Dawn of a New Era - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Hold Hands

Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
8 p.m.

Chen Shouyi was quickly replying to Zhang Shaoyue’s message, but his phone died again.

He felt like he was driven crazy by this lousy phone. It had died a few times when he had tried to place an order online previously. That was something he could still accept, but yet, it now died when he was just trying to send out a message.

He couldn’t be blamed for being heartless toward it anymore.

He took out his sim card and then exerted force to crush his phone, throwing it into the trash bin. He looked at the shell girl whose eyes were fixed on the animation played. After some hesitation, he gave up on the thought of bringing her out along with him.

Anyway, there was a handphone shop not far away from the motel, and it wouldn’t take him much time to travel to and fro.

He walked out of the room, closed the door, and headed downstairs.

He quickly purchased a mid-range phone.

However, when he came back, he realized that a few police officers were standing outside the motel.

Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Had the shell girl been discovered?

His heart beat intensely, but he continued to remain calm as if nothing happened. He continued to walk toward the motel.

During the past month, he had experienced many things, some of which were strange, mysterious, or even dangerous. They were things that ordinary people might never get to experience in their lifetime. Some time ago, he had just killed two barbarians, and his mentality was no longer something that an ordinary young man could compare with.

“Hold up. Who are you?” a policeman suddenly called out to him.

Chen Shouyi pretended to act like an honest person. “I’m a student from Dongning No.5 High School. I’ve been preparing for the Martial Apprentice Test these few days and have been staying here as my family is worried that I won’t be able to sleep well.”

The policeman couldn’t help but throw another glance at him. It was no wonder that this young man gave him a kind of vague pressure. His attitude toward Chen Shouyi became a lot better thereafter.

“Show me your identification card.”

Chen Shouyi immediately reached into his pocket and took out his identification card from his wallet.

“You can go in!”

He had just entered the motel when six to seven men and ladies whose clothes were in a state of disarray were chased out, all of them wearing pathetic expressions. They squatted down honestly in the motel’s hall, and several people started making calls with pale countenances, trying everything they could.

“Dad! I’ve been caught by the police!”

“That’s not it. Am I that kind of person? It’s that matter… definitely don’t tell Mom.”

…

“Wife, I’ll be going on a business trip immediately.”

“That’s right, it’s quite urgent. I’ll have to leave immediately… There’s no other way around it. My boss can’t do without me… It’ll take about two to three days, but may also take five to six days.”

“Noisy? I’m on the streets!”

…

So that was it. The police were out on a raid to crack down on prostitution.

Chen Shouyi didn’t feel lucky at other people’s misfortune when he saw these people in a sorry state.

Since the police had searched the rooms, they wouldn’t miss out on his room either.

However, although he was feeling anxious, he continued to remain calm in his footsteps.

When he reached the second floor, he saw three people standing outside his room.

One of them was the motel’s staff.

The other two were policemen.

Right now, that motel staff was holding onto a back-up room card and was about to open the door.

Chen Shouyi’s heart couldn’t help but accelerate, and he quickened his footsteps.

He walked up to them and stood there, forcing himself to remain calm.

He was clear that the more he said in this situation, the more nervous he would appear to be, and the more others would think of him as being suspicious.

At this moment, the room door opened. A slightly older policeman probed in and took a quick glance. He seemed to not have noticed anything and then turned to ask Chen Shouyi, “This is your room?”

“That’s right, I’m staying here!” Chen Shouyi quickly showed his room card.

The policeman took it to check, affirmed that the room number was correct, and then threw a glance at him, saying, “The Barbie doll doesn’t look bad.”

Chen Shouyi forced a smile in response.

The two policemen didn’t have any suspicions of him and quickly went to check out the next room.

When the two policemen left, he quickly pushed open the door and entered. He saw that the shell girl was wearing a princess dress and seating properly on the pillow without moving. She was fully focused on the animation film, as if she hadn’t been disturbed by the commotion at all.

At first glance, she really looked like a Barbie doll.

Chen Shouyi heaved out a sigh of relief. He didn’t know if he should praise the shell girl for having “excellent acting skills” or if he should say that she didn’t have her guards up at all.

He suddenly felt that his back was a little damp. It was only now did he realize that his back was covered in cold sweat.

…

Thankfully, it was a false alarm. However, this motel was really not safe.

He could only remind himself that he should be more careful in the future. He must bring the shell girl along with him no matter where he would be heading to in the future.

He suddenly recalled Zhang Shaoyue’s message and quickly took out his new phone. There were two more new messages.

“What are you doing?”

“Why aren’t you replying?”

Chen Shouyi broke out in sweat. He quickly typed out a message and sent it out.

“I’m sorry. My phone broke earlier. I went out to get a new one!”

In the end, there wasn’t any reply after ten minutes had passed.

Chen Shouyi felt a little disappointed. Thus, he looked through his contacts, his finger kept on sliding through the list. Then, he saw the familiar name, hesitated a little, and pressed down on the call icon with his thumb. After five to six rings, the call was connected.

“Hello.”

The other party didn’t say anything. He could only hear a faint breathing sound, as well as the noise from the environment.

