Chapter 42 Unwelcome Visitor

Chapter 42: An Unwelcome Visitor

He couldn't remember ever sharing a bed with anyone before. Chen Jiyan woke up to find he had turned from lying on his back onto his side, opening his eyes to an extremely close, sharply angled face.

This can't be good for my heart, he felt, then thought, So, You Jinhui needs sleep too?

Because of where they were, dawn broke early, and the room's curtains didn't block much light. He lifted his right hand, holding it about ten centimeters above the other man's eyes.

Last night, from up close, he had seen clearly—the man wasn't exactly travel-worn, but his face did show fatigue.

He was idly counting You Jinhui's eyelashes, thinking what a considerate roommate he was, when his wrist was suddenly grabbed. In the increasingly glaring light, he saw pale blue eyes looking back.

"Good morning?"

You Jinhui, however, didn't let go. "No one knows I'm here."

"Do you need a fanfare to welcome you, Chief Executive?"

"That won't be necessary," seeing Chen could still joke, he knew they were reconciled. "Help me put on a show."

It sounded childish and boring. Chen Jiyan refused.

"What do you think of the CSA?" he switched to another topic.

"It's a bit different than I expected. It doesn't seem very large in scale." He was somewhat disappointed. He thought it would be comparable to the research institute, but it seemed to be just a private, non-profit organization.

"Hmm," You Jinhui, lost in thought, was repeatedly squeezing his hand, "After today, they'll probably take you inside."

He pressed Chen Jiyan's knuckles with moderate force. Chen Jiyan knew he'd have to play along with this act.

"Of course, the Chief Executive's matters are more important. Thank you for considering me worthy. Full disclosure: my acting skills are approximately zero."

"Wait for my cue."

Chen Jiyan went through the motions, going to the church to get his volunteer duties for the day. By lunch break, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of anyone.

"Just so we're clear: I'm not paying for anything broken, any doors slammed, or any other damage from emotional outbursts."

Thus, the peaceful afternoon was shattered by the piercing sound of breaking porcelain.

What a waste. He had tried to find the plainest cup possible, but it was still heartbreaking.

The director was fully committed to his role. If only his entrance hadn't been so exaggerated. You Jinhui had changed his outfit somewhere, now in black clothes, long boots, with a gun at his hip. He looked every bit the unwelcome guest.

"So this is what you've always thought. That I'm arrogant, that I think I'm above everyone, that I'm controlling."

"Isn't that true? Everyone knows Ding Shu is the Chief Executive's personal fiefdom."

"Know your limits."

"I won't. The world doesn't run according to your will alone. And I have more than one place I can go."

By this point, Chen Jiyan was running out of lines. You Jinhui could see his struggle and prepared to wrap it up:

"Do you have to air our conflict here?"

"It's not a conflict. Legally, we have no relationship anymore. You should leave. I won't go back with you."

"Chen Jiyan, last chance. Are you coming with me or not?"

"Do I need to repeat it for you, Mr. You? He said no." Lin Fan, who had been watching the show for some time, finally appeared. He dismissed the other onlookers and stood between the two men.

"Family matters don't require outsiders' input. Chen Jiyan—"

"No."

"Hah," You Jinhui gave a cold laugh. "Very well."

A few days prior, no one knew he had come to Silent Harbor. Of course, news of his resignation had been suppressed. The CSA also didn't know the Chief Executive had already stepped down.

Ding Shu was the central district, a higher level than Silent Harbor. If You Jinhui were just the Minister of Finance, they'd be roughly equal in rank. But the Chief Executive was the head, controlling Crystal Source allocation ratios, so of course he had to be received properly.

"To what do we owe the honor of the Chief Executive's visit? Does Ding Shu have a new policy requiring your personal proclamation?"

The subtext: if there's no business, you can leave; don't be an eyesore here.

Since You Jinhui had come, it was hard to hide his identity. Better to enter openly and directly. Regardless of the internal situation in Ding Shu, externally he was still the Chief Executive. His words and actions represented Ding Shu.

"The students lack foresight. You came alone... is there some private matter you need to handle away from the parliament? Rest assured, we certainly won't—"

Over there, they were trembling, guessing who in Ding Shu had caused trouble to summon this god of calamity. The man himself remained calm and composed, as if he hadn't just been arguing with someone.

"The last installment of taxes. Silent Harbor hasn't paid in full."

"What?"

Minds raced through a hundred possibilities, but no one expected he was here to collect taxes.

"You may not be aware, but Silent Harbor's finances have always operated on a thirty-day—"

"Then it seems the funding allocation process to the CSA also has some issues. We'll take it slow." He tossed out this bland statement and made as if to leave.

This wouldn't do!

In the past, delays of a few days were overlooked by Ding Shu, since their main revenue came from the military's harvests in Aishi. They didn't care about this petty cash.

Who knew You Jinhui would suddenly get a wild hair and remember to collect taxes?

What could they do? They couldn't not pay. They could only try to placate him for now.

"Three days." You Jinhui gave a deadline.

"In three days, I want to see the remittance confirmation."

The association president was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. "Could you extend the deadline a bit? We need at least seven days to—"

"Perhaps if you stayed a while longer to experience Silent Harbor's local customs—"

"My time is valuable."

"Yes, of course it is. It's just... I noticed Mr. Chen seems to like it here very much." After much circuitous talk, they finally landed on a topic the other party was willing to hear, though privately they really didn't want them to have contact.

"Kids are just clingy."

