Chapter 43 Being secretly photographed

A big bowl of laksa was served, with red chili oil floating on the creamy yellow curry soup, which was enough to stimulate one's appetite just by looking at it.

She took a sip of the soup first. A dozen different spices mixed together, with a strong spiciness in the bones, but it was just right with the soft coconut milk. Just like the little Nyonya in Southeast Asia, innocent and enthusiastic. She seemed to see a girl wearing a light shirt and a bright sarong, becoming charming and gentle.

"Delicious!" Yue Ning never thought that she would have such a bowl of laksa with a strong South Asian flavor in Hong Kong Island in this life.

She swallowed all the soup and other ingredients, and after taking a sip of water, the taste in her mouth was still lingering on her tongue.

Seeing that she was very satisfied with the meal, Qiao Junxian also smiled happily: "In fact, if you get used to it, you will love the Assam Laksa on the streets of Penang. When I ate the sour soup noodles you made in Xiaoyanggou, I thought of Assam Laksa. But it contains belacan. People who like it like it very much, but people who don’t like it won’t touch it at all."

Recalling the sour and fragrant assam laksa she had in her previous life, she said: "There is no particular order of ranking for delicacies, they can all go into my bowl."

After eating and drinking, the two of them left the restaurant together. Yue Ning looked toward the seaside in the corridor and said, "Let's go for a walk on the beach?"

“If you want to see the sea view, you have to go to Kowloon. The night view of Hong Kong Island from Tsim Sha Tsui is the most beautiful,” said Qiao Junxian.

Yue Ning said: "No, I just ate too much and wanted to take a walk to help digest the food."

"Then let's go!" Qiao Junxian responded.

The two walked along the beach, and Qiao Junxian talked to Yue Ning about the progress of his business. His family fully supported him to try it out, and his mother recommended him a ceiling fan factory with a very good reputation, but it had never climbed out of the quagmire after the stock market crash in 1973. The Qiao family planned to use money to buy most of the shares, and then use the team of this factory to open a factory in Shekou Industrial Zone.

"We originally said that we would give you a tape recorder prototype, but now it seems that we don't know when that will be," said Qiao Junxian.

"Don't worry, my grandfather has bought me a tape recorder." Yue Ning responded.

"That's perfect. My friend recommended a set of books for learning English to me, and I've bought them, as well as the matching cassettes. I'll bring them to you tomorrow," said Qiao Junxian.

"Grandpa Qiao will definitely come for dinner soon, so you can ask him to bring it to me then." Yue Ning said.

Qiao Junxian shook his head: "It's okay, the factory is in the industrial building in Kwun Tong. I'll go there around nine o'clock tomorrow morning and bring it to you on the way."

"You always help me, I don't know how to thank you." Yue Ning said gratefully.

"Just don't give me just a small bite of food next time, that'll be fine." Qiao Junxian joked.

Yue Ning smiled: "Okay! Okay! After I finish the competition on Sunday, I will make you a big bowl of fish soup."

"Serve with Yangzhou fried rice." Qiao Junxian made this request and suddenly felt that he might be asking for too much.

"It's a deal." Yue Ning agreed immediately. She remembered, "By the way, I promised to make soup for you. Is your migraine better?"

Qiao Junxian was evasive: "No... no need."

"Why?" Yue Ning asked.

"I'll listen to you and not drink stimulating beverages, right?" Qiao Junxian said. He was self-righteous and doing good for others, which was very annoying. Yue Ning naturally didn't force it: "Okay."

Besides, something caught her attention in front of her: a man and a woman, the man leaning on the railing, the woman with her hands hooked around the man's neck, the two were kissing as if no one was around, the one devoted and the other immersed.

Qiao Junxian had seen many scenes of kissing over a disagreement and was used to it. Today, when she was around, Qiao Junxian felt something was wrong. In order to avoid embarrassment, he said, "Let's go back! It's getting late."

"Okay!" Yue Ning responded.

Yue Ning followed him back, and what a coincidence, there was another couple here. The previous couple was of similar age, but the man in this couple had a bald head, the woman was still in her prime, and the man's hands were touching the wrong places.

Yue Ning was amazed: "Qiao Junxian, are you guys in Hong Kong so unrestrained when dating?"

