WC ⋆ Chapter 66

After looping so many times, everything that needed to be done had been done well enough. It was time for them to pick a suitable moment to end the loop.

A loop that could be ended with just a single kiss, and yet Jiang Yishen and Qi Lin were extremely careful about choosing when.

This day had to be perfect, airtight, smooth and trouble-free, without any flaws, without any situation spiraling out of control.

They were currently in the fourth cycle of the loop, so they unanimously agreed to use today as the starting point of the new year and bring this strange journey to a definitive close.

They decided to kiss when they parted in the evening. The closer it got to dusk, the more uneasy Jiang Yishen became, always feeling that something wasn't quite right yet.

Qi Lin, on the other hand, had no psychological burden about it at all. When his family called him to come home for dinner, he moved to give Jiang Yishen a farewell kiss, only for Jiang Yishen to look all hesitant and back away several steps.

"What are you running for? Isn't today good enough?" Qi Lin pulled him back, the two of them so close together that the slightest tilt of the head would bring their lips together.

Jiang Yishen turned his face away in resistance. "No, no… Tomorrow when we visit, I have to meet your parents. I'm nervous."

"It'll be fine, they're both very nice people." Qi Lin straightened his face back.

"No, no, no…" Jiang Yishen gripped his wrist. "I think we could loop one more time. I'll meet them once first, get a feel for them…"

Qi Lin let out an exasperated "ugh" and broke free from his grip. "Don't take it so seriously, just go with the flow."

Jiang Yishen insisted on running. Seeing Qi Lin press close again, he quickly grabbed his shoulders. "You won't get another chance like this. Such a good looping opportunity, it'd be a waste not to use it!"

They looked like they were wrestling with each other, the scene a complete mess. Unfortunately Qi Lin couldn't overpower him, and in the end chose to give in.

Watching the Spring Festival Gala for the third time, Jiang Yishen watched with his mind elsewhere, his head full of how he was going to use the loop to scout out the front lines in a little while.

He had planned out a perfect image for himself, intending to make a grand entrance after lunch with gifts in hand, full of poise and confidence.

The first time he met Xing Yun had been far too rushed, and the scene had been somewhat unsightly. This time he was determined to turn things around.

He waited through several agonizing hours, and finally endured until midnight. January 29th, the fifth loop officially began.

Descending once more beneath the streetlamp, not just Jiang Yishen but even Qi Lin was exhausted. Having been chased down and caught in the act four times in a row, even Bolt[[1]] couldn't keep running.

"Xiao Qi? Is that Xiao Qi!"

Xing Yun's voice rang out again. Jiang Yishen let out a long sigh, and under Qi Lin's sympathetic gaze, turned his head and started running.

This time he was slow off the mark. His turning angle was different from the previous times, and somehow he stepped onto a small repair step beside the streetlamp, tripping in a way he had never managed before.

Jiang Yishen's sense of balance was exceptional, and in circumstances where he couldn't even see clearly, he somehow stumbled forward heavily for several meters without actually falling, and stood himself up again in a daze.

He instinctively turned to look back, and found Qi Lin staring at him with a face full of disbelief.

"So tired, baby doesn't want to run anymore." Jiang Yishen rubbed his knee and said pitifully.

Qi Lin said, "It's okay, my mom probably won't come over…"

Before he could finish, a voice cut in urgently: "Xiao Jiang?"

Both of them froze at the same time, not even daring to turn their heads.

In a flash, Qi Lin finally figured out the route his mom had taken to come around.

This time they didn't rush to run, simply because during the previous chases they had discovered that Xing Yun hadn't actually pinpointed their direction accurately.

The position of this streetlamp was rather tricky, standing at the edge of the road at the end of the building block. Xing Yun was coming from the entrance of the residential unit, and the distance was too great. She could only make out figures under the lamp but couldn't clearly see which direction they fled in, nor could she confirm their identities.

In the previous escape attempts, Xing Yun had always been separated from them by an entire building. Unless Qi Lin actively went around to find her, Xing Yun couldn't find them.

