Chapter 19: 19. Restrict travel
“Are you all right?” Qing Chen looked at the woman outside the door and said.
This was his first time sizing up the other party seriously. Every time they met before, it was in a rush, and because of domestic violence, the woman intentionally avoided other men, including Qing Chen, even though he was just a high school student.
This must be the shadow left by the domestic abuse.
At this moment, the woman’s hands and arms had turned into mechanical limbs. Qing Chen noticed that her mechanical limbs were more aesthetically pleasing than those of most prisoners in Prison No. 18, with lines that were smooth and elegant yet filled with the beauty of strength.
If they weren’t covered by long sleeves, they would probably look even better.
To say the woman was indeed beautiful was an understatement, although the corners of her eyes had fine lines, they added a certain charm, and it didn’t obscure the gentle temperament she possessed.
The woman looked at Qing Chen with some embarrassment and said, “I didn’t expect to trouble you again this time.”
“It’s nothing,” Qing Chen shook his head: “I was just about to cook for Li Tongyun. I really like her.”
The woman nodded her head. She said to Li Tongyun, “Let’s go, Xiao Yun, back home with mom.”
Li Tongyun said pitifully, “I’m still hungry, and you two wrecked our home. There’s nothing to eat if we go back.”
The woman got a bit angry after hearing this: “Be obedient, don’t cause trouble for others anymore!”
However, Qing Chen suddenly said, “Xiao Yun just told me that you haven’t eaten yet, why don’t you come over to my place and have some food?”
The woman and Li Tongyun were both stunned. Although Qing Chen had helped them in the past, he had never proactively shown such hospitality.
He seemed to be wary of getting involved in trouble.
“I’m also curious about the transmigration matter,” Qing Chen explained: “So I wanted to ask… um, how should I address you?”
“My name is Jiang Xue,” the woman replied.
“Right, I just wanted to ask Aunt Jiang Xue about the Inner World,” Qing Chen said. “Is it okay to talk about it?”
Truth be told, Jiang Xue was only twelve years older than Qing Chen, so calling her ‘auntie’ might seem a bit aging, but since he knew Li Tongyun first, that was the only way he could address her now.
“There’s nothing inconvenient about it,” Jiang Xue said. “You can ask about it anytime; it’s no trouble. I just need to go home and clean up some things to cook for Xiao Yun.”
“Mom, let’s eat at brother’s house,” Li Tongyun said in a low voice.
Jiang Xue sighed at Xiao Yun’s pleading look: “Then I really am imposing on you.”
All along, the woman had an apologetic air about her, and Qing Chen could feel her genuine inner guilt.
With such a character, could she really survive well in the harsh world of the Inner World?
Qing Chen suppressed his own curiosity until he served the soy sauce fried rice on the table, and then finally, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, he said, “I saw the police come to handle the case, what did they say?”
Jiang Xue answered, “The neighbors helped explain the situation to them. Initially, they were going to take me with them, but considering I have a daughter and it was an act of self-defense, they let me stay, saying they’d notify me if needed.”
Only then did Qing Chen ask what he most wanted to know: “Later, two more people came. What were they there for?”
“I’m not sure what they were there for,” Jiang Xue shook her head: “The people gathered some information from the police, then had me fill out a form, took a couple of photos of my ID, and left.”
Qing Chen was taken aback: “That simple?”
“Right, they also said they might need me in the future and asked me not to leave Los Angeles City recently, but they didn’t specify why,” Jiang Xue replied.
“The police didn’t interfere with them?” Qing Chen was curious.
“It seems they showed some kind of credentials to the police,” Jiang Xue explained: “I’m not too clear on the specifics, but the police didn’t bother them.”
This gave Qing Chen a preliminary understanding of those people:
First, the other party did not capture transmigrators on sight.
Second, the other party had official documents.
Regardless, at least the other party was not as heartlessly insane as imagined, which did put Qing Chen at ease a great deal.
Suddenly, Qing Chen asked Aunt Jiang Xue, “Aunt Jiang Xue, what was your identity in the Inner World?”
The Inner World, this name, after being used in He Xiaoxiao’s strategy guides, had gradually spread.
It was the commonly accepted name everyone used for that transmigration world.
Jiang Xue answered, “I opened a mechanical clinic in City 18, which actually just helps people install mechanical limbs. But after I transmigrated, I didn’t understand anything. When people came for mechanical limb installation, I could only say we were out of stock.”
Qing Chen nodded, agreeing that such technical work certainly couldn’t be mastered in just a couple of days.
“And these arms of yours…” he asked.
“I already had mechanical limbs when I went there, and they just came back with me upon my return,” Jiang Xue replied.
Qing Chen then asked, “I saw something about Prison 18 in a transmigrator’s guide. Where is that place?”
“It’s on the edge of City 18,” Jiang Xue said, “That prison is quite famous, apparently a place specifically for incarcerating felons, with the highest defense level in the Federation.”
“A federal system?” Qing Chen hesitated, “Aunt Jiang Xue, what else do you know?”
“I only transmigrated there for two days, didn’t figure out anything,” Jiang Xue shook her head.
At this moment, the young girl Li Tongyun asked, “Mom, what’s the name of your clinic?”
“It’s called Jiang Xue’s Mechanical Limbs Clinic,” Jiang Xue answered, “Why do you ask?”
“Just asking,” Li Tongyun said while picking at her soy sauce fried rice.
Qing Chen made a note of the name, although he probably didn’t have the ability to help just now.
To help, he would have to go through Lu Guangyi or Uncle Li Dong, but how to explain how he knew Jiang Xue to them?
He was still unclear how people from the Inner World treated transmigrators; what if Jiang Xue was exposed, wouldn’t he be discovered too?
Better wait and see, for now, it looked like Jiang Xue wasn’t in any immediate danger.
Jiang Xue looked at Qing Chen, “Why are you so curious about the Inner World?”
“I’d also like to transmigrate and take a look,” Qing Chen said with a smile, “I actually envy you transmigrators quite a bit.”
Jiang Xue shook her head, “That world is very dangerous. Basically, aside from the people of Li Family, Chen Clan, Qing’s Family, Jindai, and Deer Island Group, everyone else lives in misery every day; the Outer World is better.”
Qing Chen thought to himself, he was from Qing’s Family, yet he was also living in misery.
He asked, “What are your plans next?”
“I’m thinking of taking Xiao Yun to her grandmother’s in Zheng City for a while, leaving tomorrow. Then I’ll come back and divorce Xiao Yun’s father,” Jiang Xue said.
Qing Chen suddenly thought of something, and then suggested, “Then you should buy a ticket first. There are a lot of people traveling to Zheng City every day; they are hard to get.”
Jiang Xue didn’t think too much and just used a mobile app to buy a ticket to Zheng City. The payment was successful, but when it came to issuing the ticket, it showed a failure to issue!
Qing Chen fell into thought. When he heard that they weren’t letting Jiang Xue leave Los Angeles City without any actual restrictive measures, he guessed there might be other means in play.
Perhaps the mysterious organization took a photo of Jiang Xue’s ID card precisely to restrict her movements.