Chapter 145: You’re Overthinking It
Wang Heng found his window seat on the airplane and sat down. He didn’t put his backpack on the luggage rack, but placed it on his lap instead.
After a while, when the airplane was preparing for takeoff, the flight attendant came over and reminded him: “Mister, please put the luggage under the seat of the passenger in front. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Wang Heng did as instructed, and after putting the bag down, he obediently fastened his seatbelt.
A few minutes later, he saw a small gray figure dart under the seat in front, quietly slipping into the backpack side pocket—although he had known all along that this guy was definitely fine, seeing it with his own eyes still made him breathe a sigh of relief.
After waiting a good while longer, the airplane finally began to taxi, circling the runway several times before taking off.
This body of Wang Heng’s was taking its first airplane ride, but in the memories from the first playthrough, he was all too familiar with it. The acceleration during takeoff, the vibration of the body with the aircraft’s shaking, that pushed-back feeling, and the sudden weightlessness as it left the ground and rushed into the sky—all were routine.
Once the airplane had steadily climbed to a certain altitude, Wang Heng picked up his backpack and placed it on his lap.
He glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention to him, then took the small thing out of the backpack side pocket, unzipped it, and put it inside the bag.
This way, communication would be more convenient. He just needed to bury his face into the backpack to hear the hamster’s quiet voice. The sound was muffled by the backpack’s canvas material, so the other passengers around couldn’t hear it.
Hamster: “What are you planning after we land? Where are you going to buy the stuff?”
Wang Heng: “Don’t worry about that. I’ve arranged everything.”
Hamster: “Using the Dark Web?”
Wang Heng: “Yeah, Edo is an international metropolis with a lot of Dark Web users. The stuff I need can be settled with one bitcoin.”
After saying that, he didn’t hear the hamster’s response, only a rustling sound, as if… the hamster was rummaging through things?
Moments later, the hamster said wistfully: “You didn’t bring sunflower seeds.”
Wang Heng: “You didn’t remind me either.”
Hamster: “Why does this line sound so familiar?”
Wang Heng: “Learned it from you.”
Hamster: “…”
“How about this—as long as you successfully complete the mission, I’ll buy you sunflower seeds right away, as many as you want!”
Just as he finished speaking, Wang Heng heard the flight attendant’s slightly puzzled voice:
“Mister, what are you doing?”
Wang Heng looked up, glanced at the flight attendant, then at the middle-aged woman beside him who had a look of disgust and was silently moving away—what was with their expressions?
The flight attendant continued: “Mister, are you feeling unwell? There’s a cleaning bag under the small tray table in front of you…”
Seeing their strange looks, Wang Heng finally understood where the misunderstanding was.
“Uh, I don’t feel like vomiting, and it’s impossible for me to vomit into the backpack. I just want to be alone quietly.”
Be alone quietly, so stuffing his head into the bag?
The flight attendant and the middle-aged woman beside her didn’t say anything more, but their gazes grew even stranger.
Wang Heng secretly resolved that for the rest of the journey, he would just look at the clouds outside the window or something—he definitely couldn’t talk to the hamster anymore.
————
In the evening, the airplane landed at Edo International Airport.
Wang Heng shouldered his schoolbag and got off the airplane calmly, following the passage into the terminal building. After redeeming quite a bit of cash, he walked out of the terminal building and took a taxi.
If it were Wang Ke, who often read original Sakura Island manga, he might manage some half-baked Sakura Island language to talk with the driver, but Wang Heng only knew a few comprehensible words like “Kimochi” and “Yabai.” Fortunately, advances in technology had made communication much simpler.
Wang Heng took out the smart translator, stated his destination, and played the converted Sakura Island language version for the driver to hear.
The driver didn’t hesitate, agreed with a word, and stepped on the accelerator. Of the driver’s sentence, Wang Heng could only understand the “Hai” at the beginning.
Outside the window were neatly arranged street views and a clear blue sky. Although it was also a modern metropolis, the cityscapes of different countries inevitably had some differences.
However, Wang Heng had no interest in admiring the foreign scenery. Thinking about what he had to do soon filled his chest with a vague sense of anxiety.
They rode in silence for over half an hour, and Wang Heng finally arrived at his destination. He paid, got out.
This was an unassuming grocery store at a quiet street corner. Wang Heng took out his mobile phone to confirm—the destination was right here, that grocery store.
But he didn’t go in; instead, he took the hamster out of his backpack.
“Now it’s up to you. Go on, Pikachu.”
Wang Heng tossed it out.
The hamster landed on the ground, rolled a couple of times, turned back wanting to flip him the bird. However, the hamster’s paws only had four fingers, meaning it was impossible to designate one as the ‘middle finger.’
So the hamster could only stick its tongue out at him viciously, pat its butt to show contempt, then twist around and dart into the grocery store.
Wang Heng sat on the roadside bench and observed the surroundings.
Good, no pedestrians, no cameras or anything like that. So whatever was about to happen wouldn’t have any extra witnesses.
Moments later, the hamster came running out with a pencil case in its mouth and returned to his feet.
If this scene were recorded and posted on YouTube, it would obviously go viral, but unfortunately no one noticed.
Wang Heng scooped up the hamster, put it into the backpack along with the pencil case. Just as he was about to stand up, he heard the hamster’s protest:
“Buy sunflower seeds first!”
“The mission isn’t complete yet,” Wang Heng reminded.
The hamster clung to the backpack’s zipper, refusing to go in, and clamored: “It’s half done, advance payment—hand over the advance payment first!”
Wang Heng looked down thoughtfully: “Advance payment, huh…”
The hamster kicked his back, saying indignantly: “Sincerity! You have to show your sincerity! Who asks for a favor while being so stingy?”
Wang Heng sighed: “Alright, a few for now.”
“Heavens!” the hamster lamented. “Just a few?”
Wang Heng: “I’ll buy you a bag, okay? The problem is, where around here do they sell sunflower seeds?”
Hamster: “Remember that subway station we passed on the way here by car? Take the subway, go two stops east on the east-west line, exit, and you’ll see a small pet supply store.”
Wang Heng nodded, walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped.
He asked suspiciously: “Going that way, might we run into Lu Qi?”
Hamster: “You’re overthinking it…”
Wang Heng: “With you, I have to think more. Don’t dodge my question, don’t beat around the bush—tell me directly, is there any chance of running into Lu Qi if we go the direction you said?”
The hamster fell silent.
Wang Heng held it in his hand, staring straight at it.
After a while, the hamster finally sighed: “Fine, walk three hundred meters west, and there’s another small pet supply store.”
Wang Heng sneered: “Am I overthinking it?”
————
Subsequent chapters are under revision and review…
