Matryoshka doll Easter egg Ivan tea
"No, sir, I'm sorry."
As soon as he realized what he had asked, Jiang Songhe apologized for his lapse in judgment. Ignoring the flight attendant's suspicious smile as she looked at him with a hint of disbelief, Jiang Songhe leaned against the window, tied his arms around himself, and curled up into a ball, feigning death.
"Big brother! Hey! Brother?" The young man next to Jiang Songhe nudged him.
Jiang Songhe kept her head firmly against the windowpane, turning half her face to glance at the glass: "?"
The young man slid his blindfold down to his hairline, lifting a few tufts of hair: "The Maner Live you mentioned earlier, is it the Star Show Finals?"
Jiang Songhe wasn't in the mood to continue this awkward topic, so she just gave a muffled "hmm" and continued to sit by the window, eyes closed, cosplaying as a pangolin.
"Who do you want to see? Let me guess, is it Janus?"
Jiang Songhe lifted her eyelids and slightly turned her chin.
"We can't watch the live stream while we're flying in the sky, but I have some good stuff here!" After saying that, the young man put a heavy-looking backpack on his lap and unzipped it.
"What the hell?" Jiang Songhe cursed under his breath, closing his eyelids again, refusing to entertain anyone.
"Do you know that actor Ryan? He's the famous actor who debuted as a child star and won several international awards! He's the one who talks about Janus and his juicy secrets. Do you want to watch it?"
Ryan? If I remember correctly, he was the one in the Diamond Ash lounge on Christmas Day... He also started out as a child star?
With a few precise words, Jiang Songhe opened his eyelids again.
Then, as if possessed, his hand reached out to the person next to him. The young man's eyes immediately lit up, and he pulled a picture book from his bag and handed it to Jiang Songhe. Just as Jiang Songhe was about to take it, he grabbed it again and said, "Brother, it's two hundred yuan a book. Just give it to me when you log in and turn it on."
These young people these days are really something else… Jiang Songhe cursed inwardly, but his mouth seemed to have a mind of its own, and he actually wanted to check the goods first: “I have to see what the contents are, right?”
The young man was quite generous: "Okay, go ahead and look through them. If you don't like this one, I have plenty of his and other people's books here too~"
For some reason, a famous, corny, and old-fashioned song suddenly popped into Jiang Songhe's head, "How Many Good Sisters Do You Have?" He took the picture book and casually remarked sarcastically, "Heh, how many is 'many'?"
The young man actually started counting on his fingers.
Jiang Songhe gritted her teeth and glanced at him sideways before starting to flip through the picture book. Her eyes widened as she turned to the first page, the preface.
In the darkness, Janus pushed Ryan's shoulder, forcefully pressing him against the wall. His hot breath sprayed onto Ryan's earlobe. Janus opened his thin lips, revealing his white, sharp teeth, and pressed his chest against Ryan's back, biting hard into Ryan's smooth neck. Ryan's whole body immediately trembled violently...
It's bilingual, damn it, as if they're afraid people won't understand it?!
As he turned the page, Jiang Songhe blushed upon seeing the accompanying picture and slammed the album shut.
"What's wrong, brother? Not satisfied? This book is really good. So many people have pre-ordered it from me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to carry it all the way to Man'er by myself!"
The young man looked Jiang Songhe up and down for a few seconds, then blinked and showed a look of sudden realization. He reached into his bag again and said, "It's okay if you can't accept male-male CP. I also have Janus with the girl group leader, and the movie queen. Or do you like female-dominated CEOs..."
"Don't bother taking anything out," Jiang Songhe said, shoving the catalog into the young man's bag. "I'm not interested."
The young man split the picture books he had pulled out into two stacks, rubbing them apart with both hands, and persistently tried to sell them: "You don't think they're expensive? How about this, I'll give you a special price based on our classmate's chance! One hundred and fifty cents, pick whatever you like, okay? Let me tell you about the plot of each one, this one's about forced love, this one..."
This time, it was Jiang Songhe's turn to lose his temper and press the call button. He stood up abruptly, his leg went numb and he almost hit his head. He leaned back and waited for the flight attendant to appear from behind the curtain. He spoke before she even got close.
"Excuse me, is it possible to upgrade to a cabin now?"
...
After being upgraded to a more spacious and quieter cabin, Jiang Songhe looked out at the floating clouds for a while, blocking out his messy and annoying thoughts, and thought about the happy moments he had with Jonathan. His body gradually relaxed, and drowsiness finally lifted from his eyes.
After working non-stop for more than half a month, he was exhausted both physically and mentally and slept for nearly nine hours.
If he hadn't been jolted awake by the turbulence, he probably would have been able to force his consciousness to remain immersed in the dream and spend the remaining three hours before landing in Manel.
However, the turbulence continued and became increasingly severe. Jiang Songhe slept for about thirty minutes, his sweet dreams and sleepiness fading away, replaced by the discomfort of motion sickness. He clicked his tongue and opened his eyes, just as the cabin announcement brought bad news.
Due to a blizzard and extreme cold in Russian airspace, the plane will make an emergency landing in Moscow to ensure passenger safety and await improved weather conditions.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Songhe's heart skipped a beat, and she was fully awake.
As the plane landed at SVO airport and the flight attendants guided passengers to disembark in an orderly manner, Jiang Songhe's mind went blank again.
Short delays usually do not require disembarking from the plane, but once you disembark, the delay will be at least 7 hours.
