Chapter 394: Are you free?

Liu Shu still didn't know what kind of chuunibyou-style bombastic talk the person on the sofa was spouting now; he just came out with a kettle and poured Ying Duo a cup of water.

He looked at Ying Duo's expressionless face, his doubts growing stronger.

Liu Shu didn't know what Ying Duo in this world had gone through, but thanks to Yang Yichen's brother-complex existence, he still learned quite a bit about Yang Yixie from Yang Yichen.

He always ranked among the top in exams, his grades never worried him, and every day he brought meals to his mother...

Although Yang Yichen's expression sometimes twisted when he mentioned certain things, no matter how you listened, Yang Yixie should have been a very well-behaved child.

How come this kid seems a bit foolish...?

When footsteps sounded in the hallway, Ying Duo was still staring blankly at the cup of water on the coffee table.

The building's soundproofing was practically nonexistent, and Liu Shu's family lived on the first floor; it was rush hour now, so outside noises came and went incessantly.

But this time, a rustling sound came from outside the door.

Ying Duo's gaze shifted from the water cup; he heard the key insert into the lock, turn, and the lock emit a soft click.

Before Liu Shu could react, he saw that Ying Guang Lu had already leapt to the doorway, moving with exceptional speed.

The door opposite had just been opened a crack, Yang Yichen's hand still resting on the doorknob, his mind a mess, filled with all the unpleasant things that had happened along the way.

He still hadn't figured out how things had happened.

All the way he kept thinking about Yang Yixie's affairs; in this world his younger brother had become a wanted criminal of the Church, with a bounty so high it was frightening, and he had even dyed his hair Ying Guang Lu.

Before he could ask for clarification, a man harassed his brother right in front of him, and then...

Then the airship had an accident.

No, it wasn't an accident; it was hijacked.

And then the hijackers were themselves hijacked.

Who knows what misfortune befell this ordinary airship to be hijacked twice in such a short time.

And when Yang Yixie simply stood on the table, Yang Yichen was outright dumbfounded.

That Ying Guang Lu hair was too glaring, so glaring he couldn't ignore it, the problem being Yang Yixie never glanced at him the whole time.

Not even a single glance.

Before he could figure it out, he was already "asked" to disembark the airship along with the other hostages.

Thus he was inexplicably assigned to another airship; although it only delayed his schedule, his superiors didn't give him a hard time, merely telling him to return early to rest.

Yang Yichen had just opened the door, not yet stepped inside, when he heard the door behind him open.

A familiar person walked out.

Ying Guang Lu hair, golden eyes, an expressionless face.

"....... Xiao Xie."

Ying Duo stood there, still wearing that expressionless face.

"En."

"Y-you, how did you come here?" As he said this, Yang Yichen wanted to give himself two hard slaps.

What was he saying? It sounded as if his brother shouldn't have come looking for him.

"I have nowhere to live, so I came to rely on you."

This was a lie.

Fang Zhiyan had already considered this problem, sending him the location of a villa in Heavenly Dome City so he could just go live there.

Yang Yixie never shortchanges himself; if it weren't for his older brother seemingly getting dragged into some danger again, he would have already gone to live there.

Just like he didn't linger long at the temporary entropic stronghold.

Yang Yichen stood at the doorway, gazing at that Ying Guang Lu head before him, his mind still tangled in "hijacked airship," "been hijacked," "hijacked again," and he instinctively asked:

"You have nowhere to live?"

Ying Duo looked at him without speaking.

Yang Yichen felt he couldn't believe this at all—his brother wasn't the type to suffer injustice—but he still stepped back, turned sideways, and revealed the door behind him:

"Come in first? Don't stand foolishly in the hallway."

Ying Duo wasn't polite; he lifted his foot and walked in.

Yang Yichen's place wasn't big—one room, one hall—with an old sofa and a folding table in the living room, on which sat half a cup of cold water.

Yang Yichen closed the door, tossed his keys onto the table, and began rummaging through boxes and cabinets.

"Wait a moment, I'll look for blankets..." He opened a cardboard box in the corner, rummaged through it, "I remember I brought two blankets when I moved... this shoddy place gets cold at night, you can sleep on the bed, I'll take the sofa."

In the game world, Yang Yixie appeared not yet of age; while growing, it's better to sleep on a bed.

Ying Duo watched his brother's box-rummaging appearance and, uncommonly, took the initiative to shift the topic.

"Are you busy with work?"

Yang Yichen blinked, then realized he was being asked.

"Not bad; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gets busy sometimes, idle other times—things have been hectic lately, but should ease up later."

Actually, he had earlier guessed why others showed him extra care, originally thinking it was out of respect for his deceased parents...

He glanced at Ying Duo, but now he wasn't so sure.

Ying Duo looked at his brother, his tone still indifferent, but the jumping content of his words left Yang Yichen dumbfounded on the spot:

"If you're free later, could you accompany me somewhere?"

"What place?"

Ying Duo looked at him; those golden eyes shone especially bright in the light.

"There's an idol's concert; I want you to go with me."

Yang Yichen: "......"

Yang Yichen: "???"

"... idol?" His voice sounded a bit airy.

"Hmm."

"Concert?"

"Hmm."

"You?"

Ying Duo's tone gained a hint of danger: "Not allowed?"

Yang Yichen immediately shook his head: "Not that it's not allowed, just... a bit unexpected?"

Turns out his younger brother actually follows an idol?!

Yang Yichen had already started to think, wondering if he had been too neglectful of his real-world younger brother; since they are the same person in a parallel world, their hobbies shouldn't differ too much.

Also, I don't know what their brotherly relationship is like in this world......

Yang Yichen thought about it, then turned to ask:

"So, roughly which day?"

Giving his coworkers a heads-up and swapping shifts should be fine; the key is he's genuinely curious what kind of idol his younger brother follows.

"Hehe."

Ying Duo directly placed the high-end communicator he'd snatched from Fang Zhiyan in front of Yang Yichen; on it was a crystal-clear poster, with three beautiful youths in the center.

The center girl is called Xie Jingyan; her brows and eyes are sharp, her body slightly turned sideways, a cold-toned spotlight shines on her, the tips of her purple high ponytail seem to be coated with a layer of fluorescence.

The left girl is called Qi Ran; she sports a flamboyant green short hair, she grins wildly at the camera, revealing two sharp little tiger teeth, full of wild vitality.

The right girl is called Xiao Huiyu; she has a smooth silver-gray long hair, adorned with tiny mechanical gear hair ornaments, her demeanor is calm, forming an interesting complement to the exuberance of the two beside her.

The time happened to be the day of the fashion show.