Chapter 19 The First Time Crossing the Line

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Meng was running on the platform.

She had never felt so comfortable and happy. She quickly weaved through the crowd and found her seat in the bustling carriage. The train, which had stopped in Pingjiang, sped forward again, taking away her body and soul, which were suffocating and decaying at the prime of her life.

She watched the mountains recede into the distance, the car passing through the bustling city skyscrapers and then entering vast villages and fields, slowly driving away from the city where she had grown up.

Jiang Meng had never been to Yunzhou, a famous coastal city. She was in a great mood today, finding everything outside fascinating. As she looked around, she called out to the people next to her to look as well.

"Chen Jizhou, look at this mountain, there are so many of them, you can't see the end of it."

"Chen Jizhou, look, there are actually people living at the foot of the mountain! But why are there only two houses?"

"Chen Jizhou! This lake is so beautiful! Wait, is this the sea?"

Chen Jizhou sat next to her. He found it a little funny. Of course, this wasn't her first time traveling far from home, so why was she still acting like a three-year-old? Even riding in a car seemed like a novel experience.

As Jiang Meng looked outside, Chen Jizhou took out his earphones, wearing only one side, the other wire hanging loosely to the side—he left it for her. He wasn't particularly interested in the exquisite changes outside the window, glancing at it casually, but when Jiang Meng called him, he would respond with a "Hmm," "Looking at it," or "It's quite beautiful."

Outside the car, there was still a calm lake.

With a sudden roar, the train plunged into the tunnel. The distant scenery darkened without warning, and Jiang Meng's vision involuntarily narrowed to the nearby area. Due to the sudden darkness, her reflection appeared in the glass, as well as the people behind her.

He wasn't looking outside at all; he was looking at her.

Jiang Meng's heart skipped a beat.

She glanced back at Chen Jizhou, but he didn't say anything and calmly rested his chin on his hand while listening to the music.

She picked up the other earphone.

Jiang Meng turned off her phone. She took Chen Jizhou's words to heart. The farther she was from Pingjiang, the further she could shake off her worries.

Chen Jizhou's playlist was quite lyrical and tranquil, making it convenient for her to take a nap in the car. Jiang Meng dozed off for a while, sleeping fitfully, waking up occasionally, changing position, and then going back to sleep.

Once the initial excitement wore off, Jiang Meng quietly drifted into a dream.

She had a fleeting, dreamy dream.

On the playground at dusk, with lush green leaves and crimson peach blossoms behind the boy, Jiang Meng was held in the arms of the male protagonist in her dream for a long time. She looked up in his arms. The person in her dream had no face, but she could clearly feel the warm breath of the boy's embrace.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him.

I woke up because—

Noticing that the person next to her had put down one earphone and was about to get up, Jiang Meng grabbed his sleeve and opened her eyes alertly: "What are you doing?"

Chen Jizhou turned his head to look at her because of her sudden tightening of her grip: "I'll go to the dining car."

Jiang Meng quickly put her schoolbag on, "I'll go with you."

His voice carried a faint laugh. Looking down at the arm that was being held, Chen Jizhou leaned over and gently touched her shoulder, letting Jiang Meng walk in front of him. "You're so clingy."

If Jiang Meng had any backbone, she should have immediately returned to her seat and raised her head high to attack him: "You clingy big-headed devil!" Unfortunately, she couldn't even deny that she did have feelings of dependence on Chen Jizhou, let alone in an unfamiliar place.

"I'm afraid you'll sell me out. Who knows what kind of tricks you're up to?"

Chen Jizhou chuckled as he looked at the back of her head, and didn't refute her anymore.

He went to buy two bottles of water, but the area was full of people and there were no seats left.

Jiang Meng cupped her hands around her eyes and leaned against the glass to look at the scenery outside.

Chen Jizhou stood behind her, one hand on the window frame, gazing into the distance with her.

"Look, the sea!"

He moved slightly closer: "I see it."

In less than two hours, they arrived in Yunzhou. It was still quite bright when they got off the bus. The climate here was noticeably hotter than in Pingjiang.

Jiang Meng carries or hugs her backpack wherever she goes, and it's unclear what treasure she's carrying with her. Perhaps there's nothing precious about it; it's just a sign of her lack of security.

In the taxi, Chen Jizhou asked her, "Shall I carry your backpack for you?"

Jiang Meng: "This is a women's style."

