and then turned to ask, “You? Dating? When did it happen? Is the other party in Ning City? Would they be worried after you disappeared for a whole month?”

“It’s Song Qinglan.” Ji Yushi said, “The person you were talking about earlier, captain of Jiang City’s seventh squad.”

Ji Minyue recalled, “But wasn’t he a homophobic straight man?!”

Ji Yushi, “Bent.”

Ji Minyue was dumbfounded for a few seconds. He slapped his thigh, “You have skills!”

*

The car that Ji Yushi had used to come to Jiang City had already been driven back by Ji Minyue so they went straight to the Ji residence. Along the way, Ji Minyue picked up a call from home. Aunt Su had personally cooked up a table of food in order to welcome Ji Yushi’s safe return.

Just like last time when he returned to the Ji rresidence in the bubble world, the courtyard was filled with flowers.

Just like when he was a child, Ji Yushi passed by the hand-carved rabbits placed on the front porch. This place was filled with memories.

For the people here, they were only gone for a month.

For the people in the seventh squad, it felt like a lifetime.

Ji Minyue walked ahead with Ji Yushi following him.

Aunt Su came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. When she saw Ji Yushi, she was distressed, “Jian Jian, you’ve lost weight! Has it been difficult for you this past month?”

“Auntie.” Ji Yushi stretched out his arms and took the initiative to embrace his adoptive mother.

“It’s good that you’re back.” Aunt Su patted his back. Her voice was a little choked. She had always been the emotional type. She hurriedly suppressed her emotions, “Teacher is upstairs. Having been gone for a month, he’s not in a good mood. Be good, go and coax him.”

Familiar words. The scenes that had already happened once in the bubble world played again. It was different but there were also similarities.

That world was derived from their real world so encountering something like this was something Ji Yushi had expected.

He closed his eyes and didn’t say anything. He took some time to digest it all.

This time, Professor Ji was also waiting in the study. Seeing Ji Yushi knock and enter, he turned off the holographic projection and pushed up his glasses, “I heard you violated the regulations and acted on your own?”

Chief Lin and Professor Ji were good friends, so it was natural for Professor Ji to be well informed.

A father knows their son best. As soon as the news that Ji Yushi returned later than the others reached Professor Ji’s ears, he didn’t have to think to know where he must have gone.

Ji Yushi stood before the table with his eyes half lowered. He clearly knew that he was wrong.

But Professor Ji knew that although this child may know that he was wrong, he wouldn’t necessarily correct it, just like when he went behind Professor Ji’s back to join Tianqiong as a Recorder and even incited Ji Minyue to help deceive him.

Sure enough, Ji Yushi said, “It’s not entirely a violation of the regulations.”

Professor Ji placed the transparent panel aside, “Tell me.”

Ji Yushi, “You may have heard about the Tianqiong parent system?”

Professor Ji nodded.

Ji Yushi continued, “In addition to declaring itself as the parent system, it also claims to be the ‘Tianqiong of all eras’.”

Professor Ji waited for him to continue.

“We completed a lot of high-level missions it had prepared.” Ji Yushi only briefly touched on this and then moved onto the main point, “After achieving the objectives, it gave a reward. Perhaps the association itself had not yet recognised Tianqiong’s ability to give rewards but it indeed has this authority so it cannot be considered as going completely against the regulations. It’s just a matter of time before they recognise this.”

Professor Ji finally spoke, “But you wasted this reward.”

He had returned to that year where the nightmares began but hadn’t done anything.

All those years of hard work may have all become nothing, but he chose to let go.

Ji Yushi was silent.

“You must have found a more suitable method.” Professor Ji said, “Jian Jian, I’m very happy to hear this, you are stronger than I thought. These shackles of yours cannot be removed by others, but by yourself. You haven’t become a prisoner of time. I am glad.”

Ji Yushi said, “I still have to go back.”

Professor Ji nodded, “Of course. I just don’t know if your actions would affect the points you had gathered until now….”

“It’s okay.” Ji Yushi raised his eyes, “If it’s affected, I can just start again.”

Since he was a child, Ji Yushi had always been introverted and calm. He almost never had a child’s naivety, and it was also rare seeing him passionate about something. His visit to Jiang City this time had brought about a lot of changes. The look in his eyes was something Professor Ji had never seen before. Professor Ji’s eyes couldn’t help but dampen with relief.

Not noticing the other person’s emotional changes, Ji Yushi pulled over a stool and sat down, “Teacher, let me borrow your pen.”

Professor Ji took out a pen from his drawer and gave it to him, “Why?”

“A pen and paper is safer.” Ji Yushi received the pen and then found a notebook on the table, “When I was completing a mission, I met someone.”

