I slept with my sister's classmate, and she turned out to be my boss.

late at night.

Zhao Yike sat behind her desk with a notebook open in front of her.

Peng Yuan sat opposite her, holding a tablet with the ticket booking system on the screen.

He turned the tablet around so Zhao Yike could see the information on it—

Three plane tickets: Sydney to Singapore, Singapore to Vancouver, with a three-and-a-half-hour layover in between.

"We will take off at 6:30 a.m. three days later."

Peng Yuan placed the tablet on the table.

"After arriving in Singapore, I changed my passport and entered the country, then used my Canadian permanent resident card for transit. After landing in Vancouver, I entered through the permanent resident lane."

Zhao Yike glanced at the flight number and date on the screen and nodded:

"it is good."

The room was quiet for a moment.

Peng Yuan stood up, walked to the cabinet next to the desk, opened the bottom drawer, and took out a dark gray file bag.

A thin rope was tied tightly around the opening of the bag.

He placed the file bag on the table, untied the string, and took out the contents one by one, arranging them on the table:

Three Chinese passports, three Canadian permanent resident cards, several bank statements, and several pages of printed address information.

"All documents are valid."

Peng Yuan carefully placed his passport and permanent residence card into two separate stacks.

"I've confirmed the address in Vancouver. It's been vacant for almost a year, but the water and electricity have been reconnected. You can move in immediately when you arrive."

Zhao Yike looked at the passports on the table, her gaze lingering on the top one for a moment.

The cover of that passport was somewhat worn, with the corners slightly curled up. It was used when I applied for my Canadian green card a few years ago, and it had been kept untouched in my document bag ever since.

She picked up her passport, opened it, and glanced at the photos on the inside pages—

Back then, her hair was shorter and her face was rounder.

She closed her passport, put it back in its place, and didn't say anything more.

"As for Zirui," Peng Yuan paused for a moment, "I told him we were going on a trip."

Zhao Yike nodded:

"Um."

Peng Yuan did not ask any further questions.

He put the documents on the table back into the document bag in the order he had taken them when he left, tied the string securely, and put them back in the cabinet drawer.

Then he stood up, walked to the study door, and glanced back at Zhao Yike:

"Go to sleep, I'll pack up the rest of your clothes."

Zhao Yike did not stand up; she remained seated at her desk.

After Peng Yuan left the study.

She slowly loosened her clenched hand, revealing faint nail marks on her palm.

She looked down at the row of marks for a while.

Then he stood up, turned off the desk lamp, and left the study.

……

the next morning.

Zhao Yike arrived at the office on time.

She processed several emails, answered two work calls, and even prepared a work schedule for next week and sent it to her assistant.

During the lunch break.

She walked to the bank across from the office building and withdrew some cash from the counter.

When the teller asked her what she wanted to withdraw the money for, she said "for travel" in a natural tone.

She put the cash into her bag, zipped it up, and went back to her office to continue working.

It was almost time to leave work in the afternoon.

She picked up the landline on the table and dialed Zhou Yiming's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

She spoke first, her tone as calm as before:

"Director Zhou, please contact me immediately if there are any updates from back home. I'll be in my office for the next few days."

Zhou Yiming responded on the other end of the phone:

Okay. I'll let you know as soon as I have any updates.

Zhao Yike said, "That's all for now," and then hung up the phone.

She put the microphone back on the landline, her finger lingered on the receiver for a moment, and then she moved her hand away.

She opened her phone and deleted the call log.

……

On the morning of the day of departure, it was still dark.

When Zhao Yike changed her clothes and walked into the living room.

Peng Yuan had already moved three suitcases and a black backpack to the door.

The suitcase was standing against the wall, the backpack was on top, and all the zippers were zipped up.

Peng Zirui is still not awake.

Peng Yuan went into the bedroom, picked him up from the bed, wrapped him in a thick coat, and gently patted his back twice.

Peng Zirui mumbled something in a daze, rested his head on Peng Yuan's shoulder, and closed his eyes again.

