jdhmnovel Chapter 25: Britain - "Settling Down"
Chapter 25: Britain - "Settling Down"
'zoom'
With a whooshing sound, Ming's plane pierced through the clouds and flew at high speed in a straight line for several hours before slowly descending to the British airport below.
The plane landed safely, and then an announcement in English came over the loudspeaker: "Ding~ The plane to the UK has arrived at the station. Please disembark one after another to collect your luggage and leave in an orderly manner. Thank you for your cooperation."
Translation: Ding~ The flight to the UK has arrived at the station. Passengers, please disembark in an orderly manner to collect your luggage. Thank you for your cooperation.
When Ming saw the bell ring, he looked up slightly, then put the gauze and diary he was using to pass the time into his pocket, stood up and slowly followed the flow of people off the plane, took out chestnuts and walked out of the airport.
As Ming stepped out of the airport, he heard a voice speaking fluent Japanese from behind him: "Hi~ You must be Takeichiro Okamine's eldest son, right? You do look a bit like him from behind."
Upon hearing someone call out his father's name, Ming immediately turned around and saw a dark-haired Englishman smiling at him, holding a photograph in his hand and comparing it repeatedly.
"Who are you?" Ming asked suspiciously upon seeing the unfamiliar middle-aged man with red eyes. He placed the cage containing chestnuts behind him, and his expression became somewhat wary.
Then, my eyes fell on the DEM logo on the left chest of the man's suit, and his left eye under the blindfold was slightly red, as if he could kill me at any moment.
Seeing Ming's gaze, so grave it could kill, the middle-aged man said:
"Wait! I'm not a bad person! Oh right, I remember holding you when you were little, right? Uh... that child must have been you..." He waved his hands, repeatedly saying things that Ming couldn't understand.
"Hmm...you hugged me? What do you mean!" Ming put his right hand behind his back, and a fireball the size of a bean appeared in his palm, ready to be aimed at the uncle in front of him.
Seeing Ming's increasingly wary face, the black-haired man looked embarrassed, then seemed to remember something and searched through his clothes.
"Oh, here it is! Here it is! Look!"
The dark-haired British man quickly took a flip phone from his sleeve pocket, flipped it to a conversation log, and then immediately threw it in front of Ming's eyes.
Seeing the uncle take out his phone, Ming quickly walked over, put his face close to the screen and looked at the call log. The name "Okamine Takeichiro" was displayed on it, and his vigilance relaxed a little.
Seeing that Ming had lowered his guard somewhat, this person immediately introduced himself:
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am James Jhin Steve, the eldest son of the Okaymine family patriarch. I am here at the request of your father, Okaymine Takeichiro, a childhood friend. He asked me to help you because someone is watching you in England."
"As for the school you want to go to, I have already asked someone to help your father get you into a secondary school in London, England."
At this point, the man's face lit up, and then, as if to show off, he pointed to the DEM sign on his chest and said:
"Haha, don't let my appearance fool you. I'm actually a high-level executive at a super prestigious company. From now on, just call me Uncle Jin. I'll protect you!"
Before he knew it, Uncle Jin had put his arm around Ming's shoulder and started chatting away. Ming could only listen helplessly, his face full of impatience.
"Are you done talking? So, where are we going now?" Ming interrupted Uncle Jin, who was still rambling on, after a moment of silence, and asked expressionlessly.
"Let's go to the supermarket first; you need to buy some daily necessities," Uncle Jin said, leading Ming to a large supermarket nearby.
Upon entering the supermarket, Uncle Jin went straight to the food section, selecting various kinds of food. As he chose, he explained the characteristics and flavors of the foods to Ming. Next, they went to the daily necessities section, where Uncle Jin began selecting toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, and other household items.
Ming pushed the shopping cart, following behind Uncle Jin, watching Uncle Jin continuously toss various items into the cart. He was somewhat surprised by Uncle Jin's attention to detail in life, but at the same time felt a little helpless.
Uncle Jin kept throwing various things into the car, and would occasionally turn back to look at Ming, asking if he needed anything else. Ming could only awkwardly reply expressionlessly:
"No, thank you, Uncle Jin."
As the shopping cart filled with more and more items, Ming's anxiety grew stronger. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Uncle Jin, do you even know what you're buying? This doesn't feel like you're buying things for yourself; it feels more like you're buying snacks for a bunch of kids who're about to go to the supermarket to grab some..."