Jiang Songhe lifted the blanket and sat up, took out his phone from his pocket and turned it on. Finding the startup not fast enough, he directly touched the screen in front of his seat. The time in Mos City was 18:45, and in Maner it was 16:45.
The final of the Star Show is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM, and he is destined to miss it again.
After pinching his temples hard for a few seconds, Jiang Songhe rubbed his cold fingertips, held his breath, and redialed Jonathan's number.
Beep—beep—
Even after Jiang Songhe was the only one left in the cabin, the phone still went unanswered. He regretted not asking Jonathan what chat software he usually used before he left Beijing.
Even just leaving an explanation or reporting it, or showing my WeChat Moments would be helpful.
A flight attendant approached to ask if he needed help. Jiang Songhe manually turned off the automated voice, shook his head dejectedly, and said he would get off with his suitcase. The flight attendant kindly reminded him that meals were available in the waiting area inside the airport, and he didn't need to take his suitcase off.
Jiang Songhe insisted on taking it. He planned to go to the counter as soon as he entered the airport and ask if there were any other flights to Maner that would be available as soon as possible.
All the way from the plane to the airport, Jiang Songhe tried calling Jiang Songyun, but couldn't get through. It was already past five o'clock on Man'er's end. Based on his professional experience, Jiang Songhe guessed that both of them were probably busy with intense pre-match preparations, so he had to give up trying to contact them.
He considered sending a text message as a second-best option, but since he had already broken his promise once again and didn't know when he could fly back to Bangkok, he temporarily gave up on sending a text message and decided to ask the airport staff for confirmation before reporting back.
Refusing the crew's various apologies and expressions of concern, Jiang Songhe first went to the original airline's counter to inquire, but received a negative reply. He then went to the ticket counter to check, and was told that flights departing from Moss City were experiencing widespread delays, and he could only wait for the weather to improve.
Jiang Songhe gripped the lever handle, his shoulders slumped as if deflated, and he struggled futilely with a deathly pale face.
He stumbled over a simple English conversation and asked the ground staff member with a rolled "r" accent how long this situation usually lasted.
It can be long or short, ranging from four hours to a whole day.
He asked a pointless question. Jiang Songhe let out a half-uttered curse, then resigned himself to his fate.
Then he activated his ghost mode and swept through the airport duty-free shops. His straight-male aesthetic couldn't distinguish what gifts were considered high-end or pretty; he just went into any shop he saw and swiped his card whenever he saw a "СделановРоссии" (Made in Russia).
From nesting dolls to Easter eggs, from porcelain to leather paintings, fish oil chocolates to Ivan tea, keychains to fridge magnets to Hochloma… everything comes in pairs, each exquisitely packaged separately.
People who bought it later became somewhat obsessed, not like they were choosing a gift, but more like they were conducting a thorough search for evidence that they had truly encountered force majeure.
After completing the sweep, Jiang Songhe's hands were full of bags and small bags, so he went to a specialty store and bought a small, stackable suitcase to store the odds and ends of the evidence.
Back in the waiting area, Jiang Songhe found a corner to sit down and began to put the items in her hands into her newly bought suitcase, seemingly oblivious to everyone around her.
When obsessive-compulsive disorder strikes, there is an unwavering pursuit of perfect fit and neatness.
This way, you can temporarily forget that you missed the live stream, and you'll know it's already started without even checking the time.
"Brother, I didn't realize we were in the same line of work!"
Someone moved closer and sat down next to her. Jiang Songhe suddenly felt annoyed at the sound, and without even lifting her eyelids, she shooed them away irritably: "Who's traveling with you?"
The man, seemingly oblivious to polite words, retorted, "I sell fan fiction, you sell local specialties. We're both in the same business, aren't we?!"
Jiang Songhe stuffed the last stack of shiny flakes, which he couldn't tell were brooches or badges, into the corner of the suitcase and slid the zipper shut with a rustle.
The young man who had been selling Janus fan art books to my seatmate in economy class earlier, put his arm behind his head and stretched his legs out wide: "We're all equally skilled at this, why are you still too embarrassed to admit it?!"
"Hey bro, I see you're willing to upgrade your cabin class. Is it really that profitable to smuggle local specialties to Maner? It's fate that we met, could you give me a ride when you get there..."
Jiang Songhe could no longer bear it and stood up again, wanting to get away from this persistent person, but was blocked by two feet that swayed from side to side like windshield wipers.
"Tsk," he said coldly, "Make way."
The young man, stung by the icy glare, immediately pulled his leg back. Only after the figure shrouded in black had passed did he shrug and mutter, "Fine, don't bring me then, how domineering! I was going to tell you you could watch live streams of entertainment over there, pshaw! Such a tightwad..."
The shadowy figure suddenly turned around, and the young man blurted out, "Tieguanyin tea, we don't have it over here, do we?"
Jiang Songhe hurried two steps: "Which way?"
The young man swallowed hard: "The Russians...the Russian side?"
Jiang Songhe frowned: "I asked which side of Xingxiu Live?"
The young man pointed tremblingly: "Over there in the check-in hall..."
"Thanks." Jiang Songhe dragged his suitcase and walked away, but after a few steps he turned back. "Find me when you land, I'll give you two hundred."
The young man's eyes lit up instantly, and he bent down to pick up his tattered backpack again: "So which book did you take a fancy to, brother? Oh right, I remember now!!! There's a player from the Janus team named Jiang Songyun..."
Jiang Songhe immediately turned his head, leaving the ear-piercing shouts behind him.
"Take a fancy to my ass!"
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