Chapter 11: Fried egg

Rain City was always raining.

Mondays were always the most exhausting, with people still in the withdrawal phase from Sunday’s revelries, so the streets were mostly empty.

At Rain City Second People’s Hospital, a flash of lightning tore through the overcast night sky, illuminating a tiny shadow.

It was a bird.

It had been circling above the hospital all day.

Its black beak opened and closed, and it actually began to speak in a human voice:

“Lady [Chariot], the defensive arrangements around the hospital have been fully scouted. As you predicted, there are indeed far fewer police officers on rainy days. You truly are a master strategist!”

“My brilliance requires no praise from others, Yuyan!”

Inside Yuyan’s skull, a heavy, raspy voice echoed:

“Return. The next rainy day will be when we make our move.”

“The Magical Girl Gene… that thing belongs to me!”

When lightning lit up the night sky again, Yuyan had vanished without a trace.

When Ye Qianqiu woke up, the rain had stopped, but the sky remained gloomy and overcast.

He sat up in bed, the back of his pajamas still damp.

He’d had nightmares last night and broke out in a cold sweat.

It had been a long time since he’d dreamed…

His head felt heavy and muddled.

Dragging his weary body to the bathroom, he looked at his pale, gaunt face in the mirror.

The heavy dark circles under his eyes made him look somewhat skeletal.

Seven years had already passed.

Why was he dreaming about that day again? Dreaming about… her?

And what had triggered him to start dreaming again? Was it because of the battle a few days ago?

Questions sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain, mixing with the recent troubles he’d encountered, making him feel a wave of irritation.

Mechanically, he shoved his toothbrush into his mouth, then splashed a handful of cold water on his face, finally feeling a bit more awake.

By the time Ye Qianqiu returned to the living room, Ye Xiao Chi was already awake, curled up on the sofa playing with her phone.

Noticing him, they exchanged a glance but didn’t say a word.

Ye Xiao Chi went back to looking at her phone.

Ye Qianqiu went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Supplies at home were running low.

He’d have to buy some after work today…

Thinking this, Ye Qianqiu took eggs from the fridge and a few slices of bread from the cupboard, putting them in the toaster.

While the bread toasted, he used a frying pan to cook the eggs.

Hot pan, cold oil.

Crack an egg in with one hand, cover the pan, and let it steam for about a minute and a half on low heat.

When the egg white had just turned completely white and the yolk was slightly plump, that was the perfect soft-centered, runny yolk egg.

Ye Qianqiu’s cooking skills weren’t particularly outstanding, roughly a bit below the average homemaker’s level.

Among all the dishes, his best was frying eggs, because An Wan liked them.

Right after An Wan left, every time he fried eggs, he’d have the illusion that she wasn’t dead, that she would come back soon, bragging about how many monsters she’d defeated today, how annoying the higher-ups were…

Bubbles gradually formed in the oil in the pan, then popped with a ‘crack’.

Ye Qianqiu turned his face, looking beside him.

There was no one there.

The clouds had unknowingly thinned a bit.

A ray of sunlight shone through the window onto the stovetop.

The floating dust particles looked like plankton, full of vitality, but in essence, they were false, lifeless things.

Buzz! Buzz!

The phone tucked inside his chest pocket vibrated.

His own phone was usually in his right pants pocket.

The phone in his chest pocket belonged to Hui Jin.

The Hui Jin phone was bought just in case.

It was only a few days ago that the only two contacts were added: Xia Che and Ye Xiao Chi.

Ye Qianqiu glanced toward the living room, seeing Ye Xiao Chi still curled up on the sofa fiddling with her phone.

Only then did he turn sideways, pull out the phone, and unlock it.

The account sending him a message on WeChat was called “Feizuan Herself,” with a profile picture of Feizuan holding her phone from above, giving a peace sign.

Feizuan Herself “patted” you.

Feizuan Herself “patted” you.

Feizuan Herself: [Kitten peeking], Senior Hui Jin, are you there?

Ye Qianqiu sighed.

‘Is this kid afraid no one will recognize her? I’ll have to give her a little nudge about this when I meet her as Hui Jin later.’

Holding the spatula in one hand to flip the egg, he typed rapidly with the other.

In the living room, the girl on the sofa was nervous, chatting with Hui Jin on the phone for the first time.

Hugging her phone with both hands, she saw the “typing…” prompt appear in the message box.

She immediately sat up, staring intently at the screen.

。: What is it?

Hui Jin’s account name was “。”, using the default profile picture.

“Senior Hui Jin, wow, Senior Hui Jin!”

Looking at the message in the chat box, Ye Qianqiu could almost picture that lively girl circling around him like a chirping little bird.

The corner of his mouth couldn’t help but lift slightly.

“…Spit it out.”

“Okay! Um, Senior Hui Jin, are you free today?”

Ye Xiao Chi typed anxiously.

If she couldn’t get him to come out, all her battle plans would be for nothing!

“Busy.”

Came the instant reply.

Ye Xiao Chi could almost see the tiny senior crossing his arms, using a cold expression to decisively say “Busy.”

Cold-faced cutie! Adorable!

The girl’s lips gradually curved upwards.

She knew that without a little trick, Senior Hui Jin wouldn’t come out.

And that little trick was “herself”!

She tried her best to make her text sound pitiful:

“But… but if Senior Hui Jin doesn’t help me, I don’t know what to do…”

Ye Qianqiu stopped moving the spatula.

The oil in the pan crackled with a ‘sizzle-pop’:

“What happened.”

Ye Xiao Chi looked at the three words on the screen.

‘Why does this stingy way of speaking feel so much like that guy? Must be an illusion, right?’

“…The day before yesterday, Xia Che and I went to report at the Special Dispatch Bureau. The Director said he wants to promote me to a D-rank hero.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“But! The Director said I still need to pass an assessment. I have to defeat a D-rank monster alone… What should I do, Senior Hui Jin? I don’t know how to do anything, boohoo!”

Ye Qianqiu frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, then typed:

“Meet this afternoon. I’ll send you the location in advance. Come alone.”

“Not even Xia Che?”

“…He can come too, at most.”

“Hooray! I knew Senior Hui Jin would agree! Senior Hui Jin is the best—love you, love you!”

Feizuan Herself sent a somewhat nauseating, greasy middle-aged man kissing the screen emoji.

Ye Qianqiu’s brows furrowed.

‘Do young people these days like this sort of thing?’

He quickly locked the screen and stuffed the phone back into his chest pocket.

Then he pulled out another phone, opened the work app, tapped on his boss’s profile picture, and typed in the chat box:

“Boss, I’m taking half a day off this afternoon. Hemorrhoids flared up.”

Ye Qianqiu “patted” Xu Zhiping.

The message showed as read, then the “typing…” indicator appeared above, stopped, appeared again… back and forth for a while.

Half a minute later, Xu Zhiping said:

“Okay.”

No one knew what his supervisor had been thinking during that half minute.

After getting the leave approved, Ye Qianqiu let out a sigh of relief.

He scooped up the fried egg, its underside now charred black, and placed it on the long-cold toast.

“…”

The man stared at the disastrous breakfast, lost in thought.

“So tough. Is this a leather shoe?”

At the dining table, Ye Xiao Chi chewed the dry, hard fried egg with a pained expression.

The ‘crunch-crunch’ sound could be heard from a distance.

“Sorry.”

It was the first time in all these years the man had apologized to his daughter.