Qiao Junxian just thought that this uncle was so hungry, couldn't he go to the hotel nearby to get a room? Was it necessary to pollute other people's eyes in such a public place? He took Yue Ning's hand and quickened his pace: "Don't look at it, we're going back."

Yue Ning was suddenly held by his hand, feeling a little strange. Just now, she was holding Ding Shengqiang's fat pig's trotter to the entrance of Shenghua Building. This... was... so different?

Even after getting in the car, Yue Ning's eyes were still on Qiao Junxian's hand. Qiao Junxian noticed it and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The steering wheel is very textured." Yue Ning could only chat awkwardly.

The road was easy to drive at night, and they soon arrived at the intersection of their neighborhood. Qiao Junxian was about to get off the car, and Yue Ning said, "Just go ahead. Are you still not confident in me?"

Thinking of that night in Beijing, Qiao Junxian smiled and said, "Bye."

"Be careful on the road." Yue Ning waved and watched his car leave.

She walked into the street. It was very noisy here during the day, but now all the shops were closed. Most of the lights on the first and second floors were off, but there were many lights on the third and fourth floors. Many people opened shops downstairs and lived upstairs.

Before he even walked through the clothing store, his grandfather came to greet him. Under the dim light, his grandfather looked so much like his father that Yue Ning ran over.

"Grandpa, have you been waiting for me?"

"No, didn't you say that the roast meat shop would open tomorrow? I asked the chicken and duck shop owner to send some ducks over. I just scalded the duck skin, brushed it with the first coat of crispy water, and hung it up to dry," Grandpa replied.

Yue Ning said that he would open a roast meat stall tomorrow, and ended up making his grandfather busy. He felt guilty: "Grandpa has worked hard."

"Silly." Yue Baohua rubbed her head, "Are you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry. Qiao Junxian took me to eat Nanyang cuisine. I had a big bowl of laksa, which was delicious. Few complex seasonings can achieve the balance of laksa..." Yue Ning described to his grandfather how he felt about the taste of that bowl of laksa.

"You came out early this morning and did so many things. You must be tired. Go to bed early!" Yue Baohua said caringly after entering the house.

Yue Ning went upstairs with her grandfather. Yue Baohua saw her off to the door. Yue Ning said, "Good night, Grandpa."

"Good night. Let's go eat pig's trotter rice noodle at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

"OK."

Yesterday she put pig's feet in the soy sauce chicken. Ah Ming said there was a long-established rice noodle shop nearby that only served breakfast. The braised pig's feet there were also super delicious. Yue Ning was tempted, so her grandfather said he would take her there to eat tomorrow morning.

Yue Ning entered the room and looked at the pink color in the room. On the bed were the clothes she had just changed out of, neatly folded. She put the clothes into the pink-edged closet.

She was also being waited at the door by her parents. In her previous life, she worked in her family's restaurant during the summer vacation of college. After the evening market, she passed by a convenience store late at night, went in to buy a cup of coffee, drank a few sips and went back. When she got home, her mother would ask her where she had been for the past few minutes. She said she bought coffee, and her mother started to nag her about how she had a coffee machine at home and how good the coffee beans were, so why did she drink that kind of rubbish coffee?

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the coffee tastes good or not. I just want to escape for a few minutes late at night after a tiring day.

The sentiment behind pink is different. You need to understand it clearly.

Yue Ning took clothes from the closet and turned on the TV. It was late at night and a talk show was playing on the TV. Two old men in suits and bow ties were sitting leisurely on the sofa with red wine glasses in their hands. In the middle was a young woman, sitting dignifiedly. The two men took turns to interrogate the young woman.

After washing up, Yue Ning went to bed. She wanted to take the Minnie doll away and throw it at her feet, but when she got it in her hand, she suddenly didn’t want to throw it away, so she just let it stay with her!

The two old men on TV dared to ask, and the young woman dared to answer. The host asked her how she felt about being the mistress of two rich men, regardless of order, and asked her which one she liked better.

The woman didn't try to hide anything and said directly: "Neither of them is handsome, so of course I prefer the generous one!"

Yue Ning could only say: Awesome! Really awesome!

It was already midnight when Yue Ning finished watching the show. She turned off the TV and fell asleep. She felt as if she had returned to her childhood, as if her father was kissing her cheek.

