Your Hometown Will Find You

A Xing rushed into the hall, clutching two envelopes.

"Brother Ming! Brother Ming! The station sent us our train tickets! That's great! More fun!"

Jiang Xueming had just finished setting out breakfast when he heard this not-so-good news.

For someone who valued stability, taking a train wasn't a good thing. If you viewed it as a high-paying profession, there were too many uncontrollable factors.

Xue Ming just wanted to live peacefully and slowly repay Bu Liuxing's favors. He had no other thoughts.

"Oh," Jiang Xueming moved a chair for Bu Liuxing, clearing a spot. "Let's eat first?"

Bu Liuxing froze.

"Hey kid, who are you?"

Bailu snapped her fingers, her eyes playful. "A bet's a bet, hand over the candy!"

Xiao Qi grudgingly stuffed a milk candy into his sister-in-law's mouth. "You really don't recognize him?"

After a long while, Bu Liuxing rubbed Jiang Xueming's face, kneading it and then pulling at his cheeks.

Finally, A Xing confirmed, "Is it really you? Brother Ming?"

"That's right, big changes, huh?" Jiang Xueming picked up a piece of beef from his plate with a fork and offered it to A Xing's mouth, initiating a dual-channel conversation. "Try it, see if San San will like it?"

"The changes are really big," A Xing chewed, his eyes brightening. "It's delicious! I don't know if San San likes it, but I do."

Jiang Xueming was a bit more cautious and ended the dual-channel chat. It seemed A Xing wasn't close to San San, their relationship didn't go beyond friendship, and he didn't even know what the girl liked to eat.

"There's something I need to ask you," Xue Ming put down his plate. "Has San San mentioned anything about the Armadillo Hunters to you?"

Bu Liuxing: "She has."

Jiang Xueming: "Do you care about this matter?"

Bu Liuxing: "I don't care. Enemies, if they come, we fight. If we can't win, we run."

It seemed this kid really didn't take it to heart.

Jiang Xueming continued, emphasizing the important points.

"Then let's be clear, A Xing. I'm accepting these two train tickets. You definitely want me to go with you, right?"

Bu Liuxing nodded vigorously. "Yeah!"

Jiang Xueming continued, "Then promise me, at the station, you absolutely cannot reveal our true identities to anyone, and you absolutely cannot mention anything about real life. Can you do that?"

Bu Liuxing fell silent.

His expression didn't change.

It was as if his brain had overloaded.

Thirty seconds later.

Bu Liuxing replied, "Yeah!"

"You were silent for so long just now," Jiang Xueming sat down beside A Xing. "What were you thinking? You didn't tell our real identities and home addresses..."

Bu Liuxing chuckled awkwardly. "Hahahaha."

Jiang Xueming: "To someone else?"

Bu Liuxing's laughter became even more awkward. "Hahahaha."

Jiang Xueming's tone was calm, wanting to get to the bottom of things.

"Who did you tell?"

At this moment--

--Jason Megan's fourteen-day quarantine had ended.

He believed it was a test from heaven.

A necessary trial in life.

In the hotel filled with memories, he had left all his childhood joys in various movies.

He would transform into a cruel hunter, dismembering his targets.

A nurse from the epidemic prevention station shouted, "Family members, come claim Megan! Jason Megan's family! Hey! Don't you want your health code?! Still leaving?! Where are you going?!"

"Oh! Oh oh oh," Mr. Megan quickly stepped forward, replying in broken Chinese, "Sorry. My apologies."

The nurse pointed impatiently at the QR code for the official account on the table. "Scan to register! Remember to get vaccinated! Get out of the way! Your family is waiting for you in the lounge."

Before the rising star of this dark force could take two steps, he came to his senses. "Family? What family?"

Jason Megan became alert and looked towards the family waiting area.

His attendant, a young lady, stood in the aisle of the lounge, her face full of worry. She waved at passersby while holding up a photo, as if searching for someone.

Mr. Megan immediately wanted to hide. After all, he had already burned his passenger documents, wanting to sever all ties with the people at the station.

His attendant had already disappeared into the underground world.

He would never admit that this young girl was his new attendant. What right did this young-looking girl have to be Jason Megan's attendant?

He wanted to book a flight to HK, but as soon as he opened his phone, he saw over two hundred missed calls.

They were all from that little girl.

He turned his head again, hiding outside the isolation corridor. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he saw the little girl, dressed in a thick swallowtail dress, still wearing white gloves, as if afraid of any lapse in etiquette. She was sweating profusely, nodding and thanking people while apologizing, anxiously searching for something.