He affected a weary rub of his brow, reluctantly conceding:

"Five days."

Having placated You Jinhui over there, Lin Fan led Chen Jiyan to the back of the main cathedral here.

"The previous interactions didn't go so well, but we sincerely want to invite you to join us. No need to refuse right away—you can first see our sincerity."

"You're curious about the fate of your first guardian, and so are we. But the investigation results show no survivors."

"Or to put it another way, within a specific time and space, no life signatures were detected."

Changing the wording implied there was more to the story. Chen Jiyan was all ears.

"Sanxiaen's destruction was abrupt, without any warning. What we saw was merely a virtual scene replicated by a large-scale model built from data. Before you, several batches of students had entered, and they met with all sorts of endings. Usually, Sanxiaen would self-destruct during the mission. Those who performed better would find the self-destruct program but could neither stop nor activate it..."

"What do you mean by 'could not activate'?"

"You'd have to ask your former guardian about that. He headed straight for the device as soon as he entered, aiming to end the competition then and there." Lin Fan didn't want to elaborate. "Unfortunately, he failed. I guess a brute-force approach wasn't the answer. But you were lucky enough to accomplish what he tried to do, making up for the regrets of the previous generation?"

"I'm getting off track. After all the research institute's efforts, there haven't been any major breakthroughs. But compared to proving your unique physique and rare stability, our discovery will definitely interest you more."

"It's about the time associated with you."

"'Time travel'—is that what you call it? A method to cross time and space does exist, and there have been examples. It's just hard to believe unless it happens to oneself, as it defies current scientific understanding."

"But my current body is different from my previous one." Despite the similarities, they were not the same.

"This requires introducing a new concept, which we'll temporarily call 'parallel selves.' The human body cannot withstand the distortion of time and space, but over millions of years, a person identical to you could appear. By calculating the coordinates and finding the corresponding frequency, in a way, you've achieved time travel."

Chen Jiyan left the main cathedral in a daze. You Jinhui was right—he was indeed allowed inside the CSA, though it wasn't as relaxed as it appeared on the surface. In the areas untouched by sunlight, there was work that felt like an assembly line. Unlike in Ding Shu, everyone here believed their work was meaningful: restoring ancient artifacts, creating catalog indexes. Any new discovery was enough to excite them in their small circle for quite a while.

As for more in-depth matters, they were contingent on him joining the CSA. Lin Fan didn't explain much, and Chen Jiyan didn't pay close attention.

"A person's physical location isn't important; what's important is where their heart lies. Mark my words—they're not on the same side." Having gone through all that hesitation and confusion, Chen Jiyan would definitely stand with the CSA.

With the unreasonable and overbearing Chief Executive arriving, Lin Fan felt even more confident.

Although they had a close relationship before, what young person isn't rebellious? Today's provocation only made him want to defy his guardian even more to prove himself.

So when Austin wrote to ask how things were going, Lin Fan replied with certainty that everything was on track.

Neither of them expected that after things had blown up between them, with You Jinhui being publicly challenged twice, he would secretly return to Chen Jiyan's residence afterward.

On the other hand, after reflecting on the situation, Chen Jiyan felt his heart turn to ash.

In the heat of the moment, he had said harsh things.

"Did I really harbor so much resentment toward him deep down?" Well, he had complained a lot at first, but those were just internal grumblings.

"Does this mean he's really forgiven me?" They had argued, and he had vented his anger.

"About Sanxiaen, I never intended to hide it from you. I originally planned to tell you after you came of age..."

Was this him being needy? Si Min had taught him that any emotional outburst not involving life safety was just a child acting spoiled.

"Alright, I understand."

It couldn't be helped. You Jinhui naturally drew him into a hug. Chen Jiyan didn't resist at all.

It must be because he hadn't received much comfort as a child. If a kid was being like this, what could you do but give in?

"I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." After calming down, Chen Jiyan was actually very happy to see him. The idea of coming to Mo Harbor had been on his mind for a long time, but leaving without a word and going alone was a bit rash.

"Just one 'I'm sorry'?" He had meant to say that one apology wasn't enough.

Then he watched as Chen Jiyan lifted his amber-like eyes and softly, very softly, called him "brother."

You Jinhui felt truly wicked, yet he couldn't help wanting to be even more so.

"I didn't hear clearly. What did you just call me?"

Realizing he had actually said it out loud, Chen Jiyan quickly composed himself and pulled away, pretending nothing had happened.

But You Jinhui wouldn't let it go. "Let me check your heart rate now."

He turned Chen Jiyan's wrist over and frowned. "Why didn't you turn on the monitor?"

"They say the CSA doesn't like Ding Shu's devices. It's someone else's territory, so I should respect that."

"What's there to respect? Use it if you need to."

Chen Jiyan wondered if You Jinhui's attitude would lead to retaliation after resigning as Chief Executive.

"I resigned, but it probably hasn't been approved yet."

And yesterday, he had pitifully claimed he had nowhere to go and asked this unemployed wanderer to take him in?

"There's some bad news," You Jinhui's expression turned serious. "One of the three Crystal Sources in Ding Shu's vault was stolen the day after I left."

"Is there any good news?"

"The good news is, I don't need to rush the resignation process anymore. I've been put on the wanted list."

Chen Jiyan realized that sometimes he really couldn't understand many of the Chief Executive's—now former Chief Executive's—thoughts.

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Author's Note: The stuff about time travel and parallel selves is made up by the author—no scientific basis. There should be a simpler explanation later in the plot.