"Nannan fell asleep?" This was Uncle Mo's voice.

Dad laughed and said, "After being naughty all day, I am tired and sleep like a pig."

Of course, it was impossible for people who went to the countryside for reform to have their own room, so the father and daughter lived in one room with Uncle Mo.

Uncle came over and looked down at her, reached out and touched her cheek, and picked up the clothes that Dad was buttoning. Aunt Chunmei also had clothes to make for the whole family, so she helped with the cutting and buttonholes, and Dad would take them back and make them himself.

"Your sister-in-law wrote to me and told me that it was Xiaoying's birthday and she wanted to make a pink dress for her. But in the end, she had to give up." Uncle Mo sighed, "At her age, Nannan should wear a pink gauze dress, a pink bow, and hold a doll. Otherwise, she will always have regrets when she grows up."

"Brother Mo, your bourgeois hedonism has begun again." Dad was holding a reverse-dress made of blue cloth.

Uncle Mo sat down next to her: "Zhirong! If the people of socialism are always poor, little girl can't afford to wear a pink dress. Is such socialism meaningful? Is there any meaning for your sister-in-law and I to come back? We..."

"Brother, brother! Stop talking." Dad quickly stopped Uncle Mo from speaking any further.

As expected, Uncle Mo stopped talking. He looked at her and said, "I hope Nannan's Nannan can wear a pink dress."

"Yes." Dad bit off the thread.

This dream did not wake Yue Ning up, she was woken up by the knocking on the door.

Yue Ning lifted the quilt and went to open the door. Yue Baohua was there.

Yue Ning yawned and turned to look at the alarm clock, which showed seven in the morning. She said, "Didn't Grandpa say we'd go eat pig's trotter rice noodles at eight o'clock?"

"Master Junxian called and said that you went to dinner with him last night and it was in the newspaper." Yue Baohua said with a sad face.

Yue Ning pinched her brows. After watching the midnight talk show, it was already the second half of the night, but she still hadn't slept well.

"Let me change my clothes, I'll be down right away." Yue Ning scratched his head, closed the door and went back to his room.

Did she lock Grandpa out? No! She needs to go back and open the door. No, she needs to change her clothes. Then let Grandpa wait a while!

Yue Ning changed his clothes, brushed his teeth, washed his face, and felt much more awake.

It was just a newspaper article, Qiao Junxian was really something, and Grandpa was making a fuss about nothing. She bet that Grandpa must still be at the door.

Yue Ning opened the door and saw her grandfather standing at the door. She smiled.

Yue Baohua sighed when she saw that she could still laugh. She would know she was in trouble when she saw the newspaper. The pens of the Hong Kong paparazzi could kill people!

Yue Ning followed his grandfather to his office and saw a newspaper on the table. The newspaper showed a picture of Qiao Junxian's profile. He happened to lean over to talk to him, and from this angle, it seemed as if he was kissing him on the cheek.

The caption on the picture reads: "The shepherdess takes Prince Charming and sucks him hard on his face from a 16-story building."

Yue Ning looked down and saw a small photo of the two of them holding hands at the beach.

The short article of about 100 words described how Qiao Junxian drove her to the hotel for dinner last night. As they were chatting and laughing, she stood up and kissed Qiao Junxian on the face. Qiao Junxian was very happy to be kissed and passed her food from time to time. After dinner, they went to the beach to walk hand in hand. There was no bad comment in the article, just saying that if she married into the Qiao family, it would be a match between Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Judging from the Hong Kong media in Yue Ning's previous life, this is too restrained. In her previous life, she came to Hong Kong to participate in an event, and the Hong Kong media gave the title "The Duck Queen arrived in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong ducks trembled all over." The article also said that she would give massages to the ducks herself.

That's it? It was too simple. Yue Ning laughed and said, "Let him do whatever he wants."

Yue Baohua was anxious. How could he let it go? When he was in the mainland, he was worried when he saw Ningning and Qiao Junxian getting close. He was afraid that the newspapers and TV in Hong Kong would not let her go. Fortunately, Ningning was smart, and she had a relationship with her uncle Mo. It was understandable that she was close to Qiao Junxian. They were relatives. Qiao Junxian took care of his sister, so he was relieved and relaxed.

