The figure behind was… Your Highness the Prince?
Just thinking about this possibility made Alex shudder with fear.
He thought of the rumor proclaiming that Prince Eymer had come to Sophus for a vacation. However, this news wasn’t confirmed and because of that, he even sneered at the old family members’ insistence based on groundless accusations that these “young people” should behave themselves.
“Alex, Alex?” Chi Yan called out to his neighbor. He could see the black car parked behind him, but that was all he could see with his vision. However, he did feel that the car was a little familiar. But honestly speaking, there were numerous similar cars like this driving along the streets, so this was nothing surprising.
He only saw Alex suddenly straightening himself and his complexion turning extremely pale. He stared nervously at the car and licked his teeth.
“I’m fine. I just remembered that I’ve left something at school. Why don’t you go back first?” Alex looked at Chi Yan with some hint of regret reflected in his eyes.
But there would always be opportunities someday. It wouldn’t be a good choice to take his meal so recklessly in front of His Highness.
Likewise, it also wasn’t a good idea to boldly offer this human being as a tribute to the prince who had always been famous for being mysterious, indifference and unpredictable— although his blood smelled particularly sweet.
“Are you really okay?” Chi Yan confirmed with him again.
Alex nodded and was eager to send him away. He wasn’t sure whether there was any meaning behind this car stopping here, or whether it had anything to do with himself. No matter what it was, it definitely wasn’t suitable to get involved with this human now. “I am okay. It’s probably just acute appendicitis, and now it has gone away. There’s medicine in the school and I’m going back to take it. I will be fine after eating medicine. Go back first. Simon is nearby. He will come and find me.”
“That’s good,” Chi Yan nodded. “I’ll go first.”
Alex felt the fresh human scent gradually grew distant while he stood still and waited. Fortunately, his royal highness seemed to be just passing by and didn’t have any intention to pay attention to him. After a while, the black car disappeared.
Alex leaned against the wall and took out his phone to send a message to Simon. He really needed Simon to come to him. He had to tell someone about this magical experience and then pass the news discreetly.
——————
Chi Yan went back to the bedroom alone and threw his school bag on the chair. He took out his notebook and tablet, charged them, and then casually laid on the bed and began to use his phone.
The party upstairs was still so noisy.
There was a new friend application on his K— that person was from “**”, and his profile photo looked like a blue and white exotic shorthair cat.
However, looking at that pinyin name, Chi Yan could tell the other party was his fellow country compatriot, so Chi Yan accepted the friend’s request without any hesitation.
He thought about it and sent a message. “Hello, may I know who are you?”
“My name is Ye Yingzhi. I work in Europe. I’m on holiday in Sophus. I occasionally go to ahu for lessons. I am a mixed-race, my mother is Chinese, but I grew up in Europe. I found you in the Chinese and English learning mutual aid group under ahu. I think you have a pretty smile, so I want you to teach me Chinese, is that okay??”
Within five seconds, the other party confessed a lot of his identity in one shot just like he was being investigated. He even added a monkey covering its eyes emoji.
Chi Yan suspected that the other party had already prepared this long paragraph and was waiting to send it to himself. He swiped his finger to look at Mr. Ye’s data. The column of the gender indicated that he was a man, and “Ye Yingzhi” didn’t sound like a girl’s name… A working man that liked to pretend to be cute… However, looking at this, the other party seemed to be a cheerful and easy-going person?
Ahu was the abbreviation of “Australian Human University” in the exchange University. In order to improve his English, he joined a Chinese English learning assistance group under ahu. In ahu, he could help those who wanted to learn Chinese and at the same time, ask the other party to help him improve his English. However, Chi Yan never released any information about himself.
Unexpectedly, someone actually took the initiative to find him.
He took a look at his profile photo. It was a picture taken by his father in front of the school auditorium when he was a freshman. He smiled so silly looking… “You have a pretty smile” and whatsoever, did the other party thought that he was teasing a little girl? Even if he wanted to flirt with boys, he should at least put his photo right? But he only knew how to use cute kitten photos to make himself look cute. Who knew if you were a human being or a ghost?
Chi Yan poked the silly cat face on the other party’s profile photo but he was actually quickly typing below, “Okay, no problem.”
As a Chinese descendant, he should be enthusiastic to help his compatriots who were eager to learn Chinese and even used Chinese names on their social accounts. Although he thought that his Chinese was rather good and that he didn’t need his guidance.
However, it was also reasonable for the other party to be good at Chinese. After all, Mr. Ye said that his mother was Chinese.
Ye Yingzhi, who got a positive reply, quickly gave him a blushing expression and a happy expression.
He was really cheerful and playful. Although he was already working, he shouldn’t be that much older than him, right? If he started school earlier and didn’t go on to graduate school, it was possible that he might even be younger than himself.
“Would you mind telling me how old are you this year? A rough gauge is fine too.” If the other person was really the same age as himself, he would be able to talk more casually with him.
“24.” There was a pause of about two seconds before a reply came in.
