March 12th marked the successful conclusion of the fifth season of "First Step to Love."
Xia Qingtian moved back into the Xia family home.
After a brief rest on March 13th and 14th, reshoots for several promotional images for K&S were scheduled for March 15th and 16th.
The location chosen for the reshoots was a European-style estate in a distant suburb of L City.
Z City was a two-hour flight away from L City. After boarding, Xia Qingtian covered her lap with a thin blanket.
"You should get some sleep, I'll wake you when we arrive," Li Mengxiao said softly. "Do you want earplugs?"
"No, I'll just close my eyes and rest. I'm fine, don't worry," Xia Qingtian replied, her voice lazy as she half-closed her eyes. "Catching this morning flight has left me a bit sleep-deprived."
"Alright," Li Mengxiao sighed. "If they needed to film at a European-style estate, they could have filmed in our Z City. Why did we have to rush to L City?"
"It's much better than flying to Paris, at least we don't have to deal with jet lag," Xia Qingtian said. Knowing Li Mengxiao was concerned for her, she simply smiled and held Li Mengxiao's hand in her palm.
Her hand held gently by Xia Qingtian, Li Mengxiao said nothing more. After Xia Qingtian seemed to have fallen asleep, she carefully adjusted the thin blanket and the air conditioning above her, so she could be more comfortable.
Xia Qingtian actually had no intention of sleeping. While she was indeed tired, her head also ached with a dull pain.
Feeling Li Mengxiao's careful attention beside her, Xia Qingtian felt even more embarrassed to open her eyes.
Only when Li Mengxiao seemed to get up to go to the restroom did Xia Qingtian open one eye to glance at the empty seat beside her and then rub her face.
Just as she was about to readjust her posture, she heard quiet voices from the row behind.
"The [cargo] this time is going from Z City to L City? What about after that?" The speaker was a man with a somewhat deep voice.
"Shh, walls have ears." His companion sounded very cautious.
"It's fine, I checked. There were only a few people in first class. Those two girls in front, one went to the restroom, the other is sleeping." After saying this, the other person also complained, "This is so troublesome. It's just a D-class [cargo], yet they had us fly from Kyoto to Z City, and then from Z City to L City. I haven't slept six hours combined in the last two or three days."
As if to confirm his fatigue, he yawned.
"This is nothing. After this, we still have to go from L City by water to M City, and then depart from M City. It's faster now. When we have to take a boat to leave the country, that's when it's truly suffering." His companion also seemed to have let down his guard a bit, continuing, "This cargo is very important; it's related to the experimental data that the Nordic branch has been working on. We can't be careless."
Xia Qingtian, perhaps because she had recently heard about Dr. Li's family from Mobius, was sensitive to words like "[experiment]." Just as she was about to listen more closely, she heard a hushed "shh" sound from behind her.
Immediately after, Li Mengxiao returned. Seeing Xia Qingtian with her eyes open, Li Mengxiao said, "Hey? You're awake?"
Hearing Li Mengxiao's voice, the two people in the seats behind them suddenly became alert.
Xia Qingtian's heart skipped a beat, and she could only pretend not to have heard anything.
"Qingtian?" Li Mengxiao called out again, unsure of what had happened.
"Mm?" Xia Qingtian finally responded, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Xiaoxiao, I was listening to music with my earphones, and the volume was a bit loud, so I didn't hear you. What's up?"
Li Mengxiao wanted to say that she didn't see Xia Qingtian wearing earphones, but seeing Xia Qingtian shake her head slightly, Li Mengxiao knew she shouldn't dwell on it. She sat down and replied, "Don't turn the volume up so high; it'll hurt your ears."
"Okay, I'll be careful next time," Xia Qingtian said. "I'm going to sleep a bit more. I'll wake you when we arrive."
"Okay," Li Mengxiao replied and said no more.
Xia Qingtian also feigned sleep, pulling the blanket up further to cover most of her face.
The two men in the back exchanged a glance. Then, one of them stood up, pretending to go to the restroom, and walked forward. As he passed the front seats, he deliberately glanced towards Xia Qingtian and Li Mengxiao. Seeing nothing unusual, he returned the same way and gave his companion a "safe" signal.
However, after this small interlude, the two men never spoke again, remaining completely silent throughout the rest of the flight.
As they were about to disembark, Xia Qingtian put on her mask and wide-brimmed hat in advance. As she stood up, she deliberately leaned to the side and stretched, turning her head to glance at the two men behind her.
One thin and one stout man, appearing to be in their thirties.
The round-faced man was rubbing his shoulders; he was likely the one who had been complaining about the hardship. His round head was closely cropped.
The lean man looked much more alert; he had a long face and medium-length hair tied back at the nape of his neck, looking a bit greasy.
Xia Qingtian specifically scanned the collars of their shirts. Seeing the lean man seemed to sense her gaze and was about to look back, Xia Qingtian immediately turned her body to the side and performed a simple stretching motion.
After a two-hour flight, it was normal to stand up and stretch. The two men didn't think much of it and proceeded to exit the plane.
Xia Qingtian glanced at the two men again before withdrawing her gaze and muttering, "Perhaps I'm just being too suspicious..."
They seemed like ordinary people.
Besides, for villains' secret plots to be overheard by me...
It wasn't like filming a movie or writing a novel.
How could things be so coincidental?
"Let's go," Li Mengxiao turned off airplane mode, and a flood of messages poured in. "The pickup staff is here, at... Exit 2."
Xia Qingtian responded, withdrew her gaze, and disembarked with Li Mengxiao, quickly pushing the incident out of her mind.
At Exit 2, a black van was already waiting.
After Xia Qingtian and Li Mengxiao got into the car, it officially departed for the filming location.
As soon as they were seated, the staff in the car handed them wet wipes for cleansing and skin-refreshing masks.
The schedule was tight this time; makeup and hairstyling would need to be done as soon as they arrived at the destination, so preparations needed to be made on the way.
Simultaneously, at Exit 3 nearby, the stout and lean men who had been sitting behind Xia Qingtian got into a black private car one after another.
"Thank you for traveling a long distance, gentlemen," said a man in a well-tailored suit with a slight smile in the car. "I am Song Junhan, the person in charge for this stage in L City."