But this time Jiang Yishen had tripped himself up and run out far enough to expose himself within Xing Yun's line of sight.

There was no escaping now. They couldn't very well claim she had seen wrong. Xing Yun was not easy to fool at all, and it was better to come clean than to try to deceive her.

"Xiao Jiang?" Xing Yun was wearing a mismatched outfit she had grabbed at random, and came hurrying over, getting a clear look at both people under the streetlamp.

Jiang Yishen's two legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. He looked around guiltily, couldn't think of any excuse, and had no choice but to steel himself and turn around to face Xing Yun directly.

Xing Yun hadn't even had time to tie her hair up. The moment she discovered Qi Lin was gone she had rushed downstairs to find him, and hadn't expected to see this scene at all. She didn't even have time to get angry first, launching straight into a scolding: "Xiao Qi? What are you doing sneaking out in the middle of the night! If you'd told Mom, would I really not have let you come?"

"Auntie, Auntie." Jiang Yishen quickly stepped in front of Qi Lin. "It was me who called Xiao Qi down."

"Does that mean I wasn't talking about you too?" Xing Yun pushed her hair back, visibly furious. "It's not like I won't let you two see each other, but you have to do it in the dead of night! Sneaking around like this, what are you up to?"

Her voice was loud, and in the quiet nighttime street it carried far. Jiang Yishen had the illusion he could hear neighbors all around pulling back their curtains to watch the spectacle, and he hurried to say, "Auntie, let's go back inside to talk, it's not good being out here, it looks like someone's catching a cheating spouse…"

The moment he mentioned going back, Qi Lin, who had been blocked behind him the whole time, quickly pushed forward. "No need, I'll talk to my mom. You go first!"

"What if your dad scolds you after I leave?" Jiang Yishen's impression of Qi Lin's dad was still that of a cold and impartial iron face, and he was worried Qi Lin would be put in a difficult position.

Qi Lin was afraid he would cause more trouble, so he could only explain patiently, "My dad definitely won't scold me, but if you're there he might scold you."

Jiang Yishen was about to say something when from upstairs, from some unknown unit, came the sound of a window being opened, a crisp and distinct clack, loud and unabashed.

At that, even Xing Yun couldn't keep up appearances anymore, and she dragged and pulled them both back inside together.

Jiang Yishen hadn't expected that after five loops on New Year's Eve, the first time he came to Qi Lin's Small House would be under circumstances this dire.

Father Qi was sitting on the sofa, wearing glasses and a wool sweater. He looked young. One glance was enough for Jiang Yishen to know this was definitely Qi Lin's dad. The bottom halves of their faces were identical.

"Dad." Qi Lin was awkward and at a loss.

This was completely different from the plan Jiang Yishen had laid out in the previous loop. Forced into it, he followed along and called out, "Uncle."

Father Qi didn't respond to either of them. Jiang Yishen sneaked another glance and suddenly felt that the magnetic field between people was truly remarkable. Father Qi looked refined and cultured on the surface, but sitting there he had an air of authority without anger, and one look was enough to tell he and Xing Yun were a couple.

The feeling was rather subtle, like how Jiang Changpeng seemed like someone who could only have married Xu Huaying, and anyone else would feel wrong.

He tilted his head to look at Qi Lin again, made an internal assessment, and concluded that the two of them were a decent match.

In the standoff, it was Father Qi who spoke first. He pushed his glasses up with a knuckle and said, "Come sit down."

Jiang Yishen didn't dare disobey. He shuffled over, and instinctively picked up the cushion propped against the armrest, placed it properly on the sofa, and then sat down.

"You're quite familiar with this place," Father Qi said.

Jiang Yishen immediately straightened his back.

Xing Yun had just come out of the kitchen carrying two cups of water, and gave Father Qi a pat. "Stop scaring the kid."

Father Qi let out a cold snort and glanced sideways. Though his expression showed nothing, it was impossible to think he was entirely pleased. Jiang Yishen immediately deployed his pitiful act: "I'm sorry, Uncle, I was afraid you wouldn't like me so I came sneaking around, please don't be angry."