The pen made a few swishing sounds as it slid across the paper.

In a few strokes, Ji Yushi managed to draw out an outline of someone relying on his memory. With the addition of some details, the picture of a middle-aged man appeared on the paper. His face was round, slightly chubby, and he looked rather gentle.

When he was done, he tore it off and gave it to Professor Ji, “Look, have you seen this more than ten years ago?”

More than ten years ago? Professor Ji fell into thought.

Ji Yushi had gone to complete a Guardian mission this time so he should be travelling ahead in time and space, but he had met someone from more than ten years ago. This goes to show that time and space of different points had intersected at some point.

This matter involved the stability of time and space. Even if he was curious, Professor Ji didn’t ask about it. He just received the paper and carefully recalled.

After a while, Professor Ji shook his head, “I haven’t seen him. Do you have any other information?”

Ji Yushi said, “He may be my father’s colleague.”

Professor Ji frowned and tried to remember, but it was to no avail, “Back then, the small group fell apart and several of them lost contact. My specialty was also different from your fathers so there are many of his colleagues that I have never met before. I can however save this photo and let Old Lin take a look. Perhaps he would know something.”

“Okay.” Ji Yushi was a little disappointed, but it was very fleeting, “Thank you.”

Having met his teacher, Ji Yushi got ready to go downstairs.

After reaching the end of the corridor, he suddenly stopped in place.

This was the room he had stayed in from when he was a child until he became an adult. It had been a long time since he entered.

Opening the door, a familiar calming scent entered his nose.

When he was away, Aunt Su had continued to keep this place clean, hoping that he could stay here when he returns.

The room faced south, and the lighting was very good. Outside the balcony was a lush forest —- When he first came here, the Ji family had left the best and most comfortable room in the house for him.

The four walls were densely covered with numbers.

When he was a child, he had written an endless sequence of Fibonacci numbers in order to calm himself down.

Standing on the wooden floor, countless afterimages of himself in this room appeared.

The him hunched up and curled up in the corner, the him lying on the floor staring up at the ceiling all night, the him who finally fell asleep in Aunt Su’s arms on a rainy night, the him suffering from memory overload, no longer able to distinguish between memory and reality and no longer able to speak…..

Those young figures walked back and forth around him. Ji Yushi who stood in the centre allowed the memories to travel through time.

Nothing had changed.

But at the same time, everything seemed to have changed.

Ji Yushi walked over to the balcony. He looked up and took in the light breeze and sun.

He still had many things he had to do but at this moment, there was a strong emotion surging inside him, making him want to express it.

Ji Minyue happened to be passing by under the balcony. He shouted, “Hey, Xiao Ji, missing your boyfriend?”

Ji Yushi opened his eyes. Seeing Ji Minyue carrying a cat carrier, he smiled and turned around and went downstairs.

There was a black cat in the cat carrier.

Ji Yushi hesitated for a moment, “This is Middle Black?”

Ji Minyue, “Don’t tell me you can’t recognise it! They’re just a little fatter!”

The black cat looked at him through the mesh, letting out soft mews. It was clearly acting spoiled.

The three cats were all black. He really had some trouble recognising it despite being someone who could tell Tang Qi and Tang Le apart accurately. He wondered, “How come all the cats you raise become so fat?”

“What do you mean all?! You’re body discriminating!” Ji Minyue was done, “This wasn’t raised by me. It was under the care of Chief Lin and was only just sent over. I was also shocked when I saw it. Chief Lin probably spoiled it too much and gave it too much dried fish.”

Ji Yushi was surprised, “Why did Chief Lin help raise the cat?”

Ji Minyue announced proudly, “I got a new corgi.”

Ji Yushi, “…….”

Even this point was the same as the bubble world?

“Middle Black didn’t get along with the dog and I originally planned to send it home for Old Ji to raise but when Chief Lin saw it, he took it home instead. When he heard that you came back, he couldn’t bear parting with it.” Ji Minyue said, “Big Black and Little Black are still with me. Your sister-in-law has already taken them to be washed and will bring them over after work later today.”

When Ji Yushi opened the cat carrier, the cat immediately cried sweetly and jumped into his arms.

It was fragrant and warm. The black cat’s shiny hair brushed against Ji Yushi’s clear face, making him reveal a rare gentle look.

Ji Minyue watched them act intimate and added, “Actually, it might not be Middle Black. You should check the chip and make sure there isn’t a mistake.”

Ji Yushi who was cuddling the cat, “?”

Ji Minyue complained, “Speaking honestly, your three cats all look exactly the same. Except for you, the only ones who can distinguish between them must be gods!”