But these photos are real evidence, and all we can say is that what is coming will come.

The Qiao family has a good family tradition. The young master of the Qiao family was very handsome when he was young, and was deeply loved by Qiao Qiming, who always took him with him when he went out. When he grew up, he was good at studying and had no scandals. He was the most adorable good boy in the hearts of Hong Kong housewives.

"Ningning, even though it can't be seen from this picture, I believe you definitely didn't kiss Qiao Junxian." Yue Baohua said.

"It doesn't matter whether I kissed him or not. As long as the public thinks I kissed him, then it's OK." Yue Ning smiled. Although her grandfather said this, he was worried in his heart. She said, "If I express it in a tactful way and clarify the matter by saying that I don't have any such thoughts about Qiao Junxian, the public will think that the prince favors Cinderella and Cinderella is shameless. If I simply don't explain, the public will think that I'm a shepherdess, how could I be worthy of marrying a rich and noble man? Especially since I was making a fuss yesterday and lifted Ding Shengqiang up, like a female Lu Zhishen. I'm totally incompatible with Qiao Junxian! I'm like Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror, neither human inside nor outside."

Completely understood. Yue Baohua frowned: "What should we do now?"

Yue Ning held her chin with one hand, not wanting her grandfather to worry, so she said: "No matter what people think, grandpa, don't worry, I didn't kiss Qiao Junxian."

At this time, the phone rang. Yue Ning picked up the phone and heard Qiao Junxian's voice: "Uncle Hua, don't worry. I'll let our public relations team handle it."

"I'm in Grandpa's office?"

"Ningning." Qiao Junxian paused for a moment, "Don't worry, I will take care of it."

"I want to ask you, can I be on the show 'Let Down Your Guard'?" Yue Ning asked.

When Yue Baohua heard this, it became more and more outrageous. Did she know what kind of show "Letting Down Your Guard" was?

Qiao Junxian asked the same question on the other end of the phone. Yue Ning said, "I watched it last night! It's to satisfy the public's curiosity about the privacy of celebrities. Last night, the female guest said shockingly that she only likes the one with more money. If the public is very interested in what's going on between you and me, then I'll do it! I promise that I won't affect your reputation or damage my own image. Believe in my public relations ability."

Qiao Junxian remained silent. Yue Ning said, "If you don't want to, then I'll keep my mouth shut. It depends on whether you have confidence in me."

"I'll call my cousin."

"Tell me when you're done." Yue Ning stretched lazily, looking at her grandfather's bitter face, "Grandpa, smile! It's going to be okay. Look, Qiao Junxian has so much confidence in me."

"Tell me, what are you going to do?"

Yue Ning smiled: "I will admit that I like Qiao Junxian."

Yue Baohua opened his mouth wide, and then he realized: "No, Ningning. You are still young, you don't know..."

"Grandpa, I like Qiao Junxian, just like those fans like Liu Jiayao. He is my idol. I will analyze my liking or infatuation for Qiao Junxian from the perspective of how to correctly view idols and how to be star-chasing in a healthy way. I will let the public think that it is natural for me to like Qiao Junxian. However, I also look at this liking very rationally and handle our current relationship in a positive way." Yue Ning patiently explained to Yue Baohua.

"Do you really like Qiao Junxian?" Yue Baohua asked the question again.

Yue Ning recalled the feeling of being dragged along by Qiao Junxian last night, and shrugged, "More than just ordinary friends, but not to the extent of liking each other."

The phone rang again, and Qiao Junxian's voice came: "I told my cousin. When he heard that you were willing to be on the show, he was so happy that he has already made arrangements. It will probably be on in two or three days. Tell me, what are you going to do?"

"I will admit that I like you." Yue Ning said clearly and firmly this time.

As soon as Yue Ning finished speaking, she heard the sound of the phone dropping. She hadn't finished speaking yet!

The voice on the phone came again, and the voice trembled nervously: "Say it again."

"Brother! Don't be afraid! I don't really like you. I'm talking about how to handle crisis PR. I mean, I'm not damaging your image. At the same time, I'm setting up a positive persona. I want people to think in the direction of 'what boy isn't passionate, what girl isn't in love'. It's human nature to be lustful and admire young girls. I want to tell you how to correctly view this kind of love and do the right thing at the right time. I want to give those fanatical fans inspiration and positive guidance. I want to advocate healthy star-chasing and let fans learn from me. I also want to advise celebrities to learn from you and be an idol that gives positive guidance to society."

