Chapter 15
As promised, Qiao Yan received a message before dawn the next day that she had to rush to Da Han Star to attend a lecture.
Qiao Yan had just been about to move back to her own home when this happened. Fortunately, it didn't last long, only three or four days. However, when she got back, she would inevitably have to rush to class again. Unexpected situations always leave people at a loss.
It just so happens that it's raining on White Dew Star today. Qiao Yan looked at the raindrops falling outside and thought that Great Cold Star is an extremely cold place, which is very fitting for its name.
She hadn't slept all night and was preparing to catch the early morning jump ship. Xiao Lu helped her pack her luggage. Before she could even step down from the living room, she saw Nan Ya Yin coming out of the house. When she saw Xiao Lu carrying luggage, she jumped up and ran over.
"Didn't you say you were moving back?" Nan Yayin's dark circles under her eyes were a long-standing issue, but they had lessened recently due to better sleep, and there were hardly any bloodshot eyes. However, when Qiao Yan looked at her today, it seemed like a few more had grown back.
"I'm going on a business trip to another planet," Qiao Yan told him. "I'll be back in about three days. You can use these few days to think about how you want to introduce yourself to me."
As she walked down, she recalled Nan Yayin's aggressive demeanor when they first met, "It would make up for that part of our first meeting."
Nan Yayin thought she didn't want to stay here anymore, but she was relieved when she heard it was a business trip. Then she realized that she would be gone for several days.
It wasn't that he missed her, since he hadn't left yet; it was just that she needed his pheromones.
Nan Yayin followed her downstairs. "Do you need my help now? It'll be a long walk for you."
"What?" Qiao Yan didn't react at first, but after remembering about the pheromones, she chuckled and said, "It's nothing, it's only for two or three days, not long."
The word "long time" was drawn out rather slowly. Qiao Yan's expression remained unchanged, but Nan Yayin's face suddenly flushed. "No, it's because you said before that you come back every three days. I thought you were going to accept it every three days."
Seeing Qiao Yan tilt her head, as if unaware of what he was hastily explaining, he clenched his sleeve and said, "I... I was just worried that you might suddenly go through a sensitive period while you were on another planet, but I wouldn't be there for you."
"Do you want to come with me?" Qiao Yan walked to the door and turned back to look at the person who had followed her to the door.
Nan Ya Yin blinked. "What? Is that even possible?"
"Of course, we can go together. I'll go to work and you can come and watch me work." Qiao Yan didn't understand her sudden idea either, but since the topic came up, she remembered the starship and train tickets. Accommodation on the Great Cold Star wouldn't be difficult to find, and there were also rare snow scenes there.
Nan Yayin thought for a second and then stepped back, saying, "I'm not going. I haven't packed my bags, and Shuyin is still sleeping. Her leg isn't healed yet."
Qiao Yan nodded. "Okay."
He then opened the door and prepared to leave, but just as he got into the car, he saw Nan Yayin still standing at the door.
"Go back quickly," Qiao Yan said to him as he rolled down the car window.
"Can I text you?" Nan Ya Yin thought for a long time. In the past, Qiao Yan would always text or call him, so he didn't dare to take the initiative to contact her.
“Of course,” Qiao Yan said. Fortunately, the rain on Bailu Star was never heavy, so she could hear Nan Yayin’s voice clearly. She had been to a planet where it rained for an entire cycle before, the only difference being the intensity of the rain, which was extremely taxing on the voice.
Once the door was closed, Qiao Yan's hovercar started moving forward. She looked back at her house one last time, and a feeling of reluctance to part suddenly welled up inside her. She had left Nan Yayin on Bailu Star. The distance between planets was enormous, far greater than that between the new and old districts, and even the speed of communication was much slower.
The Great Cold Star is a remote, cold, and desolate planet. However, thanks to its well-developed heating system, both its surface and underground areas are great tourist destinations. I can take some people there for a visit after this semester ends.
Qiao Yan sensed something was different as soon as she landed on the Great Cold Star. Before coming, she had been so busy watching the lectures that she forgot about how changeable the weather was here, and that it would be difficult to leave if anything seemed amiss.
The transportation on Dahanxing was not as convenient as she had imagined. It took her about a day just to get to her destination. She didn't remember to check her terminal until she was lying in her hotel room.
Nan Yayin sent her a message asking if she had arrived at her destination.
Time is completely different on different planets. Fortunately, Dahan Star did not leave the star system. Qiao Yan calculated that exactly one day should have passed on the other side. After replying to the message, she was just about to rest when she heard the terminal ring.
"Hello?" Qiao Yan answered the phone with her eyes closed.
"I heard you went to the Great Cold Star?" It was Shu Juan's voice.
“Okay, let’s go to the lecture,” Qiao Yan said.
"You went with Nan Yayin?"
"No, I'm all alone." Qiao Yan opened her eyes. "I feel like I'm really much better lately. It's terrifying, Omega."
