At three o'clock in the afternoon, the cruise ship docked. Zhang Jue and Choi Sung Taek were the first to disembark.
Zhang never needed Choi Seong-taek to accompany him back to the newly independent country, so they said goodbye after completing the formalities in the cruise hall and getting their passports back.
There were many reporters stationed outside the exit, waiting to interview the passengers on this trip. Zhang Jue put on sunglasses and a mask and walked behind the other passengers with his head down.
Before he reached the exit, he saw Ai Jiaxi wearing a wide dark long coat, with his hands in his pockets, standing in the waiting crowd. Ai Jiaxi changed her hair color, with light brown bangs against her forehead, her eyes wide open, and she looked around, like a penguin swinging.
Although Ai Jiaxi was trying very hard to find Zhang Jue, as usual, when Zhang Jue came to him and stood still and called out his name, he reacted and looked up.
The exit was very narrow, and only two people could pass through. There were several passengers waiting behind Zhang Jue, so he walked out of the aisle with a luggage bag in one hand and Ai Jiaxi's shoulder in the other.
After walking a few steps and reaching a wider place, Ai Jiaxi grabbed Zhang Jue's hand and looked up at him with her head turned to the side with tears in her eyes: "A Jue..."
He pulled Zhang Jue tightly, bumped his head into Zhang Jue's arms, buried his face in Zhang Jue's chest, hugged Zhang Jue's waist tightly, and said pitifully, "I saw the news that day, and I was so scared that I lost my soul."
"I also thought that if something happened to you, the last thing I told you was to ask you to peel the shrimp for me," he added.
Zhang Jue couldn't help laughing. He put his arms on Ai Jiaxi's back and coaxed him: "Didn't you come back?"
Ai Jiaxi still hugged for a while before pulling Zhang Jue out again.
The driver waited not far from the terminal lobby, and they got into the car and sat together in the back seat. Ai Jiaxi took off his coat, held it in his arms, and told Zhang Jue, "Let's go back to the hotel first, and return to China tomorrow."
"Okay." Zhang Jue nodded, took off his sunglasses and mask, and put them aside.
The back seat of the car was very spacious, but Ai Jiaxi had to squeeze beside Zhang Jue. He watched Zhang Jue for a while, then suddenly sighed in a decent manner and told Zhang Jue, "My uncle called me yesterday, Tell me that I must send you directly back to them tomorrow, and you are not allowed to stay anywhere else."
"But he doesn't seem to be angry anymore," Ai Jiaxi said again, raising his hand and clapping Zhang Jue's shoulder, "It's not your fault after all, they're just worried about you, so they're in such a hurry."
Zhang Jue gave an "um" and said, "I know." He touched Ai Jiaxi's furry head again: "Don't worry about it."
"I don't have to worry about it." Ai Jiaxi lowered her eyes and paused. Before she could say the second half, the car had already stopped at the entrance of the hotel.
The doorman of the hotel opened the car door for them, and a cold wind came in. Ai Jiaxi was so cold that she didn't say any more.
I got out of the car and walked a few steps into the hotel lobby.
Ai Jiaxi is a head shorter than Zhang Jue, holding Zhang Jue, hanging on Zhang Jue's arm, and whispering to him: "A Jue."
Zhang Jue lowered his head, looked at Ai Jiaxi, and asked him, "What's wrong?"
Ai Jiaxi raised her head, looked hesitant, and looked away again, saying, "Nothing."
They entered the elevator without stopping, went upstairs, hurried past the executive lounge, and returned to their room.
In the next few hours, Ai Jiaxi did not discuss Chen Boqiao's topic with Zhang Jue. He complained to Zhang Jue, saying that his father forced him to have a blind date, that the newly independent country was too small, and that he counted the children of noble families he had met, and several of them were the predecessors of his good friends. He also said that his birthday party was going to be held in a hotel on an outlying island, and he strictly ordered Zhang Jue to stay until the end of the party this year and not to leave the table secretly.
Ai Jiaxi drank several glasses of water, and talked alone for a long time, until she was so tired that she bent her legs and fell asleep with her head tilted against the pillow of the sofa.
Zhang Jue sat beside him, looked at him, and when he fell asleep a little more, he picked him up and put him back on the bed.
At noon the next day, they boarded a plane back to the New Independent State, and after landing, they boarded the car and went straight to Zhang Jue's parents' house.
Zhang Jue's parents' house was on the outskirts of the capital of the newly independent country, covering a large area. Ai Jiaxi took Zhang Jue to the door and said, "My dad said that he was looking for me in a hurry, so I won't go in."
Zhang Jue got out of the car, his footsteps were a little heavy, he didn't bring his home keys, he rang the doorbell, and the maid opened the door for him.
