Chapter 3212: Saving Zero Egg and Bai Ze's Love Story 13

Jin Chen leaned in the swing chair waiting, watching Yi Qi and Bai Ze walk side by side into the garden, holding a cup of coffee that had gone cold, his expression thoughtful.

The servants had rearranged the morning tea snacks, the porcelain plates stacked with assorted pastries, especially the berry tart and scones that Yi Qi favored, and beside them steaming hot black tea rose with a rich aroma.

Yi Qi looked energetic and in high spirits, his brows and eyes full of contentment; Bai Ze sat beside him, poured him a cup of red tea, added a cube of sugar, and gently stirred it with a teaspoon.

Jin Chen watched them both, slowly let out a meaningful sigh, shook his head, and said, "Eh."

Yi Qi casually picked up a pastry from the plate and popped it into his mouth, hearing the sigh he lifted his head to look at Jin Chen; after last night's incident, his fondness for this convenient older brother had risen straight up, so he uncharacteristically showed concern.

"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well?"

Jin Chen: "Nothing."

Yi Qi gave him a suspicious glance, but with food in front of him he couldn't be bothered to investigate further, then picked up a cream puff and took a bite.

Bai Ze placed the temporary pass on the table and pushed it toward Jin Chen, the pass etched with District Nine's unique code pattern, saying, "You said you needed it urgently, but time is tight, so I could only get a one‑time version. It's valid for seven days, which should be enough."

Jin Chen glanced at the pass but had no intention of picking it up, his expression growing more wistful.

"I don't need it for now; it's already too late."

Bai Ze: "……?"

From last night to this morning, only a dozen or so hours have passed—how could it already be too late?

If it weren't for Older Brother Jin's usual reliability, he would suspect that Jin Chen last night was just itching to hit someone and deliberately made up an excuse.

Yi Qi stopped chewing, a half‑eaten pastry still in his mouth, and mumbled, "Why?"

Jin Chen set down his coffee cup and suddenly spoke earnestly.

He leaned back in the chair, his gaze sweeping past the treetops of the garden toward the distant sky, looking inscrutable.

"Some things, once missed, are useless to make up for."

Yi Qi utterly missed the subtext, tilting his head at his cheap older brother, wondering what he was muttering.

But he was sharp enough to suddenly ask, "Could it be… that your legendary boyfriend is also in District Nine?"

Jin Chen finished the last sip of coffee, his expression languid, and did not deny it.

But he obviously had no intention of continuing this conversation with Yi Qi; otherwise, given Zero Egg's overly curious nature, if he insisted on meeting someone, where would he get Chenshu from the future timeline to conjure up?

He shifted the topic to Yi Qi and Bai Ze, saying, "By the way, you two have had your engagement set for several years, right?"

This engagement came about quite conveniently. The Bai and Jin families were old friends; later, in District Thirteen's area, Bai Ze and Yi Qi met, and after returning to Didu, it was Jin Junhao and Sailina who obtained the marriage certificate—this double joy prompted Jin Junhao to simply wave his hand and directly set the relationship between Bai Ze and Yi Qi.

That was several years ago.

Jin Chen asked, "Do you need to hold a proper engagement banquet? District Ten has recently stabilized, so we could invite Jin Junhao and Sailina back to set the date."

Bai Ze's motion of peeling a grape for Yi Qi suddenly stalled; purple‑red juice seeped from the grape skin he had pinched, trickling down between his fingers and staining them drenched, yet he seemed to have forgotten what to do next, his gaze dropping to the grape in his hand, wondering what he was thinking.

Jin Chen took in the whole scene, hadn't even had time to reflect, when he heard Yi Qi's firmer refusal: "No!"

Jin Chen, puzzled and doubtful, looked at Yi Qi, who had stopped eating the snacks.

Yi Qi looked as if facing a formidable enemy, as if what he had just proposed wasn't an engagement banquet but some dangerous plan to blow up District Ten.

"Why do you disagree again?" Jin Chen genuinely wondered, "You and Sailina haven't seen each other in years either."

Yi Qi innocently gazed at his brother; Jin Chen couldn't see the fingers under the table trembling slightly from nervousness, nor could Bai Ze see them.

Yi Qi pressed his other hand against the trembling one and forced a seemingly casual smile.

"Miss Sailina entrusted me a few years ago with… uh… a secret treasure of District Ten," Yi Qi said, lifting a relaxed smile, his voice lightening, "I hid it somewhere, but I forgot where, and I'm still looking for it. For now, developing a mother‑child relationship is not appropriate."

He spoke with full confidence, and his reason sounded plausible.

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, thought for a while, and found it strange.

He then turned to Bai Ze, "And what about you? Your uncle and aunt have been developing their business overseas for years without coming back—should I invite them home for a meal?"

Bai Ze's lip corner stiffened for a moment, then he pressed his lips together, reining in that emotion: "No thanks, Older Brother Jin."

Jin Chen laughed bitterly: "Ha ha."

Your problems are huge! So many secrets!

A strange thought flickered in Jin Chen's mind. These two each have their own secrets, each have their own oddities, yet on the surface they still act as if nothing is wrong.

It seems we must start investigating from their respective experiences over the past few years, otherwise this plot could veer off in an unknown direction.

Jin Chen quickly brushed past the topic, didn't pursue it further, and listlessly ate a not‑very‑sweet pastry, feeling that this day was really unbearable.

"I won't disturb you further; I have a meeting." Jin Chen rose and left the garden, trying to avoid seeing them.

Yi Qi immediately moved closer to Bai Ze, sticking together, and flung that bit of tension to the clouds above.