Chapter 227: Next Chapter Begins the Time Leap (Modern)

Chapter 227: Next Chapter Opens with Time Travel (Modern)

Inside the room, Lin Huaiqing's packed luggage had already been neatly arranged in various spots.

His bedroom was a master bedroom facing south, with sunlight spilling across the extra-wide bed that was over two meters wide, filling the entire room with warmth.

In the spacious wardrobe, his clothes hung inside, taking up barely a third of the space. Yet this was his entire wardrobe for all four seasons.

When he opened the drawer of the adjacent dresser, the contents made his face flush red, and he quickly pushed the drawer shut.

Had Qin Zhizhou actually folded his underwear into neat little squares and put them in the drawer?

That was a bit much...

Qin Zhizhou also noticed Lin Huaiqing's embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'm a bit OCD about things."

"You don't need to do that next time—I can take care of that myself..."

"My room's right next door. What do you want for dinner? I'll go pick up groceries."

When they'd come up earlier, they noticed the neighborhood had great amenities—the supermarket was just a few minutes' walk away.

"It's already enough of an imposition staying at your place. Let me handle the groceries."

He had money now, too. Since Qin Zhizhou absolutely refused to take rent, he'd cover the daily expenses instead.

Qin Zhizhou didn't argue. He knew Lin Huaiqing's personality well, so he agreed.

In this regard, Qin Zhizhou was a nearly perfect roommate. They had dinner together and then went downstairs for a walk.

Their conversations always revolved around topics Lin Huaiqing was interested in—and Qin Zhizhou seemed to nail it every time.

Maybe it was because of Qin Zhizhou's profession, but Lin Huaiqing felt like Qin Zhizhou understood his preferences perfectly.

Sitting on a bench in the small park, Lin Huaiqing chuckled lightly:

"Are all you psychologists this good? We should stop talking—I feel like I have no secrets with you."

That was putting it mildly. He felt like he didn't even have his boxers left in front of Qin Zhizhou.

Every thought he had was completely laid bare.

The upside was that talking with Qin Zhizhou was a pleasure; the downside was that whenever Qin Zhizhou nailed his thoughts exactly, he always had the urge to bolt. Being completely understood by someone wasn't exactly a good thing.

Morning light gently spilled across the satin sheets, growing brighter. Lin Huaiqing slowly woke up and stretched lazily in bed.

This was amazing! He'd never slept on such a comfortable bed in his entire life.

The sheets beneath him were silky smooth, and the quilt was just the right thickness yet incredibly warm. Best of all, he could roll over multiple times in a row without falling off.

He suddenly felt like he'd wasted all the sleep of his past life.

Pushing open the door, he found Qin Zhizhou was already up, dressed in a suit and sitting on the sofa watching the morning news.

"Aren't you off today? Why are you up so early?"

Lin Huaiqing was brushing his teeth and mumbled: "Meeting the system for lunch."

"Who?"

"Gurgle gurgle gurgle... The system!"

"You mean the customer service rep?"

"Yeah!"

Their department didn't have any rules against employees hanging out privately. But what Qin Zhizhou was more concerned about was whether the customer service agent assigned to Lin Huaiqing was a guy or a girl.

"Then don't be late. I'm heading to work now." Qin Zhizhou didn't ask any more questions, put on his jacket, and headed out.

If he wanted to know whether Lin Huaiqing's customer service agent was a guy or a girl, he could just go to the bureau and check himself.

Lin Huaiqing met Xu Yizhi at a pretty upscale Cantonese restaurant.

Xu Yizhi arrived first, sat down at the reserved table, and watched the passersby outside, guessing which one might be Lin Huaiqing.

In the system, they couldn't see the host's face, but he could hear Lin Huaiqing's voice.

From the sound of it, he seemed like a guy around his age.

Lin Huaiqing took a cab to the Cantonese restaurant. As soon as he walked in, he spotted Xu Yizhi by the window.

"Tongtong?"

Xu Yizhi heard the familiar voice and looked up quickly. The moment he saw Lin Huaiqing, his eyes lit up, and he replied just as excitedly: "Host!"

Somehow, the moment they saw each other, both felt an instant connection, like they'd met too late.

Maybe because they were the same age, within just five minutes of meeting, they were already totally comfortable with each other.

"My dear host, so this is what you look like! No wonder you've got the villain completely hooked. You're a natural-born fast-traveler!"

"You're good-looking too! The second I walked in, you were the first person I saw. How about you come join our department? I heard there are dual-person missions—I've been wanting to try those for a while."

Xu Yizhi had taken a shower and dressed up specially before coming today. He was a striking presence even in a crowd.

Unfortunately, he didn't usually like going out. Even on his days off, he'd stay in his cheap rental apartment playing games all day.

So even though he had good looks to work with, he never bothered to dress up. At over twenty, he was still single—never even had a relationship.

"Me? Nah, forget it. I'm slow and a coward. Not cut out for this line of work. Being a system is fine."

Sometimes chemistry is a strange thing. In the mission world, the two of them had always been friends who loved to tease and bicker.

Now that they'd met in person, their bond had deepened even further.

"By the way, Tongtong, since you're a system, do you know what my next world is?"

If he could do some prep work in advance, maybe he could blend in faster.

"That... the higher-ups haven't approved it, so I don't know." Xu Yizhi thought for a moment and decided to tell Lin Huaiqing something else.

"But you should be careful in this world. One of the big bosses in our customer service department seems to be keeping a close eye on you."

"From the customer service department?"

So Xu Yizhi probably wasn't talking about Qin Zhizhou. Could there be another person in management, besides Qin Zhizhou, who was paying attention to him?

"Eh... it's just me talking, take it with a grain of salt. I doubt it's anything serious."

Because at the time, Minister Duan's expression wasn't bad—just purely curious.

After the meal, Lin Huaiqing made a point of asking Xu Yizhi where he lived.

After all, the two of them were from the same social class, so it was easier to ask him certain things than to ask Qin Zhizhou.

Xu Yizhi lived in a regular neighborhood not too far from his workplace. Although it was also rented, the price was within his budget.

He couldn't just stay at Qin Zhizhou's place forever. He would have to move out sooner or later.

Two weeks later.

"Sister Li, I've rested up nicely. I'm fully ready to get back to work."

Maybe it was because, for the first time, he had made two new friends in this city.

His energy came back remarkably fast. After taking his medication, apart from some lingering, vague feelings for Qin Hanyue, he had completely recovered.

"I can tell—you really have recovered well. Did you get yourself a girlfriend?" Sister Li teased, seeing Lin Huaiqing looking so radiant.

"No such thing! Well, I'll head to the observation room and wait! See you later, Sister Li!"