The No. 8 typhoon signal was hoisted for only one day. On the second day, the swaying wind, rain and waves receded, and everything returned to normal.
Early in the morning, Liu Banxian walked to Yin Xiu's door, holding an umbrella upside down. When he was about to knock on the door, he heard the sound of clothes and sheets being dragged inside.
It seems that the sound insulation here is not very good. I don’t know if Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu disturbed the neighbors last night.
A strange smile appeared on Liu Banxian's face.
He took a deep breath and was about to knock on the door, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a girl standing at the corner. She was dressed simply and had two ponytails.
"Who are you looking for?" she spoke first.
"you ask me?"
Liu Banxian felt a little puzzled. He pointed inside and said, "The one inside is my friend."
"Oh!"
The girl's face changed from cautious to happy, "So you are Daxiu's friend, I'm Ah Hua, I'm here to see Daxiu too."
"you?"
Liu Banxian raised his eyebrows behind his sunglasses, "Who are you and Brother Yin?"
"Friend," Ah Hua seemed a little embarrassed, "I often come to play with Brother Daxiu."
"you and him?"
Liu Banxian took a look inside and then looked at Ah Hua behind his sunglasses.
She is at the age when the lotus leaves are just beginning to show their tips, the peach has taken shape, and the papaya is not yet ripe. However, in her youth, she has gradually acquired a certain attraction, and the future is faintly revealed everywhere.
Liu Banxian has seen countless people, so how could he not know what she is thinking.
Therefore, he didn't know how to evaluate Yin Xiu. Should he say that he was very capable, or that his bottom line was too low.
"Do you want to go in?" Ah Hua asked.
"Go in?"
Liu Banxian was very distressed.
He saw that although Ah Hua was young, she was a smart and determined person. Such a person would never just play around with Yin Xiu. At her age, once she made up her mind, she would stick to it and would not change.
If so, if he pushed the door open from outside and brought Ah Hua in, wouldn't that be bad, hurting his brother's face and destroying the girl's heart? And also causing another scandal?
"Who?"
Hearing the noise outside, Yin Xiu asked from inside.
Liu Banxian immediately pinched his neck and responded in a shrill voice, "The one delivering milk and sausages."
"Well?"
Before Ah Hua could feel strange and before Liu Banxian could come up with the next hint, Yin Xiu had already opened the door.
As soon as he opened the door, he first saw Liu Banxian, and then he saw Ah Hua standing behind him.
"What a coincidence? Both of you are here?"
"It's not a coincidence, it's an unfortunate coincidence!"
Liu Banxian sighed, "Sooner or later, you will have to pay for what you have done. Karma will always come back to haunt you!"
Yin Xiu didn't know what Liu Banxian was talking about, so he just made way and said, "Come in."
"convenient?"
Liu Banxian was obviously very experienced and asked him, "Have you finished cleaning?"
"How can we clean it up in time?"
Yin Xiu waved her hand, "It was a bit tight and a bit urgent, I didn't have time."
"You don't have to explain it to me in such detail, Uncle."
Liu Banxian was still worried, and asked him in a low voice: "Did you use it? The thing covering it?"
"What?" Yin Xiu was puzzled.
"It's the one you use on the bed, the one that covers it."
In front of Ah Hua, Liu Banxian also began to stutter.
Yin Xiu suddenly realized, "So you gave it to me. Why would I use that thing? I never use it. It's uncomfortable because of the layer between them. I like something more direct."
He then looked at Ah Hua and said, "Ah Hua, you know it. I never like to use a cover when I sleep."
Ah Hua nodded repeatedly, "I don't like it either."
Liu Banxian frowned even more tightly, and his facial features were almost tangled into a ball.
After a long while, he shook his head and said, "Young people, I really don't understand you. You are too unrestrained."
At this time, Ah Hua had already walked into the house, and Liu Banxian had no choice but to follow her in.
As soon as I entered the house, a slightly musty smell came over me.
Yin Xiu pointed to a mosquito net placed aside, which looked like a yurt.
"It's winter now, where do the mosquitoes come from? I don't need it. It's pink. I put it on the bed and it makes me uncomfortable when I turn over in my sleep."
"Well?"
Liu Banxian came back to his senses, "It seems that Man Yu put this here. Last time she came over and said there was no place to put it. Since you were not here, I asked her to put it here first."
Yin Xiu's expression changed immediately after hearing this, and he whispered to Liu Banxian, "Then tell her to take it back quickly. If Ma Xiaoyu comes and sees it, how will I explain it to her?"
"Ah, shouldn't she be here?" Liu Banxian wondered.
"Who? Who is still here?" Ah Hua suddenly asked.
Yin Xiu shook her head and glanced at Liu Banxian again, "She went back to her aunt's place as soon as she left the port last night."
