Sunset Boulevard

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the cruise ship docked.Zhang Jue and Cui Chengze were the first to disembark.

Zhang never needed Cui Chengze to accompany him back to the newly independent country, so they said goodbye after completing the formalities in the cruise hall and getting back their passports.

Many reporters were stationed outside the exit, waiting to interview the passengers on this journey. Zhang Jue put on sunglasses and a mask, and walked behind other passengers with his head bowed.

Before he reached the exit, he saw Ai Jiaxi wearing a large dark long coat, with his hands in his pockets, standing among the waiting crowd.Ai Jiaxi changed her hair color to a new one, with light brown bangs sticking to her forehead, her eyes were wide open, looking around like a swinging penguin.

Although Ai Jiaxi was working hard to find Zhang Jue, as usual, he didn't react until Zhang Jue stood in front of him and called his name, and looked up.

The exit was very narrow, allowing only two people to pass through. There were several passengers waiting behind Zhang Jue, so he walked out of the passage with a luggage bag in one hand and Ai Jiaxi's shoulder in the other.

After walking a few steps, Ai Jiaxi grabbed Zhang Jue's hand and looked up at him with tears in his eyes: "A Jue..."

He tightened Zhang Jue, bumped his head into Zhang Jue's arms, buried his face in Zhang Jue's chest, hugged Zhang Jue's waist tightly, and said pitifully, "When I saw the news that day, I was so frightened that I lost my mind."

"I also thought that if something happened to you, the last thing I said to you would be to peel my shrimp." He added.

Zhang Jue couldn't help laughing, he put his arm around Ai Jiaxi's back and coaxed him: "Didn't you come back?"

Ai Jiaxi hugged Zhang Jue for a while before pulling Zhang Jue out again.

The driver waited not far from the terminal hall, and they got into the car and sat together in the back seat.Ai Jiaxi took off her coat, hugged it in her arms, and told Zhang Jue: "Let's go back to the hotel first, and return to China tomorrow."

"Okay." Zhang Jue nodded, took off his sunglasses and mask, and put them aside.

The back seat of the car is very spacious, but Ai Jiaxi insisted on squeezing in beside Zhang Jue. He looked at Zhang Jue for a while, then suddenly sighed decently, and told Zhang Jue: "My little uncle called me yesterday, Tell me to send you back to them directly tomorrow, and you are not allowed to stay elsewhere."

"But he doesn't seem to be angry anymore," Ai Jiaxi said again, and he raised his hand to pat Zhang Jue's shoulder, "It's not your fault after all, they're just worried about you, so they're so anxious."

Zhang Jue said "Yes", and said: "I know." He patted Ai Jiaxi's hairy head again: "Don't worry about it."

"I don't need to worry about it." Ai Jiaxi lowered her eyes, paused, and before she could finish her sentence, the car had already stopped at the entrance of the hotel.

The doorman of the hotel opened the car door for them, a gust of cold wind came in, Ai Jiaxi shivered from the cold, and didn't say any more.

After getting out of the car, I walked a few steps and entered the hotel lobby.

Ai Jiaxi was a head shorter than Zhang Jue, holding Zhang Jue's arm, hanging on Zhang Jue's arm, and whispered to him: "A Jue."

Zhang Jue lowered his head, looked at Ai Jiaxi, and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Ai Jiaxi raised her head, looked hesitant, then moved her eyes away and said, "Nothing."

They entered the elevator without stopping, went upstairs, hurried past the executive lounge, and returned to their room.

In the next few hours, Ai Jiaxi did not discuss Chen Boqiao with Zhang Jue.He complained to Zhang Jue, saying that his father forced him to go on a blind date, that the New Independent State was too small, and counting the descendants of the aristocratic families he had met, several of them were the exes of his good friends.He also said that his birthday party was going to be held in a hotel on an outlying island, and Zhang Jue was strictly ordered to stay until the end of the party this year, and he was not allowed to leave the party secretly.

Ai Jiaxi drank several glasses of water, and talked for a long time by herself, so tired that she bent her legs, leaned her head on the sofa pillow and fell asleep.

Zhang Jue sat beside him, looked at him, waited for him to fall asleep again, then picked him up and put him back on the bed.

At noon the next day, they boarded the plane back to the New Independent State, boarded the car and went straight to Zhang Jue's parents' house after landing.

Zhang Jue’s parents’ house occupies a large area in the suburbs of the capital of the newly independent country. Ai Jiaxi sent Zhang Jue to the door and said, “My dad said he has something urgent to do, so I won’t go in.”

Zhang Jue got out of the car with heavy steps. He didn't bring the house key, so he rang the doorbell, and the maid opened the door for him.

