Back to the Future 1999: Raining at the Same Time

(A long chapter of 4000 words!)

As Chenxi walked out of Liya's training room, the camera momentarily lost focus as it passed through a crack in the wall. When we refocused our attention on Chenxi, a little vinegar bag had appeared on his back, which had previously only been adorned with a cute little torso.

Anma, who had been quietly tucked into her waistband, was unhappy that her exclusive spot had been taken away. As soon as she left the room where Constantine was, she quickly transformed into human form and hung on Chenxi's back, pouting and glaring at this new person who was trying to steal her master.

And so, a strange scene unfolded within the foundation: a young man who looked to be only in his twenties was flanked by two strikingly beautiful girls, one so adorable it was almost unbelievable, and the other a legendary investigator dispatched by the foundation.

"Hmm... It seems that now is not a good time to discuss matters with you, Mr. Chenxi."

The two little ones used Chenxi's head as a boundary, turning their little heads left and right, and occasionally letting out some cute but stern remarks.

However, this significantly obstructed Chenxi's vision, preventing him from immediately recognizing the person. But based on the familiar voice, he could still guess who was standing in front of him.

Each of them tapped the other two on the head, then squatted down to remove them from their bodies. Chen Xi then casually opened a portal to the wasteland:

"Alright, alright, this is time for adults to talk. Kids, please leave."

While pushing the two into the wasteland, he instructed Anma:

"Remember to take Liya around to see the place and let her get familiar with the wasteland environment. She will be living with us from now on."

But to everyone's surprise, Lia used her years of training to soften her body and dissipate the force Chenxi had applied to her. Then she suddenly turned around and pounced into Chenxi's arms, cupping his face and giving him a light peck.

"what!"

Anma, realizing what was happening, stomped her feet, tears welling in her eyes. Chenxi quickly choked Liya on the head.

With a cute "Ouch!", Lia covered her head and stuck out her tongue, but then turned her head and winked at Anma as if showing off.

"Master, look at her!"

Squeezing out a tear that clung to the corner of her eye, Anma clutched her clothes to her chest with one hand and pointed at the smug-looking Liya with the other, her little feet practically stomping out like she was doing a tap dance.

"Good good."

Having no other choice, Chenxi could only pull Anma close again, bringing one side of his face close to hers. After feeling the fleeting wetness, he also gave Anma a light kiss on the cheek.

He also pulled Lia in front of him, but her kiss landed on her forehead.

"Is this all right now?"

"Yeah." x2

The two little ones each covered the spot where they had been kissed, their little faces slightly red, like ripe peaches.

Then, with Chenxi looking at them with an expression that said, "I really can't do anything about you guys," they were pushed into the wasteland.

However, after entering the wasteland, the two looked at each other, covered their mouths, and simultaneously revealed expressions of "the plan is in place".

Meanwhile, outside the wasteland, Chenxi, who had closed the door, sighed and turned around to see Ms. Z standing in front of him.

And sure enough, her face showed a mixture of three parts amusement, three parts helplessness, three parts sympathy, and one part—contempt.

Clearing her throat to force herself out of that mere tenth of disdain, Chenxi stood up and politely extended her hand to Zhang Zhizhi:

"Hello, Ms. Z, is there anything I can help you with?"

Seeing Chenxi become serious almost instantly, and considering the few milk candies Toveltin had given him earlier, Zhang Zhizhi's impression of Chenxi improved.

However, what she didn't know was that Chenxi had originally planned to greet her with words in the style of Western European knights, but suddenly remembered that those words sounded more sarcastic in the context of Chinese, so she quickly changed to more appropriate words.

It looks like it's working quite well.

“I learned from the vice president that you plan to go to Vienna with the next investigation team. Today is the first day of service for one of the children on the team. Hoffman has brought her along, and I think you should go and meet her.”

Zhang Zhizhi shook Chenxi's hand in return and revealed the purpose of her trip, but Chenxi paid no attention to the specifics of what she said.

From the moment Chenxi read that Zhizhi was talking about Marcus, the image of that cute, socially awkward little seagull remained in his mind.

Surprised and delighted, Chenxi reached out with his other hand and grasped Zhang Zhizhi's hand, which she hadn't had time to pull away.

"So when are we going? She doesn't know I'm Si Chen from the Foundation. We'll be going on this mission together, right?"

With her eyes shining brightly, Chenxi was already imagining how she would catch the little seagull, hold her in her arms, and rub her little head vigorously.

Seeing Chenxi suddenly become agitated, Zhang Zhizhi sensed something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. So she simply pulled her hand away and adjusted her glasses, which had slipped slightly off her nose.

"I just received the notification myself, and I think they were unaware of it."

"That's great! What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Chen Xi's appearance made Zhang Zhizhi feel vaguely uneasy, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Just as she was about to think about it further, Chen Xi added another sentence:

"Oh, right, when we get to the room, I'll pretend to be your assistant and just follow behind you. I promise I'll behave myself and not do anything or say a word!"

Like a child, Chenxi walked around to Zhang Zhizhi and held up four fingers to indicate "four".

Perhaps because she hadn't been surrounded by innocent childlike charm for a long time, Zhizhi didn't find Chenxi's chattering noise bothersome at all. Instead, she smiled and answered some seemingly whimsical questions.

This atmosphere continued until the two arrived at the room where Hoffman and Marcus were, which was also Zhang Zhizhi's own office.

As soon as they entered, Ms. Z began talking to Hoffman, who was the first to greet them, while Chenxi kept her promise and stood obediently to the side after entering, quietly observing a cute little seagull who was unaware that she was being watched.

……

“I am Marcus.”