"I don't mind."

"No, I don't want to."

He nodded: "Okay, whatever you say."

Chen Jizhou wasn't one to be modest or ashamed. Whether it was carrying a girl's backpack or buying her sanitary napkins, her inconvenience was perfectly normal in his eyes. He didn't care much about saving face; he did what he was supposed to do and helped when he was supposed to, without showing any signs of male chauvinism.

Her mother's words echoed in her mind again: "She'd be a good boyfriend."

...No, why is this never going to end?

As Jiang Meng rolled her eyes at herself inwardly, hoping that Ms. Ye in her mind would behave herself, Chen Jizhou had already led her into the five-star hotel.

"Are there any suites available?" he asked the receptionist.

"I just placed the order."

Two standard rooms.

Chen Jizhou handed over his identification documents and bank card.

Jiang Meng stood in the lobby, looking at the huge welcoming pine tree, and immersed in the luxurious fragrance. She murmured a question: "Is this what it's like to be a wanderer? This is too easy. It's not like this in the movies."

Chen Jizhou took back the room key: "If I were alone, I could sleep on the street. But what's that saying again? No matter how hard life is, we can't let the children suffer."

He lowered his head, carefully distinguishing the documents and cash in his hand, discarding the useless train ticket, and handing Jiang Meng's documents and room key to her, saying, "How could I bear to see you suffer with me?"

"..."

Jiang Meng returned to her room and washed her face.

Ten minutes later, Chen Jizhou came and knocked on the door. He was still wearing his school uniform, leaned against the door, and raised his chin: "Are you satisfied?"

"What."

"hotel."

What can you do if you're not satisfied?

"Change."

That tone...

Jiang Meng paused, looked him up and down, and said with a speechless expression, "Do you have too much money to burn?"

He nodded without hesitation, "Yes."

Chen Jizhou smiled slightly, looking roguish: "Money can be earned back, but your feelings are something money can't buy, so they have to come first—just say so if you're not satisfied."

Jiang Meng finally understood why Zhao Yuanting was so obsessed with domineering CEO novels. Her extravagant spending was simply captivating. Seeing that he wasn't joking, she suddenly felt that Chen Jizhou's figure had become much more imposing.

Chen Jizhou stepped into the room, looked at the light switch behind the door, and slowly told Jiang Meng, who was tying her hair, "Don't worry if you didn't bring a change of clothes. After you take a shower tonight, press this bell and an auntie will come to pick them up. It will take a maximum of two hours to wash and dry them for you and bring them over."

Jiang Meng was slightly surprised, as she had indeed been considering changing her clothes: "You even thought of that."

Chen Jizhou didn't reply, but gave her a small cake delivered by the hotel: "I probably won't have time to sit down and eat today. I'll take you somewhere later so you can fill your stomach."

Jiang Meng beamed with joy; this was much tastier than dinner! "Thank you, my favorite dark chocolate!"

Even someone as cautious and meticulous as Chen Jizhou can make a mistake. He only realized he'd forgotten his cash after leaving the house. ATMs were probably hard to find nearby, so he checked his cash. "Limited funds, how about the subway?"

Jiang Meng said, "Of course, no problem."

Chen Jizhou walked behind her: "But you can't go out and say that Chen Jizhou took a girl on the subway. I'll lose face."

Jiang Meng skipped along the unfamiliar city streets, laughing as she said, "Okay, I won't mind. I'll definitely keep it a secret and won't delay your search for a wife."

He nodded and smiled in response, "Thank you."

The subway was quite crowded, with no empty seats. And some people with questionable manners leaned against the middle handrail, leaving everyone else standing there helplessly, unable to find any support.

Jiang Meng almost got stepped on as soon as she got on the bus.

Immediately afterwards, she was pulled aside and Chen Jizhou lifted her up.

“Stand right here.” His voice was steady.

Chen Jizhou marked out a completely safe corner for her, then looked down at her and said, "You can just hold onto me."

Jiang Meng kept her head down, not looking at his face. She grabbed his coat around his waist but didn't hold him firmly.

Fortunately, the train journey was relatively smooth.

Standing in Chen Jizhou's arms, she suddenly remembered the dream she had on the bullet train.

The moment she embraced her friend A in her dream was very close to the temperature and sensations she felt right now.

They are even similar in height.

Jiang Meng's heart started beating faster.

