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February was unusually warm this year.
The snow has melted, giving way to an early spring with blooming flora, leaving the cold dead winter behind.
The joint venture of the Shen and Du Conglomerates has made major progress. Today, Shen Chen is scheduled to head off to a meeting there.
It’s scheduled at nine in the morning, so he’s headed there directly from home.
Secretary Dong has been waiting for him downstairs for quite a while now. It almost makes him feel like the boyfriend waiting for the girlfriend to finish with her makeup before a date.
Though, he could hurry his girlfriend but not his boss. He wouldn’t dare.
When he’s about to take a smoke out of the car, CEO Shen is finally here, far behind schedule.
“Morning, Mr. Shen.”
He is dressed just as usual. His hair meticulously brushed up to show his chiselled features. His suit fitting, classy but not showy.
He casually nods before taking his laptop out to start up on work.
A true leader of a company would never waste a second of his time.
Not long after secretary Dong has started the car, he can smell a faint cologne.
It’s so faint that it would definitely be unnoticeable outdoors without being right up against him. They’re in a car though, so he is able to catch its scent.
Wait, CEO Shen had applied cologne?!
His expression freezes.
Nothing wrong with applying cologne, of course, but this is the CEO Shen who never bothers with this stuff. Was today some special day? Or does he have a date?
Secretary Dong sneaks a peek at his boss using the rearview mirror, and realises that not only has he had cologne applied, he’s also wearing a collar pin. And he’s wearing a different watch from his usual one.
Suddenly, Shen Chen raises his head to meet gazes with him in the mirror.
The secretary is surprised, averting his gaze awkwardly.
Shen Chen furrows his brows, “pay attention to the road.”
“Oh, right, I’m sorry!” It’s really dangerous to be distracted when driving. The secretary reflects on himself.
A minute later.
“Does it look weird?”
The secretary, paying close attention to the road, is not able to react promptly, “huh?”
Shen Chen furrows his brows again, “am I dressed weird today?”
“No, no, of course not!”
Shen Chen hmphs, the meaning unclear.
The secretary is having cold sweat all over. He will never again try to steal glances at his boss again. It’s really painful if caught.
So he does not notice how his boss has untied his tie and looked at it deep in thought——He should have chosen the other one back then.
It’s fifteen minutes from the meeting, and they’re about five minutes from the Du Conglomerate HQ.
The secretary sighs in front of a red light. His driving was just right, arriving not too early nor too late.
The pedestrian lights flash. They’ll be at their destination after the next intersection.
The lights at the next intersection are already green, so the secretary pushes on the gas to drive right through.
When suddenly——A white shadow flashes in front of the car!
He hits the brakes reflexively.
In the conference room in the Du Conglomerate, the clocks read ten past nine, but there’s only the members of the project of the Shen Conglomerate present right now, and their leader is missing. However, Du Conglomerate’s CEO has been sitting opposite them for a while now.
Being late is quite tarnishing to a company’s trustworthiness, not to mention there’s not a single word from them beforehand.
They’re shuffling uncomfortably, and one of them rises, “apologies, we’ll make a call.”
The project manager comes back in less than a minute with quite the ominous expression.
“A-, apologies. We might have to cancel the meeting for today.”
“Did something happen?” Asks Du You.
The manager sweats just being questioned by the leader of the other party, but he’s not sure if he should break the news in the presence of so many people
“May we talk outside?”
“Alright.”
Du You and assistant Xiao follows him out. The rest of the people in the room look at each other nonplussed.
In the corridor, the manager says hesitantly, “actually, Mr. Shen’s car crashed.”
Assistant Xiao seems shocked as she looks at her own boss.
A freak streak of bad luck? Just after they had a car accident it’s CEO Shen’s turn?
“Where were they?”
The manager pauses slightly at the unexpected question before answering, “the intersection four minutes away.”
Du You turns to assistant Xiao who has understood her boss without words, “I’ll get the car immediately.”
About ten minutes later.
The site has already been cordoned off when Du You arrived. The fencing has been damaged while the car itself has smashed into a tree. The front has dented while the glass window has shattered all over.
There is a crowd which the police are trying in vain to disperse.
“Mr. Du,” assistant Xiao comes over, “Mr. Shen and the others have already been taken away on ambulances. Would you like to go as well?”
Du You nods, but, his eyes suddenly narrow as if he spotted something.
“… White.”
Assistant Xiao asks in turn, “what?”
“Under the car,” Du You points to the car, “do you see it?”
Assistant Xiao does not have good enough eyesight. Even with her glasses she can only make out the pebbles under the car.
“That day, you saw a white shadow, you said?”
“Ah, yes.”
It’s been a week though, so the memories are getting hazy. She is convinced she must have just been seeing things.”