“You wouldn’t say that if it weren’t a 99% match, so this is a targeted approach,” Shu Juan replied. “How much longer will your susceptible period last?”
Qiao Yan did the math, "Three months, I guess, but I don't think it will be that soon. I'm feeling good lately."
"Let me ask you a question: have you ever asked him when his heat cycle is?"
Qiao Yan sat up in bed. "I didn't ask."
Is this something I can ask?
There was an odd pause on the other end of the line for a few seconds. "Has he smelled your pheromones?"
I've smelled it, though not much.
Qiao Yan quickly turned on the home surveillance equipment and saw that Nan Yayin was watching a class with Nan Shuyin in the living room.
She'll be back in three days, and it shouldn't be long before anything happens.
Just in case she was the only one who bought Omega-specific inhibitors and sent them home, since she was the only one in the family whose inhibitors didn't work, they had long forgotten about these things.
After Xiaolu signed for the package, she breathed a sigh of relief. She really should have brought both of them with her. It turned out that her intention to take them away that morning was not out of selfishness, but rather a premonition.
Qiao Yan spent three days anxiously on the Great Cold Star. When the lecture ended and he was about to return home, he was told that the road had collapsed due to a global blizzard and repairs would take another three days.
The Great Cold Star is a planet with relatively low technological capabilities. There isn't even any transportation that dares to pass through at this time, let alone the place she wants to go to, which is on the far side of this planet.
She'd been watching the security footage for the past few days, and aside from the regular checkups, Nan Ya Yin hadn't shown any abnormalities. She'd said she'd message her, but the final message on the screen only showed her reply, "Arrived." Thankfully, Nan Ya Yin seemed fine.
She saw the person on the monitor look up at the roof, then glance around, seemingly looking at something. Afterward, they fiddled with their phone for a while, when suddenly a message popped up on her screen.
Are you going home today?
Qiao Yan glanced at the dark sky outside the window due to the blizzard, "No, we'll have to stay for another two or three days."
The surveillance video was delayed. Qiao Yan saw him staring blankly at the terminal for a while before he looked like he had received her message and was hanging his head.
"Is it still raining at home?" Qiao Yan watched as the person upstairs ran to the window and then hurriedly sent a message.
"It's raining. I didn't know it would rain in the new district."
"You think the new district will always be sunny?"
"Because the weather is always great whenever I come to the new district."
Nan Yayin stared at the terminal, wondering why she couldn't make a holographic call to him like she did in the hospital; this felt like scratching an itch through a boot.
His finger hovered over the button for a long time before he finally asked, "When are you coming back?"
After some time, I saw a message from someone on the page: "I'll be back soon."
He actually wanted a precise time, which could be as soon as the next second or as long as a week. He didn't realize that waiting could make time feel long.
He has been waiting for four days, one day longer than the three days Qiao Yan promised.
Four days passed both quickly and slowly. Nan Shuyin recovered very well. Although she still couldn't walk, the doctor said her bones were starting to heal. As long as she rested more, took her medicine, and ate well, she would recover even faster than expected.
There was a baking book on Nan Yayin's desk. He used to think that cakes and desserts were difficult to make, since things related to happiness were always unattainable. But as long as you add sugar, they can be made well. The aroma from the shop window has recently spread to the kitchen as well.
Recently, the neighbor's dog smelled cake and went into the yard, getting soaked. The neighbor came over and gave it a good whack before it finally went home.
Nan Yayin wanted to tell Qiao Yan all this, but she felt a little nauseous. The last time he did something like this was in his mother's arms.
I'll just post a picture. He took a picture of the little dog next door waiting for its owner in the living room before it left.
"Is this the neighbor's dog?"
"Yes, but I don't know its name."
“I know.” Qiao Yan remembered the name. “It’s called Supreme Invincible Pizza. You can just call it pizza.”
Nan Yayin couldn't imagine what expression Qiao Yan had on his face as he typed those words on the terminal: "Why would he have this name?"
"They said they found it at the entrance when they were buying pizza. It was blocking the promotional picture for the Supreme Pizza, so they named it that. The owner thinks it chose the name itself." Qiao Yan looked out the window from time to time. The blizzard was still howling.
Nan Yayin was laughing heartily in the surveillance footage; she definitely wouldn't have done that if she were there.
What a pity, Qiao Yan thought to herself.
"Can I see you?" Nan Yayin suddenly sent a message that had nothing to do with the previous ones, which he quickly deleted and replaced with, "Can I call you? The kind of call where I can see you. Are you free now?"
Qiao Yan had already finished his work on Da Han Xing, but was stuck there due to the weather. Otherwise, he would have been on his starship home long ago.
Now it was convenient, of course. She made a call directly, and seeing the timer start after the call was connected, Qiao Yan felt a unique joy. She thought of the warm lights at home, the aroma of cake, and the fresh, bittersweet longing brought by sage.
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