Familiar flowers and fragrances came to my face. My mother was standing not far away. She was wearing a well-tailored suit, her hair was neatly coiled up, and she put on light makeup. She clasped her hands tightly and looked at him.

"I'm back." She said, slightly opening her arms to Zhang Jue.

Zhang Jue called her, walked a few steps closer, leaned over and hugged her.

The mother had a very faint fragrance, and she passed on her slender figure to Zhang Jue, but Amy didn't. She took a step back, looked at Zhang Jue, and complained softly: "It's been a long time since I cut my hair."

Zhang Jue smiled and said, "I'll go tomorrow."

Mother shook her head helplessly at him: "Father is waiting for you in the study, go up quickly."

Zhang Jue's father, Zhang Fu, was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the newly independent country. He was usually so busy that he rarely stayed at home during the day.Zhang Jue went upstairs with a little apprehension. The last time he talked with his father in the study, he still assured his father that he would bring Chen Boqiao back and unlock the gene lock of the prototype cabin.

He knocked on the door of the study room. His father was reviewing the documents and said "come in" without looking up.

"Dad." Zhang Jue called him.

Father looked up at him and said, "Sit."

Zhang Jue sat on the armchair opposite the desk and waited for a long time before his father put down the pen in his hand.He asked Zhang Jue: "When Chen Boqiao was arrested, were you not with him?"

"No," Zhang Jue looked at his father and said without blinking, "We live in two rooms."

Father nodded, didn't ask any more questions, but told Zhang Jue another matter.He found tau-promoting agents in addition to the drugs stored in the prototype tank.

By chance, Zhang Fu met a distributor who had been a medical representative in Siu Wah Medical.

When the τ-promoting agent was recalled back then, due to a statistical error, the distributor missed two doses and did not send them back. It was not discovered until the storage warehouse was recently relocated.

"The report from the medical laboratory just arrived the day before yesterday, and the activity rate is [-] percent," Zhang Fu said. "If you had known this, you wouldn't have to go to Thailand for nothing. You've finished your repairs at home these few days, and you can go to the hospital to do it." A full set of examinations, and the results will be handed over to the medical team for evaluation, to see if the surgery to remove the glands can be done in January."

Zhang Jue couldn't react for a while, so he looked at his father and didn't speak.

"By the way," my father pushed the rim of the metal glasses, "Did you make Chen Boqiao unhappy along the way?"

Zhang Jue was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.

"That would be the best," Zhang Fu said meaningfully, "The Asian League is about to change."

When she went downstairs, Zhang Jue's mother was arranging flowers in the dining room, and when she heard footsteps, she looked back.

Zhang Jue walked over and stood beside his mother, helping her.

"Are you tired?" Mother handed the cut flower branch to Zhang Jue, Zhang Jue took it and threw it in the trash can, "If you are tired, go to sleep for a while."

"Not tired." Zhang Jue said.

She turned her head, glanced at him, said nothing, cut off the flower branches and leaves, put the flowers in place, and then asked Zhang Jue: "Does it look good?"

Zhang Jue looked at the flowers in the vase and said they were pretty.Mother took his arm, leaned her head on his shoulder, and hummed softly an old song she liked.

"I finally found a differentiation agent," she said lightly, "the gland can be removed."

Since his operation failed, they seldom chatted, and whenever they spoke, the topic always turned to unpleasant places.It's been a long time since he saw his mother so relaxed, and it's been a long time since he spent such a leisurely time with his mother.

For a moment, Zhang Jue really wanted to tell his mother something he had never talked to her about.

He has liked someone for many years, from a long time ago until now.

But the vibration of his call broke the silence.It was an anonymous call and no number was shown.

Zhang Jue looked at it for a few seconds, talked to his mother, and walked to a farther place to pick it up.

"Are you home yet?" asked him on the other side, and said again, "I'm Pei Shu."

Pei Shu's tone was a bit forced, but Zhang Jue didn't care too much.

"I'm home." Zhang Jue said.

"Well," Pei Shu said after being silent for a while, "Are you okay?"

Zhang Jue felt that although Pei Shu asked such a question, he hoped that he would say it was all right.He thought for a while and asked Pei Shu, "Did he ask you to ask?"

"Otherwise," after Pei Shu finished speaking, he probably realized that his tone was not very good, and said, "He asked the lawyer to convey it."

Zhang Jue paused for a while, and hesitantly said to Pei Shu: "Can you give me a sentence?"

"You said."

"My father has found a differentiation agent, and I will be able to operate in the near future, so that he doesn't have to worry about unlocking the lock."