Sure enough, he was only three years older than himself. Chi Yan suddenly thought of another thing. “By the way, what’s your English name?”
He lived and worked abroad all year round, so he should have an English name.
“Tom.” This time, it took five seconds for the other party to reply.
“What a coincidence,” Chi Yan chuckled with his phone in hand. “My English name is Jerry.”
Tom and Jerry, which was popular all over the world, was translated as cat and mouse.
This time Tom Ye replied quickly, “What a cute name.”
Chi Yan’s smile froze on his face. Should he praise him for his gentleness?
He thought about it, and then he said, “Your Chinese name is very nice.”
He wasn’t intentionally praising him because he truly thought that his name was nice.
Ye Yingzhi, Ye Yingzhi… Just by saying this name made him feel soft inside. It was really, very beautiful.
The two people continued to converse and unconsciously, two hours had passed. Chi Yan didn’t even realize that no more sounds were coming from upstairs. The party had ended.
It wasn’t until half-past eleven that Ye Yingzhi sent him a message saying, “It’s getting late. It’s time for you to rest. Good night.” Chi Yan then realized that it was really getting quite late.
“You too, rest earlier. Good night.” He smiled and tapped “send”. He didn’t realize that his mood for the whole had been lightened because of the sudden emergence of this new friend whom he had never even met.
Since then, the two had kept in touch with each other through daily text messages.
Chi Yan once asked Ye Yingzhi how he should help him with his Chinese. Ye Yingzhi easily replied, “I think the most important thing to learn a language is to use it, so as long as you chat with me like this, it will be fine ~, I hope you don’t find me annoying. [mischief].”
As always, he added a cute little expression at the end of his sentence.
Ye Yingzhi told him about his residence in Europe. He said it was a large manor. He lived in an ancient castle with a history of thousands of years. The garden in front of the castle was full of white and red roses.
He must be bragging. Chi Yan didn’t believe what he said. According to the history textbook, the traditional aristocracy in Europe had declined as early as the first industrial revolution. All capitalists controlled the power and status of money in modern times. However, it wasn’t any big issue for an impetuous young man of this age to boast in front of him. Afterall, he also had some friends who liked to boast.
So Chi Yan just went along with him, “That’s good. I’d like to see it if I have a chance.”
“You like it?” The other party asked excitedly. After a while, he sent two more photos to him. “You see, this is the house I go to the most. Fortunately, the housekeeper has some photos of it with him, so I can just ask him to send them to me.”
The picture was taken in the daytime where it was sunny and clear. Just like what Ye Yingzhi had described, a towering black castle was located behind the layers of white roses, and it looked solemn. The white flowers added a bit of softness to the whole atmosphere. Chi Yan did not study architecture, so he couldn’t tell what period it belonged to or what style it was but intuitively, he felt that the place was grand and mysterious.
“This is where I live now and the place where I stay the longest. I have several other houses. Unfortunately, there are no photos of them on my phone now. I have to ask my housekeeper for them, or I can show you the one you like the best.”
“I like this place very much. The flowers are beautiful.” It could be seen that the host took care of it.
However, Chi Yan still didn’t fully believe his words. His roommate was now in Europe for his exchange and he had a lot of photos of Neuschwanstein Castle on his phone. He hadn’t been to Europe or studied European architecture. Even if Ye Yingzhi took those famous architectural photos such as Neuschwanstein Castle to show him as his home, he might not be able to tell them.
Anyway, it wasn’t like he was on a blind date and had to see how many apartments the other party owned, let alone having to visit his home as a guest. Likewise, they might meet necessary meet in real life, so there was no need for him to be so particular about these things.
After communicating with Ye Yingzhi on the Internet for two weeks, other than him saying those “big words” that weren’t consistent with reality, Chi Yan liked the friend he met only on the Internet more and more. He got along well with Ye Yingzhi very much and found it very relaxing to talk to him. Ye Yingzhi always had a way to make him happy.
So when he asked for his phone number, he gave it to him without hesitation, which was the opposite of the education he had received since primary school. “Don’t trust strangers on the Internet” and “don’t disclose your personal information easily”.
Anyway, it was just his number in Australia. It would be cut and no longer in operation when he returned home.
His phone rang for 20 seconds after he texted his phone number.
It was an unknown number.
Chi Yan’s social circle in Australia was limited. He usually contacted his teachers and classmates by email or instant message, so few people would actually call him. At the moment when the phone rang, Chi Yan had already vaguely guessed whom the number belonged to.
He pressed his finger on the screen, slid his finger to answer the call and then picked up the phone and put it to his ear.
There came a deep and gentle young man’s voice, and it was more pleasant than he thought. His voice was calm and steady, and it sounded completely different from that playful Tom Ye who liked to send all kinds of cute expressions to himself.
“I think it’s time for you to correct my pronunciation.” Ye Yingzhi said gently, and his voice had a hint of joy.
As Chi Yan listened to this voice, the left side of his face where the phone was at grew inexplicably hot.
He awkwardly shifted his phone to his right hand— both sides of his face should be treated equally.