Rebirth 02, the Celestial Being Told Me to Stop Pretending

Thank you to the generous monthly tickets from the users "Elegantly Mischievous" and "Left and Right".

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The next morning, Lu Chen was woken up by a phone call.

Upon opening it, I found a text message from Liu Yifei.

When are you going to Hong Kong?

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.

He didn't tell anyone he was going to Hong Kong, not even Ning Hao.

He retorted, "How did you know?"

"I overheard Han Shangping talking to my mom on the phone."

Lu Chen stared at the screen, unsure how to respond.

Three seconds later, another message came in: "I'm going too."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm an investor. Investors have the right to investigate their partners' business development."

The message was written in a distinctly girlish tone, but as Lu Chen read it, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

He typed a few words, then deleted them, repeating this process twice, before finally sending two words: "No."

The phone rang immediately.

"Why not?" Liu Yifei's voice came through the receiver, her tone rising, almost teasingly pleading, "What if a big boss like Albert Yeung bullies you if you go alone?"

"How could he possibly bully me?"

"I don't know either. But in the TV shows, Hong Kong tycoons are all very cunning."

Lu Chen pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a throbbing sensation in his temples.

"Liu Yifei, I'm going to discuss business, not to fight."

"Then you should definitely bring someone. You don't even have an assistant, you still need someone to serve you tea and water, right?"

"Are you there to serve tea and water?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then her voice lowered.

"I'm worried about you running around all by yourself with no one to look after you."

Upon hearing these five words, Lu Chen's Adam's apple bobbed.

The March wind in Beijing seeped in through the window cracks, carrying dust and a dry, cool feeling.

He stood in the empty dormitory, holding his phone. It was so quiet that he could hear her breathing through the receiver.

"You're only fifteen," he said, his voice softer than usual.

"Almost sixteen."

"That won't work either."

"Lu Chen." She suddenly called his name.

Are you worried that I'll cause you trouble if I go?

"no."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

Lu Chen did not answer.

Since his rebirth, he has lived his life like a knife, capable of cutting through anything and bearing anything.

But Liu Yifei is different. She is not an opponent he needs to deal with, not a resource he needs to climb up to, and not a piece on his chessboard.

She was the girl whose name he dared not even think about in his previous life.

And now she's on the other end of the phone, saying in a fifteen-year-old voice, "I'm worried."

"Lu Chen?" She thought he had died.

"I am here."

"Will it work or not?"

He took a deep breath.

"OK."

"real?"

"Really. But you have to listen to me. Once you're in Hong Kong, you're not allowed to wander around, you're not allowed to act alone, you're not allowed to..."

"Okay, okay," she interrupted him, her voice brimming with barely concealed amusement.

"I agree to everything you say. Let me know when you've booked your tickets."

The phone hangs up.

Lu Chen put his phone on the table and looked down at his hands.

My fingertips were trembling slightly.

It wasn't because of nervousness, it wasn't because of fear.

It was because of the moment he heard the words "I'm not at ease".

A voice in my head was saying: You're the one for me in this life.

But not yet.

He still has so much to do, so many moves to make.

If he were to indulge in that little bit of warmth at this moment, he feared he would be reluctant to step back into the storm.

He pulled his hand back, clenched it into a fist, and his knuckles turned white.

Afternoon at Beijing Capital International Airport, Terminal 2.

When Lu Chen arrived, Liu Yifei was already waiting in the waiting area.

She wore a beige knitted cardigan over a simple white T-shirt, her hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she only had a thin layer of sunscreen on her face.

A fifteen-year-old girl with a clean, bare face is more beautiful than anyone who has carefully made up.

There was a small suitcase next to her and a backpack at her feet.

"You only brought this much stuff?" Lu Chen looked at his carry-on suitcase, which wasn't much bigger than hers.

"It's not like I'll be gone for long." She stood up and patted off non-existent dust from her skirt. "Where's yours? I'll get it for you."

Lu Chen lifted the handle of his carry-on suitcase.

"Need not."

He said, "It's a promise, don't wander around when we get to Hong Kong."

"Okay, I'm not a child anymore."

"You are it."

"Lu Chen!" Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei raised her small, pink fist and waved it.

Lu Chen looked at her.

The fifteen-year-old girl's eyes shone like two lamps.

She should be playing Wang Yuyan in the TV series "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" now.

But she came to the airport to go to Hong Kong with him.

"Let's go."

The two went through security and found their boarding gate to sit down.

There was a seat between them.

The announcements at the boarding gate began broadcasting flight information.

They lined up near the back of the queue and boarded the shuttle bus one after the other.

The bus was crowded, and she was jostled to the side.

Lu Chen reached out and supported her arm, only letting go once she had regained her balance.

"Thank you," she said.

"Um."

Neither of them spoke again, but he noticed that after she settled into her seat, she deliberately moved half a step closer to him.

The flight time from Beijing to Hong Kong is less than four hours.

Liu Yifei was sitting by the window and fell asleep against the back of her seat not long after takeoff.

Her head was slightly tilted to Lu Chen's side, with a few strands of hair hanging down beside her cheeks, swaying back and forth with the slight turbulence of the plane.

Lu Chen glanced at her and dimmed the reading light a little.

Then he did the first thing that went beyond reason that day.

He took off his coat and gently draped it over her shoulders.

The movement was very light, but it still startled her.

Her eyelashes trembled, she didn't open her eyes, but the corners of her mouth curved into a small smile.

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.

He quickly withdrew his hand and turned to look at the rolling clouds outside the porthole.

At 30,000 feet, the sunlight was blinding.

"Lu Chen".

He turned his head.

Her eyes were still closed, but the smile on her lips was still there.

"Your coat smells like laundry detergent," she said, her voice soft and sweet from just waking up. "It smells nice."

He didn't answer.

But my heart skipped a beat.

Looking at her profile illuminated by the sunlight, Lu Chen suddenly felt that this trip to Hong Kong wasn't so boring after all.

"Are you nervous?" she suddenly turned to ask him.

"What's there to be nervous about?"

"Let's talk business."

"Don't be nervous."

"You're lying." She poked his arm lightly with her finger. "You've touched your pockets several times since you got on the bus. You only touch your pockets when you're nervous."

Lu Chen looked down at his hands.

Indeed, his right hand remained in his pocket, unconsciously stroking the business card.

"You're quite observant."

"Of course." She proudly raised her chin.

"I'm an investor. Investors naturally need to pay attention to every detail of a project."

"So what did you notice?"

"You didn't sleep well last night," her voice suddenly lowered, "You have dark circles under your eyes."

He really didn't sleep well; his mind was filled with thoughts of his brother, Zhang Guorong.

With only a few days left until April 1st, he had to arrange all the details before going to Hong Kong.

"Lu Chen."

"Um?"

"Are you hiding something from me?"

He turned to look at her.

The fifteen-year-old girl had a keenness in her eyes that was beyond her years.

"No."

"Every time you say 'no,' your gaze shifts three millimeters to the lower left."

Lu Chen paused for a moment, then smiled.

"You even remember this?"

"You taught me," she whispered.

"You said an actor's eyes betray them."

Lu Chen looked at her, and his heart suddenly softened.

"I'll tell you after I'm done with this."

"real?"

"real."

She nodded in satisfaction, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.