Chapter 95. Elopement.

Chen Jiashu was missing.

Chen Du was also missing, along with her.

Wen Yun didn’t sleep well all night, and when she woke up in a daze the next day, the first thing she did was to look for Chen Du. She opened the door and then rushed into Chen Jiashu’s room, which was also empty.

She grabbed the door handle in a daze. She rushed over and opened Chen Jiashu’s desk and drawers, wardrobe, and bedside table. She turned the papers and socks into a mess, stumbled, and ran back to Chen Du’s room. She pulled every drawer open and dug three feet under the ground. ID cards, wallets, passports… all the documents for both of them disappeared.

All gone.

She stood in the wreckage of the bedroom, her hands trembling as she lifted them up and slowly covered her head. She closed her eyes and let out a desperate, broken scream.

The ear-splitting scream startled the sleepy morning bird at the window, which shrugged its feathers and spread its wings to the sky. The rising feathers whipped out a whirring sound of air, and the bird’s silhouette melted into the blue sky in a flash. In the same blue sky, on the other side of the city, a plane was slowly landing. The low, powerful sound of the air currents drowned out the hustle and bustle of the world.

Chen Jiashu squinted. As she looked through the glass window at the plane taxiing on the ground, the reflection of the white wings put her in a trance, making her believe that she was really right there at the airport.

No one had expected them to elope.

They had slipped out of the house last night, with her schoolbag in her arms and Chen Du holding her in his hand, and had run through the darkness, into the busy night city of lights, and taken a taxi straight to the airport. Both of them were very excited, breathing heavily, unable to sleep but also unable to speak, with their eyes wide open and in silence with each other for two hours. The hands hidden in their sleeves were always tightly held, and both hands were sweaty when they got off the bus.

There was no suitcase. There was only a school bag, which contained their documents and two sets of clothes and underwear. Chen Du carried the bag in one hand and held Chen Jiashu’s wrist in the other, leading her through the crowd. They wore the same sunglasses and mask to minimise their recognition, and their pace was fast, with him striding ahead and Chen Jiashu following at a trot. Her flying hair caught the eyes of passers-by around them. Many people turned around and looked at them, thinking they were some celebrity couple hiding their love.

They quickly left the crowd behind and went to the reception desk to buy the earliest tickets to the Maldives, boarding first and then getting their visas when they arrived.

The process was quick, and only when the two tickets were in his hands did Chen Du breathe a small sigh of relief, as if he had finally escaped from a nightmare. He clasped Chen Jiashu’s hand beside him.

“With me here, it’ll be fine.”

*

Wen Yun looked for Chen Du like crazy, using all the connections of the Wen family. She slapped tables and slammed vases, saying that even if they went to the deep forests of the Northeast, she would find them both and make that little bitch Chen Jiashu look good!

But unexpectedly, the feedback was that they had left the country.

The Maldives, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, was far away. Even if the Wen family was rich and powerful, it was still out of reach.

“Chen Jiashu… Chen Jiashu, fucking slut, fucking bitch…” Wen Yun was dizzy and staggered around in the debris, speaking foul language that was completely out of character for her. All types of swear words about her being a bastard born of a dead and sick ghost. A good family was turned upside down by her!

She should have been left to starve to death in the first place! If it hadn’t been for Chen Jinan, who wanted to bring her back, this situation would not have been created! …… Wen Yun raised her hand and swung the paperwork and pencils on the table onto the floor. “Chen Jinan, you’re an old piece of shit! Just die outside and forget it!”

The phone on the coffee table rang, and she pounced on it like she had found a saviour. She picked up the phone in a frenzy, wiping her tears and raising a smile that the other party could not see. “How is it? Any news about my son… A car accident? What car accident?”

The smile on her face froze instantly, and her hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably. “…… I don’t know; he hasn’t been home for the past few days. How could …… how could ……” She grabbed her bag and rushed out. “I’ll be right over! Chen Jinan can’t die! You must save him!”

Chen Du’s truancy notice; the terrible news of Chen Jinan’s car accident. The son whose whereabouts were unknown, and the husband whose life and death were still unknown. With a splitting headache, Wen Yun hurriedly rushed downstairs and started her car to run to the hospital.

The moment she stepped on the accelerator of the car, accompanied by an ear-splitting roar, a large Boeing airliner finished its run on the lawn, speeding up to full speed, flying away from the Shencheng airport, and zipping violently into the 10,000-metre draft.

The first class environment was very comfortable, and the service was attentive. The air crew provided exquisite blankets and meals for every passenger, but even so, Chen Jiashu still got airsick. The glass of juice just went into her belly, and it wasn’t long before she started throwing up. She vomited so much that she became dizzy, so the first class scenery was basically not enjoyed. She slept all the way.

Chen Du held her in his arms and looked out the window at the clouds. The clouds were bright, reflecting the faint green and black under his eyes. He hadn’t closed his eyes all night, first being threatened by Wen Yun’s anger, then escaping from home with her, running to the road to stop the public stand, carrying a school bag to wander the world; in less than ten hours, they were already on the plane, out of the border, and flying to a new and unknown country.

“Why did you come to the Maldives?” Chen Jiashu asked him as she got off the plane, her airsickness passing and her head drooping on his shoulder.

Chen Du carried her on his back, held her thighs, and moved her upwards, holding her hand and saying, “It’s warm here.”

The Maldives is very warm. It was located in the tropics, in the northern hemisphere. In the full swing of winter, it is still sunny. There were flowers and trees, rolling horizons, endless seaside and sandy beaches, and lots of green.

After replenishing his visa and cashing a thick pile of US dollars, Chen Du took Chen Jiashu straight from customs to the place where he was staying, a place he had just booked on the plane, on the beach. The hotel was surrounded by coconut groves and had a private swimming pool on the top floor. It was a very luxurious and grand hotel.

Chen Jiashu held the pile of banknotes and listened to Chen Du and the front desk clerk speak in English. Then, a thin room card was placed in her hands. She looked up to Chen Du’s warm, smiling face, which seemed somewhat unreal as it was blown by the wet, bright sea breeze.

She nuzzled the green bills and the black room card, looked at Chen Du, and said, “I feel like I’m still dreaming.”

“Well, have a good dream.” Chen Du rubbed his head against the tip of her nose, reckless and daring. The place was an open B&B, and it was so crowded that no one cared about the harmless little intimacy between these two young people at the front desk.

Chen Du took her hand and headed for the lift, saying that he would take a shower and sleep later, and when he woke up he would go shopping for clothes and that there was plenty of fun to be had by the beach. His tone was relaxed and at ease, as if he had naturally come on a trip.

After entering the lift, the metal door in front of Chen Jiashu slowly closed, and the two sides of his face merged into one.

What happens when you wake up from a dream?