Through the gap between Ms. Z and Hoffman, you can see our little seagull with her head down. The painter's hat on her head casts a perfect shadow, obscuring her features.

"This is my first day as a full-time employee of the foundation, and hopefully... it won't be my last."

Looking up, we could see it clearly. A bead of sweat trickled down the cheek of the little seagull, its lips pursed and brows furrowed.

His hands were nervously clasped together in front of his chest, with his thumbs pressed tightly together, indicating his inner tension.

"It has been 645 days since I last introduced myself."

"And this time, I'm going to meet—"

I moved my gaze upward from my anxiously clasped hands to the nameplate engraved with a large "Z".

"The members of the foundation's committee are also Si Chen's direct superiors."

"When greeting someone, be careful and appropriate. Don't be nervous, just be yourself."

Before I entered, Ms. Hoffman straightened her sleeves and gave me these instructions.

“Yes, Ms. Hoffman.”

Subconsciously, I covered my face with a scarf, which made my voice sound a bit muffled.

But Ms. Hoffman merely glanced at it and said indifferently:

"First, you have to show your face."

The two are still talking about something. Ms. Z is holding a document that looks very important. "I still have time," she says, taking a deep breath. "You can do it, Marcus!"

What exactly constitutes "appropriate" behavior?

"Say your name and code?"

"Um……"

I tried to close my eyes and try to remember, but I still couldn't...

"Surely no one can memorize such a long code, right?"

“Take a deep breath, Marcus. Look around; maybe there are some clues.”

"Hmm? Is this Ms. Z's cup?"

Unlike the standard glass cups commonly used by foundations, this material is enamel?

"This craft seems to originate from the East. I happened to read a magazine about Eastern greetings on the island!"

The little seagull's expression relaxed, and its furrowed brows unfurrowed, as if it felt somewhat relieved about the brilliant idea it had come up with.

"Perhaps I can give it a try!"

"puff!"

A soft, barely suppressed laugh escaped her lips, thankfully without disturbing anyone, especially Miss Marcus, who was the protagonist of the entire event.

You can't blame Chenxi for this. When he saw the bright smile that suddenly bloomed on the little seagull's face, and when he thought about what cute things she was going to do next, Chenxi couldn't help but smile.

“Marcus…”

"But what if my pronunciation isn't standard enough..."

Still immersed in her own world, the little seagull was unaware that her mentor was calling her name and was still struggling with how to make a "proper" opening remark.

"Marcus."

"Yes, I am Marcus."

The little seagull subconsciously responded to Ms. Hoffman's words, but when it looked up, it saw the two of them already standing in front of it.

Hoffman raised his hand and introduced:

"This is Ms. Z."

The sudden meeting completely shut down Marcus's still-running thought process, and with his eyes closed, he instinctively uttered the most memorable blessing:

"Congratulations on your fortune!"

Zhang Zhizhi was somewhat helpless. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, a gust of wind swept past him.

The bad premonition eventually came true, but unfortunately, none of those present could stop this "dog disaster".

By the time everyone could see clearly, Chenxi was already standing behind Marcus, hugging her tightly and rubbing her head repeatedly while muttering:

"吆西円西, 円西円西円西..."

Then take a deep breath, as if preparing for a long chant spell:

"Ah——————! Baby, you are a fragrant, soft, sweet, honey-cream-like, rich, crunchy, smooth, and adorable little cake!"

Having said that, Chenxi took another deep breath and jumped away from Marcus before Zhang Zhizhi could grab her. Then, while pacing around Zhang Zhizhi's office like Qin Shi Huang, she explained:

"Gong Xi Fa Cai" is a blessing that is generally said in China, which is what you call the East, during the Chinese New Year, which is roughly equivalent to Christmas in the West.

"But the full version of this phrase is: 'Wishing you prosperity and a red envelope!'"

"These are basically auspicious words that children say when they ask their elders for red envelopes."

"But..."

With a quick dodge, Chen Xi dodged Zhang Zhizhi's outstretched hand and darted to Marcus's side, simultaneously slipping a red envelope into her arms.

"As your partner on future missions and a senior member of the Foundation, it's only natural that I should prepare a suitable gift for you. Hehe~"

Before I could recover from the shock of having my head rubbed, a very heavy red paper package was shoved into my arms.

Confused, Marcus opened the red paper package in his arms, then dropped it with a thud.

"Sir, are you sure you're not mistaken? There's a lot of money inside, lots and lots of money."

"You didn't pack the wrong thing, yay! This is for you to spend, so buy yourself whatever you want to drink or eat. You can buy whatever you want; girls should always have some money on them."

"But...but this is too much."

"Take it if I give it to you. Huff... huff... huff..."

Finally, Zhang Zhizhi, exhausted from the beating, stopped waving the broom that he had been doing since the beginning and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Don't let Chenxi's small size fool you, he's actually quite wealthy."

"By the way, let me formally introduce you. This is Chenxi, the second Sichen selected by the Foundation. She will also be the member who will be working with you from now on."

Looking at Chenxi, who was as mischievous as a monkey and seemed about to leap to the ceiling if Zhang Zhizhi continued chasing him, he could only sigh and facepalm.

It really shows outsiders how embarrassing it is to have one's own side exposed.

Zhang Zhizhi was thinking this, but Chenxi seemed to have no remorse at all, still grinning, and quietly moved step by step to our little horse's side again.

"I have no objection, but if he does anything that hinders the completion of the mission in the following operations, I will take all necessary measures."

Hoffman remained calm and composed, as if he had long been accustomed to this kind of problem child.

"nature."

By granting Hoffman a pardon for his words, the Zhang Zhizhi and Hoffman Anti-Chenxi Alliance was officially established!