Chi Yan: "No, it's not that. A friend of mine said that N Country might have civil unrest recently, so don't go there for now, just listen to me."
"Which friend of yours has such well-informed news? I didn't see anything but peace on the news. Also, my company has employees there and I already booked my plane ticket."
Chi Yan: "First, ask them to come back immediately; second, be prepared if they don't come back. Anyway, just trust me."
"Okay. But which friend of yours? Introduce me sometime when you have the chance."
Chi Yan: "When the time comes. That's all for now."
"Alright."
After hanging up the phone, Chi Yan turned around and saw his girlfriend "huffing and puffing" on his treadmill.
Chi Yan walked over and saw her flushed red face. "How is it going? Did it go well?" he asked.
"Hmm? I didn't do any warm-up exercises," she replied. She just wanted to try it out but then couldn't stop running.
"Remember to warm up properly next time, otherwise you could easily get injured."
"Okay."
Chi Yan's phone buzzed, notifying him that 100,000 yuan had been transferred to his account by his cousin. Chi Yan promptly transferred 20,000 yuan to Chu Yang.
When Chu Yang got off the treadmill and saw it, she said, "Hmm? Why'd you give me so much money? Let me transfer it back." She tried to transfer it back.
Chi Yan grabbed her hand to stop her. "No, consider it a gift from my cousin. He's dumb but rich, just take it."
Chu Yang: ...This is the first time I've seen someone call their own cousin dumb yet rich.
"Fine, but don't give me money again in the future."
"Mhmm." Although Chi Yan agreed, he kept secretly giving her more and more money over time.
On the other side, after Xiao Yang hung up the phone, he immediately had his plane ticket canceled. Then he called the person in charge in N Country, Wang Yin.
"Wang Yin, have you noticed anything off lately in N Country?"
"What aspect do you mean, boss? Work has been normal for everyone."
"No, I mean the country itself. Check the news to see if there's anything wrong, or if there could be civil unrest recently? How's the public security been?"
Hearing this from his boss overseas, Wang Yin immediately became alert. Nothing was more frightening than chaos when living abroad. He promptly turned on the TV, where they happened to be reporting on a shooting incident in a certain region of N Country.
Wang Yin suddenly recalled some recent happenings. "Boss, public security does seem to be getting worse lately, and I have noticed more armed officers on the streets."
Xiao Yang sternly commanded: "Quickly settle all matters, then arrange charter flights for all Hua Country people to return. You focus only on that first. You have 2 days max to arrange it—the sooner the better."
"Yes boss!"
After hanging up, Wang Yin immediately called a meeting and contacted the embassy to ask if they knew of any news.
However, the embassy didn't seem to have any definite information either, only saying that things had seemed chaotic lately and to pay attention to safety measures. They said to call the embassy if anything happened or go there directly for help.
Wang Yin decisively made arrangements for charter planes, and although some employees found it odd, the company's arrangements had to be followed.
News spread quickly within the local Chinese community, and when some people asked Wang Yin about it, he leaked some details: "It's what my boss demanded. I'm just following orders, but I suggest you also prepare quickly just in case."
Back in Hua Country, Chu Yang was with Chi Yan working on his aircraft carrier model. She realized he had quite broad interests—all kinds of sports equipment in the corner like rollerblades and a skateboard, plus basketball and soccer balls, and a whole wall of anime figurines along with some military models like tanks and weapons.
The study also had piles of books, wall hangings of oil paintings he painted himself, musical instruments like a guitar and french horn. Chi Yan said there was a piano at his other home that didn't fit this slightly smaller house.
Chu Yang felt his understanding of "slightly smaller" was skewed if he considered this 1,500+ sq ft 3 bed, 1 living room apartment small. She thought for the first time that he must be a rich young master.
"Your family...is super rich huh?" Chu Yang casually asked.
Chi Yan immediately shook his head. "No no, absolutely not. Just a bit better off than normal people. My parents are teachers, just an ordinary family. But my grandfather...was a businessman." He pondered how best to phrase it.
Chu Yang waved her hand dismissively. "Rich is rich. One look and I can tell you're a fu'erdai. Don't worry, I don't discriminate against the wealthy."
Chi Yan: "That money isn't even mine anyway. I've never earned money before; I'm just as poor as you."
Chu Yang chuckled: "No no...we're not the same. I can support myself with my income now."
Chi Yan smiled and felt relieved. "Mm, you're much more capable than me. I'll have to rely on you in the future." He leaned his head on her shoulder as he said it.
Chu Yang stroked his head. "Don't worry, as long as I have food I won't let you starve." They both laughed.
Then Chu Yang pointed at the skateboard and said, "I don't think I've ever seen you skateboard before. Want to try it out tonight?"
Chi Yan got up to grab the skateboard. "I played before 12th grade but not much after. But if you want to watch, I'll perform for you tonight."
"Yup yup!"
Around dinnertime, Chi Yan took the skateboard back to campus with Chu Yang and they ate outside the school gates first. After the meal they went to the campus square, where people often played sports at night like skating, diabolos, etc.
Chi Yan did some warm-up stretches before starting to practice. "Let me show you some tricks," he said to Chu Yang. "Go sit over there and watch me."
"Okay!" Chu Yang sat atop a high nearby wall to spectate as Chi Yan went up a staircase railing and slid down from it, even flying up and doing a spin at one point before landing cleanly. Bystanders cheered at the slick move.
He slid right up to Chu Yang, shifted his back foot to brake the board which he then picked up in his hand—the full sequence looked incredibly cool and handsome.
Truly outstanding people shine brightly, Chu Yang thought.
Chi Yan stood beaming before her, board in hand, eagerly awaiting praise. "What'd you think?"
Chu Yang gave him a big thumbs up. "Awesome!"
His smile grew even wider. Setting the board down, he asked "Want me to teach you?" and reached out to help her down from the wall. Chu Yang leapt straight into his arms, inhaling the youthful scent unique to boys his age.
"Please do!"
