Naming Technique of the Night

The little house on Xingshu Road had been neglected for too long, the pressure cooker was leaking, and the washing machine was broken.

Now that he had obtained gold from the Inner World, he naturally wanted to replace them with new ones.

Just as he was about to leave the appliance market, he suddenly saw a Haier washing machine on sale.

Qing Chen hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not make the purchase.

At this very moment, Wang Yun and Bai Waner were visiting at Jiang Xue’s home.

This time, they didn’t bring futile gifts like champagne or whiskey; instead, following Hu Xiaoniu’s instructions, they bought some vegetables and brought them over in a down-to-earth manner.

While Jiang Xue cooked, the two of them accompanied Li Tongyun like big sisters, watching cartoons with her.

As an episode of “Paw Patrol” came to an end, Wang Yun smiled and asked Li Tongyun, “Little friend, can your sister ask you a question?”

Li Tongyun replied sweetly, “If I answer the question, will I get some candy?”

“Of course you can,” Wang Yun quickly produced a piece of chocolate from her pocket and offered it to her, “Will this do?”

Li Tongyun smiled and said, “Thank you, sister, I love chocolate the most.”

“Then sister will ask you,” continued Wang Yun thoughtfully, “Is Brother Qing Chen the same as your mom, a ‘Time Traveler’, the really cool kind?”

Li Tongyun looked confused for a moment, shook her head, and said, “I don’t know.”

“Have you ever asked him?” Bai Waner asked, feeling that Li Tongyun’s reaction was natural; if she insisted Qing Chen wasn’t, then they might have reason to suspect.

And after all, how could a ten-year-old lie?

With her head tilted, Li Tongyun recalled, “I did ask Brother Qing Chen, but he didn’t say whether he was a ‘Time Traveler.’ He only told me, instead of fantasizing about unrealistic time travel, it’s better to study hard and get into a good university.”

“Did he say anything else?” Wang Yun inquired.

“He said that there’s nothing so great about those ‘Time Travelers,\'” Li Tongyun said diligently eating her chocolate.

Wang Yun and Bai Waner exchanged a glance, both displaying a hint of delight.

Truth be told, Li Tongyun hadn’t given them a direct answer, but they had already found out what they wanted to know.

If Qing Chen truly was a Time Traveler, why would he say “‘Time Travelers’ are nothing special”?

That seemed more like jealousy and envy in a certain context, and a self-consolation.

Then Bai Waner too pulled out a piece of chocolate from her pocket, gently patted Li Tongyun’s head, and said, “Xiao Yun is such a good girl.”

With that, the two of them stood up to say goodbye to Jiang Xue.

It wasn’t until they were outside the door that they spoke in hushed voices, “Do you think the little girl was telling the truth?”

“Such a well-behaved little girl must be telling the truth. Plus, a little girl couldn’t make up this sort of thing,” Bai Waner analyzed.

“It seems Qing Chen really isn’t a ‘Time Traveler’ then,” Wang Yun spoke, “This will put Hu Xiaoniu at ease.”

They didn’t see the moment the door closed, Li Tongyun quietly spit the chocolate into the trash can and rolled her eyes skyward.

In fact, she did not like the taste of chocolate.

Her dad always liked to buy her chocolate, but ever since she witnessed her dad hitting her mom, she had started to deeply detest that flavor.

Nevertheless, there was one piece of chocolate she hadn’t thrown away, casually pocketing it as if nothing happened.

…

Late at night, shortly after Qing Chen got home, he heard a knock on the door.

He opened it to let Li Tongyun in, “Come in and talk. What’s up this time?”

Li Tongyun looked at the unpacked pressure cooker he had bought, “You could have had my mom help you cook the beef. We have a pressure cooker at home, and my mom’s beef is really delicious.”

“It’s fine, I believe in self-reliance,” Qing Chen replied with a smile.

“Here, this is for you,” Li Tongyun stuffed the chocolate into his hand and said, “Those two sisters came today to ask me if you are a ‘Time Traveler.’ Don’t worry, I’ve fobbed them off for you, but Brother Qing Chen, you should be careful. There must be some detail that made them suspicious.”

“Hmm,” Qing Chen was well aware that it was because of the incident with the foreign teacher, “Where did you get this chocolate from?”

Unperturbed, Li Tongyun answered, “I bought it for you, a gift.”

“Thank you,” Qing Chen chuckled.

In consideration of Li Tongyun’s assistance, Qing Chen also gave something in return, “From my observation, these individuals have indeed made enemies in City No. 7, someone named Chen Leyou, likely from the Chen Clan.”

“So they ran so far from City No. 7 just to escape the Chen Clan’s control,” Li Tongyun pondered, “but I don’t need this information.”

“What do you want, then?” Qing Chen asked curiously.

“I want your identity, Brother Qing Chen,” Li Tongyun said, batting her eyelashes.

“No way,” Qing Chen mercilessly refused.

“Then, Brother Qing Chen, help me with my homework,” Li Tongyun looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

“That’s not happening either,” Qing Chen flatly refused. How could he, a grown man, do such a shameful thing!

“So boring!” Li Tongyun felt disappointed. “Brother Qing Chen, those people are always watching us since they live next door, it’s annoying. Should we come up with a way to drive them off?”

“It’s not good to chase them away; it might expose us instead,” Qing Chen said. “Besides, I’ve always felt that these four people could be useful.”

Being suspected by others was indeed troublesome, but trying to cover it up would only make things worse. The best approach was… to divert their attention.

Since they were here because of Liu Dezhu in the first place, naturally Liu Dezhu should be used to shift their focus back to him.

It wasn’t just about diverting attention. On the four rich heirs that Hu Xiaoniu belonged to, there were the Outer World’s money and influence that he urgently needed.

It seemed that he had to have a good talk with Liu Dezhu this time.

“By the way, Brother Qing Chen, National Day is in just a few days. Let’s go out and have fun,” Li Tongyun looked at Qing Chen with anticipation.

Qing Chen was a bit puzzled. “Why bring up going out all of a sudden? I’ll have to think about it, maybe we can talk about it in a few days?”

“All right, you must think about it,” Li Tongyun said before happily going upstairs.

In the dead of night, Qing Chen played a Japanese tutorial on his phone while painfully practicing his Breathing Technique.

…

In the remaining countdown time, not a single ripple stirred in the Outer World.

The world seemed to have suddenly quieted down, as everyone awaited the next crossing, waiting for He Xiaoxiao’s group chat preparation to end.

Meanwhile, Qing Chen kept an eye on the illegal detention case. The nine fugitive suspects had still not been apprehended, and this might be the reason everyone was keeping silent.

Everyone dreaded for their own safety.

Countdown 00:00:10.

In the final moment, Qing Chen put the USB drive with the copied endgame chess positions into his mouth and, while activating the Breathing Technique, clutched a kitchen knife in his right hand.

He quietly awaited the world to shatter, darkness to descend.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

The darkness came and went, and Qing Chen opened his eyes to see Uncle Li Dong and Ye Wan still standing in front of him, as if he had never left.

Uncle Li Dong smiled, “Back already?”

“Yeah,” Qing Chen nodded, “I’m back.”

He noticed that only the handle of the kitchen knife remained in his hand.

This experiment had been effective; at least he now knew how much he could take with him.

…

There are three more parts tonight.