He had already changed into cool shorts and a t-shirt, blending into the crowd in the station plaza.

Mr. Megan felt terrible. Amidst the noisy station, he heard the young girl searching for him in Romanian with a thick accent, speaking broken Chinese.

He wondered if that young woman would also be escorted away by security at this dreadful airport and sent to a hotel for fourteen days.

"Megan! Megan! Have some backbone! She doesn't recognize you, she won't recognize you. Don't worry, you've shaved your beard, that photo is useless, completely useless!"

He gritted his teeth.

"Can't see her! Can't see her! Can't see her! She can search until the end of time, and no one will help her."

His phone started ringing again.

He slammed his eyes shut, yet as if compelled by some unseen force, he couldn't help but look at the caller ID.

It was the young waiter.

His brows furrowed, and he gritted his teeth, reaching out his hand, then pulling it back.

"Listen to my hand! You have to listen to me. You. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Answer!"

In the struggle with his own arm, Megan was momentarily losing.

"Alright! I give up! Is there a way to have the best of both worlds? I'm a sexy tough guy, I can't let a girl cry. I've got it!"

He finally answered the call. When he heard the familiar accent on the phone, in that moment, he felt as if he were back by the port of Constanța.

It felt like he had never been so far from home.

The young waiter sounded wronged and excited, his voice on the verge of tears, "Sir, my sir, my Mr. Megan, where on earth did you go? I've been looking for you for such a long, long time."

"I'm just outside," Megan said, holding back tears. He seemed to hear the sound of the sea breeze and seagulls.

"I took three flights to get here, to this small place, and I almost got lost. Do you dislike me? But BOSS said there aren't many people at this station who speak your hometown dialect. I also want to take good care of you, please don't just leave me like this, okay? Next time you run off, just let me know you're safe."

Megan saw the young waiter sprint out of the lounge area.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Megan said.

She had curly brown hair, like ripe chestnuts, shimmering like rose gold in the sunlight.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the waiter cried, running and sobbing.

She had started crying the moment she spotted Mr. Megan, stumbling forward as she ran.

"I almost didn't recognize you. Why did you shave your beard? I brought you a large ceramic pot, it had two layers: one was stomach soup, the other was cabbage rolls, and a few boxes of rice…"

The girl ran straight into Mr. Megan's arms, crying loudly and gesturing frantically, as if afraid he wouldn't understand what she was saying.

"But they were like cornmeal, they couldn't possibly last fourteen days! I ate them all, they were really delicious. I wanted to bring them to you."

Your hometown will find you, no matter where you are.

Jason Megan also couldn't stop crying.

Because he still couldn't forget Jiang Xueming—that was his first prey, and it definitely couldn't be his last. This was a promise the sexy tough guy made to himself.

On the balcony—

—Bu Liuxing said with conviction.

"When I went to the restroom at the station, I left my passenger's long coat outside. Someone helped me watch it so no one would steal it.

I thought he seemed reliable, like an experienced traveler. Maybe we could look out for each other in the future, so I chatted with him a bit, wanting to make a friend."

Xue Ming frowned. "And then you told him everything?"

"Yes, what secrets are there between friends?" Bu Liuxing said aggrievedly. "I even wanted to introduce him to you! So I told him about you and your sister, thinking we could get to know each other first."

Jiang Xueming continued to ask, "What did he look like?"

Bu Liuxing pursed his lips. "I didn't get a good look. By the time I came out of the restroom and washed my hands, he was gone—he seemed to have a lot of beard, liked to talk to himself, muttering strangely, and walked very fast, in a hurry."

Xue Ming remained silent.

Bu Liuxing anxiously pressed, "You don't blame me, do you?"

Jiang Xueming nodded first, but then said, "No, don't worry. Just don't do that again next time. Be careful with everything at the station."

Only Xiao Qi was making sour faces and barking fiercely from the side, "Just spoil him rotten! Woof woof woof!"

Jiang Xueming glanced back at Brother Seven.

Brother Seven immediately became obedient, waving his little paws like claws. "Meow! Meow! Meow meow meow! ~ Do you think I'm cute?"

Bailu tugged on her older brother's clothes and whispered, "Leave some face for your sister-in-law. Her candy is really delicious."

Jiang Xueming smiled and nodded at Xiao Qi.

"You are very cute."

I will also post a collection of random thoughts in the "Related Works" section with each update.

Consider it an update diary. Feel free to take a look if you're interested.