The atmosphere seemed a little awkward. This was the first time the two of them were on a call ever since they knew each other.

Neither of them spoke up.

Chen Shouyi only spoke up after a while had passed.

“I’ve been busy preparing for the Martial Apprentice Test for the past few days! I only have some free time at night.”

“I’m not anyone to you, so there’s no need for you to explain anything to me. If you wish to reply, then reply. If you don’t, then don’t,” Zhang Shaoyue said softly.

Although there seemed to be a little temper in her tone, her voice still sounded soft and gentle.

Zhang Shaoyue and her best friend were shopping. She covered up the phone with her hand, her face flushing red.

Chen Shouyi was struck with a realization. “I understand now!”

“What do you understand?”

“I suddenly realized that you’re a very practical person?” Chen Shouyi said.

Zhang Shaoyue avoided her best friend’s teasing, feeling a little angry. This wasn’t a good word to be used to describe a girl.

“Chen Shouyi, in what way am I practical?”

“Aren’t you the class monitor? You’re already decisively cutting off ties with me when I’m just preparing to quit school. Isn’t this being practical?” Chen Shouyi beat about the bush.

“Alright. Even if that’s the case, our relationship is just that of a class monitor and classmate.” Zhang Shaoyue pursed her lips and smiled.

“Shouldn’t the class monitor be warm and kind, showing concern to her classmates?”

“Then how do you wish for me to be kind?”

“For example…”

“For example?” Zhang Shaoyue couldn’t hold back her beating heart and asked in a soft voice.

“Where are you now?” Hearing her slightly anxious breathing, an unprecedented strong impulse suddenly rose in his heart.

“I’m out shopping!” Zhang Shaoyue said and then added, “I’m with my middle school classmate.”

“Give me the address. I’ll head over immediately.”

…

Chen Shouyi hung up the call, feeling excited as he swung his fist.

Chen Shouyi looked at the shell girl, who was fully focused on watching the animated film. For his own happiness, he could only let her down.

He picked up the remote controller and switched off the television. Before she could protest, Chen Shouyi used a small glass marble to stuff up all of her dissatisfaction.

He then grabbed the elated shell girl, once again tying her up with ropes and then taping up her mouth.

…

When Zhang Shaoyue hung up the call, Cheng Juan was surprised. “Shaoyue, confess right now. When did you and Chen Shouyi get together?”

She was a beauty who could only get 7 out of 10 points. However, her great figure made up for this. Even a loosely fitted short sleeve T-shirt appeared tight fitting on her. It was as if her shirt was about to burst.

“What do you mean by ‘get together’? That sounds so bad! We’re just ordinary friends!” Zhang Shaoyue covered up her slightly heated up face and chided.

“Why would your face turn red when you’re just ordinary friends? Do you want me to imitate your tone when you spoke earlier? I shall see what kind of guy he is to have stolen the heart of the prettiest girl of our class.”

“Don’t speak gibberish later on!” Zhang Shaoyue said, feeling embarrassed. She had never been so attracted to a guy before and had always felt anxious about losing him.

“So you’re the one who took the initiative!” Cheng Juan opened her mouth in surprise. She felt even more curious, wanting to know what kind of guy this person was for Zhang Shaoyue to be smitten over him.

Very soon, the two of them saw Chen Shouyi coming over.

The first impression that Chen Shouyi gave Cheng Juan was that his complexion was really good. And then, he was also very composed, so much that he didn’t seem like someone of the same age as her. She could only get this feeling from people of her father’s age.

In fact, the one who was really surprised turned out to be Zhang Shaoyue. She was the only one who was clear about how much Chen Shouyi had changed. However, she was used to keeping things to herself and didn’t ask much.

Cheng Juan didn’t have the self-realization that she was an unwanted third wheel. She kept on shooting questions, “Are you in the same class as Shaoyue?”

“You’re applying for the martial academy?”

“Why did you bring a briefcase?”

Chen Shouyi would nod occasionally, replying at other times, for example, when he explained the matter of his briefcase.

Thankfully, Cheng Juan left after receiving a call not long later. The atmosphere quietened down.

“This is the way she is, very carefree and easy-going.” After a while, Zhang Shaoyue explained softly.

She was wearing a white shirt, paired with a black skirt that revealed her lower thighs. Her small and young-looking face still had a hint of flush to it, making her appear cute and adorable.

“That’s quite good, but I prefer someone quieter. My younger sister is noisy enough.”

“You have a sister? Why haven’t I heard you mention it before?”

“You didn’t ask!”

The two of them walked on without a goal in mind, chatting softly. The two of them seemed to be suppressing a seething volcano in their hearts, intentionally holding things in when they spoke.

Without realizing it, they got closer and closer. Chen Shouyi could smell the sweet scent coming from the young lady, as well as see her small hand that was close within his grasp. He seemed to be able to hear the intense palpitations in his heart, and his palms were starting to sweat.

He kept on reaching his hand out but then quickly drew it back.

This kept on repeating.

Finally, he gently grabbed Zhang Shaoyue’s hand.

Zhang Shaoyue instantly stiffened, putting up a weak struggle. She lowered her head, her cheeks turning red.