Miao Tong held the envelope, a myriad of questions swirling in his mind. He fiddled with it, noting its thickness.
Opening the envelope, Miao Tong discovered not just a letter, but his newly acquired passport with a visa to Finland and an airplane ticket. The letter itself was a single, thin sheet of paper covered in coded characters.
"Ah..." Miao Tong opened his laptop, cross-referencing a password document as he deciphered the text.
"Fly to, Finland, help, me, find, someone."
Miao Tong turned the paper over and over, incredulous. "That's it? Just this? Find who?"
Without a single clue, he was expected to scour a foreign land like searching for a needle in a haystack?
The more he thought about it, the more Miao Tong was convinced his parents were truly in love, and he was merely an afterthought.
Not only were they bossy and demanding, but even the slightest mishap while snacking could invite dire consequences. Now, a single line of text was sending him off to Northern Europe!
Where was humanity?
Was this fair!
Before Miao Tong could finish his protest, a knock sounded at the door. Xia Qingtian peeked in, smiling. "You're back?"
"Qingtian." Miao Tong quickly closed his laptop, hid the letter, and smiled. "Thank you for the gifts, you must have spent a lot."
"Actually, only the snacks and earphones are from me. The shoes and other items were sent by your mother to my in-laws, and they asked me to bring them to you," Xia Qingtian said, entering with a smile. "She also asked about you."
"Really?" Miao Tong's expression softened slightly. "What did she ask about?"
It seemed his mother did still care about him.
"She asked if you were still alive..." Xia Qingtian replied.
Miao Tong's lips twitched. Yes, his mother was still his mother.
He shouldn't have held onto such pointless expectations.
Xia Qingtian let out an awkward chuckle before continuing, "But sending so many things shows she still cares quite a bit."
"Perhaps." Miao Tong couldn't be bothered to say more. No one could understand his sorrow.
"Hey? A plane ticket?" Xia Qingtian also paused when she saw the ticket, reaching out to take it. She looked at the destination and date, then couldn't help but glance at the flight number. "Huh?"
"Um..." Miao Tong blinked, about to come up with an excuse, when Xia Qingtian spoke. "We're on the same flight, actually. But we're in business class. Your ticket is economy. How about we upgrade you? It'll be easier if we're together."
At this point, Miao Tong was beyond words, except for shock.
His own mother bought him an economy class ticket, and now this much younger, distant niece of his cheap elder brother was upgrading him!
A pang of sadness and heartache mingled with a faint touch of warmth.
Ah...
Miao Tong's heart felt heavy.
In the end, the upgrade was successfully processed.
Three days later, they embarked on their journey to Finland. On the same evening, Song Junhan, with a sense of tragic heroism and resolute determination, stood stark naked atop the highest mountain in Z City, gazing at the immense moon, the ancient saying, "When heaven is about to confer a great office on any man, it first exercises his mind with suffering," echoing in his mind.
A gust of wind swept by, and Song Junhan felt a chill. The late July night still had a noticeable temperature difference.
Meanwhile, a sweet female voice sounded from behind him. "Hello viewers, I'm currently at the summit of Z City's highest peak, filming the largest full moon in sixty years for you. They say..."
The female influencer turned and saw Song Junhan standing with his hands on his hips, a look of utter bewilderment on his face. Her gaze followed his phone and the light downwards, and the announcer gasped, "Ah! A exhibitionist!"
"!"
The viewers in the livestream also witnessed the scene and were stunned.
Some quick-fingered individuals immediately took screenshots. Just as they did, the livestream was banned and shut down for violating broadcasting regulations.
"Shut up! Stop screaming! Move your phone away!" Song Junhan panicked, instinctively covering himself with one hand while blocking the female influencer with the other.
"You! Don't come near! Help!" The female influencer, who had only intended to film the moon, never expected to encounter such a situation. Her screams alerted nearby campers who were also enjoying the full moon.
They hadn't anticipated such an event either. Without giving Song Junhan a chance to explain, they proceeded to beat him soundly and called the police.
The police arrived swiftly and took him away quickly. For humanitarian reasons, they allowed him to put his clothes back on.
The interrogation was conducted overnight.
"Speak, confess and you'll be treated leniently. Why did you do this?" the interrogator was an experienced elderly police officer.
"I've told you, you might not believe me." Song Junhan's head throbbed, his body ached, and his ears buzzed. Those brutes had hit him hard.
"I've been in this line of work for decades; I've seen it all. Just confess, and I can understand," the old police officer said with a smile. "Why were you on the mountaintop without clothes?"
"I was trying to absorb the essence of the moon to detoxify and remove a curse," Song Junhan stated. Having been to prison before, he knew it was best to be upfront and clear everything up. He proceeded to briefly explain his conflict with someone and being cursed, not omitting even the detail about drinking urine, but omitting the mention of the young master.
After hearing the entire account, the old police officer was momentarily stunned, then cleared his throat after a pause.
This was indeed something he hadn't encountered, nor could he quite comprehend.
"Calm down for a moment, take a breather. I'll get you some water to help you sober up." The old police officer glanced at the officer responsible for taking notes, who seemed equally bewildered and unsure how to record the statement.
Standing up, the old police officer walked out, and the note-taker followed. "Master, what should we do?"
The old police officer looked back at the interrogation room and said, "Prepare for a urine test."
"Yes."
...
While Song Junhan was being questioned, the female influencer, after calming down, specifically reopened her livestream to talk about the incident. To her surprise, the number of viewers was astonishing. Realizing the entire matter had gone viral online, the influencer immediately seized the opportunity to embellish the story, portraying the man as a complete exhibitionist.
Some people recognized the identity of the exhibitionist from the slightly blurry screenshot, but they weren't entirely sure. Online, opinions were divided.
Meanwhile, Xia Qingtian's group's flight traveled from Z City to Kyoto, and then transferred to Helsinki, taking a day and a half.
They slept soundly on the plane and felt much more refreshed upon arrival.
July was Finland's annual holiday season, and everyone was enjoying the most leisurely and beautiful time of the year.
The temperature in Finland was also considerably cooler than in Z City, with a maximum temperature of only 21 degrees Celsius, making any casual attire suitable.
Arrangements had been made in advance by Assistant Lin. Upon arrival, everyone was taken to the estate of a friend of Mr. Gu.