Du You says nothing else, “go, to the hospital.”
It’s a normal workday with hospital staff coming and going while the corridors crowded and lively.
Crying kids, lonely elders, panicked relatives; the chorus is so loud that one cannot hear another if they do not yell.
The receptionist looks rather exhausted working in an area always busy, but she is still patiently answering the people’s questions.
Du You and assistant Xiao have taken the elevator to the top floor of the annexe where it’s mostly expensive single rooms which are also quieter.
“He’s at 502,” says the assistant.
The scent of disinfectant is quite harsh on the nose. The clean, smooth floor is reflecting the lights on the ceiling.
Outside 502, the two people can hear the sobbing voice of a man coming from inside.
“Uwuwu, Mr. Shen, it’s all me. Why wasn’t I the one hurt. Please tell me anything you need, I’ll do everything I can.”
Shen Chen sounds like he’s doing his best to hold back his anger while replying, “shut up, I’m not going to die.”
Du You knocks on the door.
It’s secretary Dong who opens the door soon after, his hair all messed up while looking all disheveled.
He wipes his face seeing Du You, “oh, Mr. Du, you’re here.”
Du You nods as he walks inside.
The single room is quite spacious. There’s even a wall-mounted OLED TV opposite the bed. There’s thick carpeting and the room is clean and tidy. It feels like a hotel room.
Shen Chen is leaning on his pillow while lying in bed. His right leg has been lifted and had a cast applied and fixed in place.
His suit and coat are put aside and he’s only dressed in his shirt, but perhaps having had a rough time, they’re all dirtied. His hair is disheveled as well, and his bangs hang low.
He seems surprised to see Du You.
He didn’t even have time to tell his parents yet, and Du You is already here?
Assistant Xiao pushes her glasses, “Mr. Du hurried here as soon as he could after hearing about it from secretary Dong.”
Shen Chen glares at the secretary fiercely before moving his eyes away.
The secretary shivers. He didn’t do anything wrong again, did he? He thought the two CEOs had a good relationship now, and if he were the one immobile in the hospital bed, he would be happy if his friends visited.
Du You takes a look at his right leg before looking back towards Shen Chen.
The curtains puff up from the breeze.
Shen Chen seems slightly uncomfortable with the gaze, but with his calmest tone possible, “it’s just a fracture.”
“…”
Du You gives his assistant a look.
She immediately understands and waves the secretary over, “come with me for a bit.”
He seems late to pick up on the cues, “eh?”
“Just come,” assistant Xiao picks up the man and leaves.
The door slams to a close.
When only the two of them are left, Du You sits on the chair by the bed and looks at Shen Chen.
He realises he has something to say, “what?”
“A week ago, we also had a traffic accident.”
Shen Chen falls into thought hearing that.
“What’s similar is a ‘white shadow.'”
“White shadow?” Shen Chen knits his brows.
He can recall Xiao Dong saying something like that. He said there was this white shadow that made him reflexively hit the brakes, but then suddenly the car slipped and uncontrollably rammed into the direction of the trunk.
The problem is, there was not even a single car besides their’s then.
The police are still retrieving the CCTV records.
Du You tells him, “I saw white fur under the car. The same person has probably attacked you and I both.”
Shen Chen gets what he’s trying to say now, “you mean…”
“Xiao Tiantian.”
Or rather, a member of the Top in association with Xiao Tiantian. Just like X did——Attacking them for Xiao Tiantian.
Shen Chen did not expect to still be involved with that person, and falls into silence.
The rooms grows quiet enough that one could even hear heartbeats.
Then, Du You says, “I will investigate this person and catch him.”
Shen Chen looks up to find a rare occasion of Du You’s expression changing, looking slightly cold.
“I will not let him do it again.”
His tone is different as well.
Du You would usually speak without any change in intonation, sounding cold and robotic, but spend a while with him and people would realise this is just his habit. He does not mean any disrespect.
Yet he can actually hear displeasure just now. For once, he’s shown his emotion in his speech.
“I will be leaving now,” Du You stands up, “stay safe.”
Shen Chen suddenly feels something odd when he sees him turn to leave.
It’s as if there’s a deep ravine between he and Du You.
Why was he angry? Is it because he’s hurt? Or because this is threatening someone else from some other parallel world?
He can’t help but utter, “wait.”
Du You turns his head around.
Shen Chen didn’t know what to say following that though.
Really, no matter who he is doing this for, it’s nothing to do with him, isn’t it.
His anaesthetised right leg shouldn’t be feeling anything right now, but for some reason it feels as if it’s being poked by needles, quietly hurting.
“… Nothing,” Shen Chen raises his chin, “I can’t walk right now, but if you need anything, just ask.”