Finally, the two of them, pushing their fully loaded shopping carts, concluded their shopping trip with great satisfaction. Uncle Jin skillfully drove the car, taking Ming to Gangfeng's house in London.
Upon arriving at their destination, Uncle Jin brought the car to a smooth stop, turned to Ming, and said, "Alright, we're here. Put these things here for now. If you need anything else later, feel free to come to the front desk of the largest building in central London and give them my name." With that, Uncle Jin gently patted Ming's shoulder and turned to leave.
Ming stood at the door, looking at the luggage filling the room, sighed helplessly, and then began to organize the items.
After cleaning the room, Ming took the chestnut down, placed it on the cat mat, and started petting the cat.
Ming hugged the chestnut tightly, sat gently on the soft sofa, his heart heavy as he pondered:
"Here's the problem: how do I join a magician's organization that targets elves? Putting aside my talent, the key issue is I don't even know where to find these organizations! DEM... right now, I'm not ready to meet those old foxes. But that Uncle Jin, whose trustworthiness I'm questionable, seems to be a high-ranking official; he should know something, but..."
Ming slowly turned on the television while lost in thought, trying to ease his inner unease through the programs. However, just then, a crisp doorbell rang, breaking the silence of the room.
Ming frowned, stood up in confusion, and walked to the door. He cautiously opened the door and peered warily outside. There was a small package on the door, without a sender's name or address.
A sense of curiosity welled up in Ming's heart. He picked up the package and examined it closely. The package was very light, as if it contained something important. He gently shook the package and heard a slight rattling sound coming from inside.
Filled with doubt, Ming opened the package. Inside was a black flip phone! Ming stared at the phone in surprise, his mind filled with questions.
Ming didn't know who gave him the phone, nor did he know what its purpose was.
Just as Ming was lost in thought, his phone screen suddenly lit up, displaying a text message:
"This was prepared for you by Uncle Jin. I hope you can contact him if you need anything in the future. There are still two days until your school entrance exam, so don't worry."
After reading all this, Ming suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He could use this phone to subtly inquire with Uncle Jin about the location of SSS and how to join.
Ming quickly replied to the text message, feigning gratitude for Uncle Jin's letter, and then inquired:
"Thank you, Uncle Jin. Speaking of which, what is SSS? I think I saw it in the news not long after you left. It sounded really cool. Is it some kind of powerful thing?"
After Ming sent the message, the phone remained motionless for a long time, as time ticked by. Ten minutes later, Uncle Jin awkwardly replied through the flip phone:
"Sorry, Xiaomingzi, I was on my way back to the company just now. As a senior executive, I still have some work to do. Wait, didn't you just ask me what SSS is?"
"Let me think... They're kind of like the superheroes in the comics you often read. They're a group that uses cutting-edge British technology to protect the public. If you want to know more, their headquarters is near the Clock Tower in London. Just look it up."
Hearing this, Ming nodded as if he had expected it, and then asked eagerly:
"So, if I don't get into university three years later, how can I join?"
Upon seeing Ming say that he was certain he wouldn't pass the exam, Uncle Jin quickly replied:
"Haha, how could that be? Wu Yilang showed me your report card. You got perfect scores in every subject and were hailed as a genius in the class. How could you possibly fail the exam?"
"What if that's the case? Just take it as a joke. Uncle Jin, didn't you say you're a senior executive at some company? You must be very capable, right? This kind of small problem shouldn't be difficult for you, right?" Ming continued to probe indirectly.
Upon seeing Ming's slightly provocative words, Uncle James Jhin Steve replied without hesitation:
"Alright, let me show you how capable I am. Joining SSS is very simple. There are two types: joining through military service (if you've served in the military before and are recruited here) or joining from civilian life. You need a resume representing your personal identity and... wait, I can't say that, uh... sorry, Xiaomingzi, I can't say that. It involves other trade secrets."
"Oh, Jin is really amazing. He knows a lot of things I don't know." After saying this flattering remark, Ming put down his flip phone.
Slowly, Ming took out a self-report form he had prepared beforehand from his suitcase. A slight smile played on his lips as he said:
"Is that so? Then I'll go take a look." He carefully put away his self-report, secretly pleased. "I didn't expect the path to becoming stronger to be simpler than I imagined." Then Ming stood up and prepared to take a stroll around the Tower of London.
Before leaving, Ming gently stroked Chestnut, who was about to take another nap, then opened the door and went out.