The familiar scent of flowers and fragrances wafted toward him, and his mother was standing not far away. She was wearing a tailored suit, her hair was delicately rolled up, she wore light makeup, and she clasped her hands tightly to look at him.
"I'm back," she said, opening her arms slightly to Zhang Jue.
Zhang Jue called her, took a few steps closer, and leaned over to hug her.
Her mother had a faint scent on her body. She inherited her slender figure to Zhang Jue, but Amy didn't. She took a step back, looked at Zhang Jue, and complained in a low voice, "I haven't cut my hair for a long time."
Zhang Jue smiled and said, "I'll go tomorrow."
His mother shook his head helplessly at him: "Dad is waiting for you in the study, go up quickly."
Zhang Jue's father, Zhang Fu, was the foreign minister of the newly independent country. He was so busy that he rarely stayed at home during the day. Zhang Jue went upstairs with a little apprehension. The last time he talked with his father in the study, he made a promise to his father that he would bring Chen Boqiao back and open the genetic lock of the prototype cabin.
He knocked on the door of the study, his father was reviewing the documents, and said "come in" without looking up.
"Dad." Zhang Jue called him.
Father looked up at him and said, "Sit."
Zhang Jue sat in the armchair opposite the desk and waited for a long time before his father put down the pen in his hand. He asked Zhang Jue, "When Chen Boqiao was arrested, were you not with him?"
"No," Zhang Jue said without blinking, looking at his father, "We live in two rooms."
Father nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but told Zhang Jue another thing. He found tau-pro-differentiation agents in addition to the drugs stored in the prototype compartment.
By chance, Zhang Fu met an agent and distributor who had worked as a medical representative in Zhaohua Medical.
When the τ differentiation-promoting agent was recalled that year, due to statistical errors, the distributor missed two agents and did not return them. It was not discovered until the recent warehouse relocation.
"The report from the medical laboratory was sent in the day before yesterday, and the activity is 100%," Zhang Fu said. "If you knew this, you wouldn't have to go to the independent country of Thailand to waste time. After you've done repairs at home these days, you can go to the hospital for it. A full set of examinations, and the results will be sent to the medical team for evaluation to see if the surgery to remove the glands can be done in January."
Zhang Jue couldn't react for a while, so he looked at his father and didn't speak.
"By the way," my father pushed the frame of the metal glasses, "You didn't make Chen Boqiao unhappy along the way, did you?"
Zhang Jue was stunned and shook his head.
"That's the best," Zhang Fu said meaningfully, "The sub-alliance is going to change."
When going downstairs, Zhang Jue's mother was arranging flowers in the dining room, and when she heard footsteps, she looked back.
Zhang Jue walked over, stood beside his mother, and fought for her.
"Are you tired?" Mother handed the cut flower branch to Zhang Jue, who took it and threw it in the trash, "Go to sleep if you are tired."
"Not tired." Zhang Jue said.
She turned her head to the side, glanced at him, and said nothing, she cut off the branches and leaves of the flowers, and planted the flowers before asking Zhang Jue, "Does it look good?"
Zhang Jue looked at the flowers in the bottle and said they looked good. The mother took his arm, put her head on his shoulder, and hummed an old song she liked very softly.
"Finally found the differentiation agent," she said softly, "and the glands can be removed."
Since his surgery failed, they seldom chatted, and as soon as they opened their mouths, the topic would always turn to unpleasant places. He hadn't seen his mother so relaxed for a long time, and he hadn't been so leisurely with his mother for a long time.
For a moment, Zhang Jue wanted to tell his mother something he had never talked to her.
He has liked a person for many years, from a long time ago until now.
But the vibrating sound of his incoming call broke the silence. It was an anonymous call with no displayed number.
Zhang Jue looked at it for a few seconds, said to his mother, and went to a farther place to pick up.
"Have you arrived home yet," asked him on the opposite side, and added, "I'm Pei Shu."
Pei Shu's tone was a little reluctant, but Zhang Jue didn't care too much.
"We're home." Zhang Jue said.
"Well," Pei Shu was silent for a while and said, "Are you okay?"
Zhang Jue felt that although Pei Shu asked this question, he hoped that he would be fine. He thought about it and asked Pei Shu, "Did he ask you to ask?"
"Otherwise," Pei Shu finished speaking, probably realizing that his tone was not very good, and added, "He asked the lawyer to convey it."
Zhang Jue paused for a while, then hesitantly said to Pei Shu, "Can you help me with a word?"
"you say."
"My father found the differentiation agent, and I can operate in the near future, so that he doesn't have to worry about unlocking."