Chapter 274: Naldives
“We were talking about games!” Wang Zikai blurted out.
“Yeah, games,” Gao Yang said naturally, pleasantly surprised. You’ve gotten smarter, Wang Zikai.
Gao Xinxin pouted. “Stop talking about games when we’re now on a vacation! I’m warning you, Wang Zikai, don’t even think about playing games with my brother at the hotel when we’ve gone abroad.”
“Don’t worry!” Wang Zikai promised.
“How can I not worry? What are you holding in your hand, huh?” Gao Xinxin pointed at the console Wang Zikai was holding.
Wang Zikai said like it was obvious, “I’ll be playing at night, not during the day!”
“Ha, and you don’t have to sleep? What do you think you are, a celestial?”
Wang Zikai grinned. “Well, I am—Oww!”
Gao Yang stepped on Wang Zikai’s foot.
After the whine, Wang Zikai snickered. “Ah, how fucking silly of me. Why did I bring this? I won’t have time to play!”
Gao Yang nodded with a smile, satisfied.
The three of them chatted for a while. Well, Wang Zikai did most of the talking, and Gao Xinxin did most of the roasting, while Gao Yang was the audience, stepping in to stop them from fighting every now and then.
Soon, the flight stabilized, and the plane quieted.
Gao Xinxin had put on her earphones to listen to music. At some point, she fell asleep, resting her head on Gao Yang’s arm.
Wang Zikai played games on his handheld console for a while, and then he got bored and fell asleep too. His head bobbed a few times like a fishing lure before it finally fell on Gao Yang’s shoulder.
And he just said that he didn’t need sleep.
Gao Yang sighed faintly, worried.
He wondered if Vermilion Bird and the others had set out. He wondered who X was and if they would turn out to be a friend or a foe. He wondered if this mission would go smoothly.
Later that night, Gao Yang fell asleep as well.
He didn’t know how long it’d been until a turbulence woke him. He could sense the plane’s descent.
The window shade was half open, revealing the break of dawn in the sky, dyeing the spectacular ocean of thick rolling clouds red. It was a beautiful sight.
“Hm...”
Gao Xinxin had woken up too. She raised her arms and stretched, her expression soft in her sleepiness. She hadn’t put on her usual mask of a dishonest, haughty tsundere.
She looked to the side at Gao Yang and gave him a small smile, her eyes filled with excitement and nervousness. “It’s my first time being this far from home, Brother.”
“Me too.” Gao Yang smiled.
“Ah—”
Wang Zikai had woken up as well. He stretched dramatically and declared, “Naldives, here I come!”
For some reason, whatever Wang Zikai said always felt like a challenge for a fight.
...
The plane landed safely.
Gao Yang and his family got off the plane and headed to the arrival hall with the other passengers.
Since his father was in a wheelchair, they moved a little slower. By the time they reached baggage claim, the carousel was already surrounded by people.
“Go look for our luggages, Yang Yang. Don’t let them go missing.” As usual, his mother worried over things that were unlikely to happen.
Gao Yang gave Wang Zikai a look. Wang Zikai immediately came over to take Gao Yang’s position behind the wheelchair.
Gao Yang jogged up to the carousel. At a glance, none of the suitcases on the conveyor belt was his or his family’s.
He looked at the terminal where the luggages came from. One after another, suitcases were spat out. Soon, Gao Yang caught sight of his.
He jumped.
Thanks to his enhanced vision, he noticed before everyone else that there was a white cat perching on his suitcase, licking its own paws.
Thankfully, the light was dim at the opening of the terminal, and no one had noticed just yet.
In two seconds though, the suitcase and the white cat would come out on the conveyor belt, revealed to everyone.
Clang!
In that split second, Gao Yang quietly and swiftly threw his phone away, hitting a trash can behind him.
The sudden noise drew the attention of most people present. They turned to see what had happened, and seizing the opening, Gao Yang teleported to the start of the conveyor belt with the crowd as his cover.
Blocking the suitcase and the white cat with his body, he quickly unzipped the case and grabbed the white cat, shoving it inside before shutting the case.
The whole process took less than three seconds.
“Hey, kid, there’s no need for the rush!” A friendly older woman turned back and said in shock, “Get down from there! It’s too dangerous for you to stand on the carousel. You may get taken inside.”
Gao Yang smiled apologetically and jumped off the conveyor belt with his suitcase. “Haha, sorry about that. I was too nervous.”
He sighed in relief. The cameras shouldn’t be able to catch his teleportation with the crowd serving as cover. It would look like there was a lag in the footage. Besides, the security personnel weren't going to check the surveillance footage of a specific location at a specific time without a good reason, and in the meantime, the footage would already be replaced with new ones.
Gao Yang nonchalantly went up to the trash can with his suitcase in hand, picking up his phone and checking it.
It wasn’t broken, thanks to the phone case and screen protector.
Gao Yang turned to his mother as she walked up to him and said, “Grab your luggage, Mom. I’m going to the toilet.”
Without waiting for her to answer, he rushed into the men’s toilet with his suitcase, entering the innermost stall.
As soon as he opened the suitcase, the white cat jumped out and into Gao Yang’s arms, nuzzling his chin with its fluffy head.
“Fresh Snow?” Gao Yang was ready to pull his hair out. “What are you doing here?”
“Meow!”
“Hush!” Gao Yang quickly put a finger to his mouth, telling her to be quiet.
“Did you follow us in secret?” Gao Yang asked in a whisper.
The white cat blinked.
“Does your sister know?”
The white cat paused for two seconds before blinking.
Ugh, can’t you put more effort into lying next time?
Gao Yang felt a headache brewing. He already had enough on his plates during this trip in Naldives. And now, there was a cat added to the mix.
To be honest, he was quite irritated. Fresh Snow was being reckless.
But she was a cat; no cat could be reasoned with.
Gao Yang took a deep breath and said seriously, “I can take you around for fun, Fresh Snow, but you have to listen to me. Okay?”
“Meow!”
“Shh—” Gao Yang quickly covered her mouth. “Stop meowing.”
He sorted out his suitcase to empty one side for Fresh Snow. Then he picked her up to put her back in.
Obediently, she curled into a ball and slept on his clothes.
“Bear with me, Fresh Snow. I’ll let you out once I get to the hotel.”
Fresh Snow blinked.
“If you’re feeling suffocated, meow quietly. I can hear you.”
Fresh Snow meowed softly.
“Okay, that’s good.”
Gao Yang closed his suitcase and flushed the toilet.
He took out his phone and turned on the sound, looking up a random video of pets and hitting play. Cute meows could be heard from his phone. While clicking on different shorts to keep the distraction going, he opened the door and walked out with his suitcase.
There were a couple men taking care of their business at the urinals. They paid no attention to Gao Yang.
He quickly left the restroom.
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