After finding Gate 22, Chi Yining found an empty seat and sat down.
Beside him, someone wearing a black face mask and a suit with dress shoes was working on a laptop.
Chi Yining's phone had nothing but WeChat and Alipay, so he simply sat there in a daze, thinking about what path he should take from here.
Counting on his parents for help was even more impossible. The original owner's parents were divorced, and his mother had dumped him on his grandmother, who lived alone and had a pension. His grandmother had passed away three years ago, too.
The original owner's mother had never once visited him in twenty years. She would only sneak back to visit his grandmother while he was at school.
Heh, practically identical to my own experience. Except that in his previous life, he had been dumped on his paternal grandparents. His grandmother had been a university music professor and had taught him many instruments. His grandfather had taught him plenty, too, such as horseback riding, archery, mixed martial arts... and so on.
To learn to be independent as soon as possible, he had also worked as a jujitsu teaching assistant during his freshman year.
But being a teaching assistant inevitably involved physical contact and conversation with students. After a week, he had ultimately been unable to keep doing it...
Over his four years at university, his grandparents had passed away one after the other, and he had forever lost the people he cared about and relied on.
In the end, he had chosen to become a comic artist. In the eight years after graduation, he had independently created more than a dozen comics.
Drawing comics was the work he loved most. No socializing, no talking... just living in his own world forever...
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention:
"Flight CA5526 is now boarding. First-class and business-class passengers, Star Alliance Gold members, and passengers traveling with infants or children or requiring special assistance are invited to board first. Thank you.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
The standard female announcement voice pulled Chi Yining out of his thoughts after he had spent nearly an hour zoning out.
He boarded, followed the crowd, found his window seat in economy, and sat down.
The person seated to his left was a dark-skinned young man. Chi Yining only glanced at him before turning away, about to close his eyes, when the young man suddenly spoke.
"Hi, are you going to Zhongmen Island, too?"
Chi Yining: "..."
Wasn't this flight going to Zhongmen? Could it possibly stop somewhere else along the way?
Chi Yining: "Yes."
"Me too! What a coincidence! Can we get to know each other? My name's Wang Xinyang."
Chi Yining: "Sorry."
Wang Xinyang wasn't disappointed. It was a normal reaction. Besides, this was his first time seeing someone wear slippers on a plane, yet he could also sense that there was something different about this person's bearing.
He really wanted to get to know someone this unusual, but unfortunately, the other man wouldn't engage with him.
During the flight, which lasted over an hour, Wang Xinyang was so bored he was about to explode. Unfortunately, there was only one person sitting beside him, and that person slept from beginning to end.
"Dear passengers, we have safely arrived at our destination. The aircraft will now need to taxi to its assigned parking position..."
Wang Xinyang looked at the person beside him, who still hadn't woken up. He had black hair in a wolf cut that left his smooth forehead exposed, neat, attractive eyebrows, and eyelashes like little fans.
Wang Xinyang decided to give him a reminder after all.
"Hey, we're here."
Hearing someone speaking beside his ear, seemingly calling him, Chi Yining slowly opened his eyes and saw that the very dark-skinned young man beside him had woken him. The announcement seemed to have been playing for quite a while already.
Chi Yining: "Thank you."
Wang Xinyang found it rather novel. This young man's voice was very cool and clear; even through his face mask, he gave the impression of a puppet without emotions.
But the puppet wearing slippers really was a fun concept.
Wang Xinyang cheerfully replied, "You're welcome."
After taking a coach, transferring to a bus, and then walking another half kilometer, Chi Yining finally reached his destination without incident. He looked at the three-story seaside house. It probably occupied a fairly large area.
There was only one bus stop in the surrounding area. He had followed the map's navigation to get here and hadn't seen a single person along the way apart from Wang Xinyang.
But... should I just go inside like this? I haven't received any schedule or instructions, either.
Beside him, Wang Xinyang was delighted. He hadn't expected to have such a connection with the puppet guy, taking the same vehicles all the way here. If his guess was right, he was also a guest participating in the show.