Xing Yun set a cup of water in front of him and pointed at him from a distance. "This kid is a natural at playing the sympathy card."

Jiang Yishen hung his head and quietly tugged at Qi Lin's clothes.

It was half past midnight. The Small House was crammed with four people. Qi Lin was so awkward he was on the verge of passing out, and yet Jiang Yishen kept pulling at his sleeve without stopping. He could bear it no longer and had to open his mouth to ease the tension: "We were just talking, nothing else was going on… Things being what they are, let's just leave it at this for now. On the first day of the new year I'll have him come over properly to meet you."

Father Qi and Jiang Yishen both looked at him with complicated expressions at the same time, as if each of them felt he was taking the other side.

Qi Lin had never dealt with such a thorny situation before. He was practically sweating, and pressed on with gritted teeth: "Anyway, it's not early anymore, let's… everyone go back for now."

He delivered his conclusion, and no one responded. At this hour even the dogs in the Residential Complex were asleep.

After an awkward silence, Father Qi asked, "Xiao Jiang, right? Where do you live?"

"Oh, I live over by Mian Si[[2]], you take the subway and transfer to Line 1 and it's right there." Jiang Yishen answered like a clockwork robot, mechanically.

Father Qi looked at him, the eyes behind the lenses gazing straight at him. "That's not very close. Is there someone at home…"

"My dad is home." Jiang Yishen laid out his family situation.

Father Qi neither nodded nor shook his head, just looked at him for a long moment, then stood up and brought something out from the kitchen.

The moment the elder stood, Jiang Yishen sprang to his feet like he'd been launched off a seesaw, his mind going blank, as if awaiting judgment.

Father Qi walked steadily. Though he was lean and tall, he didn't look frail. Jiang Yishen had already imagined what kind of image he must have in Father Qi's mind, most likely a pile of dung ruining his family's little flower.

The things were in a blue cloth bag, the kind of tote bag given out during institutional promotions. Father Qi handed it to Jiang Yishen and said, "It's too late. Go home first. Next time, don't slink around."

Jiang Yishen opened the tote bag. Inside were several large pieces of braised beef in vacuum-sealed packaging. He remembered Qi Lin mentioning this before, that Father Qi had brought it from home, braised by his own hands.

He stared at the bag, and his nose began to sting.

"Hey!" Qi Lin saw things going sideways and immediately ran forward, pushing Jiang Yishen toward the door, while finding time to ruffle his hair. "Alright, it's fine, go home first. I'll call you during the day."

Jiang Yishen was pushed along numbly, his eyes as if they had fallen into the braised beef, his upper body completely still.

The front door opened. Qi Lin walked him out, and whispered in his ear, "Don't cry! I told you they were nice people, didn't I? It's not like they dislike you. You're very likeable."

Jiang Yishen felt the tears were about to fall. He wanted to turn his head and kiss Qi Lin, but Qi Lin dropped a "see you at midnight" and slammed the door shut with a clang.

He stood at the doorway for a few seconds, the surging emotions not yet reined in, when the door opened again. The warm light from inside spilled out with a splash, and Father Qi stood there and asked, "The last subway has passed. How are you getting home?"

Jiang Yishen's tears reversed course in an instant. He startled, swallowed, forgetting both his emotion and his thanks, and answered mechanically, "Tak… taking a cab."

"I'll call one for you." Father Qi's tone brooked no argument. As he spoke he reached into his pocket, but his phone seemed to have vanished. He called back into the room, "Is my phone on the sofa?"

"Leave Xiao Jiang alone," Xing Yun's voice came from inside. "You've scared the kid so badly he's walking with both feet on the same side."

Father Qi insisted on calling a cab and walked back in to look for his phone.

For a moment the doorway was left with only Jiang Yishen standing there, frozen like an ice sculpture. Qi Lin seized the gap and ran out, tilted his head up and pressed a firm kiss to the underside of Jiang Yishen's chin, then darted back inside.

Like an illusion. It made your heart go soft.