"Okay! I'll listen to you." Qiao Junxian's tone on the other end of the phone calmed down.

Yue Ning was relieved. She said, "Okay, I'll go with grandpa to see the duck, and then eat pig's trotter rice noodles. Bye!"

"Bye-Bye."

After hanging up the phone, Yue Ning looked at the microphone. This guy sounded a little depressed.

Telephone communication is very troublesome because you can't meet face to face, you can't see the other person's expression, and you can't figure out his true thoughts. Anyway, he will send me English materials later, so I can just talk to him in detail.

"Grandpa, let's go see the duck."

After listening to Yue Ning's phone call with Qiao Junxian, Yue Baohua realized that he was really worrying too much. Ning Ning handled this kind of thing very easily, and she could also explain it in a set of principles.

"Let's go!"

Yue Ning looked at the hanging duck blanks. The skin of the duck blanks made using her recipe was brighter and tighter. Although the color of the duck blanks made using the old recipe was lighter, it smelled more fragrant.

Overall, the duck skin air-dried at this low temperature tastes better than the duck skin that was quickly air-dried when she made crispy glutinous rice chicken at Fuyunlou last time. Yue Ning was very satisfied.

Yue Baohua went out with her granddaughter. As soon as the door opened, the paparazzi put the microphone to her lips: "Ms. Yue, did you really kiss Qiao Junxian at the Hong'an Hotel yesterday?"

"I will keep this matter secret for now. I will open my heart to everyone on the show 'Letting Down Your Guard' and tell everyone about the relationship between Mr. Qiao Junxian and I." Yue Ning answered politely.

"Given the relationship between you two, will you get married?"

"If you have any questions, you can collect them and hand them over to the "Let Down Your Guard" program team, asking Mr. Yang Yuhe not to worry about the fact that he is an old customer of my grandfather. Feel free to ask any questions. Now, I will definitely keep you in suspense." Yue Ning said with a smile, "I am going to a rice noodle shop that is said to be affordable and super delicious to eat pig's trotter rice noodle. After I finish eating, I can only tell you whether I like the pig's trotters here, but I can't tell you whether I am the heroine of Qiao Junxian. If you are interested in the topic of pig's trotter rice noodle, you can wait here."

Just as Yue Ning and Yue Baohua were about to move forward, she seemed to have thought of something and turned around and said, "Oh, by the way! The Baohualou roast meat stall will reopen at noon today. I will pair my grandfather's roast duck with my unique secret glass crispy roast duck. If you wait here, you can also try the roast duck later."

Yue Ning followed her grandfather and walked forward. They passed a road and saw a book and newspaper stall with a row of colorful magazines. She took a look and found that these magazines were published one by one, and there was no news about her. She looked at the folded newspapers below that had pictures of her. The most eye-catching one was a picture of her and Qiao Junxian kissing in a hotel, another one was a report of her shouting with a loud speaker, and another one was a picture of her carrying Ding Shengqiang.

"Yue Ning!" someone called out.

Passers-by immediately reacted and all looked at her. Yue Ning took out three newspapers as if nothing had happened and said to the boss, "Uncle, these are the three newspapers."

"Are you and Qiao Junxian really together?"

"Do you want to know?" Yue Ning recommended "Loose Guard" to the passerby again, "Remember to watch it when the time comes."

"These three news items are all about you!"

"Yes!" Yue Ning took the newspaper. "I was so busy yesterday that I didn't have time to sit down and read the news. I woke up today and found that I had become the heroine of gossip news. Come and buy a newspaper and talk about this with everyone."

Onlookers: ???

"Do you know what the deepest impression Hong Kong City gave me on my first day in Hong Kong?" Yue Ning asked as he put away the newspaper.

"What?"

"Qiao Junxian took me to eat a bowl of laksa at the Nanyang Restaurant of Hong'an Hotel. It tasted super good." Yue Ning adhered to the principle of "If you have traffic, you don't have to be a fool" and recommended, "Everyone can go and try it!"