Chapter 3523: Departure

There were still two days until the second day of the second lunar month, Dragon Head Raising Day, and Ye Chen and Xiao Churan had already made preparations for their trip north to Yanjing.

Ye Chen had booked a noon flight to Yanjing for the next day, as well as the best hotel suite near the stadium, planning to wander around Yanjing with Xiao Churan after arriving, then spend two days sightseeing in Yanjing after the performance.

The idea of sightseeing everywhere was proposed by Xiao Churan, who deliberately had Ye Chen draft a four-day travel itinerary, claiming she wanted to tour Yanjing with him, but in reality, she just didn't want Ye Chen to become suspicious.

Knowing the two would be alone for several days, with Ye Chen's birthday in between, Ma Lan pulled Xiao Churan into her room before departure and whispered to her for a while; when Xiao Churan emerged from Ma Lan's room, her face was flushed as if about to bleed, and her eyes darted around like a thief's.

That night, lying beside Ye Chen, Xiao Churan lay awake all night.

Just as she was sleepless all night, so was Tawana Svet, who was now rushing from France to Yanjing.

At this moment, she was seated on a private jet crossing the Eurasian continent.

However, she was not aboard her own private jet, but had specifically borrowed Bernard Arnault's private jet, precisely to avoid having her whereabouts discovered by the outside world.

Otherwise, once her plane moved, the entire world's population would know her next destination.

She did not want to prematurely expose her movement trail, as she was still waiting to go to Yanjing to give Ye Chen a surprise.

As the mystery guest at Gu Qiuyi's final farewell performance, she naturally took that role.

However, she and Gu Qiuyi had made a best friend pact, agreeing to reveal nothing of this matter to the outside world, nor to let Ye Chen know.

She would appear at Gu Qiuyi's concert venue, suspended by wires from above during Gu Qiuyi's performance of the song "Assassin," descending to sing the song together with Gu Qiuyi.

The reason she spared no effort to fly from France to Yanjing for this performance was because Ye Chen would be in the audience, and more importantly, this day would also be Ye Chen's twenty-ninth birthday.

Deeply in love with Ye Chen, she naturally did not want to miss the good opportunity to celebrate his birthday, even if it were only singing a song for him on stage, she would feel deeply satisfied in her heart.

On the plane, the assistant, seeing she had not rested, came to her side and whispered: "Miss Svet, just now Mr. Trevor Kennedy leaked to the media that you two will hold an engagement ceremony on a selected date, and the media is now buzzing with this news; do you want to respond?"

Tawana asked in surprise: "What does Trevor mean? Lately we haven't been in touch much—how did he suddenly release this news?"

The assistant shook his head: "This... I'm not entirely clear either... Why don't you contact Mr. Kennedy?"

Tawana sighed helplessly, somewhat irritable: "Give me the satellite phone."

The assistant immediately handed her the satellite phone, and she immediately dialed Trevor.

At this moment, Trevor was at home refusing visitors; since he had leaked the engagement news to the media, countless calls had blown up his agent's phone, and even some fans and media had staked out outside his mansion, hoping to interview him.

Trevor had not yet accepted any media interview at this moment, because he was still waiting for Tawana to contact him.

He knew that if Tawana saw this news, she would definitely contact him immediately, and he could take this opportunity to communicate well with her; otherwise, if he called her, she wouldn't answer, and if she occasionally did, she would hastily hang up with various excuses, giving him no chance for open and honest talk.

The main reason for making this public announcement was precisely to pressure her into contacting him.

At this moment, his phone suddenly rang with Tawana's satellite call; he immediately pressed the answer button and said: "Hi, baby."

Tawana felt somewhat ill at ease and asked him: "Trevor, why are you spouting nonsense to the media?"

Trevor said: "Nonsense? Not really? We were originally boyfriend and girlfriend, and we had already discussed marriage; I even said I'd look for an opportunity to propose to you, and you verbally agreed."

Tawana immediately replied: "That was only a verbal promise, not binding, and even if so, you should have proposed first and then I'd decide whether to agree—how could you just go to the media and spout nonsense without my permission?"

Trevor grew somewhat displeased and retorted: "If I hadn't spoken nonsense, would you have called me? This whole time you've been avoiding me, even when you went on vacation you were avoiding me—why? If you want to break up with me, just say it straight; we can sit down and talk properly, solve the problem, but don't use this avoidant cold violence against me."

Tawana said: "I've been swamped with things lately and haven't had time; when I have free time, I'll naturally talk to you properly—don't you even have this bit of patience?"

"No!" Trevor shouted, his voice rising: "If I keep waiting, you'll leave me completely! Tawana, I know you like that surnamed Ye, but I advise you to face reality—you and he can never be together; he has a wife, and moreover, he has Gu Qiuyi as his fiancée—how could it possibly be your turn?"

Tawana, feeling guilty and angry, said: "This is my business; you don't need to worry about it!"

Trevor countered: "Then what about me?! What should I do?! Should I keep waiting for you, waiting for you to change your mind, or should you just give me a clear answer—do we officially end this relationship or not?!"