Someone squeezed past from behind, bumping Chen Jizhou in the lower back. He staggered forward uncontrollably, and his hand, which was originally bracing against the car body, instinctively reached out to protect her, afraid that she would be hit by the wall. So he wrapped his arm around Jiang Meng's shoulder.

She felt someone pull her forward, her cheek narrowly brushing against his chest. After a few seconds of contact, he quickly pulled away.

Chen Jizhou clicked his tongue, and when he looked at her again, he gave a helpless yet pleading smile: "He bumped into me."

Jiang Meng was still holding onto his clothes when they separated again. Only then did she belatedly realize that they had been hugging for a few seconds.

It seemed he even reached out and put his arm around her.

The boy's scent and strong chest enveloped her, and for a moment, Jiang Meng felt dizzy, enveloped in a fragrance that was both strange and familiar. It smelled pleasant, gentle, with a hint of coolness, but mostly warm.

I'm familiar with him because he is Chen Jizhou.

It felt unfamiliar, because I had never felt his breath brush so closely against my nose before.

This was the first time that boundaries had been crossed; it was a mutual invasion. The fortresses that each person had reserved for themselves suddenly collapsed, and she was buried in his private territory.

Jiang Meng kept her head down and responded very softly, "I don't blame you."

Chen Jizhou gave a very low "hmm".

After standing there for a while without speaking, Jiang Meng slightly raised her eyes and saw the blue veins on the boy's neck, which were attached to a patch of red skin. Looking further up, her eyes noticed that his ears were a vibrant color, looking as if they had been frozen in the snow for three hours.

...He blushed.

She was fine at first, but when he blushed, she panicked too. Jiang Meng gritted her teeth and quickly lowered her burning head.

Although you can't see your own face, the feeling of the heat wave on your face is very obvious.

The subway is supposed to be very air-conditioned, so why is it so hot?

In this unusually close proximity, both of them remained unusually silent.

Jiang Meng supported his waist.

She controlled the pressure with her fingers to maintain the distance between her bodies, so as not to get too close to him again, so her arms were not at ease.

The touch and separation happened too quickly; she didn't have time to savor every nuance of the feeling before they parted abruptly.

Jiang Meng looked at his shoulder and thought that with a height difference of 16 centimeters, if they hugged, her forehead would probably touch his chin.

Her nose would touch his Adam's apple, and her lips would too.

Jiang Meng's height prevented her from having a petite, delicate figure, and she never had the chance to snuggle in a boy's arms like a little dumpling.

But the closer their faces were, the more their hearts seemed to flutter.

They can exchange breaths.

Here, Jiang Meng relied on Chen Jizhou even more; she wouldn't allow him to leave her sight.

If you put him in the sea of ​​people on the playground, he would be her good friend, and there would be no other identity for him.

But in the cramped corner of the carriage, he would let her overthink.

For the first time, my perception of gender was crystal clear and so vivid.

She thought of a term called the suspension bridge effect.

This is not being moved.

It's just that the dangerous situation makes the heart race, thus creating an ambiguous illusion.

After a few stops, Jiang Meng finally couldn't help but ask, "Where are you taking me?"

Chen Jizhou laughed and said, "Isn't it a bit too late to ask now that you're only asking now?"

She looked up and saw his bright and handsome smile, a smile tinged with a hint of cunning, as if to say: I'm going to find a place to sell you, and remember to count the money for me later.

But Chen Jizhou didn't say that. Instead, he asked her unexpectedly, "Do you know what's in the Milky Way?"

"Um?"

"Let me show you."

"..."

Jiang Meng was speechless and was about to tease him.

Then, I heard him say, "Close your eyes."

Jiang Meng did as instructed.

The boy's dry hands covered her ears, isolating her from the surrounding sounds, leaving only the rumbling sound of the train moving through the cave, its wheels amplified, shaking her heart and body.

Another layer of abstract sound was also captured, with eyes closed and immersed in the depths of darkness. The speed created a strong sense of time and space as she moved through the tunnel, making her feel as if she were traveling through the wind.

With his ears covered, Chen Jizhou's voice became much closer, right at the door of her heart, clear and gentle, with a hint of laughter: "Did you hear that? That's the sound of a spaceship."

Jiang Meng closed her eyes and felt his hand move to the top of her head.

Chen Jizhou must have bent down and moved much closer, because his breath flowed onto her earlobe, hot as steam. He said, "Today, I am your captain."