Zhao Yike stood in the center of the living room and looked around.

The cushions on the sofa were already neatly arranged, the coffee table was free of clutter, and a painting by Peng Zirui was pasted on the refrigerator.

A crooked whale with the word "Mom" written next to it.

She reached out and took the painting off the refrigerator door, folded it, and put it in her bag.

Then he turned around, walked to the door, bent down to change his shoes, and didn't look back.

The car was parked downstairs.

Peng Yuan put the suitcase in the trunk, carried Peng Zirui into the back seat, helped him lie down, and then covered him with the coat again.

Zhao Yike sat in the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, and looked at the sky ahead, which was not yet fully bright.

She began by saying:

"Let's go."

It takes forty minutes to get from my accommodation to the airport.

Zhao Yike unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.

I took the suitcases out of the trunk one by one.

Peng Yuan took the backpack out of the back seat, then carried the still dazed Peng Zirui out of the car and let him stand there for a while to wake up.

After Zhao Yike steadied herself with her luggage, she did not immediately walk into the terminal.

She stood by the car, looked around, and made sure there was nothing unusual.

No one was specifically observing them.

She looked at it for two seconds, then looked away and pushed the luggage cart toward the terminal.

Check-in, baggage drop-off, security check – everything went smoothly.

Peng Zirui finally woke up fully at the security checkpoint, rubbed his eyes, looked at the sign above his head, and asked:

"Dad, where are we going?"

Peng Yuan looked down at him:

"Go on a trip."

Peng Zirui then asked, "Where are you going on your trip?"

"Let's go to a very cold place where we can see snow."

Peng Zirui said "Oh," and didn't ask any more questions, then followed him forward.

After boarding, Zhao Yike sat in the window seat and fastened her seatbelt.

Peng Yuan sat in the middle, while Peng Zirui sat on the side closest to the aisle, already rummaging through the safety information cards in the seatback pockets.

As the plane began to taxi, Zhao Yike turned her gaze to the window.

She watched the wings move slowly in the morning light, and the indicator lights on both sides of the runway flashed by in turn.

She didn't count how many lights passed by; she just quietly looked out the window.

The instant the plane takes off.

She felt her body being gently pressed into the back of the seat.

The buildings on the ground began to shrink, the runway became a thin line, and then it was obscured by clouds.

She leaned back in her seat, blinked, and then closed her eyes.

……

A few hours later, the plane landed at Singapore Changi Airport.

There weren't many people in the transfer area.

Zhao Yike put her Chinese passport into her bag and used her Canadian permanent resident card and another passport to pass through customs.

The border control officer glanced at her, then looked at the documents in her hand, stamped them, and signaled for her to pass.

She didn't slow down as she walked past the border inspection counter.

Peng Yuan followed behind, with Peng Zirui holding his hand.

The three walked through the transit hall and sat down in a waiting area to wait for their next flight.

Four hours later.

Boarding has begun for the flight to Vancouver.

During this flight's ascent, Zhao Yike gazed at the deep blue sea outside the porthole for a long time.

She didn't know when she would see the Asian coastline again.

But she knew that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

We landed in Vancouver in the early morning.

The air was dry and cold, carrying the scent of the sea breeze.

As she pulled her suitcase out of the arrival hall, a gust of wind blew by, and she pulled her coat collar tighter.

Peng Yuan pushed the luggage cart ahead.

Peng Zirui, wrapped in a coat, followed beside him, his hand held by Peng Yuan.

That evening.

They settled down in Vancouver.

Zhao Yike sat on the sofa in the living room, picked up her phone, found Zhou Yiming's number, and typed a few lines:

"Director Zhou, I have some personal matters that require me to go abroad. My return date is uncertain. I'll contact you again once I've settled down."

She read it twice, and felt that the wording wouldn't immediately arouse suspicion, so she pressed the send button.

After the message shows "delivered".

She put her phone on the coffee table, stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains to look at the street outside.

"Vancouver……"

"It's been a long time since I've been here."

"I just never expected that the reason I came here this time was—out of necessity!"