Du You nods, “mm, thanks.”
When he left, Shen Chen’s tense body suddenly gives way and he leans backwards. Then, he puts his hand on his eyes, then closing them, as if tired.
… What in the world was he doing, really.
His assistant and secretary Dong are waiting outside. They approach Du You seeing him come out.
Du You tells assistant Xiao, “contact You Haoyu’s agent. Push back his schedule for these few days. Tell him to stay home as much as possible for now.”
Assistant Xiao only nods with a stern expression without question.
The secretary can feel something heavy in the atmosphere as his eyes dart between the two, then, he hears CEO Du tell him, “I’ll be relying on you too. If anything out of the norm were to happen here, tell me as soon as possible.”
“Huh?” He pauses but then accepts, “alright, understood.”
He’s not past his eighth-grade phase yet, and so seeing the two of them as if preparing for a grand battle, he can’t help but speculate.
Was this accident really an accident? Or was there some great conspiracy behind it all?
Leaving behind secretary Dong to his fantasies, the two walk towards the parked vehicle outside the hospital.
The sunlight is not yet scorching this season; the fresh leaves of the bushes waver lightly in the breeze.
Shortly after, someone appears from behind the annexe looking at the two with a complicated, unreadable expression.
In the car, Du You calls up the familiar contact.
A male voice picks up, “Mr. Du.”
“Any movement from Xiao Tiantian?”
“Nothing recently,” then, after a pause, “however, the living room glass window has shattered a few days ago for reasons unknown.”
“Send me the address,” then, Du You further orders, “and send some people to keep watch over these individuals.”
He gives the names of Shen Chen, You Haoyu and Qin Ge.
“You do not need to approach them. If they are in danger, contact me immediately.”
“Understood.”
The car is driving on the road, racing past the scenery which have blended into one.
[System.]
The system has not spoken up for a long time now.
It can feel its host’s emotional fluctuations. Currently, it is the same he had when he learned that Xiao Tiantian was able to do ‘plot correction.’
No. It is even more intense than that. It has been afraid it would anger the host again if it speaks up again.
So it didn’t even react when its host called out at long last.
[Can you look up information regarding this member of the Top?]
[Right, right!]
But the system then crosses its fingers and say [There’s currently too little information. At best we know it’s non-human]
Since Xiao Tiantian did transmigrate through many worlds and had targets both human and non-human. The database is too great. It’s a fool’s errand to try pinpointing the Top’s identity from this clue alone.
Du You does not force the issue.
Then, his phone rings. The agent has given him Xiao Tiantian’s address and a message.
[Target currently in class in Suikou Uni.]
Suikou, as a top academic institute, has several campuses. Of course, any one of which is no less beautiful than a national park.
Xiao Tiantian’s classes are over for the day, and he is leaving the classroom with books in hand.
He does not want to go home right now.
It’s been several days since Ryan left. Those affectionate, heartwarming days were like fleeting dreams.
Now that home has turned back to its cold state yet gain. Even if he goes home, no one will be waiting.
A couple occasionally walks through the tree-lined promenade.
It’s springtime. The sun is quite warm up there, though it does nothing to warm the permafrost frozen over in Xiao Tiantian’s heart.
Ryan is moving too quickly. Even if the system could locate him, he would have been gone by the time he made it there.
He cannot catch the person; the same way he is unable to capture happiness.
Xiao Tiantian’s delicate shoulders start trembling uncontrollably again. This pain eating him inside makes his palm-sized face pale as a ghost.
“Hey, man,”
Someone pokes his shoulder. He wipes the tears off the corner of his eye, not wanting others to witness him wallowing in self-degradation.
It was that male student again, the one with the rather sorry appearance.
They hold out a pack of tissues, saying, “you’re shaking again? I told you you shouldn’t hold it in, you know. The toilet’s right over there, and I’ve got tissues if you want.”
Xiao Tiantian “…”
The sun is set by the time he’s home.
With weary mind and heavy steps, he takes out the key to open the door, only to discover it unlocked.
Xiao Tiantian remembers that he must have locked the door whenever he went out. Did this mean that someone is finally here for him?
His dead mind is getting rekindled. He holds his breath as he pushes open the door.
The lights are off. A tall figure is currently sitting on the sofa. A gloved hand is leaning on the frame.
The man’s chestnut-coloured hair is lit by the white light seeping in from the outside street lamps. Half his handsome face is buried in darkness; mysterious, unreadable.
The young man smiles, looking endlessly gentle seeing Xiao Tiantian here.
“You’re here.”
TL’s notes: Oh, don’t worry, it’s just going to be some interesting comeuppance that happens next. *wink*
Oriental Rabbit 
Qin Ge is there? RIP xiao tiantian lmao
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