Tawana pondered for a moment, calmed down, and said seriously: "Trevor, let's end it here; speaking from the heart, I no longer love you—sorry."

On the other end of the line, Trevor's voice was unusually calm: "Tawana, you may not love me, but you must love yourself; loving such a man, the best way is to keep this love in your heart, then find a man who can tolerate your having other men in your heart to marry; over time, perhaps it could dilute your feelings for him, but if you remain deeply entangled, you may very well delay yourself! Waste your precious youth!"

Tawana remained silent for a long time, then smiled: "Trevor, thank you; I know you mean well, but sometimes people are like this—knowing something cannot be done, yet unwilling to give it up completely; moreover, I still have half a life to waste."

After saying this, she did not wait for Trevor's response, but said: "Let's break up, Trevor; this is good for both of us—I know you're also someone who cares about face, so I won't say this to the media; I'll give you two months' time, and when you come to explain clearly to the media, during these two months I won't see you, nor will I respond to any engagement rumors."

Then Tawana hung up the phone, exhaled with a sense of relief, and two tears slid silently down her cheeks.

……

On the first day of the second lunar month, Ye Chen and Xiao Churan flew to Yanjing by plane.

Not long after his flight took off, at Qixia Temple, Tang Sihai had also made preparations for departure.

To avoid leaving any traceable records, An Chengxi had prepared a cargo plane for him, taking off from Hu City and flying to Melbourne, Australia's largest city.

This cargo plane belonged to An Chengxi's enterprises under her command, but unlike the transport company of the Po Qing Hui, An Chengxi's transport company was almost entirely legitimate and aboveboard; the transport company she actually controlled had already become Asia's largest express logistics group, possessing Asia's largest fleet of dedicated freighters, and even had her own exclusive cargo airport on the mainland.

Her freighter fleet had purchased nearly a hundred freighters, leased dozens more, and had already established a global air transport network.

This company operates daily freighter flights between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and all cargo carried is clearly traceable and completely clean.

To allow Tang Sihai to take this plane out of the country, An Chengxi had a way to let him evade all customs and supervision; upon arriving in Australia, airport ground staff would meet him directly, disguise him as one of them, and he could smoothly enter the country; when he completed his mission and returned, he only needed to return to the airport as ground staff, and the original ground staff could resume normal work, while Tang Sihai could take another flight to leave Australia.

Before departure, An Chengxi instructed Tang Sihai: "Sihai, you are going to Australia this time; you must ensure everything proceeds according to plan; as long as you successfully complete the mission, Chen'er's life will transition to the next stage."

Tang Sihai immediately said respectfully: "Madam, rest assured, I will certainly not disgrace my mission!"

An Chengxi said: "Your plane takes off tonight, arriving in Melbourne at noon tomorrow China time; at that time, Nannan's concert will not yet have started; if the Xiao family young lady follows the plan and leaks the news to Chen'er tomorrow morning, Chen'er will not arrive in Melbourne until at least the third evening China time, giving you ample time—you must leave Australia before Chen'er arrives in Melbourne."

Tang Sihai nodded heavily: "Madam, rest assured, once everything is completed, I will wait in Melbourne, and the moment the young master boards the plane to Melbourne, I will immediately set off to depart."

"Good." An Chengxi said: "I have arranged a flight to Osaka for you; at that time, I will wait for you at Kyoto's Kinkaku-ji Temple."

Tang Sihai asked in surprise: "Madam, are you going to Japan next?"

"Yes." An Chengxi nodded: "You suddenly appearing in Australia will lure Chen'er south to Australia; when he returns from Australia, discovering that the Xiao family young lady and her parents have again mysteriously vanished, he will easily suspect this is your ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain."

"By then, Chen'er will also know that the Xiao family young lady's family of three leaving is due to your behind-the-scenes instigation; he may not doubt your character, but he will certainly suspect that you, Tang Sihai, have another master behind you."

"Given his nature, he will certainly not accept this passively; he will inevitably try to uncover the truth, so I and Sun Jie, as well as all others who have had contact with Chen'er and the Xiao family young lady, must leave China before Chen'er returns, to avoid complications."

Saying this, she paused slightly, then added: "The abbot of Kinkaku-ji Temple is a disciple of Jing Qing; he has already arranged in advance for the temple to be closed for renovation, so we can rest there for a period."

Although Jing Qing is young, due to her unparalleled talent and fortune in Buddhist Dharma, she has already gained widespread recognition and support throughout East Asian Buddhist circles; many East Asian eminent monks, seeking to advance further, have the idea of taking Jing Qing as their teacher and studying Buddhist Dharma with her; Jing Qing, according to different people's Buddhist affinities, has taken several unnamed disciples, and the abbot of Kinkaku-ji Temple is one of them.

An Chengxi knows that Chen'er has deep feelings for Xiao Churan, and that Tang Sihai, behind his back, took Xiao Churan away; Chen'er will surely spare no effort to search for her, so it's better to leave China first to avoid being caught by Chen'er's clues; and Kinkaku-ji Temple happens to be a suitable place to go.