"And you said you didn't clean it?"
Yin Xiu understood, but he did not answer. Instead, he reached out and wiped the table, then held it in front of Liu Banxian to show him.
On his fingers was a thin layer of dust.
“It’s not cleaned!”
"So that's it."
Liu Banxian's face was full of disappointment. "I thought it was..."
"What do you think it is?"
Yin Xiu and Ah Hua looked at him at the same time.
……
This was the first time that Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu had dinner together since returning to Hong Kong Island, and also their first date since they confirmed their relationship.
Yin Xiu still wore the same outfit that he changed a few times a year, except that he put on a new coat and polished his new boots until they were shiny.
Ma Xiaoyu no longer wore the sturdy, capable long windbreaker she used to wear outside.
Instead, she changed into a white short skirt with a small sweater on the outside, replaced her Martin boots with high heels, and let her hair down, no longer tying it into a ponytail, but instead wearing a headband decorated with small flowers.
Both of them were in a good mood. It wasn't the kind of over-excitement that came from being on the boat for too long and regaining their freedom, but a kind of tranquil, contented, pure pleasure that came from seeing each other.
There was no fighting or conspiracy, just a plain meal and chat. For Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu, there was no more relaxing time than this.
"I originally thought of booking two tables at the Peninsula, the most famous restaurant for French cuisine, or just book it out."
"You are rich?"
Ma Xiaoyu stopped him, "I heard that you spent a lot of money before, especially on Brother Xiong's place. You made all kinds of weird things with him, and the materials alone cost a lot."
"What? Are you afraid that I have no money to spend?" Yin Xiu grinned.
"Not really, it's just that we Taoists have never been rich, and you travel everywhere, so you have to save some money, otherwise the two of us..." Ma Xiaoyu's voice gradually became smaller, and she swallowed the rest of the words.
Yin Xiu didn't tease her, but just smiled and said, "I know, and you never like to eat those foreign food, so I booked a table in this restaurant."
As he was talking, the restaurant manager came over with a menu and a polite smile on his face.
Although he didn't know Yin Xiu, the manager could sense a certain awe-inspiring aura from Yin Xiu, a special style that required attention.
They are far more respectable than bankers and real estate tycoons.
Yin Xiu introduced to her: "The pigeons here are delicious. It is said that the wealthy businessmen in the mid-mountain areas often send people to pack them up and take them back. They eat a whole basket at a time."
"Sir, you are joking. Even for hairy crabs, few people would eat a whole basket at a time, let alone a 150-ounce squab.
However, the baby pigeons here are indeed famous. The pigeons are transported from the provincial capital and are slowly fed with grains.
The wood for the barbecue comes from the high mountains in southern Fujian. The tea farmers cut down the old tea trees and transport them to us to be used as firewood.
The chef who roasts pigeons in our kitchen has only been roasting pigeons for 20 years, and he can even fry an egg until it is burnt. "
"As the saying goes, every profession has its specialization."
Yin Xiu smiled and didn't care whether what he said was true or not. He just listened to it as such.
Ma Xiaoyu couldn't stand listening to the manager talking like this anymore, so she raised two fingers.
"Okay, I'll serve two to you two first." The manager took a pen and took notes.
Ma Xiaoyu glanced at him and said, "Two baskets."
The manager was indeed a man who had seen a lot of things. He paused for a moment, then crossed out the words on the menu and rewrote the order.
"Do you need anything else?" he asked casually.
However, Ma Xiaoyu was very serious: "Steam a grouper, lobster, abalone, two bottles of shochu, a pot of Pu'er, rice will be served later, and a dish of Dongjiang vegetables. Oh, don't make it too oily, I prefer light taste."
The manager was sweating profusely after hearing this, while Yin Xiu smiled bitterly.
He naturally understood why Ma Xiaoyu asked him to save more money, just because a meal like her would cost a lot of money.
After the manager went down to place the order, Ma Xiaoyu suddenly mentioned something.
“I will probably go back to Malaysia soon.”
Yin Xiu was certainly not afraid that she would leave and never come back like before, but he still asked, "When are you leaving?"
"Well?"
Ma Xiaoyu was a little unhappy, "Are you eager for me to leave right away?"
"That's not what I meant. I just wanted to know when you were leaving so I could calculate when you'd be back."
"Can you calculate the day when others will return by using Zi Wei Dou Shu or guessing directly?"
Ma Xiaoyu laughed.
“Actually, it was my aunt who told me about this. She said that some time ago, we received a letter from Malaysia, saying that there was a ceremony that needed me to go back and preside over.
Although the letter didn’t specify, I couldn’t guess, but when I was in Malaysia, I often had to go through various rituals. Now that I’ve been out for almost a year, maybe there are some things that I really need to deal with when I go back.”
"Leave after the New Year?"
Yin Xiu didn't know about the internal affairs of the Ma family. He just heard about it vaguely before. The Ma family has always been very mysterious, and the rituals and system are quite different from those of Maoshan.
"Why, you don't want me to leave?"
Ma Xiaoyu narrowed her eyes into crescents, "If you say something that makes me happy and comfortable, maybe I can consider going back later. After all, that place is not that important."
Yin Xiu snorted, "Oh, who do you think I am? A man should have no problem finding a wife."
When Ma Xiaoyu heard this, her eyes widened in anger, and then her ears turned red. She whispered, "I haven't agreed to your request yet. Even if we don't get to know each other better, we should look up the almanac and choose a date. In this case..."
She hadn't finished her words yet, and she didn't know if Yin Xiu heard it clearly, but her fingers were gently held and she felt a warm touch.
"How about this for now? After the Chinese New Year, I'll go to Malaysia with you. I have a lot of things I want to figure out anyway."
Ma Xiaoyu looked around nervously, then she remembered that Yin Xiu had booked a private room, so she was not afraid of being seen, so she let him hold it like this.
The two of them spent the afternoon eating and drinking. When they came out again, Yin Xiu was walking out of the box with Ma Xiaoyu's arm in arm, but they caught a glimpse of a figure passing by.
"Wait here for a while, I'm going to meet someone." Yin Xiu said.
Ma Xiaoyu frowned, "Another spy from the imperial court is here?"
Although the high heels on her feet were not cheap, Ma Xiaoyu was ready to take off the heels and wear flat shoes - anyway, she could ask Yin Xiu to buy another one.
Yin Xiu patted Ma Xiaoyu's hand gently and said, "Don't worry. Even if they are the henchmen of the imperial court, they still have to eat and sleep. There is no reason for them to follow us all day long."
"Just wait for me here for a while." Yin Xiu repeated.
In this case, Ma Xiaoyu just nodded obediently and said nothing more.
When Yin Xiu chased after him, Lin Shouzheng was waiting for him in a dark place.
Lin Shouzheng is the "vampire" that Yin Xiu first met at St. Mary's Hospital. He was bitten by Smith and became the first vampire among the Chinese people in Hong Kong Island.
After Yin Xiu dealt with Smith, Lin Shouzheng was "free" to a certain extent. At least he lost the "contract" and could no longer be controlled by Smith.
"long time no see."
Yin Xiu smiled at him, "After dealing with Smith, the vampire who smelled of nightshade, I thought about looking for you, but I asked around near the hospital and there was no news of you."
Lin Shouzheng's face was still pale, but compared to the first time they met, he seemed more confident and happier, no longer depressed and gloomy.
He was also very happy to see Yin Xiu, "I no longer drink blood. I mean, whether it is human blood or pig blood, I don't drink it anymore."
"what?"
Yin Xiu couldn't help but become curious, "I seem to have heard from the priest that there is indeed a vampire count who drinks vegetable juice in West Africa."
"Almost," Lin Shouzheng nodded, "I'm drinking bitter melon juice, celery juice, etc. now. They're cheap and healthy."
Just by hearing what he drank, Yin Xiu felt inexplicably nauseous. He really couldn't imagine that these things could have anything to do with health if they were consumed as three meals a day.
Because drinking this every day is extremely unhealthy for the mind.
Yin Xiu changed the subject, "Do you work here?"
"Do not."
Lin Shouzheng shook his head. "I heard something, so I came to see you."
"Well?"
Yin Xiu scratched his face, "Are you talking about the things in the north?"
"No, it's far more troublesome than this. It's the news from the Atlantic Ocean, from Dunling."
Lin Shouzheng looked serious.
"I heard that someone is looking for you in the dark world and wants to buy your head."
"Dunling?"
Yin Xiu remembered that Luo Wei had also gone to Dunling two months ago. If Lin Shouzheng got the news, perhaps Luo Wei would also pass on some information in this regard.
"Your news arrived so quickly?"
"Because the vampires have their own way of communicating, the channel transmitted through blood is much faster than a cruise ship."
Lin Shouzheng licked his lips and said, "Now, except for not sucking blood, I have accepted the vampire lifestyle and am becoming a professional vampire, so I know this news."
I don’t know whether this change is a good thing or a bad thing for Lin Shouzheng, but as long as he is willing, it doesn’t seem to be a big deal.
Yin Xiu couldn't help but think of the Red Emperor in Europe who was unifying the major vampire families. Could it be that his attention was also turned to the East?
Perhaps in the distant Dunling, the red dragon emperor has already revealed